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The Eternal Ascent: an Exploratory Treatise on Mountain Route Names

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The Eternal Ascent: an Exploratory Treatise on Mountain Route Names The Eternal Ascent: an exploratory treatise on mountain route names Sheila M. Young Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen Introduction Everyone knows that mountains have names. And everyone knows that people climb mountains and that some climbers, first ascentionists (henceforth FA’s), deliberately seek out new, difficult, rocky climbs to make their ascent. What many people do not know is that these routes are named and that a whole subculture exists around the climbs, their names and reasons behind the names. Lochnagar1 lies in the southern sector of the Cairngorms National Park about an hour west of Aberdeen. The view of Lochnagar, as you approach Ballater, is stunning, and when plastered with snow on a sunny winter’s day, never fails to impress. Most people familiar with the mountain will be able to pick out some familiar features on the skyline such as Meikle Pap, or the deep gouge that is the Black Spout. However, etched onto the cliff faces, like a secret code, are the climbing routes, and each is named. Unlike the principal, well-trod walking pathways taken by hillwalkers to the summit of Lochnagar, only the climbers have the eyes to see these otherwise ‘invisible’ routes. At the time of my research there were 261 named climbing routes on Lochnagar, spanning the period 1893‒2009.2 This article will describe the evolution of the names of climbs on Lochnagar. It will explain the protocol surrounding the registration of a new route name, before looking at the function, structure and semantics of the names. The place-names of Deeside have been well researched (Watson, 1984; Alexander, 1952) and while mountain names (oronyms) have received some attention – in Scotland, most notably by Peter Drummond (2007) and Nicolaisen (1969), the subject appears to have been overlooked by toponymists, at least in this country, apart from an article by Cairngorms climber Mac Smith (1996). However, an article on the names of climbing routes in Poland was consulted (Rutkowski 2000) and found to be very useful, though it differs from this study in 1 According to Adam Watson (1992, 211), the name Lochnagar itself probably derives from Lochan na Gaire ‘[the] lochan of the noisy sound’. Peter Drummond believes that over the decades ‘the name “noisy” loch below began to be used for the peak itself’ (Drummond 2007, 129). However, it is rather unusual to name a mountain after a loch. In fact, a glance at the index of Drummond’s Scottish Mountain and Hill Names shows it to be unique. 2 The number at the time of writing (2009). One or two new routes are usually created every year. The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 10, 2016, 137–205 138 Sheila M. Young that ‘the means by which the names were created are not addressed.’3 It was also useful to compare the names of climbing routes with the names of other adventure sports, such as skiing and caving. Although, no article could be found on caving, several mountaineers consulted for this project could also comment on caving names. Millward and Millward (1984) produced an illuminating article on the names of ski trail names and, although the UK was not one of the countries studied, it was still useful to see that ski trail names were fairly similar across the English-speaking world. It was important to trace the progress of climbing through the decades, understanding the advances in technology, which allowed routes of more difficulty to be attempted. A number of works were useful for this. To get an overview of climbing in general The Climbers: A History of Mountaineering (1992) was consulted. There were several excellent books charting the history of Scottish mountaineering (Brooker 1988; Bell 1988; Patey 1971). Each of these books had sections on climbing on Lochnagar. Tom Patey’s One Man’s Mountains is of particular merit and Scotland’s Mountains before the Mountaineers (1988) was useful for looking at the earliest period of mountaineering on Lochnagar. Unfortunately, one work which would almost certainly have been central to this project, The Cairngorms: A Hundred Years of Mountaineering (Strange 2010), had not yet been published when I undertook my research. Nevertheless, although his work could not be consulted, Greg Strange made a significant contribution to this study, particularly assisting with the route names from the 19th and early 20th centuries. To bring the study up to the present day, climbing blog sites were visited. The most popular site is UK Climbing and the Winter Forum is frequented by people interested in Scottish winter climbing.4 Sites such as this are now the main method of passing on information within the climbing fraternity. Methodology Between March and December 2009, using The Cairngorms Guide, Rock and Ice Climbs (Nisbet and Fyffe 1995; Nisbet et al. 2007) and Scottish Winter Climbs (Nisbet et al. 2008) as the principal sources, each of the names was examined individually to ascertain function, morphological structure and lexical meaning.5 Nicolaisen stresses the importance of all names, rather than selecting those which look interesting; the argument being that important names can be overlooked under the guise of ordinariness: 3 Rutkowski 2000, 116. 