Bill Crawshaw
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- Parent Category: People in the news
- Created: Tuesday, 16 January 2024 09:42
We are saddened to announce the death last August of Bill Crawshaw, a member since 1960
We are saddened to announce the death last August of Bill Crawshaw, a member since 1960
La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 13 January 2024.
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.
The Club recognises the need for members to stay up to date with changing mountaineering techniques and updates to best practice. To make this information more accessible to our members, we are introducing Continuing Mountaineering Development workshops which will run on the first full day of the Summer Alpine Meet. For the 2024 meet, this will be 16 June.
These two-hour sessions, which will be delivered by guides, are free to attend and are open to both members and experienced guests who are joining for the meet.
Taking place at the campsite, the sessions, which will run from 10AM-12PM and 1PM-3PM, will cover specific information pertinent to the local area, a refresher on glacier travel/crevasse rescue, kit maintenance/replacement and will provide the opportunity for members to ask questions on topics of concern.
Registration will be sought in advance with the sign-up form to the Summer Alpine Meet in order to gauge interest and numbers.
La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 5 January 2024.
Happy New Year everyone!
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.
In May 2023, Keith Ball, Mike Pescod and AC member Guy Buckingham travelled to the Garhwal Himalaya for an attempt on the unclimbed south-east ridge of Thalay Sagar (6805m). The expedition was supported by both the Alpine Club Climbing Fund and the Mount Everest Foundation.
Mountain Equipment have now released a short film of their expedition which you can watch below.
Alpine Club member and Editor of the Himalayan Journal Harish Kapadia has, over a period of nearly two decades, conducted interviews with many notable figures from the world of mountaineering. In 2023, Kapadia formally made a gift of these recordings to the Alpine Club Library.
From December 2023 onwards, we will be releasing these interviews once a week via our YouTube channel so that they can be enjoyed by mountain-enthusiasts throughout the world. Episodes will release on Thursday mornings UK time. If you subscribe to the channel, you will receive a notification when new episodes go live.
The first episode, an interview with Sir Chris Bonington conducted in March 2008, is now online and can be watched below. In the recording, Sir Chris discusses his personal journey into climbing, his 1970 expedition to the south face of Annapurna, the evolution in Himalayan style from siege to alpine and his experience of managing mountaineering teams in a leadership role.
The Alpine Club Library holds a wealth of mountaineering material to which we are very pleased to add these recordings.
La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 1 December 2023
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.
Hannah Mitchell is an Aspirant AC Member, an outdoor journalist and the driving force behind ‘Tidy Climbers’, a new initiative aimed at cleaning up our crags. We sat down with Hannah to learn a little more about her, her work and her penchant for litter picking.
Hannah climbing at Castle Rock of Triermain - Andy Milton
Hi Hannah. Could you kick off by telling us a little about what you do for work?
I’m primarily an outdoor and adventure journalist. My work is for adventure magazines and websites and I also do copywriting for outdoor brands.
And how long have you been doing that for?
I’ve enjoyed writing most of my adult life in one way or another. I was working in a Youth Hostel in the Lake District and during the COVID lockdowns I wrote an article for the BMC magazine and realised that this was the sort of thing I liked doing most. And I feel like if you can do what you like for a living, then brilliant!
I decided to take the leap and I did a Master’s degree in Journalism which I just finished at the end of last year and I’ve been writing for a living for a couple of years now.
Obviously you’re focused on the outdoors, but are there any topics within that field that you’re particularly interested in writing about?
That first article I wrote for the BMC was about disparities in financial support for outdoor workers and guides during COVID. The outdoors is the underpinning theme in just about everything I do, but I like to hone in on social and environmental issues. I’m also really interested in championing women in outdoor and mountaineering spaces and amplifying the voices of people you don’t typically see in those areas.
Speaking of environmental issues, that leads us quite nicely to Tidy Climbers. Could you explain what it is?
