Number in series 21; Year of publication 1927 - Fell and Rock ...

336 THE FELL AND ROCK CLIMBING CLUB JOURNAL.borne to Wasdale Head ; which would have sadly upset Mrs.Wilson's domestic economy, and might even have caused HowardSomervell to rue his careless depreciation of that splendid climb,the Slab and Notch. But we failed—and the full measure ofour failure was brought home to me a few months later whenwe were again on the Rock in the company of some competentclimbers.On this fine summer day we had done the North-East climb ;and, after a short rest on Low Man, we doffed the rope andalmost romped down into West Gully by what I deduced ratherthan recognised to be the Old West route. The terrifyingramparts of the Spring had resolved themselves into a simpleback staircase : we had succeeded !Now by all the conventional rules I suppose I should estimatethat triumph (save the mark!) as a richer and more satisfyingexperience than our earlier repulse. But I do not feel like thatabout it: the failure was full of glamour, excitement, romance,it abides in memory with a far more lively vigour than the cheap,banal success.And with the passing of years I have come to feel that thereis something fundamental in this contrast. I do not go so far asto say that all success is vulgar, all failure sublime; but recollectionfurnishes enough of richness on the one hand andcomparative aenemia on the other to make the distinction appearcharacteristic and to make one question traditional wisdom onthe subject.Incidentally it may be said that this traditional wisdom is nottoo clear about the matter. The mentors of youth are never tiredof impressing on their charges how much more important it is toplay the game than to win ; but they continue to keep up anelaborate paraphernalia of rewards, and focus the spotlight ofapprobation on success. Our Press groans under a burden of loudlament for lost supremacies—from the daily papers with theirclamour for new boxing " hopes " to the Alpine Journal withits plaintive " Where are les jeunes Britanniques ? " ; andat the same time we are continually fed with aphorisms of the" to travel hopefully... " and " 'tis better to have loved andlost " order. Perhaps the inconsistency is more apparent thanreal: the truth seems to be that this is essentially a question