Climbers

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

References

[1] Brooke Rabotou's World Cup Journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPO4sr4pQmk

References

[1] Stone Free (Film, 2015) by Alistair Lee

[2] Lines, Jules. Tears of the Dawn. United Kingdom: Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 2020.

Mina Mason is a British climber. She started out as a comp climber before transitioning to bouldering outdoors, and then on to sport climbing.

References

[1] The Curious Climber Podcast

[2] Interview with RockClimbingUK

Arnis Strapcans was a British climber who was active in the 1970s. He was killed in a suspected fall from the Brenva Spur on Mont Blanc in 1980.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/rock_talk/the_late_arnie_strapcans-423688

[2] https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/rock_talk/arnie_strapcans-390263?v=1#x5631533

Udo Neumann:

There are two factors which determine the quality of movement: Precision on one side, speed on the other. If you are very precise, like Marc le Menestrel, you tend to be rather slow. If you are fast you tend to be sloppy. It's always a trade-off. In my opinion, Klem is the climber at the moment who balances these factors best and potentially can climb the hardest things.

Of course there is more to hard climbing but this gives you an idea of Klem's style - very accurate and very speedy. A friend once described Klem as "digital", either 'on' or 'off'.

Spending time around him is like being surrounded by a nice, comforting but blurry cloud, whereas Klem himself seems to live in this ultrasharp, high contrast environment where things and thoughts happen very quickly. When tired or bored Klem falls asleep instantly, with little awareness of what's going on around him. [1]

References

[1] Klem Lostkot by Mike Robertson, On The Edge Issue 114, page 54

References

[1] Interview with Steven Potter for climbing.com, 1st February 2022 https://www.climbing.com/news/simon-lorenzi-v16-font/

[2] Interview with Alexis Piguel for Grimper, 2024 https://www.grimper.com/news-simon-lorenzi-trois-9a-bloc-seul-trip

References

[1] Obsession Fatale by Ian Parnell. On The Edge 115, page 42.

Mick Ward:

Ed Drummond was probably the most visionary figure in British climbing history. He left a legacy of stunning routes and superb writing. And he had a reputation for having the most complicated, mercurial character imaginable. [2]

References

[1] https://www.thebmc.co.uk/a-dream-of-edwin-drummond

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/ed_drummond_1945-2019_-_a_retrospective-11940

[3] https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/rock_talk/rip_ed_drummond-704064

[4] http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/3195076/RIP-Edwin-Drummond

[5] https://www.thebmc.co.uk/thats-me-ed-drummond