Reviews
THE ASCENT OF DHAULAGIRI: by Max Eiselin, translated by E. Noel Bowman. Oxford University Press. 159 pp. 25/-.
This is the story of the climbing of the 26,795 ft. Dhaulagiri, the last accessible 8,000 metre mountain unclimbed. The other is Gosan-theim in forbidden Tibet and out of reach for Western climbers. The mountain had defeated seven previous expeditions and taken a toll of three lives. As a snap of the fingers in the face of superstition this, the thirteenth eight-thousander to succumb, was climbed on Friday the thirteenth of May, 1960. A second party was put on the summit ten days later.
The joint Swiss/Austrian/Polish expedition was led by Max Eiselin, a Swiss sports writer who conceived the idea of using a light aircraft to transport men and materials high on the mountain, a daring but risky plan with obvious dangers, some of which were realised and nearly brought the whole project to disaster. The first and most obvious objection was that the climbers, being swept suddenly from the hot plains to the cold rarefied heights, would have no chance to acclimatise. The second was that if the aircraft crashed the whole expedition would be hamstrung.
The climbers were flown from Pokhara up to a so-called acclimatisation camp on the 17,000 ft. saddle of the Daka-Pol and several of them had to be flown straight down again, whilst others had the greatest difficulty in acclimatising. Eventually the aircraft, inaptly christened “Yeti”, for it was quite out of its element amongst Himalayan snowfields, landed Diemberger, Forrer, Schelbert and four Sherpas on the mountain’s north-east col where a base camp was established at 18,865 ft. Yeti then crash landed at Pokhara, leaving this party isolated and cut off from the rest of the expedition for three weeks. Fortunately they had plenty of supplies but only one emergency bottle of oxygen. Nothing daunted and in fact put on their mettle, Diemberger and his companions set to work and established three more camps, the highest at 24,500 ft. On May 4th an attempt was made on the summit which was only defeated by a change in the weather.
Meanwhile Yeti, having had to wait for a new engine to be flown from Europe, brought up Eiselin, who had been supervising repairs at Pokhara, but this was its last effort, for it crashed finally on takeoff next day. But the human element, doubtless happy to be relieved of this unreliable ally, pressed on, and a bivouac camp was set up only 1,300 ft. from the summit. On May 13 th Diemberger, Forrer, Schelbert, Diener and two Sherpas stood on the summit and ten days later Vaucher and Weber repeated the ascent from Camp 5. Both of these magnificent successes were achieved without oxygen and were mainly the result of Diemberger’s fine mountain-craft and determination.
The book is well produced and splendidly illustrated in black and white and in colour. There is one breath-taking study in blues and white of Dhaulagiri at dawn.
J.G.B.
CLIMBERS’ GUIDE TO THE CAIRNGORMS AREA: (Scottish Mountaineering Club Guide) Volume I. Northern District. 10/6.
Whilst the old S.M.C. guide-books were, and still are, an essential part of a mountaineer’s library, they were never very handy for taking on a holiday and made a considerable addition to the weight and bulk of a climber’s gear.
The new Climbers’ Guides being smaller and more compact are admirable for rucksack or pocket. They are not meant to replace the old guides, but are complementary; for instance, since the last large guide to the Cairngorms was published in 1950, two hundred new rock routes have been discovered and in fact there are now more than 400 major rock courses recorded.
This rather disposes of the accepted notion (in England at any rate) of the Cairngorms as essentially walking country in summer and skiing ground in winter. It also clears away the unsound rock illusion by pointing out that, apart from some of the gullies, the rock on buttresses, walls and ridges is of sound honest granite. Furthermore the rock climber can still find in the Cairngorms some measure of isolation and will not have to queue up to start a climb as in some other rock-climbing areas.
Snow and ice climbing is also covered but the Editor, Malcolm Smith, wisely recognises that snow and ice climbs, unlike rock, cannot be accurately graded owing to changing conditions. Tricounis are recommended in preference to crampons.
