THE ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH MEMBERS OF THE SWISS ALPINE CLUB 1982 • • JOURNAL • CONTENTS

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a • I • Diary for 1982 2 Editorial 2 111 . . • The fourthousand metre peaks of the by Will McLewin 4 : I • • • Celebration at the Section Uto by Walter Kirstein 12 Ills'. • Mountains' call to Mountains by Hamish Brown 13 Shorter reports of Members' activities 14 I • • Association activities The A.G.M. 21 • s - • Association Accounts 23 The Annual Dinner 26 - • SI • The outdoor meets 26 Obituary: F. E. Smith 31 Please send me the next 12 issues of Book reviews 32 C limber and Rambler at the cost of f 8.00 incl. post and packing List of past and present officers 34 Complete list of members 36 NAME Official addresses of the S. A. C. Inside back cover ADDRESS Officers of the Association 1982 Back cover

Cheques/P.O. should be made payable to Holmes McDougall Ltd. Send the completed couponta Holmes McDougall Ltd., Subscription Dept., Climber& Rambler. 10/12 York Street Glasgow G2. •• •• m. ow DIARY FOR1982 Wed 20 Jan. Fondue party — F.A.W. Schweizer 5-7 Feb. Glencoe — A. Andrews 12-14 Feb. Northern dinner — Patterdale, W.B. Midgley Wed 24 Feb. Professor Edward Williams, Mount Kongur 5-7 March Llanrwst, Ms. M. Baldwin Wed 24 March Patterdale, maintenance — R. Coatsworth 8-13 April Easter — Patterdale, R. Coatsworth 8-13 April Easter. Llanrwst, S. M. Freeman Wed. 28 April Don Clarke, Little Tibet 30 April-3 May May Day — Llanrwst, C. G. Armstrong 30 Apr.-3 May Patterdale with T.C.C., R. Coatsworth Wed. 26 May Buffet party 28-31 May Spring BM. — Patterdale, R. Coatsworth 29 May-5 June Lochinver. A. I. Andrews 11-13 June Rhyd-Ddu — D. Penlington Wed. 23 June D. Anton — Survival at altitude 2-4 July Swanage —J .Harris 24 July-14 Aug Argentiere — M. Pinney 14-28 Aug. Kandersteg — S. Beare 27-30 Aug. Bank Holiday — Panerdale, R. Coatsworth 17-19 Sep. Llanrwst Wed. 22 Sep. To be announced 1-3 Oct. Patterdale — Buffet party, M. Porteous Wed. 20 Oct. Member's slides 29-31 Oct. Patterdale, M. Pinney Wed. 10 Nov. Annual dinner - 19-21 Nov. Llanrwst, A. Lock Wed. 24 Nov. Annual General Meeting 24 Dec.4 Jan. 1982 Patterdale, R. Coatsworth

Lecture meets will be held at the Alpine Club, 74 South Audley Street, London, W. 1. at 7.15 p.m. Cash bar refreshments will be available from 6.30 p.m. and coffee will be available after the lectures. Please book with the person named for outdoor meets. Further details will appear in circulars. "al sat" Please note telephone numbers: R. Coatsworth 0903 815403 for Patterdale, J. Byam- Grounds 0492 640259 for Fron Francis. ae kg• 1 111%,46k 13,

EDITORIAL

For reasons of economy, it is desirable keepto down the number of pages in this year's Journal. An obvious contribution is a short Editorial. As a further measure, no attempt has been made to solicit articles. We nevertheless have an account of Will McLewin's very notable feat of climbing all the Alpine 4000m peaks, half of them solo, and it is hoped that this will give as much pleasure to readers as it has done to the editor. It would be interesting to know how many British-based climbershave tt 11Al, Lew, n rnthe surnma ol Dent Plan, he: achieved the feat; we know of Eustace Thomas and that is all; perhaps readers will by tI AL Lenin enlighten us. The editor has failed to do the required research, largely through being kept somewhat house bound by natural causes. 2 4322. The fourthousandmetre peaks of the Alps MontBlanc Groupe (13) WillMcLewin Droites4000, Aiguille due jardin4035, Grand Rocheuse 4102, Aguille Verte 4121„ I didn't beginclimbing in the Alpswith the intentionof doingalthe four- Dentdu Geant4013, Rochefortgrat 4allt-4015,Grand jorasses 4/08, MontBrouillard thousanders,but then I don't supposeanyone would. The idea first emerged in 1970 4069,Aiguille de Bionassay4052, Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey411L, de afterI hadalready done about 15of themand it wascertainly not consciouslyadopted Taut 4248, 4465, PAnntMoor4807. untila coupleof yearslater. Others(3). Myrust ascentof a four-thousander,the Allalinhornfrom the Britanniahut in 1966 PizBernina 4049, Gran Paradiso 4061, Barre des Ecrins4101. certainlyhad no traceof an auspiciousbeainning. After the firsthour or soit wasa Thereis no doubt that simplyto getup an own, e e lanchede Peutereyis caseof justplodding up a snowpath in mistand seeing absolutely nothing. Three themost serious, followed by the AiguilleVerte - GrandRocheuse - Aguilledu yearslater, 1969,saw some improvement, with my first soloroute, on the Weissmies, jardintrioand MontBrouillard. After these it's moredebatable. The leastserious are and twoshort but non-trivialnorth face routes, the Strahlhornand the Ecrins,none of thosewith short F or P-D snowtrails, like the ZermattBreithorn, the Bishornand whichfeatured in anyguide books we had seen.However 1970 saw a major severalof the MonteRosa summits. breakthrough.The mostobvious feature was a goodascent of the NEEface of the Mylist of ascentsthat follows is in chronological order,and omits ascents of other Lenzspitzewhich was a clearindication of our increasedcompetence and which gave mountainsand almosrall repeat ascents. Descents are by the sameroute if not us a lot moreconfidence. But twoother changes were equally important. Firstly mentioned.The commentsare necessarilybrief and simplyabout how I foundit on insteadof beingwith several other climbers who were more or lessinterested in the day.I have some regrets aboutroutes listed without comment, in a sensethey are gettingroutes done I waseither essentially by myselfor withonly one equally allequally memorable. determinedfriend. The distinctionbetween having a climbingholiday and going to 1966 the Alpssingle-mindedly determined to do somedecent mutes had beenrealised! : SWridge; withBrian and DeniseWood Secondlywe stopped staying in huts and beganbivouacing. This meant better sleep Fvebeen meaning to do it againon a goodday ever since. (noneof the inevitablesnorers) better food (when and how we wanted it) anda more iSsitgraujjW Ridge;with Brian and Denise Wood and DM. Williams. subtlechange best described as a moreintimate relationship with the mountains. orn: NE ridge;with Brian and Denise Woodand D.B. Williams. The samesummer, idly looki g at the mountaineeringbooks in Saas-Fee,the way one 13ihr doeson rainydays wefound Karl Bkidig and HelmutDumler's book "Die Rimpfiyhhorn:SW ridge; with Brian Wood. Viertausenclerche klpen". BItidigwas the fast personto climbthem all and the book (Suahlhorn:N face directdescent by NW ridgewith BrianWood is a serious,semi-guide book giving routes, diagrams, grades, times, etc. andpictures A pleasantlyinteresting and worthwhile alternative to the ordinaryroute.) and backgroundchat about each four thousanderin turn. At firstit wasjust a vague Wsiudnics: W flankand N ridge,descent by SWridge and Trift glacier.solo. notionthat it mightbe niceto climbthem all, but the ideastuck and becamemore and On the westflank is a tongueof snowreaching almost to theN ridge. Thisgives morethe centraltheme of myalpine activities. By 19751 wasprepared to admitof it to straightforwardaccess to the ridge,above the awkwardpitch, and provides a more otherpeople, and by 1980,when I had sewn left to do, therewere not manyweeks interestingand enjoyable circuit than up anddown the ordinaryroute from the that passedwithout my thinkingof the AguilleBlanche de Peuterey. Weissmieshut. Anyonesetting out to climball the fourthousanders has a numberof questionsof Banedes Ecrins.: N flankand N facedirect, descent by W ridgeand N flank;with principleto decide. At oneextreme would be the aimof a separate,serious route for BrianWood. eachsummit, starting from the road.At the otherextreme one would choose the A short,steepish face of loose,'gabby rock partiallyheld together with verglasanda easiestway simply to get to eachsummit in turn, makingmaximum use of dustingof loosesnow. Most of the enjoymentwas afterwards. telepheriquesetc. and of traversesfrom one summit to another.It's a personalchoice Mandl;NE face,descent by NE ridge;with Brian Wood. whichdepends on practicalaspects like limitations of fmance, time and ability, as well Webivouaced on the S. Eigerjoch,having done the S ridgeof the .The snow as whatI canonly describe as onesown emotional involvement with the mountains. wasexcellent and the routepleasant and straightforward.We hacked straight through Thereis no doubt that I do feela senseof personalinvolvement with a mountainand the corniceat the top andhad made a brewof tea whenthe firstparty arrived from the I've remainedmuch more concerned with the doingrather than the havingdone. As a hut. result,the questionof what constitutes a fourthousander has never bothered me. 1 1970 knowtherearelists of SOor more, but Blödigand Dumler'slist of 59seems to be Lennnine: NNE face,descent via ; with Brian Wood. aboutright. Here, for example,the Grandjorasses counts as one,but the individual Our announcementat the Mischabelhut that wewere just passing, on our wayto summitsof MonteRosa all count;Mont Broullard is includedbut PicLuigi Amadeo bivoucbelow the faceon the Hobalnglacier caused a certainamount of hilarity.This is not. wasrepeated next morning when the alarmfailed to gooff and we were woken up by The completelist dividesnaturally into threemain areas and three isolated summits. the approachof the twoparties from the hut. Wetore off to the begschrundin an BemeseOberland (9): embarrassedfrenzy and virtually ignored the difficultiesthere by mystanding on Aletschorn4195,Gross- 4078, Brian'shead and diving upwards . The snowwas quite good on the lowerpart of the Lauteraarhorn4042, Gross-Fiescherho ' faceso we moved together, just putting in an occasionalice piton for security.The Finsteraarhorn4 73 r s- ru om . otherparties presumably felt that our circustactics at the bergschrundwere beneath

ass : theirdignity and tookages to getacross, by whichtime we were about 200m up the • • or 42 , Obergabelhorn4063, Dent face.A bit higherup, abouthalf-way, 250m from the bergschrund,as the snow lanche 6, nt erens 171, tter orn 7, GrandCombin 4314, becamethinner and the slopesteeper, we cut a largestep and stoppedto restand to Lenz itze4294 Nadelhorn4327 Stecknadelhorn4242 Robber horn421 , untiethe twistsin the rope.At thispoint the faceshimmers off to infmityin all directions,uniquely beautiful and also initimidating. Here I contrivedto dropout iimpfischhorn4198, 4190, Lasudphorn 4010, Weissmies4023, reithorn peg-hammer,and we watched it bouncedown the faceand acrossthe bergschrund. 4165, 4226, 4091, 4527, : Dufourspitze 4634, Brian,calmly pragmatic as evermanaged to confmehimself merely to observingthat Nordend4609, Zumsteinspitze 4563, Signalkuppe 4556, •Parrotspitze4436, wemight as wellthrown the icepitons after it as wenow had nothing to bangthem in Ludwigshtilte4341, Vincente Pyramide 4215, Punta Giordani 4046, Schwarzhorn 4 5 with. Pressing on rather more soberly than before we climbed singly using our two ice screws for belaying. Ile other parties were going much slower and had both opted to ascend the less steep slope to the Nadeljoch. Perhaps this encouraged us and we ascended the steeper part of the face, on rather poor snow, directly to the very summit. Later on, having collected our bivitent and the hammer we were passing the Mischahel hut when the warden took us inside and gave us tea and congratulations. He had watched us on the fmal section with bonoculars. We were even more surprised a couple of days later in Saas-Fee when he called us over from one side of the square to be introduced and shake hands with a couple of guides. oh r orn Durrenhorn: traverse SE to NW, descent to Ried glacier from Durrenjoch; solo. Hohberghorn: NE face, descent from Durrenjoch; solo. f though the northern end of the Mischabelgrat deserved more than just the traverse. This is a very nice route but getting onto it from the Ried glacier is a bit awkward. Lagginhorn: S ridge, descent by W ridge; solo. : SE ridge, descent to Mischaheljoch by N ridge; solo. Tischhorn: SE ridge; solo. When I returned to the bivouac hut on the Mischabeljoch in the afternoon after reconnoitring the first hour of the SE ridge the weather was deteriorating rapidly and I was surprised to find two parties approaching the hut. At 4 a.m. next morning a moderate storm was still dying away but the other parties got ready and left at 5.45 in quite pleasant weather. I decided to be cunning for once and give myself another hour's sleep and give them an hour and a half start to sort out the crux section on the snow shoulder before I got there. When I did get there I found both parties politely insisting that the other should have the honour of going first. They should have been looking at the sky because that was where the problem was. I trotted across the snow and dashed up to the summit as fast as I could. There I could aLmost reach up and touch an enormous solid black cloud. I didnt dare stay more than 10 minutes and tore , 7 1 down again, passing the second party still belaying themselves off the snow. The r. clouds followed me down and I dived into the hut at 11.45 a.m. just as the first hailstone hammered on the roof. : NW flank; solo. cc- figiEsolutely simple route produced my wont of all moment. The weather was pretty poor and there were only two other people at the Tracuit hut. My aim was the , and I thought I might as well get some exercise and look at it. I had come round to Zinal from Saas-Fee and owing to a missed connection at Visp I had spent some time drinking the best in at the self-service cafe by the station at Sierre (surely the nicest place in the alps for that sort of thing). But the result was that two nights at the Tracuit would leave me with insufficient money to return from Zinal, so I had to go back via the and I felt that I should have a look at the descent from the Bnineggjoch in case it was misty the following day. About half way across from the Bisjoch, despite taking great care, I found myself spread out horizontally on the snow with one leg waving in space down a blind crevasse. Just as I eased that leg onto the surface it all gave way. The crevasse was about four feet wide, vertical, and went down for ever and I was really pleased to land a metre from the end of a snow bridge about 5 metres long and 6 metres down. Weisshorn• N ridge via Bishorn; descent by E ridge; solo. A terrific route, continuously interesting, but rather too much snow and ice on the rocks on this occasion, so that a couple of places were a bit awkward. If I had understood the warden at the Tracuit hut correctly it was the second ascent that year; there were certainly no signs of footprints and none on the E ridge either until a thord of the way down when I met a party making some for me. At Randa station I found myself with too little money for the train fare, so I staggered off down the road and reached Herbriggen just as a train was arriving. I was still thirty centimes short. As I stood in front of the ticket clerk, absolutely spaced out, she slowly took out her own purse and solemnly added to my little pile of sweaty coins two more of her own. 1971 Piz Bernina: N ridge (Biancograt), descent by SE ridge; with Bob McLewin. g Gran Paradiso: SW flank; with Bob McLewin. 7 tterhorn: SW (Italian) ridge; with Bob McLewin. My brot er had never been climbing before!His preparation consistedof a wet walk up Tryfan and an afternoon on gritstone. He was quite amazing;tireless and nerveless.We did the becausehe wanted "to do somethingthat other peoplewill have heard of", and we had three fairly epic days. The weather was reasonablebut the route was in desperate condition. There was so much snow that at least two of the fixed ropes were completelyburied and we took nearly 14 hours to and from the Savoiahut. There was no-one else on the summit that day except two Austrianswho had joined us at the Savoiaand had asked us to take them to the summit, which amused Bob no end. : NW ridge; solo. 1972 Dent du Geant: SW face; with Brian and Denise Wood. A nice day out, starting with the first telepherique to the Torino, spoilt a bit by some drizzle and too many other climbers. Aiguillede Bionassav:S ridge; with Denise Wood. \re bivouacedon the Col des Domes, which we decided was far enough in one day from Notre Darne de la gorge via the Trélatête Hotel. e du ardin Ai e Verte: the Jardin ridge; solo. An absolute epic. e wea er soon e poor, intermittent icy drizzle and mist with short bursts of clear sky. I cannot believeI found much of the correct line onto the ridge; the icy couloir that fmally took me onto the ridge a little east of the summit of the Aiguilledu Jardin was quite horrid and my descent route was just as bad. Back at the bergschrund about 14 hours after leavingit I was a quiveringwreck and bivouacedat the first flat bit of ground I found about 400 yards away. Droites: S ridge; with Brian Wood. RochefortArete: traverse SW to NE to Col des GrandesJorasses; with Garry Dyer. Oune delicious.We had bivouacednear the Torino but started quite later after an uncertain night's weather. After lunch and a couple of hours sleep at the Craven hut we had a pleasantafternoon rock climbing up towards Pointe Young in preparation for the followingmorning. Grandes lorasses: W ridge (traverseto Pointe Walker, descent by SW flank.); with Garry Dyer. We abseileddown a few feet too far and wasted over an hour trying to forcea way round the rock spur between Pointe Young and Pointe Marguerite, before climbing up a bit and finding the correct line. This was nearly a seriouserror becausewe were caught by a fierce storm as we got to Point Whymper. I had just begun explaining about digging a hole in the snow when it eased off. The descent in mist was not without interest. Eventuallywe came to the bergschrund at the wrong place, where there was an enormous drop onto the other lip. Garry asked "What do we do now?", and while I was looking for a reasonableplace to get acrossI said that we jump down, and before I could say another work he did! He went up to his armpits in the snow and was totally stuck, so in the circumstancesthe least I could do was to jump down as well. 1974 Mont Blancde Tacul: S ridge (via Ferraro?) descent by N face; with Brian Wood. Steep, loose rock, long and tedious; followedin the late afternoon by a hot, slowplod acrossthe ValleeBlanche in time to miss the last telepheriquedown from the Torino by 2 minutes. Mont au • SE ridge (Frontier ridge), descent by N face and N face of Mont Blanc u Tacul; with Brian Wood. After one look at the multilingual pantomine goingon in the late afternoonon the steep slope up to the Col de la Fourche we settled for a comfortabledinner and bivouacon the glacier and an early start next morning up a shallowcouloir 300m further long the ridge. A most enjoyableroute in superb conditions, and this time the plod across the ValleeBlanche went quite pleasantly. at Mont Blanc: Brenvaridge, descent by Grises route and Dome glacier;solo. Dames Anglaises and Aiguille Now de Pemerm, The scene at the Ghighlionebivouac hut was one of incrediblepandemonium and firm summtt sf Af t. Brouillard strop; every horizontal surfacewas coveredwith bodies and water and after a In IX. Al, Lewm desultory attempt at the futile occupationof trying to sleep we had breakfastat 9 10p.m.and left. On the firstrocks above Col MooreBrian fell off whenthe hingeon Aletschorn:N (Hasler)rib; with BrianWood. one of his cramponssnapped and as we couldn'treally repair it he wentback. I found GrossGrunhorn: W flank;with BrianWood. myselfat the "kmous ice arete,usually snow" in whatseemed to be no timeat all, but 1 he screezone wascomplicated and a bit frustratingbut was a quiteenchanting place this timeit and the slopeabove were pretty well ice. I progressedupwards cutting in brightsunlight. stepsabout 2m apartbut afterwhat seemed hours it was stilldark, the windwas still :SW flankand NW ridge;with BrianWood. comingin strong,intermittent gusts, I was cold, the exposurewas tremendousand Wir —airue, and the longestapproach walk of all, fromFiesch, is reallynot so my nerveswere in shreds.At a tiny islandof rockI tied myselfon, got out my sleeping bad. bagand duvet and waited for the sunrise.I discoveredthat I hadlots of gearwith me :S ridge;solo. includinga stoveetc. but no food. The sun, whenit cameup, wasfabulous and by Ihad ore walkedup to the Rossierhut only to be heavilysnowed on during thenI was warmand more relaxed. Another party approached, thanked me for the the night. This time arrivingin Ferpecleon whatwas clearly the eveningbefore a stepsand I let themfind a routethrough the seracsabove, which they did expertly. clearnight and a go:idday my nerveswould not standthe ideaof usingthe next dayon Qrand Combin:W ridge:solo. an approachwalk, so I left at 4 a.m. witha lighterthan usual sack, left the cooking pleasantenough route with peculiarmica-like rock and superb unique views from gearby the hut at 8 a.m. afterhaving breakfast there and was at the stunmitbefore 11 the summit. a.m. Therewas only one tense bit, the little couloir by the Grande Gendarme, which 1975 wasicy rocksinstead of snow. One partywent to sometrouble to add to the interest. ; N ridge;with BrianWood and AndrewHartley. Whiletheir leader delivered an impassionedimpromptu lecture on the dangersof Ourfirst attemptat thispleasant route came to an end whena guideleading a party soloinghis thtte companionsreinforced his remarksby walkingto andfro on the acrosstowards the SW ridgefell downa crevasse.The second,carrying the usual corniceabove and kicking down lumps of ice andsnow . coils, did nothingto arresthis fall and had he not hit the bottomthe wholeparty O belhorn:ENE rid overWellenku • solo. wouldhave gone down. I abseileddown and foundhe hada brokenfemur. The restof ay C C OC e roa an r way justabove Randa led to my walkingto his partyhad no idea whatto do but wouldnot allowus to organisethem because they Zermattwhich made going up to nearthe Rothornhut a bit of a slog. A superb hada guidein charge.Brian resolved this problemby pointingdown at me and bivouacand excellent conditions next morningmore than made up for it. Despitethe announcingemphatically "guide Anglaiser Whenthe helicopter fmally arrived they luxuryof nearlyan hourat the summitit wasnot untilnearly 9.30 whenI was,going dichithave a stretcher.He was hauledup, with greatdifficulty, in a net(!)with his legs backover the Wellenpuppethat I met the firstparty from the hut, who hadcarefully tied togetherin my carrymatwhich I neversaw again. The poorguide was from timedtheir ascent so thatthe snowon the cruxpitch had begun to soften. Chamonixand the routewas to celebrate,with a partyof closefriends, his having For 1980 and 1981, see Members' Activities —Ed. beenmade a full guide. Lookingback over the wholeset of ascents,some do standout a bit as particularly 1976 memorable:the Leozspitzeof course, Mont Maudit, Weisshorn, Lyskarnm, Aiguille Vincente• • SW ridge;with BrianWood. Blanchede Peuterey.Also occasions when I, the routeand the weatherwere all at our •ridge (fromVincente Pyramide); solo. best. Dent Blanche,Grand Combin, Lagginhorn, , Obergahehorn are udoh Parrots itze SiuZurnsteinspitze: traverse examples.But everyascent has its own characterand somethingthat makes it special. 'anticoc se; ticnan It is ironicthat the summititself is quitefrequently cold, windyand uncomfortable An excellentday out with marvelloussnow colours, flat cloud at about3500m and not andthe need to descendsafely in deterioratingsnow conditions means that one dare at ali tedius. not staythere long. On the otherhand there are few situationsas profoundlypleasing 12ufoursitze ord d• traverseS to N fromColle Zumstein• solo. as a goodbivouac. To get pastthe approachstage onto the routeproper, to find or te interestingrn p aces, especiallydescending from the Dtkourspitzeto the constructa comfortablesite, to havea leisurelymeal of deliciousfood (as opposedto Sdbersattel.On the way to ColleZumstein from the Balmenhornbivouac hut I was dehydratedlightweight products) and then to be out anticipatingthe next day's overtakenby a solo dog! climbing,looking at the sunsetcolours, the moon, and the starshung across the sky I enkamm•traverse E to W; Castor:traverse SE to NW; Pollux:W face;with Brian like a net: thatis justas muchwhat it is all aboutand why one does it as the clicheof Wood. sittingon the summit.One of the itemsI alwayscarry, a half-a-pintof goodscotch, Om secondvisit to the dilapidatedsqualor of the Balmenhornhut wasenlivened by addsthat little bit extrato bothoccasions. the presenceof two Italians.They seemedto be tryingout a -without I amaware that there is an inconsequentialaspect about wanting to climball the food theory,but we convertedthem to our non-stop-eatingmethod. They must have founhousanders,but completingthem need not becomethe over-ridingpurpose, and sharedour six coursemeal only out of politenesshowever, because they spentmost of I haveappreciated the underlyingstructure and senseof continuityit hasgiven to my the night beingsick and pretendedto be asleepwhen we hadbreakfast. Lyskamm was alpineclimbing. A frequentmetaphor associated with climbing is thatof conquest.I superb,Castor and Polluxwould have been more enjoyablewith less heavysacks. wasasked recently what I will do now thatI haveconquered all thosepeaks. But the Sittingat the foot of the W face of Polluxwe lookedat the Cesareand Giorgio bivouac questionrnisunderstands the situationbecause I haveno sense of havingconquered hut belowthe RocciaNera and thoughtthat we neednot have carriedso much anything.What I amconscious of is that I haveachieved a sortof communionwith the bivouacgear, but it did not matterbecause it had begunto snowheavily . So we earthwhich is muchmore worthwhile and which is moredurable and continuingthan walkeddown to the Mezzalamahut, andon to the Han di Verrawhere we fortified havingbeaten something. ourselveswith a few beersbefore walking over the Bettafurkapass to ourcampsite in Will had reportedsome of the years before 1980 in previous 'fillembersActivites". The Gressoneyfor 8.30p.m. A long day. editor decided that some repetitionwasjustified to sustain the eleganceand continuiryof the Breithorn:traverse E to W fromRoccia Nera (Frontier ridge), descent by S face;solo. nanotive., Far-straightforward,very enjoyable. I left the Cesareand Giorgio bivouac hut at 6 p.m., saton the W summitfor halfan hourand was backat St. Jacquesat midday. 1978 :SW ridge:solo. A tourteenhour epic in dreadfulsnow conditions. The traverseacross the S face and the steel),loose rocksleading up to it wereespecially nasty. 10 11 Celebration at the Section Uto MOUNTAINS CALL TO MOUNTAINS by Walter Kirstein h is mypleasure to reportthe celebrationwhich I spentwith my SectionUto in Hanish Brown Zurichon April10th. Thisevent was to honourthose who have been members for 25, 50or 60 years;I havebeen a memberfor 50years. About 400 members were present in the greatestball in Zurich,which was decked with flowers for the occasion. The presidentspoke to me, particularlyexpressing his regretthat the president of the L The Citron ABMSAC(disabled with a brokenankle) had not beenable to attend.He repeated It wasin hot MeknesI sat; sipped thispoint in his speech,and alsokindly devoted considerable time to me. He readout The glassof the citron, the letterof thankswhich I had writtenafter a similarmeeting 25 yearsago, an Butin mymind I sat withghosts eveningwhich I wellremember, with its warmfeelings coming from the heart In Zermattor by Rhone. Afterthe meetingwe stayed a longtime together, and every Uto member with whom I had touredlast year,and all thosewho remembered me from past tours, all came to A Martignypatisserie meto exchangememories of thosehappy times. Perhaps.Its poolof dreams: Thepresidentasked me especiallyto mirehis regardsand bestwishes to the ABM, Mountainsclimbed — each a gladsojourn whichI havegreat pleasure to do. In youth'ssweet surety,seeing the long Yearsendless, on and on . . . Now!seeing all thosefaces, all thosejoys, Andall those years — all gone. All gone.

