Joe Brown

Also known as: The Master, The Baron and The Human Fly

Quick Info

Nationality: GB
Date of birth: 26th September 1930
Date of death: 15th April 2020
Hardest Trad (Worked): E2
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E5
Notable Partnerships
Don Whillans

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 Cemetry Gates (E1), Great Slab (E3) and Right Eliminate (E3). Joe's routes frequently ventured in to territory that was previously considered off limits, often tackling bold and uncompromising features with minimal protection.

It is sometimes suggested that he was one of the inventors of jamming. Though this seems unlikely, though it is certainly true that he employed the technique to great effect on many of his new routes.

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.

Contributors: remus

Quick Info

Nationality: GB
Date of birth: 26th September 1930
Date of death: 15th April 2020
Hardest Trad (Worked): E2
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E5
Notable Partnerships
Don Whillans

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 Cemetry Gates (E1), Great Slab (E3) and Right Eliminate (E3). Joe's routes frequently ventured in to territory that was previously considered off limits, often tackling bold and uncompromising features with minimal protection.

It is sometimes suggested that he was one of the inventors of jamming. Though this seems unlikely, though it is certainly true that he employed the technique to great effect on many of his new routes.

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.

Contributors: remus

Pics + Vids

Added at 07:08 on 08 August 2021
© Ken Wilson
Added at 13:12 on 03 December 2023
Added at 16:01 on 19 January 2021
Added at 07:08 on 08 August 2021
© Nat Allen
L'Horla (E1, FA)
Added at 21:02 on 26 February 2024

Ascents

33 recorded ascents.

Year Climb Grade Style Ascent Date
1948 Brown's Eliminate E2 Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
Three Pebble Slab HVS Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
Angular Crack VS Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
Sunset Slab VS Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
1949 Valkyrie HVS Lead | onsight 1949
First ascent.
Chequers Climb VS Lead | onsight 1949
First ascent.
1950 Wall of Horrors E3 Boulder | did not finish 1950s

Brown bouldered out the start at around 6b.

References

[1] Yorkshire Gritstone Volume 1, Almscliff to Slipstones 2012, page 93.

Elder Crack E2 Lead | onsight 1950
First ascent.
1951 The Great Crack E3 Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
Great Slab E3 Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
Left Eliminate E1 Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
Peapod HVS Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
Hangover E1 Lead | onsight 18th May 1951
First ascent.
Cemetry Gates E1 Lead | onsight 30th Sep 1951
First ascent.
Vember E1 Alternate Leads | onsight 13th Oct 1951
First ascent.
1952 The Black Cleft E2 Alternate Leads | onsight 4th May 1952
First ascent.
Cenotaph Corner E1 Lead | onsight 24th Aug 1952
First ascent.
1953 Surplomb E2 Alternate Leads | onsight 1st Mar 1953
First ascent.
1954 The Dangler E2 Lead | worked 1954
First ascent.
Quietus E2 Lead | worked 1954
First ascent.
1955 Woubits E2 Lead | onsight 30th Aug 1955
First ascent.
1956 Taurus E4 Lead | onsight 24th Jun 1956
First ascent.

Joe's last new route with Don Whillans.

1957 L'Horla E1 Lead | worked 1957
First ascent.

With some tension (hence the name?)

The Mostest E2 Lead | onsight 9th Apr 1957
First ascent.
November E3 Lead | onsight 3rd May 1957
First ascent.
1958
1959
1960 Vector E2 Lead | onsight 26th Mar 1960
First ascent.
1961
1962 Trango E5 Lead | onsight 28th Apr 1962
First ascent.
1963 The Sloth HVS Lead | repeat 1963

Joe repeated the climb for the cameras.

https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/600eb7b53a53aa002791fbac

1964
1965
1966 Wen HVS Alternate Leads | onsight 8th May 1966
First ascent.
Winking Crack E3 Lead | onsight 5th Jun 1966
First ascent.
Dinosaur E5 Lead | onsight 19th Jun 1966
First ascent.

With aid?

Mousetrap E2 Lead | onsight 9th Oct 1966
First ascent.
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978 The Flytrap E2 Alternate Leads | onsight 16th Apr 1978
First ascent.
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Trango E5 Lead | onsight 28th Apr 1962
First ascent.
Dinosaur E5 Lead | onsight 19th Jun 1966
First ascent.

With aid?

Taurus E4 Lead | onsight 24th Jun 1956
First ascent.

Joe's last new route with Don Whillans.

The Great Crack E3 Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
Great Slab E3 Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
November E3 Lead | onsight 3rd May 1957
First ascent.
Winking Crack E3 Lead | onsight 5th Jun 1966
First ascent.
Wall of Horrors E3 Boulder | did not finish 1950s

Brown bouldered out the start at around 6b.

References

[1] Yorkshire Gritstone Volume 1, Almscliff to Slipstones 2012, page 93.

Brown's Eliminate E2 Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
Elder Crack E2 Lead | onsight 1950
First ascent.
The Black Cleft E2 Alternate Leads | onsight 4th May 1952
First ascent.
Surplomb E2 Alternate Leads | onsight 1st Mar 1953
First ascent.
The Dangler E2 Lead | worked 1954
First ascent.
Quietus E2 Lead | worked 1954
First ascent.
Woubits E2 Lead | onsight 30th Aug 1955
First ascent.
The Mostest E2 Lead | onsight 9th Apr 1957
First ascent.
Vector E2 Lead | onsight 26th Mar 1960
First ascent.
Mousetrap E2 Lead | onsight 9th Oct 1966
First ascent.
The Flytrap E2 Alternate Leads | onsight 16th Apr 1978
First ascent.
Left Eliminate E1 Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
Hangover E1 Lead | onsight 18th May 1951
First ascent.
Cemetry Gates E1 Lead | onsight 30th Sep 1951
First ascent.
Vember E1 Alternate Leads | onsight 13th Oct 1951
First ascent.
Cenotaph Corner E1 Lead | onsight 24th Aug 1952
First ascent.
L'Horla E1 Lead | worked 1957
First ascent.

With some tension (hence the name?)

Three Pebble Slab HVS Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
Valkyrie HVS Lead | onsight 1949
First ascent.
Peapod HVS Lead | onsight 1951
First ascent.
Wen HVS Alternate Leads | onsight 8th May 1966
First ascent.
The Sloth HVS Lead | repeat 1963

Joe repeated the climb for the cameras.

https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/600eb7b53a53aa002791fbac

Angular Crack VS Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
Sunset Slab VS Lead | onsight 1948
First ascent.
Chequers Climb VS Lead | onsight 1949
First ascent.
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade