M PRO
FOR THOSE THAT WORK AND PLAY OUTDOORS
WWW.MOUNTAINPROMAG.COM JULY 2015
ALPINE SPECIAL Running with the best: Jon Griffith BMG guide: Tim Blakemore The eyes have it: Keith Partridge ■ GREG BOSWELL ■ ROBIN CAMPBELL ■ REVIEWED: ROCK GEAR, ALPINE BOOTS, WINDSHIRTS
Alex Roddie is a writer, editor and a student of mountaineering history. He spends his spare time either up hills or writing his next novel. www.alexroddie.com/
contributors
welcome
Jon Griffith is based in Chamonix, and has become one of the world’s leading mountain sports photographers. An accomplished Alpinist, he regularly ties in with Ueli Steck and others to document cutting-edge ascents across the globe.
Hendrik Morkel is a European at heart, travelling the old continent in search of new and forgotten trails, be they in broad leafed forests or on lofty mountains. At home he writes about his adventures on www.hikinginfinland.com.
1865 saw a record number of first ascents in the Alps, and so this summer marks 150 years of Alpinism. You can read more about the celebrations, events and exhibitions in and around the Chamonix Valley in our news pages. We’re focused firmly and squarely on that same arena for this issue, with a photo story from one of the regions (and the world’s) best-known and respected mountain sport photographers, Jon Griffith. We’ve a fascinating journey back in time with hill historian Alex Roddie, and a short but insightful profile of BMG guide Tim Blakemore. I’m equally delighted to have an Alps flavoured adventure from Martin Boyson’s autobiography Hanging On. I take a brief look at Alpine footwear, while Tom and Lucy cover windshirts and the latest in climbing gear for those long, sunny days on the snow, rock and ice. Away from the Chamonix celebrations but still to be celebrated - Chantelle Kelly’s interview with cameraman Keith Partridge is our second photographic treat. Keith speaks with relaxed authority, and a lifetime of professional experience is reflected in the stunning images he’s managed to capture. Elsewhere there’s a film tribute to SMC legend Robin Campbell, Claire Carter climbs barefoot in Wales, and Dr. Liz Auty gets to grips with apps for wildlife monitoring. A big thank you to all our contributors for their time and effort in making what I think is a cracking issue.
Dr Liz Auty is the John Muir Trust’s biodiversity officer and the property manager for East Schiehallion. She has been visiting mountains to search for wildflowers since an early age, and gained her PhD studying primulas in Upper Teesdale. Claire Carter is a freelance writer based in Sheffield, near the Grit. She climbs, runs and ski tours. She is also the film officer for Kendal Mountain Festival.
Chantelle Kelly is our editorial assistant without whom interviews, book reviews and more would not happen. She is relatively new to the great outdoors, but learns fast!
Lucy Wallace is a freelance Winter Mountain Leader, Wildlife Guide and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Assessor based in Scotland. She works with adult and youth groups, coaching navigation and hill walking skills, as well as leading schools’ expeditions overseas. Tom Hutton is a freelance mountain leader and mountain bike guide, as well as an awardwinning outdoors writer and photographer. He’s based in Snowdonia but is lucky enough to work throughout the UK.
See you on the hill,
Da vid
David Lintern, Editor
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Alan Vincent has been in love with the mountains for more years than he’d care to remember. Being a self-confessed gear addict, he’s always keen to see what new innovations are ready to excite the outdoor world.
JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 3
contents 16 12
Jon Griffith
22 Interview: Keith Partridge
NEWS FILM REVIEWS INTERVIEW: KEITH PARTRIDGE RUNNING WITH THE BEST: JON GRIFFITH MARTIN BOYSON’S HANGING ON GET CARTER: SKINNING GWEN’S ROUTES IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FORBES PROFILE: BMG GUIDE TIM BLAKEMORE NOTES FROM THE FAIRY HILL: SUMMER GEAR: WINDSHIRTS, HIM GEAR: WINDSHIRTS, HER GEAR: CLIMBING GEAR GEAR: ALPINE BOOTS CUTTING EDGE TRIED AND TESTED
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6 8 10 12 16 22 26 28 34 36 38 40 42 44 45 47
Tried & Tested
the team EDITOR: David Lintern GEAR EDITOR: Tom Hutton e: tom.hutton@targetpublishing.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Chantelle Kelly e: editorial@targetpublishing.com SUB EDITOR: Amy Robinson e: subeditor@targetpublishing.com GROUP SALES MANAGER: James Lloyd e: james.lloyd@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810069 SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE: Chris Kemp e: chris.kemp@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810083 DESIGN/PRODUCTION: Hannah Wade e: hannah.wade@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810076 MARKETING EXECUTIVE: Sarah Kenny e: sarah.kenny@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810091 MANAGING DIRECTOR: David Cann e: info@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 816300 Some material may be speculative and/or not in agreement with current medical practice. Information in FSN is provided for professional education and debate and is not intended to be used by non-medically qualified readers as a substitute for, or basis of, medical treatment. Copyright of articles remains with individual authors. All rights reserved. No article may be reproduced in any form, printed or electronically, without wriiten consent of the author and publisher. Copying for use in education or marketing requires permission of the author and publisher and is prohibited without that permission. Articles may not be scanned for use on personal or commercial websites or CD-ROMs. Published by Target Publishing Limited. Colour reproduction & printing by The Magazine Printing Company, Enfield, Middx. EN3 7NT www.magprint.co.uk . ©2012 Target Publishing Ltd. Produced on environmentally friendly chlorine free paper derived from sustained forests. To protect our environment papers used in this publication are produced by mills that promote sustainably managed forests and utilise Elementary Chlorine Free process to produce fully recyclable material lin accordance with an Environmental Management System conforming with BS EN ISO 14001:2004. The Publishers cannot accept any responsibility for the advertisements in this publication.
15 YEARS
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2000-2015
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Published by Target Publishing Ltd, The Old Dairy, Hudsons Farm, Fieldgate Lane, Ugley Green, Bishops Stortford CM22 6HJ t: 01279 816300 f: 01279 816496 e: info@targetpublishing.com www.targetpublishing.com
Cover image Jon Griffith
NEWS
In the News 150 YEARS OF ALPINISM This summer, the Chamonix valley will celebrate 150 years of Alpinism. The year 1865 saw 65 first ascents across the Alps, including seven in the Mont-Blanc Massif - the Aiguille Verte, the Grandes Jorasses and the Brenva Spur on Mont-Blanc, among others. Lesley Stephen, author of The Playground of Europe and one of the foremost Alpinists of the Golden Age, described the Alps as ‘the elixir of life, a revelation, a religion’. 150 years later, and Chamonix is still basecamp for pioneering sportsmen and women from around the world. While paying tribute to the remarkable feats of the Victorians and their mountain guides, Chamonix will also celebrate the legacy of modern Alpinism, and the values we look to preserve for the future. The history of the Alpine Club of London, founded in 1857, is inextricably linked with that of Chamonix and its residents. From 29th June to 2nd November 2015, Chamonix will be showcasing 19th century Treasures of the Alpine Club at the Musée Alpin. There will be an exhibition of over 50 works by 19th century Alpine Club artists: watercolours, oils, engravings,
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and also artefacts including Edward Whymper’s Alpenstock and ice axe. This will be the first time ever that the Alpine Club have exhibited their collection in Europe. Other exhibitions throughout the Chamonix valley, from Servoz to Vallorcine, cover all aspects of life in 1865, including: ■ Pioneering Alpinism during the Golden Age. ■ Tourism with Jemima Morell (the first Thomas Cook tour). ■ The Glaciers during the little ice age as captured by early photography. ■ The perils of travel in 1865. ■ Farming and day-to-day life for a Chamonix family in 1865. In addition to the exhibitions, visitors to Chamonix this summer can enjoy the following: ■ Guided walks and mountain hikes on the trail of the Pioneers: Whymper (Alpinism), Ruskin (contemplation), Forbes (glaciology) from our heritage guides and the Mountain Guides’ Company ■ Four Conferences by English authors and scholars. ■ A programme of classic and contemporary mountaineering films. ■ The Climbing World Cup. ■ The traditional Fête des Guides. Full programme details can be found at http://1865.chamonix.fr/en/ or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chamonixalpinisme?ref=hl
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NEWS
Campaign to save North West Highlands Wild Land MCofS Mountain Writing Competition 2015 Entries are now being accepted for this year’s Mountain Writing Competition. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland is urging writers to enter the literary competition with their best pieces about mountains; whether fact, fiction, poetry or prose. The entries must be unpublished work that relates to mountains or mountaineering, and the MCofS are especially encouraging people who have not entered a writing competition before. There are two literary categories to enter, prose and poetry, with three cash prizes up for grabs in both. The Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival has also donated weekend passes for the two overall winners. The winner of the prose category will be awarded a cash prize of £150, second will receive £100 and third £50. The poetry category winner will be awarded £100, second £50 and third place £25. Winners will also see their entries in print in the Scottish Mountaineer, the quarterly MCofS magazine which goes out to its 12 000 members. The MCofS said: “With more and more people taking part in outdoor activities, there should be no shortage of climbers and walkers ready to put their experiences into words and share what makes mountains, or the act of walking or climbing so special to them.” Prose entries should be a maximum of 2000 words long. Poetry entries can be of any length. The competition is open to anyone resident in the UK, whether members of the MCofS or not. Deadline for this year’s competition is 31 August. Entries should be sent to the competition co-ordinator Mike Merchant, preferably by email article@mcofs.org.uk, or by hard copy to MCofS, MWC2015, The Old Granary, West Mill Street, Perth PH1 5QP.
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The John Muir Trust has launched a campaign to save wild land in Sutherland, which has been targeted by three separate energy companies for large scale onshore wind farms. Together the three application pose a threat to the Reay-Cassley ‘Wild Land Area 34’ with a total of 65 turbines, each three times the height of the Skye Bridge, along with miles of access roads and other infrastructure. The Trust fears that if the development proposals are accepted, the entire Wild Land Areas map, which was agreed by the Scottish Government in June last year, could be undermined. Two of the applications, Glencassley and Sallachy, are now waiting for a decision by Energy Minister Fergus Ewing. The third, Caplich, has to be considered by the Highland Council before going to the Scottish Government. Stuart Brooks, chief executive of the John Muir Trust, said: “Last year the Scottish Government took the historic step of adopting an official wild land map of Scotland, underpinned by a national planning strategy which explicitly states that these areas are ‘very sensitive to any form of intrusive human activity and have little or no capacity to accept new development’. “A decision by the Minister to reject Sallachy and Glencassley would not only save Wild Land Area 34, it would also send a clear message to developers that these areas are national assets that will be protected by the Scottish Government. “That in turn will reduce future speculative applications, which are expensive and time-consuming for everyone involved.” The Trust’s Area 34 campaign includes short film which, suggests that instead of ‘turbines, pylons and power lines’ the area could be transformed into ‘a living landscape of trees, wildlife and people, with thriving local communities benefitting from year-round tourism.’ You can watch the film here: https://youtu.be/rmk0P1wp0pA
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FILM
A Tribute to Robin Campbell Robin Campbell is a Scottish climber and mountaineer, and received the 2015 Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture, presented at the Fort William Mountain Festival. This short film by Dave and Claire MacLeod pays tribute to Robin’s wit and dedication to both the sport, and to the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC), as committee member, journal editor, vice president, archivist and librarian. The film also features Scottish climbing legends Jimmy Marshall, Paul Brian and Ken Crocket.
