simpson vanishes...

[rginns]

But that might just be because its YouTube suggestions list introduced me to Zuzana in "Hardest Pushups Ever" my psyche got a little distracted after that..

Hardest Pushups Ever

My god, this is the best post on this thread... :shag: :bow:

 

[BB]

I'm not going to comment either way as I don't feel qualified. I've only met RS once at a beach party in Swanage and I may have had some ales!

What does occur to me is that sponsors wants to get something out of their arrangement with the climber. That usually takes the form of pictures or video of the climber showcasing the sponsors gear while doing something noteworthy. If for whatever reason, the climber is either unwilling or unable to provide any material showing their gear off then they get nothing out of it, so why bother continuing to sponsor that person. Seems like it's more likely to be a commercial motivated decision to terminate the sponsorship rather than one motivated by doubt over the RS's claims.

Just my thoughts.

 

[slackline]

What does occur to me is that sponsors wants to get something out of their arrangement with the climber. That usually takes the form of pictures or video of the climber showcasing the sponsors gear while doing something noteworthy. If for whatever reason, the climber is either unwilling or unable to provide any material showing their gear off then they get nothing out of it, so why bother continuing to sponsor that person. Seems like it's more likely to be a commercial motivated decision to terminate the sponsorship rather than one motivated by doubt over the RS's claims.

Just my thoughts.

I've an Inifinity Ropes poster that bears the caption...

"Rich Simpson grimaces
and bears down on
the third ascent of
Liquid Ambar 8c
LPT, Wales, UK
Photo : Ray Wood"

It certainly looks like him and he's got a good grimace on.

Infinity Ropes is owned by Wild Country, so there is another source to check the veracity of the ascent of this particular route (i.e. Ray Wood although the belayer isn't mentioned) for those that are bothered by this.

 

[Nigel]

I imagine the likelihood is that he went back specifically for photos.

 

[rodma]

Are you sure he wasn't dropped by his sponsors due to generally supporting the DFBWGC thread :shrug:

 

[slackline]

I imagine the likelihood is that he went back specifically for photos.

A common practice that I'm aware of, but it would seem strange to then caption the picture that way (unless sponsors are not adverse to bending the truth to their advantage when going back for such pictures).

Only one way of verifying this though....Climber carry a contact page for Ray Wood.

 

[cofe]

I think Ray's pic featured in one mag, while another, earlier photo featured in the other mag. I might be wrong.

 

[ghisino]

I imagine the likelihood is that he went back specifically for photos.

A common practice that I'm aware of, but it would seem strange to then caption the picture that way (unless sponsors are not adverse to bending the truth to their advantage when going back for such pictures).

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[petejh]

out of interest ive just google "new york marathon rich simpson" nothing apart from 2h30 is 20 minutes slower than the best in the world!!!!

then "rich simpson boxing" again nothing.as sloper says every boxer and amatuer fight is closely regulated.something would be online

I'm sorry but comments like this are just bullshit and make a mockery of this thread.
I too thought it odd that there's no no internet history of Rich's boxing and running career. Then I thought I'd test the accuracy of googling for someone's boxing career, so I googled four boxers with whom I once served in the army - the result:
Only 1 out of the 4 people I searched for showed up any trace of an internet boxing record, yet I know that all 4 of them were 'proper' boxers who boxed for their local clubs and the army. Go figure.

Just because there's no record on the web of Rich's boxing doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The only sure way to verify stuff is to actually ask Rich which club he boxes at and take it from there. I tried calling him today but he didn't answer. I'll try again because you can't seriously doubt someone without first talking to them. These comments by Rich from a previous internet shit-show on ukb strike me as very apt:

'Again, if your idea of 'normal verification' as you quite eloquently put it, was the same as mine, then I believe that neither of us would be in this situation. I believe that in order to verify something, you must make an effort to speak to the ‘organ grinder’ as opposed to the ‘monkey’ (no offence Keith/Chris), or in this case, approach the climber in question in the first instance. I do believe approaching me outright would have helped matters substantially, saving both time, effort and more importantly, enabling you to obtain reliable and accurate facts, as opposed to hearsay. I hope that we can both learn from this.'

and:

'I told James I would not be willing to give him a copy of evidence to use solely to pass onto anonymous doubters, who were not willing to ask for a copy themselves. Instead, I told James to refer the 'anonymous’ doubters to me, where I would be more than willing to provide them with evidence and put their minds at rest. Hardly an outright refusal in anyone’s book. '

and:

'All I ask is that if anyone does still have sincere doubts about my climbing, please approach me (preferably after x-mas) and I will try my best to put your mind at rest. If you are not willing to approach me, then can I urge you not to continue the mindless gossip and pub rumors, which are both upsetting for me, and a bad reflection on the climbing scene. Can’t say fairer than that, can I?'

