Issue 19 August 2003
Ben Nevis by Simon RichardsonPublished by the SMC 2002. Price: £19.95. 350 Pages. ISBN 0-907521-73-8.
Do I hear you say, “Time for a new Ben Nevis guide already? The last was only published in 1994”. Such urgency on the part of the Scottish Mountaineering Club is almost indecent. What are things coming to? You can almost hear the 'harrumphing' in certain quarters about 'undue haste' and 'all this giving-the-game-away'. How things have changed in terms of SMC guidebooks under the masterful eye, firstly of Roger Everett and now, for the new series, Brian Davison. Within a decade they have brought the quality of SMC guidebooks from amateur to state-of-the-art. They've also recognised that Ben Nevis is the UK's number one mountaineering location and as such deserves an exceptional approach. You see, quite simply the new Ben Nevis guide by Simon Richardson must qualify as “probably the best guidebook in the UK”. I have no hesitation in saying this. Everything you'd expect is there: 250 new routes including the exceptional hard mixed routes like Cornucopia, VII 9, and Darth Vader, VII 8; superb photos; excellent diagrams and maps; a brilliant star-rating system including a higher proportion of four star routes than anywhere else in the UK; and a user friendly layout, although (minor carp - get your partner to carry it) the weight has increased from 12oz to 14 oz! Were there Oscars available for guidebooks, this would win hands down. The material lends itself to excellence and I confess that I am probably hopelessly biased, but earlier models have singularly failed to do the UK's highest mountain justice. The guide for the Ben should always have been one of the best in the UK. Its contemporary competitors are of course handicapped by having material which just doesn't quite crack up to Ben Nevis, Creag Meagaidh, the Aonachs and the Central Highlands for their mountaineering pedigree. The great revelation, which this guide will be remembered for, is the Grey Corries. Dave McGimpsey, Brian Davison and (who else) Andy Nisbet have added a set of new routes there, and if the picture of Taliballan, V 6 is anything to go by the climbing looks superb. End of review? Well… not quite. There are always one or two remarkable things (i.e. issues worth remarking upon) about guidebooks, even the very best ones. So let me get 'pass-remarkable' for a moment or two, but hopefully by doing so fuel your curiosity and appetite sufficient that you head out and buy this guide. In order to better appreciate these “issues” the significance of this guide relative to its predecessors, begs to be remarked upon. The previous guide (1994) was a major revelation itself, despite its crap diagrams, in terms of the new information published, most of which had hitherto only been the purview of a handful of hardened Ben Nevis aficionados. It will be remembered as the guide which put the Aonachs on the map as climbing venues. The one before that was the 'selective' guide, by Colin Stead, published in 1981 some 25 years after the previous 'definitive' guide by Jimmy Marshall, which is a collectors item today. Yes, you got the maths right, that is 38 years between definitive guides! It is worth quoting Stead's introductory words in 1981 simply to illustrate the quantum leaps, which tend to take place between these guidebooks. "Changes [from the Marshall guide] are the adoption of metrication [!] and the use of grades above VS for rock climbs and the first tentative grade VI for a winter route." (Colin Stead 1980) That winter route was Fowler and Saunders' 1979 route Shield Direct, now a very respectable VII 7. Which leads me into my first real issue. Yes, it has to be grades. In 1994 Shield Direct was fourth hardest in the graded list, which still makes intriguing reading (especially as it has not been included in the new guide). Most of the routes on the list's first page were unrepeated at the time, and there was perhaps a sense that the VII and particularly the VI grades were still compressed. The authors (including Simon Richardson) were nevertheless bold about many of the Vs that were in the Stead guide and graded them as VIs or above. They did this, in spite of the fact that it had become fashionable to down-play the difficulty of Ben Nevis routes in the light of technical advances especially in comparison to Cairngorm mixed routes.
