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Image from First Steps to Climbing. |
Good mountain boots, properly nailed with abiding nails, are difficult to obtain. Certainly the best of all are made in England; there is no need to send abroad either for boots or nails. Many of the Swiss guides know this nowadays, and send accordingly to a small town in Lakeland. From Keswick also have come the boots for well-known expeditions to the Caucasus, Spitzbergen, and Mount Everest. The writer is loth to mention names, but to do so here may be the best way to help the beginner. In his earliest mountaineering days the writer was fortunate enough to discover a clever artisan who was anxious to experiment and learn. This was Mr. H. Harden, of St. John’s Street, Keswick, and nowadays his handwork on footwork has touched mountains almost everywhere. Numerous other makers advertise in the various climbing journals, and another well-known mountain boot specialist is Mr. J. Carter, 8. Molton Street, London, W.1.
Rubber shoes are much used nowadays for British rock climbing of exceptional severity. and this is their only justification, though in the Dolomites they may be used as standard foot-wear. In a following chapter this matter will receive full attention. Probably the best kind for average use is the black rubber-soled variety with canvas tops. These are commonly known as ”plimsoles” and only cost three or four shillings the pair. The cheaper kind with unstamped soles are not as good. One pair lasts about a week’s continuous climbing in the Dolomites, the most expensive qualities scarcely survive longer, and ‘‘plimsoles’’ have also the merit of easily fitting into an inside pocket.
Crampons, steigeisen, or climbing irons are a series of metal spikes fixed on a metal frame-work and the whole is attached to the boot somewhat in the manner of the old-fashioned wooden skates. On rocks they have been tried and found useless, but on hard snow and ice-slopes set at easy angles they have distinct advantages. Theoretically they are magnificent, but somehow or other British mountaineers in general have never favoured them. The same may be said of Swiss guides. They save step cutting to a considerable extent, and after some practice quite steep snow-slopes can be walked upon with comparative ease. The point is that each member of the party must have crampons, otherwise steps require cutting. A well-known guide told the writer that even though crampons were worn, he generally would cut steps for his patrons. Crampon parties are notorious for unpleasant language, for it is seldom that some defect does not arise in use—some part of the fitting is forgotten or something breaks. There is more than meets the eye in the use of these aids, and strange disasters have happened whereby whole parties have been swept down.
From George D. Abraham, First Steps to Climbing, Mills & Boon, Limited, London, 1923.