2012 newsletter - The Alpine Ski Club

ASC
NEWS
AUTUMN 2012
Skiing At The
Bottom Of
The World
Photo: Dave Smith
Tours in Remote Regions
Skiing Beyond the Uttermost Part
of the Earth
The team assembled in Ushuaia, self-proclaimed capital of Las Malvinas, and the
‘Chamonix’ of the Antarctic sailing world,
awash with famous sailing boats and their
illustrious captains. Our home for the next
few weeks was to be Spirit of Sydney,
originally built as a solo round-the-world
sailing yacht, now converted for visitors to
Antarctica, and crewed by Cath and Darrell
- a most excellent and confident sailing
team with many years of experience in
Antarctic waters.
Cierva Cove. Photo: Toby Johnson
We managed to stow ourselves and all
our mountaineering gear into the nooks
and crannies of Spirit of Sydney and then
waited … for a favourable weather
window and the vagaries of the Argentine
immigration department. The infamous
Drake Passage between Cape Horn and
Antarctica has a fearsome reputation for
severe weather, but really it’s all in the
A tale of ski touring in
Antarctica
timing. Get it right and the crossing can
be a pussy cat, but if not then it can
develop into the roaring lion.
On 29th December, we headed off
down the Beagle channel anxious to get
going and full of anticipation of the adventures to come. On entering the Drake
Passage, we were caught by the lion’s
breath in a force-10 storm and for the first
day the non-sailors amongst us were barely
able to function, suffering from the mal de
mer and generally remaining horizontal;
but in time the seas calmed, the sailing
became relatively benign and we were all
taking our places in the unforgiving schedule of 3 hours on watch and 6 hours off.
While on watch, the auto-pilot and skippers did much of the work requiring just
occasional flurries of activity from the
part-time crew, trimming sails, helping in
the galley and otherwise watching the vast
immensity of the sea, punctuated with
sightings of albatrosses, petrels and dolphins … and did I mention the sea.
We made landfall on early morning of
3rd Jan, and were totally enchanted by the
our first observations of the towering ice
cliffs of the Antarctic coast as we sailed
through breath-taking channels to reach
the ex-British Antarctic base, and now
museum, at Port Lockroy on Wiencke
Island.
3
Tours in Remote Regions - Antarctica
Perfect touring conditions. Photo: Dave Smith
After 4 ½ days at sea, the opportunity to
get onto the snow was compelling, so we
were soon heading ashore to climb Jabet
peak, a small, regularly visited 600m peak
behind Port Lockroy. The skiing gear was
loaded into the zodiac - the inflatable boat
which was our vital link with the shore –
taking several trips to the rocky landing
stage at the base of a steep angled glacial
ramp. Jabet proved a delightful climb with
an airy summit ridge followed by a fine ski
descent – the first of the season.
Our original plan was to explore the
southerly part of the peninsula in the area
of Marguerite Bay. But unseasonal conditions this winter meant that the sea-ice on
the western edge of the peninsula had not
been flushed out by the springtime easterly
storms and all to the south was still
encased in ice and inaccessible by boat.
The expertise and extensive knowledge of
our team Leader, Phil Wickens, proved
invaluable in coming up with a brilliant
plan B that saw us exploring two areas –
first Anvers Island and then a region on
the mainland around Cierva Cove in the
4
north. In between we had the opportunity of some day tours directly from the
boat, first Mt Banck on a rather grey and
snowy day and then Bruce Island; what
a contrast – a perfect 30 degree snow
slope on a perfect blue-sky day.
With a forecast of good weather to
come, we took 6-days of provisions and
climbed up onto the Marr Ice Piedmont
on Anvers Island at Access Point, then
headed north-east towards the significant
Menelaus Ridge leading up to the dominant peaks above 2500m, Mt Agamenon
and Mt Francais; our potential goals for
the trip. For many days the promised clear
weather was denied us. If not holed up in
the tent, we were trudging by compassbearing alone in white-out conditions
when the sky and the ice plateau merged.
Our kit was divided between a rucksack
and an ingenious pulk created from a large
waterproof bag dragged along the snow
using an extensible cord enshrouded in
plastic plumbing pipe, which gave the
whole system sufficient stability to handle
gentle gradients.
Just when all seemed doomed to fail, the
winds dropped, the skies cleared and a
magical panorama of Mt Agamenon and
the surrounding peaks revealed itself. It
was now the evening of our 5th day out
and in this land of midnight sun we left
camp at 9pm, filled with much excitement.
Our route took us up a gentle rising
traverse, easily skirting some sizeable crevasses, up onto the shoulder of the main
ridge, and then continuing on skis apart
Tours in Remote Regions - Antarctica
from a short section of steepness requiring
crampons. We reached the summit of
Agamemnon just as the sun rose after a
brief dip below the horizon, bathing us in
glorious colour and creating a magnificent
shadow of the whole mountain projected
onto the ice field below. It was now cold,
very, very cold and below us was 1700m
of inviting soft powdery snow … a thoroughly deserved reward. Our decision not
to continue for a
few more kilometres to Mt Francais
proved a prudent
one as the next
storm clouds had
reached the mountain top by the time
we had reached
camp at 6am.
After a brief sleep,
we de-camped and
set off for the
27km return to the
coast.
After days spent Photo: David Williams
in crowded tents,
eating freeze-dried rations, there was much
pleasure in the sumptuous feast of proper
food that greeted us on board the boat and
the soft confines of our bunks. Rest and
recreation continued with visits to the US
scientific base at Palmer Station and
sojourns at Paradise Bay and Enterprise
Bay, with sea kayaking explorations of the
local wildlife.
For our second big tour, into the mountains from Cierva Cove we provisioned for
10 days, as well as leaving the usual emergency barrel on the shore. By now, the
generally consistent poor weather of the
first half of the trip was changing and we
had been enjoying a few days of clear
sunshine. The primary plan was to make
a base camp on the glacier at the foot of
Mt Cornu, two days inland. The inbound
route took us, without
incident, through a couple
of tricky crevasse fields in
the Breguet glacier and
during snatches of good
visibility we were able to
survey potential routes up
the array of unclimbed
peaks.
Despite yet another
white-out on the first
morning at base camp,
our fair weather returned
and we were soon heading
up a broad sinuous glacier
on the southern flank of
Mt Cornu; our problem
here being the intense summer sun, unencumbered by an ozone layer, which had us
stripped down to base layers and lathered
in the highest factor sun cream. Thank
goodness for the protection of the regular
afternoon valley mists that crept up the
glacier. Soon we reached an easy ridge that
led up onto the broad flat summit plateau
of Cornu at 1710m. Skiing from the top
most of the team returned directly to camp,
5
Tours in Remote Regions - Antarctica
while a few hardy souls took in another
prominent, unnamed adjacent peak taking
advantage of the long daylight hours.
For the next few days, the team set off
in various small groups exploring the
mountains around us – Mt Ader (1750m)
further up the valley; a rounded ~2300m
dome on the edge of the main spine of the
peninsula; and a smaller, but more technical 1510m peak that saw us struggling at
times through a commonly encountered
weak rime, which kept collapsing underfoot and gave precious little anchorage for
our snow stakes or ice axes. The team now
divided into two parties – one continuing
further up a side valley to explore a further
3 unnamed, unclimbed peaks (1 even
uncharted) on the southern side of the
glacier; while the other took in a small
All too soon it was time to depart, but
not before a visit to Deception Island – a
large caldera, still volcanically active and
home to a million or so chinstrap penguins
that live in the natural amphitheatre of
Bailey Head – the sights, the noise, the
smell, the countless photographs … all
part of a very different sort of ski touring
experience.
Roger Upton
Photo: Roger Upton
Life on board. Photo: Phil Wickens
skiable nunatak peak overlooking Cierva
Cove, before returning to the boat for
further sea explorations of the cove with
its bowling alley of ice-bergs and teeming
with wild life.
Many thanks to Eagle Ski Club for a
generous team grant; to First Ascent and
Expedition Foods for equipment and
provisions; to Alpine Ski Club for a
personal grant from the Memorial
Adventure Fund who made all this possible
for me; and finally to Cath Hew and Darrel
Day of the Spirit of Sydney.
6
s
The mountaineering team:
Phil Wickens (ASC), team leader
Andrew Collins
Steve Gould
Lucy Johnson
Toby Johnson
David Smith
Roger Upton (ASC)
David Williams
Very little skiing...
Former ASC president’s thoughts on climbing Mount Everest
There is a hidden downside to having
two of the world’s most desirable mountain guiding jobs. It is very difficult to find
time for any decent skiing. Most of us find
that work commitments get in the way of
our more ambitious holiday plans, and this
is no less true when the work involves
guiding in Antarctica for November,
December and January, and guiding on
Everest in April and May. It is true that
there is a brief window between the two
projects, but a combination of domestic
admin and pressure from my Everest
employer not to ‘break a leg’ seriously
restricts my ability to enjoy a few weeks
skiing in the mountains during February
and March.
