A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIMBING PART I (1802-1934)

H.M Kelly & J.H.Doughty

Introduction

Climbing history, like the climber's rope, is made up of three interwoven strands, which we may designate as the rocks, the climbers, and the sport. It is our aim to trace the development of climbing in its broader technical aspects, but the tale must perforce be told largely in terms of men and routes. It is not proposed to mention all the first ascents made or the persons participating in them. A full knowledge of these can be had from the lists of First Ascents in the new Fell and Rock Club Guides. But as names will have to be mentioned, only those considered to have made some contribution to climbing history and technique will be used. Naturally any references to individuals will be concerned mainly with the leaders of climbs; but it must not be thought that, even if the praises of seconds and other supporters on a climb are left unsung, they have been ignored in our study of the subject: space alone prevents their inclusion. An interesting article could be written on 'Famous Seconds.' Such a one was Morley Wood, who became known as 'the perfect second', whose unambitious mind and general self-effacement always led him to take second place, but did not stop him on occasion from taking greater risks than the leader of the party himself in order that success should crown the efforts of the party. Then there were men like G.S. Sansom and C.F Holland, who, owing to their own aptitude for leadership, were a source of inspiration in their seconding of first ascents. Their climbing with others was in this respect a real partnership and not merely a case of providing morale to the leader by being tied on to the same rope.

Regarding the development of climbing on its technical side, we can distinguish four main phases-(a) the period of the Easy Way, no matter what kind of technical problem presented itself, (b) the Gully and Chimney period, (c) the Ridge and Arête (Rib) period, and (d) the Slab and Wall period. It is difficult to assign precise dates to these, as there is considerable overlapping. Perhaps the best course is to recognise this and label them as follows - (a) up to 1880, (b) 1880 to 1900, (c) 1890 to 1905, (d) 1905 to date. Apart from this overlapping there have been also, as in all evolutionary processes, the usual anticipations and reversions, such as Eagle's Nest Direct, a (c) climb done in the (b) period, and Smuggler's Chimney, a (b) climb done in the (d) period. The accompanying time chart, and still more the list of first ascents at the end of this article, will indicate broadly the scheme of classification and the reasons for it.

One other point calls for mention here. In order to avoid scrappiness, and in the interests of a coherent and comprehensive story we have found ourselves concentrating almost inevitably on the best known climbing grounds and paying scant attention to work on the less frequented outlying crags. This is true both of the history and the accompanying lists of climbs. We should like to state emphatically that it does not betoken any lack of appreciation for this work; and to all who might feel themselves to have suffered disparagement by implication we beg to offer this explanation and our respectful apologies.

The Pioneers (From the earliest beginnings to the ascent of the Napes Needle)

The history of rock-climbing in the Lake District may be said to have started soon after 1880; for it was in the beginning of the last century that the thoughts of those who frequented these hills began to turn towards the crags which flanked the mountains they climbed. These cliffs must always have held some sort of interest for those who passed them by; but as the summit of the mountain was the object in view, and the grassy slopes seemed to offer the easiest line of ascent, the buttresses and pinnacles encountered en route presented little more than an awful spectacle for aesthetic contemplation.

The first rock-climb of which we have any trace is an undated and uncertain ascent of Broad Stand* alleged to have been made by the poet Coleridge, who was presumably aiming for the summit of Scafell, and took this as the easiest way he could find from Mickledore-the only evident breach in that long line of forbidding cliffs that appeared to extend from Eskdale nearly to Wasdale. Coleridge, who was a keen mountaineer, influenced Wordsworth in the same direction; and the latter must have helped even though unwittingly, to produce the change in men's minds, for it was his reference to Pillar Rock in his poem 'The Brothers' that gave general publicity to its existence. It is true that Green and other earlier Guide writers, had mentioned the Pillar Stone as one of the sights for the tourist to see as he wended his way up Ennerdale; but to them it was just a striking distant view, whilst Wordsworth's reference was of the morbid kind which always attracts closer and greater attention. It is not claimed that climbing had its genesis in morbid curiosity. All that Wordsworth did was to focus attention on the Rock, and its isolation naturally became a challenge to those who visited it; so that we may fairly assert that Atkinson's ascent of it in 1826 was the inauguration of rock-climbing as we know it today. Could it have begun in a more alluring spot!

