Carpendale R.D.S. (Dick)

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Biografie:
R. D. S. Carpendale (1908-1975)
Dick Carpendale was the only son of Admiral Sir Charles Carpendale; before the war he worked with the BBC, served throughout the war with the RAF and thereafter farmed in Essex before settling in Somerset. Latterly the life of a country gentleman and his duties as hunt Secretary gradually superseded his climbing activity.
He was an all-round sportsman and an excellent golfer who took to climbing in the '30s, frequently joining parties to Wales and the Lakes organized by Brian Dickson, who was in the course of writing an In Memoriam notice of Dick when he, too, died. It was on one of these parties, in fact my first rock-climbing expedition, that I met him in 1939. I can still see his figure silhouetted against the sky as he led Avalanche on one of those May evenings. Up to 1954 I can count 11 other forays in British hills that I shared with him, sometimes at Helyg, sometimes with Brian Dickson's larger parties. One way and another, he must have made several visits a year to British mountains for 20 years or so. Particular memories stand out; as of February 1944 when he and I were all but benighted in the North Gully of Tryfan (this struggle later became a cautionary tale in a broadcast); the next day we joined Nully Krctschmer and Alan Pullinger in skiing with improvised bindings on the slopes above Tal y Braich. There was a perfect week at Buttermere in October 1945, clattering home by moonlight after perfect days. Two years later at Helyg, with Peter Nock and his wife, wc all did some probably new climbs
on Craig Caerau and Peter led us up Curving Crack.
Dick's first season in the Alps was at Grindelwald in 1939 where, with Adolf Rubi and some friends he climbed the Wetterhorn, Klein Schreckhorn, Gspaltenhorn, Jungfrau and Mönch by the Nollen route. He was at Arolla in 1947 where, with Pierre Maurice and others he climbed the Petite Dent de Veisivi. Aiguille de la Tsa, l'Eveque, Dent Blanche, Dent Centrale des Bouquetins and traversed Mont Blanc de Seilon. In 1950, again with Adolf Rubi at Grindelwald, he did the Eiger by the Mittelegi ridge and the Schreckhorn, then came across to Zermatt to join David Brown and me. On the way up Monte Rosa he broke a crampon and sportingly dropped out, shivering in the lee of a rock until we returned. He then did the AlIalinhorn with John Watson. In 1953 he and his wife came across from Mürren to join us at Belalp bur in the few days he was with us little was accomplished but a crossing of the Beich Pass and an ascent of P3474 of the Unterbachhörner. He was again in Zermatt with David Brown in 1953.
It is 20 years since I climbed with Dick, but neither I nor any of his many climbing friends will ever forget his cheery laugh and friendly smile, his content in a good climb, his imperturbability when things went wrong, his total reliability. He was never defeated; even the day when his crampon broke he would certainly have reached the Dufourspitze but did nor wish to delay his friends on a cold climb, preferring to be much colder himself waiting. He never sought the lead on a hard climb, but many a time when the leader was defeared Dick took over and led the climb through successfully. As a leader he was very safe, anywhere else on the rope he was a vast reserve of strength. Few men have left more, or more devoted, friends.
Francis Keenlyside
S. J. Brown writes,
R. D. S. (Dick) Carpendale, who died in December after a mercifully short illness, began climbing in the decade before the Second World War and learned his Alpine craft under Adolf Rubi of Grindelwald. He climbed extensively and often in Wales, the Lake District, Scotland and the Alps. Although never a 'tiger' he was a strong, reliable, and imperturbable leader of routes up to Severe, and those who climbed with him valued highly the solidity and calm assurance his presence gave to any party. He was a splendid companion on any climb and in any conditions. To his many friends the realization that he will not again share their days in the hills is indeed sad.
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 82, 1977, Seite 268-269


Geboren am:
1908
Gestorben am:
1975