_THE PILLAR ROCK_
Mosedale is closed in by Yewbarrow, Red Pike, Pillar, Looking Stead,
and Kirkfell. These form a noble amphitheatre of dark mountains, a
cordon through which it is not easy to break. Between the last two
hills we can effect the passage of the Black Sail over into Ennerdale,
which passes down behind the Pillar to the north-west. A more direct
route to Ennerdale is by Wind Yatt (or Windy Gap), a pass 2,400 feet
high, between the Pillar and the Red Pike. On the northern or Ennerdale
side of the Pillar mountain is the famous Rock, beloved of climbers
great and small. It springs up vertically from the steep fellside, with
a north face like a cathedral-front 500 feet high. From the summit of
the fell a descent of 400 feet of steep rock and scree will bring us to
the nearest part of the crag. From the Liza River at the bottom of the
valley we have 1,100 feet of grass and scree to tackle before reaching
the lowest buttresses that support the great wall.
[Illustration:
PLATE IX.
PILLAR ROCK, NORTH SIDE (p. 271).
The High Man is about 550 feet above the Nose.
_a_ Shamrock Gully.
_b_ Great Pitch in _a_.
_c_ Great Bridge.
_d_ Shamrock Chimney.
_e_ Walker’s Gully.
_f_ Savage Gully.
_g_ The Nose.
_h_ Easy route, North Climb.
_k_ Cave Pitch.
_l_ Stomach-traverse.
_m_ Split-block.
_n_ The Strid.
_p_ The Hand-traverse.
_q_ The Buttress-route.
_r_ The Ordinary route.
_s_ The Low Man.
_t_ The High Man.
_u_ The Great Chimney.
_v_ Pisgah.]
From below, the precipice is seen to be divided into two parts by a
long, black chimney. This is Walker’s Gully, named after the young man
who fell there in 1883. Its head is the point of convergence of
sundry lines of scree from the upper fell. It suggests a funnel cut
down along its centre-line, and scree frequently slides down the sides
of the funnel and into the gully. This no doubt is the chief reason why
Walker’s Gully has never been climbed until recently, when snow and
frost diminished the risk from this cause. It would prove difficult
under any conditions, and the risk of a battery of stones from above is
too heavy a handicap for the cautious climber.
The Pillar Rock itself is on the right of the gully, in our view from
below. The crag on the left is considerably lower, and in fact scarcely
rises high enough over the head of the gully to be visible from above.
But from the east it presents an imposing appearance. Its outline
partly suppresses that of the higher crag beyond, partly combines with
it, audit is often mistaken for the actual Pillar Rock. Hence the name
Sham-rock by which it has been known since 1882. It is a mere walk to
reach the summit from the Pillar Fell. The climbing on the Shamrock
is not quite so good as that on the neighbouring crag, but it cannot
well be neglected. On the eastern side is the well-known Shamrock
Gully, a magnificent looking cleft in the rocks, finishing with a huge
V-shaped notch at the summit. A natural arch spans the gully
half-way up, and an obstacle some few feet higher makes a pitch of
unusual severity--‘one of the stiffest pitches in all Cumberland.’ It
was first climbed by Mr. Geoffrey Hastings’ party in March, 1887, when
a bank of snow below the pitch gave a little help. In December, 1890,
the climb was repeated by a party with the same leader, without the aid
of snow, and since that date various ascents have been made with and
without snow. Among others a new route over the obstacle was effected
in December, 1896, by the writer and three friends. It is probable that
the pitch turns back fifty per cent. of the people who essay to climb
it.
On the same eastern face, a few yards further away to the north, is the
Shamrock Chimney, a thin crack running somewhat irregularly upwards
to the summit ridge. The credit of the first ascent belongs to Mr.
John Robinson, whose keen eye and sound judgment made the ascent an
accomplished fact, on September 23, 1894, within a few days of his
discovery of the chimney. Shortly afterwards Robinson showed me the
route, and I was convinced at once that in difficulty and extreme
interest it was far superior to the Shamrock Gully, and equal to the
best climbing on the Pillar Rock. The third ascent was made by Dr.
Lawrence in April, 1895. Not many parties have been up it as yet, and I
am hoping that the full account of its details here supplied will tempt
others to attack it.
I have said that the Pillar Rock lies to the right of Walker’s Gully
when viewed from below. It is bounded on the other or western side by a
broad hollow in the fell, down which a slender stream flows without
any abrupt change of level till the foot of the precipice is reached.
There the ‘Great’ waterfall disturbs the even tenor of its way, and is
said to offer a formidable obstruction to our approach of the west face
from below.
[Illustration:
G. P. Abraham & Sons, Photos. Keswick
THE EAST FACE OF THE PILLAR ROCK]
From the Shamrock side we can get the best idea of the shape of the
Rock. We have first the Pisgah rising out of the upper fellside, a
pinnacle easily accessible and only forty or fifty feet high. Then
to the right comes the actual Pillar Rock, the ‘High Man,’ separated
from Pisgah by a narrow vertical cleft, the ‘Jordan,’ that renders the
ascent from Pisgah almost an impossibility. At the Jordan two gullies
meet; one up the east side, short and easy, the other up the west side,
longer and more difficult.
