Category: Classic Journal Articles

Between 1945 and 1950 Peter Harding was one of the leading climbers in the UK, who was also credited with inventing the modern ‘hand-jam’, although it is more likely that he rediscovered it! First ascents include such iconic routes as Promontory Traverse [Black Rocks, 1945], Valkyrie [Roaches, 1946], Suicide Wall [Cratcliffe, 1946], Goliath’s Groove [Stanage, 1947] and Ivy Sepulchre [Dinas Cromlech, 1947]. He joined the Rucksack Club in 1947 remaining a member until his death in 2007. He continued to climb throughout his life although less cutting edge and sometimes further afield. He climbed the Matterhorn on four occasions with his last [a solo of the Hornli Ridge in 1993 aged 69] recounted in the excellent article “Just a Bit Difficult” in the 1993 Journal. Here’s the link to the article. Peter Harding, first ascent of Promontory Traverse [E1/5b], Black Rocks 1945. Photo: © Rucksack Club Peter Harding, first ascent Goliath’s Groove [HVS/5a], Stanage 1947. Photo: © Rucksack Club Peter Harding circa 1945. Photo © Rucksack Club Peter Harding, 1995. Photo: © Gordon Stainforth Peter Harding leading Valkyrie [VS, Roaches] in 1995. Photo: © Gordon Stainforth The Hornli Ridge.  Photo: ET Roberts © Rucksack Club

The second in our monthly visits to the archives.  This time twenty years ago, so from the 2003/4 journal here’s Jim Hall’s account of a club trip to East Greenland.  The other members were apparently relatively inexperienced on expeditions.  They have certainly put that right in the intervening twenty years. Here’s the link to the article – and there’s more in the Members Archive, you have to be logged in to access this at the moment. There was a problem with the photos not displaying on certain devices but this has now been fixed.

We are relaunching the “Dip into the Club Journals” (previously known as “Classic Journal Articles”) in a more systematic way. There will be an article every month with links to the Club Instagram and Facebook pages. The plan is to look back through the archives at 10 year intervals, starting this month with an article from the 2013 Journal and in March one from 2003…and so on. So, for starters we have chosen an article by Will Harris recounting adventures on his first trip to Alaska. Whilst Will had recently completed his university studies he was already an accomplished mountaineer and he describes, in an understated way, the ascent of some significant routes whilst also being brutally honest about what is considered the gold standard for completing these routes! Finally, he provides some useful Beta (even 10 years later) on climbing in Alaska…click here for the article and enjoy!

From 1945 to the opening of Beudy Mawr in 1948 the Club found temporary refuge in a small tin hut (Tyn-y-Shanty) next to Nant y Benglog Chapel in the Ogwen Valley. It can be seen in this picture through the trees on the right. Peter Harding’s article ‘Haute Hut Cuisine’ in the 1995-96 Journal describes the hut, its basic facilities and a culinary disaster in Easter 1948. At that time Harding was pioneering some great climbs in the Peak and North Wales and produced his celebrated guide to Llanberis Pass in 1950. He carried on climbing to a high standard in later life, recording his adventures in some classic articles which I hope to include in a future edition. Another visitor to the Shanty was Ken Davidson whose solo ‘Climber’s Grand Tour’ from the 1947 Journal can be found here. I wonder if anyone took up Ken’s invitation to follow in his footsteps and perhaps even added Longland’s to the itinerary?

After Joe Fisher’s slideshow of his winter traverse of the Cuillin Ridge (still available in the Virtual Meets Gallery) I thought we could look back at some summer expeditions along this magnificent ridge. Basil Goodfellow in the 1925 Journal (click here) after providing a convincing case for tackling the traverse from south to north (Gars-bheinn to Sgurr nan Gillean) then gives timings and tips for his own crossing with Frank Yates in the opposite direction! Goodfellow also mentions the fast traverse by Somervell. This was particularly remarkable: not only did Somervell extend the route from Gillean to Sgurr na h-Uamha but, after the first half where he was accompanied by Rucksacker Graham Wilson, he soloed the rest of the ridge including Naismith’s route on the Bhasteir Tooth. Howard Somervell is better known for his exploits on two Everest expeditions, partnering Norton on the second summit attempt in 1924. On 29 May 1953 when two other guys were topping out on Everest, Ted Courtenay and Vin Desmond were heading from Manchester to Glen Brittle on Ted’s BSA 350. You can read about their epic attempt on the Cuillin Ridge in the first part of this article from RCJ 1954. In view[…]

