Has tinged many a winter evening ...

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LongAgo

Trad climber

Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 11, 2014 - 05:45pm PT

Found this introduction in a musty, dusty book of mine: My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus, A.F. Mummery. He seems to hit upon some wisdom about the satisfaction of climbing once climbing days are over:

hobo_dan

Social climber

Minnesota

Apr 11, 2014 - 06:04pm PT

That Victorian style required a number of re-readings to get the gist

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Apr 11, 2014 - 06:08pm PT

Nice.

And reminds me of another climber who, when he could not climb, looked back and began writing. Bill Murray was taken prisoner in North Africa in WWII, and wrote "Mountaineering in Scotland" as a way to get through the next several years in a German Prison camp. It is some of the best writing on climbing that I've ever read, and I've read a lot.

That Mummery introduction above has the same feel.

thebravecowboy

climber

Apr 11, 2014 - 06:09pm PT

furor scribendi = today's selfie and climbing blog narcissism?

"knitted more firmly the bonds of well-tried relationships"

sorta like when we rapped the wrong station in 60 mph wind without enough rope and I got a phone call to the effect of: "dude, we have a problem - I have no juggage materials and not enuff rope."...?

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber

Livermore, CA

Apr 11, 2014 - 06:11pm PT

that more here would so succumb,
and perhaps promote modus vivendi,
it would be a better place.

thanks Tom, there are other ways in which that piece soothes my recent experience which has moved me from "that reckless, lucky, tireless youth, when the grass slopes, and the stones, and the other ills of life, had not found the art of troubling." For the last few weeks, that art was found for me.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Apr 11, 2014 - 06:58pm PT

Beautiful but, climbing days over.....perish the thought!

jgill

Boulder climber

Colorado

Apr 11, 2014 - 07:11pm PT

Thanks for posting that, Tom. Climbers of that era had a way with words.

;>)

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Apr 11, 2014 - 07:16pm PT

hey there say, LongAgo...

oh my and a 'double wow' this is very special... very lovely piece of writing and very deep, yet, high, at the same time...

well, if you know the greatoutdoors, of COURSE we know HOW that can be...

vast... and near...

all at once...

thank you so very much for sharing this...

*will copy and past, and like ekat suggested--
fit for framing... :)

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Apr 11, 2014 - 09:37pm PT

The whole book.

https://archive.org/details/myclimbsinalpsa00unkngoog

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Apr 11, 2014 - 09:40pm PT

That is beautiful, capturing the essence of the thing in a way that transcends time and style.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Apr 11, 2014 - 09:48pm PT

People knew how to write back then. I've been reading letters British
midshipmen wrote during the Napoleonic wars and it is amazing how well some
of those 14 and 15 year olds could turn a phrase.

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber

Livermore, CA

Apr 11, 2014 - 10:11pm PT

Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada
by Clarence King
1874

FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION

"There are turning-points in all men’s lives which must give them both pause and retrospect. In long Sierra journeys the mountaineer looks forward eagerly, gladly, till pass or ridge-crest is gained, and then, turning with a fonder interest, surveys the scene of his march; letting the eye wander over each crag and valley, every blue hollow of pine-land or sunlit gem of alpine meadow; discerning perchance some gentle reminder of himself in yon thin blue curl of smoke floating dimly upward from the smouldering embers of his last camp-fire. With a lingering look he starts forward, and the closing pass-gate with its granite walls shuts away the retrospect, yet the delightful picture forever after hangs on the gallery wall of his memory. It is thus with me about mountaineering; the pass which divides youth from man-hood is traversed, and the serious service of science must hereafter claim me. But as the cherished memories of Sierra climbs go ever with me, I may not lack the inspiring presence of sunlit snow nor the calming influence of those broad noble views. It is the mountaineer’s privilege to carry through life this wealth of unfading treasure. At his summons the white peaks loom above him as of old; the camp-fire burns once more for him, his study walls recede in twilight revery, and around him are gathered again stately columns of pine. If the few chapters I have gathered from these agreeable memories to make this little book are found to possess an interest, if along the peaks I have sought to describe there is reflected, however faintly, a ray of that pure, splendid light which thrills along the great Sierra, I shall not have amused myself with my old note-books in vain."

http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/mountaineering_in_the_sierra_nevada/preface.html#note

Fritz

Trad climber

Choss Creek, ID

Apr 11, 2014 - 11:01pm PT

Sigh.

