break the bank, not your neck

Transcription

FOR THOSE THAT WORK AND PLAY OUTDOORS
WWW.MOUNTAINPROMAG.COM
APRIL 2015
HELI SKIING:
BREAK
THE BANK,
NOT YOUR
NECK
High on Ama Dablam
Messner Mountain Museums
■ STEVE MCCLURE ■ ED DOUGLAS ON BEN MOON ■ SHAFF NEWS ■ TESTED: GPS AND APPROACH SHOES
Rudolf Abraham is an award-winning travel
writer and photographer. He is the author
of eight books and has contributed to many
more, and his work is published widely in
magazines. www.rudolfabraham.co.uk
This is my third Mountain Pro as editor, and it’s
just beginning to feel like home. With the help of
some really excellent contributions, I hope we’ve
started to carve a bit of a niche for ourselves as
a magazine focused on mountain heritage and
hill culture, regardless of activity, qualifications,
region or skill level.
In this issue, Di Gibert has our backs on
the snow and rock, with a frank and hype-free
report from her autumn Himalayan summit
bid. Alf Alderson summons the adrenaline with
some breath-taking photos, in an incredibly
thorough, global overview of heli-skiing – best
start saving now. Rudolf Abraham visits the
Messner Mountain Museums in the Tyrol, housing
a collection that the famous mountaineer sees
as his lasting legacy. I’m very pleased to have
not one, but two new columnists join us: Dr
Liz Auty from the John Muir Trust brings us a
regular land management perspective from
her patch in Highland Perthshire, and Claire
Carter is out roaming the crags on the hunt for
inspiration. Our (now) usual round-up of books
and films from Steep Edge, Vertebrate Publishing
and others bring up the rear guard. Of special
mention is Chantelle Kelly’s brief encounter with
Gavin Francis – never has someone with such
a way with words used them so sparingly in an
interview. Gear-wise, Steve McClure offers some
advice, gear editor Lucy Wallace got hands-on
with GPS units, and we both tried a scary amount
of technical trainers.
See you on the hill,
Da vid
David Lintern, Editor
www.mountainpromag.com
contributors
welcome
Di Gilbert works full time as an
Independent Mountaineering Instructor,
based in the Cairngorm National
Park. She has climbed the world’s
7 summits and completed all 282
Munros. She represented Great Britain
in the International Ski Mountaineering
Federations World Championships and is a Director of Skimo
Scotland.
Alf Alderson is an award winning
freelance adventure travel journalist
who when not travelling divides his
time between the French Alps and the
Pembrokeshire coast. www.alfalderson.
co.uk
Claire Carter is freelance writer based
in Sheffield, near the Grit. She climbs,
runs, and ski tours. Claire is also the Film
Officer for Kendal Mountain Festival,
her objective is to support creativity,
diversity and development in the
adventure film industry.
Lucy Wallace is a Freelance Winter
Mountain Leader, Wildlife Guide and
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Assessor
based in Scotland. She works with
adult and youth groups, coaching
navigation and hill walking skills, as
well as leading schools expeditions
overseas.
Dr Liz Auty is the John Muir
Trust’s Biodiversity officer and
the Property Manager for East
Schiehallion. She has been
visiting mountains to search for
wildflowers since an early age,
and gained her PhD studying
primulas in Upper Teesdale.
APRIL 2015 | Mountain Pro 3
contents
26
News
18
Ama Dablam
6
NEWS
BOOK REVIEWS
MOVING IMAGE
INTERVIEW: GAVIN FRANCIS
GET CARTER: INSPIRATION DRAWN FROM PAST MASTERS
HIGH ON AMA DABLAM
NOTES FROM THE FAIRY MOUNTAIN: SPRING
TOP DROP: SKIING THE WORLD BY HELICOPTER
WORK IN PROGRESS: ED DOUGLAS ON BEN MOON
MESSNER MOUNTAIN MUSEUMS
GEAR REVIEW: APPROACH SHOES, HER
GEAR REVIEW: APPROACH SHOES, HIM
GEAR REVIEW: GPS
SHELTERS AND BIVIS
CUTTING EDGE
TRIED AND TESTED
49
6
9
12
14
16
18
24
26
34
36
40
42
44
46
47
49
Tried & Tested
Gear Review:
Approach
Shoes, her
Cutting Edge
40
47
Gear Review:
GPS
44
meet the team
EDITOR: David Lintern
GEAR EDITOR: Lucy Wallace
e: [email protected]
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Chantelle Kelly
SUB EDITOR: Amy Robinson
e: subeditor @targetpublishing.com
GROUP SALES MANAGER: James Lloyd
t: 01279 810069
SALES EXECUTIVE: Chris Kemp
t: 01279 810083
DESIGN: Leann Boreham
t: 01279 810075
PRODUCTION: Hannah Wade
t: 01279 810076
MARKETING MANAGER: Sarah Kenny
t: 01279 810091
MANAGING DIRECTOR: David Cann
t: 01279 816300
Some material may be speculative and/or not in agreement with current
medical practice. Information in FSN is provided for professional education
and debate and is not intended to be used by non-medically qualified readers
as a substitute for, or basis of, medical treatment. Copyright of articles remains
with individual authors. All rights reserved. No article may be reproduced in
any form, printed or electronically, without wriiten consent of the author and
publisher. Copying for use in education or marketing requires permission of
the author and publisher and is prohibited without that permission. Articles
may not be scanned for use on personal or commercial websites or CD-ROMs.
Published by Target Publishing Limited. Colour reproduction & printing by The
Magazine Printing Company, Enfield, Middx. EN3 7NT www.magprint.co.uk .
©2012 Target Publishing Ltd. Produced on environmentally friendly chlorine
free paper derived from sustained forests. To protect our environment papers
used in this publication are produced by mills that promote sustainably
managed forests and utilise Elementary Chlorine Free process to produce
fully recyclable material lin accordance with an Environmental Management
System conforming with BS EN ISO 14001:2004. The Publishers cannot accept
any responsibility for the advertisements in this publication.
15
YEARS
2000-2015
Published by Target Publishing Ltd, The Old Dairy, Hudsons
Farm, Fieldgate Lane, Ugley Green, Bishops Stortford
CM22 6HJ t: 01279 816300 f: 01279 816496
e: [email protected] www.targetpublishing.com
NEWS
In the News
New vision offers a positive
future for Scotland’s mountains
MSPs and decision - have been
challenged to adopt fresh policies to
protect and respect mountains – and
the public are asked to help too.
Scotland’s decision-makers have
been challenged to support a new
vision for the future of the country’s
mountains and wild land – a major
resource increasingly under threat.
And the public are being asked to
add their weight to the call, by signing
an online petition demanding that
recognised areas of wild land are
protected from large scale
development.
Just weeks after highlighting
shortcomings in the Scottish
Government’s handling of wind farm
applications, where counsel from its
own advisors is too often ignored by
Ministers, the Mountaineering Council
of Scotland (MCofS) has challenged
the Government and all politicians to
take a more positive view of our
mountains.
After wide consultation, The MCofS,
which represents climbers and hill
walkers in Scotland, has published ‘Respecting Scotland’s Mountains:
MCofS Vision for the Future’, which points the way ahead to a
sustainable future, where appropriate development and conservation
can go side by side.
MCofS president Brian Linington said: “We call on politicians to
protect and promote our mountains as the incredible asset that they are,
to open their eyes to the permanent damage being done to this
irreplaceable resource by ill-considered developments.
“With a General Election looming, the moment has come for all the
political parties to be absolutely clear that they are committed to the
protection of our mountains and wild places. They can do this by joining
us in working for a future which respects our natural heritage and makes
the most of it for our country and its
people.”
At the same time as speaking directly
to politicians and decision-makers, the
MCofS has appealed to the public to get
involved by signing a petition at https://
you.38degrees.org.uk/p/wild-land, urging
better protection of Scotland’s remaining
wild land.
The proportion of Scotland from which
built development cannot be seen has
dropped by two fifths in just 11 years, to
27 per cent in 2013. The petition calls for
a ban on further industrial development
on the remaining wild land, as mapped
by Scottish National Heritage last year.
The petition seeks wider public
support for the message in the
Respecting Scotland’s Mountains booklet.
At its heart of Respecting Scotland’s
Mountains is the vision: ‘That Scotland
protects and respects its mountains and
wild places, while encouraging people to
enjoy the mountains in a responsible
manner.’
It is built on five key elements:
■ That our mountains and wild land
should be safeguarded as an irreplaceable natural, cultural and economic
asset.
■ That the mountains provide opportunity to develop and improve
informal recreation, tourism and health and well-being.
■ That Scotland should harness the potential of mountains and wild land
to contribute to a foundation for sustainable futures for fragile rural
communities.
■ That change should be planned and regulated to enhance rather than
diminish our wild lands and mountains.
■ And, finally, that appreciation and enjoyment of the mountains –
including good practice and responsibility – should be promoted from
childhood.
NEWS
SPRING ADVENTURE TALKS
The Road & The
Sky by Emily
Chappell (in
association with
Osprey)
From London cycle courier to
adventurer, Emily Chappell has
discovered a world that exists
outside of Zone 1. She’s
passionate about her bike, and
it is this passion that has taken
her across the world, and most recently to Alaska, to ride across the snow in the middle
of winter. This talk is a must for bike heads, adventurers and anyone who just wants to
be inspired! Tickets £8
Dates:
Tuesday 14th April – Covent Garden 8.00pm
Wednesday 15th April – Bristol 7.30pm
Thursday 16th April - Manchester 7.00pm
Wednesday 22nd April – Cambridge 7.00pm
Big Rock, Bigger Hills
by Calum Muskett (in
association with RAB)
Calum Muskett recounts his journey from the crags
of North Wales to some of the most revered
mountains and big walls in the world. The
progression wasn’t always a smooth one, with daft
and cringe-worthy moments, such as leaving the
car keys five pitches up one of the most difficult
routes in the Dolomites. Now 21, Calum feels like
he is beginning to get the hang of climbing, but
remains unsure if wisdom really does come with
age. Tickets £8
Dates:
Tuesday 24th March - Covent Garden 8pm
Wednesday 25th March – Bristol 7.30pm
Thursday 26th March – Manchester 7.00pm
For more information and to book, visit
www.ellis-brigham.com/events
NEWS
BRITISH MTB CHAMPIONSHIPS
RETURNS TO THE SCOTTISH BORDERS
The 2015 British Mountain Bike Marathon Championships are again to be
staged over a challenging 75km single lap course in the Scottish Borders,
as part of the ever-popular Selkirk Mountain Bike Marathon open cycling
event, on Saturday 2 May 2015.
With a choice of three single-loop and fully-marked courses (approx.
25km, 50km and 75km), all setting off from Selkirk High Street, the
Selkirk MTB Marathon is an epic ride through the best trails the Scottish
Borders has to offer, something for families, novices, intermediates,
enthusiasts and racing snakes alike. All three courses are filled with a mix
of flowy natural and man-made singletrack, twin-track forest roads,
ancient drove roads, lung and thigh busting climbs and grin-inducing
descents - ‘real’ mountain biking. Riders will visit the valleys of the Rivers
Tweed, Yarrow and Ettrick, with stunning views across the Scottish
Borders guaranteed.
The 2015 British MTB Marathon Championships will be run as a
separate ‘wave’ start, shortly before the ‘sportive’ events begin. It will be
raced over the single lap 75km course that also includes some of the
man-made trail centre downhill tracks at Innerleithen Trail Centre. It is
open to male and female riders (19+) who are British citizens and hold a
full British Cycling or UCI recognised racing licence. Coveted red, white
and blue British Championships winner’s jerseys will be up for grabs in
both male and female classes.
