[grimer]

Yes I remember Mark's article. And the brilliant thing about it was that they had caught the right person. Thought that was very good.

And I loved the great wall one too Jasper. i think it was an unedited version of what appeared in Extreme Rock, much shorter in there.

And speaking of Extreme Rock, was an Andy Pollitt (again) article about Tremadoc. When i was writing the Jerry chapter in Revelations, I used that as inspiration to try to capture the innocence and enthusiasm of the time.

[SA Chris]

Anyone else remember a pull-out supplement that one of the mags did, full of a bunch of obscure and/or risque fiction submissions considered too 'out there' to put in the main mag? One article particularly sticks in my mind (might even have been written by Mark Hundleby) about someone going round chipping classic grit routes by night, so a bunch of Sheffield climbers set a trap and catch him in the act and then smashed his fingers to pulp with a hammer!

I remeber that too, as well as one about someo guy kidmnapping a girl and forcing her to go to every climbing wall in the country with him. Some great artwork / drawings in them too back in the day.

[duncan]

And speaking of Extreme Rock, was an Andy Pollitt (again) article about Tremadoc. When i was writing the Jerry chapter in Revelations, I used that as inspiration to try to capture the innocence and enthusiasm of the time.

As someone who was an innocent enthusiast at the time and place, I'd say you captured it wonderfully.

CLIMBERS BARN, TREMADOC.  2AM.

Darkness.  10-12 climbers in sleeping bags just visible.  Scattered clothing, rucksacs, ropes, straw.   

Occasional GRUNTS, FARTS and SNORING NOISES.


ANDY POLLIT
(Loud whisper)
Jerry!  Jerry!

JERRY MOFFATT
(very sleepily)
Andy?

ANDY POLLITT
(Loud whisper)
So what do you think about Sonic Sinbin?

JERRY MOFFATT
(sleepily)
Uh??

ANDY POLLITT
(Loud whisper)
Is is 6a or 6b?

ALL
Shut up Andy!






 

[grimer]

brilliant 

[Joepicalli]

"Cannibals" a story in Mountain (can't remember which No.) By ?Long about the fallout from an expedition gone wrong, with two guys trapped at altitude by bad weather. Only one gets down and there are rumours of cannibalism circulating in the press. The guy who survives give his account of what happened on the hill. It revolves around the guy who died recounting the story of how he killed a white Tiger in Vietnam and was cursed as a result, to the one who survived.
Really powerful stuff I thought at the time. I wonder if I'd still think that? If anyone knows which story I'm on about and wants to scan and post I'd appreciate it.

[joeb]

Maybe a bit too recent for this but when i first started out Haston's articles to me were massive. Still have the copy of his Walker Spur story, must have read that dozens of times. Would love to see some of that charchter in the mag's again. Reading revelations at the mo' and some great stuff in there.

[Kingy]

Here is a great article on Malcolm Smith from December 1995 High magazine

[Kingy]

posted this reply in wrong thread and can't delete it!

[SA Chris]

seems like totally the right place to me. good to read it again.

[dontfollowme]

Is there a similar article for Gaskins?

[fatneck]

Kingy, totally right place for the article. Not seen it before, inspiring stuff!

Is there a similar article for Gaskins?

I think there was a Panton piece in OTE not so long ago. Crouch has a copy, will bust him when he's back from destroying all the 7c's in N Wales!

Back to other classic articles I just came across "Common Ground" by Grimer in OTE 103. Classic.

He leaves his friends to explore some boulders...

"Quarries are tolerable places at best. Dark, spent and abandoned, I felt it's dead cold air give way to sunshine and wind and living elements as I emerged onto the grassy moor above."

Then whilst enjoying some problems, he comes across vague chalk marks on the rock and realises that he is not the first person to indulge themselves hereabouts.

"I spent a while, wandering from one problem to the next one that caught my eye, and almost always, found chalk on the holds. Not much, I suspected it was only one person, but mainly in the same spots as mine; heavy at the starts of problems or on the cruxes, then on the easier bits reduced to pale outlines or to none at all."