The outline of the rock is marked by a notch to the right of the
summit, where the Great Chimney finishes, and a little further
northwards it shows a sudden drop to the level of the Low Man, the
immense buttress that from below hides the true summit altogether. A
cairn has been erected on the top of this buttress, and the outline to
the right of this falls in one vertical drop of 400 feet to the foot
of the rock. This is the great north wall. It is supported at the base
by a minor buttress, the ‘Nose,’ that stretches across the full width
of the north wall, and along the top of which, immediately below the
precipice, an easy terrace takes us across to the Great Waterfall
from a point near the foot of Walker’s Gully. From the eastern end of
the traverse rises the Savage Gully, a well-marked cleft with sundry
branches, reaching to the top of the Low Man.
On the western side the rock appears much more formidable. The chimney
up to the Jordan looks black, and its crest is overhanging. The
wall of the High Man itself is built up with long slabs of smooth
rock, broken only by the smallest grass ledges, and its difficulties
appear to increase near the summit. This side of the Low Man looks as
inaccessible as the great north wall. Nevertheless a series of short
gullies starting from the foot of the High Man lead obliquely up
towards the left and offer a very easy route to the southern end of the
Low Man, whence to the summit the climbing is but moderately difficult.
The best ways of reaching the Pillar Rock are given in full detail
by Mr. Haskett Smith. It will here be sufficient to remark that from
Wastdale the usual course followed is to ascend by the path towards
Black Sail Pass until about ten minutes beyond Gatherstone Beck, then
to make for the ridge on the left leading over Looking Stead and up to
the summit of Pillar Fell. Thence a descent of 450 feet in a northerly
direction brings us to the Pillar Rock. Sometimes Mosedale is followed
straight up, and the steep slope climbed that leads to Windy Gap.
Thence the ridge to the right takes us in twenty minutes of easy
going to the summit of the Pillar Fell. Both these routes involve an
unnecessary ascent of 450 feet, and the ‘High-Level Route’ was designed
to avoid this waste of time and energy. Looking Stead is reached as
before from Gatherstone Beck, and the wire fence followed up for a few
minutes as far as the head of Green Cove. Here a cairn marks the spot
where a rough path starts down the cove. We descend only fifty feet or
so, and then turn round to the left and skirt along the north-east side
of the fell. It is unsafe to attempt the traverse for the first time in
a mist, but with clear weather the various cairns that mark successive
points on the route can be easily discerned, and a half-hour’s walk
brings us to the wide scree gully running down by the eastern side of
the Shamrock. To reach the foot of the Pillar Rock is a simple matter.
The photograph facing page 271 was taken across this scree, and it
will be seen that the route down to the Nose is only a walk round the
foot of the Shamrock. A broad, sloping corridor in the lee of a steep
rock-wall further up the fellside, enables us to steer clear of the
Shamrock cliffs and to reach their head without any hand-and-foot
scrambling. Thence across the scree descending to Walker’s Gully we see
Pisgah and the High Man, and with care we can now make the traverse to
the foot of the Jordan Gully. There we are in a position to start any
of the ordinary short climbs on the Pillar Rock. The west route can be
reached by turning Pisgah on the left and descending the west scree
for 300 feet. The long climbs up the north face are started from the
Nose.
The Pillar Rock was first climbed by an Ennerdale cooper named
Atkinson, who in 1826 ascended by the west side. The ‘slab-and-notch’
route on the east side, starting from the upper screes above Walker’s
Gully, was devised by Messrs. Conybeare and A. J. Butler in 1863,
though it would seem that the same side was successfully attacked a
year or two before. Matthew Barnes, a Keswick guide, found a route
across the eastern face to the Low Man, and thence back along the
summit ridge to the highest point. He was climbing with Mr. Graves, of
Manchester. Mr. W. P. Haskett Smith found in 1882 a direct way up to
the High Man from the Jordan, and a second route straight up the wall
a few yards to the east of the first. Two years later he reached the
summit by a particularly hazardous course still further to the east,
passing up close to the buttress whose lower end marks the start of the
‘slab-and-notch’ route. In the same year he made the first ascent by
the Great Chimney on the east side. Mr. Haskett Smith named the first
three routes the ‘West Jordan,’ the ‘Central Jordan,’ and the ‘East
Jordan’ climbs respectively; the latter route is never undertaken, and
the other two are often termed the ‘Left Pisgah’ and ‘Right Pisgah.’
For many years Mr. Haskett Smith made visits to the north face,
endeavouring to reach the summit of the Low Man from the easy ledge at
its foot. On the right his course was limited by the almost seamless
wall of rock that gives the Pillar Rock its appearance of hopeless
inaccessibility from Ennerdale. On the left the Savage Gully cut off
all chance of traversing to the eastern side of the rock. The space
between was strictly limited, and it narrowed as he climbed higher.
