Peak Rock - Sample Pages by Vertebrate Publishing

Peak Rock

the history, the routes, the climbers

Phil Kelly Graham Hoey Giles Barker and individual authors

Peak Rock

the history, the routes, the climbers

www.v-publishing.co.uk

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Phil Kelly Graham Hoey Giles Barker and individual authors

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Peak Rock

the history, the routes, the climbers

First published in 2013 by Vertebrate Publishing. Vertebrate Publishing—Crescent House, 228 Psalter Lane, Sheffield S11 8UT Copyright © Phil Kelly, Graham Hoey, Giles Barker and individual authors. Foreword copyright © Ron Fawcett 2013. Front cover: Andy Pollitt making the third ascent of Ron Fawcett’s Scritto’s Republic at Millstone. Photo by Bernard Newman. Back cover: Ryan Pasquill on Make it Funky at Raven Tor. Photo by Mike Hutton. The authors have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as authors of this work. The authors have stated to the publishers that, except in such minor respects not affecting the substantial accuracy of the work, the contents of the book are true. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-1-906148-72-0 (Hardback) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanised, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologise for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition. This book has been written on a non-commercial basis, with proceeds being paid to the Mountain Heritage Trust and the family of Giles Barker. This book has been made possible with the help and support of the British Mountaineering Council. Designed & typeset in The Sans and VerbCond by Nathan Ryder—www.v-graphics.co.uk Printed and bound in China by Latitude Press Ltd.

Contents Acknowledgements �� 5 Giles Ellis Barker 1956–1992 �� 6 Preface �� 9 Foreword �� 11 Introduction �� 13 1

The First Peak District Tigers �� 15

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

The Search for Difficulty Begins �� 29 A Decade of Expansion �� 41 Universities, Teams and Clubs in the Thirties �� 51 Always a Little Steeper �� 61 The Emergence of Joe Brown and Don Whillans �� 73 The Biven-Peck Partnership �� 91 The Fifties: A Developing Decade �� 103 Gritstone in the Early Sixties �� 117 White Life �� 137 Gritstone in the Seventies: A New Order �� 163 The New Golden Age �� 171 The Limestone Revolution �� 187 Gritstone After the Gold Rush �� 205 The Dawn of Sport: A Bolt from the Blue �� 219 Eighties Gritstone: The Shape of Things to Come �� 243 Parthian Shot �� 275 A Bouldering Primer �� 285 Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Power �� 317 Into the Zone �� 329 The Dynamics of Change �� 351 It Ain’t What You Do… �� 379

About the Authors �� 394 The Routes �� 396

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Tom Randall climbing Eye of the Tiger at Ilam Rock. Photo by Mike Hutton

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Preface

Preface When Giles Barker began to work on his book in the early 1980s, rock-climbing in the whole of the country was in a state of flux. The Peak District in particular was in the throes of its own growing pains as a result of activists beginning to emulate the actions of their contemporaries in the hotbeds of North Wales limestone and early slate developments. Up to that point, climbing in the Peak District had largely been split quite simply along a limestone/gritstone divide. Although both had difficult periods, by the end of the 1970s they had achieved a state of some maturity, with strong ethics and solid traditional values. Then came the 1980s, and something had to change. Giles saw this approaching and knew that the changes would see climbing splinter into different disciplines and that whilst under the same umbrella, each would develop along autonomous lines. Looking back on the past, Giles knew that the last time a comprehensive history of rock-climbing in the Peak District had been published was in 1966 when Eric Byne and Geoffrey Sutton released their classic and popular book High Peak. Byne was in a unique position to write High Peak, having documented activities in the area for the previous 30 years and after a number of years writing a variety of Peak District guidebook scripts as well as acting as Series Editor for the Peak District area. High Peak was to become the seminal history book of early Peak District rock- climbing and, to this day, should be high on the reading list of anyone with an interest in the subject. Giles christened his book Peak Performance, and in 1983 he began to undertake research into his primary sources, including interviews with a number of Peak District activists over the years, ranging from Herbert Hartley and Jack Longland right through

Byne and Sutton’s 1966 High Peak.

to Ron Fawcett and Andy Pollitt. By the late 1980s Giles had the foundations for a great book, and a number of friends suggested that it was ready for publication, but Giles

As the reference text for the early period of Peak

was not sure, and carried on with his research and writing, always trying to learn and

