I’ve rejoined the MCofS. I didn’t bother sending my subscription last year because I was all disgruntled. They had a chance to modernise by changing the name to MountaineeringScotland (which is pretty much the Gaelic text on the logo) but they blew it, all they talked about was climbing, wanting to fight landowners and pretended it was, I dunno, 1982 at the latest. The Scottish Mountaineer read like a climbers trade magazine. If I’m 40 and I feel that they’re out of date and out of touch, how the hell are they going to attract young folk and do the important stuff like pass on the safety, skills, access information and more that they do so well.
Maybe I had eaten a fusty Blue Riband or something and been in a particularly bad mood, but whatever, I didn’t send my form back and it’s only a year later I got around to dealing with it. And online via PayPal too.
The Scottish Mountaineer magazine has just arrived and it’s thicker, all shiny lovely and still full of the same old stuff.
I want the MCofS to be seen to represent more than the old school, the professional, the geek. Because it does.
The name makes it seem like a school board, frowning down on lesser mortals, mere hillwalkers and the like.
It does such vital work, but it annoys the hell out of me. Have I just bought myself another year of frustration?
Anyway, I’ve just something whacky on test, it’s on the LFTO gear blog.
Wow!
You got a pair yet then ?
I’ve got socks heaver than that!!
Interesting looking ‘boot’ – still depends on the b***** gore-tex liner to remain intact though…. :(
Regarding the SMC, I feel similarly disgruntled with the BMC. They claim to represent climbers and hillwalkers and then just bang on and on about climbers and crags and expeditions to the great ranges. Try finding the article in their magazine for hill-folk who make progress on two feet!
I remain a member for the insurance, the discounts, and because they’re still a long way from The Ramblers! ;O)
Your dyslexia test is now due fella.
All those magazines are shite. Mincing words, blurring lines and aiming at a market, rather than telling it like it is and making it accessible to anyone/everyone. Scalable like.
Plus, what is it with people and boots? What is the obsession? Really? I’m intrigued. As you know, the highest ankle I have is the integrated gaiter on my GG Fly’s and I haven’t worn boots since we used to lock horns in the old shop when you told me I was insane and would die in my ‘sannies’ on the hill.
Why are people still buying boots? Is it for the “support”? No. There is none. We’ve established that boots remove ankle joint functionality and thus make injury more likely, rather than less so. If they don’t do that, because the ankle is super soft, then what’s the point at all?
Is it because the high ankle “keeps the shite out”? Maybe, but short gaiters do the same job ten times better because they seal around the leg and higher.
Is it because they “protect delicate bones from jaggy rocks”? I sincerely hope not. That’s the stupidest reason I’ve ever heard. That’s like having a shower in steelies in case you drop a bar of soap on your toe. In fact, that’s probably more likely to happen than jaggy rock ankle damage.
Who cares about the new Inov-8 Sucker Attractors? Not I. By that rationale I bet they sell millions of them.
That Rab jacket is hilarious also. I don’t know. Why can’t they pour all this technology into something useful? Mmmm.
Phew. Rant over.
don’t dare put those Kahtoola’s on anything that light you’ll die on a frosty pavement ;o)
er.. I wear boots cos my orthotics (without which I can’t walk) cost way more than my boots and I really can’t afford to get them soaked n filthy on a regular basis, and gtx liners in approach shoes or mids just aren’t trustworthy… Find me a pair of approach shoes or mids / gaiter combination guaranteed to keep my feet dry and inside of the boot clean and I’ll try ’em (if they fit me!!)
*shamefaced* I like boots. Light ones tho’ :o) *brightens*
I’m with Kate on this one. I do most of my hill walking off the beaten track. If I do a week’s walking in tussock I don’t want to have squelchy socks and wet fee most of the time. Yeah, I heard the argument they dry quicker in trail shoes. But in rough HIghland country you may spend an awful long time in bog even high up. So, boots are the way to go in rough terrain unless you like your feet to go very smelly and very mouldy very quickly.
Crivvens.
As you know I like the soft and bendy applied to my feet, but having worn boots on the hill since 1957 and of course I still do every day for work, I have developed many theories.
When Craig and I went to the KORS trade show last year the new (possibly out now?) range of alpine/mountain boots from LaSportiva caught our attention.
All of the ankles were super flexible, to the point that the anle cuff looked stuck onto the boots with a ring of plasticine.
Thinking about this, it appears that they’ve spotted something that the others haven’t, that the high ankle of a boots primary function shouldn’t be “support”, it should be there to stabilise the stiff sole’s pull on the foot and ankle. Think about it, a B3 or maybe even B2 sole on a trail shoe would be difficult on steep ground, the shoe would want to pull off of your heel.
So the stiff crampon-platform/scrambling sole plus a high cuff to to keep it on your foot and weather proof the ankle clothing gap makes sense to me.
I wear mids a lot, they cover the ankle a bit but don’t compress or restrict it. They do stop snow and shite getting inside easily which I like.
I said some thing on the LFTO forums earlier when some one was worried about going to trail shoes “Your ankles take the entire weight of your body for your whole life, they’ll be fine”.
That’s true, so I don’t look at a big boot now as a vital giver of support and pretection at all times, but as tool that’s there if I need it for long days on steep snow in crampons.
I’m swithering about ditching my MCofS membership.
The magazine focuses too much on bouldering and climbing, with hardly anything on ‘normal’ hillwalking and backpacking. One gets the impression that Munrobagging is for the plebs (while hanging off a big stone is proper mountaineering).
Aye, when I looked through the new mag I was crestfallen.
“Elitist” is a word that springs to mind.