Brian Pinder Kellett

Brian Pinder Kellett (15 May 1914 – September 1944) was a British rock climber.

The memorial to British rock climber Brian Pinder Kellett (1914–1944) and his parents, in Glen Nevis (Highland Scotland). Over the last two years of his life Kellett pioneered many new routes on Ben Nevis.

Brian Kellett
Brian Kellett at Torlundy in 1943
Personal information
Full nameBrian Pinder Kellett
Main disciplineSolo climbing
Born15 May 1914
Weymouth, Dorset
DiedSeptember 1944
Ben Nevis
NationalityBritish
Career
Famous partnershipsJ A Dunster (Number Two Gully); Arnot Russell (Route II); Robin and Carol Plackett (LH Route, Minus Two Buttress)

Life

Brian Kellett was born in 1914 in Weymouth, Dorset in South-West England. He was the son of Lt. Richard Pinder Kellett,[1] whom he never knew; Kellett senior was killed commanding HMS Flirt in the battle of Dover (1916). Kellett himself died with Nancy Forsyth in Castle Corrie on Ben Nevis during the first weekend in September 1944; the exact date is not known. He is buried in Glen Nevis.

Education and career

Kellett was educated at public schools in south-west England where he gained a reputation as a "perfect all-round sportsman",[2] playing on the cricket and rugby teams and also representing them at boxing (oddly, given his subsequent pacifism[1]). He was a strong chess player and his analytic mind led him initially to qualify in accountancy, but he left the profession in favour of physically demanding forestry work in Ennerdale in Cumbria where he began to climb more seriously than on his early forays on the Tors of Dartmoor. With the coming of the second World War Kellett refused to serve on grounds of conscience and was interned for two years. He eventually proposed serving with the forestry on Skye where he could climb on the magnificent Cuillin ridge, but was posted at Torlundy instead. Kellett was by all accounts industrious, "born to work the land",[1] in the words of a co-worker, and now he could climb again, too: Torlundy is seven kilometres north of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK.

Climbing

The north-east face of Ben Nevis is a two-kilometre-long meandering cliff whose most prominent features are Tower Ridge and Carn Dearg Buttress. The corrie between these (Coire na Ciste) is divided at the back by three major gullies, numbered Two, Three and Four. When Kellett arrived at the face in 1942, Number Two Gully had yet to receive a summer ascent, having defeated both Harold Raeburn ("doyen of Scottish mountaineers"[3]) and G. Graham Macphee, editor of the 1936 climber's guide. Kellett led the first ascent on 30 August with J. A. Dunster, who at one point was forced to shelter off-rope from screes loosed by Kellett above him;[1] sixty years later, the 2002 climber's guide still warns that "in summer the gully has a fierce reputation and is best avoided"[4] (its grade is VS). Nevertheless, Kellett's achievement in 1942 was soon to be surpassed by his relentless attention to the face over the following two years.

Climbers on Route 2 in the late sixties

First ascents

Kellett left an "unprecedented"[2] legacy[5] of new routes and variations on Ben Nevis in the summers of 1943 and 1944 (page references are to the SMC's 2002 Climbers' Guide, edited by Simon Richardson):[6]

