Year of publication 1960 - Fell and Rock Climbing Club

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THE NORTH FACE OF THEGRANDES JORASSESJ. F. Gunn ClarkThe irritations of the journey out vanished as the trainturned up the Chamonix valley and the Aiguilles swung intoview. There was not a patch of snow to be seen and theweather could hardly have looked more settled. At Snell'ssports shop we discovered that the sun had been shining forten days and that the great faces were thought to be in condition.After a brief discussion Robin Smith and I decidedto go up to the Leschaux Hut that evening. There was arumour that we should find Whillans and Maclnnes alreadythere.At the Montenvers I caught my breath in awe. TheJorasses hung there above us, higher and steeper than I hadremembered. It seemed quite fantastic that by the same timethe following day we might be half-way up that magnificentface.Two hours later our hopes were washed away by a violentthunderstorm. Crouching under a boulder on the glacierbelow the Couvercle we debated whether to carry on or goback to Chamonix. In the end we decided to press on, ifonly for the sake of spending a night in the legendary LeschauxHut. When we arrived there we found five assorted Continentalparties. As the evening wore on the clouds clearedand we realized that the storm had been only local. Ourhopes rose again and we took stock of the situation. It wasclear from the mass of rope, pitons, karabiners littering thehut that each party was intending to do a big route, probablythe same one as ourselves. Since everyone was being rathersecretive, I innocently asked if anyone was going to the Westface of the Petites Jorasses, a modern rock climb. Haughtyhead-shakes confirmed our suspicions and we retired to bed,leaving the impression that lesAnglais would not be competing.We set our alarm for midnight and dozed off, confident thatwe at least would have a spot to bivouac on the followingnight.We left the hut at 12.30 a.m. and started the long slog upthe glacier to the foot of the face. After an hour the greatblack wall loomed so high above us that it hid the starscompletely. Bobbing lights started to follow us. While wewere strapping on our crampons beneath the rimaye, a Polish
2 NORTH FACE OF GRANDES JORASSESpair caught us up. In good French they introduced themselvesand told us modestly that they had just done a six-daytraverse in the Caucasus. What had we done so far? Ratherthan admit to a couple of Sundays at Harrison Rocks, wemumbled something about the undiscovered ranges ofScotland. Suitably impressed, they passed us, moving easilyon their heavy twelve-point crampons, while we limped afterthem sharing an old pair of ten-point Grivels.To avoid step cutting on the initial ice slope, we chose thealternative start which follows a steep loose couloir just to theleft of the base of the buttress. In the dark this couloir andthe snow slope above it were very tiring. I felt sick andhopelessly weak. This may have been due to the altitude or tolack of training, but I suspect it was, rather, the result of theimagination trying vainly to cope with the unknown problemsof the 4,000-foot wall which soared above us in the darkness.Certainly, when dawn came and I started to concentrate onthe individual pitches, this lethargy passed and I began toenjoy the climbing.The first real problem was the Thirty Metre Crack. Fromdirectly below, the angle appeared to be reasonable and Robinset off carrying his sack. Bridging wide, he seemed to float upthe first 40 feet. Higher, the more familiar staccato movementsof hard British rock climbing began, until with a finalgreat