Fit For The Elements

From functionality to fashion, mountaineering gear has come a long way

- Cameron McNeish, Scotland’s top outdoor writer,

THE above photo is a treasured picture that I often unveil during talks I give. It was taken in the early 70s in Coire Gabhail in Glen Coe, and it’s a group photo of the Lomond Mountaineering Club.

That old picture rarely fails to raise a few smiles. There are about 15 of us with that serious and determined look in our eyes, the haunted gaze of the mountaineer, but looking at it closely through the optics of today, there are three things that are missing. There are no women, there is no fleece clothing, and no-one is wearing or carrying a Gore-Tex jacket.

In the late 60s and early 70s, women didn’t come to club meets or attend our midweek meets in the Wintersgills pub in Glasgow. As a club, the Lomond MC was open to female members, but looking at that photo again perhaps I understand why women didn't want to be associated with us. More seriously, women had a club of their own. The Scottish Ladies Mountaineering Club was a sociable and active club that attracted women who had an interest in the climbing and hill-walking game.

I'm sure there were other aspects that discouraged women. For example, the Scottish Mountaineering Club didn't allow females to join until 1990, but that’s another story. For now I want to look at the gear we used in the late 60s and early 70s and how it developed into the trendy fashions that are in vogue today.