Paul McGreal of Durty Events said: “We’re really chuffed to have been
asked to organise the British Championships alongside the Selkirk
Mountain Bike Marathon again. With the best trails the Scottish Borders
has to offer, and the most popular and challenging course in the UK, we
8 Mountain Pro | APRIL 2015
are keen to challenge riders of all abilities, while making sure that they
have the maximum amount of fun at the same time.
“The additional financial support from EventScotland will make an
enormous difference to both the marathon events and our family Bike
Festival in Selkirk on the 1st of May.”
On the evening of Friday 1 May 2015, Durty Events are taking over the
centre of Selkirk, and will turn it over to a free festival of two-wheeled
mayhem for all the family. From 19:00 to 21:00, The Selkirk Bike Festival
will be staged on the High Street, with an action packed programme that
includes bike stunt displays, head to head Rollapalooza-style racing, bike
film screenings, a pump track and a mountain bike obstacle course.
To round off the weekend in style, The Selkirk MTB Marathon and The
British MTB Marathon Championships will be followed up by ‘The Reivers
Raid’, the fourth round of the Scottish MTB Challenge Series (mtb
orienteering) on Sunday 3 May 2015 - http://www.smbo.org.uk/.
The British MTB Marathon Championships and the Selkirk MTB
Marathon will take place on Saturday 1 May 2015. Entry fees (including
camping) are:
British MTB Marathon Championships (age 19+) - £45
Selkirk MTB Marathon - 25km (age 16+) / 50km (age 16+) 75km (age
18+) - £35.
Selkirk MTB Marathon - entry on the day (subject to availability) - £40.
12-15 year olds ride for free over the 25km course, but must be
accompanied by a full price entry adult.
Online entry is http://www.entrycentral.com/festival/328
www.selkirkmtbmarathon.com.
OUTDOOR BOOKS
Book Reviews
CHANTELLE KELLY BRINGS THE OUTDOORS INSIDE, WITH THREE RECENT
PRINT PUBLICATIONS.
HIGH POINT
Published by Vertebrate Publishing
RRP £14.95
In 2008, author Mark Clarke set himself a goal: to visit all of Britain’s 85
counties, and to reach the highest point of each. Most of us ‘get there’ on
motorways or by air, driving or flying through to reach our destination, but as
Mark points out, we don’t give these places proper time or appreciation. High
Point explores his four year project, and gives Mark’s personal account of the
500 miles he covered. Following the order of the Historic Counties map
provided in the book, we can follow each route that he took, with his easy to
read directions. It’s a great book for anyone wanting to get out and explore
more, and provides an insight into the more remote corners of the British Isles.
BEYOND LIMITS
Published by Vertebrate Publishing
RRP £20.00
Beyond Limits is the
autobiography of Steve
McClure, who famously
completed the hardest
route in the UK;
Overshadow, the first
9a+ route in the
country. It’s evident
that climbing isn’t his
only talent, as the book
is truly superb, and
undeniably one of the
best climbing
autobiographies I’ve
read. I was right there
with him from his early
years, as he gives an
honest insight into the
choices he made to be the best. The book explores Steve’s true
passion and life dedication to climbing; it displays his raw love for
the sport, which is absolutely inspiring. His keen climber parents
exposed him and his brother to the sport from a young age, and
they shared their enthusiasm. This is a captivating read that traces
Steve’s development as a climber, and enables you to experience
the journey that made him the climber he is today.
BETWEEN THE SUNSET AND THE SEA
Published by William Collins RRP £18.99
When I first opened Simon Ingram’s ‘view of 16 British Mountains’, I had
no idea what to expect; the back cover gives a vague description, telling
you it will take you on a journey through Britain’s mountain landscapes. I
have to admit, its contents surprised me. Between the Sunset and the Sea
is divided by seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Simon takes
you through the mountains’ journey through the changing conditions
that each season provides, and
with each mountain’s change
through day and night. He states
that the aim of his journey is to
see the mountains at their most
wild, and experience their most
extreme moods. Simon’s love
affair with mountains is obvious
as he tells his personal journey
with each one. The one real
issue I have is the lack of
images. The pages feature the
odd grainy black and white
photograph, but I feel it could
really benefit from a set of
strong photographs to portray
the mountains he describes.
OUTDOOR FILM
Moving Image
HENRY FROM STEEP EDGE GUIDES US THROUGH NEW AND VARIED RELEASES.
F
inally, spring is upon us! In the UK, this last winter has felt
particularly long, with cold, wet, snowy weather stretching way
WAINWRIGHT RECORD ATTEMPT:
out into the final days of February, making the prospect of getting
Middle-aged
outside increasingly difficult and unappealing. Here’s a selection
to get you psyched to get back out on old projects and head out on new
university researcher
adventures:
Steve Birkinshaw is
an unassuming figure
when it comes to
IN THE FRAME:
elite sportspeople,
but in the world
In 2011, Joe Beaumont was involved in a serious climbing accident,
of fell running, his
taking a forty-metre ground
long-distance feats
fall and suffering life-altering
make him a revered
injuries. Despite disability and
personality in the
trauma, Joe has been proactive
sport. As a fell runner
in recovery, and in September
living in the Lake
2013 he set off with a team of
District, there has
friends to travel from the lowest
been one challenge, which has always intrigued Steve
point in the UK to the highest
– to break the record for the continuous round of all
– on a recumbent bike with a
214 Wainwright summits. However, the bar had already
surgical brace pinning his leg
been set by legendary Lakeland fell runner Joss Naylor
together. Delicately filmed by
at a staggering time of 7 days 1 hour and 25 minutes, a
Dom Bush, we’re given an insight
record that had stood unbroken for twenty-seven years,
into the thoughts and behaviour
until Steve set out on his attempt in the summer of 2014.
of an adventurer who refuses to
Beautifully captured by filmmaker Alastair Lee over the
alter his lifestyle as a result of
course of seven days, we see Steve push himself, mentally
his injuries.
and physically, beyond most human limits as he traverses
the Lakeland fells.
EXPOSURE VOL. II:
Following the athletes who are pushing the limits of difficulty in rock and competition climbing around the
world today. Capturing Alex Megos’ seemingly effortless ascent of Action Directe, Daniel Woods climbing one
of the world’s hardest boulder problems, Lucid Dreaming (8C+) and Alex Puccio climbing her first 8B, the film
has no shortage of hard ascents outside. However, in my opinion, the most intriguing chapter of the film is the
one focusing on reclusive Russian competition boulderer Dmitry Sharafutdinov, who, despite being winner of
three bouldering world championships, remains a little-known figure in the climbing world. Exposure Vol. II
follows him to his training facility in central Russia to find out how one man has managed to get so strong, while
simultaneously staying out of the media spotlight.
INTERVIEW
Empire
Antarctica
GAVIN FRANCIS SPOKE TO
CHANTELLE KELLY ABOUT HIS
14 MONTHS AS THE BASE CAMP
DOCTOR FOR THE BRITISH
ANTARCTIC SURVEY.
CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?
for different reasons.
I’m a Scottish internationalist, who’s been trying to see as much of
the world as I can.
YOUR BOOK, EMPIRE ANTARCTICA, EXPLORES YOUR TIME IN
ANTARCTICA; WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO?
WHEN AND WHERE DID YOUR PASSION FOR THE OUTDOORS AND
I wanted to go to the widest, blankest canvas on earth for a while, to
WILDERNESS BEGIN?
unravel my thoughts and take stock.
As a boy, when tree-climbing was always more interesting than TV.
HOW DID YOU COPE FOR A YEAR IN SUCH AN INHOSPITABLE PLACE?
YOU HAVE TRAVELLED ACROSS ALL SEVEN CONTINENTS; WHAT IS YOUR
My three tips: get some good thermal underwear, wipe your snot
FAVOURITE LOCATION AND WHY?
away before it freezes, and camp with a pee bottle.
Impossible to say - the Turkish Aegean is wonderful, as is Patagonia,
as are the west coasts of Greenland, and New Zealand, as is
WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST THOUGHTS WHEN YOU REACHED ANTARCTICA?
downtown Manhattan, and upstate Yunnan. They’re all my favourites
This place feels extraterrestrial.
DID YOU HAVE MANY MEDICAL EMERGENCIES TO ATTEND TO?
A few, but nothing too serious. Transferring someone on a stretcher
for any distance is almost impossible, with the cold and the terrain.
Drugs freeze and plastic goes brittle and cracks. Carry eye drops
inside your gloves, or you can’t put them in.
year in year out is enough to gladden anyone’s heart.
TALK US THOUGH AN AVERAGE DAY AT THE HALLEY RESEARCH STATION.
There are no average days - you decide your own working and living
HOW DID YOU, AND YOUR 14 OTHER COLLEAGUES, COPE WITH THE
pattern, necessary in a place with almost four months of constant
ISOLATION?
daylight in summer, and four months of constant darkness in winter.
We didn’t have a choice.
My day involved medical research, writing, skiing for several days
under the vastest skies on earth, visiting the others, and managing
WOULD YOU GO BACK?
all the base waste. I did far more generator maintenance than I did
Of course.
medical practice.
AFTER YOUR TIME IN ANTARCTICA, YOU SPENT SIX MONTHS IN THE
WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT SITUATION YOU DEALT WITH?
HIMALAYAS; WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING IN A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT
The fact that you can’t get out, even if you want to or need to, day
ONCE AGAIN?
after day for a year.
Antarctica is stunningly, elementally beautiful, but it imposes
certain restrictions on your movement. Being back in the world
HOW CHALLENGING WAS THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENT?
after Antarctica was tremendous - the possibilities of movement
There’s a British saying: there’s no such thing as bad weather, just
and change, of anonymity, colour, culture and life. The diversity and
wrong clothing.
beauty of exploring the Himalayas was a big part of reacquainting
myself with that richness again.
WHAT WERE YOUR STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH THE EXTREME COLD?
Keep busy and wear a neoprene facemask under your balaclava.
TELL US ABOUT THE TWO WEEKS YOU SPENT CAMPING ON THE ICE
AMONG EMPEROR PENGUINS.
They’re great company, emperor penguins. Always happy to see you,
and the fact of them living there, in the worst conditions on earth,
To read more about Gavin’s adventures, visit his website:
www.gavinfrancis.com.
Empire Antarctica won the Scottish Book of the Year Award in 2013, and
was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, as well
as the Banff Adventure Travel Prize. It’s available to purchase here:
http://amzn.to/1aCf4xo.
■ All photos by Gavin Francis, taken from his book Empire Antarctica.
GET CARTER
Following in
barefoot steps
CLAIRE CARTER DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM BRITAIN’S FIRST FEMALE
MOUNTAIN GUIDE.
“
I stood on a sloping ledge and looked at the problem. It
We find ourselves suddenly beyond the holds and the familiar,
was a confidence move. I tried to pull up several times, but
propelled by something – reflex, futility, ‘psyche’?
the confidence was lacking. I shifted my feet, making the
uncompleted motions of stepping up, then down, thinking,
Bestseller lists are filled by books on how to make life decisions.
As climbers we ‘commit’. Between the literature of pop-psychology
looking, and finally no different from the other times, but this time I
and the school of rock I should be sorted, but I get distracted by
continued. I stepped up and through, using the rock very precisely
fantasies of the door I didn’t choose, the fall I nearly took. In this
and gently in a watching silence while the world stood still.” Gwen
Moffat (1972) Survival Count.
industry particularly, I feel like I’m on a life-choice ghost train.
How many decisions are made like this, on or off the rock?
Secure job or continue freelancing, train for which discipline, plan
which trips, do what before it’s too late, have a baby?
Gwen is the subject of a new film by Jen Randall and Claire
Carter, funded by BMCTV. Watch out for it this Autumn.
As it stands, I am working freelance, using my car as a bedroom
while I work away, with a small dog for heat. I feel extremely lucky.