Bad to the bone
Jonathan Griffith is away in Pakistan. This is his account of a recent climb on the North West Face of Mt Deborah in the Hayes Range in Alaska.
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Reviews CHANTELLE KELLY SCALES A MOUNTAIN OF BOOKS AND FILMS TO PICK OUT THREE RECENT FAVOURITES.
THE LIMBLESS MOUNTAINEER Directed by Paul Crompton RRP £9.99 The Limbless Mountaineer tells the story of a quadruple amputee and an incredible attempt to climb the Matterhorn. Jamie Andrew was stranded in a blizzard for five days. Within three months of the accident he had prosthetics fitted and was learning to walk again. Jamie was determined to return to the mountains; he went snowboarding, hiking, took part in marathons and began to climb. With the Limbless Mountaineer, we’re offered a window into his everyday struggles to regain fitness and stamina ahead of his attempt. His own battles of will and deaths of those close to him only serve to strengthen his resolve. The mountain has claimed over 500 lives, but as Jamie says; “To make the most of life is a much bigger risk.” It’s a raw, inspirational story about a man who will do absolutely anything to follow his dreams.
RUNNER Published by Aurum Press RRP £12.99 Surrounded by a sea of people, Lizzy Hawker is standing at the centre of Chamonix; waiting to start the gruelling Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. Naïve and inexperienced, with her holey long johns and large mountain rucksack, she prepares herself for the gruelling 158 kilometres and 8600 metres of ascent she’s about to embark on. Runner tells the story of Lizzy - pushing herself to the limits, physically, mentally and emotionally, through a series of long-distance endurance races. We follow her journey to become one of Britain’s most successful endurance athletes; winning the UTMB five times, completing a 320km run from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu, setting the world record for 24 hours road running, and to become the 100km Women’s World Champion. It’s a riveting book that reveals her remarkable spirit and her passion for not just running, but for mountains and wild places too.
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THE BLIND MAN OF HOY Published by Sandstone Press RRP £8.99 The Blind Man of Hoy tells the inspiring story of Red Szell, who tackled The Old Man of Hoy in 2014 after hanging up his climbing harness over 20 years ago. As a teenager he watched Chris Bonington and Joe Brown scale the pillar of old red sandstone in a documentary The Big Climb, and instantly wanted to do it. His dreams were shattered at the age of 19 when he discovered he was going blind, and after a brief battle decided he had to retire his love of climbing. After a few too many drinks in Christmas 2012, he decided to take the challenge on. The book tells his extraordinary journey to becoming the first blind man to climb The Old Man of Hoy.
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OUTDOOR BOOKS
INTERVIEW
The
Cameraman CHANTELLE KELLY SPOKE TO KEITH PARTRIDGE, ADVENTURE AND EXPEDITION PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER, ABOUT HIS CAREER AND NEW BOOK. HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO ADVENTURE/EXPEDITION CAMERAWORK?
of working alongside people scratching a living in some of the
I was and still am a dreamer, but aren’t we all? I’d been consumed
harshest of environments.
by being in the mountains, being up-close and personal with the
The idea for the book started out as a photo book, but as
raw elemental power of rock, snow, ice and wind. I was a weekend-
the stories unfolded we felt that we should move it towards an
warrior climber and mountaineer. There was clarity in the light from
even mix of fabulous images and text. It’s ended up as 70 000
the summits, a way to see through to a different life. Following your
words sitting alongside almost 200 pictures, all wrapped up in a
dreams is both compelling and dangerous.
beautifully designed volume. It has been quite a journey to put it
I was working as a cameraman and sound recordist for the BBC,
together, and I hope readers enjoy the ride.
which I loved, but wondered if I could marry my passion for being in the mountains and filmmaking. So, I resigned, sold everything
IN 2012, YOU WON AN EMMY AWARD FOR ‘OUTSTANDING
I owned, including my flat and car, and took off on a series of
CINEMATOGRAPHY’ FOR BBC’S HUMAN PLANET; HOW DID YOU FEEL?
adventures, the first of which was after answering a handwritten
Of course it’s always great to receive recognition, but it’s a team
advert on a climbing shop notice board asking for climbing partners
effort out there, and I think of the award as something for the
on a winter trip to Iceland.
whole production team, and the people who allowed us to spend
On my return I bumped into a film producer, Richard Else, who’d heard that I’d jacked in my job, and wondered what I’d been doing.
time with them. Having said that, the EMMY does look quite nice on the mantelpiece.
After explaining about my trip, he wondered if I wanted to help out on a film, fronted by Chris Bonington, to be shot at Nanga Parbat
YOU HAVE FILMED ALL OVER THE WORLD; WHAT WAS THE MOST
in the Northern Himalaya. That started the ball rolling, and it hasn’t
MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE AND LOCATION?
stopped. In a nutshell I followed my dreams and realised those
I’d say that’s totally impossible to pick, but I’ll try. While
moments of opportunity - call it serendipity.
the locations are mesmerising and spectacular, it’s about the stories and the people you’re with.
YOU HAVE JUST RELEASED YOUR BOOK THE ADVENTURE GAME; WHAT CAN WE EXPECT? The Adventure Game - A Cameraman’s Tales From Films At The Edge has several layers to it; the stories from behind the scenes, and then there are the actual stories themselves. The final layer is my own journey from a rookie, over-ambitious mountaineer and cameraman to having completed over 60 expeditions, climbing and adventure films, where digging deep into my personal psyche is still very much required. The book features locations across the world, with experiences 12 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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Location: it has to be the summit of Everest with mountaineer Kenton Cool and our three Sherpas, Dorje, and the second Dorje.
I WAS A WEEKEND-WARRIOR CLIMBER AND MOUNTAINEER. THERE WAS CLARITY IN THE LIGHT FROM THE SUMMITS, A WAY TO SEE THROUGH TO A DIFFERENT LIFE. FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS IS BOTH COMPELLING AND DANGEROUS.
Not because it’s the highest point on the planet, but just how much it represented in terms of history and my own journey; the project closing 90 years of Everest history and 88 years of Olympic history. We fulfilled a promise to take a 1924 Olympic Gold medal to the summit. Experience: Spending time with the Kazak eagle hunters in the far west of Mongolia for the BBC’s Human Planet series. We joined 16 year-old Berik on his rite of passage, filming him being lowered down a shattered cliff by his father Silau to take an eagle chick from its nest and training it to become his hunting partner. Then in the depths of a Mongolian winter we returned to film Berik and his bird Balopan hunting in the vastness of the Altai Mountains. After his first successful ‘kill’ he would become a man of his people. Being welcomed into what’s quite an intimate moment between father and son was very special.
clouds of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide were often so thick that visibility went down to less than two metres. This doesn’t
YOU HAVE VISITED SOME EXTREMELY HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS; WHAT
stop the sulphur miners from using this as their factory floor,
WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING?
hacking chunks of pure sulphur that run down pipes rammed into
There are two that vie for that accolade; the Mageni River Cave in Papua New Guinea and Kawah Ijen, an active volcano in Indonesia, one of the most toxic places on the planet. In Papua New Guinea our base camp was in
fumaroles in the bottom of the volcano’s crater. The atmosphere is thick with danger. The gas burns the workers’ eyes and lungs and the whole environment simply ate the cameras; the tape mechanisms clogged, every connector and switch corroded. We ended up doing ‘open-heart surgery’ to the cameras on the side
the rain forest. Rain hammered into our leaky
of the volcano to keep things working. It was an apocalyptic place
tarpaulins and bounced off the leaf litter up
where no-one should have to work, but to the miners, they feel
to knee height. At ground level those sopping
they earn a good wage. It means they can feed, clothe and educate
conditions were challenging enough to keep
their families, and with that there is no argument.
the cameras working, but below ground, in the cave, it was tantamount to technology suicide.
IS THERE A PARTICULAR FILM OR TV
Imagine being in a pitch-black jet-wash with a
PROGRAMME YOU ARE MOST PROUD
fistful of delicate electronics. We were wading
OF?
through a white water river system, abseiling
There’s not one but a few, for
through waterfalls, shining light where none
different reasons. First has to be the
had previously shone. The footage is incredibly
Darlow Smithson drama
dramatic, but as an environment, it was a camera killer. Kawah Ijen belches poison forty times the safe working limit from the guts of the earth. Gas www.mountainpromag.com
JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 13
INTERVIEW
pushed everything to the limit - back then technology was harder to keep going in such horrendous wet conditions, and that comes on top of keeping ourselves going. HOW HAVE YOU LEARNT THE SKILLS NEEDED FOR FILMING IN EXTREME CLIMATES AT HIGH ALTITUDE? I’m lucky to have worked with some of the top safety riggers, mountaineers and adventurers in the world. I guess some of their skills, techniques and the way they approach extreme environments have rubbed off. Experience creeps up almost imperceptibly. I started by keeping things simple on easier ground, moving to more complex and committing terrain. Having done something successfully, you can do it again and push it a bit harder or higher. The same goes for filming. What works and doesn’t work lodges in the memory, providing an ever-deepening box of tricks. As with everything in life, there is something to learn. CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH SOME OF THE PLACES YOU’VE VISITED, AND GIVE US AN INSIGHT INTO ‘AN AVERAGE WORKING DAY’? Over the years I’ve tracked gorilla in the rainforests of West Africa, followed ancient hunting routes in deserts, climbed on some of the world’s most challenging mountain faces, puffed my way to the highest point on Earth when almost too hypoxic to operate a camera, hung from giant monolithic overhangs, and endured the docs of Joe Simpson’s
overwhelming vertigo induced by the most gravity-defiant natural
Touching the Void, and
structures on our planet.
the sequel, Beckoning
There’s no such thing as an average day, and that’s a fantastic
Silence. One of the
thing. But let’s think about just one day on the Eiger’s North Face:
many challenges of
pack rucksack the night before, sleep, alarm, coffee, food, walk
Void was to bring a
to helipad cut into the snow, chopper arrives, rotors still turning,
sense of reality and
wedge into the side-door, clip to winch-line. Fly to edge of first
jeopardy to the screen.
icefield, lower on the 5mm cable to a ledge the size of a single
The film exceeded all
stair tread some 500m off the deck. Unclip from chopper, clip to
our expectations, and
mountain. Make ready to film. Spend day filming around features
is still well-known and
written large in the history of the Eiger - the Hinterstoisser
highly-regarded. With
Traverse, head down into no-man’s land to follow the retreat line
Beckoning, I felt we’d
of the 1936 team. Climb back up to the Swallow’s Nest, the first
all moved up a gear in terms of the sheer number of shots and
icefield, cup of tea from the flask. Call for pick-up. Swing off the
angles we managed to achieve to take the viewer along with that
ledge on the end of winch-line. Commute back riding beneath the
powerful story of the 1936 attempt on the Eiger North Face.
chopper to finish the day. Simple.
As a climbing sequence, it has to be Stevie Haston and Laurance Goualt ice-climbing in Vail and Ouray for the Triple Echo
WHAT’S THE NEXT PROJECT YOU’RE WORKING ON?
