Dennis Morrod
Sunday, June 1st, 2008
Started climbing, soloing climbs in the Peak District in 1951 walking from Newton Heath to Greenfield to climb for the day, then walking the ten miles back in the evening – every Sunday. In the years after leaving the Royal Marines (1959-66) I went on to climb many difficult classic climbs including numerous first ascents. For instance, it is not known if Black Panther (now being over-bolted, bolts that will be chopped when the retro-bolting is complete ) at Cheesewring Quarry, Cornwall, has had a second ascent.
My alpine climbing started in Chamonix (French Alps) in 1958, and by 1993 I had climbed many of the classic, alpine routes. Although two attempts on the North Face of the Eiger were thwarted by bad weather, I have made 132 ascents of Mont Blanc. I visited Mount Kenya, East Africa, as early as 1960 and have since made seven ascents of that mountain and thirty two ascents of Mount Kilimanjaro. I have visited; climbed on Aconcagua twice and also Mt McKinley
Having climbed in many parts of the world, I am appalled by the use of expansion bolts in unquarried rock and agree with Reinhold Messner that climbers who carry bolts are carrying their courage in their rucksack. I also believe that potential new climbs should be left for a better, future (ground-up) climber rather than practising for an ascent of these potential climbs with the use of a top-rope. I have never unstood why certain climbers need 1,000 new routes to their name with no consideration for future climbers.
In 1985 Dennis Gray, the then general secretary of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), offered to give full publicity to any problems (as a professional climber/guide) that I might have in the future. There have been no problems. My safety record as a guide/instructor has been, and I hope will continue to be, exemplary. The BMC, never made the same offer to the British Mountain Guides (BMG) with that organisations lack of a perfect safety record.
My alpine, rock climbing courses were very successful (regardless of the machinations of the BMC/BMG). My clients (1966 – ) and I, have brought-in 32 climbers who had over extended themselves in the Alps only one of whom, subsequently died. So successful were the alpine courses that Dr Ott of the American Collage, Laysin, invited me use the collage’s facilities for my summer courses in Switzerland. Every African course (Mount Kenya, Point Lenana and Mt Kilimanjaro) was successful making 32 ascents of Lenana and Kili.
Category : Once Upon A Climb
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Comments are closed.