UKC

I'm planning to write an article about the different kinds comments or notes that you see across the endless source of entertainment that is the UKC logbook section. I'd like to gather some opinions on any of the following:

- What kind of comments/commenters do you frequently see in the logbooks? I.e. funny comments, those that make routes out to be a walk in the park despite it being E6 etc.

- Examples of comments you have seen in the logbook section that you found particularly interesting/funny/annoying etc.

- What are your favourite kind of comments to see in the logbook section? Do you even read the comments section of a climb?

- I personally love writing comments on my logbook after a climb, do you write comments at all? If so, what kind of comments do you write?

Answers to any of these questions would be great!

Thanks for the help,
Ollie

In reply to Lizard Ollie:

Hiya,

I usually like to put comments in, unless it's a repeat ascent or something like that.

If I'm researching a route, I will always look into the comments section for some beta. Especially if its somewhere that I'm not likely to get back to, and thus want to make the most of my trip. I generally scroll through, looking for anything that's more than just a mere "nice route, hard crux" sentence, and might have some substance to it. This is normally for longish multipitch routes where I don't want to be faffing around when a quick read might save me some route finding time.

The other times I read comments is after I've finished a route that I felt tough for the grade and want to see what other people thought.

In reply to Lizard Ollie:

It's probably a bit big-headed for you to include one of your own comments in an article you're writing, but I think attention should most definitely be brought to this infamous bit of writing to describe a lovely day on Balcony at Subluminal:

'Let's start by painting a picture... It's a crisp summer's eve, calm seas, blue skies, a faint breath of wind - ideal climbing conditions. We begin the climb, spirits and hopes high for a route as good as its description. After making swift work of the overhang section I take the snapgate of larger nuts and place the size 8 in a flake. What happened next may be conclusive evidence for the existence of a higher power. Without even opening the gate, my size 10 offset nut left the carabiner and bounced down the cliff. The oceanic deity Poseidon himself then extended a watery hand and dragged my poor nut down into the aqueous abyss below. Ordinarily, this would not be an issue. A minor inconvenience in the grand stream of disappointment that is life as a human being. However, this nut was part of a newly acquired rack. A rack that had only been used on one climb prior to this. In addition, this particular nut had never even been used. Matt tried his best to search for the missing piece of gear, but a shake of the head confirmed it was gone. Taken at such a young age, there was high hopes for that humble offset, hopes that will now never be fulfilled. Don't let this tragic episode discourage you from doing this route though, it is a nice climb with a good series of moves round the balcony, just make sure you keep hold of your nuts.'

Written by you, Ollie, this logbook perfectly sums up not just the day, not just your climbing life, but your entire life in general. I know myself and many others will be sorely upset if this logbook note is not, at the very least, mentioned in passing as a thing of wonder and beauty.

In reply to Lizard Ollie:

One of my favourite activities on the logbooks is to scroll right down to the bottom, and wonder at the stories behind some of the blasé one liners left on routes that people leave from the 70-90's, or even the present day:

"British Route (Blatiere) 01/Aug/82 AltLd O/S
No aid used. Descended a horrible couloir leading off the Fontaine ledges - still wake up in a sweat about this descent."

"Dent du Geant - ?/Aug/97
Great morning climb with a sad end when another climber fell off and died next to my rucksack."

"Frendo Spur - ?/Jul/81 2nd
First time in crampons, caught them in my salopettes, nearly fell down the bergschrund! had to go round the crevasse in the ridge, but not difficult. Top hard, steep and icy."

"Mer de Glace Face - ??/1979 AltLd dnf
Possibly the most terrifying night of my life not behind bars"

"Forbes Arete - ?/Aug/93 -
Marvellous route. Hut a tad crowded - 24 of us. A few bivvied outside too. I lay on the bench. Awoke to a disgruntling noise, another Brit slumped comfortably but cold and damp on the snow pile in the corner."

"Mallory-Porter - 14/Apr/09 AltLd
Lead first 950m with Mark, then final 50m lead by Christophe Profit while he was rescuing us at 2 in the morning. A memorable day out."

Personally, I treat my logbook as an info-dump/ story; may as well fill it out with enough to really jog the memory of a days climbing. There is the danger of giving the game away if a route is a total sandbag, or searching for something easy for the grade by looking at the logbook description, but that's down to your moral compass if nothing else.

I'll send you any more I find. Apologies if I've brought up any suppressed memories for the people I've shamelessly quoted.