Unjustifiable Risk?. Simon Thompson

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      UNJUSTIFIABLE RISK?

      THE STORY OF BRITISH CLIMBING

      UNJUSTIFIABLE RISK?

      THE STORY OF BRITISH CLIMBING

      Simon Thompson

      CICERONE

      2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY

      www.cicerone.co.uk

      For Fiona

      ‘Kiss the joy as it flies...’

      Jim Perrin

      © Simon Thompson 2010, 2012

      Hardback 2010

      ISBN 978 1 85284 627 5

      Paperback 2012

      ISBN 978 1 85284 679 4

      The author has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

      Front cover: Lenzspitze ridge, Switzerland (John Cleare)

      Back cover: Cenotaph Corner, Snowdonia (John Cleare)

      CONTENTS

       ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

       CHAPTER 2 BEFORE 1854: IN SEARCH OF THE SUBLIME

       From gloom to glory

       Aesthetes and heroes

       CHAPTER 3 1854–65: A CONSCIOUS DIVINITY

       CHAPTER 4 1865–1914: GENTLEMEN AND GYMNASTS

       The Alps

       The Lake District

       North Wales

       Scotland

       Outcrops

       The Greater Ranges

       CHAPTER 5 1914–39: ORGANISED COWARDICE

       The Lake District

       North Wales

       Scotland

       Outcrops

       The Alps

       The Greater Ranges

       CHAPTER 6 1939–70: HARD MEN IN AN AFFLUENT SOCIETY

       North Wales

       The Lake District

       Scotland

       Outcrops

       The Alps

       The Greater Ranges

       CHAPTER 7 AFTER 1970: REINVENTING THE IMPOSSIBLE

       Rock climbing

       Mountaineering

       CHAPTER 8 BECAUSE IT’S THERE?

       NOTES

       APPENDIX I A NOTE ON GRADES

       APPENDIX II GLOSSARY OF CLIMBING TERMS

       SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      From the moment I set out to write the story of British climbing, I have been guided along the way by generations of climbers who have written about their own exploits, as well as the many outstanding biographers and historians who have recorded and interpreted the actions of others. All of the authors listed in the Bibliography have contributed something to this book, but I am particularly indebted to Trevor Braham, Ronald Clark, Alan Hankinson, Peter Hansen, Trevor Jones, Arnold Lunn, Jim Perrin, Ted Pyatt, Robert Macfarlane, Kenneth Mason, Geoff Milburn, Jan Morris, Marjorie Nicolson, Simon Schama, Walt Unsworth, Colin Wells and Ken Wilson.

      Apart from Colin Wells’ excellent ‘sampler’, A Brief History of British Mountaineering (2001), produced for the Mountain Heritage Trust, it is many years since anybody has attempted to compress nearly 200 years of British rock climbing and mountaineering history into a single book. Inevitably, I have included many of the classic lines, for the benefit of those who may be exploring the history of climbing for the first time, but I hope that even the most seasoned veteran of mountain literature will discover one or two new variants here.

      Throughout the book I have made extensive use of quotations to try to capture the spirit of the times in which the events I have described took place. I am very grateful to the following publishers and authors for their kind permission to reproduce extracts from the works detailed in the Notes: Bâton Wicks; the estate of Peter Boardman; Canongate Books; Chris Bonington; Constable & Robinson; Dennis Gray; Peter Hansen; Hodder & Stoughton; The Mountaineers Books; Orion Publishing; Jim Perrin; Random House Group; The Scottish Mountaineering Trust; the estate of Joe Tasker; Neil Wilson Publishing; and Walt Unsworth. Unsuccessful attempts were made to trace the copyright holders of a number of

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