Volume I covers the Northern Area, the Cairngorms proper; the Southern Volume will cover Lochnagar, Broad Cairn and Glen Clova. Descriptions and illustrations are adequate without going into petty detail: the guide will surely tempt English climbers to visit the Cairngorms for reasons other than walking or ski-ing.
J.G.B.
THE CLIMBERS’ CLUB JOURNAL, 1961.
Here Bonington writes of the successful ascent of Annapurna II when he and Grant reached the summit. One is apt to think of this mountain as a minor subsidiary of Annapurna whereas, as Bonington points out, it is in fact situated 12 miles from Annapurna and is a fine 26,000 ft. mountain in its own right.
Mortlock was with Wilfred Noyce on the expedition which climbed Trivor and he gives an account of the adventure, an account rather too liberally sprinkled with Christian names, the reader being assumed to be familiar with their owners’ surnames. There are some fascinating “Recollections of Early Climbing in Wales” by H. H. Hughes, in which the author draws upon his memories of Archer Thomson and Haskett Smith.
Accounts are included of the Saltoro Expedition of 1960, of how Stevenson almost climbed Paget in South Georgia with a party of Marines, and of the wanderings of Naish in the Ruwenzoris. There are notes of new climbs in Snowdonia, Cornwall, Ireland—and Greenland.
J.G.B.
THE JOURNAL OF THE FELL AND ROCK CLIMBING CLUB, 1961.
Sir John Hunt leads off with extracts from his diary of the Expedition to the Staunings Alps. The party included not only climbers but scientists, youth leaders and a group of selected boys of 17 to 20 years old, in all it numbered thirty eight. Among the peaks climbed was the highest, Danske Tinde.
G. Oliver writes of his ascent of the West Face of the Petit Dru with Rayson; Paul Ross comes nearer home with some climbing on the Castle Rock of Triermain. McKenzie and Rowe visited the Taurus Mountains of South Anatolia and their account will surely tempt others to this fascinating part of Asia Minor. Dick Cook went to the Pyrenees with the Murrays and Harry Stembridge; apart from the climbing it seems that good food, fishing and photography were also enjoyed.
The Journal records many new rock climbs in the Lake District and the usual high Fell and Rock standard of photography is maintained.
J.G.B.
THE RUCKSACK CLUB JOURNAL, 1961.
An air of reminiscence pervades this issue. P. R. J. Jackson tells of a rock climbing apprenticeship served in Wales and Derbyshire; Frank Kiernan goes back to his initiation into Rucksackism in 1926 and writes entertainingly about the Club and its personalities of those days; Sydney Cross draws from his deep well of Lakeland memories affectionate sketches of heroes of his youth—Basterfield, Kelly, Linnel —all of it delightful stuff to read.
As for the present day, Colledge of the M.A.M. deputises for Denis Davies in recording their ascent of the Red Sentinel route on the Brenva face of Mont Blanc, and J W. Rostron takes us on a fortnight’s varied walking and climbing in Scotland. There is a deeply interesting obituary of that astonishing and seemingly ageless old man of the mountains who was Eustace Thomas, written by A. S. Pigott.
In conclusion one cannot fail to admire the fine drawings by H. Taylor and A. Stainsbury which decorate this Journal so delightfully— a welcome change from the camera.
J.G.B.
THE ALPINE JOURNAL, MAY 1961.
Wolfgang Stein writes of the Austrian Karakoram Expedition of 1960 to climb Distaghil Sar, and Wilfred Noyce records the successful ascent of Trivor. Tilman again set sail in “Mischief”, this time for the lies Croz’et, barren, uninhabited islands some 1,800 miles S.W. of Cape Town, and it is enough to say that the whole account is characteristic Tilman.
