The climbing world lost a very capable and much-liked character on 19 February, with the death from oesophageal cancer of Chris Dale.
A qualified mountain guide, Dale spent much of his life in the north of England – he was born in Penrith, spent several years in Sedbergh and lived latterly in Cockermouth. He was aged just 49.
Very much a “trad” climber, he would attempt climbs “on sight” from the bottom up, without using any more artificial aid than was absolutely necessary.
Numerous Scottish routes were completed – starting with an unroped up-and-down of the Old Man of Stoer when he was aged 16, and progressing to winter first-ascents of seriously hard lines such as Boke on Hell’s Lum Crag at Loch Avon in 1982, The Argonaut on Lochnagar in 1984, Snoopy on the Mainreachan Buttress of Fuar Tholl in 1998 and Cioch Nose Superdirect on Sgurr a’Chaorachain in Applecross in 2003.
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Dale also climbed abroad, in the Alps – for instance on the Aiguille du Grépon and the Aiguille du Plan – and in the Australian Blue Mountains. In his early 30s, he qualified as a professional guide – but, for all the high peaks and the expeditions at altitude, perhaps his most widely known climbing achievement came in 2003, when he reached the summit of lowly Dun Dubh on Skye. This landslip-pinnacle off the side of the Trotternish ridge (or, to put it another way, this exposed and horrendously loose pile of vegetated choss) was said to be the last unclimbed summit in the UK until Dale stood on top. “He was a complete daredevil,” says his friend Stephen Reid, proprietor of Needle Sports in Keswick where Dale worked from time to time. “On his last major holiday, he went to Nepal especially to do a bungee jump which I think is one of the longest in the world.” He was conscientious in his guiding work – for instance Reid recalls hearing of an incident on Creag Meagaidh in which a client slipped and zoomed off downhill, only to be saved when Dale “ran across the slope and leapt on the chap and they were both hurtling down the slope together with Chris trying to do a one-handed ice-axe brake. The chap did hit the boulders, but not hard and he wasn’t badly hurt. Everyone credited Chris with saving his life.” Dale was not just a tremendous climber and guide, however. To quote from the entertaining and engaging Daily Telegraph obituary, “Dale’s other passion was women’s clothing”. He would regularly adopt the glammed-up persona of Crystal – all the more endearing and incongruous given that Dale was six-foot-six and built like the proverbial barn door. He would openly buy women’s clothing, and his Facebook page listed his interests as: “Fluff. Fluffy folk. Pink things. Sparkly stuff. Men in make up. Socks. Clouds. Bed. Danish pastries. Coffee. Mountains.” Not your average hard climber and mountain man, then. A series of warm tributes on UKClimbing.com includes mention of hard climbs – “a precocious talent on the crags”, “rated his skills as a mountaineering instructor very highly and learned a great deal about safety and realising the limits of what was possible”, “a memorable day out … on Tophet Wall and Napes Needle with Chris Dale. A modest and very calm person”. Plus there is fond recollection of the quirkier side – “Modest, humorous and warm. He once had me in stitches with his account of soloing Piers Gill, naked apart from rock shoes”, “Met Chris at a number of parties, he was quite a presence. Always admired his confidence and individualism (striding round, two feet taller than everyone in the room, in a pair of high heels, leopard skin dress and a blonde wig)”. If climbing exposed and technically difficult rock and ice needs nerve and strength of character, then dressing this way among hard mountaineers arguably needs it even more. The climbing-and-walking world is often seen as unreconstructed and “trad” in the other sense – but, for all the dinosaur attitudes of the likes of Don Whillans, Alfred Wainwright and various of the male-dominated clubs, there have also been occasional more unorthodox and exotic exponents. Take, for instance, Jan Morris – known as James Morris when she was the Times correspondent accompanying the 1953 Everest expedition. Or Dennis Gray, old-school hard northern climber who has written about the difficulties of being gay in that world. Or even – perhaps the closest to Dale’s own position and preferences – Walter Poucher, esteemed photographer and head perfumer at Yardleys, often to be seen sporting eyeshadow and other effeminate forms of make-up. Any part of society needs people such as this, not just for variety – it would, as the saying goes, be terrible if we were all the same – but also for their openness and honesty. Although Chris Dale’s cross-dressing was not mentioned at his funeral – possibly out of deference to his parents – he was a fine example of the way in which all forms of social and professional activity can and should transcend gender politics. “I think Chris must have been very brave,” says Reid, “not only with his climbing but socially too. But he was a popular chap, never short of a story to tell – he seemed to have reams of them – and I think that probably helped him through what must have been many awkward moments.”Find out about donating to The Caledonian Mercury
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