Within thirty feet of an easy scree gully that obviously led to the
summit of the Low Man, the only available course had dwindled down to a
slender rib of rock in a dangerously exposed situation, much too risky
to attack without guarantee of its feasibility.
In 1891 this climber, with Messrs. Hastings and Slingsby, succeeded
at last in finding a way of descending into the Savage Gully at that
point. Their leader then mounted its left wall and worked easily across
to the foot of the scree gully. The others followed, and the ‘long
climb’ up the Pillar Rock became an accomplished fact. No published
detailed description of the route is known to the writer.
SHAMROCK GULLY.--This is rather an unpleasant climb for those
who dislike loose stones. The bed of the gully is very steep and
narrow. It is followed straight up the centre, by using horizontal
shelves on either side that now and again flake off in a most
unexpected way. Extreme care is necessary on the part of the leader,
for his followers cannot avoid any fragments that he may dislodge.
The climbing is otherwise easy, and very little distance should exist
between the separate members of the party.
Half-way up the gully the bridge is passed, high above our heads when
no snow is about, but occasionally completely blocked by heavy drifts.
Next the bed of the gully runs up into a little cave, formed by the
huge jammed stone that presents the only genuine obstacle in the ascent.
The block is long and narrow. It leaves just enough room on each side,
between the walls of the gully, for a thin chimney. That on the right
is very difficult to enter but comparatively easy to follow up. The
other is designed differently; it leads the climber by a temptingly
easy beginning into a position twenty-five feet up, that will in many
cases pound him most distressingly, and his descent will be uncommonly
awkward. Hence it is that the right-hand chimney was for nine years the
only course adopted.
The process of backing-up is, as a rule, safe, though fatiguing.
In the case of the Shamrock pitch, the leader will never find his
attitudinising comfortable. If he starts from the shoulders of a
companion, he can at any rate enter the chimney; but its walls are
undercut, and he needs all his strength to brace himself firmly between
them. A little higher and there is risk of jamming too well. Twenty
feet up he has to turn towards the block and work up over a shelf on to
the scree above the pitch. It is not easy for his companions to follow
on, even with the aid of the rope.
The left-hand route was climbed in winter. Sundry weak holds were
frozen into position, but the rounded top of the great block was
glazed completely, and the finish was of great difficulty. Dr. Collier
had told me that he thought the upper portion just possible, and our
party of December, 1896, decided to try it. I started up the first
twenty feet and then found the glaze of ice too heavy for further
advance. It was not very difficult to traverse out of the chimney
into a wider gully on the left; but after rising a few feet in this,
the great smooth slabs in front completely barred the way, and I
attempted to return to the chimney. This could not be effected, and
hitching the rope over two small excrescences on the wall I climbed
down the retaining ridge and rejoined my companions. This was very
unsatisfactory, though I was glad enough to be in safety again. We had
a long discussion about the pitch, and referred to many engineering
principles. At last I suggested that the lightest member of the party,
weighing not more than nine stones, should take the lead, and that I
should follow on closely as far as the difficult spot. There I proposed
to brace firmly in the chimney and thrust him straight up to the frozen
grass above. He looked at me apologetically and said that he would go
up if I insisted on it, but would rather hear of some different plan
that deprived him of the honour of leading. Then a bold but heavy
man spoke up and volunteered to take his place. It was my turn to
decline, and we felt completely at a loss. At last I went up again to
the turning-point of the previous venture, and for the sake of safety
threaded my rope through two or three jammed stones in the chimney.
Then followed the longest member close behind me, likewise threading
his rope. I climbed on to his head--it had been tested many times
before--and then got him to steady my left foot on a frozen hold half a
yard higher. An ice-axe was then passed up from the cave, and the pick
rammed hard into the frozen grass above the boulder. The handle then
offered enough stay to enable me to pull up over the smooth icy surface
of the boulder, and the pitch was conquered. I cut steps up the snow to
a safe place for belaying the others, and they then followed singly on
a long rope. The rest of the gully was simple walking.
SHAMROCK CHIMNEY.--This is shown very clearly in the photograph
facing page 271, as a series of vertical pitches almost in a single
straight line from top to bottom of the Shamrock. We take to the first
set of easy rocks on the north side of the great gully, and for about
160 feet climb over irregularly disposed crags interspersed with grass.
These are usually wet and slippery, and they finish at the extreme
south end of the grassy terrace crossing the Shamrock face.