This particular week I’m winging it across the Kirkstone pass on a
January night, grinning with vindication after interviewing a woman
who seems to have lived most of her life in the moment, in the
mountains.
Gwen Moffat is as piercing today as her prose was in 1961,
when she published her flowing, frank autobiography and climbing
memoir Space Below My Feet. At 91 she is still working as a crime
fiction critic, and her work ethic has shaped her life as much as her
love of mountains. Moffat became the first female British Mountain
Guide in 1953. She would refute any suggestion she was a pioneer;
gaining the guide certificate was just one way of sustaining a life
in the hills. As well as gliding ghost-like though this glass ceiling,
Moffat was a spirit-like climber, routing barefoot, living an itinerate
existence in barns, on boats; in her own space on Alpine ridges,
American plains, and edge land communities. She worked as a farm
LOVE AFFAIRS, ROCK CLIMBS, ICY
WATER, REMOTE COTTAGES.
MOFFAT COMMITS, AND HER
INDEPENDENCE OF MIND SEEMS
REMARKABLE GIVEN HER
SOCIAL CONTEXT. THE MIST OF
THE FAR FUTURE IS RARELY
QUESTIONED; SHE USES HER
INTUITION AND INSPIRATION TO
NEGOTIATE LIFE.
hand, a scriptwriter, stage mistress, tea lady, anything that would
allow enough money for the moment, though she practiced fasting
in case it really came to it. Moffat discovered the mountains after a
chance meeting with a conscientious objector, when she was serving
in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. His tales of a ‘free and splendid
world of mountain climbing’ caught her as she was beginning to feel
a sense of frustration with life as it had been served to her. She went
to Wales on leave and climbed at Idwal. Returning to Stoke on Trent
after just over a week of the mountain world, she packed her bags
and deserted.
When I first read Space Below My Feet, I was fully indoctrinated
by Moffat’s headlong plunges into life. Love affairs, rock climbs, icy
water, remote cottages. Moffat commits, and her independence of
mind seems remarkable given her social context. The mist of the far
future is rarely questioned; she uses her intuition and inspiration
to negotiate life. You might say she ‘follows her bliss’, (though
she would probably think Joseph Campbell’s phraseology a bit
romantic). Moffat demarks her decision making as intuition, craving
Weekdays off when conditions are mint.
Leaving the ODG late, I walk the dog back to the car through
and impulse, or conclusions that are arrived at while wandering.
the fields. It’s snowing and we gleefully eat the flakes for dinner.
Often they are enacted rather than articulated. As she deserts the
The next morning’s a bluebird. We head out with the surprising
ATS to follow the climbers to the hills, she describes that silence of
number of other fly-by-nights who have somehow made all the right
thought that is familiar to the experience on a crux of a climb.
decisions to be free to be here right now. I want to interview them
“My mind had been dead for an hour; I don’t remember making
any decisions to go. I don’t remember thinking at all since I’d walked
into the Nissen hut and hated it on sight. Now all the emotions
which had been held back during that blank hour came flooding in.”
Just keep moving until you find yourself in the next place. Go with
all. ‘What do you do? How are you here? What’s the trick to always
being able to do this?’
I worry a lot about whether or not to have kids. In her
autobiography, Gwen slides over this decision. She becomes a
mother under much less description than she becomes a VS leader.
your gut. I’m driving to Langdale because I can’t ‘decide’ where to
It clearly affects her, and affects her climbing, but, in her writing at
go; Moffat now lives near Penrith, and heading off the motorway
after the interview, that’s the way the wheel turns. I’d pretend it’s
least, she manages to make child-rearing incidental to climbing.
Despite this, she states in one of her later books, Survival Count:
exploratory, but it’s the only place I know in the Lakes, and the
Old Dungeon Ghyll is familiar, and frequently in ‘Space…’. Driving
published books and sixteen years as a mountain guide. Apart from
fast through snow I imagine Moffat steering her beloved trucks,
Shelia, these are facts not achievements.’
motorcars, engines of independence. I’m so inspired by the lady I’ve
‘The statistics of my life were: One daughter, two husbands, three
Achievement poor and statistic-free for now, I press on with
just met. She survives life by returning to the mountains, going alone
vigour. Clouds gather at the notch beyond the Band. A fly-by-night
into wild places. I want to get up top, stop faffing about on email or
has written ‘Live Life’ in the snow. Fair enough. The dog stares down
with logbooks, or worrying about my average navigation. Just stomp
back into Langdale, and then dives head first in to a powder bank.
up and see where I get to. That’s the point of freelancing isn’t it?
Refreshed, we pad on greedily.
FEATURE
High on
Ama Dablam
DI GILBERT IS ONE OF SCOTLAND’S FOREMOST
MOUNTAIN LEADERS. SHE ALSO LEADS
EXPEDITIONS TO THE HIMALAYA. HERE SHE
RECOUNTS HER LAST TRIP TO NEPAL.
Airy traverse above Camp 2
I
am at the Everest View Hotel overhearing a
Ama Dablam seen from
the Valley Floor. The route
takes the second ridge on
the right
conversation by some foreign tourists.
Tourist #1 “Is that Everest?” [points towards a
mountain in the distance]
Tourist #2 “No, that is Ama Dablam, Everest is over
there.” [points to a black pyramid peak further to the left]
Tourist #1 “Well, it should be because it is the prettiest
one.”
For any person that has trekked up the Khumbu Valley
in Nepal, Ama Dablam is perhaps the most stunning
mountain that they will ever see. Standing at a lofty
6856m, she can be admired by the thousands of trekkers
that pass under her every trekking season from the
safety of the valley floor. For the climbing community,
she is possibly one of the most sought-after peaks in the
Himalayas. For a commercial Expedition Leader she can
prove to be one of the most rewarding and challenging
mountains to work on. During November 2014, I was
fortunate to be the Expedition Leader for the Adventure
Peaks Ama Dablam Expedition. This article is a behind the
a day hit to Ben Nevis or the Cairngorms, let alone find compatible
scenes approach to leading one of the most challenging commercial
climbing partners for a four week expedition. We are all busy people,
expeditions.
whether it be work or personal; we all have families or people that
THE ROUTE
The trek to base camp is exactly that. The approach provides an
care about us; we all have a life outside the mountains, and we all
have financial obligations.
In an ideal world, we would have a team made up of our mates - a
excellent opportunity for the group to get to know each other, get to
group of people who know each well. My main climbing partners
know the Sherpa team, experience the Nepali culture and adjust to
know when to push me and know when I have bitten off more than I
high mountain life.
can chew. They can tell when I’m not myself and they can tell when
The route from Base Camp to Camp 1 follows and passes a
I’m in my comfort zone. They will happily carry more than their share
series of ridges to begin with, before encountering a boulder field.
if needs be, and if it all goes wrong I know that they will do the best
Once you have passed through this, you then have a very pleasant
that they can. I allow myself to hope that they think the same about
scramble up some slabs before popping you out at the bottom of
me.
the SW Ridge. The slabs provide an excellent opportunity to practice
moving along fixed ropes in a relatively safe environment.
Camp 1 to Camp 2 is an absolute joy to climb - well, it would be if
it were at sea level and you were carrying a light rucksack. Soon after
Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world, and for many
climbers to achieve their high altitude goals, the only option
available is to join a commercial expedition.
I’ve worked for Adventure Peaks since 2004, and led numerous
leaving camp, you clip-and-go along a selection of fixed ropes. The
expeditions including Khan Tengri, Mount Everest, Cho Oyu, Carstenz
terrain is a mixture of compact slabs, short, steep corners, numerous
Pyramid and Aconcagua for them. I have confidence in the team that
grooves and the infamous Yellow Tower - the most technical section
they have back in the UK, and over the years have learnt to trust
on the entire ridge. The biggest decision that you have to make is
them to organise the logistics required before I arrive in the country.
which rope/s to clip into - the answer will always be all of them.
It is Adventure Peaks who pull the team together, including the in-
In previous years, the majority of expeditions camped at Camp 3,
broad snow shelves situated high on the mountain. This all changed
country Sherpa team and clients.
However, it’s not a bed of roses. At the end of the day, our team
in 2006 when a serac collapsed and swept out several tents, killing
was a group of individuals who have paid to summit. Our team
six climbers. This serac, called the ‘Dablam’, continues to pose
would certainly be operating independently on the mountain,
problems for expeditions.
keeping in close communication via radio. My job was to give them
As a result of this, the majority of teams will depart from Camp
2 on their summits bids. The terrain above Camp 2 is very similar
the best opportunity to summit.
to Scottish climbing conditions, with some amazing exposure.
OTHER TEAMS & MOUNTAIN EXPERTS
Superb mixed climbing, snowy/icy slopes, and a traverse where
You will never have a route like the SW Ridge of Ama Dablam to
you certainly do not want to fall. Onto the famous Mushroom Ridge
yourselves, so there does need to be some communication with
before hitting the final snowy summit slopes. Simple.
other teams on the mountain. I try and target the information I
TEAM COMPOSITION
It is hard enough to find compatible climbing partners in the UK for
receive to save time and sift out unnecessary scare mongering.
It never fails to amaze me how suddenly everybody on the
mountain becomes an overnight expert. As soon as you mention
FEATURE
HOWEVER, IT’S NOT A BED OF ROSES.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, OUR TEAM
WAS A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS WHO
HAVE PAID TO SUMMIT. OUR TEAM
WOULD CERTAINLY BE OPERATING
INDEPENDENTLY ON THE
MOUNTAIN, KEEPING IN CLOSE
COMMUNICATION VIA RADIO. MY
JOB WAS TO GIVE THEM THE BEST
OPPORTUNITY TO SUMMIT.
Perched camp 2
that you are heading to Ama Dablam, people are very fast to tell you
what to do. If you listened to the comments about this season, you
wouldn’t step foot out of Kathmandu, let alone base camp.
Every single route/mountain that I have climbed has risks; it’s
simply a case of managing the risks. I have lost count the amount
of times that I have heard a comment or read an online report about
Scottish winter conditions, to find them completely inaccurate.
Sometimes, people don’t want to lose face, and look for an excuse
on why they failed on a route. Failure is not necessarily a bad thing;
it’s all part of climbing. In my view, there is only one way to approach
climbing, and that is to stick your nose in and find out for yourself.
I was very lucky that as soon as we arrived in Base Camp, some
friends (Ken and Hannah) from Fort William had just summated, so
in return for dinner I was able to pick their brains about the route
ahead.
THIS YEAR’S SEASON
Every climbing season has its challenges, and this year was no
different. We arrived to a relatively quiet base camp, having later
heard that there had been three fatalities on the mountain and many
expeditions had departed early. I can’t comment on those fatalities
because I wasn’t there. Having spoken to Ken and Hannah about the
route itself, I was certainly aware of the fixed rope situation (which by
all accounts seemed a shambles) and the Dablam itself. These things
were cause for concern, since it was essential that the ropes be
fixed properly for safe ascent and descent. The thought of travelling
underneath a serac that was collapsing did not appeal. It should be
easy to make an assessment about the ropes as we ascended, and
we would be able to monitor the Dablam during our time on the
mountain to watch for any activity.
LOGISTICS
We were a small team - 4 westerners and 2 climbing sherpa’s - and
I had planned our logistics around this. Sadly, when acclimatising,
one of the team members decided that Ama Dablam wasn’t going to
happen for them, and decided to bail. Sometimes the magic doesn’t
flow in Scotland and the Himalaya is no different, but it is a bigger
FEATURE
Will above Camp 2
blow. As always, the team and I worked around this unexpected
sort itself out, and I have sometimes made bad decisions. There is
challenge the best we could. Numerous options were explored, but
nothing different about climbing a route in the Himalaya, it’s just
in the end we had no alternative than to split our team into 2 smaller
harder to stomach because you have spent three weeks on it.
teams, to make 2 separate summit bids.
