WHEN, at the beginning of the Michaelmas Term 1931, it was decided to produce .html journal, the appointed editor was faced with the thankless task of collecting material. Various members of the dub were prevailed upon to write articles and notes, and application was made to former presidents for accounts of almost forgotten meets. With a view to avoiding all this trouble in the future it was decided that each president, during his stay in office, should write up accounts of meets as soon as possible after their occurrence, and further should endeavour to collect articles, notes, and photographs from such members as appeared to be in a position to supply them. This was an excellent idea, and so did it flourish under the care of energetic presidents, that, far from having to collect material, the present editor has come into a rich and blessed heritage.
In this number, as compared with its predecessor, much more space is devoted to accounts of meets and to notes. This is partly a result of the new system, and partly because one of the chief objects of the journal is to keep a record of new and interesting climbs done by members of the club: partly, too, because it was felt that a diverse collection of essays was not an adequate expression of the activities of the club as such. So if this number loses in interest to others, we hope it will not lose in interest to ourselves.
Turning over past numbers of Cambridge Mountaineering one comes across short notes on the progress and history of the C.U.M.C., but at the best they are scanty and statistical, and perhaps it would not be out of place to elaborate on the theme in this journal.
The origins of the C.U.M.C. are to be found in a club which was founded in 1883 by members of Trinity College to enable those interested in climbing in the Alps to get together. Its formation was very largely due to the Rev. A. V. Valentine-Richards, who, incidentally, had promised to write a history of the dub for this journal, and would have done so but for his untimely death.
Thus the C.U.M.C. can claim to date back half a century, although for several years the club was not open to the whole University. From the very start it was an undergraduate club, but it has always had the strong and practical support of all the climbing dons. Of its history up to 1914 little can be unearthed. Mr. Valentine-Richards mentioned that it ceased to be for a few years at one time and that its communal activities were limited to talking and hearing other people talk. Complete minutes existed up to 1914, but during the years of the War they went astray.
Like everything else the C.U.M.C. was hard hit by the War and ceased to hold meetings, but when things had got back to normal Mr. Valentine-Richards and Mr. C. A. Elliott roused it to life and even produced some funds which they had carefully preserved since the club had ceased to meet. From that meeting, when there were less than a dozen members, to this day when there are well over a hundred, the club has grown and altered. Many changes have taken place. A careful examination of the minute books will show that there were once two lady members. This threatened invasion was promptly averted by the statesman-like if ungallant actions of Mr. Elliott. The early meetings were of a very informal nature, but with the increase in numbers of the club they have become rather more formal, although that tendency has been checked as far as possible. For the same reason it is now usual to "import" most of the climbers who talk to the dub, whereas some few years ago the officers used to supply most of the talks, which were given about twice in each term.
Without making invidious distinctions it would be impossible to single out individuals for thanks, but some, who have gone away from Cambridge, must be mentioned. Mr. Valentine-Richards’ part has already been described, and its value cannot be overestimated. Mr. Elliott, too, is a modern father of the dub and his claim to our thanks rests on more than his last-mentioned action. During his years up here after the War, Mr. G. Winthrop Young took great interest in the C.U.M.C., and acted as encourager-in-chief, a most important part, to many climbers of our "golden age"; the meetings in his house have become legendary. Many more there are who ought to be mentioned, but who probably would rather not, to whom the C.U.M.C. owes a great deal.
A club which changes completely every three years is liable to ups and downs, but the C.U.M.C. has been exceptionally lucky in this respect. Its presidents have been keen on their job, its secretaries hard-working, its treasurers shrewd and grasping, and there has always been the backing of the dons.
From holding two talks in each term, the C.U.M.C. has now achieved the dignity of three or four lectures, which are always reasonably well attended, sometimes overwhelmingly, and for some reason the elect of the climbing world are always very kind to us in the way of giving up their time to speak in Cambridge. The journal, if it has not improved in quality, has become a hardy biennial of pure breed, and if our meetings have become more formal, our publication has become less so. In addition to the lectures there have always been informal meetings and such enterprises as Wedderburn’s Sunday evenings and van Noorden’s mountaineering breakfasts of happy memory.
But the most important side of the club’s activities lies in its meets at home and abroad. Rock-climbing meets have been held at Easter in the Lakes and Wales for many years, and Scotland has recently been included. The numbers attending these meets have been fairly constant, between twenty and thirty for the past few years and, indeed, they cannot really get any larger with comfort. The standard of climbing is as high as it ever was; the average person is made into a leader on "difficults" after his first meet, but unfortunately it seems to be chiefly those in their third years at Cambridge who brave the unknown perils of a meet. The first C.U.M.C. meet in the Alps was held in 1923, and there has been an Alpine meet every year since then. Every one of these meets has been strictly "guideless," not even senior members of the club acting as leaders, and the places visited have been Les Evettes (Central Graians), Entre-deux-Eaux (Vanoise), Arolla, Tyrol (Ötztal and Zillertal), Turtagrö (Norway), and Saas Fee. An innovation was a ski-mountaineering meet held last March in the Bernese Oberland. The number of members attending these meets has been between ten and fifteen. Although they were started for the sake of economy they now form a useful school of guideless climbing.
The individual achievements of members of the C.U.M.C. cannot be enlarged upon. It is sufficient to mention our pride in the large part which Cambridge climbers have played in the recent Everest Expedition. On the whole a record difficult to live up to! Returning from the general to the particular, Aodh MacBaph is the nom de plume of E. A. Balfour (Caius). The poem is, of course, based on incidents of the Easter Meet, 1932, but I must hasten to point out that the heroes stand in no fixed relation to members who attended that meet. I am immensely indebted to J. R. Fearon (Trinity Hall), who has shouldered all responsibility for the advertisements of this production. I also want. to thank E. A. M. Wedderburn, who collected most of the material, and various other friends who have helped me considerably at one time or .html.