[Mr E S Capegoat]

Acid Chaz.... strong name!

[shark]

Maybe it’s the time of year for this sort of thread.

Over on UKC there is thread running about a long-standing and regular poster called Goucho with an impressive profile.

His ‘death’ was announced in January but it appears from the current thread that his colourful life and climbing achievements and existence were wholly fabricated.

[Doylo]

The only claimed repeat was by (Acid-)Chaz Cooper.
Needs a strong team to go and repeat/debunk.

He’s a legend that guy. His Twitter is amazing .

[cowboyhat]

Maybe it’s the time of year for this sort of thread.

Over on UKC there is thread running about a long-standing and regular poster called Goucho with an impressive profile.

His ‘death’ was announced in January but it appears from the current thread that his colourful life and climbing achievements and existence were wholly fabricated.

This is a standard internet thing; it happened on Pistonheads forum. Guy invents this whole life, family, kids, and obviously all these mega unicorn cars that he's being really honest about the ownership experience of. Eventually he dies! And there is a not inconsiderable whip round for his memorial etc.

Turned out it was some loser sat in his bedroom at his mums house.

Its all as old as the stars anyway; when they first managed to decipher the hieroglyphs using the rosetta stone, the first line translated was

'Milo is weak, I best him last year'

[Mr E S Capegoat]

The only claimed repeat was by (Acid-)Chaz Cooper.
Needs a strong team to go and repeat/debunk.

He’s a legend that guy. His Twitter is amazing .

Cheers Doylo, thats the best bit of social media I’ve looked at in sometime. Back to reading about Matt wrights ‘process’ now, before it all gets to real

[peewee]

They discussed this with the creator of pistonheads on the collecting cars podcast recently, very interesting.

Maybe it’s the time of year for this sort of thread.

Over on UKC there is thread running about a long-standing and regular poster called Goucho with an impressive profile.

His ‘death’ was announced in January but it appears from the current thread that his colourful life and climbing achievements and existence were wholly fabricated.

This is a standard internet thing; it happened on Pistonheads forum. Guy invents this whole life, family, kids, and obviously all these mega unicorn cars that he's being really honest about the ownership experience of. Eventually he dies! And there is a not inconsiderable whip round for his memorial etc.

Turned out it was some loser sat in his bedroom at his mums house.

Its all as old as the stars anyway; when they first managed to decipher the hieroglyphs using the rosetta stone, the first line translated was

'Milo is weak, I best him last year'

[andy_e]

[dunnyg]

Deserves an oscar

[duncan]

I’ve no intention of reading his book but does he discuss the motivation behind this creativity?

He admits to an enormous need for recognition, right from the very beginning really. It has some of the innocence of Cheque's story of the Rubik's cube, something that got out of hand. That said he acknowledges it was wrong, but I suspect he now views other transgressions (e.g. bolting on Lundy) as greater sins. As far as I remember, he discusses the false claims in relation to quite specific cases - I suspect there are probably considerably more. But even so, the false claims make up a tiny proportion of those routes he really did make the FA of.

Thanks Andy. Gary seems well-liked by people that know him and deserves credit for being unusually open about (some of his) past inventions. Does he mention 'Was It You'? This was one of Avon's prime unclimbed lines and his claim of a sparsely bolted 7c+ (it has cleaned up and is a little easier now) in 1986 seemed bollocks at the time. Needless to say it was supposed to have been climbed on a quiet January day with no identified second. A past guidebook politely described it as an enigma.

His ‘death’ was announced in January but it appears from the current thread that his colourful life and climbing achievements and existence were wholly fabricated.

Sometime back I spoke with a mutual friend of my vintage but a lot more Alpine experience - we should both have known 'Gaucho' - and he expressed doubts. It had never occcurred to me but I'm a bit over-trusting and I didn't follow what he wrote very closely.


The flip side of all this is when real ascents are not believed. 

[cheque]

To paraphrase, I think Reeve is saying you're probably a pathological liar by now Mike.

In which case should we really believe this last-minute Rubik's Cube confessional stuff? 

Jokes on you JR, Reeve’s really a fictional character I invented years ago. 

I wasn’t trying to say anything too significant with my Rubik’s story, just sharing my little angle on the whole runaway lies thing. Certainly wasn’t trying to excuse Simpson-level lies.

