[grimer]

Just posted about some old Andy Pollitt article in High years ago about his climbing in the Peak, North Wales and Yorkshire from about 1987. I found it incredibly inspiring. Just wondering what other peoples' favourites were from the glory days of mags?

[slackline]

Can't think of any off the top of my head (I only started climbing 10 years ago, so nothing I will have read since then is likely to classify as a classic anyway), but Andy Popp and others have posted a few articles in this thread that I've enjoyed reading.

[nik at work]

Kidnapping Jerry and the one where two people got shrunk and did a big wall ascent of Regent Street? at Millstone.

Can't remember who wrote them though

[TobyD]

I always loved Paul Pritchard's pieces in OTE, the slateheads etc one, which is in Deep Play is the one that most sticks out i think. Especially a line in it about crunching over broken glass in his all stars the morning after a party.
Also some Stanage through the grades thing, again, can't remember who was responsible for that? 

[Somebody's Fool]

Lats, Babes and Bouldering by Jimbo Kimber's got to be up there, but that's most definitely nu-skool.

If this is Grimer fishing for compliments, then I'll bite as well, and say I thoroughly enjoyed the one where he takes a beginner up Debauchery in the rain.

[nik at work]

Vicarious Pleasures if I remember correctly.

[grimer]

Ah no, while thank you thank you thank you, I was thinking about old school to me when i wrote that. I was thinking of the time when one consumes mags, which for me was about 1986 to 1990, formative years. But I suppose that time moves on..

But glad you enjoyed them 

[GraemeA]

The Art of the States article that Jerry mentioned in his lecture was a classic, read that a number of times when I was a sprog.

And the 'Je suis un rock star' in one of the very early issues of High. Some mention of Big Ron sniffing around topless sunbathers sticks in my head for some reason.

[stom]

Not a magazine article as such, but i was having a clearout the other week and came across a few old copies of The Thing.  They once again provided quite a bit of amusement!

[Falling Down]

I can't remember who wrote it (Ray Kay?) but New Moon about adventure climbing on the Lleyn was one of the best articles OTE ever published. "The tottering convex slopes of the orange frown like a skinheads brow over cilan where herring shoals rise at the full moon" or words to that effect opened the article and it took of from there.. fantastic evocative stuff.

[Pantontino]

Chris Gore article about the Bowderstone, Jerry and Pete Kirton in about 1984. This was way ahead of its time. Radical steep rock, first generation Boreal Fires, tiny shorts and bags of attitude. Debunked the whole romantic myth about 'running it out on the headwall', which in reality often meant no more than a ten foot plop onto a train stopping runner, whereas every time a boulderer fell off they hit the ground, and in pre-pad days that hurt (still does if you're a creaky old fucker like me).

Actually, I haven't read it in ages, so it is probably quite tame, but at the time it had a huge impact on me.

[Oli]

Lats, Babes and Bouldering by Jimbo Kimber's got to be up there, but that's most definitely nu-skool.

Is there a copy of this on t'internet? I'm sure I remember someone saying they were going to post it a while ago, but couldn't find anything.

[chillax]

That article in OTE that reported the first ascents of Agincourt and Maginot Line. Many moons before my time, but that picture of him on Agincourt never fails to inspire. Anyone know where one could acquire a copy in poster size?

And that article Grimer wrote about hitching around Europe. Not sure why, but that one's very memorable.

[Drew]

I loved the one with the pictures of Seb vacuuming the holds on Meshuga (?)

I'm sure there were two amusing pics in that article, but I can't remember what t'other one was.

[Johnny Brown]

New Moon about adventure climbing on the Lleyn was one of the best articles OTE ever published.

Agreed. In OTE's slate issue Martin Crook's article was similarly brilliant.

[Zods Beard]

The only article I can remember from the early 90's was the issue of High when the Moff crushed Dominator. The cover picture? of Jerry crushing it in purple leggins still gets me psyched to this day


.

Kidnapping Jerry and the one where two people got shrunk and did a big wall ascent of Regent Street? at Millstone.

Can't remember who wrote them though

I remember the shrunken people one!

[lagerstarfish]

 
My favourite bit of Grimer's writing was the thing he wrote about his parents finding his pr0n collection and the consequent "punishment". This should be republished on 'tinterweb (I have lost my copy).

[SA Chris]

That article in OTE that reported the first ascents of Agincourt and Maginot Line. Many moons before my time, but that picture of him on Agincourt never fails to inspire. Anyone know where one could acquire a copy in poster size?

The famous "when 6c isn't hard any more, and 6b is approaching a rest" (is that right?) And the double page spead pic of him hanging from two fingertips and a mono. Totally inspiring. I remember in the heady days of my first ever forays into climing believing I could take on the world, reading about Hubble and Liquid Amber and deciding I would do Liquid Amber first, as Jerry was taller so it would probably be suited to me.

[grimer]

There was a great Paul Pritchard article about Red Walls with some beautiful pictures by Richie Brooks. One of PP hanging off a spike, wearing a baggy acrylic jumper, stripey leggings, looking totally at home. It looked really cold and wintery and real. Amazing.

[dobbin]

I remember the picture! PP has his arms crossed and looks casual, the caption is something like Paul pritchard putting his trust in a sling or something. I got clammy paws just looking at the picture.

Always loved grimers writing mesen, particularly the stoney woodshed Ben and Jerry one. Brilliant and very cheeky. Could have been a page from my mid 90s diary.

Does anyone know of the Tronc Feullieu article that is (I think) in games climbers play? thats awesome climbing writing. I contemplated doing a parody - Scott Feulieeu but I dont think I have the talent to do it justice.

[slackline]

If anyone has copies of these great articles would you be able to scan them and stick linked images in the Crags Classics thread for all to enjoy (providing you don't mind breaching the odd copyright law  )

[Jaspersharpe]

I remember that PP pic, class.

Think the most inspiring thing I read as a kid was the article in High about the history of Great Wall on Cloggy. Not sure who wrote it (possibly Perrin, not that I was ever a massive fan of his writing) but the inspiring thing was that it was all building up to the fact that there was this ultimate route of total commitment and difficulty that had so far repulsed everyone. The line about how one day someone will climb it with Redhead's quote ringing in his mind "It'll go but there's nothing, it's death". And the totally amazing part of it being that they had to add on a bit at the end because Johnny had climbed the fucking thing. I was 11 or 12 and I read it about 20 times. I remember even reading it to my Grandma who didn't know a thing about climbing.

[andyh]

There was an old Grimer article in an OTE summer supplement about a hotshot climber called Miles Goldie. It was ace - any chance of getting it scanned in here?

I lent it to a non-climber to read to stop them being so maudlin and never got it back.

[Johnny Brown]

Does anyone know of the Tronc Feullieu article that is (I think) in games climbers play? thats awesome climbing writing.

Yeah, brilliant. A big influence...

I contemplated doing a parody - Scott Feulieeu

 

[Bonjoy]

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!