So I think with issues like litter at crags, it’s very easy to get bogged down and feel helpless, or frustrated, or angry, or even sad. And whilst I think it's really important to acknowledge those feelings, I think sometimes a far more positive way of tackling issues like this is to amplify the good stuff that's going on.
I was aware that a lot of climbers like myself were habitually picking up rubbish when they went climbing. Having a little clean up, either of the parking area or the crag. It’s something that quite a lot of people do already. One element of Tidy Climbers is to celebrate the good work that people are doing. Whilst they're probably not doing it for recognition or anything like that, I think it's really important to thank people and celebrate the positives.
The second, and probably the most important element, is to inspire behavioural change in people who perhaps don't already do that. It’s hard to force yourself to pick up someone else's mess, but hopefully by seeing other people doing it, more of us will just habitually take two minutes out of our climbing day to have a little root around the bushes or the car park and pick up any crisp packets or finger tape, or whatever we happen to find there.
Access to a lot of crags is a privilege for climbers and if areas are being trashed, it jeopardises that access, even if the rubbish isn't being left by climbers. So it benefits the entire climbing community if we all just do that little bit. And finally, it’s important to remember that these places aren’t just there to serve us as a recreational space – they’re habitats and ecosystems that we have a duty to take care of if we want to share them.
Was there a particular inciting incident that inspired you to start Tidy Climbers?
Oh, there have been plenty! I live in the Lake district, and it tends to be that I find less rubbish at crags, particularly high mountain crags, just because they're less visited areas. It's usually on the walks in and out that you come across all sorts of awful stuff like abandoned camp sites . A friend and I walked off Needle Ridge in The Napes and we found a completely abandoned campsite by the tarn and we basically just bagged and gathered everything up that we possibly could and then enlisted the help of some walkers to carry it all down. I guess that was the final straw!
Climbing on Dow Crag - Garry Smith
How would you most like other people to get involved with Tidy Climbers?
What's really putting a smile on my face at the moment is the fact that I'm getting contributions from people from all over the UK. I've had people send pictures from north Wales, from the Peak District and from Scotland. So it's really nice that it's kind of uniting people up and down the UK. I think just having people get involved and experience that feeling of community is one of the most important parts of it.
I'm constantly on Instagram trying to get people to send pictures of what they've picked up over the weekend, even if it's just like a handful of sweet wrappers. I just want people to get involved and engage with it.
How did you discover climbing?
I've always been outdoorsy, but I came to climbing relatively late in a bit of a baptism of fire. I’d maybe been indoor climbing a handful of times and then ended up going on a sport climbing trip to Spain and was just sort of thrown in at the deep end. But luckily I was surrounded by lots of people who were far more experienced than me and really willing to stand by me and hold my dead rope!
On the summit of the Dent du Géant following a successful Aspirants' Meet
I believe you’re heading to the Aspirants’ Meet this year. Is that part of why you joined the Alpine Club?
Since joining, I've spoken to a lot of people, particularly women, who've said “Oh, no, I couldn't join. They wouldn't let me in. I've not done X or Y.” And it's kind of like that thing where you apply for a job and they say “Well, you haven't got any experience…” and you reply “Well, where do I get the experience if I don't get the job?” So I think it [the Aspirants’ Meet] is great, because, for me, I've done a lot of mountain trad climbing and I've done odd bits of alpine style climbing, but nothing like what I'm about to go and do next week. So it's amazing to have that opportunity and to be able to get a real grasp on the very important skills that you need to be a safe and reliable partner.
You can follow Tidy Climbers on Instagram and Facebook.
This interview originally appeared in the Autumn 2023 issue of the Alpine Club Newsletter. Previous issues of the newsletter are available to read here.
Members will be saddened to learn that Denise Evans died on 25 November, peacefully with her family. Denise was President of the Alpine Club in 1986, the only female President in the Club’s history.
La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 23 November 2023
Now the sun has come out it’s time for an update.
