For some years past there has been a remarkably rapid increase in the
number of men who climb for climbing's sake within the bounds of the
British Isles.
When any young and active Englishman sees a rock and is told that the
ascent of it is regarded as a kind of feat, there is no doubt what he
will want to do. He will obey what has been the instinct of the race at
any time this forty years. But lately there has been a change. What was
formerly done casually and instinctively has for the last dozen years or
so been done systematically and of set purpose, for it is now recognised
that hill-climbing in these islands may form part of a real
mountaineering education. Many might-be mountaineers have missed their
vocation because they were in the position of the prudent individual who
would not go into the water until after he should have learned to swim:
they did not become Alpine because they were afraid that they should
make fools of themselves if they went on the Alps. Yet, had they only
known it, they might have found without crossing the sea many a place
which might have been to their undeveloped instincts what the little
pond at the end of the garden has been to many a would-be skater--a
quiet spot where early flounderings would be safe from the contemptuous
glances of unsympathetic experts.
Icemanship can only be acquired through a long apprenticeship, by
tramping many a weary mile helplessly tied to the tail of a guide. But
one principal charm of hill-climbing lies in the fact that it may be
picked up by self-directed practice and does not demand the same
preliminary subjection. The course of Alpine instruction can only be
considered complete when Mr. Girdlestone's ideal of 'The High Alps
without Guides' is realised (an ideal, be it clearly understood, which
for fully ninety-nine out of every hundred climbers it would be
downright madness to attempt to carry into practice); whereas, while
rock-climbing may be enjoyed by amateurs without incurring the reproach
of recklessness, they at the same time experience the exquisite pleasure
of forming their own plans of attack, of varying the execution of them
according to their own judgment, and finally of meeting obstacles, as
they arise, with their own skill and with their own strength, and
overcoming them without the assistance of a hired professional.
Nowhere can the mere manual dexterity of climbing be better acquired
than among the fells of Cumberland; excellent practising-ground presents
itself on nearly every hill. Compared with real mountains the crags of
Cumberland are but toys, but small as they are, they have made many and
many a fine climber; and the man who has gone through a course of
training among them, who has learnt to know the exact length of his own
stride and reach, and to wriggle up a 'chimney' in approved style with
shoulder, hip and knee, may boldly fly at higher game, and when he
proceeds to tackle the giants of the Alps or Caucasus has no cause to be
afraid of the result.
As if with the express object of increasing their educational value to
the mountaineer, the hilly parts of Great Britain are peculiarly subject
to atmospheric changes. No one who has not experienced their effects
would believe the extent to which mist, snow, and even rain can change
the appearance of landmarks among the mountains; and, where landmarks
are less abundant or less striking, even the buffeting of violent wind
may cause an inexperienced man to change his direction unconsciously.
Valuable experience in things of this kind may be gained even in summer,
but in winter the conditions become more Alpine, and splendid practice
may be had in the use of the axe and rope.
Not that the latter should be neglected on difficult rocks at any time
of the year. Even in places where it gives the leader no security and to
some extent actually impedes him, the moral effect of it is good. It
wonderfully increases those feelings of united and ordered effort, of
mutual dependence and mutual confidence, and finally of cheery
subordination of self, which are not the least of the virtues or the
joys of mountaineering. How these opportunities may be used the novice
will readily learn from Mr. Charles Pilkington's admirable chapters in
the Badminton 'Mountaineering,' and from Dr. Claude Wilson's excellent
little handbook on the same subject. It is the aim of the present work
to enable him to find suitable places where the principles so admirably
laid down by those authorities may be tested and applied, and to
understand the descriptions--often involving difficult technical and
local terms--which have been published of them. When anyone with
climbing instincts finds himself in a strange place his first desire is
to discover a climb, his second to learn what its associations are; what
is it called, and why? has anyone climbed it, and what did he think of
it? To such questions as these this book endeavours to provide an
answer. It offers, in short, to the would-be climber a link, with the
guidebook on the one hand and the local specialist on the other.
It must always be remembered that a very fine rock may be a very poor
climb. It may be impossible or it may be too easy, or, again, the
material maybe dangerously rotten; and thus, though there are many
places where men can and do obtain useful climbing practice, there is
only one part of England to which resort is made simply for the sake of
its climbing. In consequence of this fact the greater part of the book
is devoted to the English Lakes, and especially to the south-west
portion of them, where the best climbs of all are to be found. But in
that district the art has been highly elaborated, and the standard of
difficulty and dexterity is even dangerously high. If men would be
content to serve an apprenticeship and to feel their way gradually from
the easier climbs onward, they would excite less apprehension in the
minds of those who know what these climbs are. If, on the other hand,
they rush, as too many do, straight from the desk in a crowded city,
with unseasoned lungs and muscles, in the cold and the wet, to attack
alone or with chance companions whatever climb enjoys for the moment
the greatest notoriety, frightful accidents are certain to occur.
The books, too, which are kept specially for climbing records at some
places in the Lakes, such as Dungeon Gill, Buttermere, and, notably,
Wastdale Head, are misleading, owing to the widely different standards
of difficulty among the various writers. Printed accounts are so few
that this objection hardly applies to them. The most noteworthy beyond
all doubt are the two articles written for _All the Year Round_, in
November 1884, by Mr. C.N. Williamson, the late editor of _Black and
White_. It would be hard to exaggerate the effect which these articles
had in making the Lake climbs known. The same writer had previously
contributed articles of less permanent value to the _Graphic_ and the
_Daily News_. In 1837 two articles had appeared in the _Penny Magazine_
(see _Lord's Rake_); in 1859 the late Professor Tyndall had written of
_Mickledoor_ in the _Saturday Review_, and more recently articles have
appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, by Mr. W. Brunskill and by Mr. H.
A. Gwynne. The present writer contributed an article to the _Alpine
Journal_ of August 1892, and one containing very clear illustrations of
'back-and-knee' work and of an episode in the long climb on the Pillar
Rock to the pages of _Black and White_, in June 1892, while numerous
articles have appeared from time to time in such local papers as the
_Whitehaven News_ and the _West Cumberland Times_, and in the
Manchester, Leeds, and Bradford press. Of guidebooks the only one of any
value to climbers is Mr. Herman Prior's 'Pedestrian Guide.'
Any value which the present book may have is largely due to the
excellent drawings of Mr. Ellis Carr, who most kindly came forward to
fill the place left by the lamented death of Professor A.M. Marshall.
Much assistance has been derived from sketches and photographs kindly
lent, those of Mr. Abraham, of Keswick, being especially useful. For the
valuable article on 'Chalk' I am indebted to Mr. A.F. Mummery, whose
knowledge of the subject is unrivalled; while Mr. J.W. Robinson, of
Lorton, has zealously assisted in all matters connected with Cumberland;
and I must gratefully acknowledge help given in other ways by Mr. J.E.
Morris and the Rev. C.J. Buckmaster.
CLIMBING
IN
THE BRITISH ISLES