It does become apparent that

"Furor scribendi"

and

"Carpe Vinum"

have seized many of my evenings of late, at age 64.

Thank you for the Mummary quote. What adventures that man enjoyed.

I do need to re-read that book:

MY CLIMBS IN THE ALPS AND CAUCAUSUS

I recall he died on Nanga Parbat?

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Apr 11, 2014 - 11:20pm PT

https://archive.org/stream/mountaineeringi04kinggoog#page/n3/mode/1up

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Apr 11, 2014 - 11:33pm PT

Mummery left behind a lot to be admired...

From Miriam O'Brien-Underhill National Geographic August 1934.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Apr 12, 2014 - 01:16am PT

Just a small world bump:
I guided a woman up Rainier in about '71 who had done an FA with the Underhills in the Tetons in 1948 IIRC.
I thought she was pretty ancient, like late 50's! LOL! She was very nice but she did try to kill me.
I just remembered that she was referred to me by John Marts who had guided her in the Tetons.

Rick A

climber

Boulder, Colorado

Apr 12, 2014 - 07:16pm PT

Thanks Tom, Kevin, and Ed for the Mummery and King excerpts.

There is a mostly frustration, but occasional deep satisfaction, in trying to express in words what we have experienced in the mountains.

Thrilling to have a flash of recognition: “yes, that’s exactly how it is,” coming from these old texts.

climber

Apr 12, 2014 - 07:56pm PT

SC seagoat

Trad climber

Santa Cruz CA

Apr 12, 2014 - 09:10pm PT

Though perhaps we've gone too far in the other direction these days.

Ya think?

Susan

Peter Haan

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, CA

Apr 12, 2014 - 09:30pm PT

I hear you Randisi. Oblique, prosaic, the parlance of the parvenu as well. And Victorian. It was 119 years ago.

Let's not miss repeating Mummery's death was by avalanche on Nanga Parbat's Rakhiot Face; he was only 39, the son of a well-to-do Mayor of Dover and prosperous leather tanner. The event also took his two Gurkhas. It was 1895 in August. These were the first to expire on that Pakistani summit.

Twenty-eight more had to die before Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest summit on earth, gave up her gifts to Hermann Buhl. Her name means "Naked Summit" in Urdu.

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Apr 12, 2014 - 09:41pm PT

Just finished chapter three.

Written by Mrs. Mummery.

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Apr 12, 2014 - 11:04pm PT

While I can appreciate the occasional visit, personally I'm glad people no longer write in such oblique idiom.

And in Mummery's day, people no doubt thought that the writing of a century earlier was pretty silly.

To read everything in comparison to "now" is to misunderstand everything that has been written more than ten years ago.

I mentioned W.H. Murray's "Mountaineering in Scotland" earlier in this thread. In my view, it is pretty much the best writing about climbing there has ever been. But if you read it with your 2014 blinkers on, you'll think it's silly.

Which says more about your reading habits than about Bill Murray's writing. Or Mummery's.

Fritz

Trad climber

Choss Creek, ID

Apr 12, 2014 - 11:32pm PT

Thank you all for your thoughts!