The weather has calmed down a bit in the valley! The snow has melted down to around 1700m. It rained quite heavily last weekend.
For walkers venturing into Chamonix, we'd like to remind you that we're between seasons: too much snow at altitude for classic hikes and not enough for snowshoeing. The trails are heavily snow-covered from 1700m (and therefore impassable) and some have been damaged by the heavy rain of the past week. For instance access to the Chapeau buvette. (See photo below).
However, it's still possible to enjoy the sunshine (when it's there) and the beautiful colours on the paths near the valley floor. However, the footpaths are slippery and you need to be properly equipped.
The petit balcon sud between Chamonix and Argentière is still not recommended, nor is the petit balcon nord between Le Tour and Argentière (parts of the trail are eroded). Due to a major landslide, the paths in the tête de la Jorette area (Montagne des Posettes) are prohibited by decree. We'd like to take this opportunity to remind you how much we value your feedback from outings so that we can spread the word!
For those looking to climb a little higher, the Chailloux chalets or Loriaz are still a good options (with snow on the upper slopes).
The return of the sun means that ski tourers can get out their skins at La Flégère. With the rain-snow limit above the Index last Sunday, the surface of the snow cover is often hard and frozen. The road to the village of Le Tour is still closed, and there's no snow down there anyway! The ski areas are still closed (the Grands Montets is due to open on 2 December, snow permitting).
In the high mountains, there's been little or no activity, but there's plenty of snow and the wind has (as usual) been blowing hard (watch out for accumulations). Some of you will no doubt have taken advantage of this weather window to check out the mixed conditions.
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.
In a piece originally published in the 2023 Alpine Journal, Annie Dare, Head of Communications at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), explains why her organisation is moving from a solely knowledge-sharing role to become an active advocate on the issue of climate change and its impact on the Hindu Kush Himalaya. She also explains how alpinists can add their voices to ICIMOD's call for world leaders to take all necessary steps to protect this spectacular mountain region and the people who live there.
Going, going, gone? Seventy years on from the first ascent of Everest, the Khumbu glacier is disappearing at an accelerating rate. (Alex Treadway)
This spring, Catalan athlete Kilian Jornet was training around Everest, in Nepal. This was his 10th visit to the Khumbu region, but it was the first time he and his partner Swedish athlete Emilie Forsberg were accompanied by their two youngest children. Jornet, the son of a mountain guide who reached the summit of his first 3,000m peak at the tender age of three, was hoping to plant the seed for his daughters to develop a love for the people and nature of the Himalaya to equal his own. He delighted in seeing the girls playing with people and in places he felt so connected to.
Yet the trip was bittersweet. A climate advocate who consciously limits how often he flies in order to try to drive down his personal carbon footprint, it had been 10 years since Jornet had first seen Everest, or Chomolungma, ‘goddess mother of the world’ in one translation of the Tibetan. ‘The changes that have taken place in the snow and glaciers here, just in the space of that decade, are so immediately obvious, and so dramatic,’ Kilian told me. ‘It’s happening so, so fast.’
The family’s visit came just before dignitaries from the climbing world gathered at the base of the mountain, in Namche Bazaar, to mark the 70th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first ascent. The glaciologists and researchers I work with at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), which for 40 years has monitored the cryosphere across the entire 3,500km long expanse of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), used the moment to zero in on the specific impacts of climate change on Everest. Their data provides incontrovertible scientific evidence to corroborate climbers’ increasingly alarming eyewitness accounts, such as Jornet’s, or that of Lukas Furtenbach, who saw puddles on the South Col in 2022, or another climber who, when climbing Gasherbrum IV in 2021, was shocked to find water cascading down a rock at 7,000m. Worryingly, ICIMOD scientists found that the 79 glaciers around Everest had thinned by over 100m in just six decades and that the rate of thinning had almost doubled since 2009. The iconic Khumbu glacier itself is disappearing up the mountain. And the further east you go, the worse this thinning becomes.
Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa, an early-career glaciologist at ICIMOD, travelled to Namche to join his grandfather, the last survivor of the first ascent, Kanchha Sherpa, and Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, and Hillary and Norgay’s descendants for the anniversary events. Together, this group launched a campaign asking climbers to raise their voices to press for faster action to avert catastrophic, irreversible changes to Everest and other mountains under the banner of #SaveOurSnow. The campaign asks members of the public, but particularly climbers, scientists and mountain communities, to share stories of the climate impacts they’re seeing on social media and to add their name to a declaration that asks for governments to honour their commitments to limit warming as set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
‘The sporting community needs to step up,’ Jornet, one of the signatories of the declaration, says. ‘Alongside scientists studying these mountains, and the communities that live here, it is those of us who return year after year to these mountains, to work and to train, who can see with our own eyes the extraordinary pace of changes to mountain glaciers, snow and permafrost. These changes are not only aesthetic, of course. They also pose new dangers to climbers in terms of unstable terrain. But the much more profound impacts are the dangers these changes pose to the people and nature that rely on these mountains, for water, for livelihoods, for habitat.’
Climate impacts across the world’s cryosphere are fast outpacing scientists’ previous projections, with the fight to save summer ice in the Arctic declared essentially lost earlier this year, and revised forecasts suggesting Antarctica is vulnerable to devastating and permanent impacts at just 1.5°C of temperature rise. At 2°C of warming, glaciers in the Alps, the Andes, Patagonia, Iceland, Scandinavia, the North American Rockies and New Zealand are all set to disappear completely, while according to ICIMOD’s latest report Water, Ice Society, and Ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya around half of glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya would be gone. That even just half might remain is unlikely: our current emissions trajectory sets us on course to smash through the ‘safe’ 1.5°C ceiling. At the currently plausible 4°C of warming, 80% of glaciers in the HKH will vanish by the end of the century. While glacier loss worldwide will devastate local communities and result in sea-level rise, the consensus is that the consequences of glacier loss, more erratic snowfall and permafrost thawing for people and nature in the hugely populated and bio-diverse HKH region, where 12 of the world’s major rivers originate, will be nothing short of catastrophic.
‘Nowhere is safe from climate impacts,’ says ICIMOD’s deputy director general Izabella Koziell. ‘But the Hindu Kush Himalaya holds the third largest frozen body of water on the planet, which provides freshwater services to a quarter of humanity. A staggering half of that population already suffer malnutrition. In the past two years alone we’ve already seen devastating climate-driven humanitarian disasters unfold in this region – in Afghanistan’s droughts, and Pakistan’s floods: a chilling illustration of what our scientists say will be one of the key climate impacts in our region – the issue of ‘too much water, too little water.’ The magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe that will unfold should the reliable water supply that flows from these mountains be lost – undermining the food and water security of two billion people in Asia – is almost beyond imagining. Yet this is what the science tells us will happen unless world leaders act decisively now.’
The case for action is compelling. With very low emissions, most glaciers and snowpack can be preserved for water resources, with scientists saying losses would begin to slow slightly around 2040, with glaciers stabilising sometime in the next century. And the support alpinists have given the campaign has been unequivocal with over 2,000 signatories in the first 48 hours, including Kenton Cool, Rebecca Stephens, Peter Hillary, Wolfgang Nairz, Reinhold Messner, the glaciologist and alpinist Patrick Wagnon, Jamling Tenzing, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, documentary-filmmaker Craig Leeson, and Pemba Sherpa. Other backers include the Nepal Mountaineering Association, the Mountain Research Initiative, the UN Mountain Partnership, and the UIAA.
