Climbers

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTVFRm5kMeE

Pat Ament:

I loved Don. I never saw him be mean-spirited, though I did know he drank and had his frustrations. He was especially intolerant of people who overrated themselves or simply did not know what they were talking about. I respected that quality in him, although he could have tempered his opinions, certainly, at times. I don't think I ever saw him get wrankled with someone who didn't deserve it.

He was incredibly funny, incredibly brilliant, not -- in my opinion -- a tragic figure. I saw greatness. I mean, think of all he achieved, the successes run through memory, glimpses of deep winter with Haston on the Eiger Direct, or on various mountains of the Himalaya, such as Annapurna.

He was like Joe [Brown] in that, coming from a rock climbing background, it was astonishing he could switch to mountaineering as though it were nothing. In younger years, he and Joe were in their element and climbed so beautifully, so boldly, with such limited gear they mostly invented as they went along. Sure, like all of us, he had his challenges and his imperfections, had some personal trials. He wasn't about to be pushed around.

Not so many will deserve a wonderful biography by a wonderful author. I climbed with Don in Eldorado in 1966, when Royal brought him to America. He ran out one difficult pitch on sight, nothing to it.... We hit it off. After his visit to Yosemite, where he walked up the Crack of Doom with Pratt, followed the difficult off-width on Crack of Despair, and showed that, even out of shape, he could climb with the best of them, Don returned to see me in Colorado. He gave me the small gift of some British coins that were of no use in America. I still have those, still cherish them and his memory. Some 18 years later, when I was guest speaker at the Buxton conference, I was sitting at a mirror backstage, and he suddenly was standing behind me. He took me for a shandy, and we talked and laughed. He was, by the way, one of the stars of that conference, dressing up like a woman.

He could have fun. Life is short. Few, at least in the climbing world (but perhaps in any world) will -- at the end -- be able to say they did as much with their time and accomplished as much as Don Whillans. [2]

Bernard Tamworth:

I went to the Dolomites with Don in July 1985. We climbed a pinnacle near Lecco called 'Il sigaro' which was a grade 5.8 on UIAA scale - about HVS. This was a 4 pitch climb with an abseil off the top. The crux was 10 feet from the summit - a sloping ledge with a bulge pushing you onto your left foot. Don lead this part and overcame the obstacle with a bit of puffing and panting. It was a honour to be the last person to climb with Don. We spent over 2 weeks together in the Dolomites, travelling down on motor bikes. unlike some of the stories, I found Don easy to get on with as long as you were upfront with him and gave him no bulls**t!!! I think I was the only person to ever owe money to Don. He lent me 100 french francs for petrol on the way back, but unfortunately he died before I could pay him back!! [1]

References

[1] Bernard Tamworth, comment on Don Whillains' Last Climb

[2] https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4384744478304277&set=a.230171883761578

[3] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/948094701923372

[4] With Chris Bonnington on the Central Pillar of Freney https://www.instagram.com/p/CO5502uDiQU/

[5] With Joe Brown https://www.instagram.com/p/B_a_U0Rjqgs/

[6] Interview with Ken Wilson 1972, Mountain Issue 20, page 24 https://climbing-history.org/file/eaff6c84-b054-0d0c-220a-a00119bdff3a/whillans%20wilson%20interview.html

[7] Obituary by Paul Nunn in Mountain Issue 105, page 16

Isabelle Faus is an American boulderer with many hard ascents to her name. Alongside contemporaries like Alex Puccio she was one of the first women to become established at 8B+.

References

[1] Interview with 8a.nu, 2018 https://www.8a.nu/news/james-litz-9b-profile

Kim Carrigan was a leading figure in Australian rock climbing in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He has put up hundreds of new routes around Australia, particularly at Arapiles.

References

[1] Interview with Andy Pollitt for UKClimbing.com 11th August 2017 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/kim_carrigan_and_andy_pollitt-9629

References

[1] Interview with Lucien Martinez on the 100 7A challenge in Fontainebleau, 2024 https://www.grimper.com/news-les-100-7a-aventure-xxl-facon-bleausarde

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/allison-vest-poem-female-climbers/

Dave sadly took his own life in 2014.

