Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to provoke confrontation.' If Hunt was a formidable supporter, Sir Jack Longland
led those against his report's conclusion and, in Gray's words, 'put up a hell of a
fight.' Longland faced a vote of no confidence as chair of the MLTB and the BMC
lost some of its funding from the Sports Council, which threatened it with bank-
ruptcy. 'Shortly after this the Alpine Club came up with the offer of arbitration,
which both sides swiftly accepted.'
Alex was quick to grasp not only all the issues, but also the imperative to play
politics and yet remain diplomatic. He was asked to write the case in support of
the BMC for an arbitration panel called the Mountain Training Tribunal. In the
end, the tribunal recommended that the two boards - the one run by the educa-
tionalists and the one by the BMC - combine. The BMC would develop its own
policy for all mountain training, with professionals like wardens of mountain
centres continuing to play a major role.
It was all new and exciting work for Alex. He had the chance to use his skills as a
law graduate to deal with the politics and develop policy, and draw on his credibil-
ity as a climber to cope with rumbling discontent at creeping bureaucracy among
the mass of climbers who in Alex's opinion: 'Rightly couldn't give a toss in the
short term, but it would be bad for the long term if we lost.'
Alex was a fierce fighter when it came to a debate. He believed the role of the
BMC was essential for the survival of climbing in the face of attempts to regulate
'safety' into every activity. He would regularly go home to visit his mother Jean
and update her on his role. Jean was extremely proud that Alex was making an im-
pact and clearly enjoying his work. He also kept in close touch with his younger
sister, Libby, who inherited all of Jean's intelligence and resilience, as well as shar-
ing Alex's determination.
[2]
Alex generally liked challenging and intelligent women and extended the love
and respect he had for his mother to other women he counted as friends, including
Maria Coffey and Rita Hallam at the BMC. He had immense respect for Rita, who
was a powerful force in the running of the BMC. With her organisational skills and
common sense, Rita reminded Alex of his mother; he would delegate work to Rita
to carve out more time to go climbing.
Alex's relationship with Maria Coffey was a completely different matter. As they
got to know each other, they began to share mutual friends in the climbing scene.
On one occasion, when Maria's then boyfriend had gone to work abroad for a
while, Alex decided Maria had been alone long enough and needed to be set up
with someone so he phoned up his friend Choe Brooks and told him to come
round.
