Year of publication 1960 - Fell and Rock Climbing Club

EXTREMES AND EXCESSESHarold DrasdoThe disparity in quality and standard between the mostdifficult climbs in Wales and the Lake District is still hard tounderstand. Certainly, we don't expect to be able to offerroutes for comparison with White Slab and The Boulder;quite simply, we haven't got cliffs which present possibilitieslike these. At the same time, why is it that we have nothinglike the more difficult of the shorter Snowdon routes?Climbs like The Mostest, Troach, November and Taurus, forinstance, have an aura about them which attaches to nothingof ours. Yet these routes are no longer than the unclimbedlines still waiting on some of our crags, and the same peoplevisit both districts. Even the objection that Lakeland doesnot give good non-artificial lines seems dubious now, at leastwith respect to some of the cliffs mentioned in the EasternCrags Guide.It is true that during the last five years a handful of routeshas appeared to give a taste of what is to come. At Thirlmere,Whillans's Delphinus is the outstanding entry: difficult,inescapable, and superbly related to the structure of the cliff.I have always hoped that this area will one day give climbingto rival that in the Llanberis Pass. In fact Castle Rock hasnow become quite popular and any week-end you can watchthe little white wall testing the adhesiveness of its adherents.But the next advances will probably not take place here.The trouble with the Deepdale climbs is that you cannotreach them in the state of mind and resolution that younourished indoors; that with the cliffs enlarging and developingbefore him for the best part of two hours the average manfeels a diminished sense of purpose and may be preparedsimply to re-examine what he swore to assault. Hutaple, saidvariously, is the biggest crag in this area. It is a place for themountaineer and technician alike. When it is wet it becomes anightmare, slimy and more obviously terraced; but in goodconditions, after the walk, Amphitheatre and Brown Studywill fill anybody's day. When you get to know the place wellyou find that, short of perfection, it is most rewarding to doone of the long face climbs—say North-West Grooves—on avery cold winter's day with dry rock, a few ribbons of ice toeither side, and a big wind scouring the cove. You make notethen of something new in atmosphere, not comparable with