II. InJoshimath Sheepand peewits and the emptywind: Theseare the thingsthat creepto mind. In the greaterhills, in the sterilesnows, Onelongs for home— where memory flows, Wheredreamsight tumbles its starson the grass Andphantoms go tramping up to the pass . . . The hillswhere one ran, youngwith zest, Arebest when, returning,one seeksfor rest. ROBERT LAWRIE LTD. 54 SEYMOUR STREET, _Rhirele Ars9 LONDON — WI H SWE Telephone: 01-723 5252 Warw. CoOssnam: AllshOsts

Maim. Neon 1 Meath Times/. W , Poesy 9 "11-5."". late sliming Themes, — — — • um.-7 hey closing Imerdsy— — — • •m.—I2 noun Temporises keen yime emongics—s.elgum A.B.M.S.A.C. TIE

MOUNTAINEERING, Association ties (red and silver badge on blue back- POLAR ground), may be purchased from the address be- low.

ROCK CLIMBING J. S. Whyte,Wild Hatch, Coleshill Lane, Clothing ift Equipment Specialists Winchmore Hill. Amersham, Bucks,HP7 ONT Handsewn Bootmakers Cheques for £2.75 (post free) to be drawn payable U.K. agents for Thommen Swiss Mlimeterlemometers Catalogue temporarily discontinued until to J. S. Whyte Junior Rescue Stirrups It Recta Compasses. prices and supplies become more stable.