“I really have done very little skiing for
ages” I told the persuasive editor of the
ASC newsletter “and certainly none that
would merit being written up for the ASC”
I added hoping to settle the matter. But he
was not to be put off by such claims and
countered with “write about what’s happening these days on Everest then”.
I usually keep a fairly low profile when
it comes to writing or talking about Everest. After more than a decade leading
Everest expeditions I have learnt that a
number of complex scenarios and variations play out each season. An accurate
and balanced picture of events rarely
reaches the outside world as the sober
voices are drowned out by the exaggerated
claims of excitable but inexperienced
climbers and sensationalist media reporting.
The number of climbers on Everest each
year is growing steadily. I had not really
taken much notice of this until I was asked
recently to give a talk about my seven
Everest expeditions. As I looked at Base
Camp pictures from 1999 and 2003 I
realised just how few tents there were then
compared to today. And of course in these
years there were many more people than
in the preceding decades. Until the last few
years Everest climbers have been split
between the north and South sides.
However the problems of operating expeditions in Tibet have grown recently and
many guide companies have transferred to
the South side for the greater
‘predictability’ offered.
There have been more than 6,000
ascents of Everest by approx 4,000 people.
The difference between the two figures is
explained mostly by sherpas who have
made multiple ascents plus a few guides
like myself. The total number of ascents
increases by about 500-600 per year, with
about 70-80% of these happening from
the South side of the mountain. I have
never counted the total number of people
in Base Camp on the Nepalese side of
Everest at the height of the climbing
7
Tours in Remote Regions - Thoughts on Everest
season (April/May) but it cannot be far
short of 1,000. This can probably be
broken down as 500 climbers, 400 climbing sherpas, plus 100 Base Camp support
staff. These numbers represent the greatest
concentration of climbers to be found
anywhere in the Himalayas during the
climbing season. The pioneers of Himalayan mountaineering in the first part of
the 20th Century could never have imag-
visitors and trekkers who now number
over 30,000 per year.
Taking a fairly detached view of these
developments, it is not unreasonable to
make comparisons between the development of the Alpine valleys since the start
of European mountaineering two centuries
ago and the changes in Nepal over the past
50 years. Balmat and Paccard would not
recognize the Chamonix valley today, nor
The daily commute to work on the Northern Line Photo David Hamilton
ined that the region would become so
popular and so accessible. It is the climbers
who usually grab the news headlines
whether in triumph or tragedy but the
greatest changes to the Everest region in
recent decades have been caused by casual
8
would Whymper feel very comfortable in
modern Zermatt. It is unlikely that the
wealthy citizens of these two towns would
exchange the comfortable living they now
make from tourism with the harsh agricultural labour of their forebears.
Tours in Remote Regions - Thoughts on Everest
Gazing into my crystal ball I will make a
prediction that within the next 50 years
(perhaps much sooner) the Chinese will
blast a rail tunnel to the summit of Everest
and build a hotel/restaurant complex on
top. Would the pioneers of Alpine climbing have predicted the building of the
Jungfraujoch railway, the construction of
which started 110 years after the first
ascent of Mont Blanc? Or the fact that Mt
Blanc is now climbed by more than 20,000
people each year? However this speculation is taking me far from the subject that
I know something about: climbing Everest
today.
Working as an expedition leader and
guide on Mt Everest is a frustrating experience. The available clothing and footwear
has improved massively in recent years,
oxygen equipment is lighter and more
reliable, there is a huge amount of accumulated knowledge about the route and
weather forecasting is now very good. Yet
despite this, numerous needless accidents
happen each year. Statistically the accident
rate is much lower than most media
reports suggest. In 2012 there were 11
fatalities out of approx 1000 people on the
mountain (750 South side and 250 North
side). These figures are only my estimates
and they may be out a bit, but they still give
a figure of 0.1% which is a lot lower than
most of the numbers that I see quoted.
The fatality rate among the well organised,
well resourced and well run expeditions is
much lower than this, perhaps as low as 1
in 500 or 1 in 1000.
The main frustrations of working on
Everest relate to the difficulty of getting
all the expeditions and all the climbers on
the mountain to contribute fairly and
equally to the communal tasks required to
prepare and maintain a safe route from
Base Camp to the summit. This has been
an ongoing issue for a few decades and in
some ways the situation is better than it
was, however increasing numbers of
climbers and expeditions constantly put
strains on systems developed for smaller
numbers. The Sagarmartha National Park
collect a fee from each climber attempting
Everest and use this money to purchase
ropes and ladders and pay wages to a team
of 6 sherpas who prepare and maintain the
route through the icefall to Camp 2 during
the climbing season. This works reasonably well. The provision of ropes, pitons,
ice screws, snow stakes, as well as manpower to transport these items to where
they are needed, and skilled labour to fix
them in place are matters for the various
expeditions to sort out amongst themselves. The larger commercial expeditions
undoubtedly contribute a disproportionate
amount of material and labour. Some of
the smaller or less well resourced teams
contribute what they can, but several try
to get by with doing very little and freeload
on the work done by others. This can lead
to tensions and ill feeling between teams
on the mountain.
All the bigger teams work well together
and do a good job preparing a safe route
to the summit and providing the bulk of
9
Tours in Remote Regions - Thoughts on Everest
Photo David Hamilton
medical and rescue resources on the
mountain. But ‘bargain basement’ expedition operators are able to offer lower prices
and are attracting growing numbers of
climbers. The price differences are significant: a full service expedition can cost
upwards of USD50,000, while a place on
a cheaper expedition can cost as little as
USD$30,000. These prices all include a
permit fee of USD$10,000 per person
charged by the Nepal government. As the
proportion of climbers choosing to join
the ‘cheap’ expeditions increases, safety
standards on the mountain will fall and
inevitably accidents will increase. Ironically
these ‘cheap’ expeditions are only able to
succeed because of the work done on the
mountain by the better resourced teams,
but as they drive down the market share
of the ‘expensive’ teams they will increasingly find themselves operating in a less
well organised and less safe environment.
This is why I predict that the accident
statistics on Everest will not be reduced
despite improved equipment and increased
knowledge.
David Hamilton
If, after reading this, you are still interested in Everest you can read my attempt to summarise the 2012
season at: http://www.highadventure.org.uk/everest-2012.html
Or look at the very comprehensive account from Everest commentator Alan Arnette at:
http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2012/05/30/everest-2012-season-recap-a-study-in-riskmanagement/
10
Tours in Remote Regions - Canada
Change of Plan:
Canada, May 2012
At least this year we got as far as Bella Coola,
two days drive north of Vancouver. In 2011,
roads and bridges had been washed out,
preventing us getting there. We hung around
for three days hoping for a half-decent
weather forecast to enable us to start a
fourteen day traverse of the Monarch Icefield – no such luck. The area has the
heaviest precipitation of British Columbia.
Plan B was to retreat to the Pantheon Range,
which reputedly has better weather at it lies
in the lee of the Waddington Range. With
twelve days food and fuel, Mike King helicoptered us in to an unnamed creek west of
Fenris Mt. We then had a steep 1,000m
climb to a col south of Fenris Mt and an even
steeper descent in breakable crusts and
seriously deteriorating weather to camp on
a shelf above the Radnarock Glacier.
The deteriorating weather developed into
a full blown storm that kept us tent-bound
for two days. The third day dawned clear
but with a lot of avalanche activity preventing safe travel. The next section of the
traverse described by John Baldwin ascends
a tributary of the Radnarock Glacier to the
south of Pegasus Mt. This route is now
threatened by seracs and avalanches off
Pegasus and we judged it too risky. Study of
the map showed that if we skied down the
Radnarock Valley, we could ascend another
glacier for 1100m to a col north of Pegagus
Mt and south of the Septentrion Spires but
we had no idea of the descent on the other
side.
In losing height to gain this other glacier,
Peter fell and damaged, what we thought at
the time, one finger which began to swell
immediately. It was late by the time we
crossed the col so dug a platform and
camped. Peter’s whole hand was now
swollen. The weather continued to hold
good and we had a pleasant ski down to
camp at tree line in Twist Creek, about 2km
short of Nivrana Pass. The swelling was
now up to Peter’s elbow and he was in a lot
of pain. Clearly our ministrations weren’t
working! We waited a day at the camp in the
hope of some improvement but decided it
was time to get him out. A short sat. phone
conversation and Mike came to pick us up
the next day.
After a misdiagnosis of an infection at
Tatler Lake, we got him to hospital in Vancouver where a surgeon diagnosed it as
severely torn tendons. You win some, you
lose some!
Stuart Gallagher
Photo: Stuart Gallagher
11
Tours in Remote Regions - Georgia
Northern Georgia Reconnaissance March 2012
Following an argument about the ski
tourism in the Caucasus, with Mr
Dimitry Ghivindadze, Finance Minster
of Georgia, I undertook a solo reconnaissance trip to assess the potential of
skiing in Svaneti region of Georgia.
I contacted Gia, a Georgian mountain
guide, who I had met in the 1990s
about the possibility of a trip to Mestia,
in upper Svaneti. He replied by email
that there was only one ski lift built so
far, and that no one he knew had been
skiing there. But he had been a trekking guide there in the summer and
thought it might be interesting to see
the potential of Mestia in winter.
