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UNJUSTIFIABLE RISK?
THE STORY OF BRITISH CLIMBING
UNJUSTIFIABLE RISK?
THE STORY OF BRITISH CLIMBING
Simon Thompson
CICERONE
2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY
For Fiona
‘Kiss the joy as it flies...’
Jim Perrin
© Simon Thompson 2010, 2012
Hardback 2010
ISBN 978 1 85284 627 5
Paperback 2012
ISBN 978 1 85284 679 4
The author has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Front cover: Lenzspitze ridge, Switzerland (John Cleare)
Back cover: Cenotaph Corner, Snowdonia (John Cleare)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 2 BEFORE 1854: IN SEARCH OF THE SUBLIME
CHAPTER 3 1854–65: A CONSCIOUS DIVINITY
CHAPTER 4 1865–1914: GENTLEMEN AND GYMNASTS
North Wales
Scotland
Outcrops
The Greater Ranges
CHAPTER 5 1914–39: ORGANISED COWARDICE
The Lake District
North Wales
Scotland
Outcrops
The Alps
The Greater Ranges
CHAPTER 6 1939–70: HARD MEN IN AN AFFLUENT SOCIETY
North Wales
The Lake District
Scotland
Outcrops
The Alps
The Greater Ranges
CHAPTER 7 AFTER 1970: REINVENTING THE IMPOSSIBLE
Rock climbing
Mountaineering
APPENDIX II GLOSSARY OF CLIMBING TERMS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
From the moment I set out to write the story of British climbing, I have been guided along the way by generations of climbers who have written about their own exploits, as well as the many outstanding biographers and historians who have recorded and interpreted the actions of others. All of the authors listed in the Bibliography have contributed something to this book, but I am particularly indebted to Trevor Braham, Ronald Clark, Alan Hankinson, Peter Hansen, Trevor Jones, Arnold Lunn, Jim Perrin, Ted Pyatt, Robert Macfarlane, Kenneth Mason, Geoff Milburn, Jan Morris, Marjorie Nicolson, Simon Schama, Walt Unsworth, Colin Wells and Ken Wilson.
Apart from Colin Wells’ excellent ‘sampler’, A Brief History of British Mountaineering (2001), produced for the Mountain Heritage Trust, it is many years since anybody has attempted to compress nearly 200 years of British rock climbing and mountaineering history into a single book. Inevitably, I have included many of the classic lines, for the benefit of those who may be exploring the history of climbing for the first time, but I hope that even the most seasoned veteran of mountain literature will discover one or two new variants here.
Throughout the book I have made extensive use of quotations to try to capture the spirit of the times in which the events I have described took place. I am very grateful to the following publishers and authors for their kind permission to reproduce extracts from the works detailed in the Notes: Bâton Wicks; the estate of Peter Boardman; Canongate Books; Chris Bonington; Constable & Robinson; Dennis Gray; Peter Hansen; Hodder & Stoughton; The Mountaineers Books; Orion Publishing; Jim Perrin; Random House Group; The Scottish Mountaineering Trust; the estate of Joe Tasker; Neil Wilson Publishing; and Walt Unsworth. Unsuccessful attempts were made to trace the copyright holders of a number of the older titles quoted at length. I have also included shorter quotes from a number of other authors, detailed in the Notes, whom I gratefully acknowledge here. Climbing journals and magazines have been an invaluable source of reference and quotes, particularly the Climbers’ Club Journal, the Fell and Rock Climbing Club Journal, the Himalayan Journal, the Rucksack Club Journal, the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal, Climber & Rambler, Crags, High, Mountain, On The Edge, Summit and, above all, the Alpine Journal, now in its 147th year, which remains the greatest record of British mountaineering history.
I am very grateful to the Alpine Club, the Abraham Brothers’ Collection, John Beatty, Chris Bonington, John Cleare, Leo Dickinson, the Fell and Rock Climbing Club, Mick Fowler, Jimmy Marshall, Hamish MacInnes, Bernard Newman, Sandra Noel, Ernest Phillips, the Royal Geographical Society, Doug Scott, Gordon Stainforth, the Wayfarers’ Club Archive, Ken Wilson and the Wrangham family for permission to use their photographs.
I would like to thank John Cleare, Steve Dean, Anna Lawford, the late Peter Hodgkiss, Tadeusz Hudowski, Gary Mellor and Gordon Stainforth for their help and advice. I am particularly grateful to Livia Gollancz and Sarah Gracie for reading and commenting on early drafts of the book and to Stephen Goodwin, John Porter and Kev Reynolds for their invaluable