On The Hills
Everest. — Smythe has sailed once more for India to share in the 1936 attack on Everest. Ruttledge has got together a strong party of young and tried mountaineers, and if the expedition strikes any good weather, they will test the difficulties of the final peak. We hope most heartily that they will get up.
The Club has presented a second set of ladders, with rungs strangely shaped in the hope that they will give a better foothold against the ice wall. A superb picture of a caravan starting up our first ladder was on the jacket and among the illustrations of Everest, 1933.
The Alps. — The weather of the season of 1934 was of the most atrocious. Beetham avoided it all by taking a large party to the Atlas and had a successful time.
F. S. Smythe, besides the spring journey from the Silvrettas across Switzerland so delightfully related in his book, had 10 days at Zermatt in the summer with Parry and Macphee (S.M.C.). They did 4 peaks of Monte Rosa, Strahlhorn and Adlerhorn, Rimpfischhorn, and from Col Tournanche over the Tete du Lion traversed the Matterhorn to the Solvay Hut, where they were snowed up for a time. Later he was obliged to fly out to Chamonix, and to undertake the very dangerous and unpleasant task of searching for and finding with Emil Rey below the Col Fresnay the bodies of two young Englishmen.
W. E. Evans and J. Crowe were at Binn in June, and did the Ofenhorn, Helsenhorn and smaller peaks.
Albert Humphreys did Hohtaligrat, Furggrat, Klein Matterhorn and Breithorn.
W. M. Roberts had twelve bad days at Obergurgl in succession, but did the Konigs Kogl, and in the Stubaital, Schaufelspitze and Lisenser Ferner Kogl. E. E. Roberts did Stockkogl at Obergurgl, and in the Stubaital the Schaufelspitze, Zuckerhiitl-Wilder Freiger, and Ruderhofspitze, after which he was heartily glad to see the last of Austria.
Austria may be a very charming country in ordinary seasons, but its bad weather touches depths unsounded in Switzerland, and even Norway.
F. & H. Booth and F. B. Cooper were snowed in at the Lotschenlucke hut for two days. From Saas they did Weiss-miess and Portiengrat, from Kandersteg Blumlisalphorn and Wilde Frau.
In 1935 Smythe, starting on 27th June, had wonderful weather in Austria, working through from Bludenz to Zell am See, and with a candidate for Everest doing 40 odd peaks and as many passes. Later on at Zermatt, to try whether he could stand up to several more Everest possibilities, he went up the Rimpfischhorn from the village in 4| hours leaving 7.30 a.m., and back for tea.
T. R. Burnett and F. H. Slingsby in Austria climbed the Fuscherkarkopf, Gross Glockner, Hochshober, Dreiherrnspitze, and Burnett also the Gross Venediger.
B. Nelstrop in his first season climbed the Untergabelhorn, Zinal Rothorn, and Matterhorn.
P. N. Bartlett in the Zillertal climbed the Zgismondy Spitze, Gross Mosele, Berliner Spitze, Roszruck Spitze, and Turner Kamm, and traversed the Morchnerschneide.
Other Holidays. — In 1934 Nelstrop was camping in the Cairngorms for the first fortnight of September (for three nights at the Shelter Stone), and bagged the bigger peaks.
J. K. Crawford later still was at Glen Brittle, and was on the Skye Ridge nearly every day, Alasdair, Banachdich, Bruach na Frithe, etc. Carn Mor Dearg was ascended on the way home.
In 1935 several parties were in Skye, one of the most glorious expeditions being made above the clouds in brilliant sunshine, from Greadaidh at 4 p.m., over Mhadaidh and Bidean nam Bian to the pass beyond at nine.
G. Platten, Sept. 16-28, 1935, conducted a High Peak caving camp as leader of six members of the Wessex Cave Club. Bedsides descending Nettle Pot with the D.P.C., they explored some twenty other caves, including Oxlow Cavern and Jug Holes.
Mourne Mountains.—After the Marble Arch expedition W. V. Brown and E. E. Roberts spent the rest of Easter week in Down under an increasingly brilliant and hot sun. They climbed Slieve Muck, Slieve Meelmore and Slieve Bearnagh, Slieve Bignian and Slieve Lamagan, and on the Saturday Slieve Donard. Bearnagh and Bignian have caps of fine granite tors, on which there is a lot of good climbing, though short. The dales are astonishingly bare, having no bracken, bushes, nor trees. We did see two oddly isolated little firs on the way back from Lamagan.
Hotel accommodation at Newcastle is practically limited to the enormously expensive L.M.S.R. hotel. I have since had cause to suspect that if we had rung up and offered the management 15s. a day for a few days, the offer would have been accepted. However on the second day, we went through Newcastle to the south of the group, and found the excellent and reasonable Kilmory Arms at Kilkeel.
There is one incredible thing in the Mourne Mountains, the solid wall of granite blocks, three feet wide, built round the waterworks property by the Belfast Corporation. But for the height, 5-6 ft., it would give by far the best going along the ridges. There is no ashlar work about it; the cost must have been terrific, as 15 miles is probably an under-estimate of the length. I am afraid Irish administration is provocative. On each summit is a corner tower with a large iron plate “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted.”