ACCEPTING FAILURE
REWARDS
Leading Himalayan expeditions is both extremely challenging and
Our first summit team, comprising of Andy and Phurba, successfully
rewarding - the bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward. There
summited Ama Dablam on 25th November. Will and I were following
are obvious rewards such as financial remuneration, opportunities to
two days behind, and made very good progress to Camp 2. I made
travel to amazing places, climbing mountains and meeting characters
the very hard decision that I was not prepared to carry on beyond
that are sometimes larger than life.
Mushroom Ridge, due to the condition of the mountain - the fixed
I often use a saying; “You can be in the best place in the world
ropes were in very poor condition, the anchors were melting out and
with the worst people and it will be hell on earth, but you can also
the Dablam was grumbling. Phurba and Will followed suit.
be in the worst place in the world with the best people and it will
I have failed on many climbs in my professional and personal
be an utter joy”. Thankfully, the majority of expeditions I’ve had the
climbing career due to numerous reasons. I have walked out of
pleasure to work on fall into a third: “You can be in the best place in
corries with nothing in the bag; I have sat for days in valley floors
the world with the best people, and it will provide you with one of
waiting for certain routes to come good and/or the weather to
life’s unforgettable memories’”.
VIDEO
Outdoor Enthusiast Montane part one - ISPO
LAND MANAGEMENT
Notes from the
Fairy Mountain: Spring
IN HER FIRST REPORT FOR MOUNTAIN PRO, JOHN MUIR TRUST BIODIVERSITY
OFFICER, DR. LIZ AUTY, GIVES AN INSIGHT INTO LAND MANAGEMENT AT EAST
SCHIEHALLION.
Photo: Keith Brame
Photo: Schiehallion MAP
S
pring is a fantastic time at Schiehallion. As we start to come
out of winter, the bird activity increases exponentially.
Multiple species start filling the air with flight and song as
they compete to set up territories. I’m now listening out
for several bird calls. The most common call to hear is the meadow
pipit; they have a lovely song, and sound like mini skylarks trilling as
they parachute down onto the heath. I’ll be spending time in April
surveying breeding birds and watching for ground nesting raptors
setting up their territories. This year we’re also on the lookout for
long-eared owls. These are secretive birds, often under-recorded,
and we’ve had reports they’ve nested in the area in the past. In
February, two volunteers and I carried out our first survey visit, and
were rewarded with the haunting ‘hoo hoo’ call of a male owl.
The John Muir Trust is a member organisation with educational
objectives. Part of my work in the next few months will be leading a
group to watch a black grouse lek. We can count on the black grouse
giving a memorable display, as they are doing well in the area. On
misty mornings in April it feels like the whole valley is filled with
the distinctive warbling call of the male black cock. It’s a memorable
While bird activity is a noticeable sign that spring has arrived, I
sight as they strut their stuff on the lek to impress the grey hens.
spend a lot of this season thinking about trees. Schiehallion has the
We may also see and hear snipe add to the spring cacophony with
potential to have trees right from the edge of its rocky slopes down
a music all their own, as they carry out their characteristic display
to what remains of its former woodland.
flight and drumming.
Historically, there would have been a gradual change in the
vegetation with increasing altitude, from woodland to montane
shrubs and then on to the summit boulder field with lichens and
mosses.
We’ve lost the shrubs such as juniper and dwarf willow higher up,
but if you look, it’s still possible to find remnants of woodland along
steep burn sides and a few larger areas of native trees.
Where possible, we at the John Muir Trust try to encourage
natural regeneration without fencing, but where there are
incursions from neighbouring sheep, we sometimes consider
temporary fencing to give the trees a helping hand.
In recent years, we have been part of an agreement through the
local deer management group to reduce red deer numbers in the
area for the benefit of protected sites. Surveys commissioned by
Scottish Natural Heritage indicate that impacts are beginning to
reduce on the designated sites.
It’s challenging work. The red deer cover a wide area. Their
movement is dictated by numerous factors, including weather and
wind direction. The number of the deer on the mountain fluctuates
from a handful to several hundred.
May will see me leading a group to survey small tree seedlings
that we marked with cable ties five years ago. We’ve been regularly
recording their height and looking at whether they have been
browsed. This latest survey will give us new data for this winter. I’ll
cross-reference this with footage from some newly-introduced trail
cameras. These have been capturing movements of deer with time
stamps.
Liz is the John Muir Trust’s biodiversity officer, and the property
We are lucky to have a committed team of volunteers coming out
manager for East Schiehallion. East Schiehallion is an area of
to do other surveys, including heathland monitoring and searching
mountain and moor in Perthshire, Scotland, with a wealth of
for water voles, as well as practical conservation tasks including
interest for wildlife, plants and geology. It’s also the location for
path work. I’m looking forward to working with them this year, and
Maskelynes ‘weighing the world’ experiment.
will let you know how we have been getting on in the next issue.
FEATURE
Top
Drop
HELI-SKIING. IT COSTS A FORTUNE,
BUT IT’S WORTH IT, RECKONS
ALF ALDERSON.
B
efore we go any further, allow me to disabuse you of
any notion that I am a man of means – all my heli-skiing
has been done in my capacity as a freelance (or is that
freeloading?) journalist.
And while many of the people I’ve met on these trips would
scarcely notice the eye-watering charge for it being deducted from
their bank account, for me – and I dare say you – this is the most
expensive ski experience you’re ever likely to have, so it’s one that
you want to get right.
That said, heli-skiing is not exclusively for the fat of wallet.
Several times I’ve met regular, mad keen skiers who have saved hard
– and maybe for some years – to indulge themselves in what for
them may be a once in a lifetime ski trip.
So, you may just find a ski bum from Whistler or Chamonix
rubbing shoulders in the helicopter – literally – with a captain of
industry, surgeon or banker. Since everyone looks the same in their
ski gear it’s a surprisingly good leveller, especially if you consider
that the beardy ski bums are probably better skiers than the banker
and surgeon.
THE ALPS
It is actually possible to enjoy heli-skiing without breaking the bank
though, as I discovered in Italy last winter. Head to Livigno, and
you can get two ‘drops’ out in the superb backcountry on the edge
of the Stelvio National Park for a not unreasonable €275 (www.
WHEN YOU’RE IN TRULY WILD
AND REMOTE LOCATIONS
SUCH AS THIS, THE SKIING
BECOMES THAT BIT MORE
SERIOUS. YOU’LL BE SUPPLIED
WITH AN ABS BACKPACK,
TRANSCEIVER AND SO ON IF
YOU DON’T HAVE YOUR OWN,
AND THERE’S A COMPULSORY
TRANSCEIVER PRACTICE OUT
THE BACK OF THE LODGE
BEFORE YOU GET ANYWHERE
NEAR THE SHARP END.
FEATURE
heli-guides.com/en/heliski-alps-en/levigno-it-heliskiing.html); this
obviously includes a guide, which is standard with any heli-ski
operation – in fact, most will also have a ‘tail gunner’ along to bring
up the rear and pick up the oafs like me as they wipeout in the thigh
deep powder and get themselves stuck in tree wells.
A few weeks after this I got the chance to hop out of a helicopter
with my skis again (not literally, they’re carried on the outside in
a metal basket), this time almost within sight of my home in the
French Alps, although we were actually in Italy. Heli-skiing is banned
in France, but companies such as Val Heliski (www.valheliski.com)
will meet you in La Rosiere on the border of the French and Italian
Alps, from where you use the lift system to ski to the border.
Here you’re picked up by your ‘heli’ (a Canadian guide once told
me; “Never call them ‘choppers”; I’ve no idea why), dropped atop
a peak within Italy and enjoy as much as 2000 metres of vertical
descent down to La Thuile, from where you take the ski lifts back to
La Rosiere (the two resorts are linked).
Cost – from €299, lift pass not included. Not a cheap day out, but
it still makes heli-skiing available – just about – to the masses.
CANADA
The purists might argue this isn’t the real thing, by which I mean
the whole wilderness heli-ski lodge experience, and having been
fortunate enough to enjoy this kind of heli-ski adventure too, I have
to admit that this really is about as full-on a ski trip as you could
FEATURE
ever hope to enjoy.
BC is the destination that automatically comes to mind, along
with Alaska. I’ve enjoyed skiing with a couple of excellent outfits
in BC, and may even have been to Alaska with one of them; Last
Frontier (www.lastfrontierheli.com) – they’re based right on the BC/
Alaska border, and it’s quite possible that during the 33,00 feet of
vertical we got in on our best day’s skiing, we crossed the border
into the USA.
No one knew for sure, as there are no border posts, and you
certainly don’t have to worry about customs officers ‘welcoming’
you into the USA when you visit this way.
When you’re in truly wild and remote locations such as this, the
skiing becomes that bit more serious. You’ll be supplied with an ABS
backpack, transceiver and so on if you don’t have your own, and
there’s a compulsory transceiver practice out the back of the lodge
before you get anywhere near the sharp end.
You also go through a detailed drill on how to enter and exit the
helicopter without losing your head, and this being North America,
you naturally enough sign away all rights should your craft plummet
out of the sky or crash into a grizzly bear.
And since we are in BC, you also get spectacularly vast amounts
of talc dry powder to play in. I won’t bore you with flowery words
on the pleasures of skiing powder, but instead give you some plain
statistics which put it all into focus:
Last Frontier – the biggest heli-ski operation in the world – has
a staggering 2.2 million acres, or 9000 sq kms of terrain to play in.
If that doesn’t mean much to you, that’s over six times the size of
Greater London, all of it uninhabited by humans, in which there are
around 450 named runs.
The superlatives continue – between 65-100 feet of soft, fluffy
BC powder floats down onto these limitless acres every winter; the
snow base is between 15-18 feet, and an average day’s skiing will
see you cover 25 000 feet of ‘vert’ - although take my word for it,
there is absolutely nothing ‘average’ about skiing here – check out
their new promo video for proof of that: http://www.lastfrontierheli.
com/heliskiing-videos.html.
Another splendid thing about Last Frontier is their helicopters –
funky little Bell 407s flown by incredibly skilled pilots that take a
maximum of five skiers and one guide, which means very little down
time after each run, so you certainly get the miles under your belt.
And then when all the action on the hill is over, there’s the lodge
complex – cosy timber cabins, superb dining, sauna and massage
facilities – you will want for nothing (other than a spare pair of
quads perhaps – it really is worth getting in tip-top shape before
you go heli-skiing, in order to make the most of it).
This kind of skiing doesn’t come cheap – I stayed at the most
northerly of Last Frontier’s two lodges, Bell 2, which costs from
$CAN 6670 for four days; plus you have to get yourself there.
However, there’s one heli-ski option that you can get to with Easy
Jet. Iceland.
ICELAND
For me, Arctic Heli-skiing (www.arcticheliskiing.com) is as good an
option as European-based skiers will get. Cheap access (even the
connecting flight from Reykjavik to Arctic Heli-skiing’s base on the
north coast is less than €200 return) and, by heli-skiing standards,
good value skiing at ‘only’ €5285 for four days.
Some things are not quantifiable in mere monetary terms
though, and my experience on Iceland’s north shore was one of
them.
Iceland’s ski terrain is unlike anything the ski resorts of Europe
and North America can offer. Huge, flat-topped mountains rise
up above steep slopes and wide, ancient valleys, crags and cliffs
streaked with black-banded rock outcrops, which contrast starkly
with the white of the snow. In places the higher peaks are glaciated,
and you’ll ski over some of these glaciers while heli-skiing, but
the most striking feature of the Icelandic heli-ski experience is the
constant presence of deep blue fjords and the Atlantic Ocean way
down beneath most of your drop-off points. Sea level is actually
where you’re heading for on many runs, and the presence of the
ocean serves as a dramatic backdrop, with mighty North Atlantic
swells booming onto the black volcanic sand beaches where
several descents finish.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
It wouldn’t be accurate to call this a unique experience though,
since you can do the same thing on the other side of the globe in
Kamchatka. Along with quad searing 6000 foot descents to sea
level, you’ll also be skiing on active volcanoes, on vast powder
fields, in some of the most remote mountains in the world.
