Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- 196601 [2016/07/21 14:38] – tyreless
+++ 196601 [2016/07/22 10:07] – tyreless
@@ Line 220: / Line 220: @@
 ----
-Reminiscences of a Climberg - Colin Putt
+=====Running Away To Shore - Reminiscences of a Climber.=====
-RUNNING AWAY TO SHORE
-Myer intended., for a start, to ga in for climbing as a sport, and that's.Why; perhaps, I'm still not vary good at it. I was brought
-up in a family atmosphere of boats and sailing; sea chanties were sung
-over my cradle and thy earliest clear memory is of my father steeping planks and timbers in a steambax. Before I went to school I had learned about the vast superiority of gaff rig, fiddle bows and tarred hemp standing rigging. , This theoretical grounding was followed by a solid course in Umnts, bends and splices, rowing steering and so on.
+By Colin Putt
-Later I acquired and rigged by own sailing dinghy and spent all my spare time at sea, taking special care to be out in the middle of winter
-and in particularly violent storms, which were alw ays more interesting and could offer faster sailing. By this time I had learned that one of my
-uncles, although a good sailor, used to go to snowy places and indulge in
-a mysterious sport called "step-cutting", (This was in the early 1930's
-when the general use of crampons had not yet been adopted in New Zealand): but this was not much talked of in the family.
-The dinghy, with her rigging and on a wheeled cradle, weighed about 250 lbs. and had to be pulled home up a mile of extremely steep hill from the water after each day's sailing. A* the age of 16 I got a job as a
-truck driver with a survey team *c were mapping some unmapped bits of
-New Zealand; the job involved little driving and a lot of carrying heavy
-loads, of foot, through row3L country. HeaVy packing was dead easy after. years of practice dragging -che boat up bill and I began to enjoy the bush
-at once. At the University I naturally joined the tramping clubs and. began
-to go to the ice mountains for climbing. Shifton points out that mountain,. eering and sailing are very similar while his climbing companion, Tilman, although saying little, currently spends about half of every year sailing the Arctic seas. The transfer from one of these sports tn the other is easy and barely noticeable.
-In the 1940's much of New Zealand's mountain country was virtually unexplored and many major peaks were still unclimbed. With Bob Cawley's climbing parties I went into this country with the climbing gear of the day; spiky stiff hemp rope, clinkered_ boots, waist-high axe, EdkOstein crampons, oilskin, parka. No,slings,.karabiners or pitons had been 'heard of and our loads wOre adcordingly lighter.
-Our first virgin summit was reached afto-.. a week's travel on snow and ice, with 90 lb. packs, in country where only two parties had ever been before, camping in the new6-fangled snow6-caves0 TTe were stopped half way up our peak by a horrific bergs chrund. with a narrow shaky bridge and a
-ft. overhanging ice-wall above it. Self-levitation with two axes got us up this and soon afterwards we were faced. with some 300 ft. of rock. Our technique on rock, at this stage, was to scramble up as best we could' winding the rope around outcrops whore available; fortunately on this occasion we
-' 17
-The Syaney :ustrp aker
-Jnnunry, 1966
-were able to cut fstops up a steep cnuloir of rotten ice, bombarded by stones, and avoid the 300 ft. of mod diff grade rock interspersed by broad ledges. On the way down, we cut an ice-bollard at the bergscbrund and roped down it. I was last man down an-1. on arriving at the lower lip gave the rope a tug to  free it on the bollard. The bollard flew off and hit me square on the head! TO were involved in a small harmless avalanche on the way down - in those days there seamed to be more avalanches than now and the summer climbing season was colder, snowier and later. Or could it be that our equipment and techniques have improved?
-By 1949 I had joined one of the small groups which had acquired pre-war English books on rock-climbing and were trying to use the techniques described in them. The next year I came to Australia and found that climbing was
-looked on in the 1-ushwaiking clubs as a criminal activity. Although the local sandstone frightened me, and utill does, I naturally got involved in-the early efforts to popularise the sport among bushwalkers, and to teach people how to
-use simple belaying techniques and to abseil. Some memorable early climbs followed - the first rock-climbing Instructional of the Sydney Bushwalkers, which included an ascent of Kanangra Walls, some of the classical climbs at Glenbrook, various first ascents in the Castle area, Glen Davis, Ettrema and the Kowmung. None of these were of great difffivulty, but they were long climbs and enjoyed by large parties of bushwalkers who, a year or two earlier, would have been trotting along tracks with good clothes in their packs to wear home in the train. Vow they were headed for bigger and steeper country, in old cars or in the _one-arid--only Puttmobile, and from them perhaps have sprung some of the present generation of climbers.
-In 1956 I visited Zermatt with three English climbers and found-that the famous Swiss Alps were no more difficult or fearsome that Yew Zealand after all.
