Climbers

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

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SisJOwqwhllLtqX0yZXrb?

[2] Podcast with Sonnie Trotter, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDX7_mDDTmE

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

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

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

The most successful competition climber of all time and first gold medalist in climbing in the Tokyo 2020 olympics.

References

[1] A profile of Janja from Reel Rock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_W2hT-HDY

[2] Winning the olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020 https://www.instagram.com/p/CSPRpH_l81i/

[3] Interview with Natalie Berry for UKClimbing.com, 3rd May 2022 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/climb_for_gold_-_janja_garnbret_olympic_champion-14458

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmlSSD7jDSI

[5] Interview with John Bergman for climbing.com, August 2024 https://www.climbing.com/people/janja-garnbret-post-olympic-2024-interview/

[6] Video with Magnus Midtbø, July 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EsdeUBBVNM

John Arran is a very accomplished trad climber with notable first ascents such as The Zone and Doctor Dolittle to his name.

On 20th June 2003 John and his partner for the day Shane Ohly soloed or descended 536 routes in a mammoth single day. [1] Following in the footsteps of Ron Fawcett's Arran climbed 100 extremes in a day in 2001, all at Stanage with 55 of them onsight. [2,3]

John helped pioneer big wall free climbing in Venezuela, culminating in Rainbow Jambaia (E7) on Angel Falls, one the most spectacular hard big walls in the world.

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 130, page 11

[2] On The Edge Issue 113, page 32

[3] http://www.thefreeclimber.com/johnHistory.htm

Mick Fowler is a British mountaineer and climber. He is known for his adventurous, lightweight and ambitious ascents in the Himalaya as well as a range of very adventurous new routes in the UK.

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

Tom is a British expat living in Spain, where he has done most of his harder climbing.

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/tom-bolger-interview-pro-climber/