wet & wild ready to escape? - british mountaineering council · diverse world of the bmc...

STANAGE • LIFE ASSURANCE • MOUNTAIN BOOTS • ACCESS UPDATES

ISSUE 27 - AUTUMN 2002 £2.50

PORTLAND UPDATEMOUNTAIN ECOLOGYEXCLUSIVE ACTIVPURSUITS CD OFFER

PORTLAND UPDATEMOUNTAIN ECOLOGYEXCLUSIVE ACTIVPURSUITS CD OFFER

Wet & WildRiver Crossings

High & LightHimalaya Lightweight

Ready To Escape?Adventure Yearbook 2003

Breaking BarriersThe International Meet

ISSUE 27 - AUTUMN 2002 £2.50

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BMC SUMMIT - ISSUE 27 3

14 Feet FirstStuart Ingram and Berghaus give anintroduction to hiking boots.

20 Breaking BarriersJamie Andrews reports on the hectic anddiverse world of the BMC International Meet.

26 Wild and WetRiver crossings - how to reach the other bank,with Plas y Brenin.

30 Jurassic ParkPortland is now a World Heritage site. Ouragent Bond, Clare Bond takes a look at whatthat means for climbers.

34 Escape to AdventureThe stunning Adventure Yearbook 2003.

38 The Right StuffAs the infamous Stanage guide nearscompletion, resident wordsmith Niall Grimesreflects on this favourite gritstone playground.

40 Over the Odds?Are you paying to much for life insurance as anoutdoor enthusiast? Let us help.

42 Flower PowerBarbara Jones examines how Alpine flowersare staging a comeback in Cwm Idwal.

44 High and LightStephen Venables and Ken Wilson look at thehistory of lightweight Himalayan expeditions,from early skirmishes to super-alpine traverses.

48 The Famous FiveHow the Helly Hansen National Mountaineer-ing Exhibition team picked classic peaks forJohn Peel.

FEATURES

5 Letters6 News10 Access News24 ACT update51 MLTB52 Agenda53 Events60 Last thoughts

REGULARS

CONTENTS

ON THE COVERON THE COVERON THE COVERON THE COVERON THE COVERDebbie Birch on the classicWestern Front, E3 5c, Almscliff.Credit: Alex Messenger

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32 Win Anquet MapsWin some great interactive OS maps on CD -you'll never have to fold a map again!

32 Discount to ActivpursuitsThe new online magazine.

36 The Adventure PackageGet 3 great adventure books for the price of 2.

36 Himalayan LightweightA rare chance to update your mountain library.

READERS' OFFERS

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26

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WWWWWelcome to issue 27Summit is the membership magazine ofthe British Mountaineering Council. TheBMC promotes the interests of climbers,hill walkers and mountaineers and thefreedom to enjoy their activities. Theprimary work of the BMC is to:

Negotiate access improvements andpromote cliff and mountainconservation.Promote and advise on goodpractice, facilities, training andequipment.Support events and specialistprogrammes including youth andexcellence.Provide services and informationfor members.

BMC, 177 - 179 Burton Road,Manchester M20 2BB

Tel: 0870 010 4878Fax: 0161 445 4500

e-mail: [email protected]

EDITORIALContributions for Summit should be sent tothe Editor Alex Messenger at the above addressor [email protected]. Every care is takenof materials sent for publication, howeverthese are submitted at the sender's risk.

PUBLISHING Gill Wootton

Display AdvertisingJane HarrisClassified

Paula TaylorTel: 01536 382500Fax: 01536 382501

PUBLISHED & PRINTED BYGreenshires PublishingTelford Way, Kettering Northants, NN16 8UN

Tel: 01536 382500

Neither the BMC nor Greenshires Publishing acceptresponsibility for information supplied in adverts. Readers

are advised to take reasonable care when responding toadverts.

RISK & RESPONSIBILITYReaders of Summit are reminded that

climbing, hill walking andmountaineering are activities with adanger of personal injury or death.

Participants in these activities should beaware of and accept these risks and beresponsible for their own actions and

involvement. The BMC publishes a widerange of safety and good practice adviceand provides training opportunities for

members.

34 34 34 34 34 The new yearbook

40 40 40 40 40 Culture Shock

32 32 32 32 32 ACT Photo comp

I’ve just returned from three weeks of glorious sunshine in TuolumneMeadows. Camping at 8,500ft, swimming in crystal clear lakes and climbing on perfect granite with a choice of single pitch sport climbs or multi

pitch trad climbs. There’s a mix of well protected cracks and bold excitingslabs, and hundreds of square miles of some of the best Alpine mountainwalking and backpacking country I’ve ever experienced. A true lift for thespirit and even more welcome because it meant a complete break frommeetings and never-ending BMC politics.

I must admit I didn’t think much about the BMC whilst I was away but theholiday did bring me right back in touch with what I believe to be the true andbasic values of our sport and some of the issues the BMC works towards in thiscountry. First and foremost the freedom to choose to climb where I wanted in thestyle I wanted. Without the vision of that great Victorian Scottish naturalist JohnMuir, Yosemite’s beauty would have been irrevocably destroyed and what didbecome the world’s first true National Park would have become a vast timberyard littered with mines and quarries.

To decide upon and get to the climbs I used the local guidebook, not as slickand professional as those we are used to in Britain but cheap and quite ad-equate for a visiting Brit. And I felt reasonably safe being protected by our excel-lent BMC insurance scheme.

And so, to me, these are three of the core aspects of the BMC's work that I,personally, value most; Access, Information and Insurance. Of course there aremany other facets of our work that we generally take for granted. The work of ourTechnical Committee for instance, tirelessly working behind the scenes to testropes, helmets and all the other equipment upon which we constantly rely. OurTraining Advisory Group, striving to ensure that effective advice and guidance isavailable to beginners and clubs (student clubs in particular at the moment arestruggling because of the litigious fears of the Universities).

The BMC has become an even broader church over the last decade with manynew members entering the sport via indoor walls and competitions giving oppor-tunities for much younger people to participate, hence the need for our YouthCommittee. Similarly climbing walls and the relative safety and convenience ofnewly developed sport climbing venues probably contributes to older climbersstaying active longer. Fairer Equity policies have given greater opportunities fordisabled participation and this year's International meet at Plas y Brenin was ahuge success with some awe inspiring performances. Read on to find out more,and as they say in Tuolumne – enjoy.

Dave Musgrove, President.

A MESSAGE FROM THE BMC PRESIDENT

FOREWORD

(ABOVE) What's got 3 legs, 31/2 hands and can climb VS? Well Jamie Andrew,Dave Musgrove and Ivan German - seen here at the foot of Bloody Chimney,VS, during the International Meet. See page 20 for more! Credit: D.Musgrove Jnr.

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LETTERS

WRITE US A LETTER AND WIN THISWRITE US A LETTER AND WIN THISWRITE US A LETTER AND WIN THISWRITE US A LETTER AND WIN THISWRITE US A LETTER AND WIN THISGREAGREAGREAGREAGREAT BERGHAT BERGHAT BERGHAT BERGHAT BERGHAUS EXTREM SAUS EXTREM SAUS EXTREM SAUS EXTREM SAUS EXTREM SAC!C!C!C!C!

Write in to Summit and you could winthis great Berghaus Extrem Climb 32litre sac. This issue Jeremy Windsor isthe lucky receipient, might come inhandy on another Kili trip!

Next issue...it couldbe you. Just [email protected],o r pos t to BMC,177-179 Bur tonRoad, Manchester,M20 2BB.

ADRENALINE TURN-OFFSaturday 13th April, a gloriously sunnyday in Glen Nevis. On Pine Wall cragwe were so happy to be climbing weeven managed to forgive the noisyyouth group abseiling on SW Buttress,the crag next to us. I have never beenat ease with abseiling as an activity inits own right, as opposed to part of thewhole climbing experience, but we ig-nored them, engrossed in our ownpleasure until we heard one of the twoinstructors shout down to their stu-dents, “OK, who wants a race?” Therethen began more than an hour of ab-seil racing. The participants would setoff to cheers and encouragement fromtheir mates and to shouts of, “faster”,“jump” and “go on you can beat him”from the instructors. We watched si-lently as the activity progressed tomarine style forward abseiling - still inracing pairs. Maybe the trend for“adrenaline sports” and programmeslike Gladiators means instructors wantto give their students these types ofexperiences, but I think that crags andmountains are not the place to do so,and anyway is our sport not excitingenough already? I wonder what theseyoung people learnt from this - certainlynot a lot about climbing, safety norlove of the hills. I am not a killjoy butdo know that young people can havefun whilst being introduced to climbingand abseiling in a responsible manner.I hope these instructors may rethinktheir practice and the responsibility they

have towards the people they takeoutdoors, and trust that the currentoutdoor education community does notgenerally condone this practice.

Christine WatkinsWest Dunbartonshire

HELMET LIP SERVICE?Issue 26 is another informative read,and page 50 gives us readers moreimportant information regarding helmetchoice, with the closing statement ofthe article declaring “any helmet isbetter than no helmet”. Therefore I findit unbelievable that in the very sameissue the covers of the BMC guide-books On Peak Rock and Stanage areshown featuring climbers without hel-mets. If the use of helmets is encour-aged by the BMC then surely you mustpractice what you preach – do theclimbers shown have craniums con-structed out of something other thanskin and bone, or is it just another sadfashion statement? Are the BMC reallysupporting helmet use or merely fillingthe latest issue with lip service?

Simon AndersonManchester

NO CHALKI’ve only just read issue 25, and thor-oughly agree with the sentiments ex-pressed against sculpting and wirebrushing. The argument “if you can’tdo it as it is, leave it to others” seems

to me to be unanswerable. But it alsoseems to me to apply equally well tonylon brushing and chalk. Granted,these activities cause no physicaldamage to the rock, but they never-theless diminish the challenge - andchalk makes a rock face look evenworse than wire brushing does. I ap-preciate that, taken to its logical con-clusion, this line of reasoning wouldlead to the abolition of boots and ropes,but the fact is that the pioneers didwear boots, whereas they didn’t usechalk.

Tony AyresWinchester

HIGH HYPNOTHERAPHYI am a clinical hypnotherapist, andleave soon for Ecuador to checkwhether self-hypnosis can alleviate thedebilitating symptoms of altitude sick-ness. Four climbers, including a doc-tor, will ascend four volcanoes rangingfrom 13,500 feet to almost 19,500feet. I believe that as the subconsciousmind controls the body’s breathing,using self-hypnosis techniques to “pro-gramme” the subconscious one canincrease its oxygen intake. This can beachieved by improving the volume ofair intake whilst at the same time in-creasing mental calmness and physi-cal relaxation which should minimisethe effect of the altitude. I will reportback the findings, and if they are posi-tive I would set up a more scientificpiece of research into this theory. Ifthere is anyone with experience in thisarea or has a view as to whether suchtechniques can help I would be inter-ested in hearing from them.

Andrew MoirWest Sussex

KILIMANJARO - SLOW DOWN!

PRIZE LETTER WINNER

As an expedition doctor who has been involved in organised treks to moun-tains in East Africa I would like to add my support to the BMC’ s commentsthat, Kili too quickly is potentially life threatening and definitely no fun.According to the most recent figures, Mt Kilimanjaro attracts over 4000trekkers each year, but while 90% attempt the standard Marangu route, lessthan half are estimated to reach the summit, despite the presence of com-fortable huts, clear paths, short walking days, energetic porters and dryweather. From my experience the answer to this high failure rate lies in theenormous number of trekkers who attempt the route in only five days andsubsequently suffer from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) along the way.Between 1 and 5% of AMS sufferers go on to develop High Altitude Pulmo-nary (HAPE). This condition has been shown to be fatal in up to 50% oftrekkers if left untreated and is the commonest cause of death at highaltitude. I was unfortunately involved in the treatment of a woman who diedfrom HAPE on Kilimanjaro, and around the world events like this keep hap-pening. Last spring, Dr Alan Gianotti evacuated 22 people with HAPE fromthe Pheriche Rescue Post on the Everest Camp Trek, whilst 14 climbers wereevacuated from Plaza Argentina on Cerro Aconcagua during the 2001 sum-mer season. As the most popular route on any of the “seven summits”, theMarangu Route is the first experience of altitude for many trekkers. By join-ing organised treks that acclimatise slowly and reading something from thewide range of websites and books dedicated to AMS this trek can be the firstof many adventures, not the last.

Jeremy Windsor, London


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6 BMC SUMMIT - ISSUE 27

LATEST NEWSFoot and Mouth - Lessons Learnt?The final report of the "Lessons learned" inquiry has now been published, andexamines the official handling of the FMD epidemic and makes future recom-mendations based on the lessons that have been learned. Unsurprisingly, manyof the 80 recommendations coming out of the inquiry relate to animal diseaseavoidance and future outbreak strategies. However, several points are made inthe report that reinforce the views expressed by the BMC in its submission to theinquiry;

CLOSURES: the report acknowledges that "…the widespread closure of foot-

paths, with no straightforward mechanism for reopening them, was a mistake."(p. 9). The efforts of the BMC and other organisations to advise members toabide by footpath closures is noted as is the severe impact of the countrysideclosure. The BMC worked hard to negotiate for reopening and it is hoped thatmore effort would go into establishing mechanisms for this in the future.COMMUNICATION: the report notes that communications were poor in manyinstances and describes the problems that resulted. In line with the BMC recom-mendation, the need for an effective communication strategy backed by accu-rate and up to date information gets a high priority in the report.SCALE: the inability of the contingency plans to cope with an outbreak on thescale of the 2001 FMD epidemic is highlighted. Much of the report seeks toaddress these shortcomings.

One striking statistic is that the cost of the outbreak to tourism is estimated asbeing up to £3.2billion, whereas the cost to agriculture and the food industrytotals £525million. This drives home the much greater impact that was made ontourism.In some ways the publication of this report will draw a line under lastyears trauma, many will hope so. However one thing is clear, the importance oftourism to the rural economy and the place of walking and climbing in this is nowmuch more widely appreciated by policy makers for the countryside. This canonly be of benefit to recreational users. See www.fmd-lessonslearned.org.uk formore details on the inquiry and report.

How can you organize your life, getthe right information, be inspired foradventure, and help preserve theoutdoor environment? Well that’ssimple - just invest in a copy of theAdventure Yearbook 2003.

The Adventure Yearbook is an inspira-tional diary packed full of stunning im-ages and outdoor information. Featur-ing 60 of the best adventure photo-graphs from around the world contrib-uted by leading lights such as JohnBeatty, Ray Wood, Chris Bonington,Andy Cave, and Cubby Cuthbertson,plus an inspirational foreword by PaulPritchard. But it’s more than just a verystylish diary, since all BMC proceedsgo direct to ACT - the Access and Con-servation Trust, promoting access andconservation today for future climbers,hill-walkers and mountaineers.

The yearbook is available now!Priced just £14 or £12 to BMC mem-bers, see page 34 for full details.

ACT now for '03

Lowe Alpine help ACTThe ACT Art and Photography competi-tion in the previous issue was a greatsuccess (although we do admit that weprinted the winning picture back-wards!), and the BMC would like tothank Lowe Alpine for stepping in togive some great prizes to the winners.The lucky winner now has a Fitzroypack. New for this year, the Fitzroy is asuperb all-round technical mountain-eering pack for the serious mountain-eer. Second prize was an old favouriterevised for 2002, the Cragsack is asimple, slim, yet highly practical anddurable sack, great for stuffing full ofyour day’s kit, slinging on your backand heading for the hills. And not for-getting third prize, a Dryflo Zone T-shirt. The Dryflo Zone is an excitingnew base-layer, unique to Lowe Alpine,a must-have for sweaty bodies every-where! To find out more about theseand other Lowe Alpine products visittheir website at www.lowealpine.co.uk

Castle Climbing Centre joins ACTThe Access & Conservation Trust (ACT) would like to welcome the Castle ClimbingCentre as a new member. The Castle became the first wall to join the list ofcorporate members, demonstrating its commitment to the wider context in whichclimbing takes place. Patrick Bird, manager of the Castle said: “We recogniseclimbing walls bring new people into the sport, and as a result we promote ethicaland environmentally sympathetic use of the outdoor crags and mountains. Anycontribution which assists access initiatives and conservation practices can onlyhave a positive impact for all climbers.” We welcome his sentiments, and hopethat other climbing walls will follow suit.

