SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NEWS The Biggest Hooly in the Highlands The MCofS has awarded the Ice Factor “Regional Centre of Excellence” status and declared it a site of “National” Importance because of the ice. The Ice Factor opens to the public on 27 December with a six-day party that includes demonstrations, debates, competitions, mountain films from Banff festival and lectures from some of the best mountaineers in the UK. On Hogmanay busses will be running from Fort William and Glen Coe, 3 Bars will be open and Bands Ghost Riders and Lushrollers will entertain, with top Scottish band Wolfstone playing in the bells for Hogmanay - guaranteeing a huge party for 1,200 people. If you still have time for some climbing try the Ice Walls (18-metres high and 800sqm) providing challenges at every grade and try out the latest equipment and gear thanks to sponsorship from Allcord (suppliers of Camp, Kayland and Millet), Mountain Technology, Gore and Haglofs. The Entreprise Walls include a 10 metre-high 'Ice Cave' featuring embedded lighting and bolted routes to allow practice in torquing and overhanging routes up to 17m. An 18m near vertical 'Pillar' of ice allows leading and top-roping. For those with arms and legs like a gorilla, the 'Neve Wall' recreates that rarest of mountain conditions - perfectly compressed snow - but also features granite blocks and "frozen turf" to reproduce classic conditions. There is even a massive chock-stoned gully. For those who have never tried ice climbing before 'The Ledge', provides a straight forward snow slope to practice using crampons and ice-axe arrests. Then there are the rock walls, bouldering (98sqm) and the articulated lead wall and instructional area. An activity area for children, a rope course, plunge pool, steam room, lecture theatre, gymnasium, cafeteria and an outdoor gear shop make this THE main Highland climbing attraction. Guest Speakers: Martin Moran (Mountain Guide) - Winter in Scotland Cameron McNeish (Editor TGO) - The Seiera Nevada Tim Walker (Principle, Glenmore Lodge) - Mountain Spirit Gareth Parry & Ian Vickers (UK Bouldering Champs) - Demos and workshops Andy Kirkpatrick - Climbing Big Walls Mick Tighe & Douglas M Scott - A History of Scottish Climbing Roger Wild (MCofS Safety Adviser) - Winter Skills Sessions How Do They Do It? Pioneering engineering has resulted in the construction of a giant freezer capable of taking temperatures down to -50°C. This ice room is laid out in a steel frame to support the weight of the walls. The frame is then overlaid with reinforcing bar to form arêtes, edges, gullies and other features. A maze of coolant pipes is laid behind and the whole thing sprayed with concrete for the ice to adhere to.

Climbing Ethics Debate - What Future for Scottish Winter? The Ice Factor, Kinlochleven Monday 29th December, 8pm Chair: John Mackenzie - President of MCofS and prolific new router Speakers:: Chris Cartwright - exponent of hard, new, winter-only lines Dave MacLeod - bringing a modern rock approach to winter Scott Muir - traditional ethics, but also supports a place for Drytooling Kevin Howett - a concerned rock climber with a conservationist view The Met Office forecast with 'Heather the Weather' is giving the Scottish people 'warnings' of bad weather with freezing temperatures, winds from the north and some snow fall. So, climbing conditions should be good then! You wake at 5am, drive in the dark to then slog dreamily uphill against the elements towards a chosen cliff, inspired by thoughts of dribbling blue ice, rime or hoar frosted buttresses and frozen turf. The Scottish Winter Ethic, espoused by the main protagonists, movers and shakers, new routers and enthusiasts, writers and defenders of 'The Faith' is part of your unconscious psyche; walk to the bottom, climb upward on-sight, no rests, no top-roping, no bolts; on a line that has a 'winter' appearance. Out of the gloom the cliff emerges, bare black rock except for snow lying on the ledges; or the route was climbed yesterday and any snow sticking to it has been wiped off; or there is no real depth of snow but the turf is frozen; or there's some snow, but it's unconsolidated and the turf underneath is soft; or part way up it thaws slightly and the light covering of hoarfrost melts. Do you back off and wait another day, or do you continue and call it a traditional winter ascent? Or does your idea of the future of winter climbing involve the ascent of that classic mountain rock climb, The Giant, Cougar or King Rat on Creag an Dubh Loch, or The Pin on The Shelterstone, or Torro on Ben Nevis? Quality rock routes that would rarely if ever become 'wintry'. Do you