ON THE HILLS
1947. Canadian Rockies. – F. S. Smythe has recorded in Alpine Journal, Nov. 1948, the doings of the party which in 1947 flew into the Lloyd George Range, N.E. British Columbia. “Most entertaining even though the mountains weren’t very difficult, as never before have I been in the midst of 25,000 square miles of completely unexplored unmapped country with no local natives present. Apart from that I had some good climbing in the Rockies, including several first ascents, among them a rock peak near Jasper which turned out to be one of the finest rock climbs in the range. But we were much hampered by weather, the worst for forty years in the Canadian Rockies.”
They also had a long motor tour through the U.S. Coast Range and saw later something of the White Mountains and Montreal’s Laurentians. “But there is nothing in these eastern hills to equal the British, and when hills are forest clad all over they may be beautiful but they are very tame.”
1947. The Alps. – In contrast to Great Britain there was a light winter snowfall. It was followed by an early summer and in July and August long continued drought. Many slopes were stripped of their normal ice or snow covering, certain climbs became abnormally easier, but the danger of stone-falls was much increased. So simple was the Matterhorn, people went up in troops, one S.A.C. section recording it had 100 men on top, but probably meaning the whole crowd or on different days.
H. G. Watts was ski-ing in the New Year at Wengen. In the miraculous weather of the summer, Davidson, C. E. Burrow, Slingsby, Hilton, F. S. Booth, and W. M. Roberts enjoyed a great deal of climbing and tramping. Chubb between Champex and Saas did the Col de Susanfe, Col d’ Herens, Allalinhorn and Alphubeljoch. Trevor Shaw hitch hiked from Paris to Lugano and Zermatt, where he took a guide up the Matterhorn. Reaching Paris penniless he was grudgingly returned to London as a distressed British subject.
Harry and Frank Stembridge, Chadwick and Blair were the really active party. From Zermatt with a guide they climbed Zinal Rothorn, Rimpfischhorn, Dent Blanche, Nadelgrat, and Matterhorn.
Great Britain. – The first three winters of the war were worse and worse till 1942 became the ” worst in living memory,” but the eight weeks of snow-blocked roads in February and March, 1947, went a stage further. Much has been published on the subject, but I have never seen a map of the areas to escape the falls, a map which would be surprising. Ben Nevis carried less snow at Easter than ever before.
Besides the Fort William Meet, Marshall, Cullingworth and Storey were in the Highlands for Easter week at Inverey (Braemar), climbing Beinn a’Bhuird, Ben A’an and others.
Sale and Reed had a very wet week in May, climbing Cruach Ardran from camp near Criaularich, and Bidean nam Bian, etc., on moving to Glencoe. The return from the latter was over Stob Coire nan Lochan and down a steep gully which shows prominently in the Glencoe posters on railway stations.
The weather of the early summer was very disappointing, the glorious hot days we shall so long remember and had missed for so many years beginning on 12th July. During the previous almost Arctic week, Rigg, Marsden, and E. E. Roberts, from camp at Glyn Tawe, made the second descent of the 300 ft. pot hole Pwll Dwfn and went through the very fine new torrent cave Ogof Ffynnon Ddu. In the next glorious week Ellis and Roberts found the Church Stretton Hills, Caer Caradoc, Stiper Stones, etc., very pleasing, while the first two did Dan-yr-Ogof, Pwll Swnd, and Llugad Lwchwr.
Spenceley and others climbed many stiff routes in Lakeland. H. Armstrong and A. L. Middleton spent a grand holiday in Arran.
Nelstrop on 23rd November did the Marsden-Edale walk, reaching Kinder Scout at four (Marsden 9.15 a.m.) and finishing in the dark.
Chadwick and J. A. Holmes dared the journey by rail to Seascale at Xmas, but even the Wasdale Fells could not tempt them to go through the experience again.