There are two full length essays on two great mountaineers: Dangar on Jakob Anderegg, and a reprint of Sir Arnold Lunn’s paper on Geoffrey Winthrop Young, which appeared originally in The Mountain World.
Probably the most interesting, and certainly the most controversial article in this Journal is the account of the alleged ascent of Everest by the North Route on 25th May, 1960 by the Chinese party. This is written by Shin Chan-Chun, whose style provides amusement even if it does not exactly carry conviction. There is a long analysis of the account by the Editor of the Alpine Journal and a penetrating note on the photographs by T. S. Blakeney, who concludes that the Chinese claim, though not impossible, must be considered non-proven on the evidence of the photographs. The party said to have reached the summit reverently placed there a plaster bust of Mao Tze-Tung, the Party Chairman. The finding of this effigy by the next party to arrive on top would provide decisive evidence. Until then we must reserve the right to doubt.
J.G.B.
SCOTTISH MOUNTAINEERING CLUB JOURNAL, 1961.
We can always reckon on finding sound information as well as entertainment in the S.M.C. Journal and this issue is no exception. It is a powerful blast against folly and ignorance on the hills. James R. Marshall takes a wide ranging view at “Modern Scottish Winter Climbing”, and directs his remarks primarily to the young climber who has done some rock work but is apt to be caught napping and be badly shaken by the very different conditions prevailing in winter climbing on the Scottish hills. Another article, “Survival”, by G. J. Ritchie, is packed with sound advice on food, clothing and shelter, all of paramount importance because the Scottish winter is more Arctic than Alpine, an observation too often overlooked.
The practical Scots mind continues to manifest itself in Humble’s article on “Glissades, Vibrams and Ice Axes”. To the Sassenach in holiday mood the glissade is often regarded as a jolly sort of frolic, but your stern Scot frowns on such levity and bids us remember that glissading is an art and should be studied as such; he urges us to reread our Raeburn Bell. Of course Humble is right and the gay glissade has been known to end in disaster.
As a rather welcome relief from this barrage of advice and exhortation there is a well written and illustrated account of climbing the Hjornespids, the second highest, and until this ascent the highest unclimbed, peak in the Staunings. The writer is Slesser who climbed the mountain with McNaught Davis.
For those who think there is nothing new under the British climbing sun there are a dozen pages of new climbs in Scotland, but also a depressingly long list of accidents, too many of them befalling ill-equipped, careless walkers and climbers. In fact there is every justification for the weighty counsel contained in this Journal.
J.G.B.
THE CAIRNGORM CLUB JOURNAL, 1961.
The infrequent publication of the Cairngorm Club Journal (the last one was five years ago) makes its eventual appearance all the more refreshing. Whether this is editorial policy or just the usual Club difficulty of getting members to put pen to paper does not really matter when we see such a lively and well produced Journal as this one.
Margaret Munro gives her impressions of the 1958 McArthur-Solari expedition to the Himalayas. This, like the previous one of 1955, made for the Lahul district of the Punjab to climb mountains at the head of the Thirot Nala. Unfortunately Hamish McArthur was taken ill and died when the party was tackling an unclimbed 20,000 ft. peak and this tragedy put an end to further efforts.
The Cairngorms naturally have pride of place: W. D. Brooker in “The Link” tells of a fine new climb on Lochnagar, and Alex Tewnion in his article “The Snow Bunting in the Cairngorms” reveals what fascination he found observing the habits of this delightful little bird.
In the pages of a Scottish Climbing Club Journal it is not unusual to find some practical advice or exhortation. P. D. Baird contends that many of the deaths from exposure that have occurred in recent years through walkers being caught by bad weather could have been prevented had the victims had some elementary knowledge about making snow shelters; his article, “Shelters”, gives useful information on this subject.
The Notes at the end of the Journal contain an interesting item which might be earmarked for the next Y.R.C. meet in this area: E. F. Johnston details his traverse of the six highest Cairngorm tops, Ben Avon, Beinn a’ Bhuird, Cairngorm, Ben MacDhui, Braeriach and Cairntoul. Johnston’s time was 11 hours 10 minutes.