Productions / BBC2 series Wild Climbs. This was the start of the
I’m off filming an expedition in Venezuela, which looks like being
lightweight revolution in video technology, with the main camera
super spectacular and very, very exciting. Sorry, in James Bond
and sound down to one person to generate the main coverage,
fashion - if I told you any more, I’d have to shoot you!
but with cameras now small and light enough to enable additional shots to be obtained by other members of the team. It really
HAVE YOU GOT ANY ADVICE FOR THE FUTURE FILMMAKERS?
opened up huge possibilities in covering the action.
Simple. Never take your eye off the ball, learn your craft well, and
Then there’s the white water caving sequence in the Lost Land of
commit whole-heartedly to the projects when they come. They
the Volcano project for the BBC. Filming in a white water maelstrom
will be tough, and there will be a sky-rocket learning curve that
deep underground in a new passage in the wild and remote rain
keeps going. Accept that you’ll never know it all, and be willing to
forests of Papua New Guinea was epic in every way. That film
give it your best shot. No one can ask for more than that.
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JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 15
FEATURE
Running with
THE BEST Korra Pesce, Martin Elias, Jon Griffith - Gabarrou Silvy (1000, M8, AI6)
JON GRIFFITH IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST-KNOWN MOUNTAINEERING PHOTOGRAPHERS. HE’S ALSO NOT TOO SHABBY AT ALPINISM.
M
y kitchen floor lay strewn with the essentials for a
doesn’t have to get scared at any point during the day. Martin and I
four day winter route on the Grandes Jorasses North
didn’t protest much.
face; it would be the third time that myself and Korra
As Martin and I settled back and nattered away, the Italian
had packed and unpacked our bags for Rolling Stones
machine did what he does best, the sharp end. It was during a
this winter. It was not meant to be, the weatherman had been
heated debate over whether we should tuck in to the milk chocolate
wrong, again. Myself and Korra’s climbing partnership can be best
cereal bar or the dark chocolate cereal bar, such were the choices
described as ‘ambitious’- we are forever discussing obscene link ups
affecting team ‘Shit Chat’ at the belay, that I had a pang of fear that
and heinously steep routes around the massif; such is the privilege
I’d left the gas behind. I could visualise it on the kitchen floor among
of making plans with one of Europe’s strongest Alpinists.
the mess of hammocks, aid rack, and provisions for four days on the
Despondent, we were plunged back in to the world of choice -
Jorasses. A cursory search in my pack didn’t reveal anything. I waited
what were we on? Plan D by now? It’s hard to rally when you’ve got
until the next belay to have a better look; nothing. How awkward.
psyched for one of the biggest Alpine objectives in the massif, and
Fortunately, Martin and Korra are hardened men. Martin’s reply
then had to just scatter the remains of that hope and excitement all
was “It’s okay, we have cigarettes”, and Korra was having too much
over the floor. As luck would have it, we’d been eyeing up a route
fun making M8 look like M4 to care too much. The winter bivouac
called the Gabarrou Silvy on the Sans Nom face of the Aiguille Verte.
was cold and hungry for all of us, but thankfully Martin had brought
In a way it’s a downgrade from our original plan, but it would take
that Spanish ham he’d promised. I was glad that Korra had led the
half the time. The thing about downgrading is that it can lead you to
buttress the day before; quite how he manages to enchain so many
be complacent - but the Gabarrou-Silvy is anything but easy. It’s a
hard pitches in winter is beyond me. How he was going to squeeze
modern mixed masterpiece in winter, and you can count the amount
out another huge day in just a few hours was also beyond me.
of free winter ascents on one hand - quite the boast for a route that was first put up nearly 40 years ago. The Gab-Silvy, as it’s shortened to when chest beating down in
The advantage of not having any gas is that breakfast is a quick affair, a handful of snow and some crumbs from the bottom of the cereal bar wrappers. Martin and myself would take the second day,
the valley bar, has a bit of everything - but mainly it has forearm
but as we climbed on up towards the top of the face, Korra
busting pitches by the bucketful. I’d dreamt of the immaculate crux
managed to drop an axe. For an experienced team, we were
pitch for years - a perfect laybacking and bridging corner system
certainly showing some serious personal weaknesses. We’d found
that looks like a rock climber’s wet dream, and a mixed climber’s
out at the bivouac that Martin had neglected to bring batteries for
worst nightmare. Completely blank for crampons, but with a uniform
his headtorch, and so collectively we could very well call ourselves
crack that looked like you could easily drop three sets of cams in it
an embarrassment.
in the one pitch. Martin would join us at the last second, promising to bring some
We did top out though, and we did survive descending the Couturier Couloir in the dark minus one headtorch, one ice axe and
Spanish ham if he could do so. That seemed like a no-brainer.
with a broken V threader. That’s almost another story though. The
Arriving late in the morning at the base of the climb, Korra did his
great thing about Alpinism is that you learn something every time
best to politely point out that we were unlikely to get to our bivy
you head out. I learnt not to forget the gas, Korra learnt not to drop
site before dark unless he led all the pitches. It’s a healthy system
an axe, and Martin learnt to bring batteries for his headtorch. Will it
that allows you to protest that you would have liked to lead the crux
happen again? Probably, after all it’s not the first time I’ve forgotten
pitch, but also retreat into the calm headspace of a climber that
the gas.
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THE GAB-SILVY, AS IT’S SHORTENED TO WHEN CHEST BEATING DOWN IN THE VALLEY BAR, HAS A BIT OF EVERYTHING - BUT MAINLY IT HAS FOREARM BUSTING PITCHES BY THE BUCKETFUL. I’D DREAMT OF THE IMMACULATE CRUX PITCH FOR YEARS - A PERFECT LAYBACKING AND BRIDGING CORNER SYSTEM THAT LOOKS LIKE A ROCK CLIMBER’S WET DREAM, AND A MIXED CLIMBER’S WORST NIGHTMARE. Final slog up to the summit of the Aiguille Verte
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JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 17
FEATURE
Korra negotiates a thin and delicate series of dry tooling moves on a weakness to the right
Its unusual to find such a 5 star bivy location on a North Face, so it was a shame to ruin the experience by forgetting the gas
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Korra and Martin make their way up to the upper headwall
Korra works out a new climbing system with only one axe after dropping his - surprisingly efficient!
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The stunning Sans Nom ridge to the top of the Aiguille Verte
JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 19
FEATURE
One-axe-Korra on the Sans Nom ridge with the Mont Blanc in the background
Martin on the summit, contemplating the descent and feeling pretty wasted from lack of food and water over the last two days
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HANGING ON
The Walker A CLOSE ENCOUNTER IN THE ALPS, IN THIS EXTRACT FROM MARTIN BOYSEN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2014 BOARDMAN TASKER PRIZE.
A
fter a gruelling but mercifully short training climb on the appropriately named Aiguille du Peigne, we set off to climb our first ‘proper route’ – the East Ridge of the
Crocodile – involving a hut walk, glaciers and mixed climbing. I had a score to settle with the Crocodile, having failed on it during my first unhappy season. Then bad weather had forced us to stay at the Envers des Aiguilles Hut. This time we intended to camp, determined to eke out our limited supply of money. We settled down comfortably enough by some boulders, cooked supper and drifted off into a restless sleep. The pre-dawn silence was shattered by the sound of crunching boots and torches flashing against the tent as parties left the hut. We realised we were late once more. This was a disadvantage of not using huts, but at least the sky was clear, the stars shining with startling brightness, and we could use the other party to guide our path up the glacier. After a rapid breakfast we stowed away our sleeping bags and stove and hurried after the bobbing torches ahead. Dawn broke as we reached the start of the climb where a French party waited. We were impressed to recognise the burly, baldheaded figure of Lionel Terray with a lady – his client. He gazed at us with disapproval, recognising us immediately as English. He announced rather imperiously: ‘Please do not interfere with me on this climb.’ We stood back respectfully, watched with rapt attention as the great man thwacked at the ice and followed on only after they had got some distance ahead. It was a dangerous place to hang around; the large accumulations of winter snow were being sloughed 22 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
Cheerful after a good route on Dinas Mot, Llanberis Pass in June 2013. Photo: Neil Foster.
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L-R: Mick Burke, Mike Kosterlitz and Martin Boysen on the Dru rognon. Photo: Nick Estcourt
off in the morning sun. We had just reached the safety of a rock rib when an avalanche thundered down, narrowly missing our last man Mick who disappeared briefly in a cloud of pulverised ice before emerging covered in white frosting. ‘Nearly got me that time,’ he shouted shaking his fist in the direction of heaven. Crossing another hazardous couloir, Mick was again nearly wiped out and once more he tempted fate by admonishing the almighty. ‘For Christ’s sake, leave off Mick, his aim is getting better all the time,’ Clive said. Above us was a rock tower, which constituted the route’s main difficulty. Terray was dragging himself up a steep wall at its base. I was sure he was off route and after adopting a suitably humble tone dared to point this out to him. He responded rather forcibly that he knew where he was going; he was a Guide and had done the route before, whereupon he set to with renewed vigour, hauled himself up on his arms, teetered a little and then scuttled back down. He was obviously a stubborn man but I saw a little doubt showing on his client’s face. I was not prepared to wait so after signaling Clive we climbed easily up broken rocks to a dark chimney I recognised from my previous attempt. The others followed and then Terray began to rope
‘NEARLY GOT ME THAT TIME,’ HE SHOUTED SHAKING HIS FIST IN THE DIRECTION OF HEAVEN. CROSSING ANOTHER HAZARDOUS COULOIR, MICK WAS AGAIN NEARLY WIPED OUT AND ONCE MORE HE TEMPTED FATE BY ADMONISHING THE ALMIGHTY. ‘FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, LEAVE OFF MICK, HIS AIM IS GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME’.
down to join us. We were determined to acquit ourselves well and www.mountainpromag.com
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HANGING ON
not cause any hold-ups and consequently charged up the chimney.
seen lightly-clad British climbers in the Dolomites, myself included,
An additional reason for speed was also making itself obvious. Angry
dressed in jeans and PAs. One thing was certain; unencumbered
grey clouds were boiling up for a storm. We were just about to leave
with heavy boots and great racks of pitons we could climb fast
the chimney when Terray shouted up and requested our help to haul
and enjoyably unlike many of the heavily equipped Germans we
up his sack. We were happy to oblige but shortly after our ice-axes
overtook. We were the start of a new generation reacting against
started to hum with electricity and we realised the danger we were
the over-mechanisation of climbing. We had no time for pointless
all in. We left several karabiners and all our etriers to help Terray’s
bolting exploits and the devaluation of fine free climbing routes by
escape and as we reached the summit, lightning struck nearby. It was
over-pegging.
a horrifying experience; a loud hiss, a simultaneous flash followed
The Bonatti Pillar on the West Face of the Dru was our next
by a rock-shaking crash. We hurled an abseil rope down, descended
objective, a challenge I had long desired. Early in my climbing life I
helter-skelter and raced for our lives along a snow-ridge, with the rope
had read accounts of the amazing solo first ascent by Walter Bonatti.
left behind, until we were out of danger, sliding down snow slopes to
I had studied photos and struggled through articles in La Montagne
the Requin Hut.
and at last I had seen it for myself; a tawny, radiant sweep of rock lit
Having collected our sleeping bags, we left a message for Lionel
by the evening sun. I had often longed to be on it, sat high on a ledge
Terray and set off in teeming rain down the grey polished ice of the
in the evening, observing the Chamonix valley as it darkened. Now
Mer de Glace. We slithered helplessly, lost our way briefly and arrived
my dreams would become reality. I was ready for it and felt an inner
below Montenvers in pitch darkness, very tired, very wet and utterly
calm that transcended my outward show of nervous excitement.
