NOTES

Mountain Club of India

It was in Calcutta, twenty-two years ago, that the Mountain Club of India, precursor by a few months only of the Himalayan Club, came into being. Now that our Headquarters have moved from Delhi to Calcutta it may interest 'original Members' (as they were styled) of the Mountain Club to recall old times by scanning their first 'List of Members' which has been sent to us by the first Honorary Secretary, Allsup. It is good to realize that the majority of those figuring in the list are still going strong.

At the inaugural meeting of the Mountain Club at Peliti's on 23rd September 1927, the following office-bearers were appointed:

President: Brigadier-General the Hon. G. G. Bruce, C.B., M.V.O.

Hon. Secretary: W. Allsup.

Hon. Treasurer: N. Macleod.

Committee: C. R. Cooke, A. G. Dyce, J. S. Hannah, A. A. Marr (junior), H. Newman, E. O. Shebbeare, H. W. Tobin.

And Miss Pille (Delhi), A. G. Dyce (N.W.F.P.), J. W. Rundall (Assam), and G. W. Houlding (Sikkim) agreed to act as local Correspondents.

List of Members

Hon. Members
Brigadier-General the Hon. C. G. Bruce, C.B., M.V.O.
D. W. Freshfield, D.C.L.
Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E.
Members
G. D. Adami, R.E.
W. Allsup, M.I.Mech.E., M.I.F.I.
J. B. Auden, B.A.
Lieut.-Col. F. M. Bailey, C.I.E.
B. W. Battye, R.A.
Sir William H. E. Birdwood, Bart.,
F.M., G.G.B., G.G.M.G., K.G.S.I., G.I.E., D.S.O., LL.D.
Capt. E. St. J. Birnie.
Capt. J. F. Blackden.
F. B. Blomfield.
J. M. Bottomley.
Capt. H. Boustead.
Capt. F. O. Cave, M.C.
Capt. E. R. Culverwell, M.C., R.A.
C. R. Cooke.
A. Cooper.
The Hon Sir Geoffrey Gorbett, K.B.E., C.I.E., I.C.S.
Major A. G. Dyce.
Capt. J. R. Foy.
Frolich.
E. M. Gill.
B. Gourlay, M.G., B.Sc.
C. T. Groves, M.A.
Major K. C. Hadow, M.C.
J. S. Hannah.
A. M. Hicks.
Hotz, A.M.I.E.E
G. W. Houlding.
H. C. Hunt.
H. P. Jordan.
F. E. Kreis, M.C.
J. Latimer.
Lyne.
D. Lonergan.
F. Ludlow.
N. MacLeod.
The Hon. A. Marr, C.I.E., I.G.S.
A. A. Marr.
Major K. Mason, M.C., R.E.
H.I. Matthews, M.C.,B.Sc., A.M.I., Mech. E.
H. Newman.
Lt.-Gol. E. F. Norton, D.S.O.
A. H. Oliphant.
Miss E. V. Pilley, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.
A. M. Robertson.
Capt. G. W. Rundall.
H. Ruttledge, F.R.G.S., I.C.S.
R. A. K. Sangster.
E. O. Shebbeare.
Capt. R. C. Sinker, M.B.E.
A. J. B. Sinker.
T. H. Somervell, M.A., M.B., B.Ch., F.R.G.S.
G. R. Speaker.
G. A. R, Spence.
N. Standish:
Lt.-Col. H. W. Tobin, D.S.O., O.B.E.
D. Tyson, I.C.S.
Major R. L. Vance, I.M.S.
M. S. Vernal.
G. W. Wood-Johnston.
L. Williams.
Col. R. G. Wilson, D.S.O., M.C.

The Mountaineering Association

This note together with the article by C. 0. Milner is printed by the courtesy and with the consent both of the Mountaineering Association and of Mr. Milner.—Ed.

The Mountaineering Association, formed in 1947, ought to be made known to those members of the Himalayan Club not yet aware of its existence. It provides at low cost, to all comers, elementary training for mountaineering, an urgent need which has become increasingly evident in recent years. Headquarters of the Association are conveniently situated in London at 1 Kildare Gardens, W. 2, and its objectives are outlined in the 'Constitution' from which two relevant clauses are quoted here:

2a. The Association seeks to embody persons who are interested in climbing and mountain walking and who hold that these pursuits are valuable especially to the young, as a stimulus to initiative and responsibility, and that they provide scope for adventure, which is so important in our highly industrialized community. The Association aims at encouraging the sport of mountaineering in Great: Britain, and facilitating its practice at home and abroad by providing advice and practical training to aspirants of both sexes.

2b. The Association exists to promote, encourage and provide training in mountain walking, rock climbing, and mountaineering in all its aspects and in particular but without prejudice to the generality of this object, to establish schools in the form of hostels, specially equipped and conveniently located in mountainous districts. The schools will especially cater for young persons of limited resources.