-Our best climb was a frontier traverse, from Monte Rosa over the Lyskamm, Castor and. Pollux. We mulci have gone on over the Breithorn but a sudden electrical storm forced us to reti eat-aown-th6 Nbrth Face of Pollux, so that
-my only Face Nor has been done downwards, not.-up. This was the sort of
-climbiOg I like - long distances covered fa'st a:t high altitudes,--on-icei
-a bit of exposurevand not much rock; a kind. of climbing that would be barely ,Ilossible. without crampons, and. in Which you are likely to spend the next night in a bivouac, or a but on the wrong side of the range. Here T reAchea the high point ofmy-cliMbing carear. When a Swiss guide who saw me cutting steps took me for an Austrian guide!
-On my retbrn to Australia I found that Australians had. been getting into trouble in New Zealand. Numb ors of them-had-gone over to climb, sathe had. been killed, thellocals felt they-mere unsafeand,wouldn't. climb with then, and so the Australians got little chance tO.learn snow and ice techniques and were unsafe, etc:  . .Something had to be done about this. Dot Butler, Ian Wood and I set about forming the Australian Section of the New Zealand Alpine Club and starting the series of Instruction Courses for Australians which has  run on every year since. These were very successful in cuttirg down the accident rate, though I don't thinkthey are the final answer - there are now enough expert mountaineers in Australia to give more personal attention to our
- .6
-Jr nur try, 1966. The Sydney - Dush7.7.lker
-own novices. All this of course, involves a lot of organising, and I was soon to find that while climbers are dead easy to get for expeditions, and mountainetxs not hard, organisers are scarce.
-In 1960 I was cornered at Mascot Airport by Norman Hardie, who was on his way to Nepal, and asked, "roula you like to lead an expedition?"
-"Yes, where to?" (Never miss an opportunity, it will frighten 'other oppor tunities away.)
-It turiled out to be to the Carstensz mountains of Dutch New Guinea. It was a hard, unoorfortable ana sometimes dangerous trip, with very little climbing, but at least I got my partyall:baak alive, and we completed a useful reconnaissance to some-good scientific work. I learned; the hard way, that planning and organisation are' of prime importance; morale is next on the list, and that given these the ascent of the peak will probably follow unasked.
-Two years later, in En61and, at the end of a gcmd day s rockclimbing, I got a letter sfrom Varftok _Jeacock in Darwin;
-"re are going to Heard Island to climb Big Ben next year, will you come?"
-(Marginal note from my wife: 'O.K., you can go.")
-months later I sicoa at the wheel of the schooner Patanela, steering
-%
-by a star as she thrashed through the grey seas of the Southern Oceanunder
-closer9ef ed canvas..---  -:. This I think', is about where I came in to this story.
-, ..-:_ C.,.' .
- EARLY:CLIMERS from N.V.A.C.
- ...
-apparently  there's nothing new under -the  sun, even in the climbing.
-world. '2liere:Is an extract  from 151utarch's "Lives", A.D. 48 .(North's tratuatiti-on)
-   : .  . 7
-"Now these barbaidus people had such a F;loiy in-themselves -and distained their enemies so much, that more to-show their force and boldnes than of any necessity that compelled them, or for any benefit'they got by itj'they suffered it to snow upon them...and did
-climb ti p to th6 tops of mountains through great heaps of ice and snow.
- o -
-And., when they were at the very top of all, they-laid thoir long targets under their bodies, and lay all along tron thimp'sliding down the'
-steep high rocks,' that had certain hangings over of an infinite height.
+I never intended, for a start, to go in for climbing as a sport, and that's why, perhaps, I'm still not very good at it. I was brought up in a family atmosphere of boats and sailing; sea chanties were sung over my cradle and my earliest clear memory is of my father steeping planks and timbers in a steambox. Before I went to school I had learned about the vast superiority of gaff rig, fiddle bows and tarred hemp standing rigging. This theoretical grounding was followed by a solid course in knots, bends and splices, rowing steering, and so on.
+Later I acquired and rigged by own sailing dinghy and spent all my spare time at sea, taking special care to be out in the middle of winter and in particularly violent storms, which were always more interesting and could offer faster sailing. By this time I had learned that one of my uncles, although a good sailor, used to go to snowy places and indulge in a mysterious sport called "step-cutting", (This was in the early 1930's when the general use of crampons had not yet been adopted in New Zealand), but this was not much talked of in the family.
+The dinghy, with her rigging and on a wheeled cradle, weighed about 250 lbs. and had to be pulled home up a mile of extremely steep hill from the water after each day's sailing. At the age of 16 I got a job as a truck driver with a survey team who were mapping some unmapped bits of New Zealand; the job involved little driving and a lot of carrying heavy loads, on foot, through rough country. Heavy packing was dead easy after years of practice dragging the boat up hill and I began to enjoy the bush at once. At the University I naturally joined the tramping clubs and began to go to the ice mountains for climbing. Shiften points out that mountaineering and sailing are very similar while his climbing companion, Tilman, although saying little, currently spends about half of every year sailing the Arctic seas. The transfer from one of these sports tn the other is easy and barely noticeable.
+In the 1940's much of New Zealand's mountain country was virtually unexplored and many major peaks were still unclimbed. With Bob Cawley's climbing parties I went into this country with the climbing gear of the day; spiky stiff hemp rope, clinkered boots, waist-high axe, Eckenstein crampons, oilskin parka. No slings, karabiners or pitons had been heard of and our loads were adcordingly lighter.