4 <http://www.ukclimbing.com/>. 5 See Appendixes 2 and 3. The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 10, 2016, 137–205 An Exploratory Treatise on Mountain Route Names 139 Every name counts, is important and has something to say to us in our onomastic quest.6 He also stresses the folly of studying names in isolation, arguing that in names Words do not mean, and therefore do not exist, in isolation but receive their full semantic force from each other.7 Many of the FAs of the earliest routes are deceased and several others who have completed more recent climbs have died in climbing accidents but, where possible, the FAs were contacted and asked about the origins of their route names and pleasingly, only five names were not able to be discussed directly with an FA. Coming from a climbing background ‒ my father climbed in the Cairngorms in the early 1950s, and my husband is a member of the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) ‒ undoubtedly helped, and this climbing connection helped to open doors that otherwise might have been closed to me. Three climbers were particularly helpful with this study: Simon Richardson, Greg Strange and Andy Nisbet. Their names are synonymous with Lochnagar and the Cairngorms, and they have completed a disproportionate number of first ascents between them. Simon Richardson alone had made 77 first ascents on Lochnagar, Greg Strange 32 and Andy Nisbet 16. Over the decades 184 climbers made first ascents on Lochnagar. Climbs were generally done by pairs of climbers, such as Richardson/Cartwright on Perseverance Rib or Strange/Findlay on Eclipse. Routes were occasionally soloed, K. Neal on Sunset Connection, G. J. Lynn on Plover or, very occasionally, they were climbed by a larger party, Patey/Taylor/Brooker/Dixon/Aitken/Philip/ Morrison/Henderson on Parallel Gully B. It became apparent that due to time constraints it would only be possible to interview one of the climbers in a pairing/grouping. However, in one or two instances I interviewed both climbers and was interested to see the extent to which climbers agreed on how the name had come into being. Field Area The mountain of Lochnagar (1155m) has names for its summit, Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach (1118m) and three subsidiary summits; Carn an t-Sagairt Mor (1047m), Meikle Pap (980m) and Conachcraig (865m). The mountain curves around a massive cirque (or corrie in Scots), whose steep, impressive cliffs are home to the 261 climbs. In the floor of the corrie lies a loch (‘lake’) also called Lochnagar. The field area for this study 6 Nicolaisen 1990, 204. 7 Nicolaisen 1978, 210. The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 10, 2016, 137–205 140 Sheila M. Young (Fig. 1), comprises all the cliffs on the north east and northern flanks of the mountain, excepting Area 4, which is an outlying low-level cliff. Together, these correspond to the area which comes under the title ‘Lochnagar’ in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Climber’s Guide to Rock and Ice Climbs in the Cairngorms 2007. Fig 1. Lochnagar with climbing areas after Cairngorms Rock and Ice Guide 1995, 300. ③ ② ⑤ ① ④ ⑥ ⑦ 1. Southern Sector 2. Main Sector 3. Coire na saobhaidhe 4. Clais Rathadan 5. Coire Lochan na Feadaige 6. The Stuic 7. Balloon Buttress <http://maps.nls.uk/view/74490394> This guide divides Lochnagar into seven areas to describe the climbing, and six of those areas have been examined. Areas 5, 6 and 7 are all very recently developed. Area 2 on its own holds all the most famous and most highly-sought- after climbs. The most extensive areas, Areas 1 and 2, are further subdivided into their main architectural parts (e.g. large buttresses or walls) as follows: Area 1 ‒ Southern Sector The Sentinel Sunset Buttress View: Sheet 65 BalmoralPerseverance - Ordnance Wall Survey One-inch to the mile maps of Scotland, 1st Edition, 1856-1891 http://maps.nls.uk/view/74490394#zoom=5&lat=3921&lon=6839&layers=BT The Cathedral Sinister Buttress Area 2 ‒ Main Sector Central Buttress Shadow Buttress A Shadow Buttress B Eagle Ridge and Parallel Buttress The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 10, 2016, 137–205 An Exploratory Treatise on Mountain Route Names 141 Tough-Brown Face Raeburn’s Gully Black Spout Pinnacle The Stack West Buttress Area 3 Coire na Saobhaidhe has only 1 climb, The Watercourse, and is of little interest to climbers. Areas 5, 6 and 7 are all in Coire Loch nan Eun. Area 5, Coire Lochan na Feadaige, Area 6, The Stuic (and nearby Wacky Buttress), and Area 7, Balloon Buttress are not subdivided further as they are already relatively small.
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