However, with the beginning of the Gully and Chimney period all doubt as to motive was set at rest. Rock-climbing as a sport in itself was definitely established. The Alpinist was to some extent responsible for this. Winter climbing in Switzerland at this time was not generally, if at all, thought of as a possibility; and the Alpinist's need to be on some mountain or other drove him to consider whether his own lesser hills might not fill this winter hiatus. Moreover, there was always the possibility of winter conditions at home approximating to summer conditions abroad. His home mountains, too, would keep him fit for his beloved Alps. So he went to the gullies and wide chimneys which he might hope to find filled with snow and thus get some practice for the greater couloirs. That he did not always find them so-much to the benefit of his rock technique-did not stop him from treating British hills as small alps, and so his conquest followed Alpine tradition. Because of this training and mental outlook, he was rather inclined to frown upon anything savouring of what he dubbed 'rock-gymnastics.' Nevertheless, and despite the fact that his prejudices died very hard (for they were in evidence up to 1914, if not later), it cannot be gainsaid that he played a considerable part in the development of cragsmanship.

It was W.P. Haskett-Smith who showed the real possibilities of the sport as a thing to be enjoyed for itself alone, and during the decade of the 'eighties he set his mark for all time on British cragsmanship. No other man has wielded anything like the same influence. It is no exaggeration to call him the Father of British rock-climbing. The impossible became at once a target for his skill and natural ability, and his successes were many and varied. At one end of the scale is the Napes Needle, while at the other is the long and successful siege of the North Climb on Pillar Rock. He made the Needle his very own, and his lone ascent of it was the second landmark in climbing history. He laid all the great crags under contribution, as a glance at the List of First Ascents will show. But it was the ascent of the Needle which had the greatest import. As an example of this, it is said that a photograph of it in a London shop turned O.G. Jones's thoughts to the possibilities of Lake District climbing, and there can be no doubt about the role he played in its development.

The Master Builders

Naturally, with this new-born enthusiasm, new ascents were quickly discovered. First came the easy gullies, such as those on Great End, in the early 'eighties, followed by such climbs as the shorter routes on Pillar Rock (Central Jordan, Great Chimney, etc.). There were, however, bigger fish to be fried, and the conquest of Moss Ghyll by J. Collier, G. Hastings, and J.W. Robinson in 1892, clearly received its inspiration from the wonderful victory over the north side of Pillar Rock in 1891 by W.P. Haskett-Smith, G. Hastings and W.C. Slingsby. Haskett-Smith with various companions had roamed up and down the north face of Pillar on and off for ten years, always to be defeated by that steepening of the cliff which extends from the north-west angle of Low Man eastward to the Nose overhanging Savage Gully. Did they turn down Savage Savage Gully in despair of ever climbing the Nose? It is strange nowadays to think of the hero of the Napes Needle being defeated by the severity of the Nose. The cause could not have been isolation or altitude - one would have thought the exposure was about equal in both cases. Possibly what is now a clean landing on sound bare rock may have been an earth-covered ledge heaped with scree from Stony Gully above. Howbeit, the problem was solved in the following year by the Hand Traverse, a much more strenuous and exposed route than the Nose itself. After this the Nose seems to have lost its terrors for it was climbed in the following year.

Haskett-Smith collected another scalp in the shape of a short climb on to Scafell Pinnacle from Jordan Gap (another place which was probably earth-covered), and this naturally led to the frontal attacks on the Pinnacle by Steep Ghyll in the same year, and the Slingsby's Chimney route in 1888.

The leading figures during this time were Haskett-Smith, Robinson, Hastings, Slingsby, Collie, and Collier, and gullies and chimneys were falling right and left to their assaults. Noteworthy feats were the overthrow of the Great Gully of the Screes under the leadership of G. Hastings, and the conquest of Moss Ghyll in the same year (1892) by a party led by J.N. Collie. Moss Ghyll proved a most popular addition and along with the North Climb on Pillar has remained a classic to this day.

It was a little outside this period, however, when O.G. Jones sealed the Gully Period by his magnificent achievement, on a cold January day in 1899, over Walker's Gully, a truly noble cleft, as Laycock remarks, and in most respects our finest gully climb this side of the Scottish border. Though Savage Gully was done in 1901 it belongs, by its very character, to a later phase, combining as it does all the qualities of the Gully-Chimney cum Slab and Wall Period.