think it's OK to place pegs in these routes? Or do you think that bolts now have a place on mountain crags to push technical standards in Scotland to the limit? Do you agree with headpoint ascents such as The Tempest, Glen Coe or Logical Progression Arrochar? Do you think that the MCofS guidance on winter climbing is wrong or irrelevant? Have your say on what makes Scottish Winter Climbing special at the world's biggest INDOOR ICE CLIMBING venue. Free Prize Draw to anyone attending the debate, win a pair of either Mountain Equipment 'Vertige' axes or the brand new Camp 'Awax' ice tools (worth £200)   4th Scottish Winter Climbing Performance Seminar 20 - 22nd February 2004 Supported by The Mountaineering Council of Scotland and the British Mountaineering Council. Based at Glenmore Lodge this is primarily a hill based, 'hands on' weekend. In past years some of the key climbers involved in this have included Johnny Baird, Mark Charlton, Rich Cross, Andy Cunningham, John Lyle, Scott Muir, Andy Nisbet, Mike Pescod, Al Powell, Jon Preston, and Ollie Saunders. This list of names being a cross-section of the great and the good in Scottish winter climbing. Why use the word performance? Although the 'performance' can sometimes put people off with the idea that the seminars are strictly for the seasoned 'cutting edge' activist -honed muscles, and an impressive climbing CV being pre requisites for attendance at the seminars - that's not the case. No matter what your experience there are a lot of top tips and handy hints you can pick up. Sessions include performance technique, 'Hooking, Torquing, Tufting' for mixed climbing, winter leading strategies, moving fast on mixed terrain, winter anchor and belay options, through to seconding some hard snow plastered mixed route. With that in mind the seminars offer something for everyone. Outdoor sessions cost £160 whilst Lodge based sessions cost between £30 and £50. Accommodation is available at Glenmore Lodge for an extra cost. Further Details: Check out the website for full details at www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/winterseminar. You can book your place by telephone: 44 (0) 1479 861256 or on-line at www.glenmorelodge.org.uk, or Snail mail to: The Bookings Secretary, 'Scottish Winter Climbing Performance Seminar', Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore, Inverness shire, PH22 1QU If you have any questions regarding any aspect of the seminar please contact George McEwan on 01479 861256 or email george.mcewan@glenmorelodge.org.uk. “Winter Belays” Sponsored Places The MCofS is sponsoring the course fee (£30) for four (4) places on this course. To qualify for sponsorship you must be a MCofS member and be a committed winter climber. Places will be allocated on a 'first come - first served' basis. (Note: the seminars are non-residential, although accommodation can be booked separately at the Lodge) Course: Practical one-day workshops aimed at climbers keen to develop their knowledge of protection options on winter climbs. It includes a revision of principles followed by a look at a variety of direct and indirect belays before looking at snow anchors (buried axes and deadmen), ice anchors (ice screws and ice threads), and rock anchors (pegs, nuts, hexes and camming devices). Part of the course will be on the hill. The instructor / delegate ratio is 1:6. To apply: for a sponsored place please write to Roger Wild at the MCofS Office, with a small CV including your climbing background.   Chicks Unleashed 'Courses for women, designed by women, guided by women' Friday 12th - Sunday 14th March 2004. Scotland's National Outdoor Training Centre Glenmore Lodge Chicks Unleashed aims to bring together women of all abilities who share a passion for the mountains and would like to further their mountaineering or climbing skills in an all female environment. During the weekend, there will be 3 clinics available for you to participate in. All the clinics have been designed by women specifically for women and, will be led by women. The Skills Clinics are aimed at walkers, scramblers and climbers alike, whether you would like to make your mountain adventures safer, or experience your first footsteps on snow. The Skills Clinics may cover use of the ice axe and crampons, avalanche awareness and route planning, depending on individual needs. The Mountaineering Clinics are for those who already have some knowledge of the winter scene and either wish to progress to the next level or learn new techniques. They may include tackling ridges, use of a rope for security and getting out of difficult situations. The Climbing Clinics are for those who have some experience of