Kendal is back on the 9th – 17th No-vember and is even bigger than everwith a superb nine day programme cel-ebrating the International Year of theMountains as part of the CumbrianMountain Festival 2002. With 50+films, 18 top lectures, photographicand art exhibitions, the A5 BritishBouldering Championship 2002/03and more, this is an event not to miss.For film fans there’s a great line up ofnew releases, a programme of goldenoldies, the UK premiere of DavidBreashears’ new IMAX Kil imanjaroalong with three other IMAX films at theRheged Centre, plus a programme ofExtreme Ski and Snow Board films. Astar studded lecturer list will celebratethe International Year of the Mountains,and 50 years on from the first ascentof Cenotaph Corner, the History of

Welsh Rock will be explored in a four-part evening lecture programme withKen Wilson, John Redhead, SimonPanton and Leo Houlding. Then on theclosing Sunday you’ll be able to hearaccounts from expeditions supportedby the BMC, MEF and Nick EstcourtAwards, and Ed February talking aboutAfrica and the politics of climbing.Weekend visitors will also be able tocatch the first round of the A5 SeriesBri t ish Boulder ing Championship,hosted by the BMC. The Festival has arange of tickets from individual lecturetickets at £6 to passes at £45. Thisyear, each lecture will have its ownticket so book early to avoid the disap-po in tment . O rde r on l ine a twww,mountainfi lm.co.uk or phone01539 725133

Kendal Film Festival 2002 set to be best yet

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Chance of a lifetime for 2003?If you’re planning an expedition or re-search study next year why not con-sider applying for the Winston Church-ill Traveling Fellowships? These areunique grants given to UK citizens fromall walks of life to undertake studyprojects overseas related to their trade,craft, or profession. Categories for2003 include Adventure, Explorationand Expedition leadership. For furtherinformation see www.wcmt.org.uk

BMC signs Racial Equality CharterOn 26th June the BMC signed the Ra-cial Equality Charter for Sport - a jointinitiative of Sport England and theCommission for Racial Equality. BMCChief Executive Dave Turnbull said, ’bysigning the Charter the BMC is makinga public commitment to remove racialdiscrimination in our sport - the BMCencourages all training providers, clubs,walls, the outdoor media etc to do theirbit and ensure the success of the Char-ter’. For full details see the website.

Women Mountains WordsThe “women who write about the out-doors” are still going strong, and havejust published their second anthology.Their next get together is on the 18th-20th October at Lineham Farm, Eccup,near Leeds, with Audrey Salkeld, thehighly experienced mountaineeringwriter as guest speaker. This is yourchance to share your writing in friendlyworkshops whether you scale greatheights or merely enjoy the view. Forfurther information email Judith Brownon [email protected]

South West Climbs ReprintSouth West Climbs, the classic selectedguide to Cornwall, Devon, Somerset,Dorset, and Jersey has been reprintedwith some new colour photos. It’s beenout of print for 9 months, so this newsshould be welcomed by all those insearch of sun, sea, and cream teasthis Autumn. Available from all goodclimbing shops or the BMC online shop.

Somervell SketchesWith reference to the comment in thearticle “High Summer” in Summit 26concerning the Somervell sketchesbeing “hidden from view in London”the Alpine Club have asked us to pointout that it is their policy to loan paint-ings, books, artifacts and other treas-ured possessions for exhibition wher-ever possible. In addition to extensivefurther loans to the Helly Hansen Na-tional Mountaineering Exhibition, theAlpine Club has also made importantloans not only within the UK, but alsoin Continental Europe and the USA inthe recent past.

SHORTS

Conville Winter CoursesWant to learn more about winter moun-taineering? Apply now for a place onone of the six Winter Conville coursesto be held in January '03. Thesecourses are designed to give youngclimbers a sound introduction to thetechniques needed for snow and ice.This includes the use of crampons andice-axes, belaying and rope work, ava-lanche assessment. The courses aresubsidised by the Jonathan ConvilleMemorial Trust, the BMC and the Scot-tish Mountain Trust. These two-daycourses are fully residential, based inArdenbeg in the Cairngorms. Applica-tion forms and further information areavai lable from the BMC off ice orwebsite. Deadline for applications isthe 15th November.

High performanceGlenmore Lodge will once again hostthe Scottish Winter Climbing Perform-ance Seminar Series. Hooking, Psych-ing and Drinking on the 25 – 27th

October has lectures and practical ses-sions looking at developing the physi-cal, mental and technical aspects ofwinter climbing, for all levels from new-comer to performer. Later on the 22 –23rd February the 3rd Scottish Win-ter Climbing Performance Seminarwill be run. Based at the Lodge this isa hill based, ‘hands on’ weekend, andhas attracted the great and the goodof Scottish winter climbing in the past.So, dust off your tools, and check outwww.glenmorelodge.org.uk/

winterseminar

for furtheri n f o rma-tion.

Ready for the white stuff?Get the skills you need for this winter season, fromhillwalking essentials to performance climbing tips.

BMC Winter LecturesIn partnership with Lowe Alpine.

Supported by BUSA, Mountain Training

Trust and Trail Magazine

Six interactive lectures illustrating theskills and techniques involved in win-ter walking, climbing and mountaineer-ing. Get a head start this winter bydiscussing your objectives as well asbeing introduced to exciting new loca-tions and itineraries. Pick up valuablegems of information on winter skillsfrom Plas y Brenin’s Helen Teasdaleand the vast experience of IFMGAGuide Andy Perkins. There will also beopportunities to quiz our experts andtry on equipment during the interval.

5th Nov - LiverpoolLiverpool Hope University College6th Nov - SheffieldSheffield Hallam University7th Nov - NewcastleUniversity of Northumbria12th Nov - SouthamptonUniversity of Southampton13th Nov - LondonUniversity College London14th Nov - BirminghamUniversity of Birmingham

Lectures start at 6.45pm. Bar avail-able at some venues. Purchase tick-ets in advance from the BMC or buyon the door. Priced £4 to BMC mem-bers / £5.50 non-members. If buyingon the door, bring your membership ormountaineering club card along. Groupbookings - for every 10 people you

book, one person goes free (pre-book ings on l y ) . De-

tailed venue infor-mation and maps

on www.thebmc.co.uk

Savage Slit, V6, Northern Corries. Credit: Ian Parnell

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8 BMC SUMMIT - ISSUE 27

Alpine Lecturer requiredAn exciting opportunity has arisen for alecturer at the BMC Alpine Lecture Se-ries. This annual event consisting of 6evening lectures to be held in March2003 is always well attended and aimsto educate and inspire both novice andexperienced alpinists alike. If you arehighly motivated with an extensive Al-pine record over many years, and haveexperience of public speaking contactIan Hey at the BMC, by 14th October.

Call for British ice women!Francoise Call is putting together ateam to explore ice routes in the Northof Norway this winter. She would beespecially keen to hear from women.To f ind out more contact her [email protected]

Scottish Hostels for £5The Scottish Youth Hostels Association(SYHA) are running a special offer tocelebrate the International Year of theMountains. Over the weekend of 4th –5th October you can stay at Braemar,Crianlarich, Glen Nevis, Glencoe, Killin,Loch Lochy, Torridon, or Ullapool for just£5pp/pn with free SYHA membershipincluded in the deal. Pre-booking is ad-vised, visit www.syha.org.uk, or call0870 155 3255.

Test Pilots Needed!This Autumn, Haglofs, Scandanavia’sleading outdoor brand launches it’s firstever European “test pilot” scheme inconjunction with Gore. 50 chosen “testpilots” will be selected and receiveproducts for testing throughout the win-ter. If you’re a serious outdoor enthu-siast and feel that you can contributeto product design and development,then apply today to become a Haglofs“test pilot” by filling in the applicationform on www.haglofs.se

Welsh Huts - Business RatesClubs with huts in Wales may claimmandato r y ru ra l ra te re l i e f a t50% in respect of business rates lev-ied on their properties under a WelshAssembly scheme. The scheme ap-plies to businesses with a rateablevalue of less than £6,000 which arelocated in rural settlements with apopu la t ion o f l ess than 3 ,000people. If you have not received thisrelief you should make a claim to therelevant local authority.

On Peak Rock RescueIn the On Peak Rock reprint, the Moun-tain Rescue advice is missing. In theevent of an accident requiring the as-sistance of Mountain Rescue, dial 999and ask for ‘POLICE - MOUNTAIN RES-CUE’.

Obituaries:John NeillEarlier this year, the climbing world andthe BMC mourned the loss of one ofits more influential figures when JohnNeill died peacefully at his home inFalmouth in May. John is probably bestremembered as BMC President (1985-1988), but this was just the culmina-tion of a long career dedicated to theoutdoors. Along with George Band andAlan Blackshaw, John was a part of LordHunt’s Alpine Climbing Group expedi-tion to the Caucasus in 1958 - thefirst expedition to climb inside the IronCurtain after WWII. A member of theClimbers Club since 1945, he actedas archivist and journal editor at a timewhen this publication was a vital re-source for new route information. Asone of the original representatives ofthe BMC Committee for Wales, Johnalso played a key role in securing ac-cess to nearly all the major crags inNorth Wales. His attention to detail re-sulted in near flawless guidebooks toTremadog, Cloggy, the Pass, Bosigran,Idwal, Chair Ladder and the Carnedds.John’s enthusiasm and dedication rep-resented a huge contribution to theclimbing world and he will be sadlymissed.

Johnnie LeesAs Summit goes to press, we learntthat Johnnie Lees passed away on the15th August. Johnnie was a pioneer ofmountain rescue in the UK and earnedthe George Medal for bravery in Brit-ish mountaineering – reckoned to bethe only honour of its kind. A full obitu-ary will appear in the next edition ofSummit.

Kilnsey boltsIt seems that the recent retrobolting ofsome routes around and including Bio-logical Need at Kilnsey hasn’t quiteworked as intended. On 28th June, aclimber working the route sat on thefourth bolt, and narrowly avoided aground fall after it (and a lower bolt)came away from the rock. After com-posing himself, the climber checkedsome other bolts close by and foundthat many of them, including the be-lays, could be turned by hand using akarabiner as a lever. Visitors should ex-ercise extreme caution in this area un-til the issue is resolved. The BMC Tech-nical Committee is currently investigat-ing in the incident which seems to be aresult of incorrectly set resin.

Malcolm Powers it upThe British Team has had an excel-lent start to the season. Membersof the Junior Team competed in Eu-ropean Youth Cups in Imst and Arco,the Boulderers have been to Fiera diPrimiero, Lecco and Chamonix, andthe leading Team have been in Cha-monix. Good results were achievedin Imst, with a final place for JemmaPowell, and Chamonix with a semifinal place for Lucy Creamer. But thebest set of results came fromMalcolm Smith, a fifth at the WorldCup in Fiera, a fantastic first atLecco and a fifth in the EuropeanChampionships in Chamonix. Andwith only three rounds of the WorldCup left Malc is currently in firstplace…

Malcolm and Cristian Core (ITA) thecurrent European champion, Chamo-nix. Credit: Wills Young.

Welcome to the IansThe BMC has recently had two addi-tions to the officer team, bringing thecomplement back up to full strengthagain. Ian Fenton is the new Youth andEquity Officer, whilst Ian Hey has beenappointed Technical, Safety and Inter-national Officer.

Competition datesThe dates have just been confirmedfor this season’s A5 Series BritishBouldering Championships and the TrollBritish Indoor Climbing Champion-ships.

A5 Series BBC ‘02/03Seniors

Round 1 - Nov 17th

The Kendal Mountain Film FestivalRound 2 - Nov 30th

Alien Rock 2, Edinburgh,Round 3 - Dec 14th

The Foundry, SheffieldJuniors

Round 1 - March 9th

Broughton Recreation Centre, Salford,Round 2 - March 15/16th

Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show, NEC

Troll BICC ‘02/03Round 1 - Jan 25th, venue tbcRound 2 - Feb 8th, venue tbcRound 3 - Feb 22nd, Awesome Walls,

Liverpool.

SHORTS

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1 0 BMC SUMMIT - ISSUE 27

ACCESS NEWS

For the latest access info onmore than 600 crags inEngland and Wales - checkout the Regional AccessDatabase (RAD) onwww.thebmc.co.uk

Grit Crampon DamageSomeone has been wrecking CadshawCastle Rocks and White House Quarryby climbing in crampons, we shouldn’thave to say it but please STOP!

Stanage – Ring Ouzel round upFive nests were found on the North Leesestate, three were successful, and withtwo nests at Burbage North a total of19 young fledged. It seems that earlymorning and evenings are crucial timeswhen the Ring Ouzel’s need peace.Also, it appears dogs are a major causeof disturbance to the birds. Keepingdogs away from nesting areas may wellprevent future calls for total closure ofStanage during nesting season.

Gibb Tor / BaldstonesStaffordshire Wildlife Trust is clearingthe forest and returning the land tomoor. As a result there will be tempo-rary footpath diversion notices over thecoming years to ensure safety duringthe operations. Please note that youshould not go directly from Gibb Tor toBaldstones or vice versa.

Rubicon Wall, Water-cum-JollyEnglish Nature have contacted theBMC to express concern about drillingat WCJ. The holes are large (18mm

Willersley: access still unresolvedAfter almost a year of problems at Willersley the BMC managed to secure ameeting with the landowners, the Arkwright Society, to discuss the prob-lems. The origins of the problems are that the owners of the Rocks, theArkwright Society, believe the BMC, or someone on behalf of the BMC, tohave stated that the Rocks were no longer safe for climbing or abseiling.

The Arkwright Society say they were not informed of this opinion by the BMCbut that it was confirmed by someone at the BMC when the Arkwright Societytelephoned on 19 July 2001.

On its part the BMC strenuously denies having made any such statement, orbeing aware that such a statement had been made by anyone acting officially orunofficially on its behalf. The BMC is however aware that a local climbing instruc-tor who had been asked to supervise a group abseil event at Willersley CastleRocks declined to supervise such an event on any natural crag for environmentaland ecological reasons, but offered instead to do so from a dedicated man-made structure. This follows BMC advice on good practice for such activities,though decisions on any event always rest with the responsible instructor.

The origins are, however, no longer of direct relevance. The current position isthat the Arkwright Society is concerned about rock stability at Willersley and itspotential liabilities in the event of an accident. The Arkwright Society is thereforereluctant to permit climbing without suitable reassurances from the BMC. TheBMC maintains that climbing is a risk activity and that participants must acceptall risks and liabilities on an individual basis. The situation remains unresolvedand in the meantime it is up to individuals to decide whether or not to visit thecrag. Anyone considering using Willersley for group abseils is advised to seek analternative venue. The BMC is still in dialogue with the Arkwright Society in amutual attempt to resolve these issues.

diameter), do not correspond to anyline and are apparently random – someare less than two feet off the ground.It appears that these holes are noth-ing to do with climbers, but please actsensitively at this SSSI

Peak Line ProjectA first stage feasibility study into there-opening of the Matlock-Buxton-Chinley rail link should begin in Sep-tember. The BMC will continue to en-sure that our views are considered.

Horseshoe (Furness) QuarryFollowing a request from the BMC, thePeak District National Park Authority isnegotiating with the multiple land in-terests to secure access for climbing.One tenure has recently changedhands, this covers all of Main Wall LH,all the Chocolate Blancmange areaplus the land above and below theseareas. There is currently no officialaccess to this part of the quarry.

Avon Gorge Fixed GearHigh July issue reported on the out-come of the Avon Gorge fixed gearopen meeting held on 24th April in Bris-tol. Concerns have been expressedthat the report did not accurately re-flect the resolution of the open meet-ing. Please note that fixed pegs at be-lays should not be replaced by (resin)bolts unless they are seriously defec-tive and cannot be replaced with newpegs and there are no adequate natu-

ral gear placements (i.e. nuts, cams,trees) at or near the stance.

Cheddar GorgeThe local access representative ChrisNewton-Goverd has managed to secureyear round access to the following onNational Trust land in the Gorge: TheWave, the Tsunami, Arch Rock, SteppedWall, Overshoot Wall, ‘Absolutely Amaz-ing Climb II’ and Hounds Bluff. Normalrestrictions apply elswhere.

Wye Valley – fencingWoodcroft Quarry has been bought bya company who are seeking planningpermission for a leisure centre. Despitereassurances that they would not in-hibit climbing access, they have beentold by their insurers that they mustfence off the quarry. They plan to fencethe entrance to Woodcroft Quarry fromthe Offa’s Dyke footpath. Access to FlyWall will still be possible from the EasyWay Down. Damage to the fence couldlead to no access for climbing.

Llanberis Ski DomeA consortium of local businesses andan Australian firm (Ski-Trac) plan tobuild a £165m development nearLlanberis. Housed in Glyn RhonwyQuarry, a rotating disc ski slope will bethe centrepiece, with a hotel andshops. This is currently awaiting plan-ning permission, which depends on anEnvironmental Impact Assessment.The traffic impact is a major concern.

Range WestThe last of the Range West briefingsfor '02 has taken place and the Rangehas opened (weekends) until January'03. However, it is now possible to bebriefed by arrangement in groups of 5or more – contact RSM Kevin Bradleyat The Castlemartin Range (01646662287). Recorded information aboutfiring times on Range East is availableon 01646 662367.

Yorkshire DalesThe Yorkshire Dales National Park Au-thority is advertising for candidates toapply for places on the Yorkshire DalesLocal Access Forum. If you are inter-ested in getting involved in access is-sues in the Dales then contact the BMCoffice.

