No 88 Winter 2008 ISSN 0790 8008 €3.20 (£2.20) THE MAGAZINE FOR WALKERS AND CLIMBERS IN IRELAND www.mountaineering.ie www.berghaus.com Lead. Don’t follow. Wherever you’re going, the Our Temperance Jacket is our lightest 3 Layer chances are Berghaus has been GORE-TEX® PRO SHELL and features tried there and we understand just and tested innovations including; our full volume and helmet compatible Raptor hood, what you need. Inspired by and core venting to help regulate your designed with input from our temperature, and articulated sleeves sponsored athletes we know for optimum movement whilst climbing. what’s important. BERGHAUS and are registered trade marks of Berghaus Limited. ©Berghaus Limited 2008. GORE-TEX® GORE® and PACLITE® are registered trade marks of W.L. Gore and Associates. On the Gleann Chochán horseshoe in the Twelve Bens, Connemara. membership Photo: Adrian Hendroff. The next five years The Strategic Development Plan 2009-2013 he five-year Strategy of the The MCI intends to capitalise on these dependent on your active engagement. Mountaineering Council of achievements through the appointment The MCI will continue to work in TIreland for 2009-2013 is of a Hillwalking Development Officer with partnership with its members and all included as an insert in this issue of a core focus on developing a range of relevant bodies to promote the Mountain Log. It is ambitious and supports for our club and individual mountaineering in Ireland. has been informed by extensive members whose primary interest is consultation with the membership, hillwalking. This will include increased If you have opinions on the new Strategy partners and key stakeholders. I hope efforts to make the services that the MCI or would like to become involved in its that you will find time to read it and provides of more direct relevance to more implementation, then I would urge you to be able to agree with the strategies members. come along to our AGM which will be listed in the programmes for action. held on Saturday 21st February 2009 at The continued implementation of the the scenically located Knockree Youth Mountaineering in Ireland includes MCI’s environmental policy and support Hostel, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow (see page rambling, hillwalking, bouldering, rock for the work of Leave No Trace will raise 7 for more information). This is your climbing and alpinism. This Strategy sets awareness and appreciation of how we opportunity to have an input into out a clear vision for the future growth can use the uplands of Ireland in a decision-making within the organisation. and promotion of these activities, with a respectful and sustainable manner. major focus on support to members and The MCI Board and staff are committed clubs primarily engaging in hillwalking, At all times the Strategy emphasises how to fully implementing the work set out in together with enhanced support for youth mountaineering activities can contribute this Strategy for the next five years. With participation in our sport. to our quality of life. the continued support of all our members, funding partners and The Strategy will build on the real The Strategy places tremendous stakeholders, I have no doubt that the achievements of the last five years under demands on the MCI. It sets targets MCI will meet the challenges that lie the previous strategic plan. These include which will grow the membership base of ahead. the establishment of our offices at Sport the MCI. This will help place the HQ, the development of a new organisation on a sound financial footing. Ruairí Ó Conchúir organisational structure and the The MCI will continue to place volunteers Chairperson recruitment of highly motivated and at the core of its work. This is your professional staff, including the MCI’s first organisation and its future development ever Chief Officer. is, as has always been the case, www.mountaineering.ie Irish Mountain Log - Winter 2008 3 contents WELCOME TO... ISSUE 88 The Irish Mountain Log is the membership magazine of the Mountaineering Council of Ireland (MCI). The MCI promotes the interests of hillwalkers and climbers in Ireland. Mountaineering Council of Ireland Sport HQ, 13 Joyce Way Park West Business Park Dublin 12, Ireland Tel: (+353 1) 625 1115 Fax: (+353 1) 625 1116 [email protected] www.mountaineering.ie Hot Rock Climbing Wall Tollymore Mountain Centre Bryansford, Newcastle County Down BT33 0PT Tel: (+44 28) 4372 5354 [email protected] Features Editor: Patrick O’Sullivan 22 Christmas Quiz Tel: (+353 1) 837 8166 (pm, wknds) €1,500 in prizes to be won. [email protected] Features Editor: Peter O’Neill [email protected] 24 MCI Summer Alpine Meet Literary Editor: Joss Lynam Tel: (+353 1) 288 4672 (pm) [email protected] 26 Acquiring