winter, whether you have never handled a rope before, are fed up with being labelled the 'belay bunny', or are already an accomplished winter climber. During the weekend you may want to learn to lead, look at rope and stance management, or simply a guided experience or to become a competent and happy second. Chicks Unleashed will be instructed by the some of the most experienced female mountaineering instructors around. Expect inspirational and entertaining speakers on Friday and Saturday evening. There will be free gear trials and an auctioning of some of this gear on the Sunday evening. Money raised will go towards 'White Mountain Dreams' - an exciting new charity currently being set up in Scotland to encourage women into the hills. For full details check out the web site at www.chicks-unleashed.co.uk. Alternatively contact Rosie Goolden on 01479 861225 or enquiries@chicks-unleashed.co.uk. The event is supported by Sportscotland Glenmore Lodge and the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. “Skills Clinics” Sponsored Places The MCofS is providing assistance on two places on the Skills Clinics. Each place will be subsidised by £30.To qualify for sponsorship you must be a MCofS member wishing to improve your winter mountain skills. Places will be allocated on a 'first come - first served' basis. To apply: for a sponsored place, please contact Roger Wild at the MCofS Office with a brief hillwalking or climbing C.V.

 

BIVVI TALK Dry Tooling in Scotland Following the article in Issue 20 by Scott Muir, we have had many comments submitted. Reproduced here is a selection.   Dear Editor, Can I thank you for being bold enough to allow the publication of such a controversial subject and giving it sufficient space for it to be properly explained. No doubt you will receive plenty of correspondence from the luddites in our community who oppose any form of progress. However it is my opinion that the National Governing Body should present a balanced view on such matters and so far you have given the view of those that wish to continue to move climbing forward. I trust that you will allow the dinosaurs that climb traditional routes when out of condition and claim a winter ascent sufficient space in which to state their case. Maybe after reading the Dry Tooling article these people will realise that they are in fact "dry tooling" and start to realise that are progressive after all. Then they can join in the scene away from the traditional routes, which with their current practices they are slowly but surely destroying. Garry Wardrope   Dear Editor In reference to the massive article on Dry Tooling and Red Bull in the recent edition of the Scottish Mountaineer, do you not think that Dry Tooling MAY, in the longer term, encourage the following in Scottish winter, Bolting of winter routes; Increase use of the headpoint ethic (clearly wrong in Scottish winter); the Climbing of routes in poor/dry condition, and in Scottish summer will also encourage the trashing of rock climbs. As a fee paying member of the MCofS I am not convinced that this is "Protecting the Ethos of Mountaineering", "Protecting the Mountain Environment", "Encouraging Safe Practice on the Hills". I would be grateful for your honest opinion. Also for the exact amount paid to the MCofS by Red Bull! Is this a reasonable way of attracting funds? Thanks for your attention. Daniel J Clarke   Dear Editor What joy to receive the morning post to find an excellent cover shot and wonderful article about dry tooling. I congratulate you as Editor for having the foresight to publish it and to Scott Muir for being bold enough to climb and write the piece. It's fantastic that the MCofS have taken this initiative. YOU and the MCofS should be congratulated for bringing it to people's attention and proposing a code of practice. Of course I have concerns, bolting being one. Red Bull on every page also turns my stomach…but what the hell, Scott has done well to get a commercial sponsor. More importantly one should be asking why good climbers such as Scott have to sell themselves for funding? It seems to me that our government and sportscotland pay lip service to mountaineering, and it is about time they recognised that Mountaineering is a core activity worth supporting. There are many of us who think that Scottish Winter Climbing has not really moved forward since the 80's and this openness by Scott and his friends is very positive. We need locations where we can “safely” push our skills. A grade eight Scottish climb is not the place to practice, as the opportunity to find one in good condition is very rare. Climbing walls help a bit, but not as much as being outside. So why not