Area updatesLANCASHIRE

PEAK DISTRICT

YORKSHIRE

SOUTH WEST

WALES

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 10:24 AM10


EQUIPMENT

An introduction to hiking boots byStuart Ingram and Berghaus.

feet first

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BMC SUMMIT - ISSUE 27 1 5

Hiking boots. Big clumpythick leather boots withbits of steel in thebottom for stiffness andred laces to match yoursocks. Unforgiving,painful things that canbe immersed in aPennine bog, scraped uprocky scree slopes andgive you blisters the sizeof a golf ball whilstthemselves remainingstubbornly unscathed.

Yes, we all know about hiking boots.Well, maybe this was the situationtwenty years ago but nowadays there’sa bewildering array of footwear tochoose from for getting active in theoutdoors. From sports sandals throughto plastic boots; they all have their placeand ideal use, but what should youlook for in your first pair?

END USEThe first factor in choosing boots is todecide the main end use. Be honestwith yourself here. Although you mayhave Himalayan dreams, do you reallyneed top of the range stiffened bootsfor your Lakeland rambles? There’s anold adage that “a pound on the feetequals ten on the back”, and heavyboots tire you out and needlessly erodemountain paths. But equally don’t un-derestimate what you can get awaywith. Mountain rescue statistics showthat year-in, year-out the most com-mon incident requiring a rescue is aslip, trip or stumble – scenarios thatmay well have been preventable witha careful choice of footwear.

Boots are generally aimed at a spe-cific type of walking. The main differ-ence is in height at the ankle and stiff-ness in the insole, which will determinethe flex of the boot - the more seriousthe walking, the higher and stiffer theboot required. If the end use will vary,then buy for the more serious activity,and consider a second set of footwearfor lower level walking. Boot arebroadly categorised into four groups,with most manufacturers adopting theratings system shown overleaf. Thisshows the suitability of each type forvarious activities, together with theircompatibility with crampons.

COMFORTOnce you have identified the right cat-egory for you, it’s time to get personal- a good fit is crucial for comfort. Spe-cialist retailers will recognise the im-portance of this and provide a profes-

sional boot fitting service going way be-yond those clunky Clarke’s foot meas-urers from your school shoe days. Ba-sically, you need a fit (both in terms oflength and width) so that there is nomovement inside to cause blisters, butsufficient room in the toe area to pre-vent bruising on downhill slopes.

Other considerations will be the heightof the ankle (can cause painful pres-sure) and the shape of the insoles.Some people may require speciallyshaped insoles such as Superfeet tocorrect the posture of the foot duringwalking and avoid excessive stress tothe foot, ankle, knees and lower back.This is most often caused by over pro-nation or supination – an exaggerationof the foot’s natural rotation duringwalking – and can be identified by yourretailer. If your shoes wear excessivelyto either side at the heel it’s likely thatyou suffer from this.

BUYING ADVICEIt’s worth shopping around for differ-ent brands and taking your time overthis decision – it will affect you everytime you go out walking! Differentmanufacturers will suit different typesof feet. Spend a lot of time gettingadvice from different places and com-pare what they are saying with articlesin the outdoor press, instructionalmanuals or manufacturers catalogues.

Try boots on in the afternoon orevening, as your feet naturally expandslightly over the course of a day. Whenyou have decided on a pair, take themhome and wear them around in thehouse for a few days before using themoutside. This should identify any dis-comfort which may develop into a realproblem on a long hike. Most retailerswill allow you to return the boots overthis test period as long as they haven’tbeen used outside.

FABRIC OR LEATHER?There are a number of factors youshould cons ider before dec id ingwhether you want boots made out ofleather or fabric. You may be limitedby your range of activity. For example,if you are walking in winter, requiringcrampon compatibility or do a lot ofrocky scrambling, then fabric boots areeminently unsuitable.

Generally, leather boots are tougherand more durable whilst fabric bootsare more breathable (cooler & lighter)and more comfortable. Leather is notactually waterproof but it is very waterresistant and thick leather with a goodtanning treatment will keep out waterall day long.

Fabric boots often incorporate a fullywaterproof and breathable lining, butcare must be taken in use to avoiddamaging this (a stone in your shoe, ifleft may puncture a lining). If visiting a

t FEATURES

Here are some of the more impor-tant features to look for:

Padded ankle Cuffs – Soft paddinghere can make all the difference tocomfort.

Locking lace hooks – Allows lacingtension to vary between the top andbottom of the boot, which can some-times increase comfort.

Dual Density Sole – The outer solerubber is hard for durability and theupper layer is soft to provide impactabsorbency. This is especially impor-tant if walking on hard paths androads. EVA or other soft compoundslike PU can be used in the construc-tion to add to impact absorbency.

Midsole or Shank – This will usuallybe made from nylon or fibreglassand is present within the sole to givestiffness and lateral rigidity.

CARE AND REPAIR

Never store the boots wet – thiscan lead to rotting. Equally impor-tant, never force-dry your boots (e.g.in front of a fire) as this will ruin theconditioning of the boot uppers andcause it to become dry, brittle androck hard. Instead, stuff them withnewspaper and allow to dry natu-rally at room temperature.

With leather boots clean and waxafter every couple of uses, or if stor-ing long term. Use a recognisedproduct specifically for hiking boots– your retailer will be able to advise.

With fabric boots, clean and re-proof with a proprietary spray afterevery use. It is important to keepthe exterior suede/cordura highlywater repellent to allow the breath-able liner (if present) to do its job.

Consider a pair of waterproof gai-ters. Not only will they keep your feetdrier, they will also absorb some ofthe abrasion that occurs, increasingthe lifetime of your boots.

Re-soling of boots once the rubberhas worn out is now possible withmost models, and is considerablycheaper than buying a brand newpair. Most retailers can recommenda good company.

(LEFT) Neil Gresham and Tim Emmettbattling through the snow in light-weight winter boots. Credit: Ian Parnell

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 10:26 AM15


hot climate it may be worth consider-ing an unlined fabric boot for maximumbreathability.

OTHER OPTIONSThese days the traditional boot is notthe only option for hiking, although wewould always recommend boots froma safety point of view. Other types offootwear simply don’t provide the sup-port, protection and durability of aboot, but can have their uses in cer-tain situations.

Approach shoes – basically beefy train-ers, these can be used for lighter hik-ing on graded paths, but beware of thelack of ankle support and be preparedfor them to wear out fairly quickly!

X-training shoes – this includes all typesof trail running, multi activity and“event” footwear. Usually very light-weight and fast drying, they are moreaimed at fell runners and mountainmarathoners than hikers, but light-weight enthusiasts may want to con-sider them

Sports sandals – Not really recom-mended for any kind of hiking, but canbe very useful in hot climates.

BOOTS AND CRAMPONSCrampons are a set of metal spikesthat can be fitted to boots, givinggreater security when walking oversnow and ice. To be suitable for usewith crampons, hiking boots need tohave a semi-stiffened midsole (allow-ing just a slight flex), a thick leatherupper and a high ankle for supportagainst increased leverage – cramponscan add about an inch to your height.This type of boot is described by theB1 category, are is the absolute mini-mum you must consider for use withcrampons. More advanced models willinclude fully stiffened soles, welts forclip-on crampon bindings and higherankle profiles. At the top of the spec-trum are fully rigid technical climbingboots. These are designed specificallyfor hard mixed or ice climbing but canbe uncomfortable and difficult to fit.

SOCKSSocks are a very important part of themodern footwear system. If chosenwrongly, they can cause blisters anddiscomfort just as well as ill-fittingboots! Avoid cotton fabric, as this willretain moisture from sweat causingyour skin to become clammy and sus-ceptible to rubbing from the boot. Mostmanufacturers make a variety of socksin modern “wicking” fabrics to help pre-vent this, although if you anticipate coldconditions, good quality wool socks arewarmer and can still be best, especiallyif worn with a thin wicking liner sock.

Make sure the sock fits snugly (con-sider buying a size or two down fromusual) to prevent creasing of the ma-terial causing painful ridges and pres-sure points that may rub the skin. Wearfreshly laundered, dry socks wheneverpossible – take a spare pair and usethem towards the end of the day – yourfeet will appreciate the difference thismakes no end!

Many thanks to Berghaus for theirhelp writing this article. Find outmore about their range of boots atwww.berghaus.co.uk

EQUIPMENT

This version of the comparisontable courtesy of Scarpa Boots

BOOT - CRAMPON COMPATIBILITY GUIDE

(RIGHT) Neil Gresham using B3technical boots and well fittingcrampons. Credit: Ian Parnell.

BOOTS

B0 Unsuitable for crampons.Most walking boots are designedto flex for comfort and do nothave sufficient lateral andlongitudinal rigidity in theirmidsole. Additionally the upperis often made of soft calf leatheror a combination of suede/fabricwhich compresses easily undercrampon straps c a u s i n gdiscomfort and cold feet.

B1 Suitable for the easiestsnow and ice conditions foundwhen hill walking, using cramponsmore for emergency or forcrossing a short patch of snow orice, rather than setting initiallyfitted for a full day's walk. Theyhave a reasonably stiff flexingsole and the uppers provideenough ankle and foot supportfor traversing relatively steepslopes.

B2 A stiff flex boot with theequivalent of a three quarter orfull shank midsole and asupportive upper made from highquality leather (probably over3mm thick). These boots designedfor four season mountaineering,can be used all day withcrampons, whilst easy alpineterrain and easy Scottish snowand ice climbs can also becovered.

B3 A technical boot regardedas “rigid” both in midsole andupper. Used for mountaineeringand ice climbing.

CRAMPONS

C1 A flexible walking cramponattached with straps, with orwithout front points.

C2 Articulated multi-purposecrampons with front points.Attached with straps all round orstraps at the front (ideally with aFrench ring system) and clip-onheel.

C3 Articulated climbing or fullyrigid technical crampon attachedby full clip-on system of toe barand heel clip.

Boots in the B3 category areideal for C3 crampons andwill also take C2 and C1. Atthe other end of the spectruma Bl boot could only berecommended with a C1crampon.

It should be stressed that thisis only a guide and shouldbe used as a supplement forgood advice fromexperienced shop staff,experienced mountaineers ormountain guides.

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 06/09/2002, 11:32 AM16


Jamie Andrews reports on the BMCInternational Meet 2002.

BREAKINGBARRIERS

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It was with slightly mixed emotions that I set offon the 3rd of May for the long drive fromEdinburgh down to Plas y Brenin in North

Wales, venue for the BMC International Meet. Apartfrom at the local wall, it had been a long time sinceI’d done a significant amount of rock climbing, andI was worried that I just wasn’t going to be up to it.Moreover, as a disabled climber, I was slightlyconcerned that I might end up being the ‘token’disabled guy, left in the sidelines all week only tobe paraded out for a group photo at the end inorder to ensure that the BMC fulfilled its officialequality charter.

But my fears couldn’t have been more unfounded. With afull week of perfect weather (yes there was some goodweather this summer – did you blink?), a large contingent ofrock hungry climbers from around the globe, and an equalnumber of equally enthusiastic host climbers from the UK,the meet could hardly fail to have been a success.

Each day the full fleet of packed minibuses pulled out ofthe Brenin car park and scattered to the many diverse climb-ing areas of North Wales: The Pass, Idwal, Tremadog,Gogarth, The Ormes, the slate quarries. Literally hundredsof climbs were accomplished across the board of difficultyand climbing styles, from lonely mountain routes on CyrnLas to boulder problems in top secret locations, wave sweptmonsters on Gogarth to sunny sports climbs at Pen Trwyn,and from the ever popular favourites on Idwal Slabs to moreesoteric desperates on Dinas Cromlech.

Many climbers took advantage of a bit of insider knowl-edge from veteran activist Pat Littlejohn who led raidingparties to the Lleyn Peninsular where dozens of new routeswere put up, many of outstanding quality apparently, al-

though accounts of vertical rubble and falling fridge-sizedrocks would be enough to put most sane people off.

But despite all this cutting edge activity, most of thosepresent on the meet will agree that it wasn’t the ascents ofhigh grade climbs that really had people’s heads turning. Infact the most impressive ascents of the week occurred mainlyin the lower grades. The theme of this year’s meet was“breaking barriers” and it was good to see that the organis-ers of the meet had made a special effort to invite disabledclimbers from around the world to participate. It was thephysical barriers overcome by these various disabled climb-ers, and their companions, that was perhaps the greatesttopic of talk at the dining tables and at the bar each evening.

Davoud Salimabadi-Farahani from Iran was one of thedisabled climbers present. Blown up by a landmine duringthe Iran-Iraq war, Davoud was lucky to escape with his life.Blind in one eye, missing one leg below the knee, horrificscars all over his remaining limbs and with dozens of piecesof shrapnel still lodged in his body, Davoud continues hissporting lifestyle. Apart from going climbing Davoud wres-tles, paraglides, plays basketball, and is a black belt in judo.He was most impressed with the climbing in North Walesand made ascents of many routes, including Tennis Shoe(HS), Rap on Gogarth (VS) and Valerie’s Rib (HS).

Mats Tegner from Sweden has cerebral palsy, which makeseven walking on a level surface very difficult for him. Never-theless Mats struggled doggedly to the foot of several cragsand made some very fine climbs, the most impressive ofwhich was a complete ascent of Tennis Shoe on the IdwalSlabs (HS). Mats claims to be Sweden’s only disabledclimber so hopefully his success will help encourage others.

Tristan Firman from South Africa was born with a witheredright arm but he hasn’t let this setback hamper his climbingcareer. Using the withered arm for balance, and crankinglike mad with the good arm, he somehow manages to leadup to E2, a feat which defies many fully able climbers. Hisascents on this meet included Falcon (E2) at Tremadog andCenotaph Corner (E1) in The Pass.

Spaniard Ivan German lost a leg above the knee in amotorcycle accident several years ago. This handicap, how-ever, is no match for Ivan’s powerful enthusiasm, and hewill happily hop his way up any route his partner cares tolead.

"Blind in one eye, missing one leg belowthe knee, horrific scars all over hisremaining limbs and with dozens of piecesof shrapnel still lodged in his body, Davoudcontinues his sporting lifestyle. Apart fromgoing climbing Davoud wrestles,paraglides, plays basketball, and is ablack belt in judo "

(OPPOSITE) Jamie Andrews getting stuck into some Christ-mas Curry at Tremadog. Credit: Payne. (TOP LEFT) JaninaKayhko from Finland at Porth Ysgol. (BELOW) Lauma Kazusaand Arta Millere from Latvia get to grips with Brown's Man-tle, Cromlech boulders. Both credit: Alex Messenger

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 06/09/2002, 11:35 AM21


INTERNATIONAL MEETSKILLS

Ivan’s hardest climb on the meet was seconding DaveMusgrove junior on the extremely strenuous Strike (E3) atGogarth, but perhaps more impressive was his ascent ofCenotaph Corner. Quite how you hop up a route that is120 feet of difficult bridging, I don’t know!

Hunza Riha from the Czech Republic is totally blind. De-spite this he managed to feel his way up some remarkablydifficult climbs. The most heart-stopping of these was theclassic Dream of White Horses (HVS) which Hunza balancedacross with apparent ease, seeming to find the hand andfootholds purely by instinct. For directions Hunza relies to agreat extent on shouted instructions from his climbing part-ners. On Dream, adrift in the middle of that vast slab ofrock, with the noise of the sea crashing constantly below,he must have felt very alone.

And of course the BMC sent its very own disabled envoy inthe form of President Dave Musgrove, whose left hand wasunfortunately shortened by a falling block five years ago,although I’m not sure it’s quite fair to call someone who canclimb E5 on Yorkshire Grit disabled!

And so encouraged by this wealth of inspiring characters Ifelt compelled myself to push back the boundaries of whatI had so far attempted on rock since my accident. Havingno hands and feet could be regarded as a reasonable in-convenience when it comes to rock climbing, but it is not asmany might assume, a complete preclusion. Modern pros-thetic legs are lightweight and functional, and whilst theyare insensitive and inflexible, if you can get the foot onto afoothold it will generally stay there. It’s a bit like climbing ina pair of rigid, high ankle plastic boots.

The lack of hands is a bigger problem. They are kind offundamental to the whole thing. Nevertheless I am blessedwith a quality pair of stumps which I have trained to bestrong and tough. Being articulated by means of the elbowsand still further by the shoulders, my stumps have provedto be useful and versatile tools with which I can hook, jam,torque, undercling, and perform various other devious ma-

noeuvres. It hurts like buggery though. I can’t come upwith a precise simile but imagine climbing with a pair of ice-axe shafts. No picks or adzes, just the shafts.

Anyway, armed with a selection of new techniques de-vised and practised over the winter at the Edinburgh Wall,and following in the wake of the ridiculously optimistic RogerPayne, I set out on a mission to push the grades.

Hope (VD) on Idwal Slabs seemed like a reasonable start,although the horribly slippy twin cracks pitch caused sometrouble. I had hardly had time for a bite of my Brenin packedlunch when Roger slingshotted on up Lazarus, a difficultsevere with an appropriate name in the circumstances. Tomy surprise I heaved my way successfully to the top.