They strike me as the words of perhaps the worlds shittest candidate for climbing sponsorship, but not those of the Uk's biggest climbing bullshitter.

 

[Pantontino]

I've an Inifinity Ropes poster that bears the caption...

"Rich Simpson grimaces
and bears down on
the third ascent of
Liquid Ambar 8c
LPT, Wales, UK
Photo : Ray Wood"

It certainly looks like him and he's got a good grimace on.

Infinity Ropes is owned by Wild Country, so there is another source to check the veracity of the ascent of this particular route (i.e. Ray Wood although the belayer isn't mentioned) for those that are bothered by this.

I asked Ray about this just now and he said someone else (he wasn't sure who) captioned the pic incorrectly. It was (like pretty much every hard climbing shot you see) a return visit after the event.

That neither proves or disproves anything though - just a standard scenario for a sponsored climber.

 

[Doylo]

When rich became aware of the UKC thread two weeks ago he wrote to his sponsors telling them he was giving up his sponsorship. He had no intention to reply to the thread. Ultimately he doesn t care if people think he s a liar but he might write something in december when term finishes. And you can keep googling rich simpson boxing/running til the cows come home but i assure you you won t find anything.

 

[Neil F]

Please can someone post a link to the UKC thread?

Ta!

 

[Stahl]

If this thread is anything to go by, the ongoing dialogue could prove tricky

That thread is 4 years old.

Any suggestions how one would go about doing that tactfully ?

You have a public website with 7 pages of posts accusing him of lying and you're worried about how to speak to him tactfully? You're probably well past that stage. In the circumstances I think at the very least he should be contacted to give him an opportunity to respond.

 

[Johnny Brown]

I'd presume they mean e running one from three weeks back, which sparked all this:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=429267

Today I did some checking.
I contacted someone I know in the administration of Athletics in the Midlands, based in Birmingham.
This person is not only a full time employee, but also is involved in;
1) The local club - Birchfield Harriers.
2) Team management & coachingh the West Midlands (B'ham) Schools athletics.
4) Team management at Midland level.
5) Team Management at England level.
6) Keeping the records and (inc power of 10 I believe) in the Midlands.
7) Organising meetings (League, cup and open) at Alexander Stadium.
8 ) Seeding of athletes at meetings of all levels.

You can therefore take it that this person should know what's what, particularly regarding both the supposed level of the performance, and the fact that my contact had fingertip access to ALL the records on the computer sat on their desk.

This person could NOT find;

1) Any meeting late summer 2008 at Alexander Stadium that included a mile.
2) No mention of the supposed athlete anywhere at 1500m/mile.
3) There were NO meetings anywhere else with any such performance.
4) NO record of this person at ANY time having been at such a level.

Furthermore the track is AlexanDER Stadium, not AlexanDRE, a bit like saying you'd climbed all the E5's at StanEDGE.

I've just been on the phone to another mate of mine - a senior official/coach at his local club - she'd never heard of him. That now makes the 2 most knowledgeable persons in the area he lives in, who are responsible for the coaching and meeting organsations not having heard of his name.
Considering he claimed to have finished a mile in 3:58, having pacemade, and then being overtaken by the rest (?) of the field in a time FASTER than the fastest oficially recorded by a briton that year.
And what happened to all the others in the race ?
If I'd run 3:54 - 3:57 and been ignored, I'd be complaining like mad.

There won't be any "results" shown - I've already checked and found that there wasn't any such race.

Also, in 2008, only 1 British runner broke 4 minutes for the mile - Andrew Baddeley.

 

[Huffy]

Man, this is depressing

If Rich does get to read all this i'm sure it will just re affirm his decision to leave climbing.

Adios gossip mongers.

 

[carlisle slapper]

I'd just like to point out that i sent Rich a facebook message saying i doubted his running claims the day i posted on here about it. As i thought it was the least i could do. I also had in mind what he said about the argument being between him and his doubters in 2006,( very smart of him to hold onto that FA footage of the ground up on carless torque for 4 years, it'll almost be worth as much as the county footage when it comes out!)