The marked initial success of the Association is indicated in two circular memoranda sent to British climbing clubs from which clauses are also reproduced here:

A start was made in 1948 with four courses which provided training for 40 pupils. This'year it is proposed to hold eight courses, particulars of which are given in the 1949 programme.

The Association's Register of Leaders now comprises eighty experienced mountaineers and rock climbers who have volunteered to assist with our work. The number of applicants for training during 1,948 and the response to the programme for 1949 makes it clear that more voluntary help is needed to meet the growing demand for training. The Association is anxious therefore that this part of our work shall become known to all members of clubs who are interested in encouraging and tutoring the newcomer to mountaineering and it invites all mountaineers of goodwill to offer their names for inclusion in our Leaders' Register.

The Association issues a quarterly news-letter entitled Mountain Craft, and a Short Manual of Mountaineering Training, which will shortly be available at a very moderate price, is of first-class value. The third number of the news-letter begins with an article by G. Douglas Milner, President of the Wayfarers' Club, and a member of the Alpine Club. With the author's consent we reproduce this also:

Training for what?

I have heard very many people talking about their ideas of training for the mountains in the last few years, and it is surprising what a range and variety of opinion is held.

Setting aside a small minority who think all training is bad, and that there are far too many people on the hills already, we find among those who speak in favour of training many very diverse aims in mountain climbing. Some think of it as a form of social service, bringing young people out of crowded cities into the fresh air of the hills; some as a form of religion—a sort of nature worship; others see in it great military value; others a struggle which must be advanced to even higher levels than it has at present reached; and some look forward over the low summits of the British hills as mere training-grounds to the great rock and ice faces of the Alps, and the peaks of the Himalayas, seeing at the end of the road 'the complete mountaineer'.

My own view, perhaps shared by the great majority of climbers to-day, is that climbing is a fine recreation, a great sport, but little more than that. 'It is not real life and it is not religion.' As a form of social service it is likely to appeal to only a small minority of young people; as a form of religion it is grievously inadequate; its military value in an atomic age may be questioned; whilst as a recreation rather than as a career, very great possibilities of enjoyment lie at all levels of skill, and in every district.

That is the delightful part of climbing ... not only is it possible for one good man as leader to give safety to several others, but almost everyone can find in the mountains something that to him is well worth the doing.

It seems to me that the ideas of elementary but thorough and steady training that are being put forward by the Mountaineering Association will serve many people, isolated groups or individuals, who feel the attraction of the mountains, yet do not quite know how to begin; or who, having walked over the tracks of our own hills, wish to try their hand at rock climbing without rushing into the immediate dangers that can surround, and all too often eliminate, the beginner who tackles rocks without first learning to climb behind a leader.

There is so little scope for trial and error in climbing. Whilst the chances of falling from an 'easy' climb are less than the chances of falling from the 'severe' climb, the consequences are remarkably similar. Young people are often over-enthusiastic and impatient to go ahead; yet when we consider that an active climbing life can be spread over the forty years between twenty and sixty, it is surely worth while laying a good foundation for a recreation that can be enjoyed for so long?

I hope the Association will, indeed I am sure it will, blow an effective counterblast to the theories that burst upon us from time to time, mainly put forward by young men of exceptional personal abilities, that climbs of the older type, or of less than perhaps 'severe' standard are not worth doing. What nonsense it all is! Some of the finest routes in Britain—or in the Alps for that matter—under proper conditions, are little more than 'moderate' technically, yet in beauty of setting, in length or interest, are fine routes.

There is of course a good deal to be said, once we have passed the very early stages, for tackling climbs a little harder than we have done previously, and the element of difficulty for each person is part of his sport. But it is emphatically the difficulty for each person, and that means taking into account all the other things that, training cannot provide, or can only enhance to a small extent. Both men and women vary in strength, in stamina, in aptitude for the work, or in their stores of courage or of determination. And it is for each to find his own level. All climbers, once their training has taken them as far as their personal abilities allow, should stop at that point, and then seek to draw from the mountains the richness of experience that lies within their limits.

In the courses provided under good leaders, there is the chance that a few gifted climbers will emerge. But they would have emerged somehow without any training body, and they are not the main concern. It is the greater number of reasonably competent, happy people who will be helped to find their level that matter. They are the real salt of the earth. They buy the books the experts write, they climb cheerfully and even unambitiously on rock or ice as they choose, they enjoy themselves on the routes the experts have worked out, and provide (let it be said very loud and clear) the great bulk of climbing club members, who keep out of the troubles that foolhardy inexperience or ambitious daring alike may bring.

Remember what J. H. Doughty once said: 'It is not primarily to get to the top of things I would climb. It is going to the right places with the right people and in the right mood. It is not—getting anywhere.'

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