We keep straight up and enter the lower extremity of a narrow chimney
thirty feet high. Its two pitches are scarcely separated, and require
careful climbing up to the narrow cavern on the next grassy ledge. The
first real difficulty now lies in front. Ten feet of steep smooth rock
are to be climbed before we can enter the foot of the next chimney, and
the leader will do well to accept a shoulder-up and a lift with an axe
in tackling this wall. It is practically impossible in icy weather. The
chimney is easy enough, with plenty of jammed stones for a distance
of twenty-five feet; but it then dwindles down to nothing, and a very
exposed bit of work follows for the leader, who has to crawl up some
six or eight feet of rock without any respectable holds. This brings
him to another small cavern just sufficiently large for him to take
breath and recover his strength. He cannot see his party below, and
in manipulating the rope for the second man he will need to shout his
directions. Then follow a short traverse to the right, and an upward
scramble over more broken ground to an interesting splayed-out chimney.
Thence a steep grass slope takes us up to an open gully with a great
overhanging boulder. It may be passed straight over or by a through
route, and we are then at the end of the chimney climbing. A turn
to the right leads to a splendid ridge that runs to the top of the
Shamrock, and offers a finish as charming as that of the Scawfell
Pinnacle from the Low Man. The work is over when a perched flat-topped
stone is mounted; and then we walk to the summit of the Shamrock and
down by easy ledges to the screes above Walker’s Gully.
PILLAR ROCK, JORDAN CLIMBS.--Very easy scrambling from the
upper fell will bring the climber to the summit of Pisgah. There
is a short chimney on the east side that leads to the same spot; it
is easy to enter, but the exit at the top is very stiff. The view
of the near wall of the High Man is interesting, and there is ample
opportunity for studying the two direct climbs before descending to
the gap. They are both difficult, but the rocks are so much scratched
by nailed boots that the difficulty does not consist in finding the
way up. It is generally supposed to be impossible to descend into the
gap from Pisgah, but inspection will show that there is a series of
small ledges a little to the west, down which a safe passage can be
effected. The Left Pisgah route starts up at once from the _col_. The
holds are only moderately good for the first thirty feet, and fail to
give satisfaction when wet or icy. Next it is possible to force the
body into a narrow crack, and for a little while the climber can cease
his strugglings and rest himself. Above this the rock is more broken
and the holds are better. A thin leaf of rock is crossed and a downward
view obtained of the Right Pisgah final chimney. Then the slope is
eased off, and the cairn on the High Man is but a couple of yards away.
The Right Pisgah route is generally started low down the East Jordan
Gully. This offers pleasant hand-and-foot work, but no difficulty
whatever up to the Jordan. But before reaching the gap a square recess
on the right is entered, and then a passage is made over smooth rocks
to a clean-cut right-angled corner forty feet high on the south-east
side of the High Man. It is just possible to traverse round from the
Jordan to the top of the square recess, and so up over the slabs to the
corner, but the variation is not worth much.
[Illustration:
G. P. Abraham & Sons, Photos. Keswick
“ROUND THE NOTCH”--PILLAR ROCK. EAST SIDE
(_Face page 267_)]
The crack climb that now starts straight up the corner is one of the
neatest things on the Pillar Rock. The right wall is used for steadying
purposes when, half-way up, a jammed stone makes it necessary to emerge
from the crack. Some of the holds have splintered away during the last
few years, but there are yet enough to satisfy one’s needs. The finish
is a splendid pull up with the arms on to the leaf of rock already
referred to at the top of the Left Pisgah climb.
SLAB AND NOTCH ROUTE.--The upper part of the Great Chimney
offers no difficulty to the climber. Its southern boundary is a long
narrow buttress called the ‘Curtain,’ stretching from the top of
Walker’s Gully, to the summit of the High Man. Viewed in profile from
the Pillar Fell, the Curtain shows three distinct notches two-thirds
of the way up; they are about thirty feet above a slab set at an angle
of thirty degrees, and attainable by rough scrambling from the foot of
the East Jordan Gully. The easy route passes along this slab, directly
upwards to the middle notch and thence round the Curtain to the bed of
the Great Chimney. The walk along the slab is to some people a critical
undertaking, for a slip would have very serious consequences. A thin
crack on the line of march makes the course safer, unless ice or snow
have filled it up, but it is not an unusual sight to see men tackling
the walk on all-fours. The Curtain may be crossed at the lowest notch,
the ‘Ledge,’ by good firm rocks, and the Great Chimney entered on
the other side. Formerly it was the usual course to reach the bed of
the chimney at the lower part of the steep grass by what was called
the ‘Eight-foot Drop.’ But there is no need to drop at all; an easy
traverse from either the Notch or the Ledge brings the climber above
the steep grass, and virtually at the end of his cragwork. The chimney
finishes with scree, and lands the climber within a few feet of the
cairn on his left.
VARIATIONS ON THE EAST FACE.--It is possible to make a way
straight up the Great Chimney from its foot, joining the easy route
about a hundred feet up. Haskett Smith took this course in 1884,
commencing the climb on the stepped buttresses of the Curtain. Since
then the rock has had time to loosen a little, and climbers very rarely
enter the chimney that way.