For this we are glad, as there was a fair degree of old fashioned sand-bagging at play on the Ben combined with a tradition that a single pitch route couldn't be a grade V. The superb Upper Cascade on Raeburn's Wall, first climbed by Godefroy Perroux in 1991 is a good example… previously IV,5 it is now a V,5 and justifiably so. Fatter ice indeed! Roll-on global warming. I raise no serious challenge to this premise about technology, but simply draw parallels with other advances in protection and kit. With the advent of friends we didn't downgrade crack climbs. When sticky rubber appeared, we didn't lower the grades of slab climbs. At least it is a talking point. For those interested I can point to Albatross going from VII 6 to VI 5; Journey into Space, VII 6 to VII 5; Match Point, VI 6 to VI 5; Mega Route X, VI 6 to V 6. Does this mean they are easier? Even Green Gully has been nudged down a notch from IV 4 to IV 3. And so on; you'll find more and no doubt will have much to argue about in the pub having scared the pants off yourself because your drive-in warthogs and snargs didn't work quite so well as a fifty-quid-Black-Diamond-screw. And that's got to be a euphemism if ever there was one. If I have any other issue it is the degree to which thinking has been made easy. The lay out and text is superlative and this is all assisted by the superb crag drawings done by Mark Hudson. Every nook and cranny has a brilliant line drawing and some have two or three from different angles as well as winter and summer versions, good examples being Carn Dearg and the Number Three Gully Buttress area. I particularly like a small drawing of the 'shoulder' of the Orion Face, above the basin, which exemplifies my qualm (obviously born of envy). I am sure that this is, in reality, an advance, and that generations of climbers to come will indeed be grateful for the guidance and revel in it. I just can't help thinking that, as I enter the 'super-vet' category in terms of athletics, the adventure I experienced climbing here was surely heightened by the mystique and absence of information. A la recherché de temps perdu!! You can savour some of the history, both in the well-written history section but also in the excellently researched first ascent list. A real archivist's treasure-trove this, with many hundreds of letters written to first ascentionists to clarify details. The mini-notes about first ascents reveal a mountaineer's understanding of the significance. There are also a host of superb centenary climbs to celebrate as well. As I read the guide my admiration of early ascents of the hard Ben classics continues to grow. A measure of the commitment needed can be detected in the words of Ian Clough in his 1969 guide when talking about these routes. "Except for passing mention, routes in the Grade V category are not described or recommended; parties competent to attempt them will do so on their own responsibility and without need of guidance." (Ian Clough 1969) I remember those words ringing in my ears the first time I approached Point Five only to be repulsed by spindrift and `full conditions'. How things have changed.
Bourgogne onsight By David & Carrie Atchison-Jones.Published by Jingo Wobbly Topo Guides. 336 pages. ISBN 1-873665-31-8.
The quality of the computer-generated crag diagrams is visually stunning, accurate and far better than any contemporaries. The selection of photos is higher quality than any other guide (as I would expect from a professional photographer!). There is a great deal of information about the areas covered; the campsites and cafes and everything else you need for a first time or sporadic visit. The maps are equally excellent and clear and the whole book introduces one to the flavour that is climbing in this area of France. There are upwards of 35 icons covering everything from 'how scary', 'long clips', 'edges' or 'pockets', bird restrictions, abseil approach and sunshine level. Once you have used them a couple of times it all becomes second nature (and the easy to use flip-out index works well for the mentally ageing). It saves a lot of space usually devoted to superfluous route descriptions to be used for the more interesting local hostelries. Also available is a 'Europe' Guide and getting the Jingo Wobbly make-over soon is Portugal, Gigondas (Avignon, France), and England & Wales. The latter will certainly stir things up! I love this guide and will be using it to break the journey from Fontainblaeu to Verdon, when the whole family can take a break. There is even a tick-list for the best of the wines in the region; I recommend you imbibe of a copy.
Glen Coe, Rock and Ice Climbs
Published by SMC. Price: £18.50. ISBN 0-907521-70-3. |
A commentary by Bob Reid
This lavish and exciting guide covers sport climbing and bouldering in that area in the centre of France from Auxerre (south of Paris), past Dijon to Macon, that most Brits motor past at 120kph on the autoroute to get to Boux. Following what 'Rockfax' started, this takes computer icon images to the extreme. When the first guide of this type (for south east English sandstone) hit the streets in 2001 it received some mixed reviews, including quite a few who felt that it was too extreme, overly fussy and therefore useless. But I have to say that I am an utter convert.
Long drives from Newcastle when winters used to bear ice, meant I bagged many of the classic icy routes in Glen Coe. A move to Roy Bridge in 1984 meant I managed to climb most of the rock routes too and even got a few first ascents. Then, when a garage in Tighphuirst became home for a few years, I would look out across Loch Linnhe at the incessant rain and escape to the north west or Arran and ironically only occasionally did I climb in my own back-yard. But even today driving over Rannoch Moor, passing below the Buachaille to be greeted by that stunning view of the Three Sisters of Glen Coe is just like coming home.
Part of the BMC's increasing list of publications for its members and affiliated organisations, this attempts to bridge a gap in the market in the introduction of the main issues to do with hill walking. It has been prepared with input from all the national outdoor bodies (the Training Boards, Mountaineering Councils and Ramblers) to make sure it is relevant to all parts mountainous in the UK, and is directed to a mainly novice membership. It clearly explains what this game of walking is all about, has some great and easily understood graphics for introducing navigation (taken from the MLTUK book 'Hillwalking') and succinctly outlines the main hazards from authors who clearly know their stuff (unlike some more commercial offerings which underplay the real hazards in order to keep the book more attractive!). There is also information about essential equipment and clothing. The winter section confines itself to the increased hazard and that winter is possible in summer in the Scottish hills. MCofS members can buy the booklet direct from BMC.
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