Category: Member Posts

As history was made, technique improved, and knowledge and confidence increased. A great tradition of guides was built up. Men began to climb from a physical and aesthetic delight in mountains and mountaineering, and they found companionship and humour in growing social contacts. The conquest motive was soon swallowed up by a higher rival stimulus of adventurous hedonism; peak-bagging became less and less desirable, and mountaineering came to be regarded as an end in itself. The mopping up of the lesser peaks often yielded far more exacting and satisfying experiences than the earlier conquest of the giants, and this combined with a predilection for guideless climbing, gave impetus to the new approach. New ridges and new faces yielded routes of greater character and variety, and the standard of climbing was pushed up nearer and nearer to the limits of the possible. Great feats were coupled with great names : Whymper, Dent, Mummery, Zgismondy, Purtscheller, Javelle, Ryan, Young, Lepiney—to mention only a few. Alexander Burgener, Franz Lochmatter, Joseph Knubel, Joseph Georges, and a host of other famous guides were even more responsible for the advance in technique and performance. During this period the deliberate taking of risks was frowned upon, turning[…]

As history was made, technique improved, and knowledge and confidence increased. A great tradition of guides was built up. Men began to climb from a physical and aesthetic delight in mountains and mountaineering, and they found companionship and humour in growing social contacts. The conquest motive was soon swallowed up by a higher rival stimulus of adventurous hedonism; peak-bagging became less and less desirable, and mountaineering came to be regarded as an end in itself. The mopping up of the lesser peaks often yielded far more exacting and satisfying experiences than the earlier conquest of the giants, and this combined with a predilection for guideless climbing, gave impetus to the new approach. New ridges and new faces yielded routes of greater character and variety, and the standard of climbing was pushed up nearer and nearer to the limits of the possible. Great feats were coupled with great names : Whymper, Dent, Mummery, Zgismondy, Purtscheller, Javelle, Ryan, Young, Lepiney—to mention only a few. Alexander Burgener, Franz Lochmatter, Joseph Knubel, Joseph Georges, and a host of other famous guides were even more responsible for the advance in technique and performance

The full story, which, happily, did not get into the papers, is as follows. When my companion and I were on Dow Crag we did not suspect the presence of other climbers on the cliff until we were actually fumbling with our ropes at the top of D Buttress. I had found considerable difficulty owing to cold, mist, driving rain, and squally wind and I only caught sight of the two climbers through misted glasses. They were on a small ledge high above us, and there was no reason to suspect that they were in any difficulty. In a few seconds the mist blotted them out, and we hurried down Easy Terrace and then made for the Walna Tear track speeded by the thought of dry clothes and tea.

The name Los Encantados—the Enchanted Mountains—had often excited our curiosity, and while spending a few days in the Val d’Aran in 1930, two of us decided to have a look at them, though we had only two days in which to do it. We made an early start up the Aiguamoch valley by a well-marked track. According to the map there was a path nearly all the way up the valley, but we soon found that the map was incorrect, as the French maps often are across the Spanish frontier. The path soon faded out, and we made but slow progress. We had planned to take in the Grand Pic de Colomes on our way over, but two o’clock in the afternoon saw us toiling up the last steep snow slopes to a tiny nick in the ridge—the Traouc del Rat, and we had still a long way to go. The valley had been beautiful—we had skirted numerous tarns of all sizes, many of them hidden by surrounding woods and rocks—but it was nothing, compared with the view from the col. We were in the midst of a veritable Lake District. Around us in nearly every direction shapely peaks soared to[…]

Do you remember that chapter of C. E. Montague’s entitled ‘ When the Map is in Tune’ ? Some weeks ago I had to refer to my maps of the Pyrenees, and chanced upon one of Los Encantados. I opened it, and as I read the familiar names, Estany, de San Mauricio, Pic de la Ratere, Grand Pic de Colonies, Pleta de los Gavachos, Portarron d’Espot, Grand Pic de Peguera, Vallee d’Espot, everything came back to me, and I lived again the delightful days I had spent there. Could it possibly be ten years ago ? It seemed incredible. Yes, the map was in tune. To plan a holiday which you know you will never take may be fascinating, as Montague suggests in another chapter—I have never put it to the test, though I’ve often built castles in the air. But to look back over a perfect holiday spent with a perfect companion, when everything went right, when the weather was good, and you did nearly all you had planned, that is certainly a delight.