12 13 SHORTER REPORTS OF MEMBERS' ACTIVITIES Geneva, at its head, is approx.1,350ft above sea level, it is obvious that the very top of this "Monte" would be just a pimple above its waters. Convert the meters into feet and see for yourself. Ken Baldry The moral of this story is two-fold: I don't suppose anyone was surprised when I neglected to report last year. This year's First: If you wish to mountaineer, for God's sake, do not go to Bilbao. trips have rather been conditioned by last year's.funked I skiing in January, goingto Second: If youare 71 yearsof age like myself and are able to get to the top of Monte Tenerife instead. But at the end of February, I had a business trip to and, Seranteswith ease say "Thank God for that". This is what I did. Amen. with a lot of encouragement from my colleagues, I took my skis and went to . This was not much fun but less grim towards the end of the week. I discovered that my usual landlady in Zermatt had also lost her spouse on the hill. We had thought her Will McLewin very reserved in1975and now I know why. Encouraged by the ski trip, I made The previous season,1980,was something of a disaster. another attempt to meet problems more than halfway by going out in July. I went to Four weeks in July produced very little good weather, even less good climbing Brig and bought a wreath. Then I got a bus in Simplon Dorf and, next wasday, which weather, and ascents, with AnneBrearley,of only the , Dentd'Herens, in factmy wedding anniversary, took the wreath up intoLaggintal the as far as I could and via Quintino Sella and Col Emil Rey. A minor redeeming feature walk to under the cliff where we found Jane in the helicopter. There, I deposited the was a sentimental tripCrissolo to in the Po Valley to climb Monte Viso. This is the wreath with a bita of ceremonyof which I made a careful movie film, mainly in order isolated peak that one always sees far awayS-E onHorizon the from Alpine summits to give myself something else to think of. The next day, I walked from the Simplon on clear days and I had long wanted to enjoy the reverse view. Pass over theBistinenPass andGebidemPass toGspon.This is the start of the high 'Well, I was determined that this season was going to be better although the early path to SassGrund which I did the next morning. Having arrivedSaas inGrund,I portents were not good. Somehow I never found time for any rock climbing and my was beginning to feel I was overexposing myselfI thumbeda bit so two lifts to fell running fonnhadbeendisappointing. The end of June however produced a Zermatt where I spent three days glumly walking around old haunts. tremendous boost to my confidence when I did the Bob Graham round in the Lakes: My trips this year have not been very sensible but there was onlyfmd onethat way to 42summits starting andfmishingat Keswick;72miles,27,000ft of ascent in26 out. I would not recommend anyoneelse unformnate enough tofind themselves in the minutes under the allowed time24 ofhours. Most of the credit goes to friends in Dark same boat to do it. Peak Fell Runners whose organisation and support was magnificent. In the Alps I started, early in July, with a couple of days at the Bergh hut. WithBrearley Anne GrossFiescherhorn b N-W ridge. Quite hard near the top because the snow slopes J. L. Belton (B. G. Grantham) were ice. e, w o was rather unwell,chose the most exposed bit to testwhether I After a serious car crash1979 in I decided to make a pilgrimage to the Alps as a really was looking after her and later satFieschersattel at the undecided whether to celebration for my recovery. We wentArolla, to which given the weather, was an ideal sleep or be sick while I solved the HinterFiescherhorn. choice. On arrivalthe mountains looked like Scotland in winter but after ascending Gross SchreckhorntraverseS-Wridge andS-Eridge. We were lucky to choose the thePigne d'Arollain atrocious weather we 10hadgood days. They included only two good days in a long dreary spell, but even so it was a pity to have an L'Eveque, NE ridge of LaLouette (far more interesting than the ordinary snow otherwise pleasant route spoilt by a strong and bitterly cold wind. The new plod), traverse of Mt. BlancCheilon, de Sridge of theDt dePerrocand a traverse Schreckhornhut, near the site of the oldSchwarzegghut, is superb, but few parties of fromArollato Zermatt via theBertolandSchönbielHuts. two will have it to themselves as we did. I was delighted to discover that my first ascent of the SW faceDt de ofPerroc the was Mont Blanc, by the Brouillard Ridge. This was supposed to be training for the featured in MichelVaucher's '100Plus Belles courses dans les AloesValaisannes'but nny,ei ut turned into a three day epic. The Brouillard glacier was very awkward dismayed to see that the first ascent was incorrectlyattributed and no mention at all and we went quite close to the Eccles Bivouac before swinging round towards Col was made to our English party especially as the quality of the rock was our discovery Emil Rey. and the publication of the route in Les Aloes produced several other good routes and One or two pitches from there up to the ridge were surprisingly hard. Perhaps it was then the construction of Tsathe Hut. just the size of myrucksac,perhaps it was the ice on the rocks, I was certainly tired. The outcome was an uncomfortable bivouac on the ridge. Next day we were cold and slow going up to Pic LuigiAmadeo.It may be a superb high level ridge from there to MaxHoroat M. Blanc, but when the wind is very strong and cold it becomes tiring, tedious and I would venture to state thatheight the of mountains gets less in direct proportionto awkward in places. With Anne troubled bymysterious a foot injury and more altitude theageof themoutaineer. I believe this to be a general rule to which I myself am no wobbles we decided on the Midi andtelepherique, the but when it was clear we would exception. Equally I would venture to say that only a fool would choose Bilbao in be too late we settled for another bivouac behindMaudit, Mt.again very cold, but this Spain as the base for his mountaineering venturesBilboa's sincealtitude above sea time comfortable. level is ZERO and there are no real peaks there at all. A couple of days later, after a visit to Aosta hospital to treat a hideous infected toe and However, bya strange coincidence of circumstances this is exactly what had happened alarmingly swollen foot caf,andAnne flew home from Zurich and I, sensing good to me this year. My good long-distance companion Laurie Green and I were touring weather, rushed backSteckelberg. to central Spain, Don Quixote's La Mancha region in particular. Wethe were tourist off track for most of the time and the altitude in general was3,000 aroundto4,500ft above sea level. Some mountain masts were, of course, higher still. The El Pico pass, Solo used even by the Romans, appealed to me in particular, The scenery was grand and, jungfran hy Inner Ronal ridge. A dreadfully hot walk up to the hut, but next day was believe it or not, the distances there are still indicated in leagues. Thus, in general, we lovely and two other parties obligingly made a mess of the early part of the ridge and were let me have the route to myself. On 8.00top ata.m. I was able to sit there for longer hugh up until, in the end, we descended to Bilbao where our "mountaineering" than usual and hardly noticed the parties arriving fromJungfraujoch. the I arrived began. back at the rocky part of the ridge in time to direct the other parties back onto the The nicest hill, with best views, was MonteSeranteswith an altitude 446of metres. Wewerequite pleased with it. later I did my best to compare it with its Swiss easiest route and when they were safely on to the snow I went leisurely back down to equivalent,,but, sorry to say, all my attempts failed. Given that the surface of Lake the hut, and then to the valley. 14 15 The next few dayswere "time-off' relaxingin Sierre,one of my favouriteplaces, and In JuneI did a shortwalk in Aireboroughtaking in the Billingat Rawdon.During doinga bit of runningin preparationfor the Sierre-Zinalrace. This was an absolute JulyI did a walkon BudcdenPike (203020) andtherewere otherwalks in the Otley treatand I was delightedto fmishin the firstthird of the fieldinstead of the last third Cbevin,Almscliff Cragg and Beamsley Beacon areas of 'Wharfedalelater in the year. whichI am used to in Englishfell races,and to overtakeover 300 competitorsover the The yearstarted off in fine style for us and lookedas if it was goingto be a good last 20 km. walkingyear but as it progressedwe justdid not haveenough spare time for the hills. Solo. Peu , by S-E ridge.Perfect weather, amazing conditions (very D. R. Riddell little snow andno pro ems (if you don'tmind stonefall).I hada superbbivouac 1979 on theE side of theFraney glacier (ignore theguide book!the bestand safestsite is G.S. Hut for the NorthernDinner Meet. Climbby Route3 of the "Helvellyn13" in on the top of the rockrognon below the couloirs),waited until 6 a.m. andwas on top Wainwright.The summitridge provided a 40 mph windmaking occasional halts on by 10 a.m. the axeand both legs obligatoryto obviatebeing blown away. Descent to Grisedale Sittingthere was a prettyemotional business. Its a fabulousplace to be by anyaccount tarn,Alpine under the snowand windconditions. but for me it wasrather special. The AguilleBlanche was my last4000er, I had At the DundonnellMeet we, the Freemansand I, walkedup to LochToll and climbedall 59 of them, 25, includingall the awkwardones, solo. I had a long look at Lochainto get a magnificentview of An Teallach. • the ridgeto M. Blanc, but I'd left my bivouacgearat the glacierand I'd hadthis year's Thanksto the absenceof anythingto suggestthe scaleof the precipiceof the "Anvil" epic, so eventuallyI turnedmy attentionto descentthe sameway I'd comeup which the prospectequalled anything I haveseen in the Alps, Moroccoor even the Himalaya waspleasant and straightforwardenough accompanied by my persistentlitany of —with the exceptionof AmaDablam from Thyangbooke I "keepcalm, no heroics,take the easyoptions!" The Hon. Editorand I went to GlasMeall Mor on An Teallachbut mist prevented furtherprogress along the ridge. The "excursion"was InvereweGardens, thereby fulfilling a 20 yearambition. Perfect W. D. Macpherson day. Ourmember W. D. Macphersoncelebrated his 80thbirthday with an ascentof the 'StecPolly had beenseen before,from an OnichMeet — a roundtrip of 329miles. Balmhomfrom Schwarenbach.He is believedto be the oldestperson to have This timethe Freemansand I did get on to the ridgeand scrambledabout a bit. There ascendedthe mountain.It was his 50thyear of membershipof the AlpineClub, and is nothingto touch StecPolly. It is uniqueand splendid. 44th of the ABMSAC. The ApproachMarch to Courmayeurwas overnew groundto me. Mostrewarding. F.P.F. The unexpectedjuxtaposition of themain partyof theMeet on theChecrouit ridge withthe approachmarchers, in perfectweather, was a high spot of the Meet! G. B. Pennea At Cournayeurwe hadmodest and enjoyablewalking. Splendid company both tented WespentChristmas 1980 and the New Yearin the LakeDistrict. Christmas was andtiled. My tiles wereon the Hotel Crampon,run by the Grivelfamily of crampon spmt at a smallguest house in Stonethwaite,Borrowdale, where we climbedin snow fame. Catbells(1481ft) on ChristmasDay and laterclimbed Grange Fell (1363ft),King's Walkingapart, my mostvivid recollection of goingin an equatorialdownpour to How, CauseyPike (2035ft)and Latrigg.On December28 we droveto Crookto stayat Aostato enablethe Presidentto buy somenew boots. a cottagewith friends.During our New Yearstay we enjoyedwalks in the Grizedale Thatimportant mission accomplished we adjournedto the "VecchioRistorante Forest,on ScoutScar, StockghylForce, TroutbeckTongue (1191ft) and a delightful Cavallo!Bianca"for lunch. The "WhiteHorse"has a balconiedcourtyard similar to rambleround Grasmere Lake. Althoughthe weathergenerally was r we managed the Georgeat Huntingdon. to get out eachday in orderto workup appetitesfor dmnersat the ild BoarHotel at In the restaurant(most Italian) the ambiencewas suchas to deservestars from M. Crookand HodgeHill at Cartmel. Bibendum. Shortlybefore sOlhristmas we enjoyeda ramblein Wharfedaletaking in Almscliff 1980The FarNorth. Tongue. Cra.g Ben Loyalfrom Cunside, Ben Hope fromAltnacahlich and Ben Stackfrom Lochstack Weagainvisited the LakeDistrict on February18 whenwe did a mostenjoyable walk Lodge. fromKentmere. We walkedto ShipmanKnotts (1926ft), then onto KentmerePike Ben Stackis no Munro,but like Suilven— and StackPolly — it standsout as a "real" (2397ft), the Knowe(2400ft) and then to HarterFell (2539ft).We returnedto mountain. Kentmereby the Nan BieldPass. It wasindeed a goodwalk with snowon the tops We hadan attackon Ben Klibreckfrom Crask, achieving Creag nan Lochanat andgood viewsall round. 2,270ft,Anno Dominihaving caught up on someof the party.My excursionwas to GoodFriday (April 17) again saw us in Kentmerewhere we did a 12mile walktaking HandaIsland. To anyonethus FarNorth this tripto the islandis an experiencenot to in Yoke(2309), Ill Bell (2476), Froswick(2359), Thornthwaite Crag (2569), High be missed. Street(2718), and MardaleIll Bell (2496).We returnedto Kentmereby Nan Bield The Freemansand I wereallocated to the harbourmasters' house at Fanagmoreon Pass.There wereplenty of newlyborn lambs and a reddeer in the valley. Loch Laxford.A moredelightful spot unimaginable.Together with the situationand Duringlate May and earlyJune we had a holidayin NorthWales and North Devon. the splendidhospitality of the Mcskills this was the high spot of the excursioninto We tooka cottageat Pontlyfniand did a littlewalking in thatarea which included the FarNorth. FoelFort,an attractive earthwork with good viewsof Snowdon.CliMbing any real The BivioMeet was, lilceall ABM-SACMeets, impeccable. The ApproachMarch heightswas out becauseof rainand thickmist on the tops but one daywe did manage startingfrom Lago Palu in the val Malenco,with an "excursion"to the Alp Musella to get to the top of Mod Hebog(2566ft), Moel Yr Ogof(2020ft) and Moel Lefn tookus overthe MurettoPass to Malojawith a deviationto the Fornohut in the (2094ft).Unfortunately when we wereon the tops thickswirling mist at times Bregaglia.Then it wasbus to St. Moritzandthe Julia to Bivio. restrictedthe views. Piz. Languard,Piz Segundoand Piz Turbowere climbed and some expeditions by We alsodid a lovelycoastal and cliff walkin the Porthdinllaenarea. We latermoved road.Must express my thanksto the Presidentfor professionaladvice and Jimmy to NorthDevon wherewe tooka caravanat Mortehoe.The hot sunshinewas a good Stewartfor muchneeded support during the tryingtime whenmy physicaltroubles excusefor a few lazydays on the beachbut we did do a few delightfulcoastal walks by mademe slower. Bull Point,Rockham Cliffs and MortePoint. 