RUSTY WESTMORLAND PAGE 1 of 3 Section Histor1y4

section histor1y4

Lieutenant Colonel Horace ‘Rusty’ Westmorland OBE (1886–1984) by Paul Horder (with considerable help from Lindsay Elms)

Lieutenant Colonel went to the prairie province of climbing career began in 1901, at Horace Westmorland Saskatchewan, but prospects were the age of fifteen, when he poor there, so he moved on to climbed Pillar Rock in the Wasdale was one of those Boys’ Vancouver. There he met Arthur O region of the Lake District with his Own-type characters Wheeler, for whom he had a letter father Tom and his sister. His aunt which seemed to of introduction from G A Solly of Mary had been the second flourish in the pre-war the Scottish Mountaineering Club. woman to climb Pillar Rock, in British climbing scene. He asked to spend the summer 1873. His father was a keen and As a pioneer surveyor working on one of the mountain competent scrambler; however he in the Canadian survey parties as he was a rock never adopted the use of a rope. climber and had some alpine In his late teens, Westmorland, Rockies, he served in experience in the Engadine and and his two cousins Arthur North both world wars, Dolomites. He spent the next six and John Mounsey, began returning to his native months working for $2 a day with climbing with a rope. They Westmorland after the surveyors around Tetachuck climbed some of the classics at being invalided out of Lake, as part of the Alberta/British the time: The North Climb on The Rusty, but roadworthy the army in 1944. Here, Columbia Interprovincial Boundary Pillar, Scafell Pinnacle by undeterred by injuries, Commission, and continued Slingsby’s Chimney, Moss Ghyll, working seasonally for the Central Gully, Oblique and he set to climbing and surveyors until 1914 as a Doctor’s Chimney, Kern’s Knotts, skiing with gusto and, mountaineer. In the winter of Tarn Crag, and Needle and Napes in 1947, formed the first 1913/14 he did the tracing work Ridges. One notable ascent with Lakeland mountain over the working maps for the his cousins was on Dove Crag. rescue team with the Mount Assiniboine region. Initially, they thought they would help of 36 volunteers In 1912, Westmorland was climb either the left hand or right from Keswick. invited to take a commission in a hand route of the Y-gully but failed. Canadian ‘Territorial’ Highland They then tried and succeeded on He is probably best known to Regiment. He qualified at Military a buttress which is now called the present day climbers for his School and was transferred to the Westmorland Route (S). They also classic ‘Severe’ up Dove Crag, the Canadian ‘Regular’ Army where made the first ascent of Chock eponymous Westmorland Route, he served in Belgium and France Gully (V.Diff) on Tarn Crag, Helvellyn and, like Ivan Waller, he continued from 1915 to 1919. Lieutenant Range. impressive feats of climbing and Colonel Westmorland remained in In the same year he first climbed walking right into his 90s. He the Service until invalided out in The Pillar with his father, he met probably bankrupted his pension October 1944. He then returned to George Abraham (author of British funders. his family roots at Threlkeld in the Mountain Climbs) and, in 1910, Horace ‘Rusty’ Westmorland Lake District for his remaining years. joined George Abraham and his was born in Penrith, England in Westmorland’s mad-keen brother Ashley on a climbing and 1886 and educated at Queen fell-walking father (the Westmorland photographic trip to the Bernina Elizabeth Grammar School. He Cairn on Gable was built by Alps and the Dolomites, climbing worked in the family’s tannery and Rusty’s dad and uncle because the Torre Grande, Croda da Lago, leather business until the death of they considered it the finest view in Torre Inglese and the Zsigmondy his father in 1909 and then the the Lakes) inoculated his son with Kamin route on Cima Piccola. estate was divided between his the climbing bug early on. And his Ultimately, it was Pillar Rock which mother, his sister and himself. With love of the outdoors began when held a particular fascination for no professional training he was his father introduced his family to Westmorland and, in his later advised by the brother of the Ullswater and the surrounding fells years, he celebrated by repeating British Ambassador in Washington – camping, rowing, sailing, fell the climb on his 65th, 75th and, to enter the Forestry Service in walking and scrambling. However, lastly his 85th, birthdays. He also Canada. In 1911 Westmorland ‘Rusty’ Westmorland’s real loved skiing in the Scottish

MOUNTAIN RESCUE PEOPLE: RUSTY WESTMORLAND PAGE 1 OF 3 section histor1y4

Lieutenant Colonel Horace ‘Rusty’ Westmorland OBE (1886–1984)

