hilltrek

Bill Brooker, one of Aberdeen’s most prominent climbers,  died late last year at the age of 79.

Along with Tom Patey, he was one of a small group of climbers from Aberdeen who pioneered new climbing routes  in the Cairngorms in the 1950s and challenged the dominance of climbers from Glasgow in the Scottish climbing scene.

As well a leading mountaineer, Bill was also prominent in Aberdeen and Scottish mountaineering clubs and organisations.  He was president, and later honorary president, of the Scottish Mountaineering Club. Bill was also involved in the North East Mountain Trust and the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

He was one of our customers and, although we did not see him in recent years due to his illness, his wife Margaret and daughter occasionally visited our shop in Aboyne.

If you want to find out more about Bill there is much material on-line as well as written material.

One of the best on-line articles is  First and Last Climbs by Dave Craig  in the fine Footless Crow Blog.

Adam Watson’s excellent book  ’It’s a fine day for the hill’ recently published describes the Aberdeen climbing scene in the 1950s and has many references to Bill. 

His prominence in the Scottish Climbing is highlighted in the BBC  website in a background article to the The Great Climb.

There are also references to Bill’s in Scottish Mountaineering Club website and the Aberdeen University Lairig Club   on wikipedia.

You can also read an obiturary in the Scotsman

Bill’s exploits will be remembered by many.

Mike in Braemar Ventile Smock

Customer Mike Wilkins recently sent us a photograph  of a recent trip in the Franch Alps wearing a Braemar Smock. He writes:

‘I enclose a picture from this years Alpine trip to Chamonix with one of your single olive ventile smocks on the summit of the Tete Blanche 3429m above Les Tours in Chamonix. It was a bitter wind of -10 with wind chill and with just a base layer and thin microfleece I was toasty under the smock’

We rested at a mountain lodge at 3400m for a few hours of sleep, during which time the Braemardried out completely.　

I ordered a Braemar windshirt from your company in early August (Order Number: MA085110001170) , as a component of my gear for a planned climb up Japan’s highest mountain, Mt.Fuji. (August 26th) Initially I was told there would be a delay due to stock shortages, but after informing you that my order was urgent, delivery time was reduced and the Braemar arrived in good time. 

At around 2:30am we continued on to the summit in still damp weather.　 We reached the summit (3700m) just in time for a lovely sunrise (5:10am) and triumph.　 Descent of the mountain was slow and steady, and we were greeted at the lower levels by a continuous downpour which really tested the smock. Again no problems, just some stiffening of the fabric but no leakage or noticeable wetness inside the smock.

Wherever the next hike/climb will be, the Braemar’s the first thing in (and out of!) my rucksack!

All in all I was extremely impressed with the performance of your product, which proved it’s worth from start to finish and now I have my sights set on a more ‘bespoke’ version made just for me!

 Musaab Aljanabi

Mt Fuji Crater

All the best

Musaab on Mt Fuji

So, many thanks for responding to my needs – I really appreciate it.　 Nowadays I find such communication between retailer and customer to be quite rare and it’s frustrating!

I was also invited to share my photos of the climb, so here’s a brief (and I hope not too boring) account of the climb and smock performance notes, plus photos attached.

We started the climb in earnest at about 2,300m (7550ft) to fair weather.　 After about an hour or so however, things changed and the tone was set for the rest of the climb (in total abut 12 hours) with fine misty rain and light wind.　 Conditions persisted, with rain getting heavier the higher we went, with only occasional breaks and gaps in the cloud. 　 Throughout this time, the Braemar smock dealt with the situation perfectly.　 Rain beaded and rolled off the fabric all over, apart from the hood, which stiffened (the famous ventile ‘cardboard’ effect) but remained effective.

Another point to note, and a key reason for my choosing ventile, was temperature regulation.　 Due to the fact that the climb was in summer, temperatures were wide ranging (from 20 to 4 degrees c, low to highest elevation) and as a result many people – especially those wearing more ‘modern’ garments – were sweating profusely in the early stages, so were just as wet inside as out.　 Not me however, the breathability of the fabric was great and I had no trouble maintaining a comfortable body temperature (btw, inner and mid layers were merino wool – merino long sleeve undershirt and Ullfrotte gilet).

View from Mt Fuji