16 •' 17 1981 from his Alpine chalet. Because of family illness he had to call off at short notice, but I Northern Dinner. Patterdale. Feb. had already bought my train tickets and freed the week from engagements, so First outing in the Hills since minor op. last October. (undeterred by the usual end-of-July reports of foul weather in the Alps) I set out on Caudale Moor, from Caudale Bridge by the Brotherswater Hotel, to the highest point, my own, haying first phoned the hotel on the Belalp to book a room. I had long Stony Pike, across to the col called Threshwaite Mouth Pleasant going in snow. wanted to visit the place, so well known from its Victorian associations. I found the Thornwaite Crag and down to Low HARTSOP. hotel almost empty, very comfortable (too much to eat), thick fog all around, and Ben Howe went with me next day to the head of Haweswater where we met the John Tyndalls house now owned by a dentist from Basle. But the fog lifted enough on President's party before going on the horseshoe of Riggindale Crag and Kidsty Pike. the top of the Sparrhorn (the Belalp Hausberg) to give fme views of the Fusshorner Splendid day, most reassuring for the future. and the Oberaletsch glacier with its dramatically situated hut. Nearby Rideralp and Kintail Meet: Bettmeralp have been ruined by 'development': Balalp is still fairly unspoiled and Sunday 24th. Ben Fhada (Attow). Creag-a-Mhaim from the old road to Loch Loyne alpine dairy farming still carries on — but I read of plans for huge hotel developments in that spot also(' 2000 beds for the year 2000'). In fact my overwhelming impression Pilgrimage to Sandaig (Gavin Maxwell's "Camusfearna) and the brochs of Glen of the Alps this summer was of commercial ruination beyond hope and repair. And Bag. yet . . . A few days later I was at the Terri hut, in Mittel Switzerland, having walked Falls of Glomach: not nearly as fearsome as made out in the "pedestrian" guides up from Campo Blenio (with an earlier look at the Chiesa di Negrentino on a hillside but well worth while. in the Val Blemo, a Romanesque gem decorated with early medieval frescos). The hut Beinn-a-Chapuill from Gleann Beag. was packed with ramblers, but on my long solo traverse walk to the Medel hut, over Scurr na Sgine from Achnagart. the Gnat: . a pass, the Fuorcla sun de Lavaz and the Lavaz glacier, I saw only wild Arolla, August. unspoiled nature, a profusion of mountain flowers and no human soul. The Greina, Approach AURCH. Chickened out of the "grand traverse" from Mt Fort Hut to the where the Somvix Rhine originates, is a remote mountain pasture plateau with a Prafleuri hut and the Pas de Chevres and just as well, as the main party had to turn , highly individual atmosphere, fortunately still untouched but under severe threat back because of snow obliterating the route, but the rest of the Arolla Meet was fme from a hydroelectric scheme. with mostly fme weather, especially in the mornings. Not a good meet physically, but A month later three of us were at the Valsorey hut in clearing weather, hoping to do enjoyable nevertheless. Grateful to all those who helped me over the snags of physical part of the High Level Route. Unfit and heavily laden as we were, an exposed ice decline. slope below the Col de Sonadon discouraged us and we turned back; but peace and restfulness back at the hut, with the look across to beautiful Mont Velan and its Ernst Sonelheinter glaciers, were compensation enough. If you want a comfortable valley base in that The year started with another Hogmanay visit to Kintail. A year earlierhad the sky region of the Alps, the Hotel de l'Union at Orsieres is strongly recommended. From been blue and the snow fresh — this time a message arrived in London, a few minutes there we took the bus to the Great St Bernard pass and walked across the Pas des before my train left, to warn of bad weather. But how could I stay at home twiddling Chevaux and Col des Bastions to in the Swiss . This is a walk my thumbs? The warning was true, and it was impressive, and for me almost which, with its varied ups-and-downs, flowers, lakes, views to the Combin and the frightening, to sit in our bothy with the heavens raging outside. When we wanted to Mont Blanc range (the hute tooth of the dominating the scene), must make our getaway the insivificant stream, so easily crossed on the way in, had rank high in the competition for the best mountain walk in the Alps. From the Val become a dangerous torrent, but Hamish Brown's knowledge and navigational skill Ferret we went up to the Saleina hut. With our packs and 1500m. height tosain in the were as usual equal to the situation. Two days later our friend and acquaintance heat of the day it was hard work, but once again the beauty of the scenery — with the Donald Mill was drowned in Knoydart. wild Saleina.glacier at our feet — made it all amply worth while. We were glad to find After this it was worthwhile returning to Scotland: conditions could only improve. A that the hut is still a nice old-fashioned wooden edifice, luckily uncrowded, working cold bright weekend at the end of April with Alasdair Andrews, when blizzards were to a system whereby wardens are sent up for a week at a time; we were greeted by a reported in England, gave me Schietallion and Ben Lawers; on the latter hill (famous most friendly and obliging pair, one of them English with a job in Neuchatel.the In for its flora) purple saxifrage was found peeping out from the snow, a cheering sight. evening light we admired those two famous mountain structures, the Aiguille Then, in May, a week in Skye and Knoyclart. Sgurr Alasdair by the Great Stone Shoot d'Argentiere and the . Next day we coped successfully with in superb weather (yes, it does happen) — last done in 1946, and still (deo gratin) the Fenetre de Saleina to cross to the Trient plateau and were rewarded by another ascended without excessive effort. Photos of the Cuillin ridge at last! (I leave it to fitter superb evening of views from the . We were lucky to have chosen a Friday and stronger veterans to do the ridge). Next day Sgurr nan Gillean by the Tourist to stay there — the warden told us it was always quiet on Fridays. Next day, on the Route with more dramatic views. Met a youngster just below the south-east ridge path and in the chairlift down to , we saw the weekend multitudes on their who a.;ked excitedly 'which way to the mountain'? We gathered that he was on the way up and were glad to escape. second 'hill walk' of his life, and the incurable fever had obviously gripped him already (bless him for that). Then to Inverie via Fort William and Mallaig, and on foot Les Swinelin to the bothy in Glen Barrisdale, taking in the 'loony-bin' Munro on the way (see 1981 turned out to be a most satisfying year for me at least as far as the Alps are Hamish's Mountain Walk). Arguments at the bothy with assertive lady as to who had concerned. It started with our usual trip at Easter when we spent the best part of two the right to the comfortable quarters (gallantry won). Next day Ladhar Bheinn from weeks ski-mountaineering and touring in the Bernese Oberland. Starting at Realp at Coke Dhorrcail with descent by Stob a Choire Odhair: black clouds and gleams of the eastern foot of the Furka Pass my party, which consisted of myself and Barbara, a sunlight over Loch Hourn — the Loch of Hell indeed, 'dramatic, remote and wild' couple of friends from the Pinnacle Club and another from the Lincoln M.C., spent (H. Brown). Finally we walked out to Kinloch Hourn along the justly renowned path two nights at the Albert Heim hut from which we climbed the Galenstock enjoying that follows the loch, to await the post bus which (the timetable assured us) should excellent skiing conditions on the return to the hut, conditions which were to prevail arrived there on Friday afternoons. It didn't look lkke a bus, but (rather to our for the whole of our expedition. Two days were then spent getting to the Oberaarjoch surprise) it duly arrived! hut by way of the Furka Pass, Belvedere, the Rhone glacier, the Grimsel Pass and the June brought a departmental outing to Derbyshire, spent cyclingin the Derwent long hot slog from there to the hut past the reservoir and Oberaar glacier. valley. For the end of July I had arranged to go climbing with Swims friend Richard, 18 19 Havinggot into the Oberlandwe concentratedon climbingpeaks and during the next ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES weekclimbed the GrossWannenhorn, Hinter Fiescherhorn, Ochs, Lauihorn, Kranzbergand .By this time we hadarrived at the Hollandiahut andwere lookingforward to the descentof the Lotschentalin muchbetter conditions thanthe TheA.G.M. lasttime we werein the sameposition. This timethe descentwas made to Blattenin undertwo hours whereas previously we'd spentsix hourson the samecourse. The The Minutesof the AnnualGeneral Meeting held at the AlpineClub at 6.30 p.m. on only disappointmentwas thatwe did it too earlyin the daywhen the snowwas still Wednesday,25th November,1981. frozenhard. The President,Mr. J. P. Ledeboer,was in the Chairand 10 memberswere present. Not contentwith havingreturned to the valleywe wentimmediately up the hill again, Minutesof last Meeting. usinguphill transport for the firsttime, andtraversed the Petersgraton the wayto TheMinutesof theprevious AnnualGeneral Meetingheld on 26th November,1980, Stechelbergin the Lauterbrunnenvalley, the lastdescent providing probably the as recordedin the Journal,were approved. mostwonderful downhill skiing of the wholetrip. Officersand Committee 1982 Beforeour summervisit to the Alpsthe usualWhit week was spentin Scotland,in the Afterhaving been duly proposedand seconded,Miss J. E. Gamble,D. HoggM.P. westwhich luckily had the best of the weather,adding several Munros to the list and andD. A. Milwainwere elcted as CommitteeMembers for 1982in placeof Dr. D. J. usefullydeveloping fitness for furtherventures on the continent. Lintott,P. V. Andrewsand J. R. Murrayas retiringMembers. In the absenceof a A weddingto attendin lateJuly delayed our journeyto Switzerland,but this turned nominationfor Hon. Librarianin the placeof K. J. Baldry,who had beenobliged to outtoS znostfortuitous since we missedthe badweather and in the eventenjoyed resign,it was agreedthat this vacancyshould be filledat the discretionof the excellentweather and conditionsand climbed more routes in threeweeks of climbing Qs:mince. All otherOfficers and Members,being eligible, were re-elected for the thanever before. year1982. Ourfirst three routes were climbed fromthe Chanrionhut, whichcan be drivento if you feel so inclined.We did the Pic d'Epicoun,Ruinette and Mont Gele. The best Accounts routeto eachis differentfrom that described in the A.C. Guide,ask for localadvice. - The Hon. Treasurerpresented the accountsfor the yearending 30th June, 1981.It Followingthis we visitedthe A Neuve hut, apparentlynot muchvisited by British wasresolved that these be adoptedand the thanksof the Meetingwere expressed to climbersbIlt very worthwhile, from which we did two toutes,the TourNoir andthe the Hon. Treasurer. GrandDarrey. Being now well acclimatisedwe joinedtheClub meet at Randa.My Hon. Auditor intentionhere was to completeall the 4000ersthat I'd not donein the regionand in Afterbeing duly proposedand seconded,Mr. N. Moore(Affiliate Member) was about 10 daysclimbed Hohberghorn and Durrenhorn,, which had appointed Hon. Auditorfor the forthcomingyear. beenmy firstalpine pealc many yearsago, via the N ridge,Pollux and then the Subscriptions 1982 traverseof the Breithornfrom the excellentCesare e Giorgiobivouac hut andfinally The Hon. Treasurerreported that the Committeehad fixed the S.A.C. flatrate all the MonteRosa summits, That leaves me with the Dent d'Herensstill to climb. subscriptionfor 1982at £16.50, a figureunfortunately necessitated by the Apartfrom the meetat RandsI've not donemuch withtheClub other than attend the deteriorationin the sterlingexchange rate. This comparedwith £20 for 1979,£17 for NorthernDinner early in the year.In the AutumnWalter Kirstein visited me in 1980and £14 for 1981.It washoped, however, to haveinformation shortly on new Gloucesterand we spenta dampday climbing together in the Wye valleyat Wintours special "husbandand wife" rates. Leap.My rockclimbing during the yeardid not reachmy expectationsmainly due to The Committee'sproposal to raisethe Associationsubscription for Full andAffiliate the verydamp conditions m the secondhalf of the yearso now I lookforward once membersto £7.50 to keeppace with inflationwas endorsed unanimously. moreto winterand withan ascentof BowfellButtress in wintergarb already achieved can only hopefor continued'bad' weather. Any OtherBusiness In responseto a questionon whataction it wasproposed to takeabout the B.M.C. cardfor admissionto Alpinehuts, the Presidentexplained that options were limited. JeremyWhitehead However,British members of the S.A.C.werestill entitledto priorityand discussions Afterspending Christmas skiing at Puy St. Vincentwith FredJenkins, we movedon werecontinuing with the CentralCommittee on possibleeasement of the S.A.C. to Brianconfor a week'stouring. Aftercrossing the Coldes FreresMineurs from subscription. Montgenevreto Plampinetwe movedup to the Ref. Drayeres.The effectof a $ course A Voteof Thanksto the SwissNational Tourist Office for alltheirhelp waspassed New Year'sEve dinnerand bad weatherprevented our doingMont Thabor, but when with enthusiasm. the weatherimproved we did RocheChateau and the circuitof PtedeMoutouze. The Presidentthanked all Officersand Committee members for theirwork and At EasterI followeda weekwith a schoolparty at Clavierewith a crossingof the declaredthe Meetingclosed at 7.15 p.m. Vanoise,from Briancon to Moutiers,leading a SCGBparty. The thawconditions of the previousweek changed dramatically, and we wereable to climbDome de Polset and Dome des Picheres,as well as crossingsix passes,three over 3000 m. At theendof Mayit was Vanoiseagain, on my own. Badweather foiled two attempts on the Bellecote,and the restof the holidaywas spenton the pistesof the Grande Motte.Only herewas thereany reasonable snow to be found;off pistewas execrable. In the summerI joinedthe ACmeet near Randa, and managed 12 summitsin 3 weeks, includingeight 4000'ers.It was goodto get my revengeon the Weisshornafter a failure20 yearsbefore, but the best routewas the NE faceof the , followedby the traverseto the Nadelhorn,which I did with FergusLIngoed-Thomas. 20 yearsago one wouldnever have considered such a route,but modernice-climbing equipmentmakesit quitea reasonableproposition.