Five years after the Club’s lease of Cwm Eigiau ended in 1921 a sub-committee was formed to find a replacement “in some local climbing or tramping area but not so difficult of access as was the Cwm Eigiau hut or even so far off as the Langdale Valley”. A search for premises close to the Kinder/Bleaklow area proved fruitless but then Herbert Carr, Hon. Sec. of the Climbers’ Club and former Rucksack Club member, suggested Tal y Braich Uchaf, a small farmhouse near to Helyg, the CC’s new hut in the Ogwen Valley. A lease was signed in February 1927 and we are fortunate to have in the archives Keith Treacher’s unpublished history of Tal y Braich covering the next seventeen years, which can be found here As Keith says, this was a particularly active period in the Club’s life and he highlights the impressive list of first ascents recorded in the hut’s log book. Several of these were the subject of Journal articles and I have selected Lindley Henshaw’s entertaining account in the 1928 Journal of the attempts and final ascent of what became Pigott’s Climb on Clogwyn Du’r Arddu’s East Buttress. This represented a major breakthrough. In his[…]

In an earlier post in this series Andy Tomlinson gave us Tim Wyldbore’s amusing account of Cwm Eigiau’s transformation from a remote shepherd’s cottage to Britain’s first climbing hut, together with Roger Booth’s detailed history of the hut up to the end of the Club’s tenancy in 1921. Mike Dent’s Archivists Report 2020 refers to a visit to Cwm Eigiau hut in 1917 by Walter Haskett-Smith (the ‘Father of British rock-climbing’) and Mr and Mrs Scott-Tucker and the reports by Haskett-Smith and Mrs Scott-Tucker (the ‘Commissariat Officer’) from the 1918 Journal can be accessed here. The accompanying photograph of Cwm Eigiau Cottage was taken in May 2006 shortly after a crack Wednesday Walkers team set off on a three-day tour of the Welsh 3000s. We found the hut (maintained by Rugby Mountaineering Club) little changed, with basic facilities, no electricity, bottled gas instead of the ‘capricious’ Primus stoves for cooking and access on foot only: a proper mountain hut!

In his On the Hill With, Nick Wallis made reference to his ascent of the Walker Spur. Along with fellow Club member Martin Cooper, 2006 proved a very successful alpine season and this article encapsulates all that can be had from an alpine trip, accessed by clicking here.  This is my last Classic Article…George Wilks has kindly agreed to take over this occasional series, giving me time for other duties I’ve taken on! 

In his ‘On the hill with…’ Geoff Bell recalls that his President’s Meet on the Faeroes in 2004 was a gamble that paid off handsomely. Four members decided to sail there and in his article on this Meet in the same Journal he writes: Meanwhile Boece Cardus had clandestinely contacted me, sworn me to secrecy, and said that he fancied the idea of sailing there. A few days before our departure I had an email from him ‘…tight time table…weather is going to be crucial…my commander is beginning to say it is going to be a lot of hard work just for a Rucksack meet tick. Don’t hold your breath.’ This Classic Article recounts this journey and is a fascinating read and shows the breadth of interest and activities undertaken by Club members. The wonderful descriptions of the wildlife encountered could almost convert this confirmed non-sailor, however the thought of big waves and dense fog soon bring me to my senses! Click here for Sailing to the Faeroes with Boece and crew.

Philip Brockbank joined the Club in 1931, after his student days in the infant MUMC. It was said that few could go as fast or as far as Philip, and he was renowned for his innovation and meticulous planning of long walks, particularly in his native Pennines, which included the Marsden-Edale (single and double), The Four Inns, Colne- Rowsley (once solo), Moffat-Peebles, and Tan Hill-Cat & Fiddle. In 1954 he masterminded the first continuous Scottish Four-thousands, which this Classic Article recounts. Many walks were repeated several times, and by 1965 he had been up Kinder 706 times! He was responsible for the 14 issues of the Journal from 1947-60, more than any of our other Editors, and wrote 19 articles for it over a period of nearly 50 years. Frank Williamson joined the Club in 1947 and, like many then, was a member of the YMCA. Apparently, he could often be found in the lounge there on a Friday evening, planning some preposterous walk, many of which were Sunday Peak District marathons made possible by the then rail network. It was as a long-distance walker that he is be best remembered including the first successful traverse of the Scottish 4000’s.[…]