The skiing, which I did with the excellent EA Heliski (www.
eaheliskiing.com), can be challenging, since Kamchatka’s Pacific
coast climate throws all sorts of weather your way; we endured
a four day blizzard, as well as four days of perfect bluebird
conditions, but catch it when the weather is playing ball, and this
has got to be the most spectacular place on Earth in which to ski.
It’s not for the faint-hearted though – where in North America
any time spent in or around the helicopter is closely monitored
and rules must be followed at all times, the massive ex-military
Mi2 helicopters in which you fly to and from the mountains in
Kamchatka are like an aerial party.
They carry up to 12 skiers and their guides, have bench seats on
which the use of seat belts is not compulsory, and you don’t need
them anyway, since you’re allowed to wander around and enjoy the
view on either side as you’re flying along; hell, you can even open
the porthole-style windows and stick your head out for a better
view…
But, of course, this Siberian ski adventure don’t come cheap €5800 of your European Euros my friend; and that’s before you pay
for London—Moscow-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with the Ryanair
of intercontinental flight, Aeroflot.
But when all’s said and done, heli-skiing is about far more than
money. Sure, it’s expensive, but it’s a ski experience like no other,
and one that you really will never forget, whether it’s a single
drop in Italy, or a week-long adventure in one of the more remote
corners of the planet.
VIDEO
Outdoor Enthusiast Berghaus ISPO
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15
YEARS
2000-2015
Target Publishing
celebrating 15 years
www.targetpublishing.com
THE BEN MOON STORY
Work In
Progress
AN EXTRACT FROM THE NEW
BIOGRAPHY OF BEN MOON, BY ED
DOUGLAS.
B
en was constantly experimenting with new ways to
train, new treatments for injuries and new approaches
to nutrition, hunting the right balance between power
WHAT YOU STRUGGLE
AGAINST IN CLIMBING
IS FAILURE ITSELF. NO
ONE IS WAITING FOR
YOU IN THE RING,
THERE’S JUST
AMBITION AND THE
PASSING YEARS – AND
THE ENDLESS,
ENDLESS TRAINING.
and endurance, keeping his motivation and focus
burning brightly. Analysing these innovations, particularly those
to do with injury and nutrition, with the benefit of hindsight, he
often comments: ‘I’m not sure they made any difference.’ What
made a difference was hard work over a sustained period of time.
Occasionally he berates himself for a lack of application. In early
February 1995 he’s complaining about feeling tired: ‘Have been very
unprofessional these past few weeks and will get all I deserve. Will
pay heavily for two hard nights – Friday and Saturday.’ His weight,
he records with an exclamation mark, falls to 62.5kg or 138lb. Yet
clubbing kept him sane, offering a release from the intensity and
focus of his training week.
Sometimes he wonders if the training hasn’t taken over the
climbing. In Volx a few days after regretting his two nights out on
the trot, he tells his diary: ‘Feel like I am climbing absolutely terribly.
Really inefficient. Feel great deal of pressure and want to start
enjoying my climbing again. Need to do some routes, just some
ticking. There is no doubt I’m very strong and reasonably fit. I’ve just
forgotten how to climb and what it is like to do a route. Had some
Boredom is not only deadening his personality but killing his soul.’
Then again, as Ali himself acknowledged, the depth of your ability
long talks with Zippy and [Scottish climber] Spider [McKenzie], and
– its heft – and the confidence to succeed can only be built through
came to some good conclusions and new decisions. I am still able to
training. ‘The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the
look at my climbing objectively and know what it is I need to do.’
lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under
Norman Mailer, in his account of the 1975 fight between
those lights.’ Except that for climbers it’s different. What you struggle
Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in what was then Zaïre, writes
against in climbing is failure itself. No one is waiting for you in the
about the immense psychological weight of constant training: ‘In
ring, there’s just ambition and the passing years – and the endless,
heavy training fighters live in dimensions of boredom others do not
endless training.
begin to contemplate.’ As Mailer points out, that is where boxers
need to be. The boredom engenders a kind of restless anger that
ultimately finds an outlet in violence: ‘Boredom creates a detestation
for losing.’
Mailer likens the training boxer to a man serving a long jail
‘It’s why I packed in route climbing,’ Ben says. ‘Training is time
consuming.’
‘Tedious?’
‘It’s not tedious. Well, maybe it is. But you need a lot of time – hours
and hours each day. Your lifestyle changes because of it. It’s not very
sentence, how the scale of his boredom, its unrelenting pressure,
glamorous, is it? You’ve got to knuckle down. These routes, they’re
will tip him towards despair. ‘Sooner or later the fighter recognises
like an iceberg with all its mass under the surface that no one ever
that something in his psyche is paying too much for the training.
sees.’
‘In some of the entries in your diary you seem quite depressed.’
together, they were motivated differently. Crag X became a favourite
‘I don’t think I was. It’s not the right word. I don’t get depressed. I
training location, a brutal curl of polished limestone where Ben and
might feel a little down, but that’s it. Mostly I get annoyed that I’m
Jerry added powerful problems. Superman, at Font 8A+, was Jerry’s
not doing well, that things aren’t going my way. I’d get fed up at not
best-known contribution. As the rock ran out, Crag X acolytes began
being motivated. I’d be doing the same problems again and again.
eliminating holds to create new and harder problems. Ben even
It’s a thin line between caring deeply and it becoming pathological.
managed to eliminate holds on Superman, and was delighted. Jerry,
It’s a pretty lonely thing.
on the other hand, was furious, not because Ben superseded his
It’s not easy. Not that many people could do it for a long time.’
problem, but because Ben seemed content with doing desperate
‘Was it easier training with other people?’
things in training and not converting this
‘It’s fun with people, but I would tend more to do it by myself.
progress into something more eye-catching
Unless you have the perfect training partner it’s easier to do that side
somewhere less humdrum. Yet for Ben,
of things on your own.’
the realisation of something previously
Ben and Jerry [Mofatt] were often in each other’s company in
unimaginable was success in itself.
the early 1990s. These two were so committed and so strong, that
several of those in their orbit span off in new directions, incapable,
Statement: The Ben Moon Story is
for lack of means or motivation, to do what seemed necessary to
available from Vertebrate Publishing
be at the leading edge of sport climbing. But although they trained
priced £20: http://bit.ly/1BtUGKP
MMM Ripa is housed in a restored 13th century castle. Here,
a Japanese Buddha from 1940 surrounded by Mani stones,
within the castle battlements.
FEATURE
Museum
in the clouds
RUDOLF ABRAHAM VISITS THE
MESSNER MOUNTAIN MUSEUMS
IN SOUTH TYROL
O
n the 2181m summit of Monte Rite, at the heart of the
Dolomites, and surrounded by such iconic peaks as
Monte Civetta, Monte Pelmo and Marmolada, clouds
billow around summits and rock faces stained red by the
first rays of the rising sun. The museum on this dizzying summit
plateau, the so-called Museum in the Clouds, can safely lay claim
to being the highest museum in Europe.
The Museum in the Clouds is one of six properties which make
up the Messner Mountain Museum, an outstanding group of
museums scattered across Italy’s gorgeous South Tyrol region,
dedicated to the mountain world (its people, art, traditions,
geology) – a world few of us ever even catch a glimpse of – as
well as the experiences of those who’ve spent (or lost) their lives
exploring it.
The museums were created by renowned mountaineer and
adventurer Reinhold Messner – he of those legendary ascents,
several of them without oxygen, of all the world’s fourteen 8000m
peaks, among other near superhuman feats of endurance. Messner
still lives in South Tyrol.
The collections themselves are fascinating – from art to
ethnographic displays to mountaineering paraphernalia. The
sculpture is a particular highlight, much of it from the Himalaya,
making a visit rather like stumbling into some hidden Tibetan
kingdom in the middle of the lush apple orchards and bijou
mountain towns of northern Italy. Three of the museums are
housed in beautifully renovated old castles converted into
impeccably presented, modern museums, their rambling medieval
battlements, towers and passageways providing a wonderfully
immersive, at times maze-like exhibition space.
As well as the museum on the summit of Monte Rite (also
known as MMM Dolomites), there are properties at Brunico/
Bruneck (MMM Ripa), Bolzano/Bozen (MMM Firmian), the Adige
Valley (MMM Juval), Solda/Sulden (MMM Ortles) and, due to
open in early summer 2015, on the summit plateau of Kronplatz
(MMM Corones). All the museums are privately funded, and an
enormous amount of thought has obviously gone into them, from
the careful conservation of the castles themselves, to the fact that
– appropriately enough – they can be reached by hiking or cycling
trails, as well as by car.
MMM Firmian, the centrepiece of the museums, sits on
the outskirts of Bolzano, housed in the mightily impressive
Sigmundskron Castle (20mins by foot on trail #1) – a sprawling red
stone fortress, first mentioned in the 10th century, though most of
what you see today dates from the 15th century. Steel walkways
lead you on an almost labyrinthine route around the castle – up
over battlements (no, you don’t want to be walking around these
bits in a thunderstorm), among ruins, and over several floors within
the glass-roofed shells of medieval towers, their timeless stone
walls covered in art. Concentric spiral staircases lead playfully
to locations almost within arms’ reach, but which you can’t quite
get to without going up, or down, one staircase and returning on
another, past a seemingly endless succession of Buddhist, Hindu
and Jain sculpture.
The wildly eclectic art collection ranges from 19th century
FEATURE
academic painting to Warhol, to memorabilia from the world of
Messner’s mountain adventures and those of other climbers – some
who succeeded, some who failed, some who died trying. There are
Hiking in the Ortler area of the Stelvio National Park, near the small
mountain town of Solda.
stories told in the words of Messner himself, as well as those of
philosophers, poets, adventurers, singers and sages. I found MMM
Firmian fascinating beyond words – at turns awe inspiring, witty and
thought-provoking, and quite unlike any museum I’ve ever visited
before, anywhere.
For kids, it must all come across as decidedly un-museumy,
more like one giant adventure park. There were plenty of children
at Sigmundskron Castle on my visit, none of whom looked in the
slightest bit bored about spending an afternoon in a somewhat
eccentric museum with mum and dad – they were all having far too
much fun scampering across walkways and up and down stairways,
surrounded by an exotic world of interesting rocks, fluttering prayer
flags and strange sculpture.
Northeast of Bolzano in the Puster Valley, MMM Ripa is housed
in the beautifully renovated 13th century Bruneck Castle, prayer
flags billowing from its turrets, just a short walk up from the town
of Brunico itself. The ethnographic collection here is particularly
strong, covering the lives, customs and religions of the various
peoples inhabiting some of the world’s remote mountain regions
– the Svans of the south Caucasus, Nagas and Nepalis from the
Himalaya, Kafirs and Kalash from the Hind Kush, among others.
Exhibits include a succession of nomad tents from different parts
of the globe, which visitors are encouraged to walk through; carved
wooden furniture and coffins of the Kafirs; and a whole room full of
haunting, twisted and grimacing wooden figurines from Tanzania.
And like MMM Firmian, since MMM Ripa is laid out across several
floors of a castle and within the confines of its towers, you feel that
you are always climbing.
Around 1500m above Bruneck, at one edge of the broad summit
plateau of Kronplatz, one of Italy’s most popular ski resorts, lies the
latest instalment of Messner’s Mountain Museum, MMM Corones.