District climbing, Peak Rock draws on High Peak but also

to document that little bit more. Sadly, Giles was killed in a caving accident in 1992 and he was never to see his finished

includes a considerable amount of newly-published research into some of its subject matter.

work in print. His script was left untouched for nearly 20 years until Graham and I talked about the recordings Giles had completed with his interviewees and we started to take a look at the script itself, which we located along with the original tapes in the Moun-

Terms of Reference

tain Heritage Trust archives. The script we read was incomplete but what remained was

Peak Rock is not a book detailing the general history

clearly a text that needed to see the light of day and so we gradually formulated a plan.

of Peak District climbing. Instead, this book is intended

Some chapters were found to be missing (we don’t know whether or not they ever

to celebrate the cutting edge and significant develop-

actually existed) and would need to be written from scratch. Additionally, the original

ments across the years since James W Puttrell first set

script finished with a largely unreadable chapter discussing 1980s gritstone activities.

foot on rock at Wharncliffe. As such, we have sought to

This chapter would need a thorough overhaul and the remainder of the narrative, bringing

keep the bar high and to maintain pace with the ‘A’

the story completely up-to-date, would need to be treated as a completely new work.

Team, rather than offering an overall narrative of each

It was clear that to do Giles’ manuscript justice would be an almost impossible challenge for one person to take on and so we began to consider who we should invite

generation’s activities. This means that whilst Peak Rock concentrates on the

to be a part of a team effort, each of them experts in their own field. Each person that we

cream of developments through the years, some climbers

approached gave us their immediate support and soon we started to work towards the

may be surprised not only by some of the inclusions but

book you see today, adding to the team as necessary. In the process of the preparation

also by some of the subjects we have simply not covered.

of Peak Rock, we have striven to follow the example shown by Giles and we have gathered

We have only deviated from Giles’ plan on one point; the

together further interview material and other primary source information. One example

name of the book. For a number of reasons this had to

of this is locating the diaries of the late Harry (H M) Kelly which provide a previously

change, and that’s the reason that the book you are now

unseen angle and timeline for early developments at Stanage Edge and Laddow.

reading is called Peak Rock.

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Andy Brown on Linden. Photo by Chris Griffiths.

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Gritstone in the Seventies: A New Order Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth remembering that, having quit his second skyhook, Drummond was committed to this same piece of gently overhanging wall. Mick Fowler

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PEAK ROCK — the history, the routes, the climbers

Although the early part of the 1970s was generally frustratingly short of ideas, several new routes appeared which heralded a new approach. They also highlighted a sharp conflict between the traditional ‘ground-up’ style and the emergent abseil inspection/cleaning/practising moves styles which would largely supersede it. Looking back across some 40 years, the early 1970s appears to be a confused period for climbing. In reality, it was a transitional time. With some notable exceptions, most exponents of the traditional, on-sight style of first ascents had run out of steam. Strong influences were being felt from climbers such as Proctor and Livesey, who prepared their routes in all manner of ways. For some years these influences were strongly resisted. However, by the mid-1970s it was obvious that the majority of high-standard new climbs would at least be abseil inspected. Although a handful of brilliant climbers such as Pat Littlejohn, Mick Fowler and Stevie Haston would continue to push the boundaries of ground-up first ascents, the new approach won all over Britain in the 1970s. Unfortunately, whilst this produced magnificent, clean and highly technical climbs, it tended to cast a shadow over some of the earlier efforts of people who didn’t have the benefit of pre-ascent knowledge and had consequently been forced into using aid. Ironically, despite its popularity and its reputation for

Mark Stokes on Guillotine. Photo by Ged Storah.

being at the forefront of technical development, Peak gritstone was a step behind the new routes appearing

I would say that, at that time, my awareness, environmentally, ecologically and my sense

in Yorkshire during the first half of the decade. Routes

of other people and traditional critical tradition was less than it is now. And I was one of

such as Almscliff’s Big Greeny, Encore (both by John

many who felt that their obligation was to their notion of themselves and their notion

Syrett), Rectum Rift (Al Manson) and Goblin’s Eyes (Hank

of themselves as kinds of conquistadors—the world was something that you discov-

Pasquill) all climbed in 1972–1973 were a year or two

ered, you shaped and you made. I no longer hold those kind of simplistic, colonialising

ahead of technical developments in the Peak. Not only

philosophies. I think it was a question of the individualistic ethic pushed a little too far.

were these Yorkshire and Lancashire grit supremos

And really the use of a piton and the chipping of a hold on grit in those particular

climbing as hard (if not harder) than anyone had before,

circumstances are evidence of the bankruptcy of that kind of philosophy, the inability to

they were also climbing on sight.

entertain the notion of a greater obligation than to your own sense of what is fitting.