I might have sat back and rested on my laurels at thispoint but Roger once again had other ideas. The next day Ifound myself abseiling nervously into the halfway ledge onCastell Helen. The easiest way out of this spectacular spotis by the steep top pitch of Pel which goes at VS 4b. Wemanaged to split the pitch into three micro-pitches each ofwhich put up a hell of a fight but eventually I found myselfsprawled back at the top of the crag feeling once again ontop of the world. On a roll now I continued for the rest of theweek to struggle up severe and hard-severe pitches atTremadog and in The Pass, but it was the final day of themeet which provided a fitting climax.

Dave Musgrove, Ivan German and myself decided to teamup for an all-disabled assault on a neglected Gogarth clas-sic. An old favourite of Dave’s from his younger days, BloodyChimney is a steep VS testpiece which lives up to its name.The first pitch, given a technical grade of 4c, is a belligerentand unyielding off-width crack which would more rightly bedescribed as ungradeable.

Dave led up it smoothly enough but when it came to myturn to second I soon found that I was in for a battle. Everyinch of altitude was gained at the cost of much struggling,sweating, spitting and kicking. Sometimes it seemed thatfor minutes at a time I was peddling and clawing andthrutching for all my might only to find myself sliding slowlyback down the crack. Eventually, however, after well overan hour of continuous effort, I arrived on the belay ledge,blue-faced and cursing.

Ivan, damn him, hopped onto the stance a few minuteslater, politely saying how hard he’d found it.

The second pitch was a good, old-fashioned exercise inback-and-footing, deep in the bowls of the chimney. I man-aged this pitch with a bit more finesse but was put to shameonce again by Ivan who strolled effortlessly up it as if asecond leg would only have got in the way.

The third pitch, once again graded 4c, was a more relaxedbut technically harder exercise in bridging up an open cor-ner which disappeared in an exhausted blur and suddenly itwas all over.

We were at the top, spread-eagled in the heather and thecampion and the sea-pinks, basking in the afternoon sun-light, and I suddenly realised that my disability didn’t matteranymore. Nor did Ivan’s, nor did Dave’s. All that matteredwas that I was in the company of good friends, in a beauti-ful spot, with lovely weather, having a great day out on thecrag. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it?

The theme of this year's meet was “breaking barriers”and I’ve talked mainly about the physical barriers thatwere broken. Barriers of course can be racial, cultural,social, mental, financial or many other things and thesefactors all play their part in excluding people from par-ticipating in climbing and mountaineering. It would begreat in future to see a policy of total inclusion appliedthroughout our sport as a matter of course, not just asan annual theme. The mountains are there to be enjoyedby all. And finally big thanks to all the hosts, the staffat PyB and everyone at the BMC for making the meetsuch a success.

No hands, no feet, no barriers. Jamie at Tremadog. Credit Payne.

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 1:21 PM22


ACT UPDATEACT - to improve access and protect thecliff and mountain environment forclimbers, hill walkers and mountaineers.

The Access & Conservation Trust (ACT) would like to thankeveryone who has made a donation. ACT relies on the gen-erosity of its corporate and individual members, and it hasmeant that we’ve been able to help fund a number of im-portant projects with more exciting ones in the pipeline. It isheartening to see the level of commitment to the environ-ment our members demonstrate.

Ideas for projects come from a variety of sources, and weare always keen to hear of new ones. Let us know if there issomething in your area that you feel fits our ethos of fund-ing work. Over the last few months, ACT has contributed toa number of projects initiated by the BMC, the Mountain-eering Council of Scotland (MCofS) and the Mountaineer-ing Council of Ireland (MCI).

Recent projects��Printing of the BMC Access Focus & Seasonal Restric-

tions 2002 leaflet��Production of six panels to celebrate UN InternationalYear of Mountains 2002 and the Cumbria Mountain Festi-val, in partnership with the BMC, the Lake District NationalPark Authority, English Nature, the National Trust and United��The MCofS’s reprint of the UIAA Summit Charter��Path repair work at Castle Rock in the Lake District inpartnership with United Utilities and the Fell and Rock Climb-ing Club.

Future projectsThe following projects are in the pipeline:

�� ACT is to support this year’s Uplands Path AdvisoryGroup conference in Pitlochry, Scotland. Central to the con-ference is a seminar to advocate the need for investment inhigh-quality solutions to upland footpath damage.��ACT is planning to support the BMC’s conservation cam-paign to promote good bouldering practice. The campaignwill use posters featuring aficionados and a simple code ofgood practice to target bouldering activists.��At the sensitive climbing site of Portland in Dorset, ACTwill contribute financially to the production of interpretationpanels. These will explain the importance of cliff flora andfauna, and give advice on general conservation issues, alongwith specific information about bird nesting restrictions.�� ACT has also offered partial funding to an ambitiousproject to research the impact of climbers on rural econo-mies. The research seeks to assess the economic and non-monetary contributions made by hill walkers and climbers.

Corporate membersACT would like to thank the following corporate members:

Berghaus

Blue Peris Mountain Centre

BMC Guidebooks

Castle Climbing Centre

Climbers’ Club

DMM

First Ascent

Graham Tiso

GreenShires Publishing

MLTB

OIA

Plas y Brenin

Rockfax

Summit Financial Services

Yorkshire Mountaineering Club

Contribute to projects like this - ACT helped fundthe new descent path from Castle Rock in the Lakes.

Fund raisingIn order to raise money for our projects, we would like tomake donating as easy and as tax efficient as possible.There are a number of schemes in place for those whowant to make an ongoing contribution to the work we do.

PAYE: One of the best ways to make a regular small giftis via PAYE where money comes directly out of yourmonthly pay packet. It is deducted before tax is calcu-lated so you don’t pay tax on the money you donate.Until April 2003, the Government will also contribute afurther 10% of your donation.

Direct Debit: Rather than make a single donation, somepeople pledge a small amount every month using a di-rect debit.

Gift Aid: If you are a UK taxpayer, you can redirect thetax you’ve already paid on donations to charity by tickingthe Gift Aid box on the donation form. As such, eachdonation you make is worth 28% more to us.

Legacies: Making a will is something many shy awayfrom, but if you die before making a will, those you loveare left with little security and added stress. Making a willis usually not difficult or expensive. and in addition todependants, many people make bequests to organisa-tions that have been important to them. Making a gift toACT will allow us to continue to protect the environmentand ensure that climbers and walkers in the future canenjoy it. It will also reduce the tax burden on your benefi-ciaries, as the money donated will be deducted fromyour estate before inheritance tax is calculated. You canmake a will without professional help, but it is far betterto use a solicitor.

For more informationContact ACT at: 177-179 Burton Road, Manchester M202BB, Tel: 0870 0104878, Fax: 0161 445 [email protected], www.accesstrust.org.uk

Registered Charity Number: 1089516

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 12/09/2002, 1:50 PM24


River crossings are not normally sought afterexperiences, but sometimes it becomes necessaryto mix it up with the wet stuff. We’re generally luckyin the UK, being well supplied by a network ofbridges but in remote areas it can be difficult toavoid crossings. So what can you do?

Plan to avoidAvoidance is always better than the cure and when headingto remote areas optimise your plans to keep the chance ofriver crossings to a minimum. Check the forecast – is itgoing to rain, and if so what’s the likely duration and inten-sity of the rainfall? This is closely related to current waterlevels and ground condition; waterlogged ground will beunable to soak up any additional water, so further rainfallwill run off into a myriad of small streams turning previouslybenign rivers into raging torrents. The gradient of the terrainwill exacerbate this, as anyone who’s pitched a tent in a dryhollow and woken up in a lake will testify. Hard packed ground(baked, frozen, or continuous rock) will also cause immedi-ate run off. But perhaps the most dramatic changes arecaused by melt water. In the Alps and further afield springmelt waters can produce enormously destructive torrents,and this can also occur in the UK, especially if combinedwith heavy rainfall and semi-frozen ground. Don’t overlookhuman intervention either; if there’s a hydro scheme in thearea the releases will cause severe fluctuations in river level,so watch out for any signs or local warnings.

How to reach the other bank withPlas y Brenin

WET & WILD

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 06/09/2002, 11:41 AM26

Deciding whether to crossBut if the best laid plans fall apart and you come face toface with a river, don’t dash in, first consider your options:

��Change the route plan – do you really have to cross it?��Find a bridge! Consider even if it’s a long walk��Wait. Mountain streams can both rise and fall quickly.But make a note of present water levels and remember thatthere can be a time lag of several hours between rainfalland rivers rising.��Look at the map. Check for braiding where the riverdivides into many shallow channels, narrow tributaries,easier gradients, lake inflows or outflows.

Think about these alternatives and consider if they areactually feasible. A long walk upstream at the end of daymay be just too tiring.

HazardsRemember that crossing can be far from simple. Whenweighing it up in your head think about the hazards:

��Cold water - You lose body heat 25-30 times faster inwater than in air.��The riverbed is likely to be slippy and awkward increas-ing the chances of a fall and being swept away. If the wateris cloudy you won’t be able to see the bottom.� Downstream obstacles; fal len trees, overhangingbranches, boulder chokes, waterfalls - all manner of thingsto fall over or get trapped against.�� Water flow – it can be alarmingly fast and difficult to getout of, particularly near the banks where the current tendsto push swimmers back in to the central flow.��Mountaineering equipment is not designed with swiftwater in mind, and will severely impede swimming.

If things go wrong with a crossing there can be many prob-lems to deal with, such as a split party with some memberscarried downstream, cold, wet, immersion, hypothermia,falling morale, loss of equipment and injury.

Site AssessmentThe bottom line is that it’s important to choose a site with asafe run out should things go wrong and someone ends upswimming. The site should be:

��Safe - identify the downstream hazards.��Shallow - anything above mid thigh can push you over,unless it is very slow moving.��Narrow - means that you are at risk for less time, butbeware it could be deep and fast��Slow - reduces the chances of being knocked over andwashed away. A cubic metre of water weighs a tonne!��Escapable - make sure its possible to get out on theother side before committing yourself.

PreparationOnce a decision has been made to cross, make sure every-one knows the score. If the method of crossing is complex,do a dry run. Rucksack straps should be loosened, chestand hip belts undone and tucked away. Ideally only oneshoulder strap should be used. If someone does swim therucksack is likely to float for a while, particularly if things arepacked in poly bags . It will then become a useful flotationaid. Boots should usually be worn with socks so that they fitwell, and wet socks can be rung out later. Loose trousersand over-trousers will hinder movement and should be re-moved, although gaiters can protect the lower leg. Ski polesare very useful, acting as stabilisers, but make sure theyare secure and remove the baskets to reduce snagging.

CROSSING TECHNIQUES

Single PersonA single person can cross astream on their own, this has theadvantage that only one personis put at risk at any one time.However little support can begained. Ski poles will help, youshould face upstream, whilstleaning on the pole. Move onepoint at a time, and try to keepone foot behind the other mov-ing along side ways like a crab.You may find it easier if you haveyour back slightly towards the bank to which you wish to go,giving a ‘ferry glide’ effect.

Group MethodsMost people will opt to cross as a group. These group meth-ods require an appointed leader to co-ordinate movement.In a formal leadership situation it may be appropriate forthe leader to accompany each group, although this doeshave implications for the leaders return journey. A dry runensures that everyone knows what they are expected to do.

Line AsternThe key to wading is to presentas small as surface area to thecurrent as possible. In thismethod the front person issupported by the people be-hind, who push downwards aswell as supporting. This less-ens the chances of the lead-ers feet being washed from under them. Other membersare protected by the eddy created by the leader.

The Group WedgeThis technique requires the big-gest and the strongest people atthe apex of the wedge, wherethey make a very effective eddybehind them. The rest of thegroup are protected from themain force of the current and cancross in relative ease. At leastthree people are needed.

People PivotThis strategy works well inbouldery rivers. Make a tripodfacing each other, as one per-son gains a good footing theymake a secure anchor whilstthe other team members ro-tate around them until a se-cure position can be found byanother person. Rotat ingaround them in turn. A group member is vulnerable to thecurrent of the river when they are facing downstream.

(LEFT TOP) Jaj Kang river crossing in Zanskar. Credit: SebMankelow. (LEFT BOTTOM) Al Powell crossing a feisty streamin the Indian Garhwhal Himalaya, with Pete Benson think-ing about attempting to help him out. Credit: Ian Parnell.Note in both cases the facing upstream and use of ski poles.


40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 3:23 PM27

SKILLS

Roped CrossingsOnly use a rope as a last resort since it provides a veryeffective way of drowning someone if used inappropriately.Climbing rope will sink and be affected by currents, so if therope becomes slack the risk of entanglement is high. Toreduce the risk avoid tying off the rope to an anchor, tyinginto the rope, or allowing it to drop into the water. Tradition-ally the Open Loop method was used to safeguard cross-ings, but this is rather complicated. A better method is theV-Lower, based on a white water rescue technique and taughtand used in Scotland for a number of years with consider-able success. The V-Lower is easy to explain to novices, hasno knots to snag, and offers good support. It can be brokendown into five stages (see right).

SwimmingIf someone ends up swimming it is vital that they keep theirfeet up and swim with their feet downstream, on their backs.This is termed defensive swimming. The aim is to minimisethe risk of trapping a foot on the riverbed with fatal conse-quences - anybody who is knocked over with a trapped footwill find it very difficult or even impossible to lift their headout of the water. Try to swim passively when in tricky waterthen use a positive approach when swimming to the bank inan eddy or slow moving section.

Find out moreTwo new videos about the dangers of mountain streamsand rivers are now available: Water Hazards in the Moun-tains and Water Safety for Walkers.

The videos have been produced to raise awareness of thedangers of mountain streams and rivers and the informa-tion and skills provided include crossing in easy summerconditions, changes that occur in water levels after rain orsnowmelt, pre-planning (studying maps and weather fore-casts), choosing a safe place to cross while on the hill andwhen not to attempt crossing. Launched by the Duke ofYork, the videos feature volunteers from the mountaineer-ing fraternity and a twenty minute narration by CameronMcNeish.

Water Hazards in the MountainsThis contains recognised methods of

crossing rivers and fast flowing streams

as recommended by the Mountain

Training Boards and aims to help with

the training of those on Mountain

Leader courses as well as mountain-

eers and clubs operating in remote or

serious terrain.

Water Safety for WalkersThis video aims to help with the train-

ing of Duke of Edinburgh’s expedition

groups, youth groups on hill walks,

school pupils undertaking adventure

activities and walking group leaders in

lower hill country.

The videos cost £4.95 each (includingp&p) and are available from The Moun-taineering Council of Scotland, The Old

Granary, West Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5QP. Tel: 01738638227, Web: www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk

THE V-LOWER

Stage 1A offers support to Bduring crossing using awaist belay with an ad-ditional person secur-ing the Belayer. A andB are the first and lastto cross and shouldtherefore be the big-gest , st rongest andmost competent . Bholds the rope, which has a knot in the end to increase grip.An overhand knot is ideal but the loop formed should besmall so that a hand cannot pass through it and risk entan-glement.

Stage 2A and B position them-selves opposite eachother and equalise therope . I t i s recom-mended that B untiethe knot from the endof the rope. A could tiea small, simple knot inthe middle of the rope.

Stage 3Should C slip then Apays out more rope andB allows C to swing into the bank. B shouldbe aware that too muchtension may lead to Cbeing planed underwa-ter. Gently paying outthe rope as C swings inshould reduce this fromhappening. The person in the water ( C ) can hold onto therope in two ways:

1) hold onto the downstream side. The greatest support will

then shift from one bank to the other as C crosses. If in

difficulty C can simply let go and swim for it if necessary.

Again a small knot may help with grip.

2) Get inside the rope i.e. on the upstream side and have

the rope running behind you. This offers more support and

makes it slightly easier to swing someone in if they lose

their footing. However it increases the risk of entanglement,

as it may be difficult to duck under the loop, particularly

when wearing a rucksack.

Stage 4As the party crosses,individuals should pro-vide back-ups to thebelayers and offer as-sistance to the personin the water as they getout onto the bank.They should also beready to help if thingsgo wrong.

Stage 5A is the last person and can reverse step one.


40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 06/09/2002, 11:50 AM28


Portland - a Site of Special Scientific Interest(SSSI), a candidate for a European SpecialArea of Conservation (SAC) and now a World

Heritage site. So what does this mean? Is climbingon Portland under threat from these conservationdesignations? BMC Access Officer and residentgeologist Clare Bond investigates.

WHY WORRY?In 1999 the Government announced that the Dorset andEast Devon Coast would be one of 25 cultural and naturalsites on the UK’s list for nomination for World Heritage sta-tus. The UK and its Overseas Territories already had 18sites on the World Heritage List. Of these only two werenatural sites within the UK, St Kilda and the Giant’s Cause-way, but in December 2001 the Dorset and East DevonCoast became the third. But with climbing banned on StKilda (albeit under review with a management change onthe cards) and this new World Heritage Site containing someof Dorset’s prime climbing sites, should climbers be em-bracing this new found status?