Cairngorms which he did into his eighties. Westmorland was elected into the Fell and Rock Climbing Club in 1909, was President in the early ‘50s and remained a lifelong member. In Canada he was a member of the Alpine Club of Canada and attended their camps in 1912, 1913, 1919 and 1944. Some of his ascents in the Canadian Rockies include The Mitre, Mount Storm, Mount Whyte, Isolated Peak, Mount Magog, Mount Louis and the second ascent of Whitehorn Mountain in 1913. He also climbed Mount Balfour on the Waputik Icefield with Ivor Richards and his wife Dorothy Pilley (author of Climbing Days) and, while working for the surveyors, he made the first ascent of Mount Tyrwhitt, with the well-known climber/guide Conrad Kain and the surveyor Alan J Campbell. In 1922 he visited Vancouver Island and climbed Mount Arrowsmith with the local Victoria Section of the ACC and Mount Members of Keswick MRT on their first practice, Kern Knotts, Great Gable, Maxwell (Baynes Peak) on 11 April 1948. Photo: Keswick MRT. Saltspring Island. He was From left, clockwise: Rusty Westmorland, unknown, Jim Barber, Frank awarded, in recognition for Barnes, Mrs C Saver, Conrad Saver, George Fisher, George Spenceley, Mountain Services, the ‘Silver Norman Lusby, Stan Thompson, Treeby Bolton, Vince Veevers, unknown, Rope’ badge by the ACC in 1947 Dick Fisher and received a Testimony of Appreciation by the British Mountain Rescue Team in 1951. This rescue safely taken to Wasdale Head. Rescue Committee. team came about when Wilfred One of the rescuers, Rusty In Europe, he climbed and skied Noyce, who later became a key Westmorland, was disturbed by throughout the Bernese Oberland member of John Hunt’s successful the lack of any organisation, and the Dolomites and, with 1953 Everest team, fell while trained and willing to help injured Edward Feuz Jr, climbed the Hornli climbing Shark’s Fin on Tophet climbers and fell walkers. Legally, Ridge on the Matterhorn, however, Bastion, Great Gable. A gust of the responsibility lay with the his one unfulfilled wish was to wind blew Noyce off his holds and police, as it still does, but they climb Mount Assiniboine, the he fell onto a ledge breaking one were neither trained nor equipped Matterhorn of the Canadian of his legs. Noyce’s climbing for mountain rescues at the time. Rockies. partner went for help and a Rusty decided there was an urgent In 1946 he founded what was scratch group of six was collected. need for a team of volunteers. An originally called ‘The Borrowdale After a complicated and gruelling appeal in the Keswick Reminder Mountain Rescue Team’ but was rescue lasting all night, Noyce was produced an encouraging response switched to the Keswick Mountain

MOUNTAIN RESCUE PEOPLE: RUSTY WESTMORLAND PAGE 2 OF 3 section histor1y4

Lieutenant Colonel Horace ‘Rusty’ Westmorland OBE (1886–1984)

and some thirty men were Horace ‘Rusty’ Westmorland recruited to form the initial team. passed away at the age of 98 on Initially there was some 24 November 1984 but will be scepticism in the valley about the remembered for turning up motives and effectiveness of the immaculate on the crags and for team, however this was dispelled his concern with upholding the when it became obvious that here highest traditions of the was a group prepared to go out at mountaineering sport. any time, in all kinds of weather, to help anyone in trouble on the fells. In 1965, Horace ‘Rusty’ Westmorland was awarded the OBE by the Queen for his services to mountain rescue. In 1964, he wrote a book as part of a series for Pelham Adventure Library entitled ‘Adventures in Climbing’, which gave information and advice on the techniques of climbing illustrated by incidents An early callout for Keswick MRT – the team from his own life. The last chapter, alerted by letter from the local police entitled ‘Mountain Life’, relates inspector, inviting them to meet the following some of his adventures in the morning at the police station. Canadian Rockies. Photo: Keswick MRT.

Paul Horder began his career in mountain rescue in 1971, when he joined the Cockermouth team, appointed as team secretary two years later. In 1980, he joined Keswick MRT, in which he has served as both training officer and deputy team leader. For eleven years, until 1997, he held the post of secretary to LDSAMRA and, through his membership of the national body, went on to represented MREW at IKAR until 2008. He has received both the LDSAMRA Roll of Honour and the MREW Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his many years work in mountain rescue, including the development of two of the first mountain rescue websites – for LDSAMRA and Keswick MRT – and the first MREW website, as well as his pioneering work, with Rob Brookes, in the late ‘90s on GPS mapping.

Published 30 April 2010

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