The Club commenced with a library of one book, naturally Jones's, and 'one-100 ft rope for use in case of emergency,' the last a cryptic phrase which possibly means if a member turns up without a rope of his own. This question of the rope is of interest, for it must be borne in mind that the general use of the rope - if any at all - probably did not start till about 1880. When George Seatree 'met my old friend J.W. Robinson in 1886, he was surprised to find that the latter had brought a climbing rope with him, which caused Seatree to write later: 'I then found how vast had been the progress made in the art and sport of rock-climbing in Lakeland. A multitude of ascents had been achieved.' It will be noticed that Seatree refers to his 'old friend' (elsewhere he states that he met Robinson in 1874). One surmises from this that Robinson had had the use of the rope recently introduced to him, by whom we cannot say. Probably some of the Alpinists were responsible. Anyhow, its introduction gave the climber greater confidence, with the result mentioned by Seatree.
Coming back to the Fell and Rock Club, its growth was mushroom like, for it at once attracted a host of men interested in the sport, among whom were the brothers George and Ashley Abraham, who by their literary enterprise, and their skill alike in cragsmanship and photography, have left their mark on British climbing.
Earlier mention has been made of the difficulty of assigning any particular date to any particular phase or type of climbing; but there is no doubt that about 1910 exposure was less and less considered a bar to route-finding, in consequence of which the technique of the sport developed in a surprising degree. Hitherto one might claim that the race was to the strong, if not necessarily of the Sandow type, but now it was found that delicacy of balance and good nerve could be put to considerable service in the cause. At the same time the climber was gaining a wider acquaintance with the cliff faces he frequented through the increase in the number of climbs, and increased geographical knowledge inspired further exploration.

Various factors contributed towards the new outlook; but it undoubtedly derived its chief impetus from the advent into the climbing world of S.W.Herford, G.S.Sansom, J.Laycock, A.R.Thomson, and their companions. The names of Laycock and Thomson must be mentioned, because although they were not in the big things the other two did, their knowledge of climbing was extensive, and their association with Herford was of real importance. From 1910 to 1912, while Herford was still an undergraduate at Manchester University, these three spent most of the week-ends, when time could not be spared for visits to the Lakes or Snowdonia, on the gritstone crags of Derbyshire. The repercussions of this fact, indeed, the general influence of the gritstone training ground on the modern development of our sport, are perhaps imperfectly appreciated. Gritstone climbs are short; but they have a high standard of severity and exposure; and the exiguous nature of their holds tends to produce a balance technique which is precisely what is required for face climbing of the delicate order. One need only cite the names of a few men who have had their early training and experience on gritstone-Botterill, Herford, Kelly, Frankland, Pigott, Linnell, A.T. Hargreaves-to drive home the point. Haskett-Smith would probably have led the Nose on Pillar at the first attempt if he had had any gritstone experience at that time. Laycock's little book Some Gritstone Climbs has had a much bigger influence than its size and subject would indicate; and those acquainted with the climbs he describes will admit that it is not a far cry from The Crack at Castle Naze to the Pinnacle Face of Scafell; so that when Herford in 1912 carried his superfine technique to the greater cliffs, it is not surprising that these huge challenging slabs claimed his early attention. Their upper reaches had been explored by C. Hopkinson in 1893 and the lower part had been climbed by Jones in 1898, as already described. But Jones's Route had never been repeated, and the disastrously abortive attempt to link up the two sections in 1903 had only succeeded in investing climbers with an almost superstitious dread of the awful face, which even the brilliant exploits of Botterill did nothing to dispel. And now came a veritable Siegfried, to whom its legendary inaccessibility was as little daunting as Loge's encircling fires had been to his namesake of the ancient story. In April, 1912, Herford repeated Jones's climb, and before the year was out had not only climbed the face from bottom to top but had forced a way up Hopkinson's Gully, both climbs being done in company with G.S. Sansom. A year later, the same brilliant partners worked out the magnificent Girdle Traverse of Scafell, and it is perhaps not too fanciful to ascribe the novel development once more to the gritstone influence. When rocks are less than a hundred feet in height, the climbers are led to the idea of traversing in order to gain a respectable length, and we know that girdle traverses on at least two of the gritstone cliffs had been made prior to this date. The apogee of the Herford-Sansom combination was reached in 1914 when the hitherto impregnable Central Buttress of Scafell was vanquished. Despite the plethora and severity of more modern discoveries it can still hold its place with
the hardest of them, and will continue to do so, for most parties attempting it have still to adopt the combined tactics invented by the first leaders to overcome the Great Flake. Undoubtedly it stamped climbing with yet a new hallmark, and the inspiration due to it is not yet exhausted: all the great modern climbs in the British Isles are its lineal descendants. These men, too, gave evidence of the new spirit that had entered into the sport-the feeling that rock-climbing was an art in itself and could be pursued for its own sake and enjoyment. Unlike