‘It’s amazing to have had this strong early support from the climbing community,’ says Izabella Koziell. ‘But it feels like we’re barely scratching the surface with what might be possible, in terms of the leadership role alpinists might be able to play at this crucial moment,’ says Koziell. ‘Not just because of their tenacity and influence, but most of all because of their unrivalled intimacy with mountains and mountain people. Many climbers’ lives have often been if not profoundly transformed then at least hugely enriched by encounters with the landscapes and cultures of the Hindu Kush Himalaya. These experiences give them an intrinsic awareness of how much we stand to lose unless we check emissions that are threatening lives, livelihoods and cultures.
‘It’s hard to have spent any time among such communities too and not be struck by the sheer injustice of what we’re seeing unfold across this region: of the lives of peoples who have trodden so lightly on the Earth for generations being destroyed as a consequence of political and business choices being taken millions of miles away.'
ICIMOD, for its part, is reinventing itself to rise to the challenge of supporting communities and governments in the region that will confront the impacts of the changing climate. The organisation has completely reconfigured its portfolio in order to reduce the region’s vulnerability to disaster risks: biodiversity loss; and water, energy and food insecurity. This work runs from installing early-warning systems to forewarn communities of floods and encouraging governments to share data across national boundaries, to advancing the rights and recognition of nomadic communities and the role of rangelands, to identifying incentives for communities to protect biodiversity and forests.
Critically, the organisation is setting out to build an advocacy voice that is commensurate with the region’s importance and peril. Because, despite how much hangs in the balance in terms of human population alone, knowledge of the consequences of continued climate inaction on the Hindu Kush Himalaya globally remains low. There was no mention of mountain impacts at all within the draft text of this year’s critical Global Stocktake process, an integral of the Paris Agreement under the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In collaboration with and on behalf of its eight regional member countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan – the organisation is setting out to change that lobbying at global fora: for faster action on mitigation globally; for the urgent scaling up of adaptation and ecosystem restoration funds; and programmes and for the mobilisation of loss and damage finance.
In seeking to strengthen its impact, ICIMOD is also looking outwards, exploring the creation of a new regional political mechanism, akin to the models used by the Alpine or Carpathian Convention, with the aim of accelerating political change through closer collaboration among countries to build greater resilience to these issues, many of which are trans-boundary, such as floods, and in securing greater prominence and negotiating power for the region.
‘For 40 years, ICIMOD has acted as a knowledge centre for the region, generating and sharing evidence to our member countries to support their policy processes, and this remains our primary work,’ says Koziell. ‘However, with humanity standing at such a crossroads, and our cryosphere being so central to that, our board, donors, regional member countries and stakeholders were all unanimous that ICIMOD should start to take a much more assertive role.
‘I believe that at this moment all of us are being called to go beyond ‘business-as-usual’ – and that it’s for all of use whatever platform we have to urge governments and businesses to transform how we power our lives, feed ourselves, move around so that Earth can sustain life. The science is clear – there really is no time left. Perhaps this transformation will be humanity’s greatest summit yet.’
We have received the sad news that Dave Parsons died on 16 November. He was elected to the club in 1980.
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.
In the summer of 2022, artist and AC member James Hart Dyke retraced the footsteps of famed mountain artist Gabriel Loppé. His aim? To paint as Loppé had, capturing the sunset view from the summit of Mont Blanc. In the process, James produced a series of paintings which captured his journey, including two works carried out from the summit itself.
James at work on Mont Blanc
On 5 December 2023, James's latest exhibition 'Mont Blanc: The Summit Paintings' will open at the Alpine Club's Charlotte Road premises, where his pictures from the climb will hang alongside one of Loppé's original summit paintings from 150 years ago. There will be the opportunity to meet James and to hear him discuss the experience of painting at altitude in a Q&A with the Club's Honorary Keeper of Pictures, William Mitchell.
The event is free to attend and open to all, but we do ask that you register your intention to attend using the form below.
Doors will open at 7PM for a 7:30PM start.
The exhibition will run from 28 November 2023 to 31 January 2024. Details on how to visit are available here.
