BOOK REVIEWS
Xmas Presents for the Armchair Mountaineer
Here's a selection of recent new titles that could solve your Xmas present dilemmas.
The Mont Blanc Massif, The Hundred Finest Routes
Rock & Roll Mountains
The Backpacker's Cookbook
In The Ghost Country
Pole Dance
DK Eyewitness Companion Hill Walking
Hell of a Journey
Chains DVD
Winter Experience DVD
Anquet PC ROM Mapping
In Praise of Two Mountains DVD
Classic Norway
Mountain Rescue Chamonix - Mont Blanc
Complete Climbing Manual
The Backpacker's Ultimate Guide
SMC Guidebook News
MONT BLANC MASSIF CLASSIC REPRINTED:
The Mont Blanc Massif, The Hundred Finest Routes
By Gaston Rébuffat
Published by Bâton Wicks (2005). Hardback/jacketed. 240pages, 278 photos, 104 diagrams. £25.00 ISBN 1-898573-69-7
A revised edition of this classic title on the world's main alpine training area was published in November, unfortunately just too late for review in this magazine, but this being one of the best books on Alpine climbing ever printed and a bible for many UK climbers of the past we could not omit it as a potential Xmas present. The book remains essentially the same (Rebuffat's advice is as wise and useful as ever) but with various modernising improvements.
New technical advice to reflect equipment changes and the increase in fixed abseil descents; the effects of global warming on some of the routes, and the main glacier training areas; with the collapse of the Bonatti Pillar, an alternative route - The Red Pillar of Brouillard - is included; photos of many of pioneers have been added with attention being given to Mont Blanc's first ascent pioneers.
The Mont Blanc Massif is famed as the world's finest and most accessible alpine climbing area. Gaston Rébuffat's presentation of its 100 finest climbs, and his shrewd yet inspiring commentary, makes this the ideal alpine primer. It suggests introductory climbs and scenic itineraries on the lower peaks, it gives valuable advice for those seeking the heights of the finest mountain range in Europe, and it offers tactical know-how for alpinists targeting the classic grandes courses before they move on to greater ranges.
A new cover features Willi Burkhardt's stunning picture of Mont Blanc's upper slopes. This is a truly beautiful book.
Kevin Howett
Rock and Roll Mountains
By Graham Forbes
Published by Mainstream Publishing (2005). Paper Back. 223pages. Price £9.99. ISBN 1-84018-969-X
I am sure I am not the only real or armchair mountaineer out there who also plays guitar and has dabbled at times with playing in a rock band, and for you this book by Graham Forbes will prove great reading. Graham started down a high voltage (literally) rock and roll career, ended up spaced out on booze and just about everything else at the age of 27, and then found his own salvation on the hills and crags of Scotland, managing to found, grow and finally sell a successful business along the way. He shook off the alcohol, started out walking on the local hills of Glasgow, progressed through some heavy-duty Munro-bashing, scrambling on Aonach Eagach and then his first serious rock-climb on the "Bookle", and on to the Cullin Ridge and many others.
What makes this story so much fun to read is that he takes neither mountaineering, nor his removals business nor playing for the Incredible String Band, too seriously, and manages to fit in a few humorous swipes at the MCofS along the way. His anecdotes of his Glasgow climbing partners, as well as his teams of removal men, are truly hilarious. At the same time he gets pretty pantheistic in a very readable way. Whatever he is writing about, you will find yourself liking him and agreeing with his no-nonsense views.
For me, this book literally struck a chord (!) evoking the beauty of the mountains of Scotland and getting me interested in going up there again myself. Easy to read, definitely worth it and guaranteed to produce a good laugh.
Richard White
The Backpackers Cookbook
By Dave Coustick
Published by The InnPinn (2005). Paperback. 128pages. Price £4.99. ISBN 1-897784-384
Inventive and simple recipes not just worthy of trying out on the hill but also good for entertaining guests at home. This little gem of a book does not just entice you to cook the meals but, indeed, visit places of interest at the same time.
Douglas Armstrong (Toulouse)
In the Ghost Country: A Lifetime Spent on the Edge
By Peter Hillary & John E. Elder
Published by Mainstream Publishing (2005). Hardback. 341pages. Price £15.99. ISBN 1-84018-835-9
With a life that at times is seemingly marred by tragedy, bitterness and bad luck- Peter Hillary made what was an outlandish attempt to repeat the fatal journey of Captain Robert Scott. Hillary and his two companions skied 900 miles in a three month journey across Antarctica to the South Pole.
