‘WHOSE HISTORY?’
In
recent years a number of books have appeared that have given us
a different version of the history of famous climbs from the stories
with which we have become familiar. For this year’s Festival
we bring together writers from the USA, Australia and Britain who
have been re-examining popular myths in mountaineering history.
Desio’s Ascent of K2, Diemberger’s Summits
and Secrets and Whillans and Ormerod’s Don Whillans:
Portrait of a Mountaineer, for example, have all played a
part in mythmaking in the UK and each of these books is challenged
by our speakers as new information has come to light, some of it
only very recently.
Chris Jones is an Englishman who moved to California as a young
climber and promptly took part in historic first ascents with the
leading American players. He has just celebrated the thirtieth
anniversary of his first ascent with George Lowe of the North Face
of Canada’s North Twin,
a route that has only been repeated twice. In 1976 he wrote what
remains the indispensable history of Climbing in North America.
Lately he has been realising that much of this history might actually
be a history of European climbers. In a rare visit to the UK, Chris
will launch this year’s theme with his talk on ‘US Climbing – Whose
History?’
Kaydee Summers is researching women’s mountaineering writing with
the aid of the Paul Nunn Fellowship at the University of Leeds. Among
her discoveries are women who used their climbs and their writing in
support of suffrage, emancipation and future women climbers at the turn
of the century. Many women, however, remain invisible in climbing histories.
Kaydee will be talking about the issue of the ‘visibility’
of women in climbing culture.
The character of Millican Dalton, the self-styled ‘Professor of
Adventure’ who lived in a cave in Borrowdale, has been a part
of climbing folklore since the historian Alan Hankinson drew attention
to him. But his reputation for eccentricity has tended to overshadow
his climbing record. In a new biography, Millican Dalton: A Search for
Romance and Freedom, Matthew Entwistle makes a claim for his climbing
and his philosophy to be taken more seriously. Illustrated by rare archive
photographs, Matthew will attempt to correct the balance.
We have been waiting a long time for Jim Perrin’s biography
of Don Whillans and doubtless by the time of the Festival most of
the audience will have read The Villain (publication 1st Feb). So
was his affectionate nickname actually seriously justified? Has Jim
managed to balance the myth with all of the realities? A panel of
reviewers have been asked to lead the discussion of this much-awaited
book: fiercely independent reader Gordon Stainforth, Jan Levi who
is working on a biography of Mabel Barker, Derek Walker who knew
Don well and Greg Child who was on two expeditions with Don.
Richard Sale realised that our only knowledge in the UK about the ground-breaking
first ascent of Broad Peak was from Kurt Diemberger’s Summits
and Secrets. Sale’s research into the diaries of the other
team members revealed a rather different story. The result is his book
Broad Peak which is published by his friend in order to elude the control
that Diemberger tries to exercise over this history with threats of lawsuits.
There is a remarkable publishing background to Richard Sale’s
carefully researched attempt to get to the truth of this significant
history that very much involved two other Austrians as well as Diemberger
and Buhl.
When Walter Bonatti came to the Festival two years ago he gave an
impressive and dignified lecture which avoided any mention of the
rancour over the Italian K2 first ascent expedition which has blighted
his later life. Robert Marshall is Bonatti’s friend, translator
and advocate who put together The Mountains of My Life (2001)
in which he tried to show that Desio’s account was false and
that the Italians had never told the truth about the expedition.
Recently new evidence has been given by Campagnoni which explains
much of the mystery. Robert Marshall is coming from Australia for
the Festival to help us understand whose history of this expedition
we should believe.
This Festival should provide lively discussion around its theme and time
is being given for rigorous engagement with a panel of Festival speakers
at the end of the afternoon.
Steve Dean will deliver this year's Boardman Tasker judgement for
discussion. Ian Smith will announce this year’s winner of the
Festival/Climb writing
competition and read the winning entry.
As ever, Jarvis Books will be displaying books for signing and for browsing. Ring Grant and Val Jarvis ahead with any requests on their new number 01433 631951 (www.mountainbooks.co.uk). Book signings will include The Joy of Climbing, together with other surprise books and authors.