Nearly 20 years ago .... some of this seems prescient on the morning after 4 mountaineers killed in an avalanche in Glencoe
Scottish Mountain
Safety Group
Safety Seminar
May 5 1994
The
Mountaineering Perspective
by Bob Reid
President of the
Mountaineering Council of Scotland
"Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Right at the start of this lecture, can I pre-empt some
of the questions that I may get from the press, and one obvious question in
particular? Have you ever been rescued?
No, I haven't, but I have had a number of very close
shaves. I once lost my bearings on the summit of Fairfield in the Lake
District. I was about seventeen, and competing in a Lakelander event. My team
were expected in Ambleside, and we were convinced that the lake we headed for
in the gathering gloom, with lights bobbing on it, was Windermere. It was in
fact Ullswater, and we ended up some 12 miles from where we were meant to be.
Fortunately we phoned in, as the rescue teams had been alerted.
A few years later on my first Alpine trip, to Chamonix,
I avoided mishap and accident by the narrowest of margins, and did things which
in retrospect I would never dream of doing today. I even ended up on the wrong
mountain.
But gradually you learn. You also learn that there is no
real short cut to experience. Experience is no more than the sum of your near
misses. Who amongst us hasn’t had a few of them?
I'd also like to show some slides of Scotland just to
remind ourselves how good most of our mountain experiences are [ten show stopping slides were shown of the
Scottish Mountains]. I'm always
reminded of John Cleare's description of the Himalaya's. He described them as
the "second most beautiful mountains in the world", but there
is no doubt about where his real preferences lie.
Those of you who know me will know how hard I have
fought during my time as President of the MCofS for the freedom to roam. Many
of you will probably hold the freedom to roam as a right.
Well, this winter has been the first time in my memory
that the right to climb itself has been so frequently drawn into question. I
found myself repeatedly having to defend the rights of climbers to go climbing
in challenging conditions, to be out on the hills when a blizzard was blowing,
or when, heaven forfend, they were covered in ice.
But it doesn't take long before all the usual, hackneyed
reasoning begins to sound glib in the extreme, especially when it was a
climbing acquaintance who has died leaving two young children fatherless.
I don't need to go into the details about the media
circus that followed the series of deaths in the Scottish Hills this winter.
You'll all have your views on it, though I'm struck by the ironic contrast with
the headlines in this months climbing press about the "best winter in
years".
Nor will I give you any detailed analysis of statistics
about the accidents this year ..... that will come later in the day. Though
Saturday's Guardian did for once present some revealing comparisons between
risk sports. Since the last death in the boxing ring in this country there have
been 82 deaths in airsports, 28 in athletics, 46 in ball games such as rugby
and football, 31 in horse racing, 87 in motor sports, 65 in climbing, 20 in
cycling, and a staggering 412 in water sports (figures refer to England and
Wales; source OPCS).
What I'd like to do, is to put the mountaineering
perspective on the events of this winter; and the perspective of the National,
representative body of the sport in Scotland, the Mountaineering Council of
Scotland.
Death in sport or recreation is always difficult to
justify. In a week where there have been fatalities in motor racing, boxing,
and a near fatality in horse racing, I'm strongly inclined to the view that death
in any sport or recreation can NEVER be justified. All we can do is accept
it, and try to prevent it within the constraints that a civilised society puts
down. In other words we can educate, train, improve technology, minimise the
risk ...... but we can't ban, we can't outlaw, nor should we condemn what, in
many cases, we simply don't understand. A society that indulges in reactions
such as these is not one I would wish to live in.
On a personal note, I find the mortality amongst
climbers and mountaineers ever more difficult to accept. This is born largely
of Monday morning phone calls asking me for a quote on the latest fatal
accident. Since I started working for the MCofS, over a hundred people have
been killed in the Scottish Hills. I knew some of them as friends.
Most climbers I know tend to adopt a fatalism toward
such incidents .... regret at the loss of life, tempered with a feeling that
those who have died did so doing something that they enjoyed. But that's
awfully glib.
Less glib is the recognition that people climb hills
because it is a very important and rewarding part of their lives. A death will
always be a waste, but it is also true that the experienced climber's life was
much enriched and more fulfilled by what he or she did, and that it helped them
stay sane, cope with life, stress, and deal with other people, and problems.
Most realistic is the "There, but for the grace of
God, go I" approach, which at least displays an acceptance by the climber,
that they too could die.
Much has been written and said about why climbers
climb. Why they adventure.... why they
take risks.
But I have struggled to find anything written anywhere
that gives any rationale for such loss of life. Indeed, the longer I climb the
more I realise that there is no rationale. Just the fact that so many
forget ... Mountaineering is dangerous.