WHY'S IT SPECIAL ANYWAY?The Dorset and East Devon Coast is world renowned for itsearth science. The coast provides almost continual and ac-cessible rock exposure, which documents 185 million yearsof Earth History. The coast is famous for its Triassic, Jurassicand Cretaceous rocks and in particular the fossils containedwithin them. The sequence of rocks covers almost the en-tire Mesozoic Era, rocks deposited between 251-66 millionyears ago. The 95-mile stretch of coastline was alreadyprotected by 13 geological SSSI and now World Heritagestatus adds value to these conservation designations.

Portland itself is made from rock laid down during theJurassic between 205 -135 million years ago, and is thetype locality (place where it was first described) for a rocksequence known as the Portlandian Stage. The cliffs con-tain sedimentary layering, fossils and rock types of interna-

tional importance which have been studied since the Victo-rian times. Fossils of ammonites (shellfish) are found withinthe Portlandian Stage and provide a unique record of theevolution of a particular group of ammonites. These shellfishwere large, often reaching diameters of up to 1m. The fossilsof Jurassic land living dinosaurs found in America and Tanza-nia may be better known than those of the Portlandian, butthe Portlandian sequence of Dorset contains the World’s bestexamples of marine reptiles of this age.

THE MODERN DAYHowever as most of you will know Portland is not only hometo ancient crocodiles but also to some of the UK’s sunniestsports climbs, limestone cliff flora, nesting sea bird coloniesand the Peregrine Falcon. The Portland Rock Forum - not ameeting of the great and good of geology - but a liaisonmeeting between local climbers, the BMC, and conserva-tion bodies has been meeting on and off for several years.The Portland Rock Forum agrees bird-nesting restrictionsand deals with any conservation or access issues that ariserelated to climbing on Portland’s sea cliffs.

However, with a period of time when there was no PortlandRanger and local climbing activist, BMC access rep andclimbing shop owner Neal Heanes, had literally shut up shopand gone on holiday, there was what can be best describedas a lack of communication. This unfortunately seemed tocoincide with changes in the nesting patterns of Portland’sresident Peregrines and incitement in the local press aboutclimbers scaring seagulls into Weymouth!

Thankfully Neal returned, unfortunately not re-opening hisshop, and Dorset County Council appointed a new warden,Liza Cole. Liza brought to the job lots of experience of work-ing with climbers having been the warden on Lundy for manyyears and before that the ranger at South Stack, Anglesey.After several phone calls and conversations with Liza andthe Police Wildlife Liaison Officer the Portland Rock Forumwas re-born and met on a very sunny day in May at thePortland Bird Observatory. It was an amicable meeting giventhe issues on the agenda, one of those positive up-beat

JURASSIC PARK

(TOP) Alex Dennis on The Price of Silence F6a, BattleshipBack Cliff. Credit: Steve Taylor

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 4:04 PM30


access and conservation meetings that I enjoy attending –believe me they are not always so amicable! Quite oftenthese meetings are purely a means of starting a line ofcommunication, sharing understanding of the issues andcoming up with management solutions. A small group thengo away and work on implementing the solutions. Unfortu-nately Richard Edmonds, the Earth Science Manager forthe World Heritage Site could not attend the meeting, butsent the following statement to Liza Cole -"I do not have

any concerns that climbing would cause significant damage

to the World Heritage Site".

A promising view for management of other World HeritageSites and I suspect an acknowledgement that the site ismore likely to be threatened by fossil collection rather thanclimbers - who generally prefer their rock intact! Having gotconcerns over the new World Heritage status out of the way,the meeting focused on damage to limestone cliff vegeta-tion and probably the most emotive item on the agenda,disturbance of the Peregrine Falcons. Portland has threeagreed sanctuary zones (see map right) where climbing doesnot take place. It was agreed that there had been no climb-ing incursions into these zones, nor were there likely to be.The main areas of concern were the zones of seasonal nest-ing restrictions, particularly those at Wallsend where therewas still some confusion as to the location of the Peregrinesnest this year. It was agreed that the ‘bolt clamps’ had notworked and should be replaced by a series of measures toget the correct information out to climbers in as many medi-ums as possible, since all the bodies agreed that climbinggenerally only took place in restricted areas out of igno-rance rather than by deliberate action.

FUTURE PLANS:As a result the following actions have been agreed:- Interpretation boards at the main access points describ-ing the conservation interests.- Signs at the base of, or the approach, to routes detailingthe routes affected and the duration of the restriction.- All remaining clamps on bolts to be removed.- Removal of bolts on the slab in the ‘Neddyfields’ area toprotect the Portland Sea Lavender (Limonium recurverum)

- Updating of the leaflet, which was previously available atthe local climbing shop, and distribute to other local shops,campsites etc.- Place leaflet as a pdf on the BMC website.- Update the Regional Access Database annually.

It is hoped that ACT, the new Access and ConservationTrust formed from the BMC, the MCofS and the MCI (seep.24) will part fund the project. Of course all this involveswork by local volunteers to check routes and to work withthe local ranger to keep the information up to date and tosign the routes. Thanks to all those who have been involved– keeping the communication between the different inter-est groups is the key to success and ensures a positiveimage of climbers by conservation bodies.

MORE INFORMATION

PORTLAND: RESTRICTED AREAS

ST KILDA - THE STORY

www.jurassiccoast.comThe official website for the World Heritage site

www.heritagecoast.orgMore earth science info

www.unesco.org/whc/heritage.htmThe official list of the 730 World Heritage sites

www.portlandbirdobs.btinternet.co.ukPortland’s birds and more

www.dorset-climbing.netClimbing in dorset

www.thebmc.co.uk/outdoor/rad/rad.aspBMC Regional Access Database (RAD)

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St Kilda is one of the remotest andspectacular places in the UK lying70km west of Scotland’s WesternIsles. It is owned by the NationalTrust for Scotland (NTS), but whenit gained World Heritage Status in1987 for its stunning cliffs and im-portant sea bird colonies the NTSleased the management to ScottishNatural Heritage (SNH). SNH intro-duced byelaws which ban climbingand curiously ‘solo-walking’. Lawswhich are not exactly in line withcurrent access legislation and Scot-land’s image as a wild land whereone can walk across the hills infreedom. The NTS are now re-claim-ing management of the site and arecurrently reviewing the byelaws.The change coincides with a Scot-tish Executive bid to extend St Kil-da’s World Heritage status to gainrecognition of its spectacular un-derwater scenery of cliffs, cavesand gullies and for the culturallandscape of the islands.

Interestingly the MountaineeringCouncil of Scotland argue that StKilda could be the home of Scot-tish climbing with early residentsclimbing to kill seafowl for food!Find out more about their campaignto reinstate climbing on St Kilda atw w w . m o u n t a i n e e r i n g -S c o t l a n d . o r g . u k / a c c e s s /stkilda.html. General St Kilda infor-mation can be found on the NTS StKilda website www.kilda.org.uk

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 4:06 PM31


OFFERS

Great new online magazine offerfor BMC members!With ActivPursuits, a new online adventure sports andtravel magazine, you don’t have to hang about for thelatest news and information on climbing, trekking andexploring. The magazine is online and is updated daily.And for BMC members we have arranged a special priceof £14.95 for 12 months – that’s £10 off!

ActivPursuits is a new kind of daily magazine offering acombination of original and reliable content with speed ofdelivery. Its articles and news are sourced by a strong panelof editors (including Stephen Venables and Paul Deegan,author of the BMC’s own Mountain Traveller’s Handbook).All the articles are original and are online for permanentreference. Climbing, trekking and access news is covereddaily – you may have to wait months before reading thesame news in other publications. There are also hundredsof events and travel ideas in the magazine. We’ve evenlaunched our own BMC microsite within the magazine –another great way to get information about what’s on andwhat’s happening at the BMC.

You can take a free 7 day trial of the magazine beforesubscribing at the special price we have arranged. Butremember, to get this price you must insert the CD-ROMenclosed with this issue of Summit into your computer,rather than logging straight onto the site. And don’tforget to enter the unique ID number located on theback cover of the disc.

Anquet Maps is the greatnew way to get OrdnanceSurvey maps: all-inclusive CD-Roms that allow you to scroll around and printout seamless maps at the scale you want. Each productcontains a selected amount of 1:50,000 maps.

Every CD also includes a full GB road map, and a gazet-teer of 250,000 place names. Plan your own routes withthe included tools then view the height profile of the routeand statistics such as height ascended and hidden length.Save your routes and email them to a friend, or downloadthem to your Garmin GPS unit.

The product range includes two half-country packs thatcover the whole of Great Britain. Also available are fiveseparate single CD-Rom products that cover the NationalParks of Great Britain, which retail for £35 each.

To win a copy of one of the 5 National Parks CD’s, justsend your name and address to: Anquet MapsSummit Competition, 16-19 SouthamptonPlace, London, WC1A 2AJ

Please state which copy you would like to re-ceive if you win– Scotland, The Lakes, ThePeaks, Wales or the South Coast. 20. Winnerswill be picked from a hat on the 31st October2002.

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To take advantage of this special price, insert the enclosed CD-ROM intoyour computer and enter the unique ID number located on the backcover of the disc.

Photo: Steve Long

Stop waiting months for magazines, get ActivPursuits online. You’ll findthe latest news and information on climbing, trekking and exploring.And as a launch offer to BMC members a subscription costs just £14.95for twelve months - almost 20% off the regular price.

To take advantage of this special price, insert the enclosed CD-ROM intoyour computer and enter the unique ID number located on the backcover of the disc.

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40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 11/09/2002, 1:53 PM32


Adventure40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 11:29 AM34


The BMC and renowned photographerJohn Beatty team up to promote ACTand help you escape in 2003.

Adventure. It’s not found in meetings. It’s not onagendas. You don’t find it in the photocopier, thedesk drawer, or the filing cabinet. You can’t with-

draw it from the bank, and you can’t buy it from thesupermarket. There are no mortgages or pension plansfor it. It doesn't come with a money back guarantee andMicrosoft don’t license it. All the money in the worldcan’t fake it, and the best car counts for nothing.

It’s personal, indefinable, and intangible, It’s landing in aforeign city on the other side of the world. It’s sailing up aremote coastline. It’s filling the van full of gas, pointing southand eating up the miles. It’s standing at the bottom of aroute, scared as hell. It’s turning a bend on the trail to findthe unexpected. It’s remote beaches, snow-capped peaks,searing deserts, dripping rainforests and clean, clean air.It’s letting the world take you where it wants, on a journey ofwhich you don’t know the outcome.

But when strapped into a grey office, it’s easy to lose thepath. Sucked into the normal world, the invisible tentaclesof modern life tugging at your feet - mortgages, pensions,commitment, careers, a new three piece suite. Suddenlythat feeling of freedom, once so obvious, seems so ephem-eral, so hard to reclaim.

Fight back. Make it through the days with the AdventureYearbook 2003. 60 full colour images of people out thereliving it. Of landscapes and textures that’ll never be seenfrom a motorway. Of moments and feelings that will inspireyou through those lean times of toil and routine, when lifeseems to be gushing by. Use it wisely – it’s your secretweapon against the greyness. Plan your trips, your week-ends, hold the numbers of the like-minded few in it. Don’tembarrass the pages with meetings, targets or weekly re-view dates. Stand your ground. Make plans, book tickets,and escape – have an adventure.

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Turn over the page for a great deal!Get the yearbook for £12*, or get thefantastic “Adventure Package”featuring the Adventure Yearbook, theMountain Travelers’ Handbook and theHistory of British Mountaineering foronly £23.50*. (*BMC Members prices)

JUST A FEW OF THE GREAJUST A FEW OF THE GREAJUST A FEW OF THE GREAJUST A FEW OF THE GREAJUST A FEW OF THE GREAT IMAT IMAT IMAT IMAT IMAGES IN THE YEARBOOKGES IN THE YEARBOOKGES IN THE YEARBOOKGES IN THE YEARBOOKGES IN THE YEARBOOK(CLOCKWISE) Ice debris at the snout of the world's fastest mov-ing glacier - Perito Moreno, Argentina. Credit Beatty. Winter de-scent from the summit of Ben Nevis. Credit Beatty. Flume gorge,New Hampshire. Credit Beatty. Graeme Ettle on Stirling Bridge VI6, Coire Lochan. Credit: Dave Cuthbertson. Early starters in theKebnakaiser mountains in northern Sweden. Credit: Beatty.

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 11:29 AM35


ACT THE ADVENTURE YEARBOOK 2003

The yearbook is a lavish, full colour week-to-view diarypacked full of inspiring pictures from some of the lead-ing international adventure photographers. This idealcompanion for 2003 features:

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- Simply by owning a copy of this inno-vative publication, you’ll be di-rectly supporting the work of ACT – theAccess and Conservation Trust. A C Tpromotes access and conserva- t i o ntoday for future climbers, hill-walk- e r sand mountaineers.

(LEFT) Gary Latter on the Muckle House Wall, E5 6b, RoraHead, Hoy. Credit: Dave Cuthbertson.

FREE

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PUBLICATION CODE BMC MEMBER PRICE NON-MEMBER PRICE TOTAL

ADVENTURE AYB001 £12.00 £14.00YEARBOOK

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF BMC008 £10.00 £15.00BRITISH MOUNTAINEERING

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Trail Magazine

All BMC proceeds from the Adventure Yearbook go towards ACT. ACT aims topromote sustainable access to cliffs, mountains and open countryside by facilitatingeducation and conservation projects that safeguard the access needs of climbers,hill-walkers and mountaineers. Find out more at www.accesstrust.org.uk

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POST & PACKING:

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Please complete the details below or enclose a cheque payable to the: British Mountaineering Council

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Please return to: British Mountaineering Council, FREEPOST MR 9759, Manchester, M20 7AD.Tel: 0870 010 4878 Fax: 0161445 4500Website: www.thebmc.co.uk E-Mail: [email protected]

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40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 4:06 PM36


It’s all here. From fat arses cinched tight in a borrowedharness to hard-men strutting rope-free above theguarded awe of onlookers: the aspirant picking properly

up a first VS lead-”Slack on Blue please” and the retiredteacher, happily doing Hargreaves’ Original for the I-don’t-know-how-manyith-time. And everything else in between.Mileage merchants, hopeful dads and terrified daughters,snappy husbands and pissed off wives, groups in helmetstaking it all in, and the man in shorts hanging off the lip ofFlying Buttress Direct.

This is Stanage. The most popular crag in Britain. Fromhere, it strings on and on, ever busy, past buttress afterbuttress, the Plantation, Enclosure buttress, the mighty HighNeb, and finally on to Stanage End, the lonely far flungoutpost, lacking in the crowds and numbers of routes thatthe Popular End has, but certainly not lacking in quality. Butdespite all the routes, 1200 of them, of thereabouts, andhundreds of boulder problems, there is a route on Stanage,that is probably more important than all the rest, and is,perhaps, the most significant route in the country. The mightyRight Unconquerable.

It was first climbed by Britain’s most celebrated climber.Joe Brown- The Baron, The Master, The ‘Uman Fly, by milesthe best climber the country has ever seen. Only RonFawcett and Jerry Moffatt have ever come close to Brown intheir ability to shake the climbing world to its foundations,and they both concerned themselves to the much narrowerworld of the technical rock climb; climbers’ climbers. Brownwas not only the climbers’ climber, but everyone else’s aswell. Marauding the country in the years immediately afterthe war and redefining forever what was to be consideredimpossible. In 1947, the two mighty flake cracks in thecentre of Stanage, the Unconquerables, had certainly builtup a reputation to match their name- Peter Harding hadfailed on them! Then, on September 4th, 1949, along conesJoe Brown and waltzes up both the cracks with ease. Bingo!

Joe is still the all time, flawless hero of British climbing.The working class lad who made his way out of the streetsof slummy Salford, ensuring a place in all our hearts. Our

aspirations may be getting higher all the time, but we stilldevour the goings on of plain folk in Wetherby or AlbertSquare, or those willing to do any number of other things onprime-time to win themselves a few grand.

As a route it is, of course, fantastic, and has that superbquality of all great gritstone climbs, in as much as it climbsone fantastic feature, but where no two moves are ever thesame. There’s very little point in describing it, as who hasn’tever seen it? That huge powerful flake of rock arrowing downthe steep face, shaped somewhere between a dagger anda shield. Seeking the ground, yet not quite reaching it, itsleft and right sides forming their respective Unconquerables.The left fork is merely brilliant; perfect rock, steep and force-ful, but, despite being harder than its right-hand brother, isstill not quite as big a lead.