mountain skills Advertising: MCI Office Eimear Daly learns to be [email protected] self-reliant. Production: Cóilín MacLochlainn [email protected] Printing: Kilkenny People Printing 28 Ag siúl i La Gomera Tel (+353 5677) 63366 Tugann Seán Ó Fearghail cuairt The Irish Mountain Log is published by ar na hOileáin Chanáracha. the Mountaineering Council of Ireland four times a year – in March, June, September, December. The material 32 Jewels of Connemara published in the Log by the voluntary Adrian Hendroff walks in the editorial team and contributors must not be taken as official MCI policy unless Twelve Bens and the Maamturks. specifically stated. Copy deadline for the Spring 2009 37 The Coomloughra issue of the Irish Mountain Log is Horseshoe Saturday, February 14th, 2009. Lee Campbell takes on Caher, PARTICIPATION AND RISK Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh. Readers of the Irish Mountain Log are reminded that hillwalking and climbing are activities with a danger of personal 40 Journey to the South Pole injury or death. Participants in these Kevin Dempsey returns to activities should be aware of and accept these risks, and be responsible Antarctica to walk in the footsteps for their own actions and involvement. of Amundsen and Scott. The MCI publishes and promotes safety and good practice advice and through Bord Oiliúnt Sléibhe (BOS, The Irish 45 A Moroccan winter ascent Mountain Training Board) administers a Deirdre McCarthy climbs North range of training programmes for walkers and climbers. Africa’s highest peak Regulars 6 News 14 IMRA news 48 Training news 52 Access & Conservation news 54 Books 60 The last word 4 Irish Mountain Log - Winter 2008 www.mountaineering.ie editorial Be prepared “Only the Spirits of the Air know what awaits me behind the mountains, but still I travel on.” – Eskimo proverb quoted by Kurt Diemberger in Spirits of the Air. e-reading this excellent book by Diemberger recently, I was R struck by the aptness of the proverb which gives the book its name. At one level, it is a reflection on life’s uncertainties and how we have to continue on our journey despite those uncertainties. However, it is also very appropriate when applied to real mountains. There is a great deal of uncertainty in our chosen sport and we must try to make it as safe as possible by reducing that uncertainty and controlling the risks as much as we can. One way of doing this is to ensure that we are as well prepared as possible and have suitable experience to tackle our objective. In this issue, MCI’s Training Officer, Tim Orr, continues his excellent series about the various mountain training programmes that are available in Ireland. These are currently being reviewed and strengthened by the training boards, Bord Oiliúint Sléibhe (BOS) and Mountain Leader Training Northern Ireland (MLTNI). There is also information about the seasonal meets being organised by the MCI in the coming year so that members can engage in more informal training, learning from others, as well as participating in the more formal courses on offer. As we get to the end of the MCI year, apart from the meets being organised in the coming year, we also have the AGM to look forward to. This year’s AGM will be particularly important as the MCI is about to embark on the new five-year strategy which was recently approved at an EGM during the Autumn Meet in Macroom and in which the focus will be on trying to ensure that the National Governing Body for our sport remains relevant to the membership while enhancing its support for youth participation, providing safe ways into the sport for future generations of hillwalkers and climbers. If you have any opinions on how that should be done, then you should come along to the AGM, which will be held in Glencree on Saturday, February 21st 2009 at the Knockree An Óige Hostel. On behalf of the Editorial Team, the MCI’s staff and the Board of Directors, I would like to wish readers of the Irish Mountain Log a happy and enjoyable Christmas period and that the ‘Spirits of the Air’ will look after you in the hills in the coming year. Patrick O’Sullivan Editor, Irish Mountain Log ON THE COVER: Members of the “Last Degree” Changes in the Editorial Team expedition team on their way to the geographic South Rita Connell, News Editor, and Eoin Reilly, Pictures Editor, have both decided Pole in December 2007 with a sun parahelion overhead to stand down from their voluntary posts on the Editorial Team. I would like in the night sky. Photo: Kevin Dempsey. to thank them both very much for the significant contributions they have made to the Irish Mountain Log over the past few years and wish them well in the THIS PAGE: On the Caher ridge heading towards future. Carrauntoohil, McGillicuddy’s Reeks, Co Kerry.