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Welcome to Cubby Images Articles. Each month we will be posting a new article to cover a variety of climbing topics. For future reference, all articles will be archived at the bottom of the page. If there's a topic you'd like us to cover, feel free to add a comment and we'll see what we can do.
In Sympathy
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
End of another day new routeing on the Lewis sea cliffs.
Photo: Dave Cuthbertson/Cubby Images
Back in the early 70’s as two young school boys, Rab Anderson and I started climbing together and shared some amazing adventures. Rab’s enthusiasm has always been second to none, and in many respects one of his greatest strengths. Thirty years on, that enthusiasm has never waned. For those who don’t know him, Rab can sometimes come across as being a bit hard-nosed but beneath that tough exterior lies a fun-loving personality with a glint in his eye suggesting somebody who is always up for a bit of an adventure.
Hey Gringo – you wanna buy some bolts? New routeing, El Chorro, Spain.
Photo: Dave Cuthbertson/Cubby Images
Recently I was looking to take some pictures in the Cairngorms so I asked Rab if he would oblige. “No problem”, he said, “I’m out of a job anyway”.
If there is one item that Scottish climbing needs, it would have to be a national outdoor centre with a major indoor climbing wall; our climate alone justifies it! A centre run by staff who understand the needs of mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts, a centre that sets new standards in tuition, a centre designed to serve the public and ultimately to inspire future generations.
Having narrowly escaped an airborne avalanche on an early attempt on the Duel, Glencoe.
Photo: Dave Cuthbertson/Cubby Images
After a long and winding road the Ratho Adventure Centre very nearly achieved all of this and so much more. Everyone will be aware of the political wrangling and financial hurdles that the project managers had to contend with. Sure, it was an ambitious project but there’s no point in waving the finger now, because that lifelong dream for Rab, Duncan McCallum and David Taylor has been made redundant. The bottom line is that the bank has employed a new company to run the centre as normal. Well as normal as can be expected in a building that is incomplete. This was really the crux of the whole matter, and it seems so cruel that Rab and his team were not given the chance to prove themselves in a completed building.
It should be borne in mind that Rab, Duncan and David have been climbing for over thirty years and between them is a wealth of experience. To ensure the highest levels of safety Mark Diggins was brought on board. Mark’s credentials are impressive – an International Guide, training officer to the BMG, and an authority on the subject of avalanche. Mark has worked extensively on TV and film and is well versed in the stringent safety requirements expected by the health and safety industry. You would be hard pushed to replace such an experienced team.
With Ratho’s future as a National Outdoor Centre now looking uncertain, it’s difficult not to feel frustrated with the whole affair. There was a time when the Scots enjoyed a reputation with a great sense of involvement in mountaineering history. From the exploits of Collie and his adventures on the Isle of Skye and the Greater Ranges to the amazing climbs put up by the great Edinburgh climber, Harold Raeburn. These early pioneers set standards for a rising new breed – the likes of Bill Murray, Tom Patey and Hamish McInnes, who in turn explored climbs of an even higher calibre. Inspired by these preceding generations, we saw in the 50’s, the emergence of a so called classless society with Dougal Haston, and geniuses Jimmy Marshall, Robin Smith and Jonny Cunningham at the forefront. Without their achievements, the climbers of today would not have any foundations to build upon.
Rab understands the importance in supporting our climbing heritage and for him
Ratho was all about putting something back into climbing. He has always been passionate about providing a service, and Ratho would become a meeting place where people could learn, be educated and inspired.
Bouldering at The Stane, Ruthven, Inverness-shire.
Photo: Dave Cuthbertson/Cubby Images
Regardless of the climb, it was a day out on the hill for Rab - in this case, a Classic Rock VS on Hells Lum. Always a ticker, this was an offer he couldn’t refuse and with his usual bounding enthusiasm, Rab turned up with a wardrobe that would put any theatre company to shame. As we walked over the Fiacaill however, I sensed that he was not his usual chatty self and his earlier remarks about being out of a job suddenly struck home. Was this really the end of Ratho? All those years of hard work gone to waste – robbed of a life associated with the outdoors. To have been so close, then, to have the carpet pulled from beneath his feet must have been devastating.
Climbing on Hells Lum, Cairngorms.
Photo: Dave Cuthbertson/Cubby Images
I cannot help thinking that if a Scottish Parliament truly exists; it should recognise that Ratho needs its support now and help put Scotland back on the map as a leading protagonist in world climbing.
I understand that business is not that simple and the more cynical out there might think that in light of more pressing matters perhaps, at home and abroad, that’s a romantic, naïve thing to say. It is, but here’s hoping.
Cubby.
December 2004 January 2005 June 2005
