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Helmets Culture Shock Be Inspired 32418_Cover 12/4/02 10:58 am Page 1 ISSUE 26 - SUMMER 2002 £2.50 Helmets Off Centre Impacts Culture Shock Climbers in Wadi Rum Be Inspired Stanage and On Peak Rock ALPINE A – Z NEW INSURANCE PULLING POWER PHOTO COMP WINNERS • MOUNTAIN TRAVEL • YEARBOOK • EXHIBITION FOREWORD... SUMMER SUMMITS elcome to Summit 26 which this time focuses on mountain travel, summer rock and getting Wout in the great outdoors. For me, like many climbers and walkers, the day the clocks change is a notable date in the annual calendar. All of a sudden the winter blues start to fade away, the daffodils come into bloom, the evenings lengthen, optimism returns, plans start to become reality – it’s summertime and it's time to head for the hills! The spring and summer months are indeed a wonderful time in the climbing year-book. This year, the clocks went forward over the Easter weekend and for some of us, the sun even shone. Honeypot areas such as Snowdonia, the Lakes, the Yorkshire Dales and other National Parks were heaving with visitors: Portland, Pembroke and Gogarth bus- tled - people were out there doing it and the countryside was well and truly back in business. Personally, I had an unusually quiet Easter. Unlike many others who headed for Scotland, the Alps, Fontainebleau or Sardinia, I stayed at home, recharged my batteries, ate good food, drank Abso- lution and made plans for the year. A couple of long walks took me up and around the Kinder plateau, following in the footsteps of the Kinder trespassers on one occasion and scoping out some new lines on another. I flicked through some guidebooks and back copies of climbing magazines and jotted down a summer tick list. Like many of us with good intentions, I even started a new fitness regime - sev- eral harsh bouldering sessions at the New Stones, Gibb Tor, Stoney and Hobson Moor left me with pumped forearms, raw finger tips, but also with rekindled enthusiasm to get onto some big adventurous routes. Dave Turnbull on The Hood, Berry Head. Photo: Ken Palmer For clubs, the extra hour often marks the start of the sum- mer meets programme and as fair-weather climbers are once With 2002 being the UN International Year of Mountains, again prised out of the woodwork, long evenings are spent there have never been more opportunities for getting in- cragging or walking followed by banter and beer in the gar- volved with international climbing meets, exchanges and dens of favourite pubs. For outdoor education centres, the like. Wherever you go - be it home or abroad - enjoy training providers, guides and retailers, the summer period the summer. is a critical time for business. As people stream out of the cities to find fresh challenges in the hills, training courses fill up and gear shops take on extra staff - they deserve a better season this year following the trauma’s of Foot and Mouth in 2001. BMC Chief Officer New guidebooks for a new year Join, climb, and save! save! save! Looking for inspiration for the season ahead? These two forthcoming BMC guides for the Peak District should see you right. The new Stanage and On Peak Rock will be on the shelves, ready to get you through the long sunny eve- nings ahead, and with over 3.000 routes between them, they should keep you going for a few more sea- sons besides. Do all of the routes on- sight and win one month's FREE BMC membership and a matching chalk bag. For loads more fantastic member of- fers on guidebooks, see the BMC website. BMC SUMMIT - ISSUE 26 3 32418_Summit26.p65 3 15/04/2002, 10:47 AM 26 CONTENTS 6 News Welcome to issue 26 of All the latest news and developments from the BMC. Summit is the membership 10 Access news magazine of the British Mountain- New Access Officer, eering Council. The BMC promotes Snowdonia Green Key, the interests of climbers, hill CRoW consultations. walkers and mountaineers and the 42 Culture Shock freedom to enjoy their activities. 32 The new yearbook The primary work of the BMC is to: 44 Arena Negotiate access improve- Mancom summary, ments and promote cliff and Annual accounts. mountain conservation. Promote and advise on good 54 MLTB practice, facilities, training Just a simple walk. and equipment. Support events and specialist programmes including youth 55 Briefing and excellence. All the latest events. Provide services and information for members. 62 Last thoughts A Matterhorn affair. BMC, 177 - 179 Burton Road, Manchester M20 2BB Tel: 0870 010 4878 Fax: 0161 445 4500 REGULARS 12 Heavy Load e-mail: [email protected] www.thebmc.co.uk Packs - how to choose the right one for you. EDITORIAL Contributions for Summit should 18 Pulling Power be sent to the Editor Alex The joy of prussiks. 