1943
Date Ref Added To (vars) Route (or variation)
22 Mayp5935m HSev185m SevMain Overhang variation: Bayonet Route to First Platform, Northeast Buttress
29 Mayp104125m DiffLower East Wall Route, Tower Ridge East Face
9 Junep180235m SevRoute II, Carn Dearg Buttress (with W. A. (Arnot) Russell)
19 Junep11655m VDiff125m DiffLeft-Hand Chimney variation: 1931 Route, Secondary Tower Ridge
2 Julyp197100m SevRoute A, Carn Dearg North Wall (now Kellett's North Wall Route)
10 Julyp15815m VDiff120m DiffTower finish: Central Rib, Creag Coire na Ciste
18 Julyp13845m Sev250m VDiffCentral Wall variation: Tower Face of the Comb
24 Julyp118180m SevItalian Climb, Tower Ridge West Face
24 Julyp120200m EasyBroad Gully, Tower Ridge West Face
25 Julyp171150m VDiffRight-Hand Chimney, Moonlight Gully Buttress (with G. (Gordon) Scott and E. M. Hanlon)
25 Julyp16275m VDiffThe Groove Climb, South Trident Buttress
25 JulypN/Ac.100m1943 Route, South Trident Buttress (not in 2002 guide, but in 1954)
?? Julyp134140m VDiffComb Gully Buttress
1 Augustp9145m Sev110m VDiffDirect variation: Indicator Wall
10 Augustp19730mFlake Chimney: Carn Dearg North Wall (now Kellett's North Wall Route)
11 Augustp19750mRoute B: Carn Dearg North Wall (with J. H. B. Bell and M. M. ("Nancy") Forsyth)
?? Augustp7090m DiffV-Traverse continuation from The Basin (North-East Buttress) to Observatory Ridge
?? August?p19720m50mRoute B Direct start: Carn Dearg North Wall
1944
Date Ref Added To (vars) Route (or variation)
17 Junep7345m VSev420m VSevBeta Direct variation: The Long Climb
20 Junep65275m VSevLeft-Hand Route, Minus Two Buttress (with R. L. and C. M. Plackett)
21 Junep109215m DiffLeft-Hand Chimney, Douglas Boulder
22 Junep19455m Sev215m VDiffStraight Chimney variation: Staircase Climb (with R. L. and C. M. Plackett)
22 Junep19440m Diff215m VDiffDeep Chimney variation: Staircase Climb (with R. L. and C. M. Plackett)
8 Julyp80325m VDiffWest Face Lower Route, Observatory Ridge
16 Julyp10030m ModTower Face Crack, Gardyloo Buttress
18 Julyp109150m SevRight-Hand Chimney, Douglas Boulder
20 Julyp66275m VSevRight-Hand Route, Minus Two Buttress
22 Julyp99140m HVSevKellett's Route, Gardyloo Buttress
30 Julyp161125m Sev1944 Route: lower tier, South Trident Buttress
30 Julyp16290m SevThe Slab Climb: middle tier, South Trident Buttress
20 Augustp200c.30m Sev275m VDiffDirect start: Cousin's Buttress, Castle Corrie (shortened route by 15m)
The north wall of Carn Dearg (Ben Nevis): this part of the mountain held a fatal fascination for Kellett.

Accidents

Kellett suffered 3 significant falls before his fatal accident with Nancy Forsyth. Perhaps most remarkably in January 1943 he survived falling the length of Glover's Chimney from Tower Gap, a fall of about 300m, losing his ice axe but suffering no serious injury. After one of these falls J.H.B. Bell, a leading climber of his day, became concerned about Kellett's safety as a climber and voiced these concerns to Nancy Forsyth.[7]

Commemoration

His sister Lorna commissioned a memorial to Kellett and his father in Glen Nevis.

References

  1. Crocket, Ken; Richardson, Simon (2009). Ben Nevis: Britain's Highest Mountain (second edition). Glasgow: Scottish Mountaineering Trust. pp. 143–155. ISBN 978-1-907233-10-4.
  2. Wells, Colin (2008). Who's Who in British Climbing. The Climbing Company Ltd. pp. 260–263. ISBN 978-0-955660-10-8.
  3. Williams, Noel (1996). Scrambles in Lochaber. Milnthorpe, Cumbria, UK: Cicerone Press Ltd. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-85284-234-5.
  4. Richardson, Simon (2002). Ben Nevis: Rock and Ice Climbs. Glasgow: Scottish Mountaineering Trust. p. 132. ISBN 0-907521-73-8.
  5. Richardson, Simon (2002). Ben Nevis: Rock and Ice Climbs. Glasgow: Scottish Mountaineering Trust. p. 322. ISBN 0-907521-73-8.
  6. Richardson, Simon (2002). Ben Nevis: Rock and Ice Climbs. Glasgow: Scottish Mountaineering Trust. ISBN 0-907521-73-8.
  7. Ken Crocket & Simon Richardson, Ben Nevis. Britains Highest Mountain, (Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 2009) p143-155
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