heave he disappeared against the blue sky. Meanwhilethe Poles, who had been off route, arrived below us. Theywere obviously impressed by the pitch and so, before starting,I offered to take up one of their ropes. They gratefullyaccepted, and a few minutes later I rejoined Robin, havingfound the upper half of the crack reminiscent of KiplingGroove.We helped the Poles to haul up their vast rucksacks beforesetting off across the famous Bands of Ice, the traverse ofwhich proved less difficult than expected. After several mixedpitches we rounded a corner overlooking the central couloirand rather unexpectedly found the Seventy-Five MetreDiedre. The angle was easier than that of the Thirty MetreCrack, but the Poles insisted that we took their top rope onthe first pitch. For the rest of the diedre we climbed withthem and saved each other a lot of time and energy. Wearrived on easier ground, already catching the afternoon
Page 1 and 2: ft'H. P. SMLSBURY (President, 19.5K
Page 3: CONTENTSPAGEThe North Face of the G
Page 7 and 8: 4 NORTH FACE OF GRANDES JORASSESdur
Page 9 and 10: EXTREMES AND EXCESSESHarold DrasdoT
Page 11 and 12: 8 EXTREMES AND EXCESSESget attached
Page 13 and 14: 1(1 EXTREMES AND EXCESSESLater it w
Page 15 and 16: 12 THE EVENING ALPSnice bed here, o
Page 17 and 18: 14 THE EVENING ALPSindeed awaiting
Page 21 and 22: 18 THE EVENING ALPSmaxim: nature ab
Page 23 and 24: 20 THE EVENING ALPSa party of four
Page 25 and 26: 2.2 THE EVENING ALPSCanadian proble
Page 27 and 28: THE MOUNTAINS OF MOURNEPeter Grindl
Page 29 and 30: 26 THE MOUNTAINS OF MOURNEthe Spelg
Page 31 and 32: Peter Grindley 27the line in a very
Page 33 and 34: Peter Grindley 29But this is a digr
Page 35 and 36: G. Oliver 31to the next pitch which
Page 37 and 38: G. Oliver 33Phil Gordon was leading
Page 39 and 40: G. Oliver 35The second pitch, which
Page 41 and 42: SOME SCOTTISH SCRAMBLESTerry Sulliv
Page 43 and 44: Terry Sullivan 39here things went u
Page 45 and 46: A BRAKING HITCHJohn C. LythThis hit
Page 47 and 48: John C. Lyth 43
Page 49 and 50: John C. Lyth 45The rope is laid as
Page 51 and 52: CLIMBS OLD AND NEWEAGLE CRAGTRAPEZE
Page 53 and 54: Peter Moffat 49(2) 65 feet. Continu
Page 55 and 56:
Peter Moffat 51right, round a rib,
Page 57 and 58:
Peter Moffat 53(2) 100 feet. The be
Page 59 and 60:
Peter Moffat 55stance with good fla
Page 61 and 62:
Peter Moffat 57(2) 70 feet. Travers
Page 63 and 64:
Peter Moffat 59(3) 60 feet. Climb u
Page 65 and 66:
Peter Moffat 61LANGDALEGIMMER CRAGK
Page 67 and 68:
Peter Moffat 63above almost to a ju
Page 69 and 70:
Peter Moffat 65(4) 80 feet. This pi
Page 71 and 72:
Peter Moffat 67the final overhangin
Page 73 and 74:
IN MEMORIAMHENRY BRAITHWAITE, 1906-
Page 75 and 76:
IN MEMORIAM 71of an observant and i
Page 77 and 78:
IN MEMORIAM 73years all school holi
Page 79 and 80:
IN MEMORIAM 75number of years a Lib
Page 81 and 82:
IN MEMORIAM 77assert that, protecte
Page 83 and 84:
CLIMBS AND EXPEDITIONS 79He carried
Page 85 and 86:
CLIMBS AND EXPEDITIONS 81Terry Sull
Page 87 and 88:
THE YEAR WITH THE CLUBHarry Ironfie
Page 89 and 90:
ANNUAL DINNER, 1959F. H. F. Simpson
Page 91 and 92:
ANNUAL DINNER 87John Hirst did anot
Page 93 and 94:
JEKYLL AND HYDE 89While hateful Hyd
Page 95 and 96:
SCOTTISH MEETS 91energetic to scram
Page 97 and 98:
LONDON SECTION, 1959During this yea
Page 99 and 100:
RlSSlANS WITH SOME OK THEIR HOSTS I
Page 101 and 102:
96 EDITOR'S NOTESGimmer where Paul
Page 103:
CLIMBING BOOK 1893-1906A note by J.
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Year of publication 1960 - Fell and Rock Climbing Club

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