20 21

ASSOCIATIONOF BRITISH MEMBERSOF THE SWISSALPINE CLUB INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT for the year ended30th June, 1981 1981 1980 Income from Members Subscriptions(Note 1) 1305 1236 Entrance Fees 20 Life Membership Credit 50 50 Profit on Saleof Ties — — Insurance Commissions — 11 1355 1317 Less: Expenditure Hire of Rooms 200 200 Journal (Note2) 1102 894 Printing, Postageetc. SNTO 192 179 Printing, Postageetc. Association 97 91 Insurance 17 16 Entertainment 13 (140) BMC Subscription 65 35 Lecture Expenses (20) 20 Sundries 54 18 Welsh Hut Rent less receipts — (22) Depreciationfixtures Welsh hut 1720 130 1421 — (365) (104) Add: Investment Income:— AssociationInvestments 213 205 Building SocietyInterest 261 75 — — 474 280 Less: Taxation (Note 3) 190 284 92 188

(81) 84 Add: Surplus on exchange (143) 621 — — (224) 705 — —

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ASSOCIATIONOF BRITISHMEMBERS OF THE SWISSALPINE CLUB ASSOCIATIONOF BRITISHMEMBERS OF THESWISS ALPINECLUB BALANCESHEET Notes 1981 1980 30thJUNE,1981 Subscriptions Subscriptionincome is derivedas follows:— 1980 MembersYear to 31.12.80 184 - £5 920 FixedAssets (Note 4) Yearto 31.12.81 192- £5 960 Projector(N. S.Finzi Bequest) 1 Affiliatedmembers Equipmentat SwissTourist Office 1 Yearto 31.12.8055 - 275 Wela Hut Yearto 31.12.8162 - £5 310 Investmentsat cost(Note 5) 1872 1872 Subscriptionsin respectof earlieryears 68 138 CurrentAssets Stockof Tiesat cost 93 93 1338 1333 Debtors 207 30 Adjustmentre subscriptionsin advance 33 97 Cashon depositin buildingsociety 1695 1712 Cashat Bank 145 650 1305 1236 2140 2485 Journal Deduct:Current Liabilities Costof thejournal is madeup as follows:— CurrentAccount —ABMSAC Ltd. 240 Printing 988 834 Creditors 180 • 53 Despatchcost and otherexpenses 146 112 Subscriptionsin Advance 630 608 1134 946 810 901 Less:Advertising Revenue 32 52 Net CurrentAssets 1330 — £1102 £ 894 3204 £3458 Taxation Sourcesof Finance The Associationis liableto CorporationTax on its incomefrom outside sources. LifeMembership Account 752 802 FixedAssets Cost Depreciationto Date AccumulatedRevenue Account NewProjector (N. S.Finzi Bequest) 166 165 Balanceat 30thJune,1981 Equipmentat SwissNational Tourist Office 80 79 Add:Excess of incomeover 2556 1851 Fixturesand Fittingsetc. 234 234 exPenditure (224) 2332 705 2556 Investments Donations&Bequests 120 100 Theseare as follows:— £1,0004Y2% AgriculturalMortgage Corporation Deb. Stock1977/82 3204 £3458 1,080BrunnerInvestment Trust LimitedOrdinary Sharesof 25p. 1,043UnitedStates Deb. CorporationOrdinary Shares of 25p. Cost of these holdingswas £1,872. Aggregatemarket valueat 30th June 1981was J. P. Ledeboer —President £2,955(1980 £2,708). M. Pinney—Hon. Treasurer REPORTOF THE AUDITOR I haveexamined the booksad vouchersof the Associationand report that the attachedaccounts, together with the notes,are in accordancetherewith. N. Moore Hon. Auditor