We have recently learned of the death on 8 September of Jonathan Lee. He had been a member of the club since 1988
From 2024, the Alpine Club will support the work of the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust through an annual donation that will provide 10 places on the JCMT’s Summer Alpine Course.
The Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust, founded following the death of mountaineer Jonathan Conville in 1979 has, over the past 44 years, provided more than 5,000 subsidised places on introductory training courses in North Wales, the Alps, and Scotland. Their work has equipped generations of young climbers with the skills they need to enjoy the mountains safely.
As the largest organisation representing alpine climbers in the UK, the Alpine Club, which was founded in 1857, has many members who took their first steps into the mountains under the supervision of the JCMT. To recognise that long-standing relationship and to ensure that future generations of enthusiastic young alpinists can start their alpine careers on the best possible footing, the AC has committed to provide financial support for the Trust’s ongoing work.
Alpine Club President Simon Richardson said:
“Together, the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust and the Alpine Club have both made huge contributions to British alpinism. This is a natural partnership that not only allows young climbers to get the early support they need, but hopefully also demonstrates a path to future progression and many years of successful climbing through the Alpine Club”.
Neil McAdie, Chair of Trustees for the JCMT said:
“We’re extremely grateful to the Alpine Club for their generous commitment to fund an annual ten places on our Summer Alpine Course. These courses are life-changing experiences for many of our attendees and donations like this allow us to continue offering that experience into the future.”
You can learn more about the Alpine Club at www.alpineclub.org and you can donate to the ongoing work of the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust at www.jcmt.org.uk.
Less than a month after being announced as the recipients of a Piolet d'Or for their 2022 ascent of 'The Phantom Line' on Jugal Spire (6563m), Paul Ramsden and Tim Miller have returned from Nepal with another stunning first ascent on an unclimbed peak.
Miller and Ramsden on the Summit - Photo: Paul Ramsden
The pair, along with Hamish Frost and Matt Glenn, travelled to the Salimor Khola in the far west corner of Nepal. The area had seen very few previous visits and the team had limited information and no photos of the valley to help with their planning. Howerver, what they saw on Google Earth looked promising and ultimately, the huge effort required to reach the valley proved worthwhile.
Over fours days, Ramsden and Miller established a route to the summit of the previously unclimbed Surma-Sarovar (6605m). Their route climbed the mountain's colossal north face which stretches for 2km above the valley floor. Miller noted that the route's major difficulties involved crossing a rock band between 6000 and 6250m. After this, the weather turned and the pair summitted in poor conditions before starting a complex descent, made more hazardous by the fresh snow. The whole descent, which involved downclimbing a long ridge, took two days.
The line of ascent (right) and descent (left) Note: The image does not show the entirety of the north face - Photo: Hamish Frost
Commenting on the expedition experience overall, Miller said: "The social aspect of being a team of four was definitely the highlight for me and we all agreed that it was the wildest trip we had ever been on."
Glenn and Frost made attempts on two adjacent peaks, but on both occasions were forced to retreat in the face of poor conditions.
The expedition was supported by both the Montane Alpine Club Climbing Fund and a grant from the Mount Everest Foundation.
La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 10 November 2023
Winter’s hanging around before a forecast milder spell from tomorrow....
The storms have been (and will be) coming one after the other, and it has snowed regularly down to 1000m, even though the snow has not lasted at this altitude. There is a bit of snow from around 1100m. Above 1500m, there are significant amounts (20-25cm at 1500m, 70-80cm at 1800m). Snow cover and the risk of avalanches should therefore be taken into account when choosing your outings, whatever the activity (hiking, skiing, etc.)
These are winter conditions, which means that hiking opportunities are very limited and mainly restricted to below 1500m. We would remind you that virtually all classic summer hikes are not possible in these conditions, even with snowshoes (steep terrain, avalanche risk, etc.)
Thanks to very good snow cover for the season, ski touring is possible above Flégère (gondola open but ski area closed) or at Le Tour (skis on from the car park).
Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.
Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.