On the Right, once the initial stiff crack has been slitheredup, the climber stands at the base of the mighty flake, andits awaiting difficulties are all to obvious, and are, obviously,overcome by nothing less than full frontal laybacking andjamming. The trepidation often felt before embarking onthis journey are easy to understand: what if?s buzz roundthe head of all but the most confident of climbers, the mostobvious being, What if I can’t stop to place some gear, thelaybackers wildest nightmare. Such thoughts are assuagedby tentative probes into the friendly recesses of the lowercrack, hand sized, comforting, and the early availability ofgood gear. Footholds are okay, and allow a pause, but sooner,rather than later, comes the time to start laybacking again.

Protection can be had all the way up, of course. But youknow. You know that this is the one you’ve always wanted todo, the one you’ve wanted to climb well. And of course, youcan’t climb well if your mind is on protection. And you knowthat if you climb well, you won’t need protection. See? It’sthe Catch 22, only the other way round. If you don’t placeprotection, you won’t need it. Not that there is any danger,but there are certain routes that you must respect, if youare to expect them to respect you. Right Unconquerable isone of them. It would be wrong to get pumped twitching withsome shiny product purchased for thirty quid in a shop.

Lay back and think of Stanage!By Niall Grimes

From the north, to the south, it rolls on for miles. Ablack blob, buckled like an old hag and slumped,happily ashamed. Fed up; the Cowperstone. Tolittler outputs, hopeful springings or cast-offs, Idon’t know. Then it hits – from the car-studded roadthe marmalade hillside angles up to the shamelessmass appeal of the Popular End.

theRIGHTSTUFF

(TOP) Antonia Freem on the Right Unconquerable.Credit: Ian Hill

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Discarded oxygenbottle now used as aschool bell in Yulbaon the approach tothe East Face ofEverest. Credit: RayWood.

Better to flow, to roll up the flake, unforgettable moves lead-ing, with that thrill of a pump coming on, to deep jams in thebreak below the bulging top-out.

But of course, if it were only the climbing that it was allabout, then it wouldn’t be the same. But of course it’s not.Right Unconquerable lies in the middle of Stanage, whichlies, not only in the middle of the Peak District and in themiddle of England but also, it is at the centre of most peo-ple’s climbing. The upland gritstones of the Peak are thefondest of all the rocks in the country. Ask most climberswhat their favourite rock is, they will say grit. A few awkwardNorthumbrians might turn their gaze away and mumble Sand-stone; a repressed Northwalian go on about Gogarth. But forthe majority, grit is what lies at the hearthstone. It has in-spired the most writing, most photographs and, despite itssmall size on the doorstep of great cities, an inordinate numberof epics. In many ways it holds the same position in Britainas Yosemite granite holds in the United States, a seeminggodhead springing forward endless heroes and stories, thetales which in many ways go to define the central climbingculture of the two countries and which, almost more than therock itself, inspires visitors to travel the globe to find theirplace amongst. Fortunately, not only is grit infinitely nicerthan slippery Yosemite granite, but its central route, RightUnconquerable, is a lot more do-able than its American coun-terpart, the Nose, which goes free at roughly E9.

The majority of the climbing population, it appears, climbup to the grade of HVS, truly in the middle of the grades.Ten extremes lie above it, ten adjectival grades below. And,in a way, HVS is the first really great grade. HVS, along withE2 and E5, are where the vast bulk of our greatest climbslie, for some reason. Perhaps it is because there three arethe broadest grades, greedily devouring supreme routesacross a great band of difficulties. HVS is arguable, thegreatest amongst these. The grade at which climbing reallybegins. Very few climbers enter the hallowed grounds ofHVS without trying very hard. Yet many do enter it. Andeven if, grade-wise, you never went beyond HVS, then anyclimber could happily spend his life travelling the land andticking classics.

Cemetery Gates, Kipling Groove, Central Buttress, Dreamof White Horses, Moonraker, Centurion, the Hammer, ArmyDreamers, Malbogies. All mighty history soaked classics withclimbing every bit as good as their reputations. Yet theseare all regional classics, off in the places where you mightgo for a trip once or twice a year maybe. (Why don’t you getout to the Lakes more often?) But Right Unconquerable isdifferent; that’s because Stanage is different, because gritis different, the Peak is different. The Peak District, morethan any other area in the country, belongs to the countryas a whole. Only North Wales comes anywhere near in itsnationwide popularity. The Peak belongs to climbers in Lon-don and Carlisle as much as it does to those in Sheffield.And as such Right Unconquerable is, as the most classicroute of the most important grade on the most significantcrag in the most popular region in the country, unarguably,the central route in Britain.

Paused in the last break, plenty of gear to be had, but thelast bulge, and you know that, even here, you could stillblow it. You pull up, level with the top; the moors stretchaway, but before them, a flat top of grit stretches away fromyou, apparently holdless. Forget style, you’ve done enough,just launch over and swim. This is grit, after all, then sitamong the midges on the summit, knowing you have justdone one of the greatest routes in the country.

IT'S COMING!The new Stanage guide is nearly here. Priced £13(members) or £15 (non-members) the essentialbible to Britain's best loved crag will be out inearly October. No really, it will.

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 11/09/2002, 2:08 PM39


Life insurance. If you don’t know what it is,then the chances are you don’t need it. But when you doneed it the last thing you want is to be lumped into thesame category as a stunt driver with an 80-a-day habitjust because you climb the odd Severe, or have a tripplanned to Island Peak.

It’s not uncommon for climbers, hill walkers and moun-taineers to be financially penalised for their activity, simplybecause the insurers don’t know the difference betweenthe K2 on Hen Cloud and the one in the Himalaya (One ispopular VS lead, the other less so). And we are not talkingpennies here - the loading for ‘dangerous sports’ can asmuch as double the expense of an already pricey policy. Sowhat can be done? Well, there is one option – head for aspecialist company.

Enter Summit Financial Services, Independent FinancialAdvisers who have developed close relationships with insur-ance companies who recognise that climbers are responsi-ble individuals enjoying a recognised sport, and who canadvise climbers on all the relevant issues. Summit FinancialServices work closely with the BMC and have obtained termswith underwriters who understand the needs of climbers. Ifyou are moving house for example they consider that youare taking out life insurance because you are buying a home,not because you are partaking in a ‘dangerous’ sport. Ac-cordingly they are able to offer life insurance with no rec-reational loading or pastime exclusions in these circum-stances (albeit up to certain cover and age limits) and thiscan mean big savings over ‘high street’ providers.

Of course there are many factors which may influence anunderwriting decision, but specific to climbers the under-writer will require information about where you climb, howoften, what grade, your experience, and your future inten-tions. Of all these factors the location of your climbing isprobably the most important.

There are many, many reasons for taking out financialprotection and it is important that advice is sought fromsuitably qualified Independent Financial Advisers. SummitFinancial Services is an appointed representative ofLonsdale Financial Services who are independent financialadvisers and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

“Your service has been quite simply excellent...Iwill certainly recommend your company to both myclimbing and non-climbing friends and anyone Imeet on the crag!” – Nik Birkby, Preston.

WHAT CAN BE COVERED?

Mortgage Protection:Normally decreasing cover in line with outstanding mortgageliability on a repayment mortgage. Critical illness cover canbe added.Level Term Assurance:This provides a financial protection for dependants. Criticalillness may be added. This cover is for a defined period witha defined sumassured. This cover is often also required forbusiness use.Critical Illness Cover:Critical illness cover will pay a lump sum on the diagnosis ofa specified illness described in the policy. This could be aserious illness such as a heart attack, cancer, stroke orkidney failure.Income Protection:This type of policy would pay regular income in the event ofyou being unable to work through ill health after a certainchosen period and would continue to be paid until yourselected retirement date. The benefit is limited to a propor-tion of income and should cover financial commitments suchas mortgage repayments, car finances and household billsetc. Very few companies will offer this type of cover to in-clude injuries sustained whilst climbing. Cover can be ob-tained, but will almost certainly be loaded.

WHAT LEVEL OF COVER DO I NEED?

In order to determine an adequate level of cover you oughtto calculate your mortgage liability and consider the provi-sion of a lump sum on your death to provide an income inyour absence. However benefits available in your employ-ment should be taken into account when making these cal-culations as should your current assets and wealth, sincepremiums need to be tempered with affordability. Unfortu-nately Inheritance tax should also be taken into account. Inthe current tax year an estate in excess of £250,000 willattract an inheritance tax liability of 40% of the excess, socareful financial planning is required.

WHAT NOW?

Phone Summit Financial Services today for a free, no obli-gation quote on: 01539 564200Fax: 015395 64477, email: [email protected]

OVER THE ODDS?

SERVICES

(TOP) Ian Pudge, above the Glacier Blanc, Ecrins.Credit: Jim Krawiecki.

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 11/09/2002, 1:32 PM40


VITAL FOR BILLIONSThe declaration of 2002 as theInternational Year of Mountains(IYM) by the UN GeneralAssembly recognises thatmountains are important not onlyto the millions of people who livein them, and those of us who liketo visit them, but to the globalcommunity.

Martin Price from the Centre forMountain Studies, Perth Collegeexplains more.

(MAIN) Island Peak. Credit: TomBriggs / Jagged Globe. (RIGHT)

The Mt Blanc Massif - mountainsare not just important to visitors.

Credit: Alastair Lee

flowerIn the third of four International Year of Mountainsarticles, Barbara Jones of the Countryside Councilfor Wales looks at how alpine flowers are fightingback against over-grazing in the British uplands.

Have you ever been to the Dolomites, other parts ofthe Alps, the Rocky Mountains or the Caucasus insummer? If so, then even the most focussed climber

can’t help but have noticed the marvellous display of alpineflowers which these mountains provide each year. The con-trast with the British mountains couldn’t be stronger. Theacres of bare hillsides, dominated by short grasses, withoccasional scatterings of heath, characterise so much ofour uplands, with hardly a splash of colour in sight.

There are a number of reasons for this lack of diversity,including the oceanicity and relative lowness of our moun-tains, which often don’t provide the cold conditions whicharctic-alpine plants need to survive. Also, we tend not tohave large expanses of nutrient rich rocks which supportgreater numbers of these species. Most of the arctic-alpineplant species in Britain grow on cold north/north-east facingcliffs, where there is freedom from competition from moreaggressive species which grow in less extreme environmentsand where temperature and drainage mimic to a certainextent the conditions found in the bigger mountains of theworld, with the notable exception of sun!

However, the lack of diversity in our mountain flora is notjust attributed to physical attributes. Years of heavy grazinghave changed the natural vegetation. Once there would havebeen gnarled woodlands merging, on the uphill, into scat-tered scrub, and then, with greater altitude into heath andgrasslands. Arctic-alpine species would extend over rockysites wherever the rock type and aspect were suitable. In-stead of this natural state we now have vast areas of closelycropped grassland; these grasslands have much less diver-sity than the natural vegetation, both from an ecologicaland a landscape perspective. Furthermore, Britain is ofworld importance for its heaths and blanket bogs, but alarge percentage of these have been drained to providemore grazing or land for afforestation and pressures on theremaining habitat are still strong.

Grazing is important to maintain some types of vegetationsuch as many heaths below the natural treeline and herbrich grasslands which would otherwise eventually revert towoodland. However, current grazing levels over much of theBritish uplands are too high and have converted many ar-eas of even these habitats to grassland.

So, can we ever expect to see these massed displays ofalpines on our mountains? The answer to this has to be no,for the reasons given above, but we could expect to seemuch more than we currently have, particularly in terms ofheaths, woodlands and richer grasslands. There is hopethat in the future we shall do so, with the possible reform ofthe CAP and the increasing number of agri-environmentschemes which conservation organisations are currentlyestablishing with landowners in many parts of our uplands,with the main aim of reducing grazing and preventing anyfurther deterioration. Some of these schemes are even

power

(LEFT) The culprit! (TOP RIGHT) Sedum rosea and (LEFT)Saxifraga oppositifolia, two species we could expect to seemore with better grazing management. Credit: B.Jones

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reversing the trend and working to restore a more diversevegetation and landscape.

One example of such a scheme is an exciting project whichwas started in 1998 when sheep grazing was removed fromCwm Idwal NNR in Snowdonia. Many know Cwm Idwalthrough climbing on the Slabs or the Gribin Facet or walkingthrough on route to the Glyderiau and many take it forgranted that it is an NNR, but why? Obviously it is importantgeologically, but much of the Cwm supports vegetation simi-lar to that found on other mountains. What is special aboutits vegetation? A closer look shows that many of its cliffsand rocks support arctic-alpine plant species and the factthat many of these species are on the edge of their Euro-pean distribution in Snowdonia gives them special signifi-cance here. These plants are damaged by high levels ofgrazing and, over the years, have declined and retreated tomore inaccessible locations, out of the reach of grazing ani-mals. The grazing exclusion plots which were erected in theCwm in the '60s and '70s show graphically the effects ofheavy sheep grazing with the plants inside (even some trees)providing a welcome contrast and splash of colour whenviewed against the flat green backdrop of the grasslands.

The arctic-alpine and cliff ledge vegetation requires littleor no grazing, so the removal of grazing animals should al-low the cliff-bound plants to spread to adjacent rocky sitesand the suppressed heaths to spread and flourish. Further-more, the removal of grazing from Cwm Idwal presents awonderful opportunity, not only to manage and protect rareplant communities, but also to enable a ‘natural’ vegeta-tion succession through woodland, scrub and heath to de-velop from the base to the summit of a mountain over a 50to 100 year period. While this is never going to be a wood-land, due to the altitude and exposure, a scattering of treesand scrub might be an attractive addition to the landscape.

To restore some of the diversity which was once presentin these mountains, the ideal would be to continue grazingin most areas, but at a range of intensities, so that onedominant vegetation type is not replaced with another.However, some of these endangered vegetation types firstlyneed to be restored and this may occasionally mean unpal-atable decisions, such as the erection of temporary fencesin some of our ‘wilder’ landscapes to exclude grazing ani-mals for some years to allow the vegetation to recover. Sucha decision would be a last resort and in Cwm Idwal, forexample, fences have not been erected, but instead shep-herding is employed to try to keep trespassing sheep out ofthe NNR. However, perhaps the intrusion of the occasionalfence is worth the reward of a more diverse upland environ-ment in Britain.

Changes are slow in the uplands, but follow the fortunesof Cwm Idwal over the next few years as saxifrages, bogasphodels and ladies mantles start to flower, spread andbrighten even the dullest day and see what diversity ourmountains can really support.

Peat plot at Cwm Idwal. Notice thedifference (right) when grazing isexcluded for 30+ years. Credit: B.Jones

EXPERIENCE ERROR - WITHOUT TERRORClimbing Rock is designed to help you recognise the commonerrors and inefficiencies in your climbing. This entertaining video comes complete with a Technical Booklet which helps you identify problem areas and make progress to achieve your potential.

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40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 11/09/2002, 12:12 PM43


Part One: Stephen Venables, with spadework by Ken Wil-son, discusses the evolution of lightweight Himalayan climb-ing, its key influences and its likely future direction.

Britain is lucky to have developed a tradition of lightweight expeditioning going back to early days mountaineering. In at the start of the “sport” of alpinism in the

mid-nineteenth century it was not long before forays were beingmade to the greater ranges of the Caucasus and the Himalaya,much of which lay conveniently within Britain’s area of politicalinfluence at the height of the Empire.

The names of Freshfield, Younghusband, Conway, Moorcroft,Everest, Bruce, Godwin Austen, Montgomerie resonate downthrough the ages as intrepid explorer/mountaineer/surveyors whodelved into the great Himalayan ranges during those early years– all recorded in Kenneth Mason’s classic Himalayan historyAbode of Snow.

Having identified the great mountains and pinpointed theirapproaches it was not long before sporting mountaineers (usu-ally with their European guides), hotfoot from their Alpine andCaucasus adventures, began to tackle the mountains themselves.Among a range of projects were major attempts on K2 (1902,1909), Nanga Parbat (1895) and Kangchenjunga (1895, 1905).There were also a variety of more modest expeditions includingC.F.Meade’s near successful attempt on Kamet (1913).

Perhaps two key events can be singled out that typify thisperiod – the Duke of Abruzzi’s great Karakoram expedition of1909 and the Longstaff / Bruce / Mumm expedition to the NandaDevi region in 1907. These made a considerable impact. Abruzzihad taken Vittorio Sella on his trip whose photographs of suchmountains as K2, Paiju, Mustagh Tower, the Gasherbrums,Chogolisa and Broad Peak left a profound and enduring impres-sion. Longstaff later wrote a classic book – This My Voyage – inwhich he related his Garhwal travels in an inspiring manner,introducing Changabang with an evocative full-frontal photo-graph, investigating the Rishi Gorge and finally pulling off arapid lightweight ascent of Trisul 23,360ft.

Although there were many other interesting expeditions duringthe pre-World War 1 decade (by the likes of the Workmans,

HIGH

Neve, Meade, Kellas and others) it is fair to say that these twowell-publicised ventures – Abruzzi’s Karakoram campaign andLongstaff’s lightning dash up Trisul – came to typify the differ-ent styles of mountaineering for the next half century – the largewell-organised expedition, served by armies of porters contrast-ing with the fast-moving, cross-country trip, living off the landand aided by locally recruited men.