24 25 on a shorterlast day. THE ANNUAL DINNER, 11th NOVEMBER, 1981 Thataccounts for Tony,Suzanne and me. The otherswere with us on some occasions,and abouttheir own excursions otherwise. A verysuccessful mini-meet. This tookplace once again at the WashingtonHotel, and the attendance,about 60, Fron Franciscan take more people, and advantage should be takenof it. It is your wasagain slightly more than last year.Tradition wasproperly followed in the loss. speeches.The Presidentproposed the RoyalToast. Frank Solari spoke on theSwiss Confederation,and Mr. J. Doswald,representing the SwissEmbassy, reponded. The Spring Bank Holiday, Hinted/ President proposedthe health of the Associationand our guests,and gave a short S .M. Freeman accountof the stateof the Club.Mike Baker responded on behalfof the MpineClub. It washardly to be believed,after the fmeweather at Easter,that the nextbig Bank Holidaymeet could provide much the sameagain, especially in Kintail,just about the S.M.F. wettestpart of Britain.Nevertheless it wasso; whilstLondon suffered floods we basked.Admittedly, it wasa littlehazy for the photographers.We were Andews, Armstrong,Bartlett, Bowes, Lock, Riddell, Scan, twoSolaris and the editor,some indoors,some in caravans. Kintailis a splendidplace both for thosewho wish to traverselong ridges and those whotick off Munros, besides being a joyto theeye. Its placenames are not a joyto the printer,and the spellingproblems combined with the largenumber of topscovered makea fullrecital unfair and difficult.In outline,the walks included the BeinnFhada ridge,the S. Cluanieridge, the FiveSisters and the continuationwhich }famish THE OUTDOOR MEETS Browncalls the Brothers,Beinn Sgriol and its neighbour,the Saddleby the Forcan ridgeand nearby tops, Ciste Dhubh and neighbours,and Scurrnan Ceathreamhnan. I Brackenclose30thjartuary to 1February makethat about30 Munros, not toobad as the partymostly kept togetherso that Pan Flaming mostof the topsweretraversed by mostof the party.We also managed to shopat Kyle The weekendwas generally mild and overcast, with no signof the winterconditions of Lochalsh,visit the fallsof Glomachand make a pilgrimageto Sandaig.A most wehad hoped for. It did, however,remain dry. Sixteenpeople attended, many having successfulmeet. driven considerabledistances for this short annualmeet. On the Saturdaydifferent areas were coveted by variousparties, including Pillar Rock by the Slaband Notchroute; Red Pike, ScoatFell; Scafell, Scafell Pike and Harter From Francs, July. Fell The eveningwas synt very pleasantlyoVer a bar mealin the ScreesHotel. TonySarmother. On the Sundaythe Scafellswere once again traversed, Ill GillHead by anothergroup Thismust have been one of the best attended meets at the cottage todate, withsome andsome climbing was done on WallabarrowCrag in the DuddonValley. The Leader seventeenpeople along. The overspillhad to campin the field,with one party having toolcno panin any of this as he was busy succumbing to 'flu. He left forborne early the luxuryof a readypitched tent suppliedby John Byan-Grounds. on Sundayafternoon and spentthe followingweek in bed. The weatherwas good, and beingJuly most parties went theirown separate ways to getto gripswith Welsh rock. Apartfrom the usualcrags, people seemed to spreadfar LlannustMen 13M-15MMarch, 1981 andwide: several ropes went to Trernadocand one party to the Moelwyns, John Murray Fourteenpeople attended this meet at Fron Francis. TimAlpine CantpingMeet 25 Yuly-15August 1981 The snowwhich fell during February's cold spell had disappeared and there were only Mike Pinney. verysmall patches left on northfacing slopes. Most of the partywent round to Ogwen The meet,held jointly with the AlpineClub, with Climbers Club members invited to on Sundayto go overTryfan and up BristlyRidge to walkacross the Glyders.One attend,was based at the Atermersencampsite, between Randa and Taesch. Over 60 ropeclimbed Grooved Mete. The daywas dry andcloudy although tantalizing membersand guests attended, ages ranging from a fewweeks to mid sixties,and patchesof sunlightwere seen mainly across the valleyon the Carneddauwhere it S.A.C.membership varying from first year, through Veteran to justshort of 50years. turnedthe deadbracken to a glowingred gold. For the record,not leastfor thosecamping, the attendancein approximateorder of It rainedthat evening and nightand Sundaywas much colder with heavy rain showers arrival Wasas follows:R Jenkins,J. Whitehead,B. Phillips,A. Pines,J. Harris,C. intermingledwith sunshine. A foraywas made on to CarneddLlewellyn front Cwm Raves,J. Berry,B. Chase,V. Odell,M. Pinney,S. Town,M. Baldwin,I. Eugiauover Craig-Yr-Ysfa. It wasclear that therewould be no morewinter climbing Thompson,C. Stone& F., T. Maden& F., J. Loy& F., E. Rhodes& F., K. & S. andthat cramponsand ice-axescould be put awayuntil we went to the Alps. George,R. Townsend& R, P. & D. Howard,J. Smythe& F., R. & J. Isherwood,J. Mercer& F., J. Durant,J. Eccles,S. Coxhead,W. Edginton,E. J. Wright,P. Marsh,J. Gambler,F. Ungoed-Thomas,P. Robertson,I. & S. McNaught-Davis,A. EasterMeet,Fron Francs, & S. Greenwood,G & J Salt,L. & B. Swindin,I. & S. Stirrups,D. Stephenson. S. M. Freeman The previousweekhad seen a metreand halfof snow,with even low level rock climbs Anincredible four days(plus two more coming and going) of beautifulweather, shirt suchas the Leltersnitzerplastered with snow. A numberof peopleon the campsite sleeveson hilltops. Present were H., M. and M.Archer, R. Bartlett, A.and S. werepacking to headfor the Southof .On this basispart of theparty headed Strawtherand the editor.The lastnamed, to his shame,was visiting Fron Francis for offto samplethe rockclimbing delights in the Verdongorge. Others, having heard the firsttime. It is a newworld of experience;luxury aparunents with the freedom favourablereports from those attending Grindelwald last year,headed to the (and/ow price) associated with huts. This is combined with the opportunity tosee Engelhorner.Meanwhile the nucleus of theparty, making an earlystart fromthe JohnByam-Ground's fme collection of saxifrageswhilst resting between outings. campsite,climbed the Mettelhorn,wading through the snow,as a start to the The fmeweather led to the editor,encouraged by Tony , actuallyclimbing easy rock acclimatisation.This was followed by the easyapproach to theWeissmies Hut andan on Tryfan.We also went up to Snowdon by the Parson's nose, traversed the Nanttle ascentof theWeissmies. ridgefrom Rhyd-ddu and walked back along the valley,and fmally traversed Siabod The datecoincided with the RoyalWedding, so certainenthusiasts were able to plant 26 ' 27 their commemorative flags. Others celebrated in more normal means watching the ceremony in colour, followed by other festivities whilst some suffered on the approach to the Don Hut. There had been a significant improvement in conditions with a few days sun and overnight freezing. Thus, whilst some of the party climbed theLagginhorn, a few more ambitious traversed theFletschhorn and Lagginhorn whilst others returned to the campsite with other peaks in mind. The meet took on a more normal line with small parties attempting their chosen peak. Some of the party had pre-arranged climbing parties, but for various reasons, most climbed with others as well or instead and mostly people found partners with comparable aspirations. The remaining few days of thefust week were: from the Dom Hut—the Lenzspitze- Nadelhorn traverse an ascent of the Dom and theNadelhorn-Lenzspitze traverse; from theTaesch Hut —the Rimp fi schhom and an attempt on the traverse; from the Rothorn Hut —the Obergabelhorn, the Zinal Rothorn and an attempt on the Trifthorn — from theWeisshorn Hut an attempt on theDurrenhorn — Nadelhorn traverse. Whilst a majority of the party spent the Sunday recouping, a late arrival set out for the CesareGiorgjo bivouac to the south of theBreithorn to test his theory that rapid acclimatisation would be achieved by spending a few days at highaltitutde. Routes in the second week included: from theHornli an attempt on theHornli halted by the queues on the fixed ropes; from theSchonbiel an attempt on the Dent Blanche Viereselsgat; from theBrittania Hut the Allalinhorn, from theWeisshorn Hut the Weisshorn, from the Dom Hut the Kin face of theTaeschhorn, the Dom; from the Rothorn hut thc Zinal Rothorn; from the Monte Rosa Hut Monte Rosa. The Taesch hut becomes very crowded, and booking nececsaryis to avoid being turned away (evenS.A.C. members); a combination of its easy approach, the choice of routes and its location on the "high level" route. Several ropes climbedAlphubel the by theRotgrat, one rope descending to theMischabelioch bovouac. The west ridge of the North Summit was also climbed, the pair arriving at the bivouac with4 x 75 feet length ofKermantel, having met a lot of loose rock. Early evening brought a large party of climbers, rather overcrowding the hut, and a lot of cloud. The large party, planning to climb theTaeschhorn by theAlphubel, made an earlystan. Our two ropes waited until first light to minimise routefinding difficulties, since there was no glacier snow plod to the start of the rock (and to get some impression of the likely weather) enabling an hour to be saved on the guide book time in a pleasant ascent of the Taschhorn. Apart from another rope who soon turned back because of the amount of snow on the ridge our two ropes then had the traverse to the Dom to themselves. The first half of the third week saw some bad weather, visits being made to the Turtmann Hut — ; the Border Hut— Balfrinand Taech Hut-Rotgrat, whilst some went round to the Valdflerens in search of better weather. It was misty on the walk to the Cab des Mg Rouges, the party returning in sleet and rain the following day. The weather improved for the second half of the week and in a final burst of activity before returning home, routes included theFletschhorn-Lagginhorn traverse, the Weisshorn, Monte Rosa(Nordend-Dufourspitze) and from theMischabel Hut, the Lenspitze N. Face andNadelhorn. In spite of many of the party spending roughly half their nights in huts, the camp site restaurant and, worth the extra walk, the Sporting Restaurant Randa,in proved popular eating and evening meeting places. For those with more sensible ambitions, the Zermatt area provided very pleasant walks.