The Inheritors (Post-war climbing)

With the close of hostilities in 1918 a great renaissance in climbing was naturally to be expected. For four long years the big majority of active climbers had been able to pay but brief, fugitive visits to their happy hunting grounds; and now they returned with an avidity sharpened by the lengthy period of rock-starvation, and the spirit of adventure which the searing experiences of the war had intensified rather than dulled. Yet an observer of those days might well have had misgivings as to the outcome. Had Herford been a solitary genius to whom no heir could be expected, whose vitalising influence had expired with his own demise? Were there indeed the opportunities for further explorations of this order? Even so shrewd a judge as Laycock had expressed some doubts. 'From 1911 onwards it has been no easy matter to discover good new climbs in England and Wales.' Thus we find him writing in 1916. It is true that a few lines later he continues, with characteristic generosity and breadth of view: '....a new tradition has arisen. But all Herford's friends will be, as he himself would have been, the first to welcome the arrival of a greater climber still.'

All doubts were soon laid to rest. It would be rash to assert that a greater climber arose, or has since arisen; but this much can be said with confidence-that within a few brief years of the post-war era a new harvest had been garnered, far surpassing in quantity anything accomplished hitherto in a comparable period of time, and much of it at least worthy of the new tradition in its quality.

The first blow of the new campaign may be said to have been struck by G.S.Bower in his ascent of Route D on Gimmer Crag in May, 1919; but all other doings of that vintage year were eclipsed by the performances of that remarkable triumvirate, C.G.Crawford, C.F.Holland and H.M.Kelly. Of these, Holland formed a direct link with pre-war climbing: he had been with Herford and Sansom on their exploration of the Central Buttress. A great climber, an even greater inspirer, he has probably exerted more influence on ambitious youth in the climbing world than any other man of our time. His knowledge of the crags was extensive, his courage boundless, his temperament ideal. Holland's eye for a route, Crawford's cheery optimism in conjunction with his remarkable aptitude for the sport, and Kelly's technical skill in leadership formed an irresistible combination when these three got together. They first swept clean the face of Scafeil Pinnacle, climbing every route already known upon it, and making numerous variations of great merit. They next transferred their attentions to the west face of Pillar Rock, which has had a curious history. Although the Rock had proved a focus of attraction for more than half a century, exploration was for a long time concentrated on the northern, southern, and eastern sides, and Atkinson's original route in 1826 remained in solitary splendour on the western face until 1901, when the brothers Abraham worked out their ingenious and entertaining New West Climb. Then in 1911, H.R.Pope led the South-West Climb, a delicate face route of high standard. Thus we had three climbs spread over nearly a century. Within a fortnight the number was more than doubled; on 27th July they repeated Pope's climb and improved it by a direct finish. Two days later Holland led them up the Rib and Slab Climb, and Kelly made a new route up the West Wall of Low Man. Crawford and Holland now turned back to Scafell, while Kelly went off to Gable with R.E.W.Pritchard, and added three first-class routes to the four previously known on Kern Knotts. On 9th August he was back at Pillar, and along with Holland made two further routes of superlative difficulty up the west wall of High Man. It was truly a wonderful year, and before closing its account we must mention the ascent of the Great Central Route on Dow Crag by J.I.Roper and G.S.Bower. Though not a climb of great length, this was of the super-severe standard which the climbing world was now for the first time coming to take as a matter of course, and it had for its own crag much the same detonating effect that climbs like the Central Buttress and Routes I and II on Pillar had in other fields.

