Embedded Files
The Rucksack Club of Dundee University was founded on Thursday 7th December 1923 when the first General Meeting was held. The committee of six appointed at this meeting was headed by President Mr A. Fraser with Honorary President Prof. Steggall and Honorary Vice Presidents Prof. Gemmil and Dr. J.S.W. Boyle overseeing procedures. The Official Report of the meeting includes in it what has become the ‘mission statement’ of DURC:
“The club has been formed to further the interests of members in all matters appertaining to the open-air life.”
(Club Reports, February 1924)
Along with this, the report states that there was a large turnout, which signified keen interest in what the club was out to achieve, with a large membership expected. This is something that is unchanged in almost a century of club history, with membership in recent years often being the largest of any Dundee University Sports Club.
During the 1920’s the academic establishment in Dundee was still ‘The University College, Dundee’, associated with the nearby St. Andrews University. This was also a time when the world of outdoor sports was still in its relative infancy; with mountaineers, climbers and explorers still trying to discover how far humans could push themselves and where the boundaries lay between extreme exploration and complete stupidity... An exciting time period for outdoor enthusiasts to say the least! The continuous presence of the Rucksack Club since that date makes this club one of the oldest outdoor sports clubs in Britain.
The activities of DURC members over the years have been well documented in what is now known as the ‘Meets Book’, the pride and joy of the Meets Secretary. The backlog of DURC Meets Books can be accessed in the University Library Archives. There are a number of notable extracts including:
“On the Ben’s summit (Ben Macdui) we couldn’t see a sausage, though there was plenty of orange peel there.”
(DURC Meets Book, 22nd August 1958)
Furthermore; ‘Bab’s Epic’ (November 1981) is a tale of how it took one member 50ft to work out how an ice axe worked in a fall on Bidean nam Bian in Glencoe... I’m assuming they must have missed the ‘Winter Experience’ trip that year!
It also seems that the first swear word used in DURC Meets Book history was ‘bloody’, which was used several times in a full blooded rant in 1958 about what seems to have been some fairly wet weather conditions.
A.G. McKenzie
Meets Secretary 2006-07
Club Literature in University Library Archives
Club Literature in University Library Archives
The club has a number of books and videos held in the University Library, some relating to the club in particular and others of a more general mountaineering nature. All can be found by entering DURC as the author in the library catalogue. For more details read a short review.
The library archives contain:
Meets books 1923-2008
Minutes books and Club Constitutions 1935-2009
Visitors' books Corrour Bothy 1928-1966
Glas-Allt-Shiel Bothy visitors' books 1994-2009
Account books 1965-2000
Looking towards the bothy entrance - 6/7/2012
The commemorative door plaque - 2012
Club Bothy
Club Bothy
The Glas-allt-Shiel Bothy was established by DURC in 1991, in memory of club member Graham Leaver, who died in a tragic climbing accident on Askival on the Isle of Rum in January 1988. The club renovated an outhouse at the back of Prince Charles' lodge at Glas-allt-Shiel, on the shores of Loch Muick, in 1989 and turned it into an open bothy. The work was carried out during the summer of 1990 and the autumn of 1991, and the Bothy was officially opened in November 1991 by Graham's Parents, alongside many club members who had been his friends, including those who had been on the club trip nearly 3 years earlier.
The main work included excavating the earth floor and replacing it with concrete and wood, installing a staircase to a new first floor, laying floorboard and wall linings on the first floor, cutting two large holes in the roof and installing two velux windows, and replacing the lintel above the ground floor window. Since the opening the club has had many maintenance visits to do various additional work such as routine repairs and replacements, regular whitewashing of the inside walls and installing a toilet. The Glas-allt-Shiel bothy has also benefited greatly from the efforts of third parties, and in 2012 a stove was fitted thanks to Neil Findlay and others
The club maintained the bothy for 28 years, before handing it over to the Mountain Bothy Association in 2019. To see some photos from Rucksack's annual maintenance trip to Glas-allt-Shiel, you can visit their old blog page.
Images from a 2012 Maintenance Meet at the bothy.
Grant on the Rucksack bridge to Beinn Alligan , 2024
Bridge Building
Bridge Building
Stuart McKeggie, one of our members studying civil engineering, designed a bridge over a river in Torridon for his project. During the vacation, the club actually built the bridge. The bridge was dedicated as a memorial to William Haworth.