The writing is split into two distinctions, mastered by co-author John Elder who uses his own narrative to describe the tribulations of an epic journey and Hillary's voice to reflect on the deep personal battles that are undertaken when placed in extreme environments, as well as reflecting on a lifetime of mountaineering and travelling.
There are many books that are documentations of expeditions and fantastic human feats. There are many books that diarise journeys. There are many books that explore the depths of human emotion. This book has found a new way forward for the genre- the two voices lead the reader harmoniously through the adventure- so much is written but much goes unsaid, the trials of companionship and the strange ways in which comfort and reassurance is sought.
This is not the best book I have ever read, not even close for that matter, but what it does is challenge the longstanding methodologies behind 'writing up your expedition', it is forward thinking and just a little bit different.
Scott Chafer
Pole Dance
The story of the record-breaking British expedition to the bottom of the World.
By Tom Avery
Published by Orion Books Ltd (2004). Hardback. 210 pages. Colour photos, one black and white map. Price £17.99. ISBN 0-75286-5951
Few people can fail to be fascinated by the awesomely moving exploits of Scott, Shackleton and Wilson in their struggles to be the first to reach the South Pole on their 1902-03 Discovery expedition, only to be beaten to this prize a few years later by the team of the legendary Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Avery's trip was conceived to celebrate the outstanding scientific achievements of Scott's party by following their route from McMurdo Sound to their furthest southerly point on the Ross Ice Shelf; then via the treacherous Beardmore Glacier and Transatlantic Mountains he would progress to the Pole, an 820 mile journey. Travel would be on ski, towing sledges, and whenever possible, using kites to speed things up. In the event, the route had to be drastically modified for logistical and sponsorship reasons.
The book is largely written in the form of Avery's diary interspersed with absorbing snippets about previous attempts to journey through this demanding environment. The diary format works surprisingly well, there was a rival expedition in the area at the same time and a bit of a race inevitably developed; also the reader gets a well documented account of the progress of the team members' ailments and ablutions - all fascinating stuff!
Team dynamics, the frustrations in raising sponsorship and expedition logistics are vividly described. For me, with its accounts of hi-tech equipment, kite travel, ice planes, the merits of polar guides, phoning one's parents from a blizzard bombarded tent ["Can you phone back when we've finished dinner, dear?"], having to get suppositories for haemorrhoids air-dropped, only enhances my admiration for the tenacity and stamina of the explorers of previous centuries.
Beryl Leatherland
DK Eyewitness companions Hiking
By Karen Berger
Published by Dorling Kindersly (2005). Hardback. 256pages. Full colour. Price £12.99. ISBN 1-4053-0252-6
This "companion" is from Dorling Kindersley, a company well-known for their excellent children's books. It shares the same high quality production values, superb colour photography and clear text, diagrams and explanations throughout. It is not however designed for children, but rather aimed at people planning and setting out on their first independent walks. It would make an ideal present for teenagers undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, young adults keen to go off camping and hiking alone, or indeed anyone new to the hills.
Each subject is dealt with in great and logical detail. For example, tents are discussed with relation to the different designs and fabrics, their suitability for different weather conditions and seasons, the importance of quality zips and seams, before detailing how and where to pitch and even how to manage without one.
Although entitled a "companion" it is too heavy and too general to take with you hiking, rather it's a good reference when planning a trip.
The book has an American bias. Not many UK walkers will need to know how to deal with bears or tornadoes, but these add to the excitement and ensure that the book provides a thorough and complete introduction to hiking.
Richard White
Hell of a Journey
By Mike Cawthorne
Published by Mercat Press (2005) Paperback. 214pages. Price £9.99. ISBN 1-84183-072-0
If you are the kind of person that enjoys reading a book about the outdoors just because it is about the outdoors, then this is a book for you. I did not enjoy this book and if I was not writing this review it would have gone unfinished.
Mike Cawthorne took on a great challenge, he travelled across Scotland none stop on foot over the all the 1000metre peaks. This is one of the last major challenges in Scottish mountaineering and is without doubt worthy of documentation.
This however is a log of a journey where very little happens. Cawthorne had some wonderful mountain days and some very rough weather. On the good days he walked, on the poor days he stayed in his tent. Unfortunately not very much else happens; there is little drama, no close calls, no excitement- just a diary.
In his opening gambit he cites the increasing frustrations of work and his nine to five existence as a teacher as a major driving force behind his need to get away and meet a new challenge. This aspect then remains unexplored; we learn nothing of the man and nothing of the emotional journey.
