FEATURES
THE "THRONE" OF SCOTLAND
By Scott Muir
We could hear it coming. That was the most terrifying part.
The cracked open sky screamed in anger, unleashing an unsurpassed
wrath. Swearing was futile at our unseen oppressor. No one could
hear us. No one could see us. No one could help us. We knew full
well what was happening and with cold realisation of our
insignificance, we waited patiently for impact. We hoped the end
would be quick. Gordon donned his helmet as a gesture of
submission as the black void enshrouded and blinded our senses.
The overwhelming force of nature crushed us like a human savagely
standing on an ant. I accepted that this was it, a brutally
violent end, never before contemplated as anything but
mountaineering fairy tales.
I gagged in my foetal position wishing I was a fraction of my
size as the impact ripped my heart from my mouth. The fear was
excessive, I couldn't shed tears. This was more like Russian
roulette than mountaineering. The following rush of sulphur-
filled air hit us like a truck, increasing my sensitivity to the
environment. Fragments of snow shrapnel rained on the tent and I
could slowly feel myself lose touch with reality.
The silence was deafening. We huddled in anticipation. 1,200m
up the North East Face we could hear the ice boom, which in turn
dictated the beat of our hearts. Then the scream. A shrieking
scream, a scream that progressively increased as terminal
velocity snatched control and directed our Predator with
laser-point accuracy to the deck. The blood curdling crunch sent
out earthquake-like tremors.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I sat bolt upright, sweating in the freezing air. The Petzl
beam lit up a thousand myriad ice crystals as they danced in the
midnight sky. My level of arousal totally in tune with the
environment. The crunching had been David's footsteps on the
neve as he stood on the bivi ledge preparing a departing brew. It
was summit day.
I was haunted by the intense experience of the horror of the
avalanche 6 days previously that plagued my intermittent sleep
and the anxiety of a midnight departure saw me filling plastic
boots with weary and leaden feet. My mind switched off as I
packed up in 'automatic'.
The objective dangers and weather on the North East Face had
meant that we had to abort the attempt and re-focus on the
elegant North Ridge where I now found myself waking from
nightmare repercussions of our previous attempt. Streaking across
the sky, a shooting star heralded a perfect night as it lit up
the mountains momentarily like a flair. There was no distress
this time, only the opportunity to wonder at the visual
extravaganza. I contemplated where our personal struggles fitted
in with such a powerful and vast natural environment. I smiled to
myself. Privileged to experience the night which could so easily
be taken from our fragile existence.
The uniform snow slope steepened suddenly, briefly I lost my
balance, stumbling forward and automatically thrusting my tools
dagger-like into the squeaky neve surface. Rhythmic frontpointing
made for fast progress and we moved up, encapsulated in four
small balls of Petzl light, out of which there seemed no
existence that I could determine. Intermittent flurries of wind
blown snow, cloaked me in a thin white dusted veneer and
lightning could be seen dancing in the direction of Deo Tibber.
Hugging the cornice as closely as we dared, I looked at the
trench that we had already ploughed.
I shivered at its worrying
depth and proximity to the edge. On our right was an
indeterminately steep slope which disappeared, a treacherous
layer of windslab covered it with an aireated layer that settled
alarmingly all around with a thump. On our left air and the 1200m
NE Face. Our situation no longer felt intimidating as we arrived
on the fore summit, it was just desperately cold. The rope flew
in the air horizontally, willing us to the edge.
Digging a snow pit we waited for dawn. In the East the sky
boiled a furiously beautiful red and orange which reflected in
the swirling cloud seas below. Our final ingredient was the sun
as it cast a definable shadow of the peak into the black night
sky in the west.
The last few steps to the top seemed disrespectful as we
marked its pristine surface, just as Armstrong had on the moon
for the first time. Unlike the moon however, the mountains cover
your presence, returning to a timeless state just as quickly as
the marks are made, denying the importance and existence of those
who have had the privilege to have walked the tops. The changing
beauty of the natural environment never ceases to amaze and gives
us a deep realisation of how sweet life can be and an
overwhelming satisfaction which keeps us doing what we do best.
Surviving.
First Ascent of the THRONE 5840m, Himachal Pradesh, Indian
Himalaya.
10-12th Sept. 1997.