Alpine Meet August 1981 S. M. Freeman This meet was held jointly with the Alpine Club and was led by Harry Archer. It was centred onArolla, a welcome return to a most attractive area after about15years. On two mornings there was some cloud clearing later, but otherwise there was continuous sunshine from dawn to dusk, and climbing activity was completely unhampered by weather. It was generally agreed that this was unprecedented onA.B.M. an Alpine meet, and all the more remarkable following the extreme good luck at Easter and 28 Spring Bank Holiday. We were based on the Glacier Hotel, and there were substantial OBITUARY contingents in camp and apartments. Those noticed in one place or another included C.; H., M. and M. Archer, B., J., J., P. and S. Baldwin, N. and M. Cooper, A. Dewer, H. Flook, M. Freeman, P. and V, French, M. Fulford, B. Howe, A. Husbands, R. Laurie, P. Ledeboer, C. and R. McCall, N. and O. Milwain, H. and L. Norton, E. Parry, P. Ridgewell, D. Riddell, B. and F. Solari, A., J. and J. Weller and Frederick Ernest Smith J. and J. White. Various groups spent the week before the meet in Alpine activities. The regular walk- Freddie Smith died in February of this year after a long, rare and so far incurable in party came from the west and were thwarted near the end by deep snow and illness. He joined the Swiss Alpine Club in 1954, a member of the Diablerets Section, obscured routes. They had to retreat, but satisfied honour later by going back to and served the Association as joint Hon. Secretary with successively Reg Parker and complete the missing bit. Another party camped in such a place as to ascend the Maurice Bennett from 1958 to 1962, and as Vice President from 1976 to 1978. He was Grosse Mythen, on the way over. Yet others had a week of walking and climbing in elected a member of the Alpine Club in 1959. the Lotsctal. Freddie was a regular attender of the Easter Meets and equally happy to join a rope on After we gathered at Arolla movement flourished in the good weather. Huts visited the rocks of Tryfan or a walking party on the Carneddau. He climbed and walked included Aiguilles Rouges, Bertol, Dix, Rossier, Tza and Vignettes. One party widely in the British Isles, mainly in North Wales but also in the Lakes, Peak reported an ascent to a hut by boat. Climbs included Dent Blanche, L'Eveque, La District, Scotland and Skye. Abroad he climbed in the Swiss Alps, but also visited the Louette, La Pigne, Mont Blanc de Cheilon, Mont Collon, Petit Dent de Veisivi, Tza. Sierra de Gredos and the Picos d'Europa. . Tony Huss went afield and returned to report a traverse of the Grepon. No doubt A senior law lecturer at the London Polytechnic, his interests ranged widely. Books, other trips escaped the reporter's notice. A lively and enjoyable meet. ballet, opera and the theatre, a regular concert-goer, his accomplishments were not only academic, for he was a competent performer on piano and organ. His interest in Buffet Pany Meet — Patterdale and knowledge of prints and early English Watercolours was exemplified by his 2-4 October, 1981 contribution to the selection of prints for the R. W. Lloyd exhibition, and he had a Marion Porteous good eye for the mountain scene, which he reproduced with all the flair of the skilled The October Meet marked the third of our Buffet Parties at Patterdale. At each one photographer. we see a regular group of members but each year we are pleased to see some new faces. Freddie refused almost until the end to recognise that he could not recover from the The Friday evening was very wet, the Lake level being the highest I have known it. illness that beset him, and, though greatly weakened in bodily strength, retained all However the Saturday turned out to be fine and members went out on the hills, his mental vigour, meeting each setback of the last months with the greatest courage. Scafell, Helvellyn, Fairfield etc. They all returned in time for a wash and brush up He will be much missed, especially at the meetings he so regularly attended. J.B-G. before the Party in the evening. The sherry reception was followed by a buffet with main course, sweet, cheese and biscuits and, of course, plenty of . Coffee was served to end the evening and the general opinion was that a good time was had by all (28 of us). I even got a cup of tea in bed next morning from a grateful member (fmale!) • My thanks go to the ladies who assist me with the food side. They are always most willing to help. The Buffet Party Meet will be held again on 1-3 October this year. If you haven't been to one yet what about this year?

30 31 "HIGHAMBITION". A biographyof ReinholdMessner by RonaldFaux. (Victor BOOKREVIEWS GollanczLtd). 180pp., 44 photographs,3sketch maps.Published 28 Jan.1982.Price0.95 The subjectof this biographyis one of the rarefew who havegained the statureof a HAMISH'SGROATS END WALK legendin theirown lifetimes.His ascentsof greatpeaks, solo or withminimal One Man& his Dog on a Hill Routethrough Britain & Ireland support,without oxygen and with no moreequipment that he couldcarry in his HamishBroan rucksack,have no parallel. VictorGollancz Ltd. Fromhis studentdays he was a vigorousadvocate of his own methods.His £9.95 subsequentsuccessful application of his methods,coupled with the circumstancethat Storm,Hamish's new dog and, accordingto the Publisher'sreview, "a most he has beenno moreimmune from misadventure and disaster than anyone else, have beautiful,obedient andfriendlycollie" just might have stolenthe show from the madehim a figureof controversy,strongly disapproved of in somequarters. Such writerin his latestbook —an accountof a five monthjourney from one end to the mattersare touchedon by the author,as is Messner'sprivate and inner life, but not at otherof the BritishIsles —for Hamishobviously prefers that species to a constant suchlength as to disturbthe flow of narrative. companionof his own. In his firstchapter "Picking up the Threads"we hearof his The bookopens with an aperitifin the formof an accountof the ascentof Everest bachelorhoodand of his "onlyoccasional feelings of regret"and we alsohear of the withoutoxygen by Messnerand PeterHabeler. The author,Ronald Faux (a Times philosophywhich has provedthe mainspring to his life andtravels. The hill-walher journalistspecialising in mountaineering)was presentat base. It is no surprisethat the will find a lot with whichhe has sympathyin this andthose with less familiarityof the climbis describedgraphically. More surprisingly, the qualityof immediacyis opencountry may discover a littlemore of whatmakes walkers tick. Whenthe sustainedthrough the rest of the book, despitethe circumstancethat the author narrativeproper b4ns we areimmediately transported to thisdifferent world and to cannothave been so closeon most occasions.He has, however,visited Messner and a new view of theseislands which captures all the esssencesthat bill-walkers observedhim in his workat home, and hasreached as goodan understandingof a rememberand love. The bookcomes to live in the descriptionsof the smallepisodes complexman as could reasonablybe hopedfor. whichmake up sucha tripe.g. "The pathsround the backof The Terrettto the A54 The resultof his effortsis a book whichthis reviewercould not put downuntil he had brougha reward:we founda £5 note blowingacross a field. (LaterI wasto find two finishedit. Messner'sfeats appear to be less well knownin Britainthan on the LI notes, one Irish,one English,besides several odd coins. In ScotlandI found Continent,and this book shouldhelp to redressthe balance.There has beenno nothingat all.)" climberlike Messner,and all readersof mountaineeringbooks (and all adventure Someof us will smilegently on the occasionswhen lesser mortals, who mayhave lovers)are urged to get a copy of this one. begunto understandthe callsof the wild, arepilloried — "We met variousgroups of The rest of the book is chronological.Messner was bornand grewup in Villnossin S. people,most of whomlooked weary and muddy. They weregenerally splendidly Tyrol,in closecontact with the hills. He climbedthe highestof the localGeisler peaks garbedwith heavyclimbing boots and Haston Alpiniste rucksacks — splendid (led by his parents)at the ageof five. At fourteenhe was leadingclimbs in the examplesof overkill.(I wish I couldafford such gear for climbing, never mind Dolomites.In his studentclays he beganto publishhis views. He preferrednatural strollingalong a pedestrianmotorway!)" or whenthe poorold TouristBoard routeswith minimalartificial aids to dirretusunastaking artificial lines and requiring interviewerssurveying the use of the PennineWay on GreatDunn Fell (2780')are extensiveaids. He was fanaticalabout fitness, and appearedto ratepreparedness of beatenat (presumably)their own game.The coverreview relates that "asa personal body andmind abovetechnical proficiency. To travelquickly and light was an odysseythe bookis notablefor the author'squiet determination to keepgoing at all essentialpart of the philosopy. costs"and this is perhapsone of the greattraits in Hamish'scharacter which comes The methodswere pursued subsequently with astonishingsuccess, in the Alps, in S. acrossvery strongly in the writingand is confumedby all thoseof us luckyenough to Americaand in the Himalayas,where ascents were made solo or with but one knowhim personally.Hamish writes in a mostattractive style, seeminglyable to companionof peaksand cliffs thathad defiedbig parties. addressthe readeras an individualpenon —or perhapsthat is justbecause he is so We readof suchfeats as the ascentof the Eigerwandin ten hours.En routethere were wellknown in the mountaineeringfraternity and to his innumerablefriends who NangaParbat on whichhis belovedbrother died, andManaslu with further disaster. featureprominently on the pages. Therewere critics who consideredhim to be at faultin thesematters. Further on we This is a bookto be readand enjoyedby the firesideduring the eveningsof winter readof his marriageand subsequentdivorce, all theseevents driving him moredeeply whenthe walkerin constrainedby the weather.It will preparehim for the new season withinhimself. andwill widenhis curiosityand horizons for the followingSpring on the hills. It Neverthelesshebecame,between expeditions, a verypublic figure, a businessman makesa veryattractive twin to "Hamish'sMountain Walk" and is to be whoselife is filled to overflowingwith writing,lecturing, photography, advertising recommendedthoroughly to all who trampand camp in the mountainsand wild and publicity.His expeditionscontinue, and the bookends with whatseems at_ placesof theseislands. Triplets, however, might just be "overkill"for anybut his presentto be the ultimatedramatic feat, the successfulascent of Everest, mostdedicated and ardent companions. soloand without oxygen, backed up by a basecamp organisation comprising one F.A.W.S. girlfriend,no-one else. S.M.F.

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