The _Pendlebury traverse_ is an excellent variation of the ordinary
route, a popular scramble first indicated by Professor R. Pendlebury,
of Cambridge. From the slab the way lies straight up to the notch in
the Curtain, and then along a horizontal ledge in its south face as
far as the corner where it meets the High Man. Thence up the corner is
straightforward chimney-work, and on emergence at the top the cairn
will be visible close at hand on the left.
The traverse looks difficult until it is closely approached, when it
will be found that handholds abound on the wall, and that the ledge is
perfectly firm and continuous across the whole width of the Curtain.
The chimney in the corner of the south side of the Curtain can be
entered much lower down. From the slab a way lies straight up into it,
but the grass holds are not particularly pleasant if wet, and the first
thirty feet are severe.
From the head of Walker’s Gully a way may be found to the Low Man,
below the immense slabs that crown the north-east buttresses. It
is best to climb the Shamrock first and prospect the route. Sheep
occasionally manage to get across, and the _Old Wall_ was built many
years ago to prevent their passage, but it is now ruined. Sometimes,
ignoring Badminton, they still venture across without a rope, and their
weaker members are liable to get crag-bound. Climbers can tell many
tales of famished sheep found in appalling situations on the Pillar
Rock. They are too weak to resist the slipping on of a rope, and are
simply hauled or slung out of every difficulty till a safe pasturage is
reached.
THE WEST CLIMB.--This was the route first discovered. It is much
longer than any of the ways on the south or east side, and possesses
but few interesting details. It is more popular as a descent than as an
ascent.
It is seemingly impossible to climb directly up the west wall of the
High Man, but in the walk down the west screes it will be noticed
that the rocks of the Low Man are more broken, and that several short
scree gullies sloping upwards to the left mark a rough route straight
towards the Low Man cairn. The course is best examined from a distance,
across the great western gully; it lies as close to the High Man as
is possible without undertaking anything but gully scrambling. Not
infrequently climbers find themselves astray on narrow grassy ledges
too much to the right. I experienced the same thing myself when first
attempting to find the way up, and found the ascent by no means so easy
as report had credited the west climb.
From the level of the Low Man the way lies very nearly along the
sky-line to the highest point. The High Man is struck at the end of a
square corner in the rock, and there is some excellent work for the
arms during the next thirty feet of ascent.
It is easier to turn over slightly to the east side, and up by the
great jagged boulders on the crest of the ridge. The _Slingsby crack_
is a short but rather stiff variation a little on the right or western
side of this route and is particularly interesting. Formerly a loose
block at its upper end gave the climber an occasional scare, but there
is nothing unsafe now in the form of detached boulders, and the ridge
can be followed with confidence to the High Man cairn. Nail marks are
strongly in evidence all through the crag-work; the leader should not
attempt the route if snow or rain prevents their recognition, unless he
is already perfectly acquainted with the way.
[Illustration:
G. P. Abraham & Sons, Photos. Keswick
THE NORTH FACE OF THE PILLAR ROCK]
THE NORTH CLIMB.--For several months after the first ascent
it was difficult to learn anything of the details of the route up
the Ennerdale face of the Pillar Rock. The only way was to persuade
some one who had been up to take the lead and act as guide; for a
complicated course that had taken Haskett Smith eight or nine years to
work out was not likely to be mastered easily by any one who had not
made a special study of the north face.
My own chance came in the summer of 1893. Mr. John Robinson called for
me at Buttermere one fine afternoon, and took me off to Ennerdale with
another friend, Mr. F. W. Hill. We left the village at two o’clock,
and were back again after a successful ascent by eight in the evening;
whence it may be inferred that Buttermere is as good a starting-point
for the Pillar Rock as Wastdale or Seatoller.
Our guide led us rapidly by the shortest route over Scarth Gap, and
across Ennerdale to the foot of the Pillar Rock. Then a fifty-feet
length of rope made its first appearance; it had been hidden in a bag
during our walk, lest we should alarm the folks about Gatesgarth. We
tied ourselves up, and made for the eastern end of the terrace across
the Nose.
Robinson then started along the terrace, and in a few yards scrambled
up to a shelf on the left, five or six feet high, which gave us easy
access to the lower portion of the Savage Gully. This latter has never
been climbed along its whole length. If the gully were moderately easy,
the north climb would be far less complex. But for a great portion
of its length the side walls are at right angles to each other; the
corner is nearly vertical, and the only resting places are diminutive,
grass-grown ledges placed too far apart for any safe employment of the
rope. The right wall of the gully forms part of a conspicuous buttress
on the north face, whose western side is much more broken and less
dangerous to ascend.
The route that was being shown us lay along the Savage Gully for about
sixty feet, then across to the west side of the buttress and up a
vertical branch gully with sundry small chimneys in it. Higher up,
we were told, it would be necessary to round a cliff still further
to the right, by means of the _Stomach traverse_, to render further
ascent possible. We objected to the inelegant name, but were too far
advanced to hesitate on the score of a faulty title. Above the traverse
our climbing would be easier, until the course returned to the Savage
Gully again. That was to be our _mauvais pas_, and after settling it
the scramble to the Low Man, and thence to the highest cairn, would be
scarcely more than a walk.
