UKC

NEW ARTICLE: Johnny Dawes, Stone Monkey and Marc C

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 Michael Ryan 06 Apr 2006
"Was it really twenty years ago today that Leaping Johnny taught our hands to play? Here was a small, impish tousle-haired young monkey – swinging off bus-shelters, bounding onto climbing walls, dynoing up gritstone towers."

Marc Chrysanthou reviews Alun Hughe's DVD reissue of Stone Monkey, a portarit of Johnny Dawes.


http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=195
 tobyfk 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:

Beautiful piece of writing.

Does the DVD have the original soundtrack .. and if so: is there is a discount available for those deprived people who bought the video tape version without?
 Marc C 06 Apr 2006
In reply to tobyfk: Thanks Toby. Yes, the soundtrack is the original (Lloyd Cole, Zappa, Talking Heads). Don't know about a discount!
Derbyshire Ben 06 Apr 2006
In reply to tobyfk:

Yes, well done Marc - having said that, I had fairly high expectations and wondered how you might tackle it - I might even buy it.

 Norrie Muir 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:

Dear Mick

Is there a competition I can enter, where I have a chance to win the DVD?

Norrie
OP Michael Ryan 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Norrie Muir:
> (In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com)
>
> Dear Mick
>
> Is there a competition I can enter, where I have a chance to win the DVD?
>
> Norrie

I'll email Alun Hughes and ask Norrie.

Mick

 Nic 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:

What amazes (and I guess disappoints) me is that the camera angle manages to make Indian Face (oh alright West Indian Face then) looks like a frankly not very hard at all