In case the 2275m summit location, with its jaw-dropping views of
the Dolomites (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), was not enough, the
new museum is designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid – twice
recipient of the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011, and recipient of
the Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 2004 (the first woman to be
awarded the latter).
The museum is quite literally buried within the mountaintop,
with only its sleek entrance and viewing windows protruding.
The asymmetrical, almost organic looking design of the interior –
THE COLLECTIONS THEMSELVES ARE
FASCINATING – FROM ART TO ETHNOGRAPHIC
DISPLAYS TO MOUNTAINEERING
PARAPHERNALIA. THE SCULPTURE IS A
PARTICULAR HIGHLIGHT, MUCH OF IT FROM THE
HIMALAYA, MAKING A VISIT RATHER LIKE
STUMBLING INTO SOME HIDDEN TIBETAN
KINGDOM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LUSH APPLE
ORCHARDS AND BIJOU MOUNTAIN TOWNS OF
NORTHERN ITALY.
Hadid’s architecture is famous for its sleek parametric lines and
curves – demanded new construction techniques and materials,
detail was impressive – extra deep steps for ski boots, lockers for
including concrete panels too thin for steel reinforcement, so
ski gear – while the building is top-rated for energy efficiency, and
infused with carbon fibre instead. The endless variety of angles
access is provided via the existing ski lifts, keeping development to
means that no two pieces of concrete are the same, and all had to
a minimum. And instead of just creating a mass of earth and rubble
be made in Germany, transported to Kronplatz and assembled with
to dump back on top of the completed structure, the top 30cm of
the aid of a 3D computer model. The surface finish of the panels,
turf and soil – including the delicate Alpine grasses and flora which
polished and black, is more like marble than concrete, the edges
would otherwise take several years to re-establish themselves –
almost knife-like in places.
was carefully removed and set aside, and used for resurfacing the
I visited the site during construction in November 2014, in the
mound once the main construction work had been completed.
company of Andrea Del Frari of Skirama Kronplatz. The attention to
Kronplatz provides a captive audience, so to speak, with an
MMM Ripa
and hiking trails meander up among the slopes, cirques and passes
of the idyllic Stelvio National Park. Solda is the location of MMM
Ortles, the theme of which is the world of ice and glaciers. One
average of some 10 000 skiers per day in season, and provides a
display does a remarkably good job of conveying the staggering
welcome alternative to the more familiar restaurant and bar at the
force of an avalanche – poke your head through a little wooden
top of a ski lift. When facing the museum, the lifts and slopes are
window, into a confined space where you are confronted with
behind you, making it all seem (admittedly untested in season!)
footage (and the deafening sound) of it rocketing towards you head
remarkably remote and tranquil.
on, and simply erasing what looked like a sturdy wooden hut (rather
Northwest from Bolzano along the Adige Valley, where the road
heads towards the Reschenpass through a sea of apple orchards,
Juval Castle sits perched up a steep side valley. A shuttle bus takes
like it might belong to the window you’ve got your head through)
from the face of the planet.
Messner, who turned 70 towards the end of last year, describes
visitors part of the way up from the car park on the main road,
the museums as his legacy. A way to pass on something of a lifetime
following which there’s a short walk to the castle itself – home to
crammed with adventure and extreme experiences, the likes of
MMM Juval, and to Messner himself for several months of the year.
which, let’s face it, go way beyond what the vast majority of people
Ironically, the homely Juval is famously the place where Messner
could hope to experience for themselves, even in several lifetimes.
suffered one of his worst climbing accidents – climbing up to a
His fifteenth 8000er, he fittingly called them.
back window after leaving his keys at home, he fell, resulting in a
shattered heel. Just below the castle there’s a rustic inn and organic
For more information on the Messner Mountain Museum, visit
farm run by Messner, serving some delicious meals prepared from
www.messner-mountain-museum.it and www.mmmcorones.com.
local seasonal produce, from steaming plates of sauerkraut and
For information on South Tyrol, visit the website of the South
homemade sausages, to vast platters of local smoked ham and other
Tyrol Tourist Office www.suedtirol.info. There are frequent trains
antipasti.
to Bolzano from Verona (which has direct flights from the UK with
Travelling further west from MMM Juval brings you to Solda, a
Monarch www.monarch.co.uk and other airlines), as well as from
pretty little mountain town where yaks graze pastures in the shadow
Bolzano to Brunico; bus routes link Bolzano to MMM Juval and MMM
of the vast bulk of Mt Ortles – at 3905m the highest peak in the
Ortles. For further information on Stelvio National Park, see www.
Eastern Alps – their distinctive bells clanging in the mountain air,
stelviopark.bz.it.
GEAR GUIDE
Approach Shoes
for her
FROM HANGING OUT AT LOCAL CRAGS TO TACKLING BIG MOUNTAIN
SCRAMBLES, LUCY WALLACE AND DAVID LINTERN PUT APPROACH SHOES
TO THE TEST.
MERRELL WOMEN’S GRASSBOW SPORT GTX, £110
ANATOM V1 STONE ROAD, £85
More of a muscular walking shoe than a technical approach shoe, the V1 Stone road has
a fantastic all-terrain tread on the outsole - the best I’ve seen for this review - designed
to bite into mud, wet grass and gravel. It’s all pretty chunky however, so there is a distinct
loss of precision when scrambling, as all that tread feels somewhat squishy underfoot but this is not really what the shoe is designed for. The uppers are a nubuck/mesh
combination, with a Tri.aria waterproof membrane insert. It is
hardwearing, well-made and available at a very competitive
price. The fit is broad and comfortable, and could be
improved with a more sensitive lacing system.
■ www.anatomfootwear.co.uk
KEEN WOMEN’S DURAND LOW, £125
Very comfortable and chunky, but too broad and bulky for technical approach, this is more
of a walking and general-purpose outdoor shoe. The fit is very
generous, and it is hard to tighten the shoe, as the lacing
system doesn’t offer much adjustment. It copes well with
bad weather and boggy ground, aided by a beefy rubber
bumper and Keen.Dry waterproof membrane. It’s a
good option if you are on your feet all
day outdoors, and it is best suited to
easy trails and lowland walks.
■ www.keenfootwear.com
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If you prefer more of a lightweight running shoe style and fit, then this could be the shoe for you. The Grassbow has a supportive
platform for the heel, with lots of stability and shock absorbency, but plenty of room to flex at the front, allowing the joints to
spread out and do their job. The trade-off is a loss of precision when scrambling, but it works really well as an extremely light
hiking shoe, weighing just 283g each. On the outsole, leaf-shaped lugs get traction on gravel and rock, as well as mud and
wet grass. A Gore-Tex membrane helps to keep rain and puddles out. There are no tabs on the back for clipping
on to a harness, which limits its use as an approach shoe for climbers.
■ www.merrell.com
BEST BUY
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LA
SPORTIVA
BOULDER X, £100
When it comes to technical footwear, La Sportiva rarely
go wrong. I love these surefooted approach shoes.
Support and control come from an advanced lacing
system (a tad fiddly), running from the toe and up
around the ankle to lock the foot down when needed.
Happily this doesn’t compromise comfort; the shoe
has a soft padded cuff and tongue, good underfoot
cushioning and support for load carrying. These shoes
will tackle easy climbs as well as mountain trails. A
dotty tread with a climbing zone gives grip on rock, and
a wavy tread on the heel provides traction on loose
ground. Heavy-duty rubber wraps the toes, midfoot
and Achilles - not only does this protect the shoe from
rough rock - but also helps keep weather out - there is
no membrane, so it is not waterproof. This isn’t always
a bad thing - the suede uppers are very breathable,
perfect for keeping cool on sunny crags, but perhaps
not best suited to the average bog approach in the UK.
Nevertheless, I’ve stomped about in them on Scottish
footpaths over the winter quite happily with dry feet.
■ www.lasportiva.com
GEAR GUIDE
MAMMUT WOMEN’S REDBURN
LOW, £120
ASOLO WOMEN’S
JUMLA GV, £150
The Jumla is a really lovely solution to the boot/shoe
conundrum when walking into mountain crags. There
is a little bit more ankle support than you would expect
in a standard approach shoe, great for carrying a pack
full of heavy climbing gear through rough boggy
terrain, but this is still just about a nimble shoe rather
than a chunky boot, at 411g for a size 5. The midsole
is quite minimalist, with Antishock PU built in to the
heel but - there is a fair bit of flex, the plus side being
superb sensitivity and control on steep stuff. Top to
toe lacing ensures a precision fit, coupled with a funky
square dotty tread and climbing toe zone on the sticky
Vibram outsole. Waterproofing comes from a Gore-Tex
membrane. It is an excellent approach shoe that will
go from your local crag to the Black Cuillins without
breaking stride.
■ www.asolo.com
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EDITOR’S
CHOICE
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SALOMON
WOMEN’S
X ALP
GTX,
£145
The X Alp is
something a bit
different, a hybrid of a super lightweight mountain boot, combined
with ultra-minimalist walking shoe uppers. It really is all about the
sole unit, which is stiff and rugged and solid - the underfoot
protection is superb. The Salomon Contagrip outsole sports deep
lugs that perform on loose and grotty terrain, with a climbing zone
platform at the toe. A luxurious rubber rand wraps the foot from
toe to Achilles. Above this, by contrast, the fabric uppers are
flexible, dare I say it flimsy, with skinny drawstring laces and
minimal protection for the foot. A Gore-Tex membrane ensures
waterproofness. I quite like the way this shoe handles a variety of
terrain, but think it could be improved for steep ground with better
lacing - down to the toe for a neat, locked down fit. 410g each.
■ www.salomon.com
This is a neat and functional shoe in the technical approach style that does the job,
but doesn’t shine. The lacing system is reasonable, but does not extend far enough
for a precision fit. The outsole isn’t overly chunky, and provides good traction on a
variety of terrain, from wet rock to soggy grass. There is a
climbing zone at the toe for scrambling, a rubber rand at
the toe, and a Gore-Tex membrane for waterproofing.
An aggressive heel cup helps provide stability for
the Achilles. The fit is fairly asymmetric,
so try before you buy, as they
won’t suit all foot shapes.
■ www.mammut.ch
BERGHAUS WOMEN’S CUERRA
CUESTA GTX, £120
They have a lot going for them, and to my mind, are ‘almost there’ on the approach
shoe scale of excellence. I like the precision lacing that extends right down to the tip
of the toes. The midsole is the perfect combination of flex in the forefoot and
stability around the ankle, locking the heel in place. There is a Gore-Tex membrane
for waterproofing, and the whole package weighs under 800g for the pair. My only
gripe is with the outsole - which has a nod to the tried and tested dotty tread for
grip on rock, but the little geometric triangles that Berghaus use just don’t seem to
make enough contact to feel really solid when compared with
others in this test. The toe overhangs the ‘climbing zone’,
making it less effective for edging on small footholds,
only of concern if you rock climb in your trainers. For
general use on moderately technical ground they
feel comfortable, agile and tough.
■ www.berghaus.com
SCARPA WOMEN’S ZEN PRO,
£129.99
This funky looking approach shoe is comfortable and hardwearing, going easily from
crag to café, and standing up to daily wear in all sorts of situations. I’ve had this pair
on test for a while, and I can really recommend it as a walking shoe, simply for its
durability and comfort. As a technical approach shoe however, I’ve found it too
broad, and I can’t get the precision fit at the toes that I look for,
and similarly there is some heel lift - but it would be a
good option for someone with a wide forefoot. There
is no membrane, so it isn’t waterproof, but I’ve
never had wet feet from sploshing
through puddles in these, as the
suede uppers are very water
resistant. 800g for a pair.