He then gets a feeling of union with the unknown climber.

"I started to get the sense of communion with my predecessor. Where he had gone, I had gone, not because I had followed his trails, but because something in me had led me in the same directions. We were both attracted by the same features, found the hard bits in the same places. Enjoyed the same things. On one problem, one well chalked problem, I was having a hard time. Powerfull for me, up an overhanging arete, it involved a fair bit of slapping and grunting. Hitting a hold, but never actually managing to hold it, I was about to give up when I saw, just over the top, two white hand prints. It was then I knew I could do it to, for if he could, then so could I. Thus strengthened, I tried the move again, and got it first time. I thanked my guide for the encouragement as I hauled myself over the rounded top, where I sat down for a gaze."

He continues to explore the crag, guided by the unknown climber before deciding to return to his friends.

"Maybe I can't really say I got to know someone through my experience, maybe it was more like peeking at someone through a glass window, but as I tied my laces and headed back towards my companions, I knew the happiness inside me was the one that comes from sharing."

Thanks Grimer....

[Johnny Brown]

Fave Grimer piece (also posted in the calling of the grit thread):

[Falling Down]

Here is a great article on Malcolm Smith from December 1995 High magazine

By our very own GME.

[slackline]

Don't t think this has graced UKBs pages...

[Muenchener]

But I think that there are too many bolts in the Frankenjura

Not a widely held opinion.

[slackline]

But I think that there are too many bolts in the Frankenjura

Not a widely held opinion.

In 1986 or today?

[Muenchener]

But I think that there are too many bolts in the Frankenjura

Not a widely held opinion.

In 1986 or today?

Good question. Of course the whole sport climbing thing was very new in 1986, in the Frankenjura as well as everywhere else, and perceptions have changed. The Frankenjura has a strong sense of legacy and history about the routes from the Albert/Güllich era, and generally rather sparser bolting and more robust ethics than most sport climbing areas. I think this adds to its character and is generally positive.

By modern standards a lot of bolted routes in the 'jura don't really resemble what has come to be seen as normal sport climbing. A new-school VII can feel like an ordinary 6b sport route, whereas one from the Albert/Güllich era might be E4 5c. Fortunately one can normally tell the difference from the topo or by looking from the ground. Also by reputation: everybody knows the classics are much bigger ticks than the average modern clip-up of the "same" grade.

There are similarities to slate in this respect (not the climbing style obvsly). Some bolted routes on slate clearly are "sport routes" in the modern sense; Raped by Affection clearly isn't. And some are borderline. When I first tried Goose Creature in the '90s I thought of it as an E3; two weeks ago I thought it felt like a pretty normal sport 6b+. Having climbed in the Frankenjura in the interim probably made the difference.

[Moo]

Best response to a throwaway comment ever, good work.

[slackline]

It wasn't made as a throwaway comment. 

[slackline]

Sticking this in here too for posterity....

[jwi]

Mad props to Adler for using Wittgenstein as a tool to smash down on the truly daft idea of personal grades. But I strongly suspect that he misquoted Wittgenstein.

[mrjonathanr]

I don't know the quote, but it's coherent. Is it about language? Conceptually a rule is aconvention, and you can't have that in isolation( - unless you're Thoreau, of course  ).

[slackline]

More pictures of articles I culled from old magazines (I'm too lazy to rotate the images today)...




Dougie Hall, Johnny Dawes & Jerry Moffatt two part interview from High...










Kurt Albert Interview




Mark Pretty Interview



Ron Fawcett Interview





Letter From a Rock Star

[bendavison]

Some proper good articles on here.

Its been asked before on another thread (one of which is my own) but does anyone has the OTE interview called The Young Ones? Inspired by this: http://www.planetfear.com/articles/What_Happened_to_the_Young_Ones_Malcolm_Smith_100.html