John Gill is probably vaguely known to UK climbers as the trump card played in any discussion of past climbing standards. The conversation goes:
“Tom Proctor, 7a in 1968”.
“John Gill <impressive grade> in <ludicrously early date>, I win.”
Gill introduced to bouldering chalk, brushing holds, dynos as a deliberate strategy, gymnastic rings, front levers on door lintels, one finger pull-ups, protein supplements, slack lining, V9, and elbow tendinopathy. He didn’t miss much.
Master of Rock is an interventionist biography which tells you as much about the author as subject. You won’t find anything about Gill’s childhood or introduction to climbing nor, which might have been more interesting, why he made such a radical deviation from the usual styles of the time. There is no linear narrative, more a series of images of Gill the climber as seen by his contemporaries.
Well worth checking out.
