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JMCS JMCS Winter Newsletter 2015 Click on the articles below to view or use the buttons on the navigation bar at the bottom of the page Designed by Sarah Wright 2015 Secretary’s Introduction Welcome to the Edinburgh JMCS Annual Newsletter 2015. We have a bumper crop of articles this year, so I will not detain you long. I just want to say thanks to all the authors and a special thank you to Sarah Wright, who once again has worked her editorial and presentational magic in the production process. Enjoy! David Small, Secretary. The Alps, August 2015 Bruce Macrosson I had absorbed in awe Ueli Steck’s myself, so being large, intimidating up high fast, maximise time on AD mantra for the swift and clean Swiss giants and in Herr Steck’s very alpine mixed ridges with a day of dispatch of Swiss Giants at last back garden who was I to ignore the rest before the main event. Plenty year’s Edinburgh Mountain Film advice of one who could sprint up the of brutal bashing up and down of Festival. His message seemed North face of the Eiger in 4 hrs . local Munros with some rock climbing simple; Swiss efficiency, clarity of mixed in as well. I’m sure the Swiss thought and brutal training. We were efficient; our schedule Machine would have approved. carefully detailed and drafted, The Dent Blanche & Weisshorn accommodationand car booked well still elude our good Secretary and in advance. Our tactics clear too; Les Bans (r) and its Glacier The Dibona’s summit ridge “ Our thinking was clear too. High hut in a somewhat Scottish cold peaks need acclimatisation and misty drizzle. We arrived at an The deep fresh working lives don’t leave much time almost empty hut wet and brewed tea snow, continuing cold so our intention was clear, get up outside in the by now gently falling “ high fast. Off plane, into Switzerland, snow. A friendly Scottish guide friend temperatures and up to mountain hut and up our first smiled sympathetically but knowingly unsettled weather, Alp on waking. It was all so neat and at our plans. I lay awake that night as had scotched any simple on paper. Indeed I was rather the reality of our situation sunk and proud of our plan ! pondered our next move. We woke to realistic prospect deep snow and dank Scottish murk. of us getting up our In a state of high excitement, day dream peaks over the one saw team MacSmall hurtling The deep fresh snow, continuing cold down the Rhone Valley in our hire- temperatures and unsettled weather, next few days. “ car before trudging up to the Moiry had scotched any realistic prospect of us getting up our dream peaks It most certainly had been a day of shining alluringly in the sun. over the next few days. But fear not, contrasts (and hard work!). we had another carefully scheduled La meteo unfortunately appeared plan in reserve. I unfolded Plan B The next day was a delight. Alpine to have ignored our carefully drafted and away we went. rock climbing at its best. Seven schedule. Perhaps we should have pitches of perfect bolted 5’ish granite written it in French? Sunshine and We left our Swiss hut in thick mist up onto the Clochetons Gunneng showers, rain, storm and a drop in and snow, slithered back down to our Aiguille followed by straightforward temperature were promised. But car before David put in a determined but still most enjoyable climbing up this could not be ! We were in Les 5 hour bout of driving across Europe onto the Aiguille Dibona. Ecrins, the Sunshine Alps, the place before we finally stopped in a hot one runs to when things turn bad up and sunny Ecrins National Park. For all those that love long alpine North. Crampons and axes were swapped granite rock routes free of glacial for rock boots and cams, followed a hassles I could not recommend the A distinct feeling of “it’s no fair” sweaty 3 hour walk up to the Dibona place highly enough. was starting to settle. Things were hut. Wee Bruce felt distinctly smug salvaged to an extent when a superb that sunny evening as he munched More rock climbed above the hut the 13 pitch granite route was done on his baguette underneath the looming next morning before walking down La Tete de La Maye above our Gite spire of angular granite that is the to the car and off to La Berarde with the next day. Things really started Aiguille Dibona. Les Bans and its glacier standing to unravel however as we coiled our Bolted muti pitch above La Berarde For all those that love “long alpine granite rock routes free of glacial hassles I could not