fed up. To compound the misery we missed the ladders leading off the glacier so for an hour searched and felt our way like blind men through the crevasses and boulders. I had just about given up but Clive persisted and at last a clang of metal announced his discovery. We plodded up them mechanically and then trudged down the rack railway to Chamonix, reaching the Biolet in the early hours of the morning. After two hard and exciting days in the mountains it was bliss to rest for a while without a gnawing conscience as we lay in the sun contentedly looking up at the snowy summits. We could rationalise our idleness as ‘waiting for conditions to improve’. A message arrived a day later from Lionel Terray, telling us to collect our equipment from the Guides’ Office. With it was a note expressing thanks for the help we had given – especially our abseil rope and etriers. Later we met by chance in Chamonix and he explained: ‘At first when I saw you I thought you were a typical English party – slow, always getting lost and poorly equipped. Later I could see you were good climbers.’ He also explained his own bad form; he had only recently recovered from an avalanche, which had killed his client and badly injured him. He also pronounced our storm to be the worst he had ever experienced. He was lucky to survive. It was clearly some storm. I must admit to feeling some pride in such distinguished praise, even if the compliment was slightly backhanded. There was certainly some substance in his poor opinion of British alpinists. They had long been a byword for incompetence, particularly when it came to snow and ice climbing. So used were the French to seeing bivouacking English on the Requin that it acquired the local nickname ‘Dortoir des Anglais’. British climbers also looked scruffy – an unpardonable
‘Hanging on: A life inside British climbing’s golden age’ by
offence to the French. With the notable exception of Joe Brown
Martin Boysen is available from Vertebrate Publishing: http://bit.
and Don Whillans, very few British climbers had done much. Most
ly/1Ihsv4E.
Europeans knew nothing of British climbing, in fact, they were
There’s a 25% discount offered to readers of Mountain
surprised to learn there was any. We were part of a new generation
Pro, valid until the end of August 2015. The code is
despairingly called the ‘blue jeans’ by Toni Hiebeler, then editor of
MOUNTAINPRO2015, and should be entered at checkout.
the influential German magazine Alpinismus. Maybe Hiebeler had 24 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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GET CARTER
Skinning Gwen’s Routes HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF CLIMBING BAREFOOT? HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IT MIGHT FEEL LIKE TO ‘SKIN’ RATHER THAN SMEAR? CLAIRE CARTER FINDS OUT.
L
ast time, I introduced - to those of you so far uninitiated - Gwen Moffat, the first female mountain guide, who
gym shoes slung at our waists.” Dump the clobber, chuck the rubber, just float on up with
climbed without boots. She must have appeared quite
your hemp held high. Jen and I decided if we were going to try
unexpectedly on the 50’s climbing scene. A gamine-girl-
and film anything like Gwen’s POV and get under the skin of her
gremlin, slinking up the crags while the hobnailed establishment
experiences, we needed to climb barefoot. She was completely
wedged and heaved. Thanks to an already entranced BMC, the
bemused by our approach to rock climbing.
filmmaker Jen Randall and I were sent off to meet the real Gwen in January, with a view to making a film inspired by her life. During our interviews at her home in Penrith, we realised we’d forgotten what
“Why people use chalk I can’t understand! Your feet are hot and sweaty so they stick like limpets!” We tried and failed to explain the friction dictum. She was having
got us into rock climbing in the first place; it was never sending
none of it; we were quite silly putting all that expensive gumpf
hard, but being out in them hills. Footloose and fancy free, like
between us and the rock. We’d best get rid and get naked.
Gwen. An original dirtbag, she used the old school approach to getting your gear lightweight: “I climbed barefoot. I only wore shoes in town and when hitchhiking anyway, we travelled light, carrying only the rope and 26 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
And so we found ourselves a few months later, sans climbing shoes, under Tennis Shoe on Idwal Slabs in North Wales. This was one of Gwen’s favourite routes. She climbed it so well and so frequently, the BBC included her performance in the very first ever www.mountainpromag.com
climbing film, broadcast in 1956, which describes this leisure activity as ‘impenetrably baffling’, and ‘its attraction is best explained as exertion to be recollected in conviviality’ - what we might now describe as ‘Type Two Fun’. Gwen was made to wear nails for filming, lest her toes shock the public, but still you see her trending gently and gracefully up the final hanging slab, rope trailing into space behind her. Tennis Shoe is Hard Severe. Jen and I are no rock heroines, but this should be easily within our capabilities. We reckoned we would do TS first and then move swiftly on to enchain the crag with one of Gwen’s other barefoot favourites, a VS that she had recommended enthusiastically: “There’s even move on Javelin Buttress, where you put one toe in one hold and the other toes in the other!” Oh fab...
THE MANTEL SHELF SHE HAD DESCRIBED ROLLED ME UP, OVER AND AWAY. THE CWM IDWAL, JEN, THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SEA STOOD FAR BELOW MY FEET. SPACE AND MORE SPACE. THE FLOW OF A ROUTE PASSED ON LIKE A TREASURE RATHER THAN A PRIZE GRAPPLED FOR.
Slightly under pressure, both following literally in my heroine’s footsteps and on camera, I convinced myself slowly on the walk-in that the Slab in Idwal Slabs is probably down to perspective, mine
I imagined her turning and smiling at a collection of walkers by
becoming vertiginous. So we started out rubber shod, but my first
the Luncheon stone. The small sepia crowd waved back at me
pitch went off fine; it really is beautiful climbing on Idwal, and by
joyously. Back to the slab at hand, I lost another point with a
the time Jen brought me up on to the second belay, I’d dumped
placement out left that Gwen certainly wouldn’t have worried with
the shoes. Inspired by my limpet abilities on top rope, Jen went
a pebble, but with a little decorum managed to teeter my way to
for it on the sharp end. ‘Great’. I thought, ‘Lovely, you star’, as she
final belay.
enjoyed a slabby pitch laced with generous crenelated edges. I’m
The camerawoman grinned at me. “Okay, that was really great,
sure she hadn’t done it on purpose, but she’d upped the Gwen
really Gwen-like (they’d been well-briefed), but seriously, my
Game. ‘#What Would Gwen Do?’ was invented to ensure we acted
battery died. Could you do that bit again?”
with the upmost authenticity. Points for Gwen-type activities –
Eventually, Jen was relieved from her perch and followed, kindly
cold, naked swimming, cheese-only meals, bare feet. Minus points
remarking on how invigorating the lead must have been, rather
for chalk, down jackets, and definitely rubber. So far I’d decided
than the sweat trails she had to follow. We did some TV sport-star
I was winning easily with one less oatcake that day and a decent
style celebrating - no Gwen wouldn’t, but she’s cool headed and
cold water plunge in the wind. Cocky. The final pitch was mine, a
we are not - regrouped and moved on to Javelin Buttress. Gwen
polished corner rocking on to a hanging slab. I quaked without my
had remembered this move by move in our interview, and had
boots.
explained the consequences of a fall from the crux with forensic
I tiptoed across the grassy ledge - soothing on the soles - and edged into the bottom of the corner. It was several feet taller than me. Latching the top and campus cheating wasn’t an
detail. It sounded reachy and run out. We didn’t talk about it; the rubbers stayed firmly on for protection. This time the route read like a childhood book, lilting, each
option. I stared at the glassy left-hand side and then the right.
move half-predicted before Gwen suggested it in my ear. The
I placed a nut. Minus one point. Jen giggled, or was it was my
mantel shelf she had described rolled me up, over and away. The
feet squeaking against the hot rhyolite? I tried to focus on the
Cwm Idwal, Jen, the mountains and the sea stood far below my
game, live in the moment and palm and foot myself into a Gwen
feet. Space and more space. The flow of a route passed on like a
warrior position. I slid down. I live near the Grit: I like smearing;
treasure rather than a prize grappled for.
I should like this. Instead, terror. Worse than that: TERROR to be
Back home we emailed her with reports of what we had been
recorded in perpetuity for BMCTV. Gwen avoided watching her
up to, and I sent a proud picture of me skinning the last pitch of
own footage of this route as she felt she climbed too fast, wary of
TS. She prodded:
the cost of film. Unfortunately I could enjoy ions of digital time,
“No picture of Javelin Buttress? Actually bare feet must have
and I milked it, staring into the corner silently for twenty minutes
been more of an advantage on the second pitch surely: after
like the chastised child I felt. Jen shouted back seat climbing
you’ve stepped over the edge onto the slabs proper. But JB is
encouragement. “It looks lovely”, and “Get those toes in”.
made for bare feet. That is where there’s an incipient rib below
Very, very gingerly I bridged up, my feet smearing the wall with
the mantel shelf where you can hook your big toe on one side.
snail trails. I suckered them as close to my hands as possible and
With practice you’ll find big toes are useful. On Belle Vue Bastion
tipped my body hopefully away from the abyss. I don’t exaggerate
I seem to remember a hole on the hard move which is just the
- if you’re used to 20 foot crags, then Gwen’s routes are mighty
dimensions of a big toe.”
affairs. I had one of those galling, weightless moments, and this time, Gwen-like, I rocked into a gamine crouch on the top block. www.mountainpromag.com
With practice. That’s right; a realisation is not won with one route alone. Fair enough Gwen. The game is not over yet. JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 27
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28 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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11.
The remains of the Bas Glacier d’Arolla
In the Footsteps
of Forbes MOUNTAIN HISTORIAN ALEX RODDIE RETRACES THE STEPS OF A PIONEERING BRITISH EXPLORER TO DISCOVER FIRSTHAND HOW THE ALPS HAVE CHANGED SINCE 1842.
P
rofessor James Forbes is probably the most significant mountain explorer you’ve never heard of. Most people with an interest in the history of Alpine mountaineering will be familiar with the names of climbers like Whymper,
Carrel and Tyndall. The 1850s and 60s saw an explosion of interest in climbing for the sake of climbing, and most of the 4000m peaks of the Alps saw their first ascents in that period. However, none of those ascents would have been possible without the work of the true explorers in previous decades: scientists, map-makers and local guides who ventured deep into the Alps in a time of ignorance and superstition. While climbers focused on Mont Blanc to the exclusion of most other peaks, something arguably far more interesting was happening elsewhere. James Forbes, a native of Edinburgh, was a geologist and glaciologist active in the 1830s–50s. He refused to accept the common theories relating to glaciers at that time, most of which were still struggling to reconcile modern ideas with the Biblical deluge tradition. The theory of an ice age was still new and controversial. Forbes was one of the first to apply rational scientific techniques to the Alps, not only to make better maps, but also to understand the physical properties of the glaciers themselves. His greatest work was conducted in 1842. After surveying the Mer de Glace above Chamonix, he conducted a lengthy journey on foot through the Pennine Alps (see map overleaf), including the circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, the inspection of several glaciers, and the crossing of many passes. It was an impressive achievement, long before modern outdoor clothing and equipment. The ice axe
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FEATURE
hadn’t even been invented — if you wanted to climb steep ice or hard snow, you had to cut steps with the same hatchet you might have used to collect firewood further down the mountain. Ropes were so heavy and unreliable that many guides didn’t use them. And if it rained, you would most certainly get wet. Forbes quite literally redrew the map of the Alps during his journey. Without his detailed observations and corrected charts, the life of a Victorian summit bagger would have been a lot more difficult! For the modern historian, this body of work is a precious resource, because Forbes details the Alpine glaciers at a time when their conditions were very different to how we find them today.