have a few areas set aside for axes and crampons? Personally I have never felt at home in a disused quarry, however many of us have private areas where we “dry tool” in secret. For me it was disused chimneystacks, warehouses, embankments and bridges. How else were we to do winter ascents of routes such as Grey Slab (Corrie Sputan Derag), Grumbling Grooves (Corie an Lochan) Haripin Loop (Carn Etchican) Black Mamba and Rat Trap (Creag an Dubh Loch) back in the early eighties, some still unrepeated at grades of VIII.8. We were scratching away at something very new and exciting. There were others - Anderson, Duff, Cuthbertson, and before them, Fyffe, MacInnis, Cunningham, Marshal, even Bonington and Patey. The Tough Brown traverse was climbed in 1895, Black Spout in 1893 and Collie was scratching in the Coe in 1894, which illustrates that there really is nothing new under the sun! As I was developing my dry tooling (a.k.a. mixed climbing skills) unknown to me, Fowler, and other Londoners were scratching the White Cliffs of Dover, a reasonable alternative to pushing limits on remote Highland buttresses. People still say to me that the scratches I left on Black Mamba are still there, a fact I now feel guilty about. I now stay off established summer classics. But who can say which climbs are OK to do in winter and which are not? I do feel that Mountaineers own ethics will develop a system. Dry tooling is an important development, although many of us prefer to call it mixed climbing. I feel confident that the partakers of the sport are well aware of the environmental concerns. Continued good education and clear guidelines which you are trying to produce through open communication will help develop it just fine, with out the need for any policemen. Sandy Allan, Mountain Guide   Dear Sir I feel compelled to write a response to the large feature about Dry Tooling. This highly controversial form of climbing is very new to Scotland. There have only been a handful of Dry Tooling routes developed this summer and I am concerned that the MCofS has decided to publicise it so early, before the Scottish climbing community have ultimately accepted it. Allowing a longer period would have led to a consolidation of views and perhaps even acceptance of Dry Tooling as a form of climbing. However, it now appears that the MCofS is already providing full support for the Dry Tooling exponents. I have my own views on Dry Tooling, but the main concern amongst a number of climbers is the long-term impact of Dry Tooling on Scottish winter climbing. This impact may involve the erosion of the strong traditional Scottish winter ethic; justly famous worldwide. For an organisation representing Scottish mountaineers, which places a high onus on resisting commercial development of our mountain areas, I feel the MCofS is guilty of hypocrisy by allowing blatant commercial publicity for this development. An article debating the issue would have been far more beneficial. As a side note, I trust Red Bull and Grivel gave a healthy donation towards MCofS funds for the quality advertising? Erik Brunskill, Glasgow   Dear Editor I do not believe that the headline article in the latest issue the MCofS magazine is appropriate for this publication. Rightly, or wrongly, it gives the impression that the MCofS is condoning dry tooling as an acceptable facet of the Scottish mountaineering spectrum. Is this the case? If the answer is no, then I believe MCofS owes its readership an apology. Alastair Robertson   Dear Editor Got my copy of the Scottish Mountaineer this morning and I am very unhappy with the MCofS promoting Dry-tooling by choosing a photo of Scott Muir on the cover and including an article inside. Dry Tooling may, in the longer term, encourage the following in Scottish winter: Bolting of winter routes, Increase use of the headpoint ethic (which is totally wrong in Scottish winter IMHO), Climbing of routes in poor/dry condition and hence damaging rock and in Scottish summer may encourage the trashing of rock climbs by dry toolers. This all goes against your aims to protect the ethos of mountaineering in Scotland and to protect the mountain environment so you should NOT be promoting it. Please can you tell me whether you intend to persist with this nonsense? Steve Wright, Strathaven Climbing Club

Back to Newsletter index     next article

This page is part of the old website of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. To visit the new website, click on www.mcofs.org.uk

[ Home ] [ News ] [ Safety and Training ] [ Access and Conservation ] [ Sports Development ] [ Council Matters ]
[ Search ] [ Info Service ] [ Membership ] [ Publications ] [ Links ]