Tom Proctor

Also known as Clark and The Hydraulic Man

Quick Info

From: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Date of birth: 1st Sep 1947
Age: 54 years old
Date of death: 9th Sep 2001
Gender: Male
Hardest Boulder (Worked): 7A
Hardest Sport (Worked): 7a+
Hardest Trad (Worked): E5
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E5
Notable Partnerships
Geoff Birtles
John Kirk

An influential climber in the UKs Peak District throughout the 1960s and 70s.

I climbed solo for the first year because I had no one to climb with, I didn't know anybody. I treated it like a job, I'd go out at 8 O’clock in the morning and take my sandwiches, climb to about 12, eat my lunch and then climb to about 4 O'clock and then go home. I did about 4,000 foot of solo in a day and that was every week. 1 went about 38-39 weeks on the trot around Birchens, finding new bits to do and treating it as a bit like a workout. [4]

Tom once climbed "157 routes, mostly hard" [3] in a day on Stanage.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2001/09/tom_proctor_dies-1249

[2] On The Edge, Issue 112 page 12

[3] Alan Rouse in Two's a Crowd, Mountain issue 21, page 28

[4] The Power of Climbing (1991), page 35

Contributors
60 contributions since 25th October 2021.
TdG
23 contributions since 8th September 2025.

Quick Info

From: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Date of birth: 1st Sep 1947
Date of death: 9th Sep 2001
Age: 54 years old
Gender: Male
Hardest Boulder (Worked): 7A
Hardest Sport (Worked): 7a+
Hardest Trad (Worked): E5
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E5
Notable Partnerships
Geoff Birtles
John Kirk

An influential climber in the UKs Peak District throughout the 1960s and 70s.

I climbed solo for the first year because I had no one to climb with, I didn't know anybody. I treated it like a job, I'd go out at 8 O’clock in the morning and take my sandwiches, climb to about 12, eat my lunch and then climb to about 4 O'clock and then go home. I did about 4,000 foot of solo in a day and that was every week. 1 went about 38-39 weeks on the trot around Birchens, finding new bits to do and treating it as a bit like a workout. [4]

Tom once climbed "157 routes, mostly hard" [3] in a day on Stanage.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2001/09/tom_proctor_dies-1249

[2] On The Edge, Issue 112 page 12

[3] Alan Rouse in Two's a Crowd, Mountain issue 21, page 28

[4] The Power of Climbing (1991), page 35

Contributors
60 contributions since 25th October 2021.
TdG
23 contributions since 8th September 2025.

Library

Pics + Vids

No pics or vids yet.

Ascents

28 recorded ascents.

This timeline is missing some ascents where the date of the ascent is unknown.
Sort
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
A Little Extra 7a+ Lead | worked 1979
First ascent.
First ascent.

References

[1] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Tom's Original 7A Boulder | worked 1960s
First ascent.
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Scarab E6 Lead 1979
First ascent.
First ascent.

The peg was originally very poor. Proctor had failed to top rope the line, so went ground-up, slowly making progress over the course of a day.

He returned to repeat the climb for a BBC programme in 1974.

The route went unrepeated by others until the mid-70s, when Proctor drilled out the peg placement and cemented it in.

You did GREEN DEATH E5, was that an epic?

That was a turning point. I realised then that I could climb blank rock, because when you get to it, it's not blank. From below you just look up and don't see the holds, but you've got to literally, get a rope, and go down and have a look. [1]

[1] The Power of Climbing (1991), David Jones, page 38
First ascent.

Tom also nabbed the first winter ascent of this very fickle line in the early 1970s.
Jermyn Street E5 Lead 1971
First ascent.
First ascent. With Geoff Birtles.

Birtles penduled out of Green Death for p1, before handing over the lead to Tom.

Tom 'put his hard hat on for the first time in years'.
First ascent.

With some aid.
Hard Cheddar E5 Lead 1977
First ascent.
First ascent. With Steve Bancroft. First free ascent.

Aid considerably reduced by 1968, probably by Tom Proctor. [1]

References

[1] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf
Traffic Jam E5 Lead Mar 1979
First ascent.

Tom stopped climbing after he sustained a tendon injury while attempting to make the first free ascent. He went on to become a caver.
First ascent.

Some aid.
Oedipus! Ring Your Mother E4 Solo | worked 1968
First ascent.
First ascent.

At the time one of the hardest routes in the country. Tom led the line with only 3 pieces of protection, a worrying thought for the modern climbers! [3]

References

[1] http://smhccg.org/rock-climbing/mick-ward/

[2] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf

[3] On The Edge, Issue 112 page 12
First ascent.

Tom originally started up an adjacent route but later added the current and more direct start.
Mortlock's Arete E4 Lead 1976
First ascent.
Cabbage Crack E4 Lead 1979
First ascent.
With Ed Drummond.

References

[1] Mountain 28 (1973), page 16 /library/9632/mountain-28
First ascent. First free ascent.

References

[1] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf
First ascent.

First re-ascent after a big flake came off.
Great Slab E3 Solo
Scoop Wall E2 Lead 1967
First ascent.
Dies Irae E2 Lead 1968
First ascent.
Tom Thumb E2 Lead 1971
First ascent.
Knightsbridge E2 Lead
First ascent.
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
First ascent.

Tom quit climbing after this ascent, focusing on caving instead.

References

[1] https://pataclimb.com/climbingareas/chalten/torregroup/torre/english.html