[AndyR]

Yeah those genuine first ascent shots are always good, but I'm sure plenty of those old shots were posed too. You were just too young and innocent to know.

What? Surely you're not trying to tell me that Dunne didn't wear that mask on the first ascent of New Statesman?

I think the slate boom signified the first real rash of posed shots as far as I can remember - lots of Redhead giving it  leg-out action on manic strain.....

[Pantontino]

Or perhaps it was big Ron hanging one-handed off the top pitch of the Prow chalking up - I genuinely thought, as a 16 year old kid at the time, that this was what you had to 'learn' how to do if you wanted to climb hard routes. Of course, Ron was absolutely right, there is no better training method, I'm surprised Mr Gresham hasn't done a special on it yet.

Nobody has mentioned, Rock Climbers in Action by John Cleare from 1966. I believe Cleare had a white jumper that he would give to the different climbers to wear so that they would stand out in the shots - maybe that was when the rot set in.

According to Scotland-online it was an "Ahead of its time photo-action book which would spawn more ambitious imitators in the 70s...and subsequently lead to the downfall of climbing media around 2005"


(okay, so I added the last bit.)

[AndyR]

Or perhaps it was big Ron hanging one-handed off the top pitch of the Prow chalking up - I genuinely thought, as a 16 year old kid at the time, that this was what you had to 'learn' how to do if you wanted to climb hard routes. Of course, Ron was absolutely right, there is no better training method, I'm surprised Mr Gresham hasn't done a special on it yet.

Is that what you were meant to do?
I spent days sat around with a hand-tied quickdraw between my teeth, combing my incipient 'tache........

[saltbeef]

or joe brown hanging, pipe in mouth off a jam. its a fair comment, the number of people who get you psyched has reduced, but is that due to the lack of anyone seeming to do anything nowadays? (dare i say it) or unlike in days of yore when stuff actually got reported. surely one of the magazines could have put a picture of mauro in on his purported font 8c+?

[saltbeef]

by the way it was mint in the peak...

[Pantontino]

It was also mint up the Pass - I took the dog for a walk at about 4.00 o'clock, and had a look at one of Nodder's projects. If I told you were it was, he would kill me.

(I'll tell everything for a pristine copy of Cleare's book)

[a dense loner]

42

[a dense loner]

42

[Percy B]

Oh Jesus, was it me or did Simon liken me to Chris Craggs?!?!

You bastards - I'd have to eat a shit load more pies to acheive Craggs status :wink:

On the Friction tip, my work here is done. I do not want to become a regular contributor to any magazine. Rob is a good friend of mine, and asked me to give him some content for his new mag. This I have done (free of charge) and I hope his mag goes from strength to strength. I can't think of anything more boring than reading articles by the same people month in, month out. So no more pieces in Friction by me for a bit. If I find further inspiration I might write something else, but that could be in a few months or a few years. Climbing magazine wanted one of the South Africa shots for their gallery (which would have netted me a few hundred bucks) but I am a lot happier to have it in a grass-roots publication like Friction. Its not about the money, its about trying to provide some inspirational piccies to go with my rather poor writing!

My point, I suppose, is that I am a route-setter, not a writer. However, I like to share knowledge and info on places I've been with others, aswell as the fact that I like taking photos of where I've been and what I've climbed. A load of you guy's on this forum are of the same mind-set, so why don't you spend a little time writing some stuff for the mags? Christ, you all spend enough time typing abuse to each other on t'internet, why not write something that will be imortalised in print.

I reckon Rob Elliot at Friction is far more open to receiving un-commissioned work than any of the editorial team at On the High, or whatever the new rag is called....

[Pantontino]

Hey Percy, did you spot this little aside from JB:

"As soon as you find out they're overweight forty-summats writing to subsidize their holidays..."

As I'm sure JB would say: if the cap fits wear it.

Well I don't know about you, but - apart from various crippling injuries - I'm fighting fit at the moment (weight is just a state of mind), 4 years shy of the big 40 and I haven't been on holiday for ages. Does that count me out?

On a more serious note, Percy (and Grimer) is/are right about you lot (the UKB regulars) getting involved. I'd love to see some more diverse faces writing in the mags. Get to it lads (and lasses).

[the_dom]

My perspective (from far shores) - I buy OTE when I can here, and it's one of the better climbing magazines I've read. Our local one, SA Mountain, is utterly shite, and OTE is substantially better than the Yank mags.

It's not that bac, really.

[Johnny Brown]

That's gotta settle it then - the more you know about a scene, the worse the mags appear to be.

That's why I think Alpinist should last. It's pitched at an elite level, and fairly global, so that there ain't noone gonna outgrow it. The downside is its too elite for the average reader.