The Great War intervened, its carnage and later austerities slow-ing the advance of mountaineering in the subsequent years. Againthe British were the ones best placed for recovery because oftheir Empire position in India and associated influence on Tibet.This enabled them to mount repeated expeditions to Everest via

&lightExpeditions, the Lightweighttrip and true Alpine Style.What is the Future?

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 2:37 PM44


Sikkim and Tibet – ponderous affairs which proved that Everest,particularly from the north, is actually a very awkward moun-tain. Nevertheless many of the climbers performed very well, farabove 8000 metres, with the most basic equipment and no oxy-gen assistance, providing inspiration for later pioneers such asHermann Buhl and Reinhold Messner. The original Everest re-connaissance in 1921, and a later reconnaissance trip (led byShipton) in 1935, proved the exception to the dogged intensityof the struggles on the mountain itself. These two reconnais-sances were notable for the simple reason that they ranged aroundthe great peak rather than on it, gaining passes, ascending vantagepoint summits – moving fast, traveling light. Charles Warren, the

“Was it twelve peaks that you climbedin 1935” he was asked during an inter-view shortly before his death. Therewas a long pause while the aging braincogs slipped slowly into place. “No, itwas twenty-two” came the responseaccompanied by a weak but percepti-ble chuckle.

Steve Sustad on steep mixed ground on the first ascent of the North Face of Changabangin 1997. This fine rockface initially noted and popularised by Tom Longstaff has proved

a magnet for alpine-style climbers in recent years. Credit: Mick Fowler.

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HIMALAYA

doctor on the 1935 trip, was in the thick of these swashbucklingtravels. “Was it twelve peaks that you climbed in 1935” he wasasked during an interview shortly before his death. There was along pause while the aging brain cogs slipped slowly into place.“No, it was twenty-two” came the response accompanied by aweak but perceptible chuckle.

These fast moving ascents of Mallory, Bruce, Nyima and theirfriends in 1921 and Shipton, Warren, Tilman et al in 1935 enliv-ened the otherwise repetitive Everest events. It is doubtful whetherany modern expedition has knocked off virgin summits with quitethe same nonchalant abandon. As for the big set pieces (1922,1924, 1933, 1936 and 1938) given the limited equipment andknowledge at the time, there were comparatively few cases offrostbite and only two expeditions tarnished by death – sevensherpas killed by avalanche in 1922 ; two porters and Malloryand Irvine killed in 1924.

The experience was worse on the other great peaks. An Interna-tional trip to Kangchenjunga in 1930 (which included Frank Smythe)baulked at the serious avalanche danger (which killed the sirdarChettan and came close to wiping out sixteen others) and turnedinstead to a series of less serious ascents of satellite peaks includingJonsong Peak (24,344ft). A 1931 Kangchenjunga venture by PaulBauer (building on an earlier attempt in 1929) also experiencedtragedy (one climber and one sherpa) and cut its losses when con-fronted by awesome difficulties. In 1936 Bauer returned with asmall group to make a scintillating alpine-style ascent of Siniolchu(22,600ft), a captivating peak made famous by one of Sella ‘s earlyphotos. Four climbers and a local dog (Wastl – uninvited) made the

ascent – the final summit tower being completed by Adi Göttnerand Karl Wien with Bauer, Günther Hepp and the dog remainingbelow in close support following a high final camp using bivouacsacs. On the harder parts of the descent Wastl adopted a noveltechnique. He waited until the roped climbers were spaced belowhim and then jumped from climber to climber, repeating the pro-cess after the climbers moved down further. Wastl thus joined theranks of plucky mountaineering dogs – a distinguished group thatincludes Coolidge’s Tschingel and Muir’s Stikine, though in Wastl’scase he might reasonably claim to be the first alpine-style canineHimalayan climber.

The Siniolchu success closely followed the 1935 winter firstascent of another Kanchenjunga satellite – Kabru (24,002ft) – byCharlie Cooke (solo on the final climb), a fine achievement thatalso needs reappraisal in the annals. Nanga Parbat proved ananvil that broke some of Europe’s finest climbers. In 1895 Mum-mery, Hastings and Collie made a fine lightweight attempt on theDiamir Face but Mummery and two porters later disappearedwhile trying to cross a high pass to mount another attempt onthe Rakhiot Face. Worse was to come. In 1934 a very strongGerman expedition had a disastrous retreat from the Silver Saddlein a storm when Willo Welzenbach and Willy Merkl and foursherpas died and other porters narrowly escaped some withfrostbite injuries. Mountain commentators at the time looked onthis as the scandalous consequence of overambition and recentlythere have been even more damning revelations from Ang Tsering(the last survivor) in the new book Tigers in the Snow. Thistragedy was to pale into insignificance when matched against thedemise of the 1937 trip in which seven climbers and nine sherpasdied when their camp was engulfed in an ice avalanche. Thisincluded three of those that had been involved in the first ascentof Siniolchu the previous year.

The whole ethical question of placing sherpa porters at riskwhen serving major expeditions came sharply under scrutinyafter these twin German disasters, a scandal that gained evenmore strength after the sad demise of three sherpas on K2 in1939 while trying to reach the stricken Dudley Wolfe, who hadbecome stranded high on the peak . The sherpas were led in theirheroic “mercy dash” by the respected sirdar Pasang Kikuli (NangaParbat survivor in 1934 and a key figure on the 1936 Nanda Deviexpedition). A few days before the disaster Fritz Wiessnerachieved some astonishingly hard oxygen-less climbing very closeto the summit of K2; but his leadership was questionable. Tomany critics he was overambitious and the expedition was onlybrought to a halt high on the mountain by the caution of PasangDawa Lama but unfortunately not sufficiently early to save Wolfeand his brave rescuers. Their sacrifice remains as a lasting memo-rial to sherpa honour.

Thus the record of big expeditions during the 1930s was grim… they appeared to attract all the factors (ambition, nationalprestige, overcommitment) that could combine into a tragedy.Conversely lighter and more frugal enterprises, providing theyinvolved skilled and fit mountaineers, had a far better record –climbers could concentrate on the matter in hand, free from thedistractions and unnecessary complications frequently sufferedby a big expedition.

"Wastl thus joined the ranks of pluckymountaineering dogs – a distinguishedgroup that includes Coolidge’sTschingel and Muir’s Stikine, though inWastl’s case he might reasonably claimto be the first alpine-style canineHimalayan climber"

Smythe (L) and Shipton (R) after their 1933 Everest attempt.Credit: Smythe Collection.

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TR

first ascent of Nanda Devi (25645ft/7816m) – the highest Hima-layan peak to be climbed until 1950. This stunning success toppedthe 1931 Kamet ascent. But in 1937 Smythe and Peter Oliverand a small sherpa team enjoyed a fabulously successful light-weight trip to the Zaskar range south of Kamet, climbing ManaPeak and Nilgiri in exemplary style (and also making strong at-tempts on Rataban, Nilkanth and Dunagiri) – climbs described inSmythe’s fine book The Valley of Flowers.

Other Garhwal highlights of this period were the Swiss andPolish expeditions of 1939 led by André Roch and AdamKarpinski. Both recorded success and tragedy. The Swiss teammade a host of first ascents, notably Hathi Parbat, Gauri Parbatand Dunagiri (7066m), but finally overreached themselves onChaukhamba when they were avalanched and two porters died.The Poles climbed Nanda Devi East (7434m) after a toughstruggle but then turned their attention to Tirsuli where Karpinskiand Stefan Bernadzikiewicz died in a high camp, buried by anavalanche. For British readers perhaps the most interesting of allthe lightweight successes of this period was the 1933 first ascentof Bhagirathi III (which they mistakenly called Satopanth II) byColin Kirkus and Charles Warren, both on their first Himalayantrip with the great Liverpudlian Tibetologist, Marco Pallis. Mod-ern climbers descending the Kirkus/Warren route after climbingone of Bhagirathi’s big modern rock routes) have been impressedby its sections of hard rock climbing done on sight in 1933 anddescribed in Kirkus’s Lets Go Climbing.

The writings of Shipton, Tilman and Smythe in particular,following on from Longstaff, are essential reading for prospec-tive lightweight expeditioner. Whether any really clear-cut linecan be drawn between a heavyweight expedition (with porters,cooks etc) and a true alpine-style trip is a much-debated ques-tion. Many relatively frugal, yet major ascents have resorted tosome fixed roping and stockpiling to achieve their ends. Examplesof this type of climb are Kanchenjunga (1979), our EverestKangshung Face venture (1988), Changabang (1974, 1976) andthe now legendary Ogre ascent of 1977, only recently repeatedafter many failed attempts.

Alpine-style purists like the late Alan Rouse (Jannu 1978,Kongur 1981) and Mick Fowler (Spantik 1987, Taweche1995,Changabang 1997) may well look from the lofty heights of truepurism at these flawed ventures. They may be right but I feel

The highlights of this type of free-range climbing during the interwar yearsare Tilman’s and Shipton’s Rishi Gorgeexpedition in 1934, their aforementionedEverest travels in 1935 and their stun-ningly wide-ranging Karakoram explo-rations of 1937 (described vividly inBlank on the Map). This fabulous trip,celebrated in an equally fabulous book,has proved inspirational for many post-war explorers. It inspired Diembergerto penetrate the Shaksgam, a string ofhighly talented climbers to tackle theLatok peaks, the whole Trango Towersaga including the similar rock essayson nearby Uli Biaho Tower and whathas become known as Shipton Spire.The climbs on the Ogre, Sosbun Brakkand even the north side of K2 can betraced back to the influence of this trip.And there is more to come as the manyof the peaks that were identified along-side the Skamri Glacier on the Chineseside of the range, such as The Fangs,still await detailed investigation. Shiptoncould barely conceal his excitement atthe climax of the expedition as the partyreached the watershed area of passes linking the Skamri Glacierto Snow Lake:

“Now at last we were in a position, still with many weeks’ foodat our disposal, to make a prolonged exploration of this excitingcountry, and to indulge in that most absorbing of all forms ofmountaineering – the search for passes which lead from oneunknown region to another. But there was a very large field to becovered, and so many alternative plans, that it was hard to choosebetween them. For this reason we decided to split into three selfcontained groups, each with its separate objective ….”

Tilman and his team crossed Snow Lake and a pass north ofSosbun Brak to explore the ranges around Hikmul and Ganchen,Auden’s party crossed to the Nobande Sobande glacier systemand Shipton and Spender concentrated their attentions on theBraldu Glacier to the north.

Shipton was so enthralled by the region that he returned withanother strong survey group in 1939 to put a base camp on SnowLake and from there investigate the surrounding ranges. Its mainresult was a greater understanding of the intricacies and possibili-ties of the Ogre and Latok massifs. One photograph of the Choktoiface of Latok in Upon That Mountain had the same inspirationaleffect as seeing a Himalayan Grandes Jorasses with its WalkerSpur for the first time. Despite several powerful attempts byBritish and American teams during the last twenty years theroute remains unclimbed.

Shipton and Tilman might thus reasonably be hailed as the truepopularisers of lightweight mountain exploration. They did notinvent the idea – nor were they its only exponents – but the sheerscope of their explorations and the quality of their books con-tinue to enthrall and inspire. Though their actual ascents weremodest (apart from the orgy of peak-bagging around Everest in1935), the discoveries on their trips and the strategies and projectssuggested for the future were immense. The Garhwal explora-tions of Smythe’s Kamet expedition (in which Shipton played aprominent role) were also of great importance. Indeed theGarhwal proved the ideal venue for mountaineers in the 1930swith peaks of just the right size for the experience, equipmentand knowledge of the day. In 1936 Tilman and three other Britsjoined with Charles Houston’s Harvard quartet to pull off the

A previously unpublished photo of members of the 1935 Everest Reconnaissance Expedition.From L to R (BACK) Dan Bryant, Edmond Wigram, Charles Warren, Michael Spender.(FRONT) Bill Tilman, Eric Shipton and Edwin Kempson. Credit: Shipton Collection.

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HIMALAYA

that the true credo should be a generally lightweight approach toclimb the mountain in the safest and most logical and most en-joyable way. I, for one, like to have enough to eat, and some-where comfortable to sleep, and aim to return alive. I am happyto compromise to achieve those ends. However, the main thing isto climb the route in the most logical and efficient way. Some-times this will be a fast, no-turning-back push (as employed onShisha Pangma 1982) but on other occasions some pre-prepara-tion will be sensible. It is the degree and suitability of suchexpediency that forms the kernel of this debate. Andy Fanshaweand I weighed all of this in the balance in Himalaya Alpine Style;many of the climbs we described were not actually achieved intrue alpine style – but were alpine style in spirit.

Certainly there are many Himalayan climbs, such as Messner’ssolo ascent of the Diamir Face on Nanga Parbat , where alpine-style is the best and safest option to minimise exposure to objec-tive danger. Where the future will lie on the bigger and moretechnical projects remains open to speculation. Already French,Polish, Spanish and Slovenian teams have made or attempted bigclimbs of this type. The steady improvements in food, fuel andequipment will allow bolder and bolder ascents using snow holes,lightweight tents and (on steep rock) portaledges. Good training,acclimatisation and speed will also be a factor, particularly on icewhere very rapid movement is now possible because of im-proved techniques and equipment (prominently displayed onthe recent Ama Dablam ascent by Jules Cartwright and RichCross). But it is well to understand that the higher the peak, thetougher the project. Altitude is a harsh examiner of physique,stamina and acclimatisation; technical ability allows speed but itdoes not guarantee survival. Rock climbing, in particular, be-comes extremely arduous at the higher altitudes.

Notwithstanding these problems we are now surely lookingforward to an era of the super traverse? These will be Himalayan

versions of the Bezingi Traverse in the Caucasus on peaks likeLhotse/Everest (the Kangshung Horseshoe?), Kangchenjunga/Jannu, all the Gasherbrums, and Nanga Parbat.

The Broad Peak traverse was done in the eighties by Kukuczkaand Kurtyka in pure alpine style, proving that such things can bedone at 8000 metres. So far no one has managed to do the samething at nearly 9000 metres (the Russian traverse ofKangchenjunga was a massive, oxygen-assisted, team effort withcareful pre-placing of high camps).

As for the really technical mixed/rock climbs on peaks over7000 metres such as the Ogre … people talk a lot about alpine-style but few genuinely achieve it. A notable exception was theSaunders/Fowler ascent of Spantik’s Golden Pillar (with onecache half way up) in 1987. Most people, faced with routes ofsimilar altitude and difficulty, have ended up doing quite a lot ofjumaring. And no one has yet – despite all the talk – even begunto get to grips with the ultimate high-altitude technical challengessuch as the North Face Direct on Jannu, the North Spur ofMasherbrum or the West Face Direct on Makalu.

While most of us content ourselves with amiable wanderingsamongst the easier, unknown, unclimbed lower peaks of theHimalaya – or stir ourselves to join the queues on the increas-ingly crowded “voies normales” up Everest, Cho Oyu, AmaDablam and the like – it will be interesting to see what thegroundbreakers get up to. No doubt much ink will be spilt – andmuch hot air blasted through the pubs, lecture halls and chaihouses frequented by Himalayan climbers – but sooner or laterthe stars will emerge, redefining what is possible. In the mean-time, for the sheer joy of Himalayan wandering and exploration,we have the books of people like Longstaff, Tilman, Smythe andShipton to inspire us.

Look out for Issue 29 - Who might the future stars be?

Ian Parnell takes out his crystal ball...

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Eric Shipton – The Six MountainTravel BooksThe essential Shipton collection featuring:

Nanda Devi, Blank on the Map,Upon that Mountain, Mountains of Tartary,Mount Everest Reconnaissance 1951,Land of Tempest.£18.99

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40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 06/09/2002, 9:10 AM48


A FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY TO OWN THREE DEFINATIVE LIGHTWEIGHT EXPEDITIONCLIMBING BOOKS.

One of the trickier challenges facing the team puttingtogether the Helly Hansen National Mountaineering Ex-hibition was to identify five post-1953 British expedi-tions that epitomized the developments in mountaineer-ing styles over the past 50 years.

Not an easy task and in the end the team focused on fivepeaks around which the story could be told; Kanchenjunga,Annapurna, Trango Tower, Biantha Brakk (Ogre) andChangabang. It could just as easily have been others butthese lists are supposed to spark debate. The selection isdescribed in the Exhibitions’ ‘Camp 4’ and is accompaniedby a video sequence showing Chris Bonington and GeorgeBand discussing the post war evolution of British Mountain-eering with the unlikely figure of John Peel and a nice cup oftea – something not to be missed. But why were these fivechosen?