J.G.B.
THE BRITISH SKI YEARBOOK
No. 41, 1960.
P. N. Garrard, with two companions and Hans Rubi as guide, did the Haute Route in early April 1960, starting from Zermatt. They made one long day’s run from the Schonbuhl Hut to the Cabane des Vignettes, thus cutting out the long walk out of the valley from Arolla. At both the Vignettes and the Cabane des Dix they encountered the Swiss Army in force, but the advantages of their presence, boiling the water and doing all the washing up, far outweighed the nuisance of being surrounded by a large number of bodies. Garrard had the bad luck to sprain his ankle on the Col du Mont Rouge and was removed by helicopter from the Chanrion Hut. The other three gave up at Champex owing to bad weather.
C. M. Stocken describes Easter ski touring from the Britannia Hut. He and his wife climbed the Strahlhorn by the Allalin Glacier and the Adler Pass; on an off day they explored the Hohlaub Glacier, finding it quite untracked. After climbing the AUalinhorn, crampons for the last 200 metres, they had a glorious run down the Fee Glacier to the Egginerjoch.
Lord Glentworth, as usual, found pastures new and unfrequented. Concordia Hut to the Grunhornlucke and a fine run down to the Rotloch at the foot of the Finsteraar Rothorn, watching the mountain panorama flow past at 15 m.p.h. Oberaarjoch, Scheuchzerjoch, 3,000 ft of powder snow to the Tierberggletscher, the Unteraargletscher and the snug remoteness of the Lauteraar Hut. An early morning tramp on crampons up the Vorderer Trift Gletscher, a bit of difficulty at the top, a run of 2,300 ft. down the upper Hiihnertali (no place for chickens) to the Gauligletscher, and final run to the Gauli Hut over wet sugar.
While studying prehistoric finds in the Winter Palace at Leningrad, now part of the Hermitage Museum, Douglas Busk noticed some granite boulders upon which were primitive carvings of skiers. The boulders had been cut from the living rock and brought from their primeval site at Salavruga on the White Sea. Russian experts have dated the carvings between the 2nd and 3rd millenia B.C., surely the oldest depictures of ski-ing so far discovered.
No. 42, 1961.
James Riddell, who in the last five years has visited every ski centre in the Alps, reminds us that the much publicised and over-stylised form of downhill running known as “Wedeln”, was, in the early 1930’s, developed at Miirren by Bill Bracken and Barry Caulfield under the name of “Tail Wagging”. Now it is tending to convert ski-ing into a gigantic outdoor parlour trick. The swift multiplication of ski lifts in recent years has led to a veritable spider’s web of interlinking cables all over the Alps, making most marvellously easy the infinite possibilities for exploration, experiment and understanding of all true natural conditions. And what took place? Endless further expenditure constantly to create and maintain the signposted highroads of “pistes” in order to shepherd each carload of uninspired humanity down from the heights like a lot of ball bearings in a groove —-‘Wedeling’ as best they can.
Sonia Kirwan describes another “Haute Route” from the Wild-strubel to the Diablerets by the Lammernjoch, Plaine Morte, Wild-strubel Hut, Plan des Roses, Kirchli to the Wildhorn Hut. Then the Wildhorn, Glacier de Brotset, Grand Gouilles, Col del’Arpille, crossing the Sanetsch track at 2,100 metres, Lapis de Zanfleuron and the Diablerets Hut, the last day a schuss down the Zanfleuron Glacier.
Sir Arnold Lunn in “Yesterday, Many Years Ago” recalls the leisurely days when he and Fritz Amacher did the great Grindelwald runs without mechanical aids—Scheidegg, Lauberhorn, Schwarzhorn, Wild-gerst and Faulhorn. “Only those (skiers) who desert the overcrowded trails and explore the still undesecrated shrines of untracked snow-fields can hope for a reward comparable to that which was ours in that distant past when ski-ing and mountain ski-ing were synony-mous”. Fritz died before Sir Arnold finished the article and the last part is a charming obituary to him.