Reaching Mestia is, in itself, something
of an adventure. At the time there was
no direct London-Tbilisi flight, and
most connections arrive around 3AM.
This does not allow enough time to catch
the overnight train to Zugdidi (which
leaves at 23.15 a more prosaic departure
time than the midnight train to Georgia.)
Gia was somewhat concerned when he
checked his ticket to find that he was on
coach number 9, despite the train only
being 8 coaches long. However, coach
number 9 was indeed the last carriage, we
never found out why; perhaps the Georgians, unlike the Chinese, consider the
number 8 unlucky.
The train arrived in Zugdidi at 8AM, and
we caught a Ford van up to Mestia, stop12
Photo: Bruce Packard
ping for breakfast of Khatchapuria
(Georgian bread like pizza, with cheese on
the inside of two layers of bread) at a
roadside cafe. Although the road into the
mountains is new, the journey still took 3
hours for 140KM, with many boulders and
evidence of landslides on the road, which
the driver had to swerve to avoid. Previously the journey had taken over 6 hours,
and before that there was no road access
to Mestia at all, meaning that, according to
my guide book, the inhabitants of Mestia
first saw the wheel in 1937.
Tours in Remote Regions - Georgia
Photo: Bruce Packard
The next day we got up from the guest
house. Unfortunately, when we arrived the
main chair lift was not working, and the
engineers were unsure when it would work.
This left us to get our ski legs on two drag
lifts a couple of hundred metres long. We
shared the slopes with the Georgian army
– plus there were a couple of bear cubs,
already the size of a large dog, who seemed
friendly and inquisitive. Whether they
would remain friendly as they grew into
adulthood was a question I leave to mountaineers returning to the region in future
years.
In the afternoon we walked into the
village to have a closer look around at the
Svan towers, for which Mestia is famous.
We found the museum of Michael Khergiani, who was from Mestia, and who Lord
Hunt, impressed by his tenacious rock
climbing style, had nick- named “tiger of
the rock”. By coincidence Khergiani
would have been 80 years old that day
(23rd March), and so a small group of
mountaineers had gathered at the museum
to celebrate his life, cut short by a rock
climbing accident in Italy in 1969. Gia
took the opportunity to ask the
mountaineers about good
routes for ski touring, and was
told that all slopes above the
tree line were liable to avalanche and were very unsafe.
The next day we set off on
the one safe route through the
the trees that had been recommended to us: a 45 minute walk
past Mestia’s airport (only operates when
the weather is good) and over the river
Mulkhura to a tarn over 2500m up in the
mountains near Mount Shaksagar, to the
North of Mestia. Just as we reached the
snowline, the border patrol stopped to ask
where we were going. Happy with our
route they allowed us to go on, but warned
us not to go up the valley toward the
Chaalat glacier and the Russian border.
Both avalanches, and Russian hostility,
made this dangerous. Starting at 10.30 we
followed a climbing mountain track
through the forest (passable by 4x4 in the
summer, but deep snow in winter) until
3pm when we turned back at 2400m.
The lift, still wasn’t working the next day.
So we put our skins on, and headed up
beneath the lift, through the trees. The
sun was shining and it was a pleasant tour,
our enjoyment at reaching the top after
two hours only slightly diminished by the
lift starting to work, and being joined by
the Georgian army and their French guide.
Gia spoke to the guide, who had not been
anywhere we had not been.
13
Tours in Remote Regions - Georgia
A tense debate followed that evening, moraine towards the base of the glacier.
with Gia suggesting the whole area was However at the top we decided the
unsuitable for ski touring, because no one moraine was too steep to climb down,
else had been anywhere and the local though there was probably a route that was
knowledge suggesting it was too danger- much more obvious in the summer.
Instead we
ous. I, on
turned back
the other
and skied
h a n d ,
through the
pointed out
forest to
if locals had
find a route
not been to
where the
the slopes
moraine
this time of
was
less
year, we
steep,
but
could not
the trees
take their
w e r e
assessment
thicker and
of risk at
harder
face value
w o r k .
and
we Gia and Mount Ushba top left. Photo: Bruce Packard
After this
should at
long
detour
we
climbed
up
the
valley floor,
least investigate for ourselves before
forming a conclusion. At one point, the with ten day old slab avalanches on our
spirit of Douglas Freshfield, the British right. These avalanches were large, but the
mountaineer who first climbed El'brus and valley was wide enough for them not to
pose a threat. We reached the bottom of
Kazbek in the 1860s, was invoked.
We set off at 8AM, walking with skis on the Chaalat glacier and decided that it was
the back of our rucksacks to the Mestiach- a good place to turn back, skiing down the
aala glacier, a 10 km walk to an iron bridge, valley following the glacial stream and
before putting skis on and following a listening to the dam builders’ blasting.
The following day to Mazeri, a village
summer path to the base of the glacier. As
we passed the border guard’s post a huge higher up in the mountains, towards the
Soviet era “Kraz” lorry pulled up. Instead base of the Ushba glacier. The welcome
of advising us to turn back, they offered was warm, though facilities basic. When
us a lift up to where a dam is being built. I asked for milk with my tea, I was told I
We crossed the bridge, and after a couple would need to wait until the evening when
of false starts headed up the glacial the cows had been milked. The 85 year
14
Tours in Remote Regions - Georgia
old great grandfather said that it had been
the longest lasting and coldest winter he
could remember. Hyperinflation having
wiped out his savings and the far from
generous Georgian pension system (c Eu
100 a month) meant the old man was still
working as a farm labourer.
Directly North was the Russian border
and beyond it El’brus,. But from Mazeri
(1680m) we headed east up a glacial
moraine to the Mestia pass via the abandoned village of Gul. We followed a route
up, steep and hard work in the sun. We
then followed a ridge up to 2700m with
Mount Ushba towering above us before
turning back with excellent skiing down to
the valley. And that was our last day of
skiing.
Our driver took us to Zugdidi, where we
parted ways. Gia was returning to Tbilisi.
I caught the Marshukta to Batumi, where
Stalin had once worked for the Rothschilds
at their oil refinery.
Batumi, in the muslim region of Adjarra,
itself is a pleasant resort, with the snow
capped mountains easily visible from the
stony beach. The port became Georgia’s
door to Europe, and foreigners, especially
the English, turned this backwater into a
pleasure town, with a seaside boulevard,
brothels, a casino and a cricket pitch. .
I met Pam, an American and her students who joined us in a café by the sea.
And there, I asked the question which I
had been longing to ask the Georgians, but
was worried how I broached a sensitive
subject. Like a huge mountain just over
the border, it was always there, if not
always in plain sight:
“What did the Georgians think of Stalin?”
Was it true that, as Sir Fitzroy Maclean
wrote, the Georgian church had been less
persecuted out of fear of offending his
religious mother? An uncomfortable
silence followed, and then a short answer,
that nonetheless said a lot.
“He did not come back for his own
mother’s funeral”.
Stalin, whose murderous “purges” are
so well known, was just as brutal towards
those closest to his heart. He was partly
responsible for his first wife’s death and
his second wife killed herself. The man
who had made a pact with Hitler, refused
to negotiate with the Nazis for a prisoner
exchange when they captured his own son,
Yakov. The people in the country of his
birth did not fare any better, as Stalin
appointed Beria to systematically wipe out
the Georgian intelligentsia and their children.
But to a Georgian, more than any of
these memorably evil deeds, the one that
says the most is:
“He did not come back for his own
mother’s funeral.”
Bruce Packard
15
ASC Meets
Odles-Geissler Dolomites 20-27 Jan 2012
A jolly party assembled in twilight at
the end of a snowy day in the hamlet of
Seres in Campilltal on the northern
flank of the Odles (Geisler) Dolomites
in South Tirol. We had driven up Gadertal (Val Badia) via San Martino on
increasingly snowed roads to Pensione
Odles, a farm at the head of the valley.
The snow, the first we had seen since
arriving in South Tirol more than a week
before, continued intermittently into the
following morning, delaying departure
for our first tour to mid-morning.
Eventually, as the sky lightened, and
the sun broke through, we skinned up
the Mühlenweg forest trail towards the
Fornates alm huts. A slow climb in
deep, soft new snow and very cold,
strong wind brought us with a lot of
effort, to Munt dla Crusc (Kreuzkogel)
Photo: Robert Borgerhoff Mulder
16
2300m (ascent 800m). We were accompanied the whole way by a huge,
cheerful, deep snow ‘swimming’ St
Bernard
farm
dog
called
‘Nebbia’(Foggy) - a good omen for a
‘Last of the Summer Wine’ team. The
descent in the upper part, was in heavy
deep, knee-wrecking snow but ended in
safe return to a roaring stove and
refreshment.
Next day we made a long steady ascent
westward, initially through the woods,
to the Munt de Villa hut (open weekends). From there the route, now rather
crusted, took us over Munt de Medalges
to the Munt de Fúrcia hut and ended
with a ski carry across wind-scoured
terrain to the summit of Sobutsch
2454m (ascent 950m) on the escarpment
facing north over Villnösstal, with great
views northward
to the Stubai and
Zillertal hills. The
descent on crust,
was tedious and at
times frustrating.
