Number in series 26; Year of publication 1932 - Fell and Rock ...

208 THE FELL AND ROCK CLIMBING CLUB JOURNALand various evidences of their line of descent discovered on asubsequent visit a week later, point clearly to their having fallendown the slabs and blocks forming the lower part of S.E.Chimney. The reasons for the accident are unfortunately selfevident; it could have been avoided if proper precautions hadbeen taken and the lack of precautions was due not to slackness,but to technical ignorance.The boys were found about 1-30 p.m., and Walmsley thenreturned to the valley and organised a rescue party. The" Tourist Route " was chosen for the descent to Dungeon Ghylland the boys were got down at about 6 p.m. All credit is dueto the volunteers from the valley who untiringly exerted themselvesin this work of mercy. Mr. Brady, since he has furnishedme with the account, naturally does not refer to his own workor that of Mr. Walmsley, but it is obvious that where credit isto be shared out they ought to get a lion's share of it. The s peedwith which the rescue party was collected and organised, got up tothe crag, and got the boys down is alone proof of this.The third accident to which I have to refer occurred atChristmas on the Napes and I am indebted to Dr. Wakefield,who has collected information from one of the climbers on thespot, for an account of what happened. This accident occurred onTophet Bastion. There were two ropes on the Bastion, bothworking quite independently. Mr. D. G. Ritson was leadingthe first rope and Mr. J. A. Whitehead was second. Miss K.O'Brien was leading the second rope with Mr. E. F. Haslamsecond. Mr. Whitehead was carrying 100 feet of line in caseMiss O'Brien found any difficulty with the second lead. Ritsonreached the belay at the top of the third pitch and broughtWhitehead up. He vacated the belay and left Whitehead tofasten up. It was during this process that Whitehead slipped.His own story was that he slipped on a loose stone whilst loopingthe rope over the high belay and overbalanced. Ritson endeavouredto save himself and Whitehead by jumping over theeast side of the ridge into the crevasse. Whitehead fell about80 feet, not in a direct fall, but bouncing at least once on the way.He was then held up by the rope and left swinging over a furtherbig drop. The make of the rope is not known nor the lengthbetween the two climbers.Mr. Whitehead, the climber who fell, has since died.He