Here is some sample text from the 1942 Journal: I have been very lucky in the matter of rescue parties, in fact, until I helped in the recovery of the two bodies from Dow Crag last October, I had only been concerned in one of these painful expeditions. The occasion I refer to was on the last half-day of an Easter Meet at Fort William, when Pigott hauled a number of us out of bed at five o’clock on a cold, dark morning to search for the bodies of our members, Staleman and Ellhoe, who had been last seen high up a gully in a very precarious situation just before nightfall the previous evening. By about 7-30 we were hot on the scent and well up the snows of’ The Ben,’ when news reached us that the bodies had been discovered in the coffee-room of the Waverley Hotel making considerable havoc with the bacon and eggs. and here is a picture  

Keith and I thought we’d found an excellent base for the meet at the Llanthony campsite adjacent to Llanthony Priory. Unfortunately, we’ve now discovered that the weekend of our meet coincides with the annual Llanthony Festival, which is held in the campsite field. So we thought we’d save Llanthony for another year and change the venue for this August to Cwmdu, north-west of Crickhowell and on the western side of the Black Mountains. There is a campsite here that appears to have good facilities (www.campingbreconbeacons.com ) that is within walking distance of the local inn. Cwmdu provides a good base for the western side of the Black Mountains, making it easy to include the highest point of Waun Fach. For those wanting to stretch their legs a bit, there is a 28km circuit with 1400m of ascent direct from the campsite, traversing Mynydd Llangorse, Mynydd Troed, Waun Fach and Pen Allt-mawr. There are several ways to cut this short or alternatively there is a most attractive round of the hills surrounding Llangorse Lake: Allt yr Easgair, Mynydd Llangorse and Mynydd Troed (21km/ 830m). The Bannau Brycheiniog (I’d better get used to that!) are close at hand also, so there should[…]

Just a follow up from Mark’s post about organising a meet, if anyone wants to use Beudy Mawr as a base, Steve Gregory and myself are more than happy to help. If you wanted it to be part of the Club’s Outdoor Meets programme, the best place to start is by contacting Helen Pritchard who can best advise on available dates within the programme. Alternatively, if you wanted to dip a toe in the water, just look at the programme to make sure there are no clashes, and then book with me. You can publicise the meet on the website, the Club’s Facebook page and through Meetstaff. Or you can get a few mates together and do it a bit less formally. If you haven’t been to Beudy before, I can ‘walk’ you through the place, although everything is pretty straightforward. You can decide how you want to run things – have a focus (walking, climbing, running, cycling, etc) or not (people do as they please), organise an evening meal (always good fun around the table) or not, invite families (or not, although the last couple of times I’ve been to Beudy there have been kids there and they have[…]

Jez Nasse is coordinating a summer Alpine meet in the first two weeks of August this year, based at the Ailefroide campsite in the heart of the Ecrins National Park. It’s a fabulous venue, with something for everyone: access to major Alpine peaks including Barre des Ecrins, the highest mountain in the Ecrins National park at 4,102m climbing and cragging on long routes and single pitch granite, direct from the campsite nearby world-class limestone sports climbing numerous via ferrata in the Briancon valley road biking and mountain biking to suit all levels and tastes stupendous walking in a fabulous setting Most of all, it’s a gorgeous campsite, spread over 17 hectares and perfect for families. Jez writes to advise that they don’t take group bookings but that you can reserve your space directly with the campsite here Get in touch with Jez directly (details in the handbook) if you are interested or want to know more information.