I remember laughing like a drain hearing about him smearing Vaseline on the holds of a project at Kilnsey to stop a French superstar stealing it. [1]

Dave was a lovely guy. I first met him up in Newcastle when I was just starting my climbing career, and kept in touch when he moved to Sheffield. He had lots of time and patience for a shy kid. I was once coming down to sheffield for a competition and Dave offered for me to stay in his room for the weekend. He was going away but, with typical kindness, told me to help myself to anything in his food cupboard. After he left I went to the kitchen to make myself some dinner and opened the cupboard to find six bottles of fat burner pills and a mouldy potato. [2]

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,25009.msg465272.html#msg465272

[2] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,25009.msg465387.html#msg465387

[3] Features in The Width of Life

[4] https://www.dailycamera.com/2014/11/18/chris-weidner-a-lost-goodbye-to-colorado-climber-dave-pegg/

[5] https://rockandice.com/lates-news/dave-pegg-king-of-rifle-has-died/

[6] https://rockandice.com/lates-news/living-with-a-very-serious-climber/

Frank Cannings is a British climber. He was active in the south west of England and climbed extensively with Pat Littlejohn during the 1970s, adding many high quality additions on Lundy and other crags in Devon and Cornwall.

During one unfortunate trip to Lundy in August 1971 Frank took a very bad fall, landing 80ft below at the base of the cliff and sustaining head injuries and a broken pelvis. A helicopter was summoned from the nearby RAF Chivenor in Devon, but when the helicopter arrived the winch cable was too short and so the helicopter had to wait idly by why other climbers on the island strapped him to a stretcher and hauled him to the top of the cliff.

Relief upon boarding the helicopter was short lived. Just five minutes after taking off the helicopter developed engine trouble and the pilot had to cut the engine and ditch the aircraft in to the sea! The pilot and co-pilot managed to escape through the cockpit windows, but Frank, the winchman and Patricia (Frank's then wife) were trapped in the rear of the aircraft, with Frank still strapped to a stretcher.

As the helicopter started to sink beneath the waves the winchman, Flight Sgt Geoff Parker, was able to force a way out and Pat was able to get free from the aircraft. Bravely, Parker returned to the sinking aircraft to try and free Frank. After struggling underwater with the stretcher, which had become jammed, Parker was unable to free it and had to return to the surface. Much to his surprise, when he reached the surface he found Frank there already!

Frank:

I got called Houdini at the time because I was still tied up in the climbing ropes and had been securely strapped to the stretcher. The winchman swore he hadn't released me - and I certainly couldn't have done it myself. It seems that I somehow slid out of the straps, leaving the stretcher still jammed across the exit, trapping Geoff until he could remove it.

From here their luck improved, and Parker was able to inflate a one man dinghy and get Frank and Pat aboard. After another 30 minutes a second helicopter arrived, winched them aboard and was able to take them to hospital.

References

[1] https://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+CHEATED+DEATH+TWICE+IN+ONE+DAY%3B+BBC+researchers+have+trawled+the...-a060631784

[2] Mountain issue 19, page 14

Fred Rouhling was a controversial figure during the late 90s and early 2000s. With a string of hard ascents in a relatively off the beaten track location there were many people who doubted his ascents, not helped by the fact that many of his routes were unashamedly chipped (for example De L'Autre Côté du Ciel).

His route Akira was particularly contentious. When he made the first ascent he gave it the then unheard of grade of 9b at a time when 9a+ didn't exist.

A 2005 profile by Pete Ward [2] helped to dispel some of the more outlandish myths, and many of his routes have now received repeats which confirm their quality and difficulty. However, his route Akira did receive a notable downgrade to 9a after being repeated by Sébastien Bouin and Lucien Martinez.

References

[1] Interview with Relais Vertical Part 1 https://youtu.be/xqk0nQCNtpY

[2] Interview with Relais Vertical Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enFSnkF25eI

[3] The Other Side of Fred Rouhling by Pete Ward, 15th June 2012 https://www.climbing.com/people/fred-rouhling/

[4] Interview with camptocamp.org, October 2008 https://www.camptocamp.org/articles/143240/fr/interview-de-fred-rouhling-21-10-2008-

[5] https://open.spotify.com/episode/4T8j5taHKyu11HnWMKvxWT?

[6] Interview for On The Edge Issue 102, page 40