The story of the next year is largely concerned with the exploits of G.S.Bower. Besides accompanying Kelly and Pritchard on two notable routes on opposite sides of Deep Ghyll, he was himself responsible for quite a number of additions to the climbs on Gimmer, Pavey Ark, and Dow Crag, and broke entirely new ground by his climb on Esk Buttress, a course giving 400 feet of severe climbing.

It was now becoming clear that climbing had entered upon a fundamentally new phase. What had been regarded a few years before as the unapproachable plane of performance attainable by occasional gifted geniuses like Jones, Botterill, Herford, was now looked upon rather as the norm by which our leading climbers measured their own achievements. Virgin rock was approached in a new spirit of confidence and enterprise. It was not that the best men were any better than the giants of the past, but they were more numerous, while the standard of ability among climbers in general had increased enormously. The quickened interest in climbing and the rapid growth in technical skill were stimulated by the timely appearance of two books, H. Raeburn's Mountaineering Art, and G.Winthrop Young's monumental Mountain Craft,. in which the problems of climbing technique were handled with a fullness and clarity unapproached hitherto.

The first wave of post-war activity had by no means spent its force in the achievements of 1919-20 which have already been detailed; and although there was nothing later which quite matched those wonder-years in splendour, first ascents, continued to pour in for a good many years in a fairly steady stream. It is impossible within the limits of this account to particularise more than a few of these, and the basis of selection is perhaps a little arbitrary, so that the reader may take it that for every climb mentioned there are at least two or three more of approximately equal merit. Among the major crags, attention was chiefly focussed on Dow Crag, Gimmer, and the Napes. The last named cliff was pretty thoroughly combed by various enthusiasts among whom C.D.Frankland and Fergus Graham were prominent. Further east, Kelly and Bower added to their respective successes Tophet Wall and the repulsive (looking) Innominate Crack on Kern Knotts. Meanwhile Bower was continuing his explorations of the more holdless sections of Gimmer and Dow Crags, and in connection with these climbing grounds especially the name of H.S.Gross became increasingly prominent. His successive Eliminate Routes conformed to the best standards of contemporary severity, whilst the magnificent Girdle Traverse of Dow Crag was worthy to rank with its famous counterpart on Scafell.
After the great successes of 1919, it is not surprising that we have little fresh to record on Scafell Crag. The second and third ascents of Central Buttress were made in 1921, 1922 by C.D.Frankland and A.S.Pigott respectively. In 1925 the enterprise of Fergus Graham in forcing a direct route to Moss Ledge showed that even the Pinnacle Face was not quite exhausted, and in the following year Kelly found a new route up the Central Buttress by way of the Moss Ghyll Grooves.

We have said that it is impossible to detail all the new climbs made at this period; but some mention must be made of those enterprising explorers who collected not merely new climbs, but new crags. They included, among others, Mosedale Buttresses (F.Graham), Boat Howe Crags (G.Basterfield and G.Graham Brown), Green Gable Crags (G.G.Macphee), and Black Crag, Ennerdale (the Wood-Johnson brothers). In this class also may be mentioned the opening up of the southern end of Pikes Crag by Kelly and Holland in 1924.

Yet another noteworthy feature of this period was the rapid growth in the art of descent. Herford's famous article, 'The Doctrine of Descent' in the 1914 Journal, coupled with the increasing influence of gritstone-trained climbers to whom the descent of severe courses was all in the day's work, produced a marked effect and classic routes like Savage Gully and Botterill's Slab were now descended for the first time. Nowadays few first ascents of importance go for very long before a first descent is also made.

Toward the end of the first decade of post-war climbing a kind of lassitude set in. It seemed as if the great wave of exploration started by Herford and so brilliantly ridden by his immediate followers had spent its force at last.

But it surged up again in 1928 when the temporary association of H.G.Knight and H.M.Kelly produced new climbs on Pillar, the Napes, and Kern Knotts-the Kern Knotts Chain, another girdle traverse, being a climb of quite exceptional severity. After that it seemed for a time to be almost in danger of subsiding altogether; and it must be confessed that about this period the centre of gravity of British climbing had shifted to another part of our island.