A big thank you to Mr. Haan for that great Nanga Parbat photo!

rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Apr 13, 2014 - 12:23am PT

He seems to hit upon some wisdom about the satisfaction of climbing once climbing days are over:

Indeed, but I don't think that's quite what he was aiming at. The book was published in 1895, the same year Mummery perished, at 39, on Nanga Parbat. It was written at a time when he was still actively climbing, and could not have represented, for him, the view from the rocking chair that some of us have been lucky enough to achieve. Even if the memories he conjured brought with them nostalgia for more youthful days, it is evident that Mummery must still have been enjoying the thrill of anticipation as well as the quieter joy of remembrance.

Todd Eastman

climber

Bellingham, WA

Apr 13, 2014 - 12:37am PT

The original post was less dense than most regulatory writing and clear in meaning...

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Apr 13, 2014 - 12:41am PT

The art of troubling finds all eventually:

Try not to rehearse your troubles of late.

But the triumphs of youth one should mitigate.

It wasn't all that hard then;

It isn't all that hard now.

But it makes for good campfire stoies.119 years ain't shiyit.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Apr 13, 2014 - 12:56am PT

What exquisite writing. Each word and phrase manages to evoke so much more than the single word or sentence.

I hear Mummery saying later in his short life he was driven to writing and it yielded a great reward for him. Living the adventure(s)was an incredible delight that nothing could surpass or rival, yet the memories now gave beauty to his life and depth and appreciation to his friendships. Writing down his experiences brought him closer to his own (past) young self.

But this is what grabbed me as I read tonight.....
"when the grass slopes and the stones and the other ills of life, had not found the art of troubling." This phrase is both biting and rings out loud.

We are young, we live, and suck every drop of life out of life. Then the slippery slopes and stones and ills of "after youth" sometimes appear.

I wonder if Mommery ever had time to address it or write about it?

Edit: Thanks LongAgo

Todd Eastman

climber

Bellingham, WA

Apr 13, 2014 - 02:03am PT

Much is lost with the push for writing in the active voice...

LongAgo

Trad climber

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 21, 2014 - 08:11pm PT

Peter: A toast to all our naked summits

Rich: My armchair revealed; his, sadly never attained

Lynn: Yes, about troubling as much or more than ending

Warbler: Something of old styles may return when we tire of the new

Ed: A second toast to the wealth of unfading treasure

Even Longer Ago

klk

Trad climber

cali

Apr 21, 2014 - 08:23pm PT

so tom, does this mean you're going to be writing more?

welcome to the furor.

klk

Trad climber

cali

Apr 21, 2014 - 08:45pm PT

yeah, it was a joke aimed at his cohort-- these essays were generally delivered first as papers read aloud at the ac (or other club) as if they were academic papers. the ones that weren't were frequently written as if they were. that's part of the tone.

mummery wasn't the prose stylist that stephen was, but he had his moments.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Apr 21, 2014 - 08:53pm PT

[Click to View YouTube Video]This is the modern way to express one's visit to the mountains.

It is only ONE WAY we express memories. The fact that the words are other-than-English only heighten the exotic aspect of being on the heights, away from the chattering masses.

Admit that film makes us lazy in our mental capacity. If nothing else, the older writing styles cause us to use our minds, actually USE them, not just run things by the eyes.

When I sit and read and nod, then wake again
and reflect on what was I thinking to have nodded off,
it is a price I pay to catch those ideas and impressions
so laboriously penned in some cold room or stuffy den
by some aging man with nothing better to do
than to entertain future seekers of nature's peace.

His legacy then becomes ours as well once we have muddled through.

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Apr 21, 2014 - 09:14pm PT

Active or passive: the voice is but a tool, a choice. A safe space is created by a passive voice and third person, a space between emotion and expression, for both author and reader. The author's craft can be displayed in this space, leaving emotions safely under lock and key or on a chain of whatever length the author's courage permits. When I want you in my face, to feel my hot breath and taste the tangy vinegar from the fish sandwich I just burped up, to wipe the spittle off your lip because I was too excited to swallow my drool before finishing my sentence, then I use active voice. It is good to have more than one tool in the chest. And I fricken love verbal tools.