In Derbyshire, Drummond was tackling some of the last great problems on grit. His approach typified the

It was a while before I moved back to recognise a deeper sense in myself than being what I thought was the important thing at the time.

conflict between the traditional ‘ground-up’ style and

Guillotine was hard enough to need a peg for aid at the top; for a Stanage route this

pre-programmed, top-roped efficiency. In addition, he

was a problem, although there was the recent precedent of Calvary. Flute of Hope had

introduced the spice and controversy of technical inno-

previously been attempted and had an old sling hanging from it. Drummond rested on

vation. Between 1971 and 1973, Drummond tackled

this and then used a nut to reach across to The Rasp. Ironically Drummond’s effort wasn’t

fine hard lines which illustrate this conflict: Guillotine

widely recognised whereas The Rasp, which, after all, was ascended in a similar style (on

(Stanage, 1971), Flute of Hope (Higgar Tor, 1971), Archangel

sight with a siege, including a rest on a sling), had been hailed as a gritstone breakthrough.

(Stanage, 1972), Linden (Curbar, 1973) and Wuthering

Even Archangel caused a stir, partly because it was top-roped first and partly because

(Stanage, 1973). Three of these: Guillotine, Flute of Hope

it had previously been known as Saul’s Arête, even though it had yet to be led. Guillo-

and Linden, required aid. Consequently they received

tine and Flute of Hope were experiments which could be improved upon, but Archangel

heavy criticism and ultimately Drummond himself

was quickly to become one of the great classics of the modern era. It was also the first

recognised them as errors of judgement:

time a completely blank arête had successfully been tackled and its style was soon to

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Gritstone in the Seventies: A New Order

Ron Fawcett on Archangel. Photo: High Magazine archive.

be reproduced at an upwardly spiralling standard. This was where Drummond was at

for me from that point of view. He was willing to follow

his best, on the type of route which previous climbers had dismissed as impossible.

it in that naive sense.

Again and again, he found relatively reasonable solutions simply by experimenting.

So I chipped a tiny hollow for the first skyhook and

Even in 1972, Archangel wasn’t as hard as many other gritstone routes. It was the con-

that got me over the bulge. There was one nut in it, in

cept of a blank unprotected arête and the sustained, technical laybacking required to

the crack above the little niche and I thought it was pret-

subjugate it which had stopped earlier efforts, including one by Whillans in the 1950s. Wuthering (now E2 5b) was another top quality route, which was nowhere near

ty good, but I was a little bit uncertain whether I would hit the ground or not and, on the whole, weakly and

cutting edge, but which required an inspired eye to find it. Clearly a buttress as big

squeamishly, I decided to make another little hollow for

as Wuthering’s had cried out for an ascent for decades. Equally clearly, the massive

a hook and I used it and I did the rest of the climb. So it

guardian roof had turned all-comers away. Drummond came up with the novel solution

was bold, it was dangerous, but it wasn’t really a climb

of crotch-splitting bridging across Robin Hood’s Chockstone Chimney followed by a

of great faith. There it was, it then existed.

teetering foot-traverse along the lip of the overhang. The result was a route of great character, an undying Stanage classic. Linden was another matter:

Drummond was later to add:

My girlfriend at the time (Linda) was there when I climbed it. We both were partial to the Linden trees and

Linden was a little bit different because it was right at the chipping edge, because Tom

so I named it after both of them; the trees, and also to

and I bouldered out at the bottom of it. He reckoned that it could go free, up over those

celebrate the beauty of the woman.

first very, very hard moves. I really didn’t think it could. He had more knowledge and