Perhaps this helps explain the fatalism that I mentioned
earlier. Is it in fact a blanking-out exercise? A blanking out from realities
that many would rather ignore, and that all too few accept.
To the outside observer any sport that can ignore such a
grim record must be one which is becoming complacent. It is one thing for
bodies such as the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, or the BMC or even the
Sports Council to make worried pronouncements upon such matters, to issue
warnings and guidance, and so on.
But the proof, as they say is in the pudding. Accidents may well be proportionately fewer
when viewed against the huge growth in the sport. But that too smacks of
complacency.
I suspect that real improvements in safety will only
begin to come when that simple message gets across [and I make no apology for
repeating myself] .... Mountaineering is
dangerous. Those of you who are
familiar with risk assessment procedures, and who isn't these days with
European Regulations sweeping through the workplace, will know that it is a
three stage process:
1) ACCEPT THE RISKS
2) UNDERSTAND THE RISKS
3) MINIMISE THE RISKS
Furthermore, unless you accept that there are risks, how
can you ever expect to understand them, let alone minimise them. Perhaps one of
the questions we should be asking ourselves during this symposium is,
"What is it
in mountaineering today that obscures the risks, waters down the dangers, and
leads the unwitting into tragedy?"
I can only begin to speculate at this point, though I do
sometimes wonder just how unquestioning we are about the promotion of risk
sport, whether it be the Hunt Report, or the Munro Show.
On the wall, just inside the door, at Plas Y Brenin,
there are the words of Edward Whymper carved in a tablet of Welsh Slate.
"Climb if you will,
But remember that courage and strength
are nought without prudence,
and that a momentary negligence
may destroy the happiness of a
lifetime.
Do nothing in haste;
Look well to every step;
and from the beginning
think what may be the end."
I recite this passage to myself, almost as a mantra, at
times of high risk in the mountains .... descending some misty, cliff strewn,
icy Scottish hillside for instance. It has served me well. However, I have a
suspicion that it has become rewritten for the eighties and nineties.
"Climb.......
For it will make a man or of you.
You'll have pleasure and fulfilment.
It will keep you fit and strong.
You'll be one-up on the rest of society
(who don't really understand).
You'll travel and discover new places,
whilst discovering yourself....."
You get the picture .... I should also have mentioned
"blue skies"advertising and I leave you to judge which of these two
passages prevails today.
As a result I have a growing uneasiness about the ever
higher profile that climbing seems to have. It is certainly no longer a
minority pastime, not that the increase in numbers per se worries me. That should be to the benefit of all, and to
society in general, with better health, more fulfilment and so on.
However....mountaineering does seem to have lost its
humility, its understatement, its respect for the mountains. It has become
brash, maybe too brash. Whether in lycra upon a climbing wall or on a mountain
bike, or in fleece on a Munro, I come across far too many who haven't realised
that there are depths, as well as heights. That mountaineering is about
self-exploration, as well as tick-lists .... about individual responsibility,
as well as collective bonhomie.
Don't let me mislead you though. I am a `dyed in the
wool' climber, and will continue to be so for the rest of my life. So from a
mountaineer's perspective, let me briefly run through some of the issues and
answers that face the mountaineering fraternity. Some are worrying, whilst some
give cause for optimism.
Let me start with the pessimism
INSURANCE
An insurance system for mountain rescue will not work.
It won't save lives, and could even promote a false sense of security. It is a
myth that has been bandied around in the media that in some countries climbers
must have insurance.
The truth is that in some countries, some of those
rescued might have to contribute to the cost, which is not the same thing.
Well we're already doing that in Scotland. Climbing,
hillwalking, mountaineering, all contribute towards the cost of our voluntary
rescue teams.
Moreover, in Scotland alone those pastimes are worth
over £400 million annually to the Scottish economy. The UK sum must be even
more significant, making our pastime a very sizeable contributor to the
Exchequer. So spurious political finger wagging about the cost of rescue
helicopters, for instance, is seriously out of order. If, insurance isn't the
right approach however, we must ask what is the best way of supporting mountain
rescue.
TRAINING
The MC of S views safety in the mountains as one of its
key areas of interest. Indeed, along with the BMC and the MC of I we have made
significant inputs to the new Guidelines on Mountain Training. However it must
be remembered that the vast majority of climbing is non-contractual. How many
of you in the audience were taught to climb, as opposed to just going out and
doing it? [about 20 hands were raised;
Ed) Now, how many of you just learned to climb? (about 80 hands were raised, and the Minister signalled neither way;
Ed).