recommend the place highly enough “ “I learned you could not only spend the whole of a winters day sun-blessed but also tan-necked “ Bad weather at the Moiry hut ropes on top and David revealed up a wild and lonely Ecantons Valley nor drowned in glacial flood water I that he had managed to pick up a in mist, heavy rain and thunder to began to appreciate the privilege of virus in the Dibona hut and was now the Pilates hut whilst David headed having experienced the awesome feeling decidedly grim. His suffering down and find a dentist. The next power and drama of the Alpine, and frustrations were compounded day I was to solo the straightforward brown glacial torrents crashing down that evening when, with the rain by Mont Giobernay whilst David, through deep gorges as ghostly now drumming off the Gite’s roof, he with his tooth now fixed and virus jagged shapes loomed out of gaps in revealed that his toothache was an defeated would sprint up to the hut the mist high above. abscess and he was going to have in the by now scorching sunshine. to find a dentist. We’d then dine together contentedly I was starting to wonder if the hut that evening before exorcising our had been deserted in the storm when Time for a pen, a fresh piece of frustrations with a successful assault thankfully a young lady guardian paper and a plan C ..... of Les Bans the next day. emerged from the shadows and kindly helped me dry my clothes and In hindsight Plan C probably wasn’t Reality. I stagger into a dark and filled my bottle with water. the wisest but we were by now deserted Pilattes hut at 2600m wet, getting desperate for some success. cold and glad to get shelter from Very nervous and uncertain as I the lashing rain and thunder. Now headed out into a very dark morning. The plan; I embark on the 4 hr walk safe and neither zapped by lightning The way up through the moraine Final morning above Chamonix by now well over an hour behind schedule, the rock above plastered in snow and the guided party behind us had turned back long ago. So down it was, seven wearisome hours of glacial icy maze trouble, moraine hacking and downwards trudging back to the valley. Our reward for our efforts. More bloody rain and more promised. So back onto the autoroute again, this onto the glacier was far from obvious Wearied from the efforts of the past time back to Chamonix. Where we in the blackness and I felt distinctly few days I voiced my concerns actually got lucky and had 2 days of alone and weak but the glacier to David. A new man had arrived cracking granite climbing in the sun was straightforward and nerves though….. his drugs were obviously on the Chamonix Aiguilles. evaporated as the sun rose and my powerful. His positive determination climb ended on a high as I scrambled was palpable, a route had soon been On one hand it had been frustrating up the summit ridge above a sea of traced through a maze of seracs as we were cheated of a chance to cloud with the peaks of Les Ecrins and with a disparaging “it’ll be get onto our dream peaks. On the etched against a blue sky. nothing compared to a snowy Tower other it had been a most marvellous Ridge” he was off, scorching down adventure, much good rock had Could our luck have changed? through the cliffs onto the glacier in been climbed and I’ve got a couple Nope. preparation for the morrow. of alpine memories that I’ll cherish. I’ll just ignore the fact that Ueli Yes, David had found a dentist and David deserved success. He coaxed managed to scamper over 82 Alpine indeed he did manage to get up to a nervous wee pal up through a 4000m peaks in 82 consecutive days the hut too despite a bridge having steep maze of black hard glacier this summer rather than our zero been washed away in the night. After ice whilst I tried but failed to ignore 4000m peaks in ten. a very lonely 36 hours it was great the fact crampon points were barely to see him again. It was however scratching the ice, the chances of So where did we go wrong ? The not great to see the rock ridges of holding a fall nil and those black answer is clear methinks. Mr Les Bans now gleaming white with holes beneath us did look awfy deep Steck obviously uses a Swiss fresh snow and its glacier, which the and hungry but the man did good. made spreadsheet on power-point guardian had assured me was bon, We got through, over the crumbling rather than our humble paper when looked more like a very crumpled bergschrund and onto the rock detailing his plans.

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