Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
through the classic ice climbs on the Ben but had yet to do a grade V, the hardest
grade back then. Having completed a grade IV route with another Leeds team-
member, he was descending when he spotted some familiar faces beneath one of
the best-known Grade Vs -
The Curtain
. The Burgess twins and Tut Braithwaite
had just done the route, and Tut had then done it again, this time without a rope.
He had just returned to fetch his rucksack when he spotted Alex.
'Hey man, if you think you're an ice-climber, go solo this - it's in perfect nick.'
The Burgesses looked at each other in disbelief at this wind-up from Tut, one of
those rare all-rounders whose skill was matched by his composure on just about
any ground. He was as good as any alpinist in the country. Alex couldn't resist, and
set off on the first pitch. The Burgesses looked on, fearful of what might happen
next as Alex wobbled his way up. Luckily, there were a few buckets for his feet and
placements from earlier ascents for his ice tools, but the route was not in good nick
as Tut had suggested. The ice was shattering. According to Ade, it was a close run
thing. After the story got back to Leeds, we assumed Alex would now calm down
for good.
That winter, my New England-based friend Roger Martin had set up a base in
Fort William, a beat-up caravan that officially slept two, but could accommodate
up to four uncomfortably. Alex moved in for a fortnight, skipped classes and
climbed daily. Two weekends after his precarious ascent of
The Curtain
, Alex so-
loed two of the great test-pieces on Ben Nevis -
Zero Gully
and
Point Five
- dur-
ing the afternoon of 14 March 1975. This feat had only been done three times be-
fore: by 'Big Ian' Nicholson, then Dave Knowles and, a month before Alex, Roger
Martin. In one bold afternoon, Alex proved that his climbing had come of age. He
could be considered among the leading ice-climbers in the country, or at least the
boldest. It was the platform from which he began to perfect his technique and cre-
ated a reputation that he would have to work hard to sustain. It was also the pre-
cursor to many far more serious routes he was planning in the Alps.
1. Doug Scott points out that Alex's ability to argue both sides of a subject was due to his education by Jesuits at Mount Saint Mary's and being re-
quired to make an argument one day and the counter-argument the next. See
Shisha Pangma
, published by Bâton Wicks, page 27.
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2. This practice was normal and meant a saving on fuel. On the whole, our knowledge of good mountain food was nominal. The value of slow-burn
high-energy food was not as well understood in those days. To save weight, we sometimes took freeze-dried food despite its high cost, but more of-
ten it was cheap dehydrated stuff. This was almost inedible and took too much water from the body during digestion, sometimes causing stomach
cramps. When it comes to the most extreme examples of poor food choices, the award must go to Cambridge University. Alan Rouse went through
a period believing dextrose tablets were all that was needed for most alpine routes. Most of us tried this approach until we realised that short
bursts of energy from eating the tablets were followed by enervation. The award for the worst ever mountain meal also goes to Rouse. Having for-
gotten to buy food for a stay in the CIC Hut on Ben Nevis, extra portions of fish and chips were purchased at a Dumbarton chippy and carried up
for the meal the following evening, by which time they were a frozen, congealed mass.
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3. Dave went to Nepal soon after to act as Chris Bonington's base camp manager on the successful south-west face of Everest expedition.
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4. Ice-climbing equipment was changing fast at this stage. When Alex moved in with Gwyneth, John Powell took a university room on campus. Al
Rouse and Mick Geddes arrived one night on their way up to Scotland. After a long evening in the pub, a few of the team went back to Powell's
room where Al took out his new ice tool, a curved Chalet Moser sixty-five-centimetre ice hammer. At the time most people climbed with one
longish axe - seventy centimetres or so - and a short ice hammer, Chouinard's design being preferred. The new idea was simple: two long ice
