Climbers

Inventor of the Ewbank grading system which is used in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

…the grading systems being used in other countries all had an inbuilt and totally unrealistic glass ceiling, which tradition made it impossible to change. Furthermore, they were all using subdivisions, which created false psychological barriers. And, finally, they were not working well in their country of origin, so why the hell should they work half a world away? …

What we needed was something simple, and more importantly, something that was consistent and our own. So I started a new grading system, beginning at 1 and proceeding one number at a time, with no subdivisions and no pre-ordained limit.

References

[1] http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=2292864&tn=0

Royal Robbins:

Well, he was the greatest American alpinist of his day. Harlin had a genius for getting publicity, though, and he let a lot of misleading things develop. The idea that he cut his teeth on El Capitan - or that he was a Yosemite climber at all - is all nonsense. When we brought Yosemite techniques to the Alps, or in particular, when Gary Hemming did, Harlin took all the credit for it. But he had nothing to do with it, except that he jumped on the bandwagon. That sort of thing was what made us object to Harlin: he was so good, and yet he needed to do that. [1]

References

[1] Mountain 18 (1971), page 31 /library/9613/mountain-18

Lakes climber, boulderer, guide and coach. Kettle's coaching is notable for its emphasis on movement quality.

English mountaineer and eminent scientist. Collie explored Skye, which he initially visited for fishing, often with John Mackenzie with whom he had a close relationship beyond that of the usual client-guide. He also climbed in the English Lake District, Alps and was part of the first exploratory expedition to an 8000m peak (Nanga Parbat in 1895). Collie retired to Skye and died from pneumonia contracted after falling into Loch Leathan whilst fishing. He was buried next to Mackenzie.

... the supersensitive 'Wandering Scholar- artist' out of the Middle Ages, reluctantly materialising as a deep- grooved, yellow-ivory profile against dusty bronze and brocades, with something of a werewolf lurking in his quizzical half-smile... when we left, Collie was still discoursing remotely and to space about, I think, the optical miracle represented by the first character of the Chinese alphabet. Geoffrey Winthrop Young [1]

References

[1] https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1943_files/AJ54%201943%2059-77%20In%20Memoriam.pdf

Pioneer of 'clean climbing' - using nuts rather than pitons - in the US.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CkZAL1MtD9J/

Don Whillans:

With the possible exception of Joe Brown, John Streetly was the best rock climber I ever climbed with. His technique was incredible: he could climb as delicately as a fly, but also overcome problems requiring sheer physical strength with ease. [2]

References

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/dec/18/guardianobituaries1

[2] Obituary by George Band Alpine Journal 2000 - In Memoriam

Author of many guidebooks to climbing in Scotland.

References

[1] https://www.stonecountrypress.co.uk/

Rick Sewards:

I have received the sad news that John Willson, the Wye Valley climber and guidebook author and editor, died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday 17th September at the age of 86. John made an absolutely enormous contribution to climbing in the Wye Valley and in particular to Wintours Leap, which in many ways could be re-named “John’s Cliff”, as it was a largely forgotten backwater (known as “The Heap”) before he dragged it into the limelight. He added many of the classic routes (e.g. The Angel's Girdle and all those with Germanic names on North Wall), often in partnership with ex-pupils who he introduced to climbing - John was a music and classics teacher. He was also responsible for a vast amount of cleaning and re-gearing (those cemented-in pegs were all his) and four decades of guidebook writing. John wrote the Wintour’s Leap sections of the ’77, ’87 and ’97 guides and part-authored and edited the current (2007) Lower Wye Valley guide – which is how I first got to know him. He was also responsible for negotiating the current access regime for Wintour’s Leap and many of the other Wye Valley crags, and I relied greatly on his knowledge after I took over from him as BMC Access Rep for the area. After John retired from teaching he lived in a cottage in Woodcroft above “his” crag, and many of you will have seen him over the years walking his dogs George and Scholar around the village and cliff.

Beyond the Wye Valley, John also put in a vast amount of time and effort in editing and page-setting many other Climbers’ Club guides. Others will know a lot more about his work on these publications, but I’m sure many other authors have benefitted from his red pen (or rather pens – there’s no way one biro would have enough ink for all the corrections to our scripts!). As befitting his former profession, you could always learn something from his writing and company – whether on the finer points of grammar or the Wagner ring cycle that provided the inspiration for all those Germanic route names. [1]

References

[1] Obituary by Rick Sewards, September 2023 https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/rock_talk/john_willson_rip-764070?v=1#x9829054

[2] Memorial thread on UKClimbing.com, September 2023 https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/rock_talk/john_willson_rip-764070