THE CROSSING OF THE COL COLLON Forbes wrote up his adventures in a book with the snappy title of Travels Through the Alps of Savoy and Other Parts of the Pennine Chain, which he published in 1843. The book is a gem of 19th century mountain literature, combining the storytelling skill of Whymper with the analytical thoroughness of Tyndall — but written long before either of those men set foot on an Alpine peak. To my mind, the most captivating section of this book concerns the crossing of the Col Collon, which is a glaciated pass between
Forbes’s 1842 map of the Alps, showing the route of his foot journey.
Valpelline in Italy and Val d’Herens in Switzerland. In July 2014, I set out to walk that section of his journey myself. My aim was to traverse the Col Collon and record the changes to have taken place there since 1842.
GLACIAL RETREAT IN THE COMBA D’OREN A day and a half after leaving Aosta on foot, I found myself in the silent bowl of the Comba d’Oren. This is the valley Forbes and his companions used to access the Col Collon from Valpelline, and it remains a delightfully quiet and secluded little cirque, occupied only by a few ruined livestock shelters. I followed the path through stands of larch and Arolla pine, admiring the marmots that scurried to and fro between their burrows or sunned themselves on flat stones. After an hour of walking, I sat down for a rest and dug out my copy of Travels Through the Alps to remind myself what Forbes had to say about the location: It was an hour’s walk to the commencement of the glacier, which fills the top of the valley, and which descends directly from the great chain. Having gained an eminence on the south-east side of the valley which commanded the glacier, I saw that the ascent of it must be in some places very steep, though, I should think, not wholly impracticable. Several 3000m peaks dominate the head of this cirque: La Singla (3714m), Pointes d’Oren (3525m), and the spiky pyramid of L’Eveque (3716m). I could see plenty of snow up there in the clouds, but where was this glacier that “fills the top of the valley”? I searched for evidence. Glacial debris filled the flat bottom of the Comba d’Oren, and numerous moraine ridges could be 30 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
At the Col Collon
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seen coming down from the snowfields closer to the ridgeline. My map showed two tiny glaciers on the west side of the valley (Glacier d’Oren Sud and Glacier d’Oren Nord), but nothing at the head of the cirque where Forbes said a glacier should be. As I hiked uphill, I saw the basin where the glacier had once resided. In the present day it’s no more than a corpse of a glacier: a great collapsed heap of old moraine, dashed with snow patches and streaming with meltwater torrents. Forbes drew a sketch map of the Col Collon pass (see below), which quite clearly shows the glacier extending SW from “Col de Collon” to beneath the 2700m contour. All this ice has gone since 1842. As I held Forbes’s map up and surveyed the landscape, comparing it to my modern Swisstopo map, I was astonished by the damage.
THE GLACIER D’AROLLA After an overnight camp on the Col Collon, I spent the next morning
Forbes’s Col Collon sketch map. Blue: observed limits of glaciation in 1842, as surveyed by Forbes. Red: observed limits of glaciation in 2014.
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FEATURE
“Mont Collon and the Glacier of Arolla”, illustration by James Forbes, 1843.
THE ICE AXE HADN’T EVEN BEEN INVENTED — IF YOU WANTED TO CLIMB STEEP ICE OR HARD SNOW, YOU HAD TO CUT STEPS WITH THE SAME HATCHET YOU MIGHT HAVE USED TO COLLECT FIREWOOD FURTHER DOWN THE MOUNTAIN. ROPES WERE SO HEAVY AND UNRELIABLE THAT MANY GUIDES DIDN’T USE THEM. Mont Collon. Today there are two Arolla glaciers, Haut and Bas, and the upper glacier terminates in a wasteland of moraine and stagnant pools at an elevation of around 2700m. As I descended from the col to the village of Arolla, I was surprised by how much ice had disappeared. The nature of the entire valley has changed since 1842. Where Forbes and his friends had romped down easy-angled ice for miles, I had to follow steep and crumbling paths on the endless moraine long after I had left the ice behind. The Bas Glacier d’Arolla is particularly anaemic, and is now little more than a tottering ruin. The difference is especially striking from the bridge over the torrent at 2089m. If you
Mont Collon in the present day. There is no sign of the Haut Glacier d’Arolla, and only a small portion of the upper glacier is visible.
compare Forbes’s illustration with my photograph from a similar viewpoint, you will see that the glacier is not even visible in the present day.
descending the Glacier d’Arolla in poor conditions. Here are Forbes’s observations of this glacier: The glacier on which we now were stood is the Glacier of Arolla,
A CHANGING WORLD We all know that climate change is affecting the world we live in,
that which occupies the head of the western branch of the Valleé
and that the Alpine glaciers are retreating. Until my own journey
d’Erin [Val d’Herens]. It is very long … The lower extremity is very
back in time to find what Forbes had first recorded, I was aware
clean, little fissured, and has from below a most commanding
of that fact only in an abstract sense, and had not considered that
appearance, with the majestic summit of Mont Collon towering up
climate change might have already affected my enjoyment of the
behind.
Alps. Climate change was, for me, some day — it wasn’t yet here
I tried to imagine how Forbes and his companions must have felt, standing on that wild plateau beneath the cliffs of L’Eveque
and now. Following Forbes’s route, and examining the same glaciers he
and wondering if they were the first to see those views. Their
studied 172 years before my visit, brought me up sharp. Since
wonder must have been short-lived, for they soon found the
the ‘Golden Age of Alpinism’, the mountains have changed
skeletons of three people on or near the col, and the guide Biona
dramatically. Few photographs survive from that period, but
was so overcome by dread that he swore he would never cross
artwork and books remain — and, with a little effort, it’s possible
that pass again. Forbes later concluded that, although he was
to travel back in time and see for yourself the enormous changes
probably the first scientific person to cross the Col Collon, it must
that have befallen these beautiful wild places.
have been in frequent use by local people. Once again I was astonished at the extent of glacial retreat. Forbes described the glacier as being long, clean, “little fissured”,
FURTHER READING
and of “a most commanding appearance”. In the present day it can
Travels Through the Alps of Savoy and Other Parts of the Pennine
still, perhaps, be described as little fissured, but none of the other
Chain by James Forbes is available as a paperback facsimile
terms still apply.
edition from the Cambridge University Press, and is an essential
Forbes’s map clearly shows a single Glacier d’Arolla coming
resource for all students of mountaineering history.
down from Col Collon and merging with the ice north and west of 32 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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DOUG SCOTT NEW MOUNTAINEERING LECTURES 2015
JULY The Three Peaks: Everest-K2-Kanchenjunga
Doug Scott CBE, with Paul Braithwaite (on 27-30th July only) ** Norwich, UEA NR4 7TJ Thurs 9th www.cavellnursestrust.org/shop 01527 595999 # Ullapool, Macphail Centre Mon 27th 01854 613336 # Dingwall, Town Hall Tues 28th 01349 861336 / 01463 729171 # Applecross, Village Hall Weds 29th Pay on the door # Kyle of Lochalsh, Village Hall Thurs 30th 01599 543206
SEPTEMBER Everest the Hard Way
40th Anniversary of the First Ascent of the SW Face of Everest. Oxford and London speakers will include: Sir Chris Bonington, Paul Braithwaite, Mike Thompson, Pertemba Sherpa, Charlie Clarke and Doug Scott CBE. Doug Scott will speak alone at all other lecture dates listed. # Oxford, Sheldonian Theatre Weds 23rd www.canepal.org.uk / 01865 778536 # London, Royal Geographical Society Thurs 24th www.canepal.org.uk / 07986 372558 # Milton Keynes, Chrysalis Theatre Sat 26th www.chrysalismk.co.uk / 0844 870 0887 + Buxton, Opera House Sun 27th www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk 0845 127 2190
OCTOBER # Caernarfon, Galeri Thurs 1st www.galericaernarfon.com / 01286 685222 # Cardigan, Theatr Mwldan Fri 2nd www.mwldan.co.uk / 01239 621200 # Wyeside, Builith Wells Sat 3rd www.wyeside.co.uk / 01982 552555 # Penrith, Dalmain House Sun 4th www.canepal.org.uk / 07986 372558 # Aberystwyth Arts Centre Mon 5th www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk 01970 623232 + Malvern, Malvern Theatre Weds 7th www.malvern-theatres.co.uk 01684 892277 + Derby, Guild Hall Thurs 8th www.derbylive.co.uk / 01332 255800
AUGUST
+ Harrogate, Harrogate Theatre Mon 28th www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk / 01423 502116
# Isle of Mull, Mull Theatre Sun 2nd 01688 302673
+ Darlington, Civic Theatre Tues 29th www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk / 01325 486555
+ Keswick, Theatre by the Lake Sun 11th www.theatrebythelake.com 017687 74411
+ Barrow-in-Furness,The Forum Weds 30th www.theforumbarrow.co.uk / 01229 820000
# Leeds, City Varieties Music Hall Tues 13th www.cityvarieties.co.uk / 0113 243 0808
** Profits from ticket sales to Cavell Nurses’ Trust and Community Action Nepal (CAN) # Profits from ticket sales to CAN + Profits from ticket sales to Doug Scott CBE
For further information contact: Community Action Nepal: www.canepal.org.uk Email: info@canepal.com. Registered Charity No. 1067772
PROFILE
Alpine Guide HENDRIK MORKEL TALKS TO TIM BLAKEMORE ABOUT HIS CAREER AS A BMG GUIDE.
T
im was born in the UK in 1971, and started climbing
does need to travel to work, across the Western Alps and beyond.
as a Army Cadet when he was 13 years old in the
What’s his diary like? “Busy!” In May he spent three weeks in
Cheviot Hills. He’s been climbing ever since. After
Alaska’s Kitchatna range attempting an unclimbed peak. June
school, Tim worked as a diesel mechanic, but the call
means skiing Mont Blanc with two clients, and climbing gigs. In
of the outdoors was too strong for him to resist. He began his
July, he heads to Svalbard to sail, ski and climb for three weeks
journey through the UK Awards as an outdoor instructor, ending
from a yacht, and in January 2016 he will be sailing to Antarctica
up as a deputy head of a large local education authority centre.
to explore the mountains there by ski with a group of clients.
“The flexible working hours associated with this industry allowed
Tim comments: “The great part of my work is the variety – I don’t
me to accrue the experience required to be a guide - which was
do anything long enough to get bored. I think guiding would be
fortuitous, as I was soon to be made redundant”. He applied to
the worst job in the world if I had to do the same thing week after
the BMG in 2006, qualified in 2009, and a year later moved to
week.”