Donald Lockhart describes the Haute Route in April 1961, during which the party, leaving the Schonbuhl Hut at 3.30 a.m., reached the Chanrion in 12 hours,, having climbed a total of 1,750 metres, descended 1,980 metres and covered 26½ kilometres. An attempt to include the summit of Mont Blanc in the tour was foiled by the Cabane des Grands Mulets being locked and the warden, who lived in Chamonix, refusing either to hand over the key or to accompany the party, a serious breach of Alpine convention.
H.G.W.
BULLETIN DINFORMATION DE LA FEDERATION SPELEOLOGIQUE DE BELGIQUE.
The issue for November 1960 contains an account by Y. Rouget of the exploration of a cave of volcanic origin, named La Cueva Verde, in the island of Lanzarote, the most northerly of the Eastern Canaries. The cave extends for five miles, finishing in the crater of a volcano; it contains a lake in which were found three examples of a crustacean “Munidopsis polymorpha” peculiar to this cave. No. Ill of this journal, for the year 1961, gives a fascinating account of recent speleological discoveries in Roumania. The Grotte d’Adam, in the Dobrudja, has been found to be one of the richest sources in Europe of animal fossils from the quaternary era, 65 species of mammals were identified. During exploration of the system Ponorici-Cioclovina cu Apa, one of the finest underground valleys in the country, were found ornaments in an alloy resembling bronze, and in amber and glass dating back 3,000 years. Bio-speleogical research in many of the caves has revealed the existence in the tertiary period of fauna related to those of Java and Sumatra. A booklet issued by the F.S.B. and entitled Notes sur la Topographie Souterraine gives a simple and valuable description of how to carry out underground survey work. A copy of this is in the Y.R.C. library.
H.G.W.
CLIMBS ON THE NORTH YORK MOORS: edited by M. F. Wilson (Cleveland Mountaineering Club Guide). Revised and enlarged, 1961.
The first edition of this guide, published in 1956, under the title Climbs in Cleveland, was reviewed in Vol. 8, No. 28, of the Journal (1957). In his original preface Maurice Wilson remarked that “the difficulty lay not … in logging the climbs which were already well established so much as including the newer routes which lay around us asking to be done”. There has been no abatement of the difficulty. In the intervening five years more than 200 new climbs have been added to make a revised edition of the guide a necessity. Crags previously described have been more extensively exploited, and, as could be expected, the standard of many of the new climbs is higher. In addition new climbing grounds have been developed on other outcrops, some of which lie outside Cleveland, notably in Eskdale, Rosedale, Hawnby and around Sutton Bank, although there is a warning that the rock in the last named area is friable and suspect. This extension of area accounts for the change in title of the guide. Members of the Y.R.C. have contributed to the exploration of these delightful sandstone outcrops from the pioneering visits of E. E. Roberts in 1906 and of C. E. and D. Burrow a few years later, to the present time and the connection has been maintained not least by the editor of this guide.
A.B.C.
KINDRED CLUB JOURNALS
The Librarian gratefully acknowledges also the receipt of the 1961 Journals of the following Clubs, and regrets that limitations of space will not allow him to include reviews of them: —
Appalachia; Bulletin de Comite National de Speleologie; Birmingham University Mountaineering Club; Grotte et Gouffres: Mountain Club of South Africa; Manchester University Mountaineering Club; Pinnacle Club; Swiss Alpine Club; Spelunca Bulletin (Paris); Speleolog (Zagreb); South Wales Caving Club; Bristol University Speleo Society; Lancashire Caving and Climbing Club; Midland Association of Mountaineers; Yorkshire Mountaineering Club; Craven Pothole Club.