1948. The Alps. – There was again very little snow during the winter, but the inevitable swing over came in the summer with an amazing snowfall in June and a continuous succession of cloudy days in the worst British style. In three weeks at Adelboden the brothers Roberts had only two normal Swiss days, and on the last day, about 7th July, snow plugging began at 6,000 ft. Somewhat the same misfortunes befell Davidson, Hilton and R. E. Chadwick. Smythe took a car over and was reduced to touring and photography. Kelsey had better luck. He joined the Alpine Club training course at Kleine Scheidegg and went up five good peaks in a fortnight.
Trevor Shaw had a month’s walking in Norway.
Britain. – Reed, Sale and J. D. Brown had a good Whitweek in Arran and climbed four of the Goatfell group. One grand view extended 180 miles from Ireland to a peak in Morvern.
Rigg and Marsden in July were in the N. Pennines, – Crossfell, Mickle Fell, etc. Rigg reports that digging out caves in S. Wales has fallen on an unlucky spell.
Skye was visited by a party including J. A. Holmes and Burton; many peaks were climbed. Gowing was at Lochailort in August, and A. Humphreys on Raasay.
Spenceley and McKelvie had a week in Borrowdale. Black Crag (Troutdale) (exposed), some of Beetham’s climbs, Giller-combe Buttress (like Tryfan ridges but harder), Frankland’s Tricouni Rib (very hard). McKelvie has done Hiatus on Gimmer and severe routes on Bowfell Buttress. Tophet Wall was done last Easter.
Ellis and Slingsby showed that, by a bus to Kirkland, Cross and Dun Fells are a comfortable expedition from Appleby. Ellis also drew attention to the remarkable black limestone gorge on the Maize Beck.
Gowing at Christmas had the best weekend of 1948 at Langdon Beck in calm and sunshine.
1949. The Alps. – H. L. and F. W. Stembridge took a February holiday ski-ing at Crans-sur-Sierre. New snow lacking, surfaces of difficult packed and crusted snow. With H. P. Spilsbury they struggled to within 1,000 feet of Wildstrubel summit in a ten hour day, collecting a smaller peak on the way back.
Alpine Club Training Course. – We arrived at Scheidegg on a Saturday and went next day to the Guggigletscher to practise step-cutting, and with crampons. On Monday, of three parties mine went along the Lauterbrunnen Valley and up to the Mutthorn Hut, whence we climbed the Tschingelhorn.
On Wednesday the weather was bad, so we crossed the Gamchiliicke instead and returned to Scheidegg. Next we went up by train to the Jungfraujoch hotel in bad weather, hoping it would clear.
Friday dawned brilliantly clear and we were up at six and out ski-ing. At nine we left for the S.W. ridge of the Monch, five hours, our finest expedition. We went down the easier S.E. ridge to the Ober Monchjoch and the hotel. Next morning we were off early, climbed the Jungfrau, were back at nine, and took the next train down to Scheidegg. With a different party I left for the Gleckstein Hut from which we climbed the Wetterhorn on Monday. Bad weather drove us down to Grindlewald on Tuesday but we went on to the Strahlegg hut. We climbed the Strahlegghorn N. ridge on Wednesday, but the weather broke that night and after glacier practice with a new Army technique of crevasse rescue we were driven down to the Scheidegg. Then home.
We were greatly indebted to the A.C. men present for their very good organisation and the trouble they took, an exceptionally large number of expeditions being made during the meet. – W. Kelsey.
Swiss Army Crevasse Rescue Method. – The man least likely to fall in carries a spare rope, a 6 foot loop, and a karabiner 4″ by 2″. The principle is that the karabiner is used as a pulley.
After a fall the main rope is hitched to an axe driven in, and the victim, if he can, makes himself a foot loop. Outside, the six-foot loop is laid out as a figure of 8 and the karabiner snapped across the middle making two loops, then snapped on to the doubled spare rope. The victim puts a leg through each loop when they reach him.
One end of the spare rope is hitched to the axe, or if on dry glacier it is sufficient to tie it to a crampon armed foot ground in perpendicular to the line of pull. Then pull on the free end over a sack or axe to prevent it biting into the edge. The strain on the spare rope is half the man’s weight. Kelsey has hauled out a man easily from twenty feet down.