Chamonix. Becoming a British Mountain Guide is something that Tim
Asked about his clients, Tim is very positive: “My clients refuse to be pigeonholed. I have clients who I climb long committing
describes as “a bit like a roller-coaster. You’ve got to go with
routes with and others whom for just reaching the refuge is a
it and try and avoid being flung off at the tricky bits”. Tim did
challenge. In fact, working with novices is no less challenging for
hang on for the ride, and says with hindsight that “it has
a guide than with an expert – it’s just different! That’s the great
been one of the most rewarding processes I’ve been involved
enjoyment of guiding – matching the route/ski tour with a client.
in”. He remembers his time as an aspirant with fondness,
You certainly know immediately when you have it wrong!”
working alongside different guides from all backgrounds and nationalities. Tim sees it as an advantage that he had the
THE BMG
British Mountaineering Instructor Award, as it helped him with
Besides guiding clients, Tim is also a director of the British
structuring lessons and teaching progressions. At the same time,
Mountain Guides, and is involved in the training of new guides.
taking his MIC meant challenging some of the preconceptions
He’s happy with the healthy in-take at the moment. There are
he had learnt over the years as an instructor beforehand.
12 aspirants in the scheme, with a possible four qualifying this
CHAMONIX, THE EPICENTRE OF ALPINISM
year. The pre-requisites for the British Mountain Guides are high (just to apply, you need to have climbed a minimum of five
After becoming a BMG, he moved to Chamonix. “It makes total
grande courses or north faces at TD or above). If you do make
sense to live here – not least the weather, because it is reliable
the initial grade, you don’t need to move to France straight away:
and I can work all year round.” If you think that Tim spends all
training takes place in the Lake District, Wales and the Scottish
his time in Chamonix, you’d be wrong; “Because I am near an
Highlands, with some trips to the European Alps.
international airport, I can easily work around the world from
We also chatted a little about kit, and the ethics of his
here.” Tim’s final reason to make Chamonix his home is that
business. Tim’s company, Northern Mountain Sport, supports
many of his friends and colleagues also live and work there:
1% For The Planet. His company currently supports students
“The camaraderie of the British Guides is a major factor in my
in Africa. Tim tells me that clients enjoy hearing about where
continuing enthusiasm for this career, as well as a major factor in
the donations go - it’s their money, after all! Tim has a good
deciding to live in the Chamonix Valley”, Tim admits.
relationship with Arc’teryx, and is happy to use their gear – “It’s
I asked if it was easy to establish the business as a Brit in
well-made and long-lasting, exactly what I need as a Mountain
Chamonix, and Tim was very positive about it. “I have built up
Guide”. Having spent time on the mountain with him, I learnt a lot
a small but loyal client base who enjoy my ethos of exploring
from Tim, and would happily recommend him as a guide.
different areas of the Alps and beyond” he tells me, and this,
Tim Blakemore is a fully-qualified IFMGA & UIAGM Guide,
together with his lust for adventure, has helped him to make
British Mountain Guide and MIC. You can get in touch with him
himself a home in France. But even if Tim is at home here, he
at http://www.northernmountainsport.co.uk.
34 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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MY CLIENTS REFUSE TO BE PIGEONHOLED. I HAVE CLIENTS WHO I CLIMB LONG COMMITTING ROUTES WITH AND OTHERS WHOM FOR JUST REACHING THE REFUGE IS A CHALLENGE. IN FACT, WORKING WITH NOVICES IS NO LESS CHALLENGING FOR A GUIDE THAN WITH AN EXPERT
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JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 35
LAND MANAGEMENT
Notes from the Fairy Hill: Summer DR. LIZ AUTY REPORTS ON THIS SEASON’S WORK MANAGING SCHIEHALLION, IN THE HEART OF HIGHLAND PERTHSHIRE.
had some spectacular displays of lekking from up to 50
S
come into flower and the associated insects are on the wing. Among
black grouse. For Scotland, this is an impressive figure. Only
the first in bloom are purple saxifrage and wood anemones, often
seven years ago, we had just 18 males on the site. Experts
closely followed by mountain pansy and then later grass of Parnassus.
think that good spring weather in recent years has helped greater
The latter is really special. Its name comes from Mount Parnassus,
numbers of grouse chicks to survive.
a limestone mountain in Greece where the cattle were said to love
pring was an exciting time around Schiehallion. In April we
I took some of our members out to see them on a beautiful
I feel privileged to be out here every week as the different plants
eating the plant as much as grass.
April morning. We were also rewarded with the sight of the male
We have some spectacular insects too. Last year’s highlights for me
Hen Harrier. We’re hoping a pair will nest successfully again this
included the emperor moth, the golden ringed dragonfly, and a wood
year. We’ll be happy to see them do well, as this is a species that is
wasp.
threatened by disturbance and persecution. They are a distinctive
I recently got an Android phone, so I’ve been playing with various
bird, and their aerobatic courtship displays have inspired the name
applications to help with species recording and identification. The
‘skydancer’. I’ll let you know how they get on!
BirdTrack app is easy to use in the field – as long as you have a GPS
I love summer at Schiehallion. The influence of the underlying
signal, you don’t need a mobile signal. The app can work out the grid
limestone and the wide mosaic of habitats produce a rich variety of
reference, and you can instantly record the birds and upload the
flowers. One of my favourites is rockrose, which is found wherever
information when you get home.
the limestone outcrops to the surface. Its delicate, bright yellow
The birds quieten down a bit in midsummer, which is the time when
petals are found among carpets of thyme, whose scent is fabulous
we carry out butterfly and insect surveys. I’m looking forward to using
when the sun is warm.
another piece for technology for this – the iRecord Butterflies app,
36 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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I FEEL PRIVILEGED TO BE OUT HERE EVERY WEEK AS THE DIFFERENT PLANTS COME INTO FLOWER AND THE ASSOCIATED INSECTS ARE ON THE WING. AMONG THE FIRST IN BLOOM ARE PURPLE SAXIFRAGE AND WOOD ANEMONES, OFTEN CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY MOUNTAIN PANSY AND THEN LATER GRASS OF PARNASSUS. which allows you to record sightings and also helps with identifying
Volunteers are vital for the Trusts’ work, and people help out
them. Perhaps you could let me know if you’ve been using any other
in different ways. We also work in partnership with a variety of
landscape and nature technology, and how well you rate them?
organisations. One of our corporate supporters is Macs Adventure,
We’re lucky to have a really special butterfly on Schiehallion – the
an ethically-minded travel company that organises self-guided
mountain ringlet. Every summer, two of our dedicated volunteers
walking and cycling holidays. Last year their staff came out and
come and walk transects to record how they’re faring. This butterfly
helped construct our first brash hedge at Schiehallion. We’re
is only found above 350m, and has a very specific habitat where the
pleased they’re coming out again this summer to carry out practical
caterpillars feed on mat grass. The adults have a short flight period
work and to learn more about the area and its wildlife. It’s a great
and only fly in sunny weather, so it can be quite a challenge to
chance to share the work we do and the magic of the place.
survey them. We were thrilled last year to find signs that water voles had returned for the first time in five years. We work closely with our
The Bird Track app is available for free here;
neighbours, the Highland Perthshire Communities Land Trust, which
http://bit.ly/1cxLJEO, and you can look more closely at the
owns the hill to the East of Schiehallion called Dun Coillich. Our
compiled data here: http://bit.ly/1co7q2y.
discovery of the water voles led to further survey work, and we found lots of signs in two areas on Dun Coillich. This year a new national monitoring programme has been
The iRecord Butterflies app is available for free here: http:// bit.ly/1cxLWrC. Liz works as property manager and biodiversity officer for
developed. During the month of May, people all across the country
the John Muir Trust, who manage the mountain and moorland
have been surveying for water voles along burns and watercourses
of Schiehallion, as well as several other wild places for the
near where they live. It’s great to be able to contribute to the
benefit of people, wildlife and nature. They advocate for better
national picture for this species, which has been declining drastically
protection of these and other wild places, and encourage
in numbers over recent years. We’re hoping to capture some images
people to value the natural world around them. You can learn
of the voles using a trail camera, so if we are successful I hope to
more at www.johnmuirtrust.org.
include a photo next time! www.mountainpromag.com
JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 37
GEAR GUIDE
Windshirts for him PÁRAMO FUERA ASCENT JACKET £80
np rom ag.com
A GOOD WINDSHIRT IS ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE BITS OF KIT YOU OWN. TOM HUTTON, AL VINCENT AND LUCY WALLACE TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT’S OUT THERE.
BUY
BEST If your idea of a windshirt is a featherweight, paper-thin jacket you can slip into a pocket i ta or hang off a harness, the Fuera Ascent is not for you. But if you want to keep the www.moun breeze at bay in a comfortable, tough, ultra-breathable garment that you can wear all in day in even the harshest of climates, then it really is. It’s as near to a hardshell as you can get without sacrificing breathability. And in all but really wet weather, it’s just about perfect. But you’re going to need to understand it well - at 400g, it’s not the kind of thing you are going to throw in just in case. It has a great hood, lengthy pit-zips, though I’m not 100% convinced these are needed and don’t like the way they cause the sleeves to sag. The pockets are well-placed and a decent size and a two-way main zip also assists with venting when needed. The fabric is soft, reasonably water repellent and dries quite quickly too. The hood drawcords flap about in the wind a bit, which is a bit annoying; but other than that, and the weight, it’s hard to knock. Probably best-suited to winter or higher up the hill or mountain. ■ www.paramo.co.uk
RAB WINDVEIL PULL-ON £70
VAUDE MEN’S SCOPI WINDSHELL £80
The only smock tested, and the only jacket without a hood (a hooded version is available), so definitely one for those looking for lightweight and compact pack size over oodles of functionality. But if you are happy pulling it on and off, and don’t need a hood – perhaps on a bike or with a helmet – then the combination of the Pertex Super-Microlight Super DWR fabric and the featherlight weight, will make the Windveil an obvious choice. It’s the DWR that makes the fabric – and this is claimed to retain 98% of its function after 100 washes. It has a small, single inside pocket that doubles as a stuff sack, and a single-hand adjustable draw cord at the hem. Cuffs are elastic and work well, pulling up easily if needed; and the collar is a good height and snug. Breathability is excellent, even when working hard - and it dries quickly after a shower too. Works really well with a synthetic insulated jacket that can be whipped out of a pack for stops, or on the tops. ■ www.rab.uk.com
At 145g for a well-featured windshirt, I was excited about trying the Scopi. And in many ways it’s a superb bit of kit, with a useful hood - though this could be improved with a peak and some adjustment - and a good selection of pockets, including one that doubles as a stuff sack with a belt/ harness loop. There’s also space beneath the pocket lining for a map or guidebook. The main zip is good quality and pulls up over the chin for when things get chilly. The hem and cuffs are elastic and work well enough, but I did find it riding up a little at the back – something that may be preventable with a draw cord, but more likely was caused by the smooth, slippery face fabric. And it’s this fabric that lets the Scopi down in my view: it feels a little plasticky and doesn’t breathe particularly well, which was really noticeable in the sleeves. Wind resistance is good though, and that’s obviously a key thing; but water repellence could be better. It doesn’t dry that quickly either. ■ www.vaude.co.uk
38 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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GEAR GUIDE