The history of Welsh climbing is, of course, beyond the purview of this article. The restriction is the less regrettable since developments in Snowdonia have followed courses roughly parallel to those in our own district, a fact which is not so remarkable when we consider that, apart from a few conspicuous exceptions, the same leading figures have been responsible for exploration in both regions. The post-war renaissance in North Wales lagged a little behind that in the Lakes; it was just about reaching its full force as the great wave further north was beginning to die down, and it obtained especial impetus from the ascent by A.S.Pigott in 1927 of the East Buttress of Clogwyn du'r Arddu. The particular importance of this climb lay in the fact that it opened up the possibilities of a crag of major proportions, which had hitherto been regarded as invulnerable. It therefore set men thinking along new lines, much as the ascent of Central Buttress and the great 1919 campaign on Pillar had done. A year later the companion West Buttress fell, this time to J.L.Longland, with the original conqueror Pigott in the party. Thenceforward the exploration of the crag proceeded apace, chiefly through the enterprise of C.F.Kirkus, one of a band of brilliant young members of the Climbers' Club, who were specially active in Wales about this time.

Meanwhile, Linnell had turned his attention to the East Buttress of Scafell and in the summers of 1932 and 1933 (the last summer, alas! in which he was to climb) launched a series of great attacks with the result that this supremely formidable face, which three years before had been unclimbed, now possessed several magnificent routes. Two of these, it must be mentioned, were led by A.W. Bridge and A.T. Hargreaves respectively, but Linnell was in at both and was himself responsible for the remainder.

Summary

With this series of splendid leads our tale of first ascents may fitly close. If it has been too much a tale of first ascents, we can only plead that these, like specific advances or battles in military history are the obvious, convenient pegs on which to hang the skein. But we have tried to indicate throughout the broad background of general development that lies behind these glittering fires of individual performance; and the present is a convenient stage at which to review a few of the more general aspects which have received too scant attention.

We have seen how British climbing, originally-like Alpinism - a pursuit of summits, and for long regarded even on its technical side as a humble handmaid of Alpinism, gradually established itself as an independent sport, in which the route is followed for its own sake. We have seen, too, how the early climbers, ever prone to seek the deeper recesses of the crags for their big routes, were gradually driven into the narrower fissures, and finally forced out on to the ridges and open faces.

Concurrently with this may be observed certain technical developments in the art of climbing. The main tendency here, as we have already noted, has been away from mere strength and toward delicate balance work. This is not to disparage the older climbers, especially the best of them. There can have been nothing seriously amiss with the technique that took Haskett-Smith up the Needle, Solly up Eagle's Nest Ridge, or Jones across the Pinnacle Face. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that a concentration on fissure climbing tends to develop a kind of 'all in' technique which lacks the delicacy and precision in the use of holds which are called for by the more difficult face routes so common today. In some of the older books the novice was enjoined to practice exercises which would develop his muscles, especially his arm muscles-such as pulling up and down twenty times in succession on a horizontal bar. In Mountain Craft, Geoffrey Winthrop Young recommends him to take up dancing.

Of course the comparison is not all to the advantage of one side. Some brilliant face-climbers of the younger generation are relatively clumsy in cracks and chimneys. Even the psychological situation may become inverted. Whereas the older climbers sought the rifts for the comforting suggestion of security afforded by their retaining walls, one may find nowadays an occasional cragsman who, whilst perfectly at home on the slenderest of airy stances, seems to suffer from a paralysing claustrophobia when immersed in the depths of a gully. On the whole, however it must be admitted that the average modern climber has a much completer technical equipment than his predecessors; and there can be no doubt that there has been since the war, a substantial increase not only in the average standard of climbing, but also in the rapidity with which beginners learn their craft. In early days the neophyte was expected to begin on the easiest climbs and work his way upwards methodically through the moderates and difficults. If he was sufficiently gifted, he might hope, after some years of this patient apprenticeship, to lead a severe-and that (if he was a conscientious member of the F. & R.C.C.) only under conditions carefully prescribed by the Committee. (FRCC Journal no. 3, p.3 18) Our young men of today would laugh at such elaboration. They start their training on difficults and expect to be leading severes within a year or two; after two or three years the best of them will be hankering after Central Buttress or something near that class. And whilst at times this speeding up may be overdone-to the learner's ultimate detriment - it is as unnecessary as it would be futile to demand a return to the more pedestrian methods of the past.