So spoke our guide, and having delivered himself at some length, with
an occasional appropriate anecdote thrown in, he concentrated his
attention on the small pitch that marked our point of arrival at the
Savage Gully. It was a wall seven feet high with indifferent grassholds
at the top, and in scrambling up care was needed to avoid dislodging
loose stones near the edge. It was then easy to clamber into a small
cave somewhat to the left, and out again by a twisted tunnel at the
back. Thence Robinson worked upwards over broken ground for a few
yards, until the point was reached where we were to leave the gully.
The direct route looked feasible for some distance ahead, but there was
no questioning the fact of its severity, and we had not come out that
day for exploration.
A divergence was made along an easy traverse towards the right, to a
short and narrow chimney that already bore traces of many previous
struggles. Wherever the rocks were clean and free from scree, we could
plainly see the scratches of nailed boots along the route. It was here
that we were rounding the great buttress of Savage Gully, and after a
little rough-ledge work we arrived at a square corner with a grassy
floor. Straight up from this floor a cleft offered safe passage. It
was plentifully supplied with holds, though some discrimination was
necessary in selecting the firmest. The climbing was delightful, and
zest was given to it by the magnificent situation. The corner was not
so deeply impressed in the buttress as to prevent our recognition of
the vastness of the cliff we were slowly ascending. The view downwards
just included the little grass platform, and beyond that the wild and
steep fellside at the foot of the precipice, already some hundreds of
feet below us.
We kept up the direct route so long as we were able. Then the cleft
in the corner suddenly dwindled down into the thinnest of cracks,
and it was obvious that a change of tactics would be necessary. The
left wall was faultlessly smooth. The right for the most part looked
just as inaccessible. The grass ledge on which we were standing really
seemed to suggest finality, the end of our upward progress, and I
turned to Robinson inquiringly with the impression that some wonderful
engineering process with the rope was now to be explained to us. We
knew that such was necessary on the climb, and were prepared by the
situation to see its application immediately.
But the solution of the difficulty was of the simplest character. A few
feet from the corner the smooth right wall was split by a single crack
that passed up at an angle of perhaps thirty degrees and terminated at
a notch that broke the clean-cut outline of the rock facing us. From
the notch it certainly seemed as though nothing could be done further,
even if we got so far. Nevertheless, we were assured that when once
we were there all doubts would vanish, and we should have the easiest
hundred feet of scrambling in the whole day’s expedition. The crack was
the famous _Stomach traverse_; it was reached as long ago as 1884 by
Haskett Smith in his early exploration of the north face; and the name,
which had only recently been given to it, was intended to show how the
passage was supposed to be tackled. One of Willink’s illustrations in
the Badminton, showing an intrepid cragsman crawling along a ledge
from left to right, is sometimes criticised as an exaggeration of the
difficulties that rock-climbers have to overcome. This traverse before
us was not so easy as the one so cleverly depicted by the artist. It
sloped upwards, and the ledge was not wide enough for the whole body.
We were in no sense precariously placed, for the cleft enabled us to
wedge with security; but the right half of the body was outside the
leaf of rock on which we hung, and the right leg found no support on
the vertical wall.
Some twenty feet of wriggling brought us each in turn to the critical
corner, and there to our amazement we had merely to get up and walk
away. The wall we had passed was the last obstacle separating us from
a long stretch of steep grass chimneys and broken rocks. These extend
from the Nose at the foot of the crags up to the final difficulty,
now only a hundred feet above us, and offer the easier route up the
north face. Our own course by the Savage Gully was by far the more
entertaining one, and under most conditions decidedly safer than the
other.
From the notch we could either walk straight up to the cave-pitch in
the corner now facing us, or work easily round a rib of rock on the
right and join the other route. We chose the former, and found the
pitch decidedly stiff, the main trouble being to get satisfaction out
of the diminutive hand-holds on the upper surface of the top boulder.
However, it was time to be thankful for small mercies, and confidence
carried us up safely.
A party coming up the easy way would start from the terrace on
the Nose, close to its highest point. Their route would be quite
straightforward, though occasionally the question as to the safest
movement might introduce a slight digression. The great wall of the
Low Man on their right limits in the most definite manner all westerly
climbing, and their only trouble would be in negotiating two narrow
chimneys and some of the grass ledges, where the tufts are unpleasantly
loose and the slopes very slippery. The fact is that this way is not
much to be recommended; until it joins the other there is little merit
to justify the variation. If parties are certain they can finish the
second half of the ascent, they can assuredly climb the lower portion
_via_ the Savage Gully and the Stomach traverse.
We halted for a moment above our cave-pitch and looked around at the
crags. From a distant survey, such as that indicated in the photograph
facing page 271, it is impossible to realize that so large an open
space of easy ground can exist on the north face. But our opportunity
for advance was strictly confined to one direction. Further westwards
we could not go; the great wall was unassailable. To the east we
could have perhaps traversed away until progress was barred by the
narrow branch of the Savage Gully, which we had utilized lower down.