+Our first virgin summit was reached after a week's travel on snow and ice, with 90 lb. packs, in country where only two parties had ever been before, camping in the new-fangled snow-caves. We were stopped half way up our peak by a horrific bergschrund with a narrow shaky bridge and a 15 ft. overhanging ice-wall above it. Self-levitation with two axes got us up this and soon afterwards we were faced with some 300 ft. of rock. Our technique on rock, at this stage, was to scramble up as best we could winding the rope around outcrops where available; fortunately on this occasion we were able to cut steps up a steep couloir of rotten ice, bombarded by stones, and avoid the 300 ft. of mod. diff. grade rock interspersed by broad ledges. On the way down, we cut an ice-bollard at the bergschrund and roped down it. I was last man down and on arriving at the lower lip gave the rope a tug to free it on the bollard. The bollard flew off and hit me square on the head! We were involved in a small harmless avalanche on the way down - in those days there seemed to be more avalanches than now and the summer climbing season was colder, snowier and later. Or could it be that our equipment and techniques have improved?
+By 1949 I had joined one of the small groups which had acquired pre-war English books on rock-climbing and were trying to use the techniques described in them. The next year I came to Australia and found that climbing was looked on in the bushwaiking clubs as a criminal activity. Although the local sandstone frightened me, and still does, I naturally got involved in the early efforts to popularise the sport among bushwalkers, and to teach people how to use simple belaying techniques and to abseil. Some memorable early climbs followed - the first rock-climbing Instructional of the Sydney Bushwalkers, which included an ascent of Kanangra Walls, some of the classical climbs at Glenbrook, various first ascents in the Castle area, Glen Davis, Ettrema and the Kowmung. None of these were of great diffficulty, but they were long climbs and enjoyed by large parties of bushwalkers who, a year or two earlier, would have been trotting along tracks with good clothes in their packs to wear home in the train. Now they were headed for bigger and steeper country, in old cars or in the one-and--only Puttmobile, and from them perhaps have sprung some of the present generation of climbers.
+In 1956 I visited Zermatt with three English climbers and found that the famous Swiss Alps were no more difficult or fearsome that New Zealand after all.
+Our best climb was a frontier traverse, from Monte Rosa over the Lyskamm, Castor and Pollux. We would have gone on over the Breithorn but a sudden electrical storm forced us to retreat down the North Face of Pollux, so that my only Face Nor has been done downwards, not up. This was the sort of climbing I like - long distances covered fast at high altitudes, on ice, a bit of exposure, and not much rock; a kind of climbing that would be barely possible without crampons, and in which you are likely to spend the next night in a bivouac, or a hut on the wrong side of the range. Here I reached the high point of my climbing career when a Swiss guide who saw me cutting steps took me for an Austrian guide!
+On my return to Australia I found that Australians had been getting into trouble in New Zealand. Numbers of them had gone over to climb, some had been killed, the locals felt they were unsafe and wouldn't climb with then, and so the Australians got little chance to learn snow and ice techniques and were unsafe, etc. .... Something had to be done about this. Dot Butler, Ian Wood and I set about forming the Australian Section of the New Zealand Alpine Club and starting the series of Instruction Courses for Australians which has run on every year since. These were very successful in cutting down the accident rate, though I don't think they are the final answer - there are now enough expert mountaineers in Australia to give more personal attention to our own novices. All this of course, involves a lot of organising, and I was soon to find that while climbers are dead easy to get for expeditions, and mountaineers not hard, organisers are scarce.
+In 1960 I was cornered at Mascot Airport by Norman Hardie, who was on his way to Nepal, and asked, "Would you like to lead an expedition?"
+"Yes, where to?" (Never miss an opportunity, it will frighten other opportunities away.)
+It turned out to be to the Carstensz mountains of Dutch New Guinea. It was a hard, uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous trip, with very little climbing, but at least I got my party all back alive, and we completed a useful reconnaissance to some good scientific work. I learned, the hard way, that planning and organisation are of prime importance; morale is next on the list, and that given these the ascent of the peak will probably follow unasked.
+Two years later, in England, at the end of a good day s rockclimbing, I got a letter from Warwick Deacock in Darwin;
+"We are going to Heard Island to climb Big Ben next year, will you come?"
+(Marginal note from my wife: "O.K., you can go.")
+months later I stood at the wheel of the schooner Patanela, steering by a star as she thrashed through the grey seas of the Southern Ocean under close-reefed canvas.
+This, I think, is about where I came in to this story.
+----
+====Early Climbers.
+from N.Z.A.C.
+Apparently there's nothing new under the sun, even in the climbing world. Here's an extract from Plutarch's "Lives", A.D. 48 (North's translation):
+"Now these barbarous people had such a glory in themselves and distained their enemies so much, that more to show their force and boldness than of any necessity that compelled them, or for any benefit they got by it, they suffered it to snow upon them... and did
+climb up to the tops of mountains through great heaps of ice and snow. And, when they were at the very top of all, they laid their long targets under their bodies, and lay all along upon them, sliding down the steep high rocks, that had certain hangings over of an infinite height."