Mike Cawthorne's achievement as a mountaineer and walker during this passage are unquestioned, it was a great accomplishment and a brave and exciting challenge and for this he deserves all the accolades. The 'Hell of a Journey' though was a hell of a difficult book to finish.
Scott Chafer
Chains DVD
By Pete Murray
Produced by XtraLarge Recordings (2005). Price £16.49
Filmed and edited over a two year period this is a window on a small but determined band of rock climbers in Scotland. Some venues, such as Dumbuck near Glasgow, might not be mainstream, however, they do occupy an important place in Scottish climbing for they contain some of the hardest climbs around.
It is interesting that in a country where there was once thought to be a lack of rock suitable for sport climbing that crags continue to turn up. Not that the DVD focuses entirely on the hard stuff for there is footage from Benny Beg where there are some good easy sport climbs. Neither is the DVD all about sport climbing because it features both traditional climbing and bouldering; this latter area having seen a huge surge of activity in Scotland.
One could be churlish about some of the statements made in the film but that would be unfair for it's essentially about a group of motivated individuals as they just go out and climb, and fall off a lot. Success does come though and it is a fascinating insight into the current scene. It does not put what is going on into some kind of perspective but perhaps that was intentional, for it is a view of a group of climbers at a moment in time.
An addition to the main feature worth seeking is two of the short films under the The 'XtraLarge extras' section. 'The Kings Footprint' shows Niall McNair on Dalriada on The Cobbler, a hard traditional climb. It's not particularly good footage but it shows what is being done out on the mountain crags. 'Spitting Sparks' shows a dry-tooling competition at the Glasgow Climbing Centre and Dave MacLeod on a Birnam Quarry dry-tooling route. If you want to know about such strange practices then here is an insight.
Pete has decided to cut in various clips taken from political demonstrations in and around Glasgow. These are very real and very contentious issues but as far as I am concerned they are out of context and simply served to detract from the enjoyment of the climbing. So much so that in one of the XtraLarge extras on Bouldering in Scotland I switched off. Like most people I like to think I keep abreast of such issues through other mediums and when I climb it is to escape such external pressures. After all is this not what the climbers are actually doing in the DVD. That said though, the climbing is worth watching and to boot there is a decent soundtrack.
Rab Anderson
Winter Essentials DVD
Skills and techniques for the winter mountains
By BMC, MCofS & MLTE
Produced by Slackjaw (2005). Price £14.99
"Winter Essentials" was put together by Slackjaw Productions for the MCofS, BMC and MLTE with support from the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust. At two hours long, there is a lot of information. Thankfully it is chopped up into easily digestible chunks. The first forty minutes follow a group of three mountaineers and two climbers as they enjoy a day in the hills. There are then eleven technical chapters.
Depicting a group of mountaineers and climbers as they prepare for and complete their routes, the first section opens with the teams choosing where to go and what to take with them, based on the avalanche and weather forecasts. After an early start the teams assess the conditions they are faced with and the decisions they make as a result to complete their routes safely. The action is well filmed and the commentary clearly describes what's going on, with a couple of laughs and shocks on the way. The weather is good, but with recent snow fall and some risk of avalanche it would have been nice to know the avalanche forecast for that day so we could relate it to what we saw. However, there are clearly real decisions made, like those we all need to make in winter. The day finishes well after dark with the teams returning back to their hut where tall tales are told over a hearty meal until the early hours. The feel of winter mountaineering and club hut culture is caught perfectly and acts as a great inspiration to get out exploring the winter hills.
Following no particular order, the eleven technical chapters are mostly shot as pieces to camera on a windswept and snowy Aonach Mor. Showing some more examples of the techniques and skills being used for real would have cemented their application better. However, everyone will learn something because you can dip in and out of the different chapters and focus on the areas where you need a bit more advice. The bias is towards simple, practical steps rather than describing everything in minute detail. This is good because you're not going to become an expert by watching a DVD; practice and hard won experience will achieve that.
Having watched "Winter Essentials" you will certainly be inspired to get out more this winter. You will also, at the very least, know what you need to know and what you need to practice to come home safely.
Mike Pescod (IFMGA Mountain Guide)
Cairngorms National Park PC Digital Map
Produced by Anquet Maps Price £120
With Christmas fast approaching the inevitable question of what to get the ardent hill-walker who has everything arises again. Somewhere on the list might be a PC mapping package. This one from the Anquet range has two scales of map data included, most of NE Scotland at 1:50,000 and the actual National Park at 1:25,000.