■ www.scarpa.co.uk
GEAR GUIDE
Approach Shoes
for him
HANWAG APPROACH II, 550g £155
SCARPA ZEN PRO, 960g £129.99
Easily the most comfortable shoe on test, these are built a little like a rock shoe at the
front, with a trail-friendly back end. They are also sans waterproof membrane, which
instantly rockets them up my priority list as a multi-day option. Rand is low and toe only,
but the lacing system is simply excellent, as is usual on Scarpa shoes. These are heavier
than a lot of the competition, not that I noticed on the foot to be honest – I was too busy
luxuriating in the fit, which is superb. Although the toe tip does not have as much flat
rubber real estate as others here, there’s enough for easy scrambles and widely-spaced
studs elsewhere for gentler ground. The vibram rubber also feels a lot stickier than some
others here, which helps with grip on rock, if being a bit less durable on the trail. For low
cut approach shoes there’s a really usable amount of
lateral stiffness on the outside of the sole too, so
these are far being just spivy looking hiking
shoes. In fact, these were my favourites
until the Jumla’s.
■ www.scarpa.co.uk
ASOLO JUMLA GV,
465g £150
Superb footwear for scrambling and via ferrata,
these are the only ‘boot’ in the test. Again,
another comfy fit straight from the box; these are
longer and thinner, but still fit my wide monkey
feet with ease. The toe is fairly precise, aided
by slightly asymmetrical lacing, and the sole is
studded on the heel and ball with a flat rubber
toe, which works well when edging on easier
scrambles. A good, sticky and grippy vibram
sole provides a medium level of support, with
some flexibility and feedback from the ground,
and the extra ankle support without the weight
and bulk of a full leather boot can be of huge
benefit on talus and scree. The rand is a little low
for my preference, and runs around the front of
the boot only. Water resistance is provided by
Gore-Tex… although there is the matter of that
big hole where your foot goes. I liked these, a lot.
If they made them without the Gore-Tex liner, I’d
be stockpiling as a summer Alps and Pyrenees
shoe.
■ www.asolo.com/en
EDITOR’S
CHOICE
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These very nearly won the ‘Editor’s Choice’ rosette of loveliness – almost, but not quite.
Among fierce competition, these stood out for me because of the combination of a
precise toe and walking comfort. The dense rubber rand is usefully high and runs right
around the shoe, and flat rubber at the front of the sole means great positioning. The
vibram sole is heavily studded and aggressively grippy at the ball and heel sections, and
offers just the right mix of flexibility and lateral support on the sole of the foot. There’s a
fair amount of heel cushioning, with a shock absorber built in. The sole, although stiff
when edging, seems to ‘rock’ when walking, making these really comfortable for long
approaches and not just a techie fit. What didn’t work so well for
me was the Gore-Tex liner (I’m fairly realistic about
waterproofing in shoes!) and, more importantly, the fit. I
couldn’t seem to adjust the lacing to prevent heel rise,
despite a comfy memory foam in-sole. But if the fit
works for you these offer an outstanding
amount of support and structure
for hiking and scrambling.
■ www.hanwag.com
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GEAR GUIDE
A really usable and comfortable upper on
these shoes, which are clearly aimed at
scrambles and easier climbing. The rand
is dense rubber which wraps around
both toe and heel, and the
lacing is low to the toe.
A good, precise
fit is possible
despite the
slightly longer,
thinner Italian fit.
Edging is this shoe’s forte, due to a very stiff two part sole unit – the
outsole is vibram with a usable amount of stickiness, and the midsole is
die cut EVA. I wasn’t so keen on the two part approach, as it made
feedback through the sole difficult to read. I imagine this level of
stiffness will really work for some, but for me, these felt almost like
office shoes equipped with a rubber bumper. However, they are small on
the foot, lightweight and low profile, which means they are a good,
viable option for people carrying rock shoes or mountaineering boots in.
■ www.aku.it/en
ANATOM V1 TRAIL EX
VENTIA, 895g £60
Not for the first time are these getting a ‘Best
Buy’ award, and rightly so. As the ‘trail’ in
the title suggests, a slightly less
technical shoe
than some of
the others in
this test, but at
this price these
are really excellent,
especially if you aren’t planning
on too much high-in-the-grade stuff. They
BEST BUY
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up with mud and sweat, which makes them
doubly useful in my book. There’s a good amount
of cushioning and support here, which makes for a
supremely comfortable shoe straight from the box, but will stay wet
for longer in a downpour. I found these surprisingly grippy on mud,
and less so on slimy rock. Most surprising was the toe, which was fairly
precise and structured, although there is less protection in the toe box
than in others here, so more demanding terrain could mean sore digits
at the end of a long day. The rand is toe only. All that said, amazing
value, and I’d have no issue wearing these for a three season hillbagging weekender, where breathability and comfort were of paramount
importance.
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AKU ROCK II GTX, 420g £165
■ www.anatomfootwear.co.uk/
BERGHAUS CUERRA CUASTA
GTX, 877g £120
MERRELL CAPRA SPORT
GTX £125
I don’t have the weight of these, but they are certainly one of the
lightest on test. Not a hugely technical shoe, being quite flexible and
bendy they are useful for general hiking and basic rocky ground. On
the plus side, the vibram sole is very soft and grippy, with deep,
widely spaced studs. Lacing doesn’t run particularly low, but certainly
works well enough for a hiking shoe. The same is true of the rand,
which is low at the toe but offers enough protection on easier ground.
There’s not much flat surface to edge on, and no lateral stiffness to
speak of, but that lack of apparent structure does make for a hugely
comfortable fit straight from the box. There was no break in time at
all, and the heel cup fit, cushioning and protection is especially good.
I found the Gore-Tex liner to be a touch less breathable than some
others here, but otherwise these are a good option for all day walks
and hikes on mixed terrain.
■ www.merrell.com/UK/en_GB/home
This is a low profile walking, scrambling and easy
climbing shoe – in a way it’s probably the best
compromise here for all three of those
activities in balance. Apparently
there’s a three part
midsole at work here,
although it feels very
much like one shoe,
not three. The vibram is
studded, and the toe is
precise enough. These are petite
enough on the foot to even manage a bit of smearing and edging, although
the sole could use a bit more grip. The rand is a bit underwhelming and toe
only (with a bumper at the back), but has proved durable. Lacing is thin and
isn’t the most comfy, but it is precise and runs to the toes. Water ‘proofing’
by Gore-Tex. These have been fine for slacker trail runs as well as easy, rocky
muckabouts. I found them a versatile all-rounder, and like the Aku, small
enough to use as a second pair when mountaineering boots are carried in to
base camp.
■ www.berghaus.com/
GEAR GUIDE
GPS devices
FROM SIMPLE NAVIGATION AIDS TO POWERFUL TRAINING TOOLS, LUCY
WALLACE PUTS FOUR VERY DIFFERENT GPS UNITS THROUGH THEIR PACES.
SATMAP ACTIVE 12 GB EDITION (UK
OS 1:50K MAPPING) £450
EDITOR’S
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This is a workhorse GPS that is a great option for someone expecting to get a lot of
CHOICE
heavy use from their device, especially in a professional or mountain rescue setting.
Satmap GPS units are relatively bulky, but the superb 3.5” high-resolution screen takes
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up a big part of this, which is large and easy to see, even in bad light. The Active 12 has
seen some big improvements on the older Active 10, including a Bluetooth facility (to talk to
HR band or cadence sensor), barometric altimeter, and I’ve noticed an overall enhancement to the sensitivity,
speed and performance when navigating. Peer to peer sharing allows routes and waypoints to be exchanged
between units, great for team data sharing in the field. Battery life is pretty good – it will chug along happily all
day in cold weather. It can be charged via the USB cable supplied, economical if you expect to use it a lot, and it
also comes with a battery pack for Lithium AAA batteries if you are away from a power source for a while. The one
drawback to this GPS is that the operating system is frustratingly complex, with endless nesting menus, none of
which seem intuitive on first use, plus lots and lots of buttons. This is not a gadget that can be switched on and used
straight out of the box. The package is pricey, but comes with Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 maps for the whole of the UK.
The bright screen, coupled with button controls that are designed to be glove-friendly, make this a superb choice for use in
foul weather, especially in winter, when it would definitely be my first choice of GPS unit. Weight 200g. ■ satmap.com
GARMIN ETREX 20 (UNIT ONLY) £169.99
I specifically requested the Etrex 20 from Garmin to test, as on paper it looked like exactly the kind of device
that I would choose for myself to have in the bag for emergency use (I’m a paper map and compass kind of a
gal). It did not disappoint. Powerful, lightweight, waterproof and easy to operate, it has all the basic features of
a modern GPS - including paperless geocaching, routes, waypoints and tracks, LCD display and USB interface.
It runs on a pair of AA Lithium batteries, and I found the advertised 25 hours of battery life to be fairly
accurate. The screen is quite small at 1.7” x 1.4”, but the plus side is the compact size of the overall device. I
like the fact that it doesn’t depend on a touchscreen - it is easy to operate in gloves, with buttons on the side
and a toggle select button, plus it is small enough to slip into a pocket. Garmin track GPS and Russian
GLONASS satellites, and the results are very swift satellite locking and noticeably enhanced precision when
navigating. The PC interface is simple to operate, and routes and tracks can be shared easily via Garmin
Connect, but this isn’t an all-singing, all-dancing gadget; if you want Bluetooth add-ons and extra connectivity,
then look elsewhere. It comes with topographical maps, although outdoor users will have to purchase Garmin’s
OS licensed mapping separately, which is where the downside comes in, as this is very expensive; Garmin GB
1:50K full coverage mapping will set you back a hefty £199.99, more than the cost of the GPS itself. It also
doesn’t include an SD memory card - and has only 1.7GB of internal memory. With these extra costs, it no
longer looks like such a bargain - but what you are paying for is impressive simplicity - in a neat and reliable
GPS that doesn’t weigh you down. Weight 147g.
■ www.garmin.com
GEAR GUIDE
SUUNTO AMBIT 3 PEAK (HR BELT NOT INCLUDED)
£450
MEMORY MAP ANDROID GPS SEALS
(UK OS 1:50K MAPPING) TX3 £299
np
rom
ag.com
I’ve been lukewarm about smartwatches in the past, but this clever little wrist-top device (I’m reluctant to
call it merely a watch) is great fun. It has an eye-popping array of features - too many to list (but I will
try), including: digital compass, barometric altimeter, daily activity tracking (via a built-in self
calibrating sensor), Bluetooth Smart for HR band or other external sensors, smartphone syncing (via
the Suunto Movescount app), PC/Mac interface, a whole host of training programs and
performance analysis, plus of course, GPS tracking and navigation… As you would hope, it is very
simple to get a grid reference, but the system will also store up to 250 POIs, and has a trackback
facility. However, unlike the larger units reviewed here, it isn’t possible to load maps, so in reality
it has relatively limited applications as an outdoor navigation aid, beyond the ‘emergency grid
ref’. It does have a Go-to function, using pre-programmed waypoints (uploaded from the route
planner on the Movescount website). Distance covered can also be tracked using the exercise
function, which can be set to a range of activities, for example; swim, run, bike, and trek. As a training
aid, it’s like wearing a sports scientist on your wrist. Considering the enormous depth of functionality, it
is also pretty simple to operate the basic features - switching between Logbook, Navigation, Exercise and
Displays views - the latter being where you can select information settings and also bring up tools such as the
compass and altimeter. The device is charged via a USB cable, and a full charge will easily cover a day of
intensive use. In basic watch mode, Suunto say it should run for up to 200 hours. And yes, it also tells the time.
Weight 89g. ■ www.suunto.com
If you have ever destroyed an expensive smartphone in the outdoors, then you
BEST BUY
i
will appreciate this rugged and waterproof GPS unit with Android smartphone
ta
www.moun
technology. As a GPS, it is a user-friendly little device with a bright 3.5” touchscreen
that works even when damp (although touchscreens are not so handy with gloves on).
