Pat Littlejohn

More

• Change Log
• Pics and vids by Pat Littlejohn
• Library
• Threads

Climbed without chalk. [1]

References

[1] Mountain 101, page 16 /library/11122/mountain-101

Using chalk for the first time, hence the name.

References

[1] Mountain 101, page 16 /library/11122/mountain-101

P. Littlejohn, H, Clarke (1pt) 1982; FFA P. Littlejohn 1987

Pat climbed the route without clipping the bolts which were then chopped after his ascent.

References

[1] Paul Harrison. Lundy. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club, 2008.

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 69, page 8

References

[1] Mountain 23 (1972), page 7 /library/9627/mountain-23

While this action departs from the purest traditions of a first ascent, in this case I believe it to have been in the best interests of the climb. No one could be gladder than I to emerge from the dark'n bad lower walls to a finish touched by the last rays of the sun. [1]

References

[1] Hope, D., Wilkinson, B. (2000). North Devon and Cornwall. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club. Page 326.

[2] Mountain 23 (1972), page 7 /library/9627/mountain-23

With one peg for aid on the first pitch and two on the second.

References

[1] Paul Harrison. Lundy. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club, 2008.

References

[1] Mountain 101, page 16 /library/11122/mountain-101

References

[1] Mountain 101, page 16 /library/11122/mountain-101

References

[1] Mountain Issue 109, page 18 /library/11131/mountain-109

The bolt on The Cullinan was removed before the auccessful ascent.

References

[1] Paul Harrison. Lundy. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club, 2008.

References

[1] Mountain 23 (1972), page 7 /library/9627/mountain-23

Climbed onsight via a sea-level traverse which considerably increases the commitment of the ascent.

In his 'imaginative' epistle in Mountain 131, Rowland Edwards states that a route of mine, Burning Gold, was the 'main inspiration' for his subsequent bolting and drilling activities on Cornish granite. This is a perverse and cowardly assertion and I object to being associated in any way with the rancorous mess the Edwards have created for themselves in Cornwall.

Burning Gold was an on-sight, free ascent of an old aid route named Scimitar, which was referred to in Bob Moulton's Chair Ladder guide but with no first ascent details. We may never know who placed the bolts; not that it matters except to people desperate to find a scapegoat for their own follies. When Chris King and I climbed the route in 1978 there was a frail, rusted bolt on the first pitch and two sounder ones at the belay. These were mentioned in the original description and in Pete O'Sullivan's 1984 guidebook. We had no hammer or pegs with us (let alone bolts) and therefore didn't add to or alter this fixed gear in any way. All the routes Chris and I did in Cornwall in that period - Burning Gold, Evil Eye, Cain, The Leer and Black Sapper- were climbed 'ground up' with a nut rack.

The origin of the fourth bolt on Burning Gold is not some guilty secret between myself and past guidebook writers. The bizarre truth is that Rowland placed it himself, and told me so last Easter in the presence of Eddie Cooper. I accepted then that his motives for placing the bolt were 'public spirited' (the old one probably having rusted away) and never imagined that it would be used as a basis for insinuations against myself. [1]

Note that, contrary to Pat's claim, Scimitar does not seem to be referenced in the 1975 Chair Ladder Guide.

References

[1] Mountain Issue 132 (1990), page 46 /library/11324/mountain-132

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=115863033203916&set=a.115862679870618

References

[1] Mountain 101, page 16 /library/11122/mountain-101

Some aid used.

The slab, black, greasy, and apparently blank, miraculously provides a series of incut holds, , but still the huge overhang seems to crush any hope of a free solution. Once under the roof, however, one continues in sheer unbelief. [2]

References

[1] Paul Harrison. Lundy. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club, 2008.

[2] Mountain Issue 37, /library/11056/mountain-37

First free ascent.

References

[1] Paul Harrison. Lundy. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club, 2008.

References

[1] Mountain 36, page 12 /library/11055/mountain-36

Pat's first XS.

References

[1] https://www.alpin-ism.com/knowledge-base/news/pat-littlejohn-interview-1

Aged just 16!

But Moonraker was in a different league, bigger and more committing than anything I’d done before, and on such an awe-inspiring cliff! Pete [Biven] soon referred to it as a route of ‘national importance’ and began repeating it with well-known climbers like Ian Howell, Rustie Baillie, John Cleare and Al Alvarez. [1]

References

[1] https://www.alpin-ism.com/knowledge-base/news/pat-littlejohn-interview-1

Pat's very first route!

I was with my childhood friend Jeff Jones, both of us 14 years old. We had an 80-foot hemp rope nicked from Exeter Flower Show, one piton which we’d bought from Grays of Exeter, and a hammer from my Dad’s toolbox. We just tried what seemed to be the easiest way up the cliff. Half way up we managed to hammer in the piton. We had to untie to thread the rope through the eye of the piton. [1]

References

[1] https://www.alpin-ism.com/knowledge-base/news/pat-littlejohn-interview-1

References

[1] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199604700/Tawoche

[2] https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/52/8/taweches-northeast-pillar/

[3] Alpine Journal 1996 68-76 Fowler Taweche