The Anquet software is easy to install and use, most functions being intuitive. I particularly like the way it is possible to create detail routes so that a fairly accurate idea of distances and height gained, and hence time, can be found. The route can then be simplified with key waypoints and your own text added to let you create detailed route cards. Downloading to a GPS is also easy and details of each route can be saved and recalled at any time.
My one slight niggle is that there is no easy way to manage waypoints, paths and routes within the software. I have got round this by adopting a sensible naming convention for folders and routes files.
Once you register your copy of Anquet you get access to a user area on their website where other owners share their routes.
There are three other Anquet products of interest to Scottish hill walkers. A sister product covers the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park at only £80. The others are digital equivalents of the 1:50,000 Landranger and 1:25,000 Explorer series of OS maps. The 1:50,000 products cover different parts of the country in various combinations but the one I like best is GB North at £120 as it covers all of Scotland, the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Northern Pennines.
The 1:25,000 products come as 117 titles covering the whole of the UK. They are £100 each but there is a discount scheme if the buy multiple titles. For details of all Anquet products check their website at www.anquet.co.uk
Bill Park
Editors Note: In March 06 Bill Park will start a two part article giving his personal views on PC mapping packages, their benefits, and how to use them to plan a route, create a route card and interface with a GPS. Bill held a session on this subject at the 2005 gathering and will do so again in 2006.
Moladh Da Bheinn (in Praise of two Mountains)
With Donald Stewart & Allan MacDonald
DVD Produced by Pelicula. 29mins. Price £9.99
For many, enjoyment of the Scottish hills is heightened by their Gaelic names, with Sgurr Dearg, Slioch, and Mullach Fraoch-choire sounding so much more exotic than their Saxon translations. This DVD goes further, introducing us to Gaelic poetry, music, and song, with English subtitles.
The first mountain praised is Beinn Dorain, not surprisingly, as the programme is about Duncan Ban MacIntyre, illiterate stalker, incompetent Hanoverian foot soldier, and peerless eighteenth century bard of a highland way of life under assault from Sassenach and sheep. Presenter Donald William Stewart, a fine young Gaelic poet in his own right, takes us to MacIntyre's house, Ais an t-Sidhean in Gleann Ach-innis Chailein, revelling in the fact that it is a humble sheepfank rather than a multi-storied audio-visual virtual reality experience. As well as the poetry we get the mischievous song praising the foxes that kill invading Cheviots. This is sung by Allan Macdonald, one of the remarkable family of pipers from Glenuig who have done so much to entice piping out of its own self obsessed world and back centre stage in the wider universe of Scottish traditional music, song, and dance.
Stewart then moves to A' Mhaighdean and a stalk on Letterewe Estate. The film gives a realistic view of the process and captures the conflicting emotions he experiences as he kills his first stag. The views are stunning, of course.
This is one of a number of videos and DVDs being produced from the creative wellspring of Gaelic medium television. If you enjoy beautiful mountain scenery, enhanced by evocative and haunting music and words that link the places to the people who lived in and loved them this is worth a look.
And was Donnchadh Ban an early conservationist? You won't find many of the big trees he acclaims on the slopes of Beinn Dorain today.
John Donohoe
Classic Norway
Climbs, Scrambles and Walks in Romsdal
By Tony Howard
Published by Cordee (2205). Paperback. 143 pages. 8 b/w photos, 38 colour photos, 2 maps, 41 route/climbing topos / annotated photos. Price £18.95. ISBN 1-904207-24-3
This excellent revised guide is a huge improvement on its classic predecessor by the same author, formerly published by Cicerone Press. The Romsdal valley is renowned for its long, harsh, overhanging walls, but there is a huge variety of climbs, scrambles, bouldering venues and scenic peaks to enjoy. Bear in mind, however, that by Norwegian standards, Romsdalen is a tourist honeypot. I can also confirm its reputation for attracting high levels of precipitation; after four visits I can only recall couple of dry days. I would, however, recommend this book as a great stocking filler for any Norge enthusiast.
Beryl Leatherland
Mountain Rescue
Chamonix - Mont Blanc
By Anne Sauvy
Published by Baton Wicks (2005). Paperback. 368 pages. 8 pages of photos. Price £14.99. ISBN1-898573-52-2
Anne Sauvy spent the summer of 1997 with the mountain rescue in Chamonix and this is her front-line description of the day to day activities of the service, snatching stricken victims from almost certain death. As a journalist and academic she brings a very analytical eye to the proceedings with a sharp, opinionated and lacerating commentary on the price of mountain activities and the impact on relatives. This is not your usual description of the activities of a team, but delves deeper and is more personal, as she becomes deeply concerned with the dramas that unfold before her. I related directly to this book, having spent numerous summers camping in Chamonix in the 1970's and early 80's, watching with morbid fascination the helicopters return from a rescue, and having lost a friend on those beautiful high peaks. For me the most poignant moment in the book is Sauvy's throw-away description of another typical day of two deaths and several missing, but to return home to witness the delight of two climbers returning after a hard won but successful ascent. One was Jules Cartwright, who later died in the Alps in 2004.
