2003 - the DHO

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F or DOWNHILL ONLY JOURNAL 2003 D.H.O. Lady A tribute to the late Angela de Klee Introduction by David Price many decades Sir Arnold Lunn was the brilliantly erudite Editor of The British Ski Year Book published by The Alpine Ski Club and The Ski Club of Great Britain. 'Arnie' viewed the whole skiing world and nothing missed his eagle eye. Each issue usually contained witty and occasionally mildly barbed correspondence between him as founder of the Kandahar and Kenneth Foster as joint founder of the D.H.O. It was and still is "a good read". In the 1951 edition's 'Review of the Year' he wrote: "D.H.O Lady. On April 13th I was having a quiet cup of tea with Ernst Gertsch at the Scheidegg when a lady wearing a D.H.O. badge suddenly greeted me. "I've been up to some of your old pranks Mr Lunn". Vainly I searched the memories of 63 years of blameless life to find some clue to the kind of 'prank' which Miss Angela Stormonth-Darling might have wished to repeat. "I've just crossed the Eigerjoch from the Jungfraujoch" she added." The 'old prank' Angela referred to was that one day in May 1924 Lunn with Walter Amstutz and two others, had left the Eigergletscher Station, climbed up the side of the Eigcr glacier and then using ski for the greater part of the next stage, reached the North Eigerjoch (11,945 ft; 3614m) some eight hours later. When most visitors to the Scheideg look up the Eigergletscher it's huge boulders of ice and deep crevasses seem awesome and virtually unclimbable. The possibility of ski-ing down it probably never occurs at all. However Oskar Gertsch had waited patiently for the chance. By April 1951 a succession of heavy snowfalls that season made a ski descent feasible. Angela just happened to be around and went with Oskar on an impulse. Arnold Lunn described theirs as a "brilliant expedition". Ken Foster in the 1951 D.II.O Journal congratulated Angela and Oskar on their "courage and endurance" but not "their discretion". He felt they had treated the obvious risks far too lightly! Angela described the expedition in both the 1951 D.H.O Journal and BSYB. The text is very similar, but rather longer in the BSYB. Perhaps Ken Foster's acerbic view of risk made him wield the editorial scissors much too heavily on Angela's occasionally romantic prose! My additions to the original Journal article are in italics. The Eigcrjoch on Skis Angela in 1951. "At the foot of the South Ridge of the Eiger lies an icy saddle known as the North Eigerjoch. It has been reached on skis from the Eiger Glacier but on the other side bare cliffs drop steeply down to the Grindelwald Glaciers over a thousand feet below. A long arete stretches in in a semicircle above the head of the Eiger Glacier and becomes the South Eigerjoch where it approaches the Monch. This point can be easily reached on skis from the Ober Monchjoch (to the south between the Monch summit and the Trugberg) and, at a height of 12,200ft, provides a variety of magnificent views. The arete between the South and North Eigerjoch's was described in 1859 by Sir Leslie Stephens as " a long ridge of snow, sharp as the blade of a knife, playfully alternated with great rocky teeth, striking up through their icy covering like the edge of a saw".
The Stephens party reached the North Eigerjoch but returned to the South Eigerjoch via a route other than the ridge. But, if once traversed with skis, a run full of interest and thrills lies ahead, down over the Eiger icefall and the untouched expanses of snow which spread between the Eiger and the Monch to Scheidegg. Every member of the D.H.O must have gazed not once but hundreds of times at these tempting north slopes just above the "Oh God" run. On Friday April 13th (an auspicious date!) Oskar Gertsch and I set out from the Jungfraujoch (station at 11,332ft). We had intended to leave at 5am in order to enjoy the run down the Eiger glacier before midday if possible, when there would be less danger of starting an avalanche. At 5 o'clock, however, there was a strong wind blowing. By 7.30 the wind had dropped considerably and we decided to start knowing it would always be possible to change our route and ski down to Grindelwald. In beautiful sunshine we climbed over the Ober Monchjoch {11,906 ft) and skied down a short distance before climbing up in a northerly direction to the South Eigerjoch, which we reached just before 9am. Here, from a height of about 12,200 ft, we beheld a variety of views each more glorious than its neighbour. Behind us lay the vast untouched expanse of the Ewigschneefeld, the Wetterhorn and Schreckhorn. Out on our left the Monch, on our right the Eiger. Distance seemed without meaning - range after range of mountains stretched endlessly in every direction, cold and glittering in the sunlight. Between us and the North Eigerjoch saddle at the foot of the Eiger's south ridge, lay the arete we had to cross. We took off our ski, Oskar fixed a long strap binding to mine so that I could carry them across my back. He attached his to the straps of his rucksack like a St Andrews Gross. These were the best methods we could devise but not entirely satisfactory; I was more frightened of dropping my ski than anything else. We roped together on a 100-metre rope and for the next four and a half hours we climbed up around each of the jagged teeth of the ridge and down again, often cutting every step. In the hollows the loose snow was sometimes