In many respects Linden was a terrific climb. It climbed

ability than I, but he couldn’t do it and that was the acid test for me. If Tom couldn’t

a futuristic wall, the type of challenge which had never

actually do it then, okay, I’d be prepared to use a skyhook, but I didn’t even invite him to

before been entertained on grit; very steep, sustained,

be a part of it because I just knew instinctively that he’d be squeamish, he wouldn’t

and highly technical, with very little protection. But the

want to. So I did it with Hamish [Green-Armytage]. Hamish had only just begun climb-

novelty of Drummond’s approach, the chipped ‘dots,’ the

ing so, as far as he was concerned, I could use skyhooks, so it was probably convenient

skyhooks and even, to some extent, the top rope practice,

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… At present the position of Peak grit as a sanctuary of free climbing is very finely balanced and the outcome is in doubt. Pegs are appearing on Stanage V Diffs and jammed nuts are becoming more common. It would appear that the example being set by a few leading climbers is beginning to influence more average climbers to the detriment of the state of the rock… … There must be a few good lines left on grit that would be possible with a peg or two, but is that the way? The bigoted attitudes of some of the Lakeland guidebook writers may seem unpalatable to many, but at least some standards are being defended, which is better than none at all. Drummond’s reply in a later edition of Mountain (May 1974) was a defence of uncommon brio.

So Molehill and Myhill have joined forces. Not content with murder by innuendo of my efforts, Molehill opens its pages to the service of the notorious Peak District landlord. But Drummond’s defence did have a flaw. He asked Myhill:

If he doesn’t think that my ascent of the Linden was impeccable, why didn’t he go and climb it first? Why doesn’t he go and climb it now? The reply could have been that the route should have been left for a better climber to come along, however long that took. Drummond’s argument was a justification of experimentation:

He’d realise that Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor Cenotaph ascended by Saint Joseph without a pin here and a pin there. And Quietus top-roped first. I’m still learning how to learn. Silly Myhill. It isn’t your hill. The route is there for you too. Go on—open your legs—let’s see what you can do. Balancing on these two impeccable skyhooks should keep you quiet. You might even learn to pray; and not prey. Drummond had a valid point about experimentation. Myhill had an equally valid point about over-use of aid. Other climbers also spoke out against the over-use of aid at Ed Drummond on a repeat ascent of Wuthering. Photo by Geoff Birtles.

this time. (Allan Austin, for example, was particularly critical of the amount of aid being employed on new routes in the Lakes.) Nevertheless a Drummond, a Proctor, a Gosling

simply offended local climbers too much. His ascent never

and a Brown, all of whom bent the rules, were probably essential if climbing was to

received the credit it deserved. It was considered to be

progress. Drummond, looking back from the perspective of the 1980s, commented on

an unpalatable step too far. In its free state, Linden is

how climbers criticise without acknowledging tradition:

now graded E6 6b; that standard of climb simply did not

The thing is that this puritanical streak is ahistorical. It’s like a denial of memory, a deni-

exist anywhere in Britain in 1973. The crux lies right

al of our tradition. We have evolved slowly and worked at it slowly—it’s a towering pyr-

near the start, where Drummond used his first skyhook,

amid. We stand on the shoulders of previous generations. There were outstanding

but the adrenalin really surges on the final unprotected

climbs in early generations that were clearly remarkable and out of keeping with the

wall. In Mick Fowler’s essay in Extreme Rock (1987) regard-

broad general direction of most of the climbs at such a given time. They were very bold,

ing the first free ascent he made the accurate point that:

unprotected and so on. It seems to me that, in every era of climbing, there are great

It’s worth remembering that, having quit his second sky-

expressions of the human spirit. In every era, there are those recognitions that we aren’t

hook, Drummond was committed to this same piece of

lizards and we have to recognise our susceptibility to falling off and so we put in some-

gently overhanging wall.

thing to protect ourselves and even, on occasion, use them for aid.

Keith Myhill (who had himself been attempting the

The Linden controversy provides a fascinating insight into the dilemma over ethics,

line) was the first person to attack Drummond publicly,

whether to climb a route in a flawed style or leave it for someone better. This problem

in a celebrated letter to Mountain in January 1974:

has continuously beset the climbing fraternity. To further complicate matters here are

This event must surely mark the lowest point in grit-

two ironies which show Drummond and Myhill in completely different lights. The first

stone climbing for a very long time. A hammered nut

is contained in the Drummond comments about The White Edge:

may seem undesirable to some and repeated top rope

My belief that a clear and distinct break with the dubious past of artificial climbing is needed.

rehearsals do not impress, but chipping ledges to use

Here is a Drummond who has clearly not noticed that he is standing on the shoulders

two skyhooks for aid and a chipped flake are just too

of previous generations, even if it is only to use a peg hole for his fingers, or an in situ

much…

piton for protection.