Robin, Nick and
Roger
sensibly
decided there was
more pleasure to
be had from premature abandonment and an early
ASC Meets
return to coffee and sticky buns at Munt
de Fúrcia.
Next, we drove to Antermëia
(Untermoi) and parked at Pë di Börz on
the Börz pass road (closed beyond the
pass in winter). From there it was a pleasant but steady skin on a forest track –to
the
Rif.
Monte Muro
(complete
with tame
rabbit living
in the wood
pile)and then
along
a
broad, open
but
windPhoto: Robert Borgerhoff Mulder
scoured
ridge to Munt de Tunzene (Maurerberg,
2332m) with views down on to Reinhold
Messner’s home village of Lüsen. We
tried to descend directly to Antermëia
through the woods but knee-deep, legbreaking snow and common sense ended
in capitulation and the forest trail to the
car.
Our next outing was a nostalgic visit to
haunts of our Dolomite traverses of years
gone by. We drove 25km through Val i
Tamersc to Ücia Pederù and then paid 10
Euros to ride the snowcat to Ücia de
Fanes. On arrival, we were disappointed
to see that the Fanes hills were much
wind-scoured and Col Bechei Dessora was
impracticable for lack of snow. So we set
off for Jú de Limo (2174m) in a blustery
wind. A steady skin up led us to the col
and beyond but retreat was called and we
returned to the refuge, to a welcome as
long lost friends, a great lunch and grappa
on the house.
Wednesday was bitterly cold (-15Cº). We
all felt it as we started from the car park.
We skinned up through forest glittering
with frost crystals and snowm a n t l e d
branches, to
Munt de Antersasc. Several
members of the
party
who
developed cold
feet (literally)
and concern
about slope stability, decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Roger
and I steeled our nerves, crossed a steep
and slightly worrying slope to safer terrain
and continued to the Crep dales Dodesc
(2384m), another airy north facing escarpment peak with views eastward to the
Cristallo, Tofane and Marmolada. The
descent was fun, a fast run back through
the woods and for Roger, a mega crash,
culminating in the discovery of Robert
and our rescue car ditched and in need of
a tow. This was promptly provided by
Nick who arrived fortuitously at exactly
the right moment in his spanking new
Landrover. The day ended in front of a
glowing wood-stove with Glühwein.
Our last outing on another sunny but
cold and breezy day began as had the first
17
ASC Meets
Photo: Robert Borgerhoff Mulder
with a climb to Fornatesalm and from
there up steepening slopes to the
Forcela de Putia (2357m) below the Sas
de Putia. Roger broke a stick – an
accident for which, for once, I am not
responsible! Our descent was in deep
soft snow, down a steepish gully back
to the up track and thence through the
woods to Seres.
We departed happy, with a bottle of
wine and a piece of home cured ‘speck’
as gifts from our generous hosts. This
was low-key touring by ‘iron man’
standards. None of our climbs exceeded
950m but all needed the skill to ski
narrow forest tracks in all snow conditions. Lots of outings remain, including
traverses to Grödnertal (Val Gardena)
and Colfosco.
The Northern Dolomites are a wonderful area made particularly memorable
by the co-existence of three languages
and cultures, Austrian, Italian and
Ladinian, The jumble of names in this
report is an indication of language
18
interchangeability. Commercial development is concentrated around the ‘ski
circus’ resorts and it is easy
to escape to beautiful
touring country. It is a real
pleasure to be given sight
of the family photo album
recording events in the Austrian mountain positions
during the Great War and
to meet enthusiasts striving
to conserve local culture and language
in the face of mass tourism, commercialization and pressure from both
German and Italian.
John Moore
Party : Robert Borgerhoff Mulder, Robin
Chapman, Roger Birnstingl, John Moore,
Nick Danby.
Maps:
Tabacco Map 1:25K scale with ski
routes.
Alta Badia: sheet 07. UTM compatible
(based on WGS84 datum model).
ASC Meets
Scottish Winter Meet 9th-12th February
Photo: Jonty Mills
The Scottish Winter of 2011-2012 will not
be remembered by ski-mountaineers with
the same joy as the previous two bumper
years. The season was in fact very long,
with good tours to be done in mid-December and mid-May, but there were long
periods in between in which snow cover
was severely restricted, a victim of the
unusually mild UK winter. Unfortunately,
the ASC meet held 9-12th February 2012
coincided with one of these lean periods.
Undeterred, a full house of 12 members
and guests assembled at Boat of Garten
near Aviemore, where we had the run of
our comfortable base, Fraoch Lodge. On
the Friday, two teams headed on foot up
the Corbett, Geal Charn 821m by different
routes. On the Saturday, parties headed in
different directions. Whilst some walked,
Peter Wass plus Jonty and Anna Mills
skinned up Cairngorm 1244m and enjoyed
a good ski down the south east facing
slopes on accommodating snow into
Strath Nethy.
Also out on ski was Phil Budden
introducing son Peter to the delights of
skinning. Saturday night saw everyone
enjoy a lively meal in the nearby Boat
Inn, followed by a retreat to our roaring
fire and a dram of whisky, courtesy of
Jay Turner. Sunday was a beautiful day
with lots of sunshine. Most enjoyed a
great walk up Creag Dhubh 848m, past
the Argyll stone and down through the
wonderful forests near Loch an Eilein.
John Kentish and the Buddens took
advantage of the sunshine to find as much
snow as they could in a round of the
Cairngorm plateau from the north.
Despite the difficult conditions this was a
successful and enjoyable meet, thus we will
repeat the format in 2013.
Jonty Mills
Cauterets Pyrenees
25th-28th Feb
We organised an ASC meet at the Wallon
hut, near Cauterets in the French Pyrenees
over a 4 day weekend at the end of Feb
2012. The Wallon hut is well situated in a
sunny valley, with a good selection of
routes outside the door offering all aspects
and some good peaks and cols. The hut
itself is old and a little cold, but in the
process of being refurbished and much
19
ASC Meets
Photo: Sam Handley
better than the trip advisor reports suggest!
The new guardians are helpful, the hut is
clean, there is running water, flush toilets
and plenty of blankets, so quite luxurious
by some standards.
Excellent meet, blessed with 4 days of
beautiful sunshine, good spring snow and
some untracked powder in this quiet
corner of the Pyrenees. Few people were
touring around the hut, so we found fresh
tracks and made a number of good objectives including Pic de Cambales, Col du
Peternielle and Col de la Fache. Happy to
20
report no lifts or GPS used and all back in
time for a well earned beer on the last
afternoon.
Group of 5, with James Colquhoun,
Anne Pinney (now Kirton), David
Kirton, Sam and Chris Handley
Sam Handley
ASC Meets
Photo Sam Handley
Gossensass 13-20 January
All boded well, there had been heavy snow in
the Arlberg the previous week and for the
duration of our stay the weather remained
sunny, windy and cold or very cold preserving
the snow but at times making it rather icy.
Nick joined us a day later and Robert who was
due to join us towards the end sadly never
made it. Our rendezvous was at Gunter’s
family’s Gasthof Maowirt where we stayed
one very comfortable night. We then needed
to move (due to an influx of very well behaved
young) to the excellent Erna Hotel owned by
another branch of the family but continued to
eat our evening meals in the smaller and more
intimate Gasthof.
The first day we drove Ratchingtal, turning
off on a local road, to start on a forest track to
the Fleckner 2351m. All made the summit
wrapping up for the chilly wind and had an
enjoyable descent. A day that I hoped would
set the scene for the following days.
The next day we endeavoured to keep up
with Gunter (the only day he was able to join
us), leaving Brennerbad Old lift station skinning
up either a steep wooded track or the steep and
icy piste to the Enzian Hut, where two sensibly
felt the need to sample the view, sunshine and
beer. Three continued, still vainly trying to keep
up with Gunter. It was a hard day but we
reached the summit of Flatschspitze 2566m and
21
ASC Meets
had fine views north to the very
snowy Stubai and south to the
rather bare Dolomites. The
descent was at times icy especially lower down so my hopes
were already being lowered.
Day three saw us setting off
from Bodenberg from Pflerschtal toll booth car park.
Frustratingly we took to a bit
of forest bashing, following
indistinct paths and nearly
attempting the Wetterspitze
by mistake. We eventually made Spielbichl
2002m after much faffing. Descent was
through the forest in thick soft snow, conditions Roger seems to relish, this day he
announced a significant birthday much to the
amazement of the other summiters.
The next trip Gunter had promised to be
straight forward; he wasn’t with us and it
wasn’t. We drove to Sterzing, parking at
Braunhof, up through more thick woods but
this time a clear and enjoyable trail to a hut and
then the trail turned into a direct uphill fire
break, frustratingly too narrow to skin up or
ski down. However we kept going despite the
grumbles making the top of Saun 2085m
where we rested on wind cleared rocks.
Initially the descent was deep crusty snow but
then back to the challenging firebreak route.
All vowed that it was a trip not to be repeated
and wondered if this was the route Gunter had
meant.