The northerly direction of course led down the easy route, and the
southerly pointed to an uncompromising extension of the great wall
towards the Savage Gully.
We were led straight up the small scree to the _split block_, a huge
boulder at the foot of the wall. The leader disappeared into a deep
crack, and after a few moments appeared at the top of the block, having
mounted by a secondary fissure that cut into the left portion of the
boulder. The movement was quite unexpected, and Hill and I were rather
startled at the aspect of things from the summit of the split block.
It stood at the top of the narrow branch of the Savage Gully already
referred to, and the view vertically down this branch was calculated to
make us hesitate before taking the next step.
This was the _Strid_. Close up against the wall that blocked the
head of the gully, a long stride was to be taken across to a narrow
‘mantelshelf’ on the other side. There was no difficulty in the step,
but the consequences of any slip were so obvious that we were not
surprised to learn how respectfully the Strid is usually regarded. The
mantelshelf led us along under the wall for a few yards, and an upper
ledge was mounted. We were now close to the Savage Gully again, and
Robinson prepared to be let down into it on the rope. We were adopting
the tactics of Haskett Smith’s party in the first ascent. Robinson was
to climb down the wall of the gully by means of an irregular crack
twenty-five feet long, using the rope to steady himself during the
descent. At the foot of the crack he would be able to step into the bed
of the gully, and thence, after mounting it for a few feet, effect an
easy passage up the opposite side. He was then to unrope, and Hill was
to let me down in the same way, there being plenty of friction between
the rope and the rocks to enable him to hold my weight in case of a
slip. When safely landed in the gully, I was to take the rope up to
Robinson and wait the issue of events.
These went off without a hitch. The crack was difficult, though not
impossible for one man to descend alone; but I am convinced that a
man attempting the climb single-handed would be running great risk if
he proceeded without some sort of belaying with a rope. The little
story is well known of the youth who could not understand why he as
third and last man of his party had to be left behind on the ledge;
he had examined the crack and was certain he could climb down safely
without support from above. Nay more, he insisted on demonstrating the
fact, and when three-quarters of the way to the bed of the gully his
feet slipped and his handholds failed. Luckily the others were able
to prevent a serious fall, and the young man’s ‘climbing down’ was
strictly metaphorical.
Robinson then rapidly swarmed up to the left of the gully, and, after
mounting forty feet, traversed to the right into a long scree-shoot
that ended abruptly some twenty-five feet vertically above our solitary
companion on the ledge. Upwards the scree led straight to the summit
level of the Low Man, and two of us were of course in a position to
attain this point in a couple of minutes. But there was the third, to
manipulate, and Robinson proceeded to take out a short, spare rope from
his sack and expound the method of using the ‘stirrup.’
He tied a loop on to one end of his spare rope, large enough for a foot
to be comfortably slipped therein, and flung that end down to Hill. I
operated with the other rope, sending an end down for Hill to tie round
his waist in the usual manner. The object of the process was to get the
third man up with the least expenditure of energy on our part; in fact,
to make Hill do all his own lifting. The wall was not so complicated in
design as to render it impossible to haul him straight up like a bale
of goods. But neither he nor I had till then seen an application of the
stirrup-rope, and we had come out to be educated. There are many places
where the method is well worth employing.
The operations commenced by Hill’s fixing a foot in the stirrup and
lifting it a couple of feet as Robinson hauled up his rope. Then,
with Robinson simply holding on firmly, Hill straightened himself on
the stirrup, using it as a foothold, while I pulled up the couple of
feet of slack in the waist-rope. Next it was my turn to hold hard as
Hill raised his stirrup foot, and then Robinson’s to keep the foot
firm while Hill lifted himself on to it. These two moves were repeated
again and again alternately. All through the process the ropes were
held as free from slack as possible, any upward movement of Hill’s
engaged foot or body being responded to promptly by Robinson or myself
respectively. It will be perceived, if the description is as clear
as I want it to be, that all the actual lifting of Hill’s weight he
managed himself during the straightening-out on the stirrup, and that
we others were at most called upon to hold only his weight. Even this
much stress on our hands we could avoid by partial belaying, though in
that particular spot there were no entirely suitable projecting rocks
that could be utilized as belaying-pins.
Bit by bit Hill worked up the wall, till at last his head and shoulders
appeared over the rounded coping at our feet, and he scrambled on
to the scree. Then we all sat down and Robinson told us tales about
that particular locality. Among others he gave us one to emphasize
the practical lesson we had just been having on the use of the
stirrup-rope. A famous climber, indeed he was sometime president of the
Alpine Club, and in a vague, traditional sort of way years before he
had fallen some hundreds of feet down a vertical gully hard by, without
coming to any harm except that of finding his name ever afterwards
associated with the gully; well, this famous climber was coming up that
same wall by means of the stirrup-rope, and the zealous operatives
above more than responded to his slightest movements. He lifted his
foot a few inches, they hauled up the stirrup-rope a few yards, and
anticipating that he might find the alternations a little laborious,
proceeded to pull him up by sheer strength of goodwill. Thus his
attached foot appeared first over the edge, and the remainder of his
person followed in some confusion. So, at any rate, the story went.