KanchengungaAlthough in the style of the Everest ‘53 trip, Charles Evans1955 expedition was a lightweight affair with limited expec-tations, but the expedition made surprisingly fast progressand by 13th May the way to the top was open. Band andJoe Brown thus became the only Britons to make the firstascent of an 8000m peak. They reached the top at 2.45pmon May 25th with Brown having climbed a challenging VDcrack just below the summit. Twenty four years later DougScott, Pete Boardman, Joe Tasker and Georges Bettembourgtook the lightweight ethos to a new level with their auda-cious ascent of the mountains north side. They fixed ropeon the steep lower section but climbed the upper part in acommitting alpine style. After several attempts Tasker,Boardman and Scott snatched success on a perfect sum-mit day. This ascent was at the very cutting edge and onlyrarely since has a new route of such scale been climbed insuch style. Certainly one of the greatest ascents in theHimalaya - ever.

AnnapurnaThis Bonington trip was amongst the first to attempt thesteep faces of the worlds’ biggest peaks. The climb involvedmuch fixed rope and camps, but such was the difficulty ofthe climbing that the crack team was tested to the very limit.Don Whillans and Dougal Haston managed the Summit dashin poor weather which gave rise to the classic radio conver-sation - Bonington: “Did you manage to get out today” -Whillans: “Aye We’ve just climbed Annapurna”

Trango TowerThe 1975 and '76 expeditions to thisgranite monolith had all the characters,severe technical i t ies and a surrealjammed leg epic. In '75 Mo Anthoine,Bill Barker, Martin Boysen, Joe Brown,Ian McNaught Davis and Dave Potts gotto within 250m of the top before Boysenmanaged to get his leg stuck in a jam-ming crack! For three hours his compan-ions struggled to free him before resign-ing themselves to a round trip to basecamp to fetch leg extraction equipment.Fortunately Boysen freed himself shortlyafter but the stress of the epic led toretreat and Anthoine’s classic statement“Trango Tower is still unclimbed, but nextyear – given some fine weather, reason-able porters and a thin legged leader itwill probably go”. And indeed it did withthe core of the team up for the rematch.

Boysen (who still led the offending crack), Anthoine, Brownand new boy Ian Howells reached the top.

Baintha Brakk (Ogre)Perhaps the most imposing of all the 7000m peaks, theOgre was the ideal challenge for Doug Scott’s 1977 expedi-tion. Scott and Bonington made the central summit, settingthe scene for the famous epic descent, one of mountain-eering’s classic tales. Shortly after beginning the abseildescent Scott broke both his legs and Bonington shatteredhis ribs, and when they eventually reached the lower camps,it was a long wait for assistance to arrive. Over twenty at-tempts later the Ogre finally got its second ascent in 2001from Thomas Huber’s talented continental team.

ChangabangA mountain where the routes tell much of the tale of Britishmountaineering from 1974 onward. The first ascent teamhad included Bonington, Scott, Dougal Haston, Boysen andfour Indian climbers led by Balwant Sandhu. They climbeda serious line from the south and only Balwant made it tothe top. The next year Pete Boardman and Joe Tasker madethe first ascent of the West Face in two man capsule style.The route was rightly hailed as a milestone, and the mostdifficult Himalayan ascent of the day. Two years later theshorter but very technical South Face was climbed by thesuper talented team of Voytek Kurtyka, John Porter, AlexMcIntyre and Kritzof Zureck. But due to politics Changabanghad to wait 14 years for another attempt after an Australianvisit in 1982. Once again it was a British team and this timeit was the steep North Face to be attempted. After an abor-tive attempt in 1996, Roger Payne, Brendan Murphy, andJulie-Ann Clyma returned in 1997 with Andy Cave, MickFowler and Steve Sustad, to make the first ascent in impec-cable alpine style. Cave and Murphy made the summit butragically Murphy was killed during an epic descent and thesummit group were out for a harrowing 16 days.

The Helly Hansen National MountaineeringExhibition is open every day and is a perfectaddition to a trip to the Lakes, so get up thereand enjoy a complete mountaineering weekend.BMC members get a discounted ticket of £3.50(normal adult price £5.50). Visit www.mountain-exhibition.co.uk. And if you're interested inBritains rich mountaineering heritage don't miss"A Brief History of British Mountaineering", partof a great special offer on page 36!

British Mountaineering since Everestthe famous five..

Brendan Murphy, day 2 of the 1997 ascent of Changabang.Credit: Andy Cave

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 04/09/2002, 1:30 PM49


MLTBSweet Moderation, by Andy SaySo there we were. Eight people standing on the Carneddau.Weather wasn’t bad and the visibility was quite good, justanother day on the hill with a few more miles to do andviews to savour. Then Carlo said, “So, exactly where arewe?” and we all came back to reality. A difficult relocationexercise that brought home to the candidates just how muchthey had learnt. And, because Carlo had chosen well, work-ing out where we all thought we were was no easy matter.The six people who were being trained on the ML course allmanaged a reasonable fix and then we moved off measur-ing distance as we went by pacing in order to confirm ourguesses. Carlo was the staff member working with this groupon the first day of their two day expedition and was reinforc-ing the lessons learnt earlier in the week as well as intro-ducing some more sophisticated techniques. And I, well Iwas the spy from head office.

Most of the year someone from the MLTB is out observingthe running of our courses by one of our accredited provid-ers. We will work alongside the course staff either quietlykeeping out of the way or, more usually, chipping in as anextra trainer. Sometimes, by invitation, there are ‘cross-border raids so that Scots officers look at our courses andwe look at the Northern Irish for example. All of the mod-erators have a broad experience of working on the MLTBschemes and contribute to training workshops and, throughtheir work as moderators, develop an insight into the vari-ous ways in which providers can reach the outcome we areall after – a good course. The Board has a target of seeingaround a third of all providers every year - about 70 courses.What we are looking for are courses that cover the syllabus;conform to the Board requirements in terms of facilities,staff numbers and qualifications and work in appropriatelocations. On training courses we hope that people leavewith developed skills and an awareness of the work neededand on an assessment course we are looking for fair out-comes that are understood by all concerned. What we don’texpect to find is that everybody does the same thing in thesame way; the courses are allowed to develop according tothe weather, the terrain and the skills of the staff.

If you are administering a national award scheme it is vitalthat all trainees have learnt pretty much the same thing andthat all assessors are looking for those things. What is veryreassuring is that we find that a consensus about subjectmatter, plus some exemplary training and learning going onout there. The depth of knowledge demonstrated by someof the staff working on the courses never fails to impressand we get so used to being told by the candidates that,‘the course is fantastic,’ that we could fill in the ‘Candi-dates’ comments on the report form before we arrive.

Sometimes, and this is refreshingly rare, there are thingsthat we are not happy with. It might be the programming,the number of staff available or the calibre of the candi-dates. We then discuss with the provider why things aregoing the way they are. Often the explanation is simple andis just one of those unavoidable accidents. On the fewoccasions when the matter seems to be more fundamentalwe ask that new programmes are designed or that staffing istightened up. The remarkably small number of niggles thatwe have to deal with are a testimony to the quality of ourproviders and the efforts of the moderation team who spreadsweetness, light and good practice wherever they go.

And Carlo and his group went on into the Carneddau.Camping in a high cwm, discussing the flowers we found,practicing our distance measuring and direction finding skills,enjoying the mix of blowing cloud and dramatic scenery,navigating into the small hours in darkness and low cloudand rain and all the typical Mountain Leader type thingsthat you do on courses. Later the next day I wrote him aglowing moderation report. But not too glowing, of course.We wouldn’t want him thinking he’s special would we?

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40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 11/09/2002, 4:14 PM51


AGENDAManagement Committee SummaryFor 26 June 2002. The Honorary Treasurer reported thattrading activities were up on forecast and that a range ofnew financial controls had been introduced following the2001 budget defecit. Sir Chris Bonington and JohnInnerdale gave an update on the National MountaineeringExhibition. They advised that it had been getting a greatresponse and all the team were working hard to ensure itremained a solid enterprise. It was agreed that the Man-agement Committee would continue to support the exhibi-tion throughout the Summer. A working group from the Train-ing Advisory Group had been established to report on cur-rent working arrangements with the Adventureworks part-nership and to agree on the nature of future partnershipsand policy statements. Reports were given by each of theArea Committee Representatives regarding current eventsand issues in the areas. It was agreed that the 2003 AGMwould be held at a suitable location in rural Peak District. Apaper indicating the Executive Committee members areasof responsibility for 2002/3 was circulated for information.The Management Committee agreed for Dave Turnbull tosign the Racial Equality Charter for Sport. A draft Club LeaderPolicy Statement was circulated for comment. It was agreedto circulate this document to AreaCommittees and clubs for furtherfeedback. It was reported that therecent International Meet held atPlas y Brenin was a well attendedsuccessful event. Ian Hey has beenappointed as the new Technical andSafety Officer and that interviewswere scheduled to take place on12 July 2002 for a Youth & EquityOfficer. 3 new clubs were accepted.

Getting Involved!Find out more about Area Meetings and all the work of theBMC areas on the BMC website. Just click on "Getting In-volved" and select an area. You can view all upcoming andpast meetings, download agendas and minutes, and findmaps of all the venues. And there's area news, volunteervacancies, and a list of key area contacts. Making yourviews known or helping out is now even easier than before.

Refunds - Multiple Club AffiliationThanks to all club members who did not claim back multiplesubs from BMC last year. Once again this money wenttowards the many good causes that BMC supports. If youare currently affiliated to the BMC via more than one clubnow is the time to reclaim your additional membership subsfor 2002 should you so wish to do so. Please notify theBMC’s Membership Services Team in writing before the 1st

December 2002, stating which clubs you are presently af-filiated to.

Area Meetings Calendar 2002Dates and venues may be subject to change. Please check

website on a regular basis.

40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 12/09/2002, 10:02 AM52


EVENTSStudent Seminar 20025-6th October - Plas y BreninIn partnership with Cotswold Essential Outdoor and sup-

ported by Mountain Training Trust.

Designed for student-based walking and climbing clubs, thisgives senior post holders the opportunity to improve theirclub practices and to help ensure safe and environmentallysustainable enjoyment of our mountains. A revised formatwill incorporate more hill walking options and new sessionson club transport, sources of funding and organising over-seas trips, with workshops on Saturday and practical ses-sions Sunday. In addition, there will be sessions coveringlegal responsibilities, care & maintenance of pooled equip-ment, event planning, introducing novices, navigation, groupuse of climbing walls and practical training on the hill, cragor on the wall will be provided. If you have not yet bookedyour place on the seminar contact [email protected]

BMC Huts Seminar3:30pm - 19th October - Plas y BreninThe seminar will deal with building and fire regulations, legalliability, insurance, developing the rural economy and ac-cess to huts for individual members. Anyone involved withmanaging or planning a club hut is encouraged to attend.The seminar, which includes a hot meal at 8pm. is free. Forfull details see the BMC website. For registration formsplease email [email protected]

BMC Technical Conference2-3rd November - Plas y BreninThis year's Technical Conference is on the 2-3rd Nov atPlas y Brenin, and is an essential event for anyone involvedin outdoor retail, trade or training. The format will be a mix-ture of lectures, workshops and Q&A sessions on each day

including: the BMC Technical Committee programme for2003 and beyond, UIAA standards work in progress , Cram-pons - the new BMC advice booklet, and recent failuresand ongoing investigations. Further information and regis-tration forms available from the office or website.

Boardman and Tasker Lecture7pm - 8th November - RGS, LondonOn 17th May 1982 Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker werelast seen on Mount Everest. Their deaths marked the endof a remarkable era of British mountaineering, but they lefttwo legacies; their innovative style, and the books they leftbehind. Their accomplishments will be recalled in an illus-trated lecture at the Royal Geographical Society by ChrisBonington and Charles Clarke with John Barry, JohnBoardman, Paul Braithwaite, Maria Coffey, Jim Curran, Hi-lary Rhodes, Doug Scott, Paul Tasker and Martin Wragg.This fund raising event for the Boardman Tasker CharitableTrust for mountain literature will include slides and films,and is just £15. To book send payment and an s.a.e. to theTrust at St Helen’s, 1 Undershaft, London, EC3A 8JX.

Festival of Mountaineering Literature9th November, University of LeedsThe theme of this year’s Festival is the honouring of severalcontributors to our sport and literature. In particular, WalterBonatti is returning to speak 18 years since he memorablyaddressed a BMC Buxton conference, and Lynn Hill is plan-ning to attend to talk about her new book. It is also twentyyears since the disappearance of Peter Boardman and JoeTasker, and the festival has invited Jim Curran to look backon the history of the Boardman Tasker Award. Tickets are£20 each, and a full programme and booking form can befound at www.festivalofmountaineeringliterature.co.uk

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40445_SUMMIT_27.pmd 11/09/2002, 4:15 PM53


LAST THOUGHTS

In early May this year, the BMC offered a fantasticopportunity; an exotic week away aimed at climbers

who don’t fit into the ‘elite’ category, and as sure asapples is apples, that’s me!

Being sent off to South Africa to meet other British climb-ers and our hosts for the week was definitely an adventure,but from the first day it was clear that a fantastic time lay instore. The climbing started at White Umflozi, three hoursdrive from our base in Durban, and after leaving the tarredroad to bounce along a dirt track, we arrived at our ‘rustichut’ accommodation. The view of the Umflozi with its river-strewn boulders and palm-topped cliffs was our first tasteof the legendary South African settings we were to encoun-ter. This sandstone and quartzite crag has been formed overthe millennia by the erosive nature of the river, and conse-quently can be extremely polished in places, but there areplenty of worthwhile routes from SA grade 12 (Severe) up-wards. Although after two days we were sorry to leave thetranquillity of Umflozi, the prospect of seeing other areasand perhaps enjoying a little shade spurred the group on.

Kloof Gorge was the next destination, a steep-sided, veg-etated sandstone valley close to Durban. A short abseil inbrought us to the “Boneyard” and the foot of a number ofsport routes - the friendly grade range and solid bolts madethe day feel eerily like being at the wall. But the post-workoutscramble back was accompanied by a breath-taking Africansunset - something you rarely find indoors!

Monteseel was next on the agenda, and we were whiskedaway to a privately run hut conveniently situated for thenext day’s climbing. The crag overlooks the spectacular andappropriately named Valley of a Thousand Hills, and thedescent path passes directly through a township in the val-ley bottom. The presence of non-climbing locals has led tofriction in the past with stories of unaccompanied kit goingmissing and over-exuberant begging, but despite all pre-conceptions, I found all the areas of South Africa we visitedto be surprisingly safe. Of course at Monteseel, as with allplaces, it paid to stick to the ‘rules’ we generally live by inthe UK; not leaving bags unattended on a busy thorough-fare or bumbling around alone at night etc. And from a so-cial perspective, giving hand-outs to the many people whoask doesn’t seem to be productive - far better to make adonation to a reputable charity or invest in some of thenumerous locally made trinkets. Just like buying the BigIssue here at home, the same principle applies.

The climbing at ‘Monties’ was enjoyable, with its eclecticmix of slabs, cracks, long traverses and steep faces. Theease of access makes this area popular for after-work climb-ing and consequently the routes are all well established, soit’s a great place to visit - particularly if you are climbingunguided, as it really is impossible to get lost!

Our final destination was certainly the most striking of thetrip, the Drakensberg Mountains, a dramatic escarpmentover 180km long and 150m high marking the border be-tween South Africa and Lesotho. The climbs top out at over3000m (think Stanage on a grand scale!) and the highestpoint is Sentinel Peak at 3200m, which was to be our finalclimb as a group. The most popular route is the AngusLeppan, at grade 14/15 over six pitches, but by far theboldest was the Southeast Arête, which involved severalcommitting pitches of around grade 20. Jo George and KateArnold learnt the hard way about how freeze-thaw causesdestabilisation, with five rock falls during their ascent.

Returning to Durban after all the excitement of theDrakensberg was quite sobering. (Unlike that evening!). Itwas great to meet up with the various hosts who had beenso affable during the week; the trip wouldn’t have been thesame without all their efforts. And of course even though Ispent a further five weeks in South Africa, there’s still somuch to see – I think this could be the start of a very lengthyaffair!

EXOTIC EXCHANGEA personal account of the BMC / Mountain Clubof South Africa (KZN section) climbing exchangetrip in May 2002 by Tessa Gough

(LEFT) Sunset at Tafelberg, Cederberg Range.(RIGHT) An Exotic plant! Credit: Dave Brown.

YOUR TURN NEXT?

Here’s another fantastic offer! The MCSA invites climbersto participate in a rock climbing meet from 15-23rd March'03, based in Du Toit’s mountains in the Klein Drakensteinsnear Cape Town. The area offers spectacular trad climbingand scrambling of every grade, and there are many othercrags nearby for bouldering, alpine style and sport routesand canyoning. The BMC can nominate up to 10 people toattend this event. Transport and accommodation in SA willbe provided by MCSA, so the only cost is getting to CapeTown plus food, fuel and petrol. Climbers of every abilitymay apply, so register your interest with a personal profileand activity CV by email to [email protected] or postFAO Ian Hey at the office address.

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