I don’t think Gibson mentions specific routes in that podcast Duncan. Not sure about in the book.

While we’re on the subject of climbing fibs I was interested to learn recently that Bob Hope in the Dovestones Quarries was named by Steve Bancroft in honour of someone called Bob Whittaker who’d previously claimed it as HVS with one point of aid. 

[T_B]

Always the Sun was on the front cover of the CC Pembroke guidebook. Amazing line. I’ve not been on it but I was there when Twid got absolutely shut down on it and declared “no way has Gary done that”. I’ve not listened to Grimer’s podcast but I’ve seen the mess GG made of crags on Lundy that he bolted, the shit sport routes he squeezed in on limestone between natural trad lines, and have always been of the opinion that he’s a narcissistic knob. I don’t really care how many routes you’ve put up, it’s not a frickin competition. Most of them are shite let’s be honest.

[Mr E S Capegoat]

I’ve just been reading an editorial in an old mountain magazine talking about the various levels of bullshit that have gone on over the years. From omitting dodgy tactics and ego enhancing sandbagging to outright dishonesty. It reckoned the entire history of climbing and the guidebooks would need rewriting if the truth ever came out. We all know there’s some major bullshit that goes on and the culture is all the richer for it I reckon. We need GG, Dunney, Gaskins and the Nik’s walls and Shadowplay’s. The bridge between reality and imagination is an important one, remember we dream with our eyes open people

[petejh]

Maybe the exaggerators to a certain extent enrich the culture, but the outright liars are a stain best removed and forgotten.

[Mr E S Capegoat]

Maybe there could be a confessional thread? You know, get it all out in the open?

You’re a tough man to please Pete. Would it be ok if I sent all posts to you via pm for initial vetting? Maybe you and a few others could cast a critical eye and give feedback and an adjusted version could be put out , in this way avoiding the need for any possible sources of conflict? Bet it wouldn’t work tho would it.

[cheque]

Maybe there could be a confessional thread? You know, get it all out in the open?

Here it is.

[Fiend]

Would it be ok if I sent all posts to you via pm for initial vetting?

[mrjonathanr]

In response to T_B, GG has made some decent additions to Western Grit. And a massive contribution to UK climbing in general.

But you're absolutely right, it's not a competition, and falsely claiming stuff is pretty naughty in a sport where falling off can have consequences.

[petejh]

Maybe there could be a confessional thread? You know, get it all out in the open?

You’re a tough man to please Pete. Would it be ok if I sent all posts to you via pm for initial vetting? Maybe you and a few others could cast a critical eye and give feedback and an adjusted version could be put out , in this way avoiding the need for any possible sources of conflict? Bet it wouldn’t work tho would it.

Sure, do it. I'll approve 1 in 100.

[shark]

In response to T_B, GG has made some decent additions to Western Grit. And a massive contribution to UK climbing in general.

This gets trotted out regularly but is it particularly true?

A first ascent is getting there first to a route. It doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be done at all. Gibson often got there first by dint of bolting, chipping or sometimes just cleaning and claiming without climbing. The good lines would have been done at some point.

I accept that no one would have developed the mid grade routes in crappy quarries in the manner and quantity that has but I don’t accept that this qualifies as a massive contribution to UK climbing in general especially when set against the tactics he has deployed at better crags.

[Doylo]

None of Gibson’s routes are as shit as Il Pirata though. It’s a queer bird the fish.

[mrjonathanr]

The grit routes seem pretty worthwhile to me, each to his own opinion.

[Will Hunt]

Please let us take a moment to appreciate that GCW's channel is 90% rancid quarries and lowball limestone, yet he has 3150 subscribers on YouTube and one of his videos has 5.5 MILLION views.

[shark]

The grit routes seem pretty worthwhile to me, each to his own opinion.

As I said they would have been done at some point anyway

[Plattsy]

Chaz Cooper hasn't logged Nik's Wall on UKC. Logbook below. Just wondering where the claim comes from.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/showlog.php?id=183631

[User deactivated]

Chaz Cooper hasn't logged Nik's Wall on UKC. Logbook below. Just wondering where the claim comes from.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/showlog.php?id=183631

He’s logged it on 8a. Along with an 8B slab somewhere else and The Ace, add him to the 8B list I say! Looks strong on those bridges on Twitter!