34 ACT Photo comp Messenger at the above address or [email protected]. Every 21 Insurance 34 ACT Photocomp care is taken of materials sent for Our great new policies. publication, however these are sub- The winners. mitted at the sender's risk. 22 Foreign 38 High Summer PUBLISHING Language The latest from the Helly Gill Wootton A - Z of the Alps. Hansen National Display Advertising Mountaineering Exhibition. Jane Harris 26 On Peak Rock Classified Change your life with Niall 40 Competitions Paula Taylor Grimes. Who's been winning what. Tel: 01536 382500 Fax: 01536 382501 30 Stanage 42 Culture Shock PUBLISHED & PRINTED BY Ring Ouzels & Funny A look at the impact of climbing on Wadi Rum. GreenShires Publishing Forums. Telford Way, Kettering Northants, NN16 8UN 32 Adventure 46 Mountain Travel Tel: 01536 382500 Exclusive extract from the FEATURES The exciting new yearbook publication is coming. acclaimed Mountain Neither the BMC nor GreenShires Publishing accept responsibility for information supplied in Traveller's Handbook. adverts. Readers are advised to take reasonable 16 Pulling Power care when responding to adverts. 50 Helmets RISK & RESPONSIBILITY Off-centre impacts examined. Readers of Summit are reminded that climbing, hill walking and mountaineering are activities with a 52 Expeditions 2002 danger of personal injury or death. The BMC/MEF roundup. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and Cover: Ascending Mt Blanc. involvement. The BMC publishes a Credit: Alastair Lee. wide range of safety and good practice advice and provides training opportunities for members. 32418_Summit26.p65 4 16/04/2002, 9:31 AM LETTERS IT WORKS BOTH WAYS with the proviso that if birds are seen genuine new investment has there been Steve Dowding makes several valid to be nesting on any of those but- in Snowdonia tourism anyway in the points in his letter in Summit 25, not tresses then climbing is not allowed. I past 40 years? The answer is remark- least that climbers may incur liabilities have suggested as much to SNH, but ably little, despite the availability of UK as well as have rights and responsibili- after nearly eighteen months of fairly tourist industry and European grants ties. This is very topical since two climb- persistent enquiries, their response is: and other sources of aid. We all know ers are currently going through the “Sorry to be a long time in getting one Snowdonia hotel that hasn’t had a Scottish Courts on a charge of disturb- back to you, I have been trying to check lick of paint in decades, how will restrict- ing a Schedule 1 bird in Glen Afton in with other sources in SNH , but due to ing cars stimulate lifeless businesses to the Scottish Lowlands. From a climb- the new proposed Land Reform Bill, invest in improvements? er’s point of view they had behaved they have been examining what impli- responsibly, selecting a route on the cations there may be. Will revert to you Peter Wood, Cirencester crag some distance from the nest site. once I have a more definitive answer.” This does not seem to have been I am not sure what relevance any bill CLIMBERS' NEEDS enough though and they may lose all has as to whether a bird is disturbed or The article on guidebooks presented a their gear, be fined, and saddled with not, and I am sure that such informa- balance between the two traditional a criminal record. tion already exists sufficiently that some camps. However I feel that they are ar- Whilst climbers are prepared to behave agreement could be reached. The prob- guing over the wrong points. Most climb- responsibly, there is surely an onus on lem is that we, the climbers, do not ers find that neither traditional or Rock the powers that be to give out guidelines know what it is, and they, the conser- Fax guides fully meet their needs. What as to exactly what does construe distur- vation bodies, won’t tell us - on the I believe most climbers want is up to bance to Schedule 1 birds. This is sim- record, at any rate. This is a bit like date crag information relating to route ply not happening. It seems obvious that having speeding legislation that says finding and realistic and standardised one risks disturbing a bird by climbing a you mustn’t drive too fast, with no idea grading across all locations. I believe line that passes through its nest, but of what or where the speed limits are. that typically climbers relate to grade, what about one that is 10m away, or on Whilst climbers recklessly disturbing over a specific location. As a result when a separate buttress? birds is not on, neither to my mind are guides such as On Peak Rock are pub- In the Lakes, we are fortunate in hav- conservation bodies recklessly banning lished they are winners.
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