Chris, Rich must have said to you or Keith who belayed him on Action? and where did the guy (or girl) go afterwards?, did you not all go for a celebratory beer or cake or something? also was the "ascent" day footage (with the decent conditions and the Unkle track) filmed after or before the ascent?

I better point out that that last question is loaded somewhat in that those links he does (assuming you cut when he falls off) are pretty small, and going from the pinch to the top is roughly about 8b (although i'll double check on the consensus for that) but everyone i've seen (in person with my very own eyes) seriously trying it has done this link and atleast 5 of them (Felix, Manuel, Ben, Ryan, Andre) haven't done the whole route yet (all of whom have climbed 8c+ or 9a). Infact the best bit of footage from the ground in the film seems to be from doing the jump to the 2nd pocket after clipping then you cut. Did you have any bigger sections which you left out the film or just weren't filming when he did them etc?

If you can't be arsed going through it then just send me a pm and i'll drop it as i don't want to wind you up. I appreciate if Rich is busy in his first term at cambridge and his exams are coming up too.

Comments that rich doesn't care if we think he's untrustworthy are a bit playground though. I dont care if he cares or not, but for the sake of future guidebooks (the only permanent influence this might have) and 100s of potentially mislead young climbers who have him up on their bedroom walls (they should choose a squeeky clean Robins (he's been bloody awesome this year on UK sport) or Mcclure in future). For the sake of the international reputation of English climbing.

I would quite happily volunteer for an ascent audit, whereby i produce witnesses, videos or statements or photo sequences from belayers and spotters of my 5 hardest ascents. As a show of solidarity and how much of not a big deal it is to get these things out in the open. I'm pretty sure i could ask some other high profile (sponsored) athletes to volunteer this too. UKB or C could run an article/ thread on it. After all its only fair tit for tat and all that, and if Rich has been fibbing it might help restore the faith of the average naive bumbly in british climbers.

 

[Doylo]

My memory is a bit hazy on the germany stuff as it was 5 years ago that i was out there and made the film.keith had gone by the time he d done action.i was out there with someone else (who simpson didn t get on with hence we didn t go to the same crag often.frustrating for me as i was hoping to get him doing it for the film). I don t even remember asking him who belayed him. This may seem strange but i was just psyched he d done it. I think he was there with a german friend. Can t remember which stage the footage used for the final edit was filmed. Pretty sure i don t have any footage of bigger links but will see if i can find the tapes. Some people may have done the same link and still not done it. Don t see why that means he can t of done it. It may be playground that he doesn t care what people think of him but thats what he said.

 

[Stahl]

I think this thread has gone as far as it can.

I've spoken to Rich. You may think that everyone checks UKB twice a day whether they climb or not, but in fact he was unaware of this thread until today. He's currently busy at college and will not respond straight away, if he will at all. I hope he will.

Dan: this analysis of the AD footage is a bit pointless. We know it's not ascent footage - a move by move breakdown of how hard he makes it look (to you) compared with how hard some other people make it look (to you) when doing it by a different sequence is not going to achieve anything. The fact is that the belayer and/or witnesses are unknown. If a belayer or witness was available that could testify to the ascent then that should be enough. Finally Dan, I'd drop the inquisitor role. I'm sure you only have the greater good of climbing as your intention, but it didn't make Rich look good when he did it to Ben and it doesn't become you either. I don't think an article would be a good idea.

As Doyle says, no-one will find any running or boxing records by Googling or ringing Alexander stadium. Speculation about this will not achieve very much. Either Rich will respond and all will hopefully be clear, or he will not - with the consequence that inferences will inevitably be drawn. Again, I hope he will.

 

[ferret]

as ive said before i hate these threads

i just wadded ru for saying enough is enough. i can understand peoples concerns as to how false claims can effect our sport, but i think threads like these are in their own way equally damaging. in my opinion it would be better to stop further postinguntil rich comes forward and says his piece or somebody has some kind of meaningful communication with him thats worth passing on.

i will say that as these threads go this wasnt hasnt been too bad, people have put their opinions forward thoughtfully and any potential "accusers" if u like have been forthright not hiding behind internet nicknames etc. that said it hasnt achieved much either, hopefully the weather will be good this weekend and we can all go climbing and forget about this, for a while at least

 

[mark s]

This mass doubting of a respected climber seems a regular thing now.
How many times have the masses been proved wrong?