Kevin Howett
Complete Climbing Manual
By Tony Laurens
Published by New Holland (2005). Hardback. Full colour. 192 pages. Price £19.99. ISBN 1-84330-882-7
The usual 'How to do it' book, but with superb photography from around the world. Different in some respects to others as it tells you how to place a bolt properly? It covers Trad and sport rock, indoor, winter, big wall and big mountain as well as bouldering, a bit of rudimentary training advice and only the basics of rope techniques, although once having got you into trouble it ends with a chapter on emergency procedures to self rescue. More a colourful introduction than a detailed tome, but it would appeal as a present for a 'cross trainer'.
Kevin Howett
The Backpacker's Ultimate Guide
Britain & Ireland
Published by BUG Packpacker's Guides (2005). Paperback.435 pages. Price £9.95. ISBN 0-9581796-5-4
A fairly comprehensive list of everything that a 'backpacker' travelling round the UK and Ireland would want to know - travel, accommodation, major places of interest, city centre maps, tourist centres; but mainly based around main towns and cities; useful nonetheless.
Scottish Mountaineering Club
Guidebook NEWS
Guidebooks
Scottish Rock Climbs, the eagerly awaited full colour, selected guide to rock climbing in Scotland is now finally out and can be found on most outdoor retailers bookshelves, as well as those of some of the major booksellers. The publication of this guide sees the SMC's publishing programme take a major step forward and work on the next full colour, photo-diagram, Climbers Guides is already underway. These are Northern Highlands Central, Northern Highlands South and The Cairngorms, which are in the busy schedule for 2006 together with Scottish Sport Climbs and three hill walking and scrambling titles.
Guidebook Photos Wanted
The SMC is currently looking for good climbing and mountaineering action photographs, summer and winter, for its Northern Highlands Central Climbers Guide. Good crag shots for use as photo-diagrams are also sought. The guide covers the mountain crags and outcrops of Torridon, Applecross, Kintail and Knoydart. If you have suitable images, then go to the SMC's web site www.smc.org.uk and find the link on the homepage, where you can obtain further information. At some point the SMC will also be looking for images of the winter climbing cliffs in Scotland, so if you plan to be out and about this winter please bear this in mind.
Feedback
The SMC is interested in hearing from hill walkers and climbers on what you think of its existing guides and what you might be interested in seeing in its future publications. In addition to this, the SMC is particularly interested in hearing from hill walkers on the current information and routes in its Munros and Corbetts books. If you are interested, then please go to the SMC's web site www.smc.org.uk where you will find a Feedback Form button on the homepage.
Climbed a New Route?
Through the SMC Journal there is already a long established forum for the recording of new climbs, together with associated comments from repeat ascentionists. The New Routes Editor of the Journal also passes this information to the respective guidebook authors, thereby enabling the SMC to continue to provide accurate information for Climbers. If you climb a new route and wish this to be recorded and included in the guidebook, then this is the place to send it. Again, the details are on the website where new routes sections from recent Journals are also available as free downloads.
The SMC is the publisher of the definitive series of guidebooks to the hills and crags of Scotland. The information provided in its guidebooks and through its web site is produced for the benefit of climbers and hill walkers. The profits from SMC guidebooks go to the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, which offers grants to mountaineering and mountain related projects.
Special Offers:
For the months of December and January, Scottish Mountaineer readers are being given the opportunity to purchase the following publications at a discounted price. To make your purchase, simply log on to www.smc.org.uk, go to Publications, then go to either of the following publications and follow the instructions.
A Chance in a Million (Scottish Avalanches)
An indispensable handbook for anyone who ventures into Scotland's winter mountains. Written by two of the foremost avalanche experts, Blyth Wright and Bob Barton, this book provides easy to follow guidance for winter climbers and hill walkers of all abilities. Offer price £12.00 inclusive of P&P (retail £14.95).
The Corbetts CD Rom
This excellent CD Rom, is the definitive multimedia experience to the Corbetts, detailing the routes to all 219 of them, plus many other popular 'lesser' hills. As well as finding further information on the website you will also find the minimum computer requirements necessary to run this great product. Offer price £20.00 inclusive of P&P (retail £30.00).