Significantly, there is not a similar emphasis in MCofS
policy on the teaching of mountaineering since part of climbing's underpinning
ethos has always been an experiential approach to learning. There was a
"great training debate" in the 70s in England, in which the BMC
became heavily involved. No such debate has taken place in Scotland.
Perhaps the time is right to begin to question
priorities. For example, the official line from the Sports Council on Glenmore
Lodge is that "the range of outdoor courses is designed primarily to
encourage, promote and increase the number of quality leaders, instructors and coaches
..... but also for the public to enjoy the outdoors through participation in a
range of activities". No mention of lessening the incidence of
death in the Scottish Mountains.
As I said at the start, there is only one real way of
gaining that intuitive feel for the mountains and that is through experience.
You really cannot shortcut this process.
The exponential growth in climbing, hillwalking and
mountaineering has the reverse effect on the overall levels of experience in
the climbing population. With every new entrant to the sport, the average
levels of experience are reduced [see figure 1]. This leads to what I call a
"Skills Gap".
Unfortunately all the trends and forces in
mountaineering today are driving the numbers up, which in turn forces down experience
levels, and increases the skills gap. I see few initiatives attempting to
address this skills gap.
I therefore believe it is time we reassessed the role
our National Centre plays in our sport. Has the Lodge lost touch with the grass
roots of the sport? Is it time for an advisory committee for the Lodge, similar
to the successful set up at Plas Y Brenin in Wales.
CERTIFICATION AND ONWARD CREEP OF LEGISLATION
This is the great bete noir, but I feel it creeping up
on us in a number of guises. Scottish Vocational Qualifications, and National
Vocational Qualifications for climbing are under discussion. The number of
leadership qualifications increase as the sport diversifies. There are European
Directives on the provision of services, and European Regulations about
Personal Protective Equipment. Well, I
believe it is about time there was subsidiarity for mountaineering .... a
recognition that there are just some things that cannot be pigeon-holed to suit
the mandarins. As Mark Vallance says in the latest Wild Country Catalogue "The
assumption that tighter standards will reduce accidents does not cater for the
uncontrolled environments of rock and ice".
ACCESSIBILITY
One of the key ways that the MCofS believes our
mountains should be protected is through the use of the Long Walk-in. Judging
from how our accessible mountains seem to be the ones that have the worst
safety records, perhaps it is time to start making them more remote again.
THE CLIMBING INDUSTRY
In a sport where fashion has become one of the key
elements of equipment choice, there is a worrying downside to the success of
some of the major manufacturers. Equipment is rigourously marketed, adding to
the growth in the numbers participating (though at some of the prices around
today, its surprising that anyone at all starts climbing). All those new
entrants to the sport mean bigger margins. In one retailer, who shall remain
nameless, there were "Muriel Gray kits" on sale, ready for all those
new female entrants to the sport. Maybe I'm being overly jaundiced, but I
rarely see any allusion to the fact that climbing is dangerous within the sales
literature .... just plenty of reference to adventure.
PRIVATISATION OF THE HELICOPTER RESCUE SERVICE
There are those in government who would wish to do this.
I say, if it ain't broke don't fix it. That is, however, not axiomatic with
this government, so we should be prepared. Personally, if there is to be such a
thing as a peace dividend, I believe it is in the useful deployment of services
such as the RAF Rescue Helicopters on civilian duties. One of the things we may
learn this afternoon, is whether the closure of Leuchars Rescue Flight has
resulted in additional fatalities in the hills, as a result of response times.
STUDENTS
What can you say about them? Most of us probably did
some great climbing when we were students. What is it about student clubs
though, that makes them so prone to mishap. In a sense, they are a microcosm of
what is happening in the greater climbing fraternity. Instant skills gap. The
MCofS wants to target this particular sector in coming years to lessen its high
risk nature.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Gizmo's I call them. They include Global Positioning
Satellite (GPS) sets, cell net phones, transmitters, and so on. Maybe some of you
have used them. My own view is that they can never replace the intermediate
technologies of map, compass, whistle and torch, all of which you'd need to
carry as well, in case the high technology failed. It's bad enough having to
deal with compass bearings that vary, and make those acts of faith. Which would
you trust, though .... the one run by batteries? The worst case scenarios for
some of these gizmos are frightening. How many summits do you know in Scotland
that are only a few metres away from the edge of some pretty significant
precipices.