The software is logical and doesn’t take much research to negotiate your way through the
various modes and functions. As you would expect, it has ‘Go-to’ navigation, and the 8GB Micro SD card is
included for storing waypoints, tracks and routes. Additional features that enhance it as a GPS include
Bluetooth and preloaded maps. It is compatible with, and includes, Memory Map software. This allows you to
plan routes, print maps and share your adventures, as well as transfer routes, tracks and waypoints to your PC.
Battery life is mostly good - the removable Lithium battery stood up to two days of intensive use as long as I
didn’t get too enthusiastic with the 5MP camera - which quickly eats into the battery. It also has a compass
and a barometric altimeter. It’s a bit of a cumbersome smartphone however. The technology savvy will find it
bordering on old fashioned, and certainly less intuitive than leading smartphone models. Nevertheless, it is
possible to access thousands of apps via the Android operating system, and send or receive data and calls via
3G, including webpages, emails and messaging. The unit has come down in price to perhaps coincide with the
launch of the TX4 - at this price, with 1:50,000 OS maps included, it is superb value, (even more so if you take up
Memory Map’s current £50 discount offer, when you trade in your old model). Weight 207g.
■ www.memory-map.co.uk
GEAR GUIDE
Bivis and Shelters
CONFIRMED TARP ADDICT DAVID LINTERN TAKES A MINIMAL LOOK AT
MINIMAL SLEEPING OPTIONS.
THE THEORY WORKS Rii SHELTER £140
On paper, this looks great: tough silnylon
modular ‘elements’ that zip together in
multiples dependent on size of
expedition, the ability to use the side walls
as snow valances, in a more traditional
mode with approx one foot high vertical
walls, or down to the ground under a
groundsheet for wet conditions. Once up,
the version I tested provides a good deal
of room for two people with the vertical
walls up, and as expected, in ‘wet mode’ the sides drop a little and the living space is reduced.
The modularity means there are a lot of components; it’s not light by modern tarp standards at
around 1570g, but once I figured out the configuration I was supposed to use for an Rii setup, the
pitch was straightforward enough, and a good degree of tension was achieved. The shelter is
supported by walking poles and a fabric ‘pole union’ to join them handle-to-handle, but in high
winds I’d be concerned about the leverage here. The rings at the top of each ‘element’ require
you use the pole with the point upwards, so using the poles handles up, with a blind section of
joiner in between is ruled out. Second, the rain cover cinches down on top with Velcro, but in
serious weather I’d want some way of making that more secure. The shelter worked well enough
in the benign conditions I used it in and I suffered no issues. In theory, yes, this does work: in
practice I’d be nervous about relying on it in more typical UK mountain weather conditions.
■ www.thetheoryworks.com
SNUGPACK BIVVI £65
A little heavier than the Moonlight, this weighs in at about 340gms. It’s a good deal simpler too
– a basic sleeping bag liner and draw cord closure – no more, no less. Again, I’ve had this out over
the winter and it’s kept my bag dry, so the heavy duty ‘Paratex Dry’ fabric is 100% waterproof
and all seams are taped. It’s designed to house you and the bag only – there’s not a great deal of
room for a mat or anything else inside, so you’ll need to have the mat under both you and the
bivi. I found this to be less breathable than the Moonlight, suffering a good deal of condensation
around the head (where the hot, wet air is, and where temperature differential between inside
and outside is lower, meaning that the PU coating doesn’t transfer vapour as effectively) although it is a good deal cheaper. The draw cord closure does mean you can seal up the head
against rain a little more, although the manufacturers do warn against that
due to suffocation – again the solution would be to turn the bag
around with the opening facing the ground. This
is a budget option that will keep you
dry in a pinch for a night or two,
but I’d prefer not to use it as part
of my regular sleep system.
■ www.snugpak.com
TERRA NOVA MOONLIGHT BIVI
£100
The Moonlight is
certainly minimal at just
over 200gms, but is fully
tape-seamed, and allowed me to endure a
positively testing winter night after Christmas in
relative comfort – it was one of the items I used
that night which didn’t fail! It’s a good size inside,
and light enough not to compress a down bag too
much, even with a sleeping pad inside – although
if you use a fat mattress you’ll have less room. A
fairly ‘half moon foot’ area too. The main body of
this is definitely waterproof, and had no problem
fending off the elements, even when they
encroached on. Sensibly, there’s a net screen
around the face and a zip closure and draw cord,
so this is an option for summer in the Highlands
too, at least if you’re a lightweight masochist. Bear
in mind though, that the netting means the bag
can’t be completely sealed – not that any bivi
should be, but if you use this on its own and it
rains, your face will get wet unless you turn the
bag upside down. Unlike some water resistantonly models, there’s no zip down the side, and so
you do need to ‘shimmy’ in and out. Breathability
– yes, there was condensation around the head
from breath, but it wasn’t a major problem, and
I’ve suffered worse in other bags. This is
well-designed, light and very protective.
■ www.terra-nova.co.uk
GEAR GUIDE
Cutting Edge
LUCY WALLACE AND TOM HUTTON TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE
PRODUCTS LEADING THE WAY THIS SEASON.
THERM-A-REST EVOLITE
MATTRESS £100
RAB NEO GUIDE
JACKET £300
Therm-A-Rest have blazed the trail in recent lightweight sleeping pad
innovations, but until now the revolution has not touched traditional
self-inflating mattress designs. Enter the EvoLite, a lightweight mat with
foam insert that aids self-inflation. Size Regular (51 x 183cm) weighs 430g,
which is only 100g lighter than the lightest of Therm-A-Rest’s cutting-edge
NeoAir Xlite, the lightest in their series. The EvoLite doesn’t require lots of
huff and puff to inflate, lofting of its own accord in a few minutes, although
it usually requires a little top-up to reach its full, luxurious 5cm depth. The
foam provides a stable and comfortable base, with a lot less of the creaking
and wobbliness that plagues over-inflated air mattresses. The foam will
also provide a modicum of comfort, should you suffer a
puncture that you are not able to fix immediately. All
this comfort adds to the bulk; the packed size is
20x13 m, so this isn’t the best option available if
you want to save space as well as weight.
However, if you can find the room in your
bag, this is a great compromise of
comfort, durability and weight
- ideal for overland
expeditions, for example. LW
■ www.thermarest.com
There’s something wonderfully
reassuring about the new Polartech
Neoshell fabric. As waterproofs have
generally got lighter, they have also
become more delicate – fine when
they spend most of the day in the
pack; but when you spend a lot of
days working as a leader in the
rocky and frequently wet environs
of Snowdonia, there are obvious
drawbacks. The other great thing
about this fabric is the breathability.
And while I can’t measure it in a
laboratory, I know how much I sweat as I push hard uphill, yet I’ve not been
experiencing the wetness I would expect. The downside to the tougher
fabric is the weight and bulk – all outdoor gear is a compromise. Featureswise the Neo Guide is spot-on for me: a superb hood (and it’s not
distractingly crinkly either); two cavernous Napoleon pockets that aren’t
obstructed by a pack; Velcro at the cuffs and a draw cord at the hem. Two
lengthy underarm vents make it possible to spill a bit of heat when needed.
It also has a small, secure inside pocket and an elasticated mesh one. For
lightweight summer striding, the Neo Guide might be a bit much; but for
year-round work outdoors, it’s about perfect, and will last long enough to
justify the £300. ■ rab.uk.com/
PRIMUS WINTER GAS 230g £6.75
This winter I’ve been trying out an innovative new gas canister designed to give maximum burn efficiency down to
temperatures of –22 °C. At low temperatures, the evaporation process by which liquid propane/isobutene becomes
gas is hindered, with the cartridge losing pressure as the gas is burned. This in turn reduces the power of the stove,
increasing boil time. If you have struggled to get an efficient burn in cold temperatures out of a cartridge that feels as
though it still has plenty of gas to go, you will appreciate the problem of this drop-off in efficiency. Primus has
introduced Vapour Mesh; a paper lining that absorbs the gas in its liquid state, and increases the surface area for the
evaporation process. This helps to maintain the pressure in the canister as the gas is burned away. Primus says that
after 60 minutes of cooking, a Winter Gas cartridge is nine per cent more powerful than an ordinary one; after 120
minutes, this advantage increases to 15 per cent. On test, towards the end of the cartridge, this difference was certainly
noticeable - although I’m a bit of a miser who likes to squeeze every last drop out of my gas that I can, so I did also eventually resort to the traditional
‘shuggle’ method to speed up boil time (effective, but not recommended for obvious reasons). Another good way to improve the efficiency of your gas on
cold mornings is to keep it warm in the bottom of your sleeping bag at night. I even pop mine in a little modified insulation sock during the day. LW
■ www.primus.eu
TRIED AND TESTED
Tried &
Tested
CHANTELLE KELLY
CAUGHT UP WITH
STEVE MCCLURE, ONE
OF THE UK’S TOP
PROFESSIONAL ROCK
CLIMBERS, FOR HIS
INSPIRATION AND KIT
LIST.
CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?
I was brought up on Teeside, but legged it to
Sheffield for the great climbing scene. I’ve always
been a climber; brought up by two keen climbing
parents, we were out all the time. My first routes
were before I could walk! Climbing and the
outdoors is part of who I am. I love the whole
package; the scenery, the weather, the banter
with mates, the moving over stone, travel, the
whole lot. I started more performance orientated
climbing when I was about 25, a late start, but it
was the perfect time for me. It’s been a
rollercoaster since then, having climbed some of
the hardest routes anywhere and making a career
out of my passion.
IS THERE A PARTICULAR BRAND YOU ALWAYS
USE, OR WOULD RECOMMEND?
I’m lucky to be involved with what I think are the
best kit manufacturers in the world. I’m
supported and work on behalf of Petzl, Beal, 5.10
and Marmot. Sponsorship has never been a major
part of my life, and so I’ve been in a position to
use only what I really believe is the very best.
WHAT PIECE OF KIT DO YOU USE THE MOST?
I’ve got a few Marmot powerstretch fleeces that
are simply amazing for route-setting, climbing,
cycling - pretty much anything. They are
lightweight, quick drying, comfy, and absolutely
indestructible - which is why I’ve still got them,
even though they are a good few years old and
I’ve put them through hell! I’ve been gobsmacked
at the wear resistance of Marmot clothes.
WHAT IS ESSENTIAL TO YOU IN REGARDS TO
EQUIPMENT?
Quality and function. I’m an engineer, so poor
design gets noticed. I’d rather pay more for
something high quality that does the job well
than suffer with inferior products. Simple
products that get the job done are what I look for.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR CHOOSING
QUALITY CLIMBING ROPES?
Not all ropes are the same. People spend so
much time researching equipment for safety,
wear rate, durability and weight, and then choose
their rope simply on price - with no knowledge of
its characteristics or performance. Of all the
safety products we use, the rope is THE number
one bit of kit we rely on.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING
CLIMBING SHOES?
It’s all about fit. Decide how snug the shoe needs
to be: A beginner will wear their shoe like a street
shoe, but an expert will wear it like a ballet
dancer, with a tight fit around the whole foot. A
tight fit is essential for standing on tiny footholds,
but should still feel comfortable. However, all
brands have a different fit. I have been wearing
5.10 shoes for over 20 years now and rate them
as totally cutting-edge. They fit my feet like they
were designed with only me in mind. But
regardless of what the stars wear, or what friends
recommend, no one can climb hard when their
feet are in agony!
For more information about
Steve McClure, visit his
website: www.steve-mcclure.
com, or visit his Facebook:
www.facebook.com/stemcclure
We’ve got the
outdoors covered
ONLINE - PRINT - DIGITAL - SOCIAL

break the bank, not your neck

Transcription

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