Climbers

A prolific fantasist. Unusually, he was very strong and a very capable climber (for example, he did many hard problems in the School Room) [2].

However many of his claimed ascents turned out to be fabricated. For example, he claimed to have climbed Action Directe but was unable to produce a belayer or any witnesses for the ascent.

He also made many other outlandish claims such as an unbeaten amatuer boxing record, a sub 2hr30min marathon, a sub 4 minute mile and a very quick solo ascent of the Hasse-Brandler route. None of these claims have been verified.

References

[1] Obsession https://vimeo.com/6848413 by Chris Doyle.

[2] Chris Doyle on UKBouldering.com https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,16602.msg292502.html#msg292502

We were in the school for about 4 hours that day, he did loads of hard problems on repeat, 1-5-9 campussing loads of times etc.. He got on Perky Pinky but didn't manage to do it in a oner so i spliced two sections together. You can't deny he was bastard strong. I mean Neil Mawson has climbed 8c and he's not in the same book never mind the same page in terms of strength. Malc Smith sent me a message recently, he sounded pretty dumbfounded by it all and said that Simpson was the strongest climber he'd ever seen (and he's seen a few). None of this means much as hard proof is needed but you can't deny he was strong enough.

[3] Keith Bradbury discussing climbing with Rich https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,31564.msg647020.html#msg647020

I also climbed with Rich outdoors. In fact, I was with him for most that fateful trip in Frankenjura where we wrote off a car, he littered his jizz tissues all over my bed, and he probably didn't do Action Direct. I belayed him on lots of different routes. I did see him warm up on 8b routes (as in, actually doing them). I belayed him on some 9a's which he later claimed although I didn't see him do them. One of those was action direct. I belayed Rich for several sessions on Action Direct. I remember how bad conditions were some days with holds turning black instantly. I remember some days he was really struggling on the route and couldn't do the moves. Other days he would link sections consistently. I also saw him climb from just after the first jump to the top. That's when I realised Rich could definitely do it and it was a case of conditions and a good go. But then I left to go the UK for a week of exams and when I came back he'd ticked off a bunch of stuff... including Action Direct.

[4] Rich Simpson by Steve McClure, Climb Issue 44, page 36

Features in The Real Thing.

Owner of UKBouldering.com and known for his 10+ year siege of the route Austrian Oak at Malham Cove.

Features in Fuk the System.

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lwxseQAHOXpGPfHouI3nP?