THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Cubby looks at traditional and modern methods and ethics and comes to the conclusion that there is room for both in Scottish climbing.

What with a strut your stuff, muscle bound image and enough sponsors logos to make even a pearly queen jealous, it is understandable that the majority of us do not want to identify with the typical sport climbing stereotype.

It has been a long and excellent winter "one of the best I can remember" said Hamish McInnes the other day. And the Ben is shaping up nicely for "legendary" Easter ice climbing conditions. I reckon we've got at least four weeks of quality winter climbing remaining but can your battered toes and fingers take anymore?

Through thick and thin and despite the foot and mouth problem, the one side of climbing that we never tire of is the subject of winter climbing ethics. Arghhh...I know, not again. More specifically, I would like to talk a little bit about redpointing. Yes, that word, the scourge of the Scottish climbing scene.

For those of you who do not know what a redpoint is, don't worry because most of us don't either. But to enlighten you on the subject, please refer to my earlier column on ethics. It is probably fair to say that the majority of Scottish climbers, especially winter ones, prefer not to associate a sport climbing mentality with a traditional approach and all that tradition stands for but did you know that many of us have inadvertently redpointed routes without knowing it. Well perhaps redpoint is the wrong term, especially as it reflects a clearly defined attitude.

Anyway, thinking about some of these inadvertent redpoints, or for want of a more appropriate term, maybe we should use something along the lines of subconscious pre-rehearsed syndrome! Whatever your choice of term, it could be said that Brian Davison and Andy Nisbet's first winter ascent of Mort, IX,9 on Lochnagar falls into this category. This is not to denigrate Brian and Andy in any way, as I believe their ascent was an outstanding effort, however, Brian openly admits that success was achieved only after many previous attempts which included falls, failures and gear left insitu. So that ultimately their ascent was made easier through the knowledge gained over a period of time.

There are others such as Vertigo Wall - Nisbet and Alfie Robertson's 70s, technical tour de force on the Central Gully Wall of Creagan Dubh Loch. Andy is the first to admit that he saw the climb as a winter challenge and was prepared to get up it by whatever means were required. But the amount of aid they used must have weighed heavily on Andy's conscience, for he returned in 1985 with Andy Cunningham to make a free ascent.

However, what sets Brian and Andy's ascents of Vertigo and Mort apart from others, is an attitude. In other words, they were not deliberately going out to climb the route with the intention of working moves and top roping in an organised manner. Nor did they have the attitude that (in Brian's case) the knowledge accrued after those early attempts would be used to his advantage in 17 years time, although clearly both of them benefited from their previous experiences.

This winter in Coire an Lochain in the Northern Coires of the Cairngorms, three Austrians redpointed a new line which they called Happy Tyroleans, which will probably weigh in at IX,9 (provisionally graded VII,9/10). The Austrians climbed ground up, when they ran out of steam and fell off, or were forced to take a rest, they carried on to the belay (not uncommon in Scottish winter climbing). On reaching the belay a top rope was rigged up to work any moves which might present problems on their final ascent. Two days later, after a days rest, the route was redpointed. One could say that their no nonsense approach is very admirable, especially when one considers the speed in which the line was dispensed with.

Earlier this season Neil Gresham redpointed The Tempest (X,9) on Summit Buttress in Stob Coire nan Lochain in Glencoe. The climb was pre-equipped and the gear left insitu. It was then worked and top roped before the final redpoint. The only other route in this mould is Mark Garthwaite's Logical Progression on Ben Vane in Arrochar, which was the first of its type in the UK and possibly still the hardest. Once again the climb was pre equipped, worked, top roped and then redpointed.

Alan Mullin recently completed a long term project with Demon Direct, a companion route to Happy Tyroleans and tentatively rated IX,9. Alan stressed a ground up approach on this climb so when he reached his mental and physical limit and was forced to either fall off or take a rest, or give up for the day, he did not continue above his high point, nor practise moves or top rope the climb. Why? To preserve the traditional ethic - the value placed upon a ground up approach, ultimately to protect our cliffs and everything that a sense of adventure means to an individual. This is an aspect of climbing which appears to be so close to the hearts of mountaineers all over the world. Risk, danger, excitement - whatever, it all comes under the same roof as adventure.

Now what sets Happy Tryoleans, The Tempest and Logical Progression apart from others is once again, an attitude. Only this time it is quite clear that when a climber reaches their personal limit, the climb is worked and then redpointed. In other words, their intentions are pre-empted. I'm not necessarily saying that one approach is any better than the other but I think it is unfair to compare one climb against another because when the difficulty of a climb increases, there is a greater tendency towards adopting a less admirable approach.

Young Dave MacLeod fell from the last move on Happy Tryoleans last Saturday while attempting the second ascent onsight. When he returns to complete the climb, he will most likely do so without working it. Now whether or not he makes a decision to redpoint the climb or not, will depend upon his own personal views on these matters. So you see, there are so many different facets to style and to define a redpoint is not as easy as you might think, especially where winter is concerned. Strength, fitness, ability and conditions on the day account for so much.

In some respects though, perhaps we should attempt to define our ethics more clearly so that visitors, such as the Austrians adopt the local ethic. I'm sure that if the Austrians were told you don't continue above your high point or top rope, they would respect that attitude. I still think they would have completed the climb though. As for Dave MacLeod's attitude, I suspect he attempted Happy Tryoleans with an open mind and surprised himself that he was left staring at the belay, having climbed in one continuous push to that point. Now whether he goes back and redpoints or climbs ground up placing all protection as he climbs, or whether he head-points it and what choice of terminology he will use - well that's not for me to say.

As for winter sports style climbing in Scotland, it would appear that it is here to stay. I think the strength and fitness gleaned from Euro-American style dry tooling can be applied to traditional Scottish mixed climbing with great effect. This style of climbing evidently has a certain amount of appeal but as in summer bolt protected rock climbing, acceptable rock type and venues for winter sport mixed climbing, need to be discussed in some detail and carefully monitored.

In many respects redpointing winter mixed routes in Scotland makes a lot of sense, especially when the weather and adverse climbing conditions are so often against us. Personally speaking, I don't have a problem (I don't think others should have a problem) with others going out and exploring new routes in remote parts of the Highlands and using the occasional aid point, nor do I have a problem with routes being worked, top roped and redpointed. I think the onus is on the first ascentionist to be honest about the style the climb was achieved in. I also think prospective new routers need to be aware that their project may possibly be an ice forming line.

One can never remove the psychological barriers that a climber experiences in making a first ascent but one other point that deserves recognition is the first onsight. It could be argued that the onsight deserves a different grade but I think this style of ascent speaks volumes for itself, as it does in summer rock climbing.

On a final note, isn't it about time we stopped making naive and immature comparisons between Euro-American dry tooling and Scottish mixed climbing. We know that what we have in Scotland is unique and very special. Our climbing is infinitely varied, both in terms of the beauty of its many locations and in its rich diversity of climbing styles. In short, Scotland offers some of the most sporting scaled down alpinism in the world. This is what our climbing is recognised and respected for.

Cubby
22/3/2001

However not everyone is so understanding of Gresham's methods on the Tempest and his forthright opinions on Scottish winter climbing - read the report and reaction here.