Torridon Bridge, 1994
Everest Attempt
Everest Attempt
In 2004, one of our members, Richard Taylor, went to climb Mt. Everest from the north side. At 8,848 m (29,029 feet) Everest is the world's highest mountain, and the ascent from the north side is the more demanding route. Base camp is at over 5000m altitude where there is already only 50% of the amount of oxygen in the air that there is at sea level. Unfortunately Rick's team suffered extremely bad weather and were stormbound at 7800m so the team did not summit. Rick and another team member, however, did make it to a high point of 8000m before descending. This altitude is the start of the "death zone" where there is insufficient oxygen to sustain human life (only 33% of the amount at sea level). In the extreme conditions Rick encountered, this was a significant achievement and had the conditions been more favourable he would potentially have been the youngest Briton to summit Everest. Rick was raising money for the Jonathon Conville Memorial Trust. The expedition was also followed by a BBC film crew for the programme 'Everest: The Challenge'. View the reports here, and here.
Other Articles:
Richard Taylor in Argentina, practicing before his expedition ~2003/4
Mount Everest, Nepal
Photos from the past
Photos from the past
Rucksack Raises £1461 for Tayside Mountain Rescue, 2024
2022
The Black Cuillin, 2022
Litter picking, 2020
Avertical World, 2020
Sports Fayre, 2017
Rucksack bothy maintenance, 2016
2015
Beinn Ime, 2015
January Jigsaw on the Buchaille, 2015
Outdoor climbing, 2015
Tuesday climbing social at Avertical World, 2015
Most Progressive Club of the Year, 2015
Rucksack Bothy, 2015
2014
Bridge to Steall hut, 2014
Winter Ceilidh, 2014
Winter Ceilidh, 2014
Bennybeg, October 2014
"Brad doing the table traverse", 2014
"The pot game", 2014
For more check out Rucksacks old blog page (2005-2013)
Rucksack's earliest video?, Cuillin Ridge 2010: watch here
Rucksack Reunion at Strawberry Cottage, 2006
Lochnagar, 2002
Inn Pin, Skye Unknown
Glenbrittle Trip, Skye 2004
Burns night supper, 2003
Kintail Chrismtas meet, 2003
Unknown
Unknown
Spean Bridge, 2001
Millenium meet, Inverie
Dipping in Loch Nevis, Inverie, Millenium night
The Old Forge, Inverie, Millenium night
The shores of Loch Nevis, Millenium night
Atop some lumpy snow in the Ecrin Alps, unknown
Summer party, 1997
Leaving Strawberyy Cottage, August 1999
Unknown
Euen O'Connor on the rocks, shaken not stirred, unknown
Unknown
Inbhirfhoalin hut, Glen Etive, October 1998
Lochnagar, September 1998
Bonar Hall, 1998
Lochnagar, September 1998
Above Camban bothy, April 1998
Stephen Copping turns 30, Badrallach bothy, December 1998
The Smiddy, Glen Etive, January 1998
Glas Allt Shiel maintenacne meet, 1997/8
Upstairs at Inver Croft, Achnasheen, 1997
Table traversing in Glas Allt Shiel (Rucksack's bothy), 1997
The Old Forge Pub,Inverie, Knoydart, hogmanay, 1997/8
Steall hut, January 1997
Burns Night, Queens hotel, 1997
Ring of Steall, 1997
Skye, 1997
Buchaille Etive Beag, November 1996
Glen Brittle hut, Skye, November 1996
Arran, November 1996
Dusa event, 1996
Returning to Mallaig, New Year 1996
Glas Allt Shiel hut, June 1996
The Bad Step, Coruisk, Skye 1996
Stac Pollaidh, May 1996
Stac Pollaidh, May 1996
Cluanie, May 1996
Cairngorms, April 1996
Glas Allt Shiel (Rucksack's bothy) 1996
Rucksack's old sponsor pub, The Galleon Bar, 1993-6, 1997/8
Dressing up for Burns night, 1996
DURC Burns night supper, at the erstwhile Angus Hotel
(where H&M now stands), 1996
Unknown
Sheneval, December 1995
Pre Sheneval walk in Faffing, 1995
"The final chimney", Clach Ghlas to Blaven traverse, Skye, May 1995
Glen Affric, Easter 1995
Glen Brittle Hut, November 1995
Another top night in the Steall hut, Glen Nevis, January 1994
Inverie, 1995/6
Neil Mold, DURC President 1994/5, with comedy antlers
Cluanie Inn crash, 1993
Dave on Steall bridge, September 1990
Ben Nevis, 1990
A very icy Cairngorm, January 1990
Ben Alder, 1990
Ben More (Isle of Mull) 1990
Barrisdale, November 1989
For more (including the ones we couldn't post here), see this old Facebook page.
If you have any old photos of the club we'd love to see them!
You can get in touch with us through Facebook here.
A picture from the Dundee Uni archives of Rucksack member Ronald Cameron climbing in Glencoe:
"I was involved in the Rucksack Club from 1965 to 1971 being Secretary and then President in my last two years. This photo was taken on a Rucksack Club meet to Glen Coe and shows Spartan Slab on Beinn Trilleachan above Loch Etive, the easiest climb on the Etive Slab."
Ronald Cameron, Class of 1970 and 1971
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