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SE Gramps Guide original route descriptions

armstp

12-Jan-2012
4:00:46 PM

I have been updating the Mt William Upper Cliff section of the ACA guide with some on the cliff exploration. I have found that some of the descriptions in the Baxter guide don’t add up with the actual rock. In some cases Chris had a tendency to overly abbreviate old route descriptions, occasionally leaving out seemingly insignificant details that turn out to be essential to locate and follow some climbs.

Does anyone have the original Argus route descriptions for the climbs Pilgrim and Despondency?

JamesMc

12-Jan-2012
6:33:32 PM

Or a copy of the Gledhill Southern Grampians guide....

davetheyounger

12-Jan-2012
8:46:40 PM

Had a look in the Gledhill guide, cant help you

armstp

13-Jan-2012
9:18:33 AM

I've got the old Gledhill guide, it's quite useful for the older routes. I used to have the old Argus descriptions but I stupidly threw them out when the Baxter guide appeared as I thought I wouldn't need to refer to them again.

BA

13-Jan-2012
11:28:01 AM

Don't forget that he didn't put "Pitch 1", or pitch length, in front of the first pitch so that sometimes the first pitch got lost in the preamble. I've had a look through my files but I have a very incomplete selection of 1973 copies of Argus (4 issues). As it says in the guide a very substantial rock fall occurred back then, maybe they have been obliterated.

armstp

13-Jan-2012
5:39:40 PM

The interesting thing is that Baxter was wrong about Pilgrim disappearing, most of it is still intact. I repeated those bits I could identify a few weeks ago. However, the upper 15m has been changed by a large detached flake detaching itself permanently. Consequently a 6m blank wall now exists denying access to the finishing gullies. Of most interest is working out where Despondency actually started. There are 2 corner lines, neither of them attractive, but one definitely unclimbable since the rock fall. It all depends on which way you approach and leave the cleft and pinnacle mentioned in the guide. I rather hoped an older description might clarify this.

armstp

15-Jan-2012
1:37:27 PM

Michael Stone kindly sent me the original description of Despondency and sure enough it makes much clearer where the route actually goes. I will have to send an amendment to some beta that I sent into Argus that was based on the SE guide description. I think BA once commented on this forum that it is essential for someone to keep original descriptions as rewrites of old routes [particularly ones that aren’t popular and which the editors haven’t actually climbed] can miss important details. If you tried to follow the SE Grampians description of the grade 7 route Snake at Mt William you would stand a fair chance of ending up on Pilgrim’s grade 18 corner!

There are 7 messages in this topic.