more than a foot deep; impossible to know whether it was firm underneath, ice or loose rock. Often the very crest of the ridge curled far outwards in a cornice, extravagant and weird, towards the Grindelwald glaciers hundreds of feet below on our right. The edge of the arete was often so sharp, narrower than the sole of my boot, that it seemed to me a slip by one of us would bring catastrophe to both. Oskar, who started in front, turned to me and said "If the snow doesn't hold me, you must immediately jump over the other side of the ridge". I had a momentary qualm, but it was impossible to be frightened with Oskar on the other end of the rope. He, of course, never put a foot wrong and on the one occasion when I slipped he was quite prepared, as I knew he would be. Even when I was actually falling, before feeling the rope taughtening and suddenly jerking me to a stop, I never doubted it. He was very patient and while I was leading always gave me plenty of time to pick my way. There was a wind, not bitter but cold enough to be unpleasant. The ski were our chief discomfort, they seemed in the way on every DOWNHILL ONLY JOURNAL 2003 0 movement. Twice on the steepest part of the traverse Oskar took mine while 1 descended 30 or 40 yards to find a safe hold. He then let both pairs of ski and sticks down on a rope and followed himself. Across the last stretch, just before the saddle, the ice was very treacherous and we had to use a piton to secure the rope. At last, about 1.30pm, we arrived at the North Eigerjoch (11,857 ft). Although the ridge is about a mile long as measured on the map, it had taken us four and a half hours to cross. Here there was a little shelter and, turning our backs on the precipices which fall to the Eismeer we put on our ski with chilled fingers and ran down over breakable crust to the head of the Eigerglacier. Linniger described this as "almost unique among the glaciers of the Alps for its gigantic crevasses and ice pinnacles of marvellous form and variety". Whilst we did pass between some gigantic crevasses, after this winter of exceptionally heavy snow falls many had been smoothed over and Oskar found the way down without any difficulty. The abundance of snow had increased the avalanche danger and we saw a small one fall from an overhang on the Eiger. Once past these dangers, we stopped for a rest and something to eat. From our spot we could clearly see the Scheidegg hotel, the railway line down to Wengenalp and the minute specks skiing the Lauberhorn shoulder. The Laubcrhorn and the Mannlichen looked insignificant and Plum Pudding Hill a mere pimple! We put silver wax on the ski to cope with the heavy snow and continued down over the broken icefall until we came to the Eigergletscher station. At Sheidegg we stopped for a drink and at teatime were back in Wengen. Incidentally, no one believed me when I told them where we had come from! When one tries to recall an adventure of this nature the hours of discomfort and monotony seem shrouded in a general sense of satisfaction. It is difficult to give a fair picture of one's actual feelings at the time but, in the presence of forces unseen and mysteriously powerful one realises one's insignificance and the terrible splendour of life". Reprinted from the 1951 D.H.O Journal with acknowledgements to the 1951 BSYB
Page 1 and 2: DOWNHILL ONLY CLUB JOURNAL 2003
Page 3 and 4: 3 Editorial 6 Disconnected Jottings
Page 5 and 6: W e JbiToniA]_, i •—«i .•»
Page 7 and 8: lAkYiM:-!' Schule Wengen Private le
Page 9 and 10: EN LITEN HOPPE! Reading Tim Ashburn
Page 11 and 12: From: William Wells January 5th 200
Page 13 and 14: ANNUAL DINNER FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER 200
Page 15 and 16: Rustin's The only sensible choice.
Page 17 and 18: The Ski Teacher The autobiographyof
Page 19 and 20: •.. . ; • ' • • ' . . , : .
Page 21 and 22: Jerald Rentsch and his pisteurs did
Page 23 and 24: Date: 24th Dcccmbei •2002 Treasur
Page 25 and 26: Date: Course: Weather: Conditions:
Page 27 and 28: V Hie best piece of skiing equipmen
Page 29 and 30: n ONLY JOURNAL 2003 The Railway Cup
Page 31 and 32: group. We are definitely nor ski sc
Page 33 and 34: DOWNHILL ONLY JOURNAL 2003 — Brit
Page 35 and 36: The prize for the best unregistered
Page 37 and 38: THE 60th INFERNO RACE, MttRREN Max
Page 39 and 40: In December 2003, The Mannlichen ca
Page 41 and 42: Find OF make a crash helmet and wea
Page 43 and 44: As we admired the view, the wind ro
Page 45 and 46: DOWNHILL ONLY JOURNAL 2003 Visit to
Page 47: all went and hired the new fangled
Page 51 and 52: S . 2003 Club News Fund Raising for
Page 53 and 54: Mrs Fiona Leach Mrs Pennie Lipscomb
Page 55 and 56: 2003 Hon Treasurer's Report Duncan
Page 57 and 58: President and Vice-Presidents: Pres
Page 59 and 60: Gordon West (1923-2002) Gordon Harr
Page 61 and 62: Penny Mabey (1910-2003) Many will r
Page 63 and 64: Bridget Larimer (1910 -2003) Bridge
Page 65 and 66: GRUND
Page 67 and 68: Wengen Curling Club 2003 Everyone w
Page 69 and 70: The following two days' curling saw
Page 71 and 72: ULLSWATER •STEAMERS' • Sailings
Page 73 and 74: C/3 rOT-iT-roo-jr^roLoscoooororornm
Page 75 and 76: Mr Mr Mi- Mrs Mr Mr Mi- Mrs CD N DR
Page 77 and 78: o ON ;X ill P, fe a i < OOUOXOOnJ
Page 79 and 80: Miss Mrs Mr Miss Miss Mi- Mrs Mr Dr
Page 81 and 82: Mr Mrs. Mi- Mrs Dr Mi- Mr Mr Mi- Mr
Page 83 and 84: huge selection of superior tealTfum

2003 - the DHO

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