One notable result of the lessened importance of muscular effort in climbing technique has been a marked increase of interest in the sport by women. There have been some women climbers almost from the earliest days, but for long they worked under serious handicaps. The great demands on strength made by some of the early climbs (at least as climbed by the early methods) and the unsuitability of the garb prescribed by convention: these were bad enough, but they were as nothing compared to the supreme psychological handicap imposed by the general relationship between the sexes. Women were still regarded very much as objects of male protection. Once the idea of their climbing at all had been accepted, the protective attitude was marked, and it is amusing to read some of the older accounts of climbs with a woman in the party (she was, of course, never referred to as a 'woman'-always a 'lady'). When the climb is finally accomplished the 'lady' invariably comes in for a special meed of praise; but one feels behind it all the implication that the plaudits should really be reserved for the gallant fellows who had cheerfully accepted the unwonted burden and risen so nobly to the occasion. And of course, one great difficulty in combating this attitude was that too many of the women climbers were prepared to accept it. The more independent revolted, naturally; but it was not until 1921 that this revolt showed itself openly in the formation of an independent women's climbing club. The term 'revolt' is perhaps a little strong here, and certainly the setting up of the new organisation implied no sort of antagonism with the Fell and Rock Club, which had admitted women from the start. But 'Pat' Kelly, the founder of the Pinnacle Club, believed, and rightly so, that women could not hope to develop fully their climbing potentialities under the conditions of that time unless they did some at least of their climbing quite independently of men. Her own remarkable powers (at that time she was probably in a class by herself among British women climbers) she willingly placed at the service of this cause; and it is profoundly to be regretted that she did not live to see the full fruition of her venture. The new club was an immediate success and has had a continuous growth, with precisely those beneficial effects on women's climbing that the founder foresaw. If we have yet to wait for outstanding pioneer work by a woman climber, it can at least be said today that the best of them are very near to the best of the men.

Another outstanding feature of post-war climbing is the enormous increase in the number of participants, an increase which brings various knotty problems in its train. Firstly, there is a social problem. In former days we had among climbers a preponderance of the more fortunate people endowed with a certain limited degree of means and leisure. Never what would be called a rich man's sport, it was not a poor man's either. Nowadays all that is largely changed. The general movement towards outdoor exercise and more frequent holidays, increased facilities of transport, and various other factors have combined to produce a large influx of climbers of more limited means. That many of them do not find a natural and congenial home in the old-established climbing clubs is not in itself, perhaps, a matter of great moment. But the organisations towards which they tend to gravitate lack the historical background and perspective of the older clubs. These latter are the repositories of the great traditions of our craft, and it seems a pity that the young aspirants should not enjoy more directly the benefits of that valuable store.

One of the less fortunate results of this great influx of new climbers who are not directly in. touch with the main tradition is a tendency to the growth of slipshod methods, especially in rope management. The use of the rope has evolved gradually from its first tentative introduction, when it was almost more of a menace than an aid at times, to the present-day elaboration in which great care is devoted to its texture, storage, testing, method of attachment both to bodies and rocks, handling in use, and a score of other details. For if the novices are inclined to carelessness, it can truly be said of experienced climbers that never in the history of the sport was more concentrated attention given to this subject than at present.

There is one type of climber to whom the art of rope management is a matter of secondary importance, that is, the solitary climber. There are probably few, if any, who addict themselves to solo climbing exclusively; but it has always had a fascination for certain minds. Whether because it has sometimes been frowned on by those in authority, or for other reasons, solitary climbing is but scantily documented; so that we must content ourselves with referring to its existence and mentioning that its devotees have included many of the most distinguished climbers at all times.

It was not our intention, for we did not feel that it came within the scope of this article, to deal with equipment, but as the rope has been mentioned a word or two about footgear might not be out of place especially, as in one respect, a change in it had considerable influence on the development of climbing. It is not easy to trace the introduction of the climbing nail into the boot and the various changes that have taken place in the composition and shape of it. No doubt climbers were first content with the strong type of boot such as was worn by the dalesman until the need for something affording greater friction started the various fashions in the projecting nail. But regarding the introduction of the rubber shoe there is less uncertainty, for gritstone climbing was chiefly responsible for it. Like most innovations this did not come about at once and at first problems demanding footgear of this kind were usually overcome by discarding the boot for the stockinged-foot; as Jones did on the final pitch of Walker's Gully, and Herford and Sansom on the Central Buttress. But when this method was applied to gritstone-and it was more applicable to this type of climbing than any other-the abrasive nature of the rock demanded something more durable than wool, and ultimately the rubber-shoe was adopted as the most suitable medium for the purpose. Its durability, together with its better 'feel' and greater flexibility than the boot, brought it into favour for the bigger crags, and a pair of rubbers were naturally stored into the rucksack before starting out for them.