MONTANE LITE-SPEED JACKET £80 SALOMON WINDSTOPPER ACTIVE JACKET £170 This jacket is all about the fabric really: Gore’s Windstopper Active – a totally windproof, very water-resistant fabric that really does keep the weather out, but as a result doesn’t breathe as freely as some of the others tested. It’s a jacket that can be worn in all but the wettest conditions, and definitely offers more breathability than a hardshell; but the weight is light enough and it packs down small enough that you’d never object to carrying it either. It’s a pretty minimalist offering, with just one small pocket and elasticated cuffs and hem. But the hood’s good, with a small peak and an elastic around the face to make sure it stays put when it gets really blowy. I was disappointed in the main zip, which stops below the chin, so doesn’t keep the face protected at all; and the single chest pocket zip has no pull tab, making it difficult to open – easily rectified maybe, but at £170 I wouldn’t expect to make my own modifications. In action, the water repellency and wind resistance proved just as good as the claims; and it dried in no time too. Comes in a small stuff sack. ■ www.salomon.com
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EDITOR’S CHOICE
in nta www.mou
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This jacket really does have all the features. And the Pertex Quantum fabric feels great against the skin and is superbly breathable. At 145g, it really is incredibly light; it also packs down really small (stuff sack supplied), so can be carried in a pocket or similar if you’re travelling light. I like the draw cord adjuster at the hem – makes it easy to spill or retain heat as required; and the hood is excellent with a wired peak and a simple draw cord adjuster. The pockets can be covered by a pack belt, which is a pain; but they are a decent size; and the main zip extends all the way up over the chin and mouth – useful if the weather gets grim, it also prevents the hood from blowing off when walking into a headwind. Its biggest weakness is the way it handles rain – the Pertex wets out quite easily – and this, plus the fact it doesn’t offer a lot of insulation, means you can get cold quite quickly if you do get wet. So best suited to dryer conditions where that light weight and breathability come into their own. ■ www.montane.co.uk
BERGHAUS MEN’S VAPOURLIGHT DRY TOUCH WINDSHIRT £75 The Vapourlight is another well-featured lightweight windshirt that will do a good job walking, climbing, running or even cycling. The Dry Touch fabric feels soft against the skin and provides great wind resistance, but it is wafer-thin, so has few insulating properties and relies on you putting in a lot of effort to stay warm. That said, I never got too hot in it, so it stayed on my back, not in my pack. If you do carry it, it’s light and packs down small; and the chest pocket acts as a stuff sack and comes with a reversible zip and a belt/harness loop. I liked the hood, which has a small peak and a draw cord adjuster that worked well. Breathability was good throughout the test, though I did find the hood sweaty when up – not a big issue, as I tended only to use it when I was stopped. It repels some water, but nothing like as much as the Rab and Paramo; and like the Montane, once wet it did feel quite cold. It dried quickly though. A serious contender, but beaten by the superior water resistance of the Salomon. ■ www.berghaus.com JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 39
GEAR GUIDE
Windshirts for her Built from Matrix SWS fabric (86% polyester, 14% elastane) that is both stretchy and wind-resistant, this hooded jacket weighs in at a hefty 255g, but is a slightly different beast from the others reviewed here. The fabric feels like a featherweight softshell, durable and suited to rough, tough conditions. It’s very breathable, feeling comfortable both as an outer layer, and it also works in the middle of a clothing system, when insulation or a hardshell are piled on top. The fabric has a slippery soft feel, and is pleasantly cool as a cover-up. Versatile and very good value, it includes zipped hand pockets, thumb loops, and a hood that fits under a helmet. There is a hoodless pull-on available for those that prefer to keep it minimalist. ■ rab.equipment
SALOMON FASTWING HOODIE, £80
MONTANE WOMEN’S FEATHERLITE TRAIL JACKET, £70 Yes! An ultra-lightweight windshirt at an ubercompetitive price. Montane have got windshirts down pat, and this jacket is a fine example of their expertise. Designed for trail running, it’s very simple and streamlined, with a brushed microfibre chin-guard and a draw cord waist…and not a lot else. The fabric is what Montane call Wind Barrier Dynamic - a 100% stretch nylon that moves with the body and is more or less windproof, while maintaining a good level of breathability assisted by under-arm vents. It’s not as tough as some; I noticed some minor abrasion from my rucksack. However at this low weight, a few cosmetic dings are to be expected with use, and Montane’s customer service is generally superb if problems do arise. At less than 100g it weighs virtually nothing, and stuffs easily into the back pocket of a jersey or bumbag. ■ www.montane.co.uk
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RAB LUNAR JACKET, £65
BEST BUY i ta www.moun
Mind-bogglingly lightweight at just 70g, this is an outstanding piece of kit for fast and light capers. The 100% nylon ripstop fabric completely cuts out wind, and is much more breathable than a hardshell, although it can feel a touch clammy. It packs away into a tiny stash pocket the size of an apple, although there is no tab for clipping to a harness. The low profile hood works under a helmet, and if you prefer your windshirts hood-free, there is also a version without. There are underarm vents, and a poppered tab will prevent it from flapping about if the front zip is opened for additional venting. The fit is snug, and there is not much give in the material, so consider sizing up if you are broad around the shoulders. Designed for running, it works well on the bike, and at this low weight, I’m happy to throw it into a rucksack for even the most lightweight backpacking. ■ www.salomon.com 40 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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GEAR GUIDE
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EDITOR’S CHOICE
ARC’TERYX WOMEN’S SQUAMISH HOODY, £120
The materials, attention to detail and careful finishing make this windshirt a superb compromise between weight, comfort and durability. The ripstop nylon provides a decent block against all but the cruelest of winds, and is very breathable. It also has an air permeable PU coating, which Arc’Teryx say adds to the wind resistance, and undoubtedly contributes to rain shedding properties. There is a subtle stretch, and the fabric stands up well to abrasion and snags. This jacket bristles with features, including a draw cord hem and a chest pocket that doubles as a stash pouch with a built-in loop for clipping to a harness. Cuffs are tabbed neatly out of the way with hook and loop adjusters. The large adjustable hood will not be to everyone’s taste, but I think it works really well here in a windshirt designed for mountaineering use. I definitely appreciate the added protection it brings on exposed and breezy routes when a full shell feels like overkill. Weight 140g. ■ arcteryx.com in nta www.mou
BLACK DIAMOND ALPINE START HOODY, £130 Aimed primarily at climbers, the hood will go over or under a helmet, and the lightweight Schoeller 93%/nylon7% mix is super-stretchy, resisting snags and scuffs. A NanoSphere treatment makes it very water-resistant - and I have been unlucky enough to test this out quite frequently staying perfectly dry in brief but heavy showers. It’s fairly wind-resistant, although not completely windproof - and this means it is very breathable. It is a tad on the heavy side at 190g, but will compress neatly into the chest pocket. I reckon a bit more weight could be shed at the design stage - the laminated baffle behind the zip is unnecessary, and there is quite a lot of extra fabric around the neck and hood adjustment - but I’m being picky, and most people won’t notice the extra grams. Elastic cuffs push easily up the forearm for climate control and offwidth wrestling, should the opportunity present itself. ■ blackdiamondequipment.com www.mountainpromag.com
ROHAN WOMEN’S WINDSHADOW JACKET, £95 Rohan advertise this jacket on their website as completely windproof - but I found it to be the least wind-resistant of the windshirts I tested. The ripstop nylon is very breathable - and does offer some wind resistance, but I generally want better protection than this offers. It would work well as a cover up for trekking in hot climates. Features include zipped hand warmer pockets, elastic cuffs with thumb loops, and a rollaway hood that tucks into the collar. This gets around the problem of having a flappy hood in the way - but is too bulky for my liking. The sizing is generous, and there is a slight stretch to the fabric. Weight 195g. ■ www.rohan.co.uk
JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 41
GEAR GUIDE
Climbing Gear LUCY WALLACE ROUNDS UP THE LATEST ROCK CLIMBING EQUIPMENT TO HIT THE SHOPS LA SPORTIVA WOMEN’S MIURA VS, £125 Updated for 2015 with a new colour, the women’s Miura VS is more than just a Velcro version of the women’s Miura. This model is stiff and deeply curved, thanks to the P3 midsole, with Laspoflex - a synthetic fibre that provides rigidity, extending the length of the shoe. It differs from the men’s version too - being lower volume, and the outsole is Vibram XS Grip 2, a sticky competition rubber (the men’s uses XS Edge - a firmer compound for edging). It’s a shoe designed to perform on vertical and overhanging rock, with a hooked toe, superb grip, and solid edging abilities. As a granite-loving slab climber, testing a performance shoe like this was always going to test me…however, I sought out steep ground and was delighted with the feeling of security on even the smallest of holds. This shoe stays put. Happily the toe down shape does not seem to compromise edging ability at all. I also found that while they initially felt absurdly aggressive, with wear they relaxed, and I am now able to contemplate wearing them for longer periods and smearing is less of a chore. The toebox is very asymmetric, and I like the sheet of Velcro across the toes that allows the straps to secure in a variety of ways for a good fit. I dropped a size, but could go smaller. I have quite high volume heels and a narrow forefoot, and fill the heel-cup okay, but there is some gaping around the cuff and even room above the toes. They don’t stretch much though, thanks to the synthetic lining, and the slingshot rand ensures that toes stay firmly where placed. After years of comfy trad shoes I am pleasantly surprised by how positive these feel. ■ www.sportiva.com
DMM PIVOT BELAY DEVICE, £30 These days everyone seems to have a belay device with ‘guide mode’ and there isn’t much to choose between many of them, but DMM’s version is a bit different. It’s a versatile device, especially for those who expect to be regularly bringing up seconds on direct belays. Firstly, it does all the things that standard braking/guide devices do - working in traditional indirect mode to belay a leader or a second, and in direct mode - clipped direct to the belay, for rope braking and control - when belaying up two seconds. The advantage here comes from the pivot system, via which the belay device is clipped to the anchor, in direct/guide mode. This allows the load to be much closer to the pivot point when releasing it for lowering. This creates better leverage: easier for lowering a second - for example after a fall under an overhang, or when paying out rope for down climbing. The pivot system doesn’t add much to the overall weight, which is competitive at 72g. The device supports a good range of rope diameters, from 7.3mm-11mm, thanks to the grooved rope channels that are not too aggressive, but gently hug the rope to increase friction. DMM recommend that you pair it with the Rhino HMS - as this has a wide and round top bar that enhances the smooth action provided by the pivot system. Other karabiners with a similar shape, such as the Wild Country Ascent Lite reviewed here, would have a comparable advantage (although the Rhino’s modified horn shape also helps prevent cross loading - which is a bonus). ■ dmmclimbing.com
42 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
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GEAR GUIDE
PETZL LUNA WOMEN’S HARNESS, £75 Petzl have tweaked the popular women’s Luna (and men’s Adjama) harness with a re-shaping of the foam padding and leg loop design for more comfort. They’ve also redesigned the rear gear loops for improved racking, which will please trad climbers. It’s still a comfortable all-rounder, well-suited to rock climbing but appropriate for winter use too. It comes with self-locking buckles at the waist and legs for adjustability, and has two ice screw clip Caritool holders, four gear loops, and a rear haul loop (5kg max). Available in four sizes to fit waists from 65-92cm. Weight 390g (size Small). ■ www.petzl.com