Sitting as we were with our faces towards Buttermere, the great wall
bore away to the left, and our scree gully marked its eastern limit. A
horizontal crack extended for several feet across the wall, starting
from the top of the pitch below us. Only its end could be seen, but by
carefully working down to the corner on the left, and looking across
the face, we could see the way it cut clean into the rock. This was the
notorious _hand-traverse_, by which it was just possible to reach our
scree gully from the ledge below without the preliminary descent into
the Savage Gully.
A few minutes’ halt and we continued our course. There was no doubt or
difficulty in reaching the Low Man, and thence following the ridge to
the junction with the West Climb. A quarter of an hour saw us at the
High Man cairn, and another five minutes at the foot of the Central
Jordan. The ropes were stowed away again in the sack, and Robinson
rapidly strode across the screes and down the corridor behind the
Shamrock. In a phenomenally short time we were crossing the Liza
stream, and, without being allowed to halt, a bee-line was drawn for us
over to Scarth Gap by our untiring leader. Luckily for his followers,
the name of this pass, which is sometimes called Scarf Gap, reminded
him of a very good story concerning another famous climber who went
to an evening party without a dress-tie. We were told the story and
recovered breath sufficiently to continue our journey to Buttermere.
I wish now that I had not been so fatigued, so that I might have
remembered the whole anecdote and given it here in all detail.
THE HAND-TRAVERSE.--Nearly two years after the ascent described
in the previous section, Dr. Collier showed me a way of avoiding the
Savage Gully in the North Climb by following a direct route to the
upper screes. The plan is to work to the extreme east corner of the
ledge that succeeds the ‘mantelshelf,’ and when a narrow overhanging
chimney is reached, to swarm up the steep buttress on its left. It
looks particularly dangerous, but there is an excellent hold for the
hands just round the corner of the buttress, and when the first three
feet of ascent are accomplished the rest feels comparatively easy.
On the same occasion we each in turn ventured on the _hand-traverse_
from above. The place has already been referred to; it was known for
some time that the crack could be reached from the terrace below, and
Mr. Solly showed in 1891 that it could be followed to its left-hand
extremity at the scree gully. It is so named because the climber hangs
by his hands, with no footholds at all for the greater part of its
length, and traverses across the face by sheer strength of his arms.
Collier and I were well satisfied concerning the security of the crack
itself. We went to the further end and back again, without coming
across any place where the holds were treacherous. They were probably
more satisfying to the grip than an ordinary horizontal bar, on account
of the acute edge of the rock. On the other hand, we had no opportunity
of trying the ascent from the terrace, which promised to be rather
fatiguing for the arms, and which might render them useless for the
traverse itself.
On Whit Monday, 1896, a chance came for tackling the pitch in this new
way. It had been successfully accomplished once, and twice had the
climber’s strength of grip failed him when half-way across. So, at any
rate, we learnt by hearsay at Wastdale. Perhaps it ought to be added
that in one case it was the leader of the party who fell off, and the
rope saved him in a manner scarcely short of miraculous; in the other
case the rope was held from the scree gully, and the climber only swung
out on it. Our Whitsuntide party were willing that I should try, and
carefully measured out just a sufficiency of rope for me to reach the
crack. Then two of them stood together at the western extremity of the
terrace, and shouldered me up the first bad bit. There was every reason
to be quick, as resting-places were absent where the strain on the arms
could be eased. In twenty-five feet I reached the crack and halted
for a moment on a scanty foothold before trusting to the ledge. Then
came the swing off and a hasty sliding of the hands along the sharp
edge. The first bit was about eight feet long; then that particular
crack terminated abruptly in the wall, and another, two feet higher,
continued across in the same easterly direction. The lift of the body
up to the second crack was trying, but beyond this critical point the
movement was horizontal. It was somewhat clumsy--the scraping of the
body along the rough surface of the rock, with the legs held clear; but
my sole thought was to reach the end of the traverse twelve feet away,
and no consideration of style was entertained. In a very short time,
though it seemed far too long, the end of the wall was attained, and it
only remained to drag myself up to the scree.
The rest of the party preferred to mount the buttress by Collier’s
route indicated in a previous paragraph. I think the hand-traverse
has not been attempted since, and it is perhaps just as well. It is
scarcely less than suicidal to try conclusions with this variation
unless the climber has full confidence in his strength of grip, and
unless he has already tested his powers of endurance of long-continued
strain in the arms. But with the leader of the party already at the
head of the pitch, no matter which way he got there, it involves no
serious risk for the others to follow by this route. The last on the
rope had better come up over the buttress.