Climbing History

Born in 1930, Joe Brown was one of the pivotal figures in post-war climbing in the UK. In the 1950s and 60s, and alongside contemporaries such as Don Whillans, he pushed the standard of rock climbing in the UK to new levels with the first ascents of classic routes such as Cemetery Gates (E1), Great Slab (E3) and The Great Crack (E3). Joe's routes frequently ventured into territory that was previously considered off-limits, often tackling bold and uncompromising features with minimal protection.

Brown was also an accomplished alpinist, establishing some of the more challenging routes of the day.

In 1955, Brown, along with George Band made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga (8586m), the third highest mountain in the world. This was the highest summit reached by a Briton at the time; Brown’s route took in an overhanging crack in the final wall and was probably the hardest climbing done at super-high altitude until the Mt. Everest South West Face expedition in 1975. [1]

An epic attempt on The Mustagh Tower followed in 1956, with treacherous snow conditions forcing retreat just short of the main summit.

In 1975, Brown led an expedition to Trango Tower, which was curtailed by Martin Boysen’s harrowing knee-jamming episode. The team returned the following year to make the first ascent, setting a new bench mark for continuously hard rock climbing at high altitude.

Other expeditions included Alaska, Ethiopia, Guyana, Iran, Morocco, the Pamirs, the Peruvian Andes and other Himalayan objectives, including two attempts on Everest.

In the 1960s, Brown was the star of several BBC outside broadcasts, most memorably The Old Man of Hoy.

It is sometimes suggested that Brown invented jamming. Though he refuted this as 'baloney' [4], he certainly employed the technique to great effect on many of his new routes.

His technical mastery is recounted by Jim Perrin:

With all the other greats of my time, I could understand how they climbed: fitness, physique, supple gymnasticism or sheer application. With Brown, there was something else at work. He was quite short, not heavily built, his muscles corded rather than developed, his movement smooth and deliberate. When I climbed with him, sometimes I would watch the way he made a move, copy it when I came to that point, and his way, that he had seen instantly, would be the least obvious and most immediately right. He was climbing's supreme craftsman, unerringly aware of the medium. [3]

References

[1] An extended biography written by Ollie Burrows is available here https://www.theclimbersshopjoebrownblog.co.uk/blog/joe-brown-biography including a list of many of Joe's first ascents.

[2] Interview with the BMC

[3] Obituary on UKClimbing written by Jim Perrin.

[4] Interview with Johnny Dawes, Best Forgotten Art, 1996.