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Gritstone in the Seventies: A New Order

The second irony concerns ascents which Myhill made in the early 1970s, in particular, the day he leaned across a big green wall, using a nut for aid to unlock the stunning secrets of Cratcliffe’s Fern Hill. Vibrio Direct at Chatsworth was another Myhill problem, forced with the aid of a nut, again on a natural gritstone edge. Drummond might be forgiven if he wondered whether these routes were (in Myhill’s own words):

Offerings on the altar of his ego. Perhaps because Myhill wasn’t deemed to be as controversial as Drummond, Fern Hill was generally accepted. Once the crack had been cleaned out, the aid nut didn’t last long. Between 1970 and 1974, Cratcliffe was transformed. Paul Nunn began by exiting from The Bower with a route of towering quality. This was Requiem, named in honour of the recently deceased popular Scottish climber and raconteur, Tom Patey. Although Nunn had to use a couple of nuts to get started, the aid was accepted on what was clearly a very difficult problem for the time. Above The Bower, the route followed a journey of outstanding holds and outrageous moves in a superb position. Keith Myhill’s Cratcliffe routes, which arrived early in 1972, were preceded the year before by a Tom Proctor monster, Tom Thumb. This was the one of the more obvious gritstone roof cracks in the Peak which Brown and Whillans had unaccountably missed. Although Tom Thumb stuck out a long way, the jams turned out to be perfect, resulting in yet another magnificent climb. Myhill accompanied Proctor on Tom Thumb, and the

Keith Myhill.

pair, again with Proctor in the lead, created another classic, Boot Hill, at around the same time Fern Hill was climbed. Boot Hill featured a very long reach from a precarious foothold. Subsequently John Allen found a way for shorter people, up the arête. Both ways are of comparable difficulty (E3). Later, this route was to be retrospectively, and incorrectly, claimed by Peter Harding. When standards caught up in the mid-1970s, Cratcliffe became a goldmine for the competent gritstone climber. The aid on Fern Hill was cleaned up (possibly first by Martin Boysen) and John Allen managed to eliminate the Requiem aid in 1975. With the addition of Five Finger Exercise by Andy Edgar and John Allen’s ferocious Reticent Mass Murderer in 1976, Cratcliffe Tor had about half a dozen routes which compared in quality with any outcrop pitch in the country. Exhilarating swings on seemingly invisible holds gave these routes a quality out of all proportion to their size. Back in the 1970s, two other edges received some significant attention, Chatsworth and the Roaches. On Chatsworth, Myhill took up the 1970 guidebook’s challenge to traverse Sentinel Buttress, creating another superb modern gritstone traverse, Lichen. Myhill rated it as technically 6a; interestingly Rocksport, in reporting this, commented that:

It is doubtful if Welsh technical grading can be applied to gritstone. With hindsight, this comment now appears incredibly short-sighted. Nevertheless, it was a long time before technical grades were used in Peak District guidebooks. The first experiment, in Steve Bancroft’s 1977 Recent Developments supplement, caused confusion and controversy. Pearls (1972) was another Myhill addition to Chatsworth, filling an obvious, but by no means, easy gap on the right-hand side of Emerald Buttress. It was little-known for several years, but eventually attained classic status for its delicately bold finish. These were Myhill’s last offerings. His contributions, though few, were of magnificent quality. They remain amongst the very best routes on grit. Although the Roaches was hardly a major forcing ground in the early 1970s, as at Chatsworth, two outstanding routes appeared in 1970. Death Knell (E4 5c) by John Yates and Colin Foord, was a very bold slab climb with ground fall potential, as Yates had discovered on an early attempt. Ruby Tuesday (Yates and Mick Guillard) was rather an

Keith Myhill making the first ascent of Fern Hill, Cratcliffe. Photo by Al Evans.