WILD COUNTRY ASCENT LITE HMS SCREWGATE, £12 There’s lots of exciting new gear coming out of Wild Country’s stable at the moment, with a number of developments in lightweight hardware. The Ascent Lite HMS is a real innovation, at only 67g and with a 28kN rating (cross loaded or gate open is 8kN); it is both exceptionally strong and light. Hot forged from a 12mm bar with a wide and round rope end, this works well with an Italian hitch, or if used with a braking belay device in ‘guide mode’. What’s more, there is a generous 21mm gate opening that helps prevent fumbling with knots and gear. It also features Wild Country’s funky new 7075 extruded zinc alloy thimble. ■ www.wildcountry.com
WILD COUNTRY SUPERLITE OFFSET ROCKS, £10 EACH/£55 SET OF 6 A brilliant new addition to any quiver of passive rock pro, the new Superlite Offsets take the curved shape of trad rocks, and cut away at them to create a slim line and asymmetric tapered shape. Placed curve side in, they don’t differ much from rocks (except for rock/metal contact perhaps), but the tapered side has great versatility, slotting in to a range of cracks, and particularly favouring those that don’t have uniform, parallel sides. With so many size options crafted in to each rock, these make an excellent second set to complement an existing rack, or even a brilliant paired down first set, for Alpine climbing or scrambling. They are phenomenally light - but beware, to minimise weight the cables are also slimmed down. Numbers 5-9 are on 7kn wire, while number 10 is on 9kn. I’m generally happy to place 7kn pro in most instances, and I love the weight saving, but I can think of occasions when I’d prefer something beefier. They are currently available in sizes 5-10, with the full set weighing just 162.9g. Wild Country have hinted that additional sizes may appear in the future. ■ www.wildcountry.com www.mountainpromag.com
OCUN MULTIPOINT BELAY SLING, £29.99 Czech brand Ocun have relaunched their climbing gear in the UK via their distributors First Ascent. I was keen to take a look at this clever sounding piece of kit, and I really wanted it to be useful. Like a cordelette, it allows quick and easy anchor equalisation but this version theoretically removes the need for knots, thanks to the O-rings that you thread the 19mm nylon webbing through. It can be used for up to three anchors, as well as a single point sling. Trying it out does raise a few questions for me - for example, what happens if one anchor fails? It seems that although the O-rings generate a lot of friction, slippage occurs, so it would be great to see this piece of gear come with more information about its recommended use. Ocun do suggest on their website that when the need arises the sling can be knotted, which kind of removes the point. It’s also fairly heavy at 170g. ■ www.ocun.com
JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 43
GEAR GUIDE
Alpine Boots DAVID LINTERN CASTS AN EYE OVER A SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED SELECTION OF LIGHTER WEIGHT BOOTS FOR SUMMER GLACIERS AND WINTER MUNROS. ASOLO FRENEY XTGV 640GMS £300
SALOMON X ALP CARBON GTX £250 500GMS These are the lightest boot in this selection, and the most unusual. There’s a flexible waterproof outer ankle, which conceals a smaller, stiffer, inner ‘shoe’. These are super bendy – I’ve got B1 boots stiffer than these – and compatible with ‘cage’ or universal crampons only. The outsole has fairly deep lugs and I found it grippy enough. It’s an incredibly lightweight and a highly-specialised boot designed for speed ascents and easier glacier work, but I’m not convinced about a wider application, even on the easier routes that I’ve undertaken in the Alps. There’s also little or no insulation here, so while I might consider these for shoulder season Scottish scrambling, I wouldn’t feel comfortable in them on multi-day winter mountaineering routes. ■ www.salomon.com
LA SPORTIVA TRANGO ALP EVO GTX £270.00 725G Another excellent boot in this mini round-up, the Trango is halfway between the Asolo and the Aku in terms of stiffness. They are quite flexible, which helps on the walk in, but if you need something for extended periods of front pointing, then a stiffer boot might be a better option. It’s a B2 rated, semi-automatic, crampon compatible boot, and the mix of leather and synthetic strikes a good balance between warmth and weight. The exterior is pretty slim-line, and there’s a nice wraparound rubber rand, which means less chance of snagging on those high, brittle Alpine ridges. If truth be told, I’m a bit of a La Sportiva fanboy, and the sticky vibram outsole with precise ‘climbing zone’ in the toe was up to their usual high standard. I felt both ‘secure’ and ‘in touch’ in these. The fit was more particular however, and I did want for another lace lock on the ankle to completely eliminate heel rise. Despite that, I liked these, a lot – they allow a more natural walking gait, with less of the John Wayne stagger associated with big boots and crampons. If the fit works for you, and you aren’t ice climbing, these will prove a comfortable and lightweight option for Alpine summer and Scottish winter. ■ www.sportiva.com/ 44 Mountain Pro | JULY 2015
AKU TERREALTE GTX SRP £240 810G It seems a bit of a conceit to include an ‘Editor’s Choice’ when only reviewing four boots, but I am going to include a ‘Best Buy’. The AKU get that badge, not for being merely the cheapest…or the most comfortable (for me that was the Asolo), but for being the most versatile. In a way this is the most trad boot here – they feel mid-weight, not stupidly light or thin, and with stiffness I’d most closely associate with a Manta than any other. For that reason I can see them working across both Scottish winter mountaineering and summer Alpine routes. There’s an efficient lacing system, which pretty much eliminates heel rise, the fit is accurate but still allows for two pairs of socks, a comprehensive rand, and ankle protection in spades - useful for moving quickly and efficiently on sharps while on mixed ground. The outsole is not as sticky as the La Sportiva, but will probably last longer because of it, and the toebox is roomy without losing touch with the rock. The Terrealte is rated B2 and semiautomatic crampon compatible. It may not be revolutionary, but it is both tough and well-balanced. Of these four, if I only bought one ‘winter’ boot, it would be this. ■ www.aku.it/en/
np rom ag.com
I wasn’t sure about the slightly Flash Gordon design of these at first, but this is an excellent boot. It’s cut lean – not much in the way of thermal protection here – but we’re testing summer Alpine boots, and the slim-line exterior means there’s less to snag on more technical terrain. It’s rated as a B2 boot and suitable for semi-automatic crampons. There’s a comfortable amount of flex in the carbon fibre footbed, more than a Scarpa Manta, but still stiff enough to stop your points popping. That footbed, plus a suede upper, means it’s very light: about 720gms for my size 11s. It’s a good idea to go up at least ½ size. The vibram outsole was grippy and the slimmer profile allowed easy toeholds, the Gore-Tex kept my feet dry(ish) and (a rare thing for me), the lacing system was efficient enough to completely prevent heel rise. Not entirely sure these would be warm enough for multi-day Scottish winter expeds, but a good choice for fast and light summer Alpine routes. ■ www.asolo.co.uk
BEST BUY i ta www.moun
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GEAR GUIDE
Cutting Edge LUCY WALLACE AND TOM HUTTON REVIEW THE LATEST OUTDOOR TOYS AND TOOLS. NORDISK OSCAR SLEEPING BAG £190
EAGLE ONE BIFOCAL SPORT READING GLASSES €38.50
I’m basically a dormouse in human shape, so I jumped at the chance to try this new superlight three season bag from Nordisk. The synthetic fill is made from post-consumer waste plastic bottles in the form of ThermoDry Eco, and the entire bag comes in at under 500g. First impressions are very positive. The silk-weight 7-denier nylon feels luxurious. The fill is agreeably compressible, and intelligently distributed, with more on the top where you need it most. I like the 1/3 length central zip, both practical and minimalist. I also appreciate that despite being a lightweight bag they haven’t skimped on things such as pockets for the draw cord tails so they don’t get in your face, and a shaped footbox with extra insulation. The bag has a comfort rating of +10°C and a limit of +5°C, extending to an extreme of -6°C, ideal for summer use in northwest Europe. Did it live up to expectations? As readers will know, we had a cold start to summer, and I do like a nice warm sleep, but I’ve used it on milder nights and the comfort predictions are fair. I’m happy in it around +10°C, although I wouldn’t quite call it a three season bag given how 2015 is shaping up! The bag has a built-in stuff sack and comes with a compression sack and mesh bag. LW ■ www.nordisk.eu
With the development of GPS and phone apps and the like, shortsighted map readers like me have never had it so good. But there are times when you can’t use a gadget to solve your nav issues. Perhaps in faraway places where map coverage isn’t so good? And when training, practicing for, or being assessed for an award or qualification: reading glasses on to look at the map, take them off to look at the lie of the land, repeat ad-nauseum, all with an instructor looking over your shoulder… these glasses are a game changer. There’s nothing technical here really, just bifocal lenses with a selection of reading magnifications at the bottom, and your normal vision at the top. But wearing them means you can leave your glasses on your face, hold the map and compass steady, and basically navigate like someone with 20/20. They take a little getting used to, but once you’ve practiced, it’s possible to walk long legs on technical ground without even thinking about it. You’ll still take them off when there’s no nav needed – the blurry sensation at the bottom of your line of sight is a distraction if it’s not needed. But you’ll be pleased they’re in your pack when they are. Changeable lenses cover bright sunlight and so on, but I was happy with clear when my face was buried in a map. TH ■ blacksun2.com/
VIEWRANGER 6 FREE TO DOWNLOAD (OS MAPS FROM 11P PER 100KM2) New from Viewranger is Version 6 of their outstanding app that turns your smartphone into an outdoor GPS, with Ordnance Survey maps available to download. Viewranger is as much about community and information sharing as it is about locating yourself on the hill, and this latest update has a new and sophisticated interface, with quick and easy access to thousands of preloaded routes from other users. The database is easily searchable, and the app has an intelligent memory that will flag up routes it thinks are of interest based on previous history and location. It’s easy to follow favourite route authors and publish your own with photos and descriptions. What has always been a great value navigation tool is now also a social network and online walking guide. As you would expect, it still includes all the fantastic features of the previous version, including routes, tracks, points of interest, Buddybeacon tracking and go-to navigation modes. LW ■ my.viewranger.com/ www.mountainpromag.com
JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 45
TRIED AND TESTED
Tried & Tested GREG BOSWELL IS ONE OF SCOTLAND’S MOST EXPERIENCED YOUNGER CLIMBERS. CHANTELLE KELLY CAUGHT UP WITH HIM TO FIND OUT WHAT’S IN HIS KIT BAG. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF? I’m 24 years old and I’ve been climbing for the last 11 years. I’m based in North Fife in Scotland, and try to climb full-time when I’m not totally skint and need to restock the bank balance. ARE YOU SPONSORED? Yes, I am supported by a number of outdoor brands: Scarpa, Grivel, Lorpen, Terra Nova and Suunto Deuter. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PIECE OF CLIMBING EQUIPMENT? My Grivel Tech Machine ice axes and my Scarpa Rebel Ultra boots. IS THERE A PARTICULAR BRAND YOU WOULD RECOMMEND? For me it would have to be Scarpa; even if they didn’t sponsor me and before I was supported by them - I would use Scarpa climbing boots. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST CLIMBING ACHIEVEMENT? Last winter I had a very successful season, where I www.mountainpromag.com
climbed multiple high-end routes and managed to climb a long-term project coming in at one of the hardest grades in the country. It was a cool route, and will stay in my mind for a long time! DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR CHOOSING A QUALITY HARNESS? Make sure it is comfy and fits well. If you are using it for all mountain or winter use, then you might want to make sure it has adjustable leg loops so it will fit over extra layers of clothing. You might also want to hang from it in the shop to see if it is still comfy when under load. Don’t scrimp on comfort! WHAT CHALK BAG DO YOU USE? Deuter chalk bag II. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING CLIMBING SHOES? I look for a responsive and technical fit that doesn’t have any excess space. Depending on my intended use (trad, bouldering, sport etc), I might look for stiffer midsole or softer for steeper technical ground etc.
Follow Greg Boswell’s projects on his website: www.gregboswell.co.uk. JULY 2015 | Mountain Pro 47
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