S. Muir, G.Lennox, K.Kelly, D.Proudfoot,
North Ridge AD+ Scottish ll /lll
M. McIlraith, Basecamp Manager.
THE SCOTTISH MOUNTAIN LEADER TRAINING BOARD
by Allen Fyffe
The Scottish Mountain Leader Training Board was formed in 1964
to develop and operate schemes for training and assessment for
those involved in leading others in the mountains of the U.K.
Initially the scheme was the Summer Mountain Leader Certificate
and in 1965 the Winter Mountain Leader Certificate was
introduced. These awards were administered by the SMLTB which was
part of the Scottish Sports Council, the Board itself consisting
of members of interested bodies such as the SSC, the MCofS, the
Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland and the Association of
Mountaineering Instructors. The Secretary was a Sports Council
employee and all the office structures and administration came
from their Edinburgh Headquarters.
These schemes evolved over the years and became accepted as
the minimum standards of competence for leading groups in the
mountains in summer and in winter. They also became the starting
point for the Mountaineering Instructor scheme for those wishing
to lead climbing groups. These schemes are progressive, the
summer award being required before the winter scheme can be
embarked on and the under-lying ethos being that they are for
committed and experienced hill-walkers who decide that they would
like to take others into the mountains. To that end previous
experience must be recorded before anyone can register on the
scheme with the SMLTB. In both schemes the use of the rope is
included as an emergency procedure but they most certainly are
not climbing awards; they are for hillwalking.
In recent years there has been an increase in interest in the
awards resulting in an increase in work and a change in the role
of the Secretary. This, along with changes within the SSC led to
the SMLTB becoming an independent body in May 1997, appointing an
Executive Secretary and moving premises to an office within
Glenmore Lodge. This was not to make the Board part of the
National Centre but simply a convenient site for the office,
although the Lodge does provide some administrative assistance.
The two organisations are totally separate even though it was an
ex-Lodge instructor, Allen Fyffe, who was appointed to the post.
It was almost inevitable that someone who had worked at somewhere
like the Lodge became Secretary as a good understanding of the
schemes and the technical expertise to moderate courses and
supply advice was required and few people who had not worked at
National Centres are qualified at the level of assessing for the
Winter ML.
At present mountain training schemes are administered by the
four home nation boards of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern
Ireland who come together to form the United Kingdom Mountain
Training Board along with others such as the mountaineering
councils. The home nation boards all administer the Summer ML.
The SMLTB administers the Winter ML and the UKMTB looks after the
Mountain Instructor Schemes. Although there are some initial
differences at the registration stage for the Summer ML ( the
SMLTB ask for more previous experience), at assessment the
standard should be the same across the UK.
Part of the Secretary's job is to moderate courses to
ensure that the standards of training and assessment are the same
across Scotland. Previously this had been difficult for the Board
to do but with a growing number of course providers it became
necessary to have some means of monitoring what was going on.
This also gave the course providers a chance to discuss
techniques and standards as many of them work in relative
isolation.
In 1998 the SMLTB also took on the administration of the
Single Pitch Award (SPA) in Scotland. This is the UK wide
qualification for those who want to introduce groups to climbing
on single pitch outcrops and climbing walls. It is a development
from the Single Pitch Supervisors Award (SPSA) and it is hoped
that it will meet the needs of those requiring some qualification
to look after groups being introduced to rock climbing. It is not
intended for teaching rock climbing for which a Mountain
Instructor Award (MIA) is the recommended award. The Secretary
will be involved in moderating and supplying technical support
for these courses as well.
Having a full-time employee has also meant that the Board
could work more closely with the other home nation boards and the
mountaineering councils, particularly the MCofS. Both
organisations are concerned with mountaineering in Scotland and
therefore have areas of overlapping interests. Closer
co-operation means less duplication of effort and resources and a
greater understanding of what each other's role is. The
opportunity to explain the SMLTB in this newsletter and Nick
Kempe's speaking on the MCofS's access work at the
recent SMLTB's Directors' Seminar being examples of
this co-operation. The SPA is another area of common interest;
although the SMLTB administer the scheme, the MCofS has been
involved in its development and to register for the SPA,
candidates must be members of a club or a mountaineering council.