NOW THE OPTIMISM
NEW TECHNOLOGY ... AGAIN
There are some new technologies we should be thankful
for. Our clothing for instance has significantly helped increase our chances of
surviving enforced bivouacs, bad weather, and even snow holing. Breathable
waterproofs, plastic boots, better axes, stronger helmets, all help. My own
current favourite, and I have no qualms in naming the designer ... Hamish
Hamilton ... is the range of Buffalo equipment that combines warmth and wind
proofness, using modern equivalents of the raw materials that Eskimos have used
to combat similar conditions since prehistory.
Yes, it may come as some surprise to some of you, but
the Scottish Hills are on a similar latitude to Hudson Bay. In winter the
weather is more often ARCTIC, than not. It can be pretty bad in summer too ....
I've been caught in blizzards in every month of the year in Scotland.
MCofS SKILLS COURSES
The MCofS organised the first Winter Safety Skills
Courses well over 20 years ago. Since then, each winter, a significant number
of climbers and hillwalkers get skills training in safety in winter
mountaineering. They are an undoubted success. In some years we could have
filled the available places four times over. The MCofS is committed to
developing this form of training, though not necessarily with the Lodge, where
up until now we have had to go, because that was how the grant in aid to carry
out such training was given to us.
It is known that
this form of training is unpopular with the administrators, and with the
trainers, but if the usefulness of the medium is ever more plain to see, how is
it there isn't an even greater commitment to do more.
THE EXEMPLARY MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAMS AND SARDA
I know only the Scottish ones well, and they do an
incredible job. Every climbing club, should run at least one fund raising event
each year (not sponsored walks through the Lairig Ghru) on behalf of the rescue
teams. (They should also run one for the MCofS access and conservation fund
.... but that's another conference).
Comparisons with the RNLI were never made by the popular
press this winter..... but they are entirely run on voluntary subscription, at
significantly higher levels than mountain rescue. One thought .... Why can't I
buy Mountain Rescue Team Christmas Cards every year, while RNLI ones are so
readily available?
The RNLI also deal with significantly more deaths, but
do so outwith the basking spotlight of our popular press. Why? How do they do
it?
CLIMBING CLUBS
There are now over 130 clubs in Scotland, and over 250
in England and Wales. They remain a significant and influential grass roots of
the climbing fraternity. I am optimistic that they will continue to be good
schools of climbing.
and finally………….
THE SCOTTISH MOUNTAIN SAFETY GROUP
This is a useful forum for progressing mountain safety.
Set up after a similar winter to this one, it is an attempt to get all the
players in mountain safety around the one table, and united in the front they
present to the media. It was the idea of my predecessor, Graham Little, and the
then vice president of the MCofS, June Ross. On it are represented the various
mountaineering and rescue organisations, and the Scottish Sports Council,
presently provides the administration.
I have slight fears that mountaineering's voice is being
drowned out by dint of the number of other organisations that are represented,
MRT, UKMTB, SNSC, Medical, Police, Education Authorities, Sports Council, SAIS,
and more I'm sure.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion I'd like to end this brief introduction to
some of the broader issues in mountain safety, with a little advice to those
who would "climb, if they will"
1) There is
no such thing as winter hillwalking. Hillwalking is a summer pursuit (and in
most Scottish summers, you need to be prepared for winter) IN WINTER THERE
IS ONLY MOUNTAINEERING.
2) Know your limitations, and don't be afraid to say no.
It ain't chicken .. it is just being realistic.
3) Turning back (indeed, not even getting out of the car) isn't
an admission of defeat. Its wisdom and sound judgement coming to the fore.
4) Errors of judgement are the main apparent cause of
accidents - knowledge, experience, and an ability to use both could be
critical. As my predecessor, Graham Little frequently reminded me
....."The time to relax is in the pub, not at the top of the climb."
5) Individual responsibility is the name of the game. It
is your life, your risk. Never abrogate that responsibility to others.
Participate in the decisions, even if you feel like the dampener on enthusiasm.
What you perceive as enthusiasm could be rashness. You could also spot someone
else's mistake.
6) And finally a message for the experienced. Always
keep on teaching. I was climbing at the weekend on the Aberdeen Sea Cliffs, and
out of a habit born from much teaching of the less experienced, observed my
partner mis-tie a figure of eight. "That's right ....Treat me as a
novice" was my partner's response as I pointed out the error; but it was
not resentment, more an instruction to continue something he appreciated.
Ladies and Gentlemen. I hope that I havn't treated you
as novices, and I'd like to thank you for listening. I hope that the workshops
this afternoon come up with some positive outcomes, maybe some recommendations
that the MCofS, amongst others can carry forward. If you're off climbing this
weekend .... look well to every step.
rgr/mc of s/smsg conf
4/5/94