One of two features which have distinguished British from Continental climbing should also be mentioned here. One is the almost complete refusal of our own climbers to resort to artificial aids, apart from the rope. The continental climber, with his armoury of pitons (wall-hooks), hammer, and carabineers (sic) (snap-rings), has no counterpart in this country. Of course, our home crags offer a fair supply of natural belays, and do not call so imperatively for the piton (wall-hook), etc., as do the rocks of the Eastern Alps. And if the German and Austrian have perhaps been over-ready to rely on these adventitious aids, they have been led thereby to the development of new technical methods, enabling them to make attacks on smooth faces that could be surmounted by no other means. We may yet see such methods introduced in Lakeland as the supply of new routes gives out, but they will have to encounter the resistance of strong prejudice.

Another point of difference is the almost complete absence, until quite recently, of the professional element in British climbing. Before the war there was often to be found at Wasdale Head in winter a Dauphiné guide, but it can hardly be said that he was taken very seriously; and in the real climbing season he was always back in his native land. After the war, this practice was not revived; but about ten years ago J.E.B. Wright started an organisation known as the Lakeland Mountain Guides, and published a fixed tariff for various Lakeland climbs. His example has since been followed by others, and there are now quite a few professionals available. The mere fact that the Guides have grown in numbers may be taken as evidence that they are a need, but whilst they include among them some first-class cragsmen, it cannot be said that they have yet played much part in shaping climbing history.

And what of the future? It is no use saying that the crags are exhausted. That has been said too often, and too often falsified. What new forms climbing may take is an interesting subject for speculation. Here is a fragment, hitherto unpublished, which was written some fifteen years ago by a well-known climber:

'Some time ago there passed away in London a great painter, little known to the world of those days. For the last few years he had lived in obscurity. He had lost interest in everything except his art, his wordly affairs being managed by a few close friends, including those who had been directly interested in his productions. He would take up his brush before his easel and endeavour to transmit his ideas into form and outline on the canvas. The picture always remained unfinished, idea after idea would be painted over each other until the canvas became nothing but a glowing mass of colour. Colour became the supreme thing-he would toy with dyed wools and silks; all the ranges of the modern dyer's colours expressed in these mediums attracted him.
'I think of rock-climbing. Routes jostle and spill over each other. Today there is definition and form in rock-climbing-gullies, chimneys, cracks-but it is fast losing this, and the cause of it is slab-climbing. The caterpillar form of movement demanded by the former type of climbing is giving way to the flowing movement of the latter; one might say one twinkles up a slab. It is on slabs that one enjoys the real delight of rock-climbing. And the trend of all this is that the rock climber of the future will view a face of rock from a new aspect-his climbing will be of the whole and not part only. Defined routes will be crossed and re-crossed, lines of movement will take him up and down, diagonally and otherwise, in every direction. Holds will be just caressed and passed by for others, a veritable flirtation will be carried on until he almost becomes a rock-climbing Don Juan. Think, for example, of wandering at will over Deep Ghyll Slabs. As the mind's eye follows the ramifications of one's movements, an exhilaration will ensure such as to fill the imagination with a sense of riotous feeling, analogous to the passion for colour of the great departed painter.'

There you have an ideal: it seems to envisage solitary climbing, a complete casting aside of the shackles of the rope. Others, differently minded, may see in the future an eager embracing of the rope and kindred aids, tending to the development of a highly mechanised form of climbing which will satisfy a different kind of aspiration. Whether the climbing of the future will take on either or both of these forms, or perhaps develop along entirely different lines as yet undreamt of we cannot say. Enough for us that there is as yet no sign of diminution in interest in the sport. And if after another fifty years the Fell and Rock Club decides to celebrate the centenary of the first ascent of the Needle by another special number of the Journal, there seems no reason why the historian chosen to record the doings of those intervening years should not have at least as rich and varied a story to relate as that which we have tried to tell.

Go to: First Ascents: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.