At the end of the day both bodies are involved in Scottish
mountaineering and are working towards the same things and should
not be seen as different but part of a continuum of interest in
the mountains and crags of Scotland. Those with SMLTB awards are
the same as others who enjoy the mountains and part of the
strength of these awards is that they build on experience and
enthusiasm for the hills and are not some theoretical set of
skills and techniques.
EXERCISE THARPU SALTIRE
by Captain Mason
MCofS members in the Armed Forces tough out
early snows
in the Himalaya in MCofS 'T' shirts
Exercise Tharpu Saltire was an expedition for service men and
women employed by the Army and based in Scotland to conduct some
challenging mountaineering in the Himalayas. The expedition (10
members) planned to climb Tharpu Chuli, 18,445 feet, in the
Annapurna Himal. During the build up there were 3 training days;
a traverse of the Cuillin Ridge and climbs on Buchaille Etive Mor
and Lochnagar.
After Katmandu the trek in from the village of Dhampus lasted
5 days, the route followed the Modi Khola valley. Accommodation
and rations during this phase were purchased locally, the diet
was predominately rice and lentils. On day 4 the weather took a
turn for the worse and low cloud brought fresh snow to altitudes
above 9,200 feet. In October and November the Nepalese
wouldn't expect any precipitation in these valleys and a
16,000 feet snowline would be normal. On day 5 the trek left the
vegetation and moved upwards through moraine to the Machapuchare
Base Camp (MBC) at 12,000 feet. Some 6 inches of slow had fallen
in the previous 36 hours, confirming that the weather was going
to be anything but friendly.
Next day a climbing group headed up to the huts of Annapurna
Base Camp (ABC) to break trail. They were rewarded by the first
view of Tharpu Chuli - covered by an alarming amount of snow. The
whole team moved to ABC and a team of 5 descended onto the South
Annapurna Glacier and crossed the moraine field to the foot of a
boulder gully. This route was very tough going with waist deep
snow covering large boulders but the following day the whole team
moved across to a base camp below the mountain. Capt Masson and 6
others then set off to climb the boulder gully and the grassy
buttress above and start establishing the trail to high camp.
This buttress was unpleasantly steep and required crampons but
the slush, mud and grass balled up the points very swiftly. By
mid afternoon the snow started again.
Two days later, despite the bad omens of thick clouds moving
up from the gorge of the Modi Kola, the team made good progress,
breaking a new trail upwards along a series of ridges and open
slopes above the buttress. The terrain was not difficult, however
there were waist deep snow drifts. With movement down to only 50
yards an hour in white out conditions, and with no chance of
making the shelter of the buttress, a high camp was made and the
team retreated in blizzard conditions. The next day saw a repeat
performance with 4 foot deep powder making progress dreadfully
slow and when the weather suddenly worsened having reached 16,500
feet - some 1,500 feet short of the summit - Capt Masson took the
decision to retreat until the avalanche risk had lessened.
Day 12 started with more heavy snowfall. The tents were more
than half buried, some partially collapsed with drifts of up to
chest deep. It was obvious that any chance of climbing Tharpu
Chuli was now over as the winter snows had set in. The expedition
was abandoned. However, this was by no means easy as descending
the boulder gully and crossing the glacier in appauling
conditions involving small avalanches, bitter cold and 6 feet
deep powder up the 55° slopes of the
south wall of the glacier (a bank of moraine 300 feet high) up
which Capt Masson "swam".
The descent down the gorge of the Modi Kola was uneventful
apart from one near-miss powder avalanche falling some 3,000 feet
before hitting a buttress some 800 feet above the team and
exploding into the air. They arrived at the road end after 17
days in the hill.
On the way out the team rafted down 110 Kms of the Kali
Gandaki, one of Nepal's last wildernesses (Himalayan Grade
4). Memorable sights were a Nepalese funeral, where the bodies
are burnt on open fires and left by the river, and witnessing a
village dog dragging a human ribcage from the river. If the
rafting had been frightening the bus journey back was terrifying!
The driver had no concept of danger, accelerated round corners
blindly and used his horn as a sort of magic talisman. All this
on 4 bald, remoulded tyres and some very dodgy looking
suspension.
An ascent of Tharpu Chuli is a very realistic objective for a
team of 4 or more climbers competent on Scottish Grade 2.
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