[moose]

OTE better than the Yank mags? Bit of a surprise - Climbing and Rock & Ice always look to have a lot more reading in them than the UK mags.  Though I admit that browsing whilst in Borders is hardly exhaustive testing (and all of that "rock warrior's way" type stuff can get pretty annoying).

More importantly though - back to the contents of Panton's capacious sack (!).  Handwarmers: anyone use them, are they any good?  I have lost loads of days climbing this winter because I cannot get my fingers warmed up.  They remain akin to numb, waxen prostheses - even after a good couple of hours pottering about.  Anything that helps would be fantastic (cups of coffee help but cool too quickly).

[dave]

the yank mags generally have better photos, and more to the point better reproduced photos. but the sheer mass of advertising in them makes em an absolute chore to try and read.

[Pantontino]

I use handwarmers quite often (usually the charcoal 'shake' bags), but then again I go out in some appalling weather. It would have to be about minus 30, 100 mile an hour winds and drifting overhead snow and ice before I'd go to a climbing wall (still got a clean sheet this winter season!).

I got into using them regularly a few winters back doing mixed routes, when you are on the belays freezing your nuts off for hours on end. The benefits for bouldering seemed obvious.

[SA Chris]

I have some of the charcoal ones leftover from winters in Colorado. used them in bitterly cold days skiing and would use them on cold bouldering days. I think there are some reuseable ones that you just microwave, not tried them though.

[dave]

i got these handwarmer things. theres two of them, one is like a mirror image of the other. each one is like a kind of bag with one open end or about 3 inches diameter, but each bag has got five parts sticking off it, between 2 and 3 inches long and hollow and connected to the main bag. they are made from what looks like two layers fabric made from chemically synthesised polymers, sandwiched around some kind of membrane layer which seems to be full of tiny holes that are big enought to let water vapour out but not let water in. Strange things they are.

[tommytwotone]

got my ex-GF something like this in a bid to get her out on chilly days (didn't work tho):

a handwarmer thing where you 'crack' a bit of metal inside it, it reacts with some gel type stuff and gets warm and hard (insert Kenneth Williams innuendo here). To re-use, you (weirdly) stick it in a pan of boiling water and it goes back to its original state...

[moose]

i got these handwarmer things. theres two of them, one is like a mirror image of the other. each one is like a kind of bag with one open end or about 3 inches diameter, but each bag has got five parts sticking off it.... Strange things they are.

 :roll:  i guess i should have seen that coming... seriously though, i have tried umpteen pairs of gloves and mittens and nothing really works (think I need something to actively warm my fingers rather than delay their re-cooling).  I quite fancy the idea or having a hand warmer  based on man's red fire: elemental mastery in the serivice of bouldering...sorted.

 

[SA Chris]

Or how about a miniture nuclear reactor?

[Moo]

Ok now I'm sorry to hark back to page one here but I think that the honourable mr panton has missed some of the arguably most essential bouldering tools.
1. Wire brush, I prefer a steel bristled one, great for cleaning the gunk off of engine blocks, but also useful for those gritstone classics, after about 3 minutes of intensive brushing, any hold can be brought conveniently down to your level, allowing you to crimp it out.#

2. Blow Torch, for those wet and windy days, when lets face it none of us can really be arsed with the waiting for our chosen location to dry out.

3, Pof or resin, works better than chalk need I say any more.

4, Hammer and chisel, your basic cold chisel, will work best. I use in conjunction with a short mash hammer, its a set up that fits neatly into my bag and doesnt weigh too much for the walk in. Now and any of the pesky little sharp crimps will be great hangable jugs after such short work.

5, DeWalt portable hammer drill. take a selection of masonary bits. The perfect tool for improving monos which are too small, or just not there atall. It's also really the only tool to take out retro bolting.

Panton I'm sure you won't miss out these essentials next time you write and article, any further advice you need just gimme a shout :wink:

[Bonjoy]

On the hand warmer tip check this out : http://www.hotelympia.com/page.cfm/T=m/Action=Press/PressID=153
 Chap in the office just got one from Tesco at lunch. Sounds great for the crag, self heating shot of espresso with guarana in a cup! Hand warmer and stimulants all rolled into one!

[moose]

... that stuff may warm-hands, it may taste good, it could bloody well guarantee to get me onto the "font8a list"... but I refuse on principle to buy anything marketed at "... aspirational, fast living 18-35 year old consumers who demand high quality premium beverages that fit in with their fast moving lifestyles."  :wink:

jesus christ.....
"Rocket Fuel's powerful packaging, unique selling proposition and young different & dynamic brand values make it a perfect match for this evermore sophisticated target audience - Helping to drive the coffee & stimulation drinks market forward into new territory."

[dave]

thats a ponce's drink. Real men drink nowt but watter at the crag in winter, the colder the better.

[SA Chris]

Aye, specially if its so coold that ye have ter break ice in t' top of t' bottle.