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Tom told us about that in the café, with Birtles. They said: ‘We’ve top-roped this route, we’re thinking of digging a big hole at the bottom because we can get a peg in a shot hole in the left wall,’ and I thought to myself, ‘Fancy them telling me that, they must think I’m really past it’. … Bill Birch abseiled down and put a peg in, that was no good, under a little overhang between Green Death and Edge Lane and put a long sling on it. He also put two pegs back-to-back in the shot hole and then I went and led it. I nearly fell off the move at the top. You’re stood on a little ledge and there’s a scoop. Once you’re stood in the scoop you can reach a big jug—it’s dead obvious. I stood up and put my thigh on the scoop and it started slipping out of the scoop and I nearly fell off. I just managed to get back down. When I did do it, I just stood up on my foot… … I wouldn’t have minded putting a bolt in there so that you couldn’t use it for aid, but good for protection, a really nice safe lead, and I wasn’t really happy with it. But I was really happy that I led it on sight. Billy came up it, John Allen and Gabriel Regan as well… … I’d got my arguments ready if Birtles slagged me off in the magazines if I’d placed a bolt, because they’d been buggers for pre-placing things that’s been really hard to get Alan ‘Richard’ McHardy.

on in strenuous positions and top-roping them anyway, or doing without runners when they knew they could do them.

indefinite line, spiralling around existing climbs, but it was good and relatively hard (E2 5b) with an excellent

Never one to miss out on some juicy controversy, Ken Wilson reported the ascent in full in Mountain 37:

finish up an overhanging rib. Only a few years later, Ruby

The issues surrounding top-roping, abseil inspection and on-sight leads were thrown

Tuesday would have been regarded as little more than a

into even greater perspectives by a recent ascent on Millstone Edge. Here Richard

filler-in. In 1970, because so little development was taking

McHardy climbed the arête to the left of Green Death, with two pitons for protection

place in the Roaches area, it represented a major advance.

(Edge Lane: 50 ft XS). The pitons were placed prior to the ascent and details of the problem

Many people believed that the crag was worked out. Millstone Edge, another place which would soon be

were reported to McHardy by friends abseiling down the route, McHardy then made an on-sight lead.

the scene of feverish activity, guarded its secrets between

The pitch had previously been climbed on a top rope by Tom Proctor, whose aim then

1970 and 1974. Nevertheless, in between lay-offs, Tom

was to lead it with only one piton, leaving the crux virtually unprotected. The bid failed,

Proctor was tackling some decidedly futuristic proposi-

however, and Proctor was planning a further attempt.

tions. After Green Death, he turned the previously aided

McHardy’s ascent has, therefore, come under fire from Proctor’s associates, because

Knightsbridge into a modern Extreme, originally quite

of the extra protection that was used. McHardy claims that routes climbed after top

serious with minimal protection. It can now be well-pro-

rope practice have little relevance to mainstream climbing. The issue will no doubt become

tected with wires and is a justifiably popular E2. Edge

increasingly topical over the next few years, as climbers concentrate more and more on

Lane was more significant. Birtles and Proctor had both

essentially gymnastic problems.

top-roped the line and Proctor had considered it, soon after leading Green Death:

McHardy’s ascent was practically a solo because the top peg was useless. The route has subsequently become a solo and is now graded E5 5c. McHardy had made an immensely

I’d looked at Edge Lane then too. In 1971, I’d had a top

brave lead. There were very few climbs in Britain with such precarious moves, in such a

rope on it and really struggled because I didn’t think it’d

serious position, in 1974. Even with information from other people, to lead this arête

go. I was going to make myself a peg to fit in one of those

straight off was an impressive act.

holes. I actually tried to lead it after I’d done Green Death

The issue of top-roping and abseil inspection of new routes was to change course

for TV and I got over halfway up, but I was sweating like

within the year. While many people discussed the rights and wrongs of inspecting climbs

mad, the sun was on me and there was no chalk. Some-

before 1975, from this time onwards, inspection and even top-roping became such

body threw me a handkerchief with some dust in it, but

widely accepted practices on first ascents that people rarely bothered to mention what

it was hopeless, so I came down. Then I opened my big

they had done beforehand. Edge Lane was a turning point and standards would very

mouth to Richard and he went and did it. He took it that I’d

soon rocket. Understandably people didn’t want to leave the ground without prior

told him because I didn’t believe that he could do it and

knowledge of what they were letting themselves in for. Would the price for this be an

he took it really the wrong way and made himself do it.

inevitable decline in ethical purism? n

‘Richard’ was Alan ‘Richard’ McHardy. Competition drove him to pull out one of the best leads in gritstone history.

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A 17-year-old John Allen soloing Edge Lane in 1975. Photo by John Woodhouse.

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