The next day we followed the toboggan run
to Obernbergsee and then steeply up to
Hocheggen and continued to Hirschgrube
22
Photo: Ingram Lloyd
2120m. Wind slab and scoured ground made
skinning hard, descending was initially through
breakable crust and then soft but heavy
powder.
Interestingly it was getting warmer and a few
flakes of snow were falling … During the night
it snowed heavily, the Lloyds had to leave in what
became a continuous very heavy snow fall, all
through Austria (we took to a length of road at
a good sideways slide landing in a gully) and
then torrential rain in Belgium, not the easiest
return journey to finish a very enjoyable week.
Ingram Lloyd
Maps:
OeAV Map 1:50K Brennerberge 31/3
skiroutes. Tabacco Maps: No.38
Sterzing-Stubaier Alpen 1:25K (with ski
routes). No.30. Brixen-Villnoes. 1:25K.
(with ski routes)
Member Tours
The Vallouise for David Hamilton’s Birthday 4th to 11th March
Champagne, birthday cake and
a late night film about the ups
and downs, not of mountains,
but the life of Jonny Cash. This
was at the end of our first day’s
skiing.
It was David’s birthday, and
after months of renovation
work, we were the first lucky
guests to stay in his luxurious
chalet in Vallouise.
Snow had been deteriorating
with the warm weather so on The view from the chalet, Photo: Richard Symes
Day 3 saw us back at Col de Lauteret on
this first day we had started at Col de
Lauteret (2057m) and skinned up the N the S side ascending up the Torrent de Roche
facing slope to Col de Laurichard (2654m). Noires. It was a scorchingly hot day with no
With great snow, this proved to be good wind, and whatever we had been heading for
was soon forgotten. A quick descent to the
introduction for everyone.
Day 2 saw us going up past the pretty Lauteret restaurant. A delicious lunch. Far
hamlet of Narreyroux from Puy-St-Vin- better!
Day 4 was more serious. We set off in 2
cent, across the valley from David’s chalet.
We went up through the woods and past groups to ascend La Blanche (2953m). From
the sheep pens in this delightful valley. Puy Aillaud and from Pelvou. 1300m of
The aim was the Col des Queyrettes but ascent, but Pelvou has the advantage of a
1600m of ascent proved too ambitious, so chairlift that goes half way ! This is a great
we all turned back at various points, and mountain. There is a scramble along a rock
rattled back down the track that had been ridge, and then as the snowfields wind up
chopped up by walkers and racketeers. amongst the crags, there is a rock step where
The real success was when we broke some kind person has fixed a wire rope. The
through the tree line. David turned round summit has a fine cairn, perched on the edge
of a precipice. Big valley to ski down
and said “Look, you can see my house” !
23
Member Tours
All the way up David reminded us of the
great views of his house! Even from the
summit itself. The picture was taken from his
balcony, you can see the summit cairn from
there. However this is only possible because
David had previously cut the top off his
neighbour’s tree! Didn’t bother to ask, just cut
it off. The Duke of Wellington would have
been proud of him.
Fortified by our support for his action, he
went off to the council the next day to get his
water charges reduced. The rest of us went to
Cervieres and skinned up a delightful valley
Round and About the Alps
from Le Laus to col des Ouideis (2420m).
Sadly due to deteriorating weather and avalanche risk we could not all make it, but
retreat had compensation with some superb
skiing through the trees lower down.
Richard Symes
ASC members: David Hamilton, Roger
Upton, Richard Symes, Hywel Lloyd,
Ingram Lloyd
Guests: Mary Ann Edwards, John Baile
25 Jan – 4 Feb
With two non-members, I spent three days into the new year, but fortunately it put
in Briançon, skiing at Serre Chevalier and down enough just before we went out,
Montgenèvre before moving to Ville though conditions were not ideal as there
Vieille in the Queyras, where we were had been a lot of wind to blow snow off
joined by Nick Danby, Don Henderson, the ridges. We managed some gentle
John and Helgard How. Though the touring, with rather late, lift-assisted starts.
village does not have
Piz Sesvenna from Fuorcla Sevenna Photo: Jeremy Whitehead
any skiing of its
own, it is centrally
placed and with two
cars we could easily
access the main
centres of Abries, St.
Véran and Ceillac.
The gite Les Astragales provided comfortable quarters and
excellent food.
Little snow had
fallen here until well
24
Member Tours
Most memorable were some fine forest
skiing over the ridge from Abries, a day
wandering above Lac Ste. Anne at Ceillac,
and traversing Château Renard above St.
Véran with a descent from Col de Longet
to Fontgillarde. On the way back to
Geneva two of us spent a short day skiing
a couple of descents at La Grave, where
the many moguls proved almost too much
for my elderly knees. Back in the 1960s
and ‘70s we used to skin up here from the
village, before the lifts were built.
9 – 21 March.
I spent a day on my
own skiing on the Pitztal Glacier pistes
before moving to Landeck to meet up with
the Hows, Simon Duvivier and Richard
Anderson (both Eagles). We spent the
night in the little ski-de-fond hamlet of
Schlinig, in the Italian Vinchgau, before
moving up to the Sesvenna hut. I am not
aware of any other British party skiing
Parties ascending the Wildspitze. Photo: Jeremy Whitehead
from this hut. At 2258m, with surrounding summits around the 3000m level, it
makes an admirable centre for elderly or
not too energetic skiers who are happy
with relatively short ascents. We went up
Schadler (2948m), Rasass Spitze (2954m),
Craist Ota/Hahnenkamm (2884m) and
finally reached the Scharte (3050m) on the
ridge of Piz Sesvenna (3204m). After this,
Richard and I went back to the Pitztal.
Using the special ‘Wildspitze ticket’ we
descended from the new Mittelberg lift to
the Taschaschferner and followed the
Wildspitze tracks below the seracs to the
Brochkogel Joch. After descending on
foot we found the snow on the Kl. Vernagtferner difficult to ski, and were passed
by several other parties. (Note: think hard
about wider skis.) The Vernagt hut is not
visible from above, and the other parties
and old tracks were not too helpful, but
we got there in
worsening
weather. The
weather held
off next morning, but closed
in a short way
below
the
Guslarspitze,
and
we
retreated
before the visibility became
any
worse.
Mist and snowfall then forced
25
Member Tours
an off-day. A day on the Sölden pistes
finished the trip. I had not skied there for
50 years – completely unrecognisable!
The off day at the Vernagt was not
entirely unrewarded. I discovered a stack
of old hut books. I could not find that for
1963, when the Otztal Rundtour was my
first hut-to-hut trip, but I did discover the
entry for my second time in 1969. Susan
Baldock (then Sue Tuke) had organised the
trip for the SCGB, with Friedl Huter as
head guide. Amongst the party of 16 were
Walter Kirstein, Fred Jenkins, Robin Day,
Alan Blackshaw, George Kunzle, Ian
Potter, Patrick Bailey; all then or later ASC
members, and all save Sue, no longer with
us. Memories flooded in. The current
ASC were active in Austria this March. At
the Vernagt hut we enjoyed the company
of Stuart Gallagher and his party, and on
returning to Innsbruck airport the first
person I saw was Ralph Atkinson, who had
been in the Silvretta.
Jeremy Whitehead
Jotunheim April 2012
Joining Knut Tønnsberg for the AC meet
in Jotunheimen early in April 2012 in the
week before Easter I was rewarded by very
cold conditions and mostly good weather.
A couple of days were poor but not
sufficiently so to prevent activity on ski.
Although nominally an AC meet, Knut and
I were the only AC members and our
companions were all Norwegian being
Knut's friends and family. Fortunately for
me everyone, even children, spoke English
though I did learn some Norwegian as the
week progressed. (In Jotunheimen the
suffix 'en' means the, so Jotunheimen
means the Jotunheim, the home of the
Trolls. )
The Jotunheim is a range of more than 250
mountains some 5 hours drive NNW of
Oslo. Smørstabreen, Jotunheimen's largest
glacier, is a short skin from the front door
26
of Krossbu and at Easter the entire region
is snow-covered with 20 of the highest
peaks within easy reach. The mountains,
though high at over 2000m, are mostly
easy to climb. Distances can be quite long
to some objectives and because of the
rolling terrain it is advantageous to use wax
rather than skins for all but the steepest
ascents.
Knut has been visiting the Jotunheim for
many years. Mountaineering runs in his
family with his father and grandfather
before him, both mountaineers, so his
knowledge of the region is second to none.
With him I was to climb Veslfjeltinden
2157m, Kalven 2034m, Storebjørn 2222m,
Søkse 2189m, and Gravsdaltinden 2133m.
There's a short YouTube clip at
http://t.co/gg1fCqSY.
Accommodation
Member Tours
Norway has an extensive network of huts
owned by the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT) and private hoteliers. Trails
between huts are marked by twigs avoiding
crevassed regions of the glaciers. Many
Norwegians we met were travelling hut to
hut, often with a pulk and often alone.
