Skip to main content

Ice climbing Scotland


Just been to Fort William for ice climbing, but it was a wash out due to weather. Got Fiacall Coulior and Invernookie done in the Cairngorms. I used a guide for one day, Chris Ensoll, who is an envangelical Christian, so we had some interesting chats. He's previously taken me up the Curtain, Comb Gully and Tower Ridge.

Here's photo I took last time round - vanishing gully, at the point where it vanishes (Alan Kimber in photo; Alan is in his early Sixties, so there is hope for us all).

I recommend Chris Ensoll very strongly: he's totally unpretentious, friendly, genuine, enthusiastic, teaches you a lot, and goes out of his way to give you a good day - I'm booking him for 9 or 10 days in Chamonix next summer (09) to do big harder stuff that would otherwise be beyond me.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
hmmm,
It's a pity almost nothing of Zappfe's work is available in English. I am sure you would have enjoyed his combination of burlesque humor and sharp observations as a hiker and climber.

He has some hillariously funny short-stories of his and two friends' attempts to climb "Stetind" in winter. (I believe Arne Naess was one of them).

http://www.stetind.nu/html/sitater_annet.html

This page is in Norwegian, but I am sure you recognise Slingsby amongst them.

Stetind is 1392 m granite starting directly at the "Tysfjord" and gets steeper and steeper as you ascend. Despite Slingsbys remark, quite beautiful and majestic, I'd say.

Cassanders
In Cod we trust
February 26, 2008 at 8:43 PM
Anonymous said…
Stephen - you are not 60 yet, so isn't that a bit of a gruesom ice climbing schedule for you? ;-)

Hamid
February 28, 2008 at 2:42 AM
Anonymous said…
Hi Stephen,

I was at your talk at Heythrop on Thursday and i thought it was excellent.

I engage in a lot of rock climbing and now i am beginning to enter the world of winter mountaineering so it is also very interesting to see that you ice climb.

The argument you presented of an Evil God was ingenious even if it riled some of the believers of God in the audience.

Enjoy Chamonix and thanks once again,

Daniel
March 7, 2008 at 3:43 PM
Stephen Law said…
Well thanks for coming Daniel. Good luck with the climbing...
March 7, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Anonymous said…
Have just had a top day climbing with Chris Ensoll in the Langdale valley. A bit wet andwindy but share your views Stephen. I am sure we didn't get into teh depth of arguments/discussion you get into but I admired his depth and convinction of belief. A great guy to spend a day on the hills with.

Paul Johnson
November 8, 2008 at 7:38 PM
Billy said…
Here's a route for you: "The God Delusion" IX,9 http://www.scottishclimbs.com/index.php?
title=God_Delusion&printable=yes&printable=yes
February 27, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Stephen Law said…
I wonder if Dawkins knows about it?
February 27, 2009 at 3:45 PM
Billy said…
I emailed it to his admin. I wondered if they prayed during it :-)
February 27, 2009 at 9:21 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Evil God Challenge and the "classical" theist's response

On another blog, FideCogitActio, some theists of a "classical" stripe (that's to say, like Brian Davies, Edward Feser) are criticisng the Evil God Challenge (or I suppose, trying to show how it can be met, or sidestepped). The main post includes this: In book I, chapter 39 , Aquinas argues that “there cannot be evil in God” (in Deo non potest esse malum). Atheists like Law must face the fact that, if the words are to retain any sense, “God” simply cannot be “evil”. As my comments in the thread at Feser’s blog aimed to show, despite how much he mocks “the privation theory of evil,” Law himself cannot escape its logic: his entire argument requires that the world ought to appear less evil if it is to be taken as evidence of a good God. Even though he spurns the idea that evil is a privation of good, his account of an evil world is parasitic on a good ideal; this is no surprise, though, since all evil is parasitic on good ( SCG I, 11 ). Based on the conclusions of se...
446 comments
Read more

EVIDENCE, MIRACLES AND THE EXISTENCE OF JESUS

(Published in Faith and Philosophy 2011. Volume 28, Issue 2, April 2011. Stephen Law. Pages 129-151) EVIDENCE, MIRACLES AND THE EXISTENCE OF JESUS Stephen Law Abstract The vast majority of Biblical historians believe there is evidence sufficient to place Jesus’ existence beyond reasonable doubt. Many believe the New Testament documents alone suffice firmly to establish Jesus as an actual, historical figure. I question these views. In particular, I argue (i) that the three most popular criteria by which various non-miraculous New Testament claims made about Jesus are supposedly corroborated are not sufficient, either singly or jointly, to place his existence beyond reasonable doubt, and (ii) that a prima facie plausible principle concerning how evidence should be assessed – a principle I call the contamination principle – entails that, given the large proportion of uncorroborated miracle claims made about Jesus in the New Testament documents, we should, in the absence of indepen...
159 comments
Read more

Sye show continues

I was sent a link to this , for those interested in the never ending saga of Sye TenBruggencate and his "proof" of the existence of God. Hit "sinner ministries' proof of the existence of god" link below or on side bar for 30+ earlier posts on this topic that I wrote during an extended interchange with him last summer (check the literally many hundreds of comments attached to these posts if you really want to get into how Sye thinks and argues). Sye's amazing intial "proof" is available here . PS. For those interested, my own "presuppositional" proof, parodying Sye's proof by his principle "the impossibility of the contrary" (which turns out to be the key to Sye's proof) is: My claim: Sye's mind is addled and his thinking unreliable because he was hit on the head by a rock. Prove this is false, Sye. Try to, and I will say - "But your "proof" presupposes your mind is not addled and you can recognise a pr...
250 comments
Read more