Our base at Krossbu Turiststasjon
(www.krossbu.no) was certainly warm and
comfortable. Meals were excellent with a
huge choice for breakfast and mid-day
sandwiches (make your own), but with
beer at over £7 a glass, Krossbu was not
cheap.
Taking the bus (Fjordbuss) from Oslo
airport to Lom, and a local bus onward to
the winter road-head in Leirdalen (the Leir
valley) at Rust Sæter, you reach the
Krossbu mountain
hotel by skidoo. Wear
all your clothes for
this last lap as it is
very cold. Call the
owner on +47 61 21
29 22 before leaving
Lom to ensure that
the scooter is waiting
for you when you get
off the bus. Returning, the 16km descent
to Rust Sæter after
breakfast is well
worthwhile and the
scooter will bring
your bag down for
you in time to meet
the bus.
John Fairley
Photo: John Fairley
27
Member Tours
Haute Route with other people’s sons
On ASC trips many years ago I used to
leave my three sons Tom, Richard and
Harry at home while I indulged myself in
the mountains. But I always hoped I could
encourage them to come along with me
one day. So it was a special celebration
finally to have them all part of a truly
memorable trip. I decided to find a guide
to join us because Richard asked if he
could invite a couple of friends along, and
responsibility for other peoples’ sons …
It’s curious that we all refer to the Haute
Route as ‘from Chamonix to Zermatt’.
Traditionally, of course, it starts from
Argentiere, which isn’t quite the same.
Having skied from the summit of Mont
Blanc in 2011, I began planning how to
return to the Aiguille du Midi and continue
straight into the Haute Route. There are
simpler ways, but I decided we’d start
down the Vallee Blanche and climb UP
towards the Grands Montets directly. To
get an early start, we spent our first night
at the Cosmique. We skied down the
Glacier du Geant until we could see ahead.
Potential rockfall meant that the exit from
the Mer de Glace, opposite Montenvers,
was arguably the most dangerous part of
our entire trip. Our route took us up the
Couloir Poubelle to the top of the Bochard
lift. This saved some climbing and proved
an admirable choice. The snow conditions
were excellent giving us pleasant, sustained
climbing. Surprising a few piste-skiers as
28
we emerged over the fencing, we were then
able to skin around, under the Grands
Montets and drop down to the Argentiere
Glacier and hut. A long day, but mission
accomplished.
We were set on the Grand Lui variation,
still determined to avoid the roads.
Reports suggested the climb to the Col de
Saleina was in poor condition, so we
decided to take the three cols alternative;
Planeureuses, Crete Seche and des
Essettes. Since the monastery was full, we
stayed at the excellent Plan du Jeu hut
above Bourg St. Bernard. This put us in
pole position for an ascent of the Petit
Velan and down to the hut.
A delightful ascent of the Brenay Glacier
got us to the panoramic views from the
Pigne d’Arolla and onwards to the
Vignette. Gradually the weather was
turning again and although we set out for
the final leg to Zermatt in the morning, the
conditions were atrocious. Two of our
party were rolled over by a small avalanche
so we chose discretion and returned to the
hut. The following day would not have
brought improvement, so we escaped to
Arolla. We now have a great excuse to
return to complete our traverse, no doubt
with a suitable extension to match the
excitement of our start from Chamonix.
Nick Putnam
Grants
Arolla, Switzerland 9-13 April
Day 1 was spent brushing up on off-piste
skiing techniques: thoroughly enjoyable with
plenty of deep, untracked snow. In the afternoon we learned avalanche transceiver rescue
and search procedures.
Day 2 we learned basic procedure for putting
on skins, and climbed the Arolla Glacier
towards the dominating north face of Mont
Collon. Reaching the Plan de Bertol hut
(2664m), we removed skins and set off down
the glacier where we later underwent an avalanche training scenario to put our new-found
skills to the test.
Day 3. A descent to La Forcla and skin up
to the col below La Roussette (2959m)
brought us to a great powder descent beneath
the Col des Ignes (3181m). After a brief stop,
we began the long descent. Variable snow
conditions made for some interesting sport,
a few face plants and some not so elegant
skiing. We ended the day with a survival ski
through forest to the door of a Belgian bar in
Pension du Lac Bleu. Perfect.
Day 4 was for crevasse rescue and roping
techniques, learning the necessary skills and
techniques for moving over glaciers. Fantastic.
Day 5. We made a skin ascent from Arolla
to the Pas de Chevres to don crampons and
descend ladders onto the Glacier de Cheilon,
continuing to the Dix hut for overnight.
Day 6. After a hearty muesli and coffee, we
dropped to the glacier and skinned up the
brilliant Glacier de Tsena Refin, under the
north face of the Mont Blanc de Cheilon, and
up towards the Pigne d’Arolla. Summiting
the Pigne (3790m) - and having a little celebration dance - we removed skins and cruised
through knee-deep powder down to the Col
de Vignettes. Sadly, low cloud engulfed the
group and our remaining ski across the
Glacier de Piece was at a steady pace on a
compass bearing before dropping below the
cloud, and skiing back to join the piste to
Arolla.
Special thanks to Andy Teasdale (Mountain
Guide) and Euan Whittaker (Aspiring Guide)
. It was brilliant to have them both lead the
course and share their knowledge and experience with us all.
I am extremely grateful to the Alpine Ski
Club for supporting me with a grant to
participate . I learnt an array of new skills and
techniques that I hope to use in many future
ski trips to come.
Stuart Air
Grants:
2012:
MAF award to Roger Upton for
expedition to Antarctica, for
report see pg 3.
KSS award to Stuart Air for training grant, Arolla, this page.
2013: As of going to press no
grants have yet been awarded.
29
Members’ News
Marriage and Birth
Two ASC members who married in
November 2012 helped organise the
ski-mountaineering symposium in
December and then managed to
escape for two ski trips - Chamonix
at New Year and the ASC Cauterets
meet in March.
Anne has just delivered a boy on
Tuesday 3 September at 16:13 3.5 Kg
(7lb11 in old money)
Foot shape - Dynafit
4th Ski Mountaineering Symposium
The Alpine Ski Club, the Eagle Ski Club
and the Alpine Club have joined forces on
four occasions over around twelve years
to run Ski-Mountaineering Symposia. This
4th symposium was held at Plas-y-Brenin,
in Snowdonia in December 2011. This
time the theme was “More Adventure –
less Impact”; a focus on fun ski-touring,
no undue stress on the environment, and
safe mountaineering.
The event was a day of lectures and
discussions and a second day of practical
training sessions on many useful topics; it
was attended by 130 delegates. Mike
30
Hendry’s introduction used Heisenberg’s
Principle of Uncertainty to set the scene.
The programme of lectures was given by
expert mountain skiers: John Eames, Andy
Perkins, Simon Christy, Dave Hillebrandt,
and Lew Hardy. John Fairley and Paddy
ran a tough Tracker competition finding
flower pots. The concluding presentation,
“Off the beaten track”, by Rob Collister
also looked at ecological issues. At the
Saturday evening dinner, Stephen Venables described skiing from the Alps to
South Georgia.
Members’ News
There were exhibitions by equipment
suppliers: The Outdoor Shop, First
Ascent, and Back Country; and by specialist travel operators: Mountain Tracks
(tours and day-trips in the Alps), and
Tangent Expeditions (Greenland and
Arctic). A poster display giving environmental facts and figures addressed the
“Less Impact” issues.
There were interesting topics for skitourers of all backgrounds; discussions
confirmed that virtually everyone picked
up new information, were reunited with
old friends, and made new friends. Thanks
were due to all the presenters, the organis-
ers from the three mountain clubs, and the
team at Plas-y-Brenin.
It is always invidious to pick out particular high-lights but the presentation by
Simon Christy, who had literally arrived
from the Alps within hours of the Symposium starting, gave extremely fascinating
last-minute information including a design
of an avalanche balloon that looked suspiciously like a life-size inflatable doll.
All-in-all, the Symposium was a great
interchange of information and ideas.
Hywel Lloyd
Find avalanche victims fast with an Avalanche Ball
The whole device fits in a quick-release
The Club has two avalanche balls for use
by members, at no charge other than p&p. bag attached to the outside of your ruckSo, what is an Avalanche Ball? First, it is sack. Avalanche Balls are operated by a
not a flotation bag.
Instead, it is a safety
device for rapidly
locating a buried skier
by marking their position in the snow.
Wherever you end up
the avalanche ball,
firmly attached to your
waist by 6 metres of
strong cord, remains
on the the snow
surface providing the
strongest visual clue to
your whereabouts.
31
Members’ News
strong spring, not pressurized gas, so they
can be carried on aircraft and can be
re-used and tested. The quick-release
pack is approximately 25 x 25 x 5 cm and
weighs just 1 kilogram, which makes it
reasonably practical for touring.
See the ASC 2010 newsletter for a user
report and for more information on how
effective it is, see:
http://www.lawinenball.com
Motorcycle Diaries: In the Tyre Tracks of Che
In March, two friends and I flew into
Buenos Aires with a helmet, waterproofs,
sturdy boots and a whole lot of gear. We
weren’t in South America for the climbing,
instead ahead of us lay just under three
weeks of motorcycling around Argentina
and Chilé.
Our route was triangular. We started in
Buenos Aeries, headed west for a thousand
miles, crossing the Andes to near Santiago.
There we rode up the Chilean coastline for
500 miles to Copiapó before heading inland,
crossing the Andes again and riding southeastwards back to Buenos Aires.
The seafood on our way up the Chilean
coastline was fresh, delicious and cheap,
particularly in the little shacks on the seaside
in Los Vilos and also in Punta Choros. There
was nothing better than breaking the ride
during the middle of the day to order a plate
where we were never quite sure exactly what
was going to be on it but we knew we would
enjoy it.
Another highlight was Parque Nacional
Nevado Tres Cruces, one of the most out of
the way National Parks in Chilé. It lies in the
foothills of the Andes, north east of Copiapó
and just getting there was an adventure.
32
Google Maps says it is only 268 kilometres
and just under five hours from Copiapó to
Laguna del Negro Francisco. We left a little
later than we would have liked and the roads
were initially good but deteriorated markedly
in the northern sector of the national park.
The Chilean border outpost is well before the
border and just near the entrance to the
national park so we had to clear Chilean
customs even though we were spending
another day in the country. As the light faded
I persuaded the others that we should push
on to the refugio in the southern sector of the
national park. As it became night the road
got sandier and more treacherous. I dropped
my bike three times, the record was seven.
Long after midnight, we finally arrived and
climbed into bed.
While this wasn’t a climbing expedition, the
fact that one of us was a climber ended up
being quite useful. We hadn’t realised how
high the refugio was and so were initially
surprised when one of us complained about
not feeling well and started vomiting. When
we realised we had climbed from sea level to
4,126 metres the diagnosis was clear. Rest
and lots of water worked and those of us who
felt fine got to see flamingos, vicuñas and
Members’ News
guanacos (wild South American camelids,
related to the llama) as well as a fearless family
of culpeos (Andean foxes).
To get back to Argentina we had to backtrack to exit the national park and then cross
the Andes again. This time the crossing was
over Paso de San Francisco; 4,748 metres
high and the route used by the Dakar Rally to
get from Argentina into Chilé. The road out
of the park was much better in the daylight
and the views of the altiplano were breathtaking. I enjoyed swimming in the natural hot
pools on the shores of Laguna Verde (the
green lake) which Lonely Planet says glows
“like liquid kryptonite”. However, the day
was longer than expected (again) and as the
sun set we were only on top of the pass, trying
to decide whether to take shelter or push on
to the Argentinean border control. It started
to snow and since we had no sleeping bags
the decision was made for us.
From the pass it was all downhill and 19
days, three thousand miles, two torrential
thunderstorms and two crossings of the
Andes later we were back in Buenos Aires.
As with climbing, while the hardships fade,
the amazing vistas, fond memories and comradeship remain.
Alex Hood
Obituaries
Roger Payne 17 July 1956 - 12 July 2012
Roger Payne died in an avalanche on Mont
Maudit in the Mont Blanc range near
Chamonix on Thursday 12th July 2012,
aged 55.
He was one of nine people who were
killed.
Roger discovered the outdoors through
a scout group in Hammersmith, and soon
was hill-walking in Scotland and rock
climbing on outcrops and sea cliffs in
England and Wales. He studied for a
primary education degree at Sunderland
Polytechnic – now the University of Sunderland - between 1979 and 1983 and
became president of the Sunderland Polytechnic Mountaineering Club between
1980 and 1983. He had an honours degree
in education and was a qualified mountain
guide. He was a member of the Alpine
Club (committee member 1988-91), the
Alpine Climbing Group, the Climbers'
Club and the Alpine Ski Club.
He started skiing in Scotland in the
1970s and started climbing in the Alps in
1977, over the years climbing many classic
big routes including the North Face of the
Eiger, Walker Spur, Central Pillar of
Freney, and new routes such as he Innominata Ridge Super Direct, on Mont Blanc.
Since 1982 with Julie-Ann, and with the
support of the Mount Everest Foundation
and British Mountaineering Council, he
33
Obituaries
specialised in lightweight “amateur” expeditions in the Greater Ranges – more than
20 trips – with first ascents up to ED+.
He used skis on climbing trips in Alaska
and Pakistan and led the 1989 expedition
that made the first British and New
Zealand ascents and a ski descent of
Gasherbrum 2 (8035m).
Roger qualified as an international
mountain guide in 1983 and guided a
considerable number of alpine routes ski
tours. In 1989 he became the National
Officer of the British Mountaineering
Council (BMC) in Manchester and, in
1995; he was appointed General Secretary
of the BMC. He organised numerous
international events, seminars, and meetings and helped ski mountaineering competitions and ice climbing competitions
become a part of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation
(UIAA). In 2002 Payne became the first
34
Sports and Development Director for the
UIAA, based in Switzerland where he
worked as a mountain guide with his wife,
Julie-Ann Clyma. He was elected president
of the British Association of Mountain
Guides (BMG) for 2009-11. He had wide
publishing
and
writing experience
including the launch
of
the
BMC's
Summit magazine
and helped to make
five films about
climbing and mountaineering.
Less well known
to many, perhaps,
was his involvement
with development
and peace initiatives.
In 1992 and 1993
Roger led two expeditions to the Karakoram (Broad Peak and K2) that had a major
commitment to rural development
through the sponsorship of Eastern Electricity. Working with the Aga Khan Rural
Support Agency in Skardu, Pakistan, the
expeditions and experts from Eastern
Electricity helped promote awareness
about the potential for village micro-hydro
electricity projects. Micro hydro-electricity
schemes were established in two villages
(Monjo and Hoto) on the approach to the
Baltoro Glacier, reducing the dependence
on scarce firewood and costly kerosene,
alleviating health problems caused by
smoky living conditions and creating new
Obituaries
opportunities through the use of electricity
for the benefit of the community.
He was greatly concerned by impact of
climate change in the Himalaya. In 2002
he organised a joint expedition to Island
Peak for the UIAA and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) to raise
awareness about the impact of climate
change. He was one of a group of six
volunteers who made a film of a journey
along the Khumbu Valley to record local
perceptions about climate change and the
risk posed of glacial lake outburst floods
caused by the melting glaciers. (Slackjaw
Films produced ‘Meltdown – crisis in the
Himalaya’)
Roger was much involved in increasing
the benefits to local communities from
mountain tourism and recreation. In 1993
he helped organise and contributed to a
'Greater Ranges' conference on the theme
of environmental and social development
impacts of mountain related tourism. The
conference led to the setting up of a BMC
Mountain Tourism Working Group that
was jointly chaired by Paul Nunn and Peter
Mould with Roger as Secretary. Following
two personal climbing trips to Sikkim in
2004 and 2005, the Government of Sikkim
asked him to write a special report on the
opportunities in West Sikkim for mountain
recreation and tourism to help achieve
sustainable development and improve the
opportunities for local people to benefit
from mountain tourism. And in 2009, he
was the keynote speaker for the 7th annual
convention of the Adventure Tour Oper-
ators Association of India (ATOAI) in
Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
In 2002 he organised an initiative for the
International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) and the World
Conservation Union (IUCN) to raise
awareness about protected status for
important mountain ranges such as the
Aletsch Glacier as a UNESCO Natural
World Heritage Site (the first in the Alps),
and also the need to protect other mountain regions including the Siachen Glacier
(the longest in the Himalayas). In 2003 a
cease-fire went into effect and the team
was presented with an award by the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism.
Roger was well known for his infectious
enthusiasm for mountaineering an ski
mountaineering. The fact that he was killed
in an avalanche is particularly poignant. He
did more than most to educate British
climbers about avalanches, running
courses with Julie-Ann in Leysin and
publishing an on-line avalanche training
web site (www.avalanchetraining.info). He
had a ready smile and was always willing
to help others. His sudden death is a body
blow to British mountaineering. He is
greatly missed by us all.
Roger is survived by his wife of 25 years,
Julie-Ann Clyma.
John M. Fairley
35
Obituaries
John Bower 1934-2012
John Bower was born in June 1934 and
died in September 2011, aged 77. After his
school at Oundle, he read Law at University, while being articled to his father in the
family firm GW Bower & Sons. He was
the youngest person ever to qualify in Law
up to that time with a Law
degree. Having worked
straight through, he decided
to retire early in 1986 to
pursue his favourite hobbies
of ski mountaineering, and
sailing. However after ten
years in retirement, he qualified as a Notary. One granddaughter Jessica joined him in
this to carry on the family
tradition in law to a fourth
generation.
John started his ski touring in 1968 with
his whole family in the Galtur; Piz Buin
was one of his first peaks. He then went
almost every year mainly in Austria around
the Silvretta – both guided and guideless.
By 1976, he had accumulated an impressive set of ski tours, including the whole
Haute Route (with the 4000m ones near
Zermatt and all the way to Mont Blanc).
This was easily enough for him to qualify
to join the Alpine Ski Club in 1976. Ski
touring remained a great love of his life.
He continued touring, sometimes with his
family and usually with his great Paris
friend Uwe Torlach, until 2007; his last
tour being then in Sixt. His daughter Ruth,
36
son in law Alex and grandson,Harry, still
carry on the tradition. In recent years,
outside the ski season, he divided his time
between working in London and sailing
from a country home in Chichester, where
he kept his boat.
Besides his sports, John also had a great
love of wine, being a Member of the
Worshipful Company of Vintners. At a
speech to celebrate his 70th birthday, at
which he had supplied a wonderful set of
wines fitting for the Vintners’ magnificent
Hall, he talked of his love of skiing –
adding, with his dry humour, Spending
Kids’ Inheritance! This is yet another of
his pursuits that are carried on by his next
generation.
He is survived by his wife Eva, his
companion for almost 60 years, three
children Ruth, Mark and Ann and seven
grandchildren.
Peter T. Kirstein
Obituaries
Christopher Burne 1932-2012
Christopher Burne, a retired naval officer, died
on 2 June 2012 whilst cycling home from his
local Jubilee celebrations in West Dorset. He
is survived by his wife, Belinda, whom he
married in 1969, and his children, Toby and
Laura.
Christopher joined the Alpine Ski Club in
1980 and recorded in his application form his
participation in two joint services expeditions
to Jostedalsbrae, Norway, firstly as a member
of the 1961 expedition and then as leader in
1962.
Patrick Fagan remembers:
"First was the Jura, a tour along the spine led
by Alan Blackshaw in 1980 from Basel to
Geneva, a much tougher tour than might have
been expected. Christopher was not a natural
skier, but he gallantly kept company for Belinda
and was great company both during the day
and at the end of the day over dinner. At one
point we were skiing in very wet snow along a
valley bottom which exasperated Christopher;
so, he took off his skis intending to walk - but
the snow was so soft that he dropped through
almost to his crutch. It was a big struggle for
him to get back on his skis, but he thoroughly
enjoyed the incident in the later telling. I think
that Elspeth, then not yet Blackshaw, and
Belinda are the only other survivors (with me)
of that 8-man tour (led by Terry Hartley).
"A few years later the Burnes and the Fagans,
each with 2 children of comparable age, joined
forces to ski together at Easter - at Tignes or
Meribel, I forget which. Christopher had by
then returned from his distinguished service in
the Falkland's War, and amused us all with
various tales 'from the front'. My sons were
mightily impressed, and still recall his story of
going to war in the Canberra, fighting fit
Marines being ogled lustingly by the gay stewards of the ship's crew. They were also
impressed by Christopher's sartorials which
owed nothing to the skiing fashion of the time,
but more to various items of military kit - and
those not all in current service.
"He was a great character, and huge fun to
be with."
The following is a letter in the Club archives
from Christopher Burne to the Hon. Secretary
of ASC:
"HM Naval Base Portsmouth, 2/11/1982
Dear Mr Jenkins,
How kind of you to write. I'm proud of my South
Atlantic medal; but the CBE embarrasses me as I know
there were so many not honoured who did so much more
than I did.
One reads of the brilliant victory but being there one
was far more aware of ones own errors, the mistakes, the
honour and the disasters. The young sailors were quite
magnificent the way they stood and fought and when
necessary died on the 21st May in San Carlos. They
have no grave but the sea; but they were an inspiration
to all and it made one proud to belong to the Royal Navy.
Sea service is what one joined for but it is not much
good for skiing.
I hope we must meet soon
Yours sincerely
Christopher Burne"
37
Afterpiece
The Liability Club
It was all the fault of Dick Edmonds. Does
anyone remember him now I wonder?
R.E.H.Edmonds, a most charming man,
an enthusiastic ski mountaineer and generous host at his home near Lechlade, where
he threw midsummer night parties for
many years.
Dick had been attempting the Haute
Route for several years but was always
beaten by the weather. When he heard we
had done it at first attempt and without a
guide his admiration and envy were equally
fierce. His response was to put us up for
membership of the ASC
So there I was, deserted by my two
fellow adventurers who declined he privilege, on my feet at the 1952 annual dinner
of the Alpine Ski Club giving my version
of our unguided traverse of the Haute
Route from Zermatt to Chamonix.
The ASC in those days was composed
of men who were or had been keen ski
tourers but its only activity as a club
seemed to be to have an annual dinner and
exchange tales of deering-do. Kenneth
Smith was President, Bob Handley, Secretary, and Brigadier Gueterbock a distinguished former President. Walter Kirstein,
my neighbour at dinner, I also remember
with affection: “In my view three is too
small a number for ski mountaineering”.
It is splendid to read how the club’s
object has developed in recent years into
38
a much more active programme with
summer meets in the Lake District and
expeditions all over the world. Surely this
is what Uncle Arnie our founder intended.
As the newest member I was asked to
act as secretary/organizer for an Alpine
dinner meet in Gstaad. This I did, but
disappointed Ken by declining to attend
myself.
To attempt the Haute Route without
a guide in 1953 was considered quite
irresponsible. Sos Roe said: “You are just
a liability!” Thus was the Liabilty Club
born. Ian Andrews, its author, had cast a
ceramic plaque which we affixed to the
entrance of the flat we shared in a Chester
Square basement.
Bill Keatinge, later a distinguished
Professor of physiology, was our third
member. It was he who deserves the credit
for saying; “Oh, we don’t really need a
guide”. We had the Guide du Skieur dans
les Alpes Valaisiennes by Marcel Kurz. I
still have my two volumes complete with
his maps, photos and vital commentary on
every passage.
We had a few mishaps but were lucky
with the weather.
Bill left his skins at the foot of the Col
de Valpelline and had to re-cross the
glacier Tza Tzan to collect them.
I fell leading our descent from the Col
de Mt Brule and was honoured by an entry
Afterpiece
in the hut book of the Cabane des
Vignettes: “Grosses gefahr am Col de Mt
Brule. Ein Englander sauste den hang
hinunter, aber durch ein wunder bliebt
unverläst”.
From Cabane Chanrion we mercifully
lost our way on the Mt Avril and avoided
the traverse of the Grand Combin which
would probably have done for us. We
spent a night with the monks and dogs of
St Bernard and finished in Argentieres via
les blocs erratiques above Ollomont.
The euphoria of accomplishment I can
still recall. “Better than sex any day”.
Ben Watson
Forthcoming Events
2013
The Club is organizing 3 meets abroad this
season and one weekend in Scotland:
is going to be fun and
enjoyable. Transylvania is a magical area
with fine old towns, fabulous forests, and
grim stories about Dracula and worse, Vlad
the Impaler.
18 – 26 January. Queyras. John Moore is
organising a week of day tours in the
May. Spring Lecture, Alpine Club.
Queyras area, south of Briançon and west of Speaker to be announced.
Monte Viso.
September. Lake District. John Moore is
26 Jan-2 February. Maritime Alps. John organising a UK weekend meet in the Lake
Kentish is organising a trip to the Maritime District. Details will be available later.
Alps. The meet will be based in a gite, in or
nearby St Martin Vesubie. There are plenty October. Autumn Lecture, Alpine Club.
of mountain objectives within a few miles of Speaker to be announced.
St Martin Vesubie, particularly around le
Boreon, which should give fine objectives
and have good ski descents.
2014
8- 10 February. Cairngorms. Jonty Mills
is organising a weekend in the Cairngorms
for ASC Members and guests. Based at
Boat of Garten, near Aviemore, we will
have access to some of the best ski-touring
terrain in Scotland. Accommodation will be
at Fraoch Lodge, a hostel/B&B in twin
rooms.
March. Svaneti, Georgia. Bruce Packard
has postponed his 2013 trip. If you are
interested in Georgia do please contact him
directly.
19 – 28 February. Romania. Alun
Davies is organising an expedition to the
mountains of Transylvania, Romania, which
39
From the Editor
Articles for the Newsletter
Long articles:
For the newsletter we are looking for a mix
of more standard articles together with a
few longer ones for unusual locations.
Please do tell us where you have been
touring throughout the season. And if you
have been somewhere particularly adventurous, then contact the editor to arrange
for a longer article, and include some
stunning photos.
Up to 1500 words and supply a selection
of photos.
Photographs:
These must be high resolution (at least
1500x1000 pixels) and include a caption
and the photographer. Photos may be
uploaded to this link; single photos may
be sent by email; or mailed on DVD to the
editor.
Standard articles:
To fill a single page only, 300-400 words
with 1 or 2 photos.
Robert Borgerhoff Mulder
editor@alpineskiclub.org.uk
ASC Officers and Committee 2012/13
President
John Moore
Vice Presidents Bruce Packard
To be Appointed
Transceiver
Manager
Transceiver
Assistant
Awards
Convenor
Web-site
Manager
Newsletter
Editors
Honorary
Treasurer
Honorary
Secretary
Roger Upton
Committee
Philippa Cockman Meet Secretary
Jonty Mills
Peter Wass
Archivists
Ingram Lloyd
Paddy O’Neill
John Monteith
Sam Handley
Phil Budden
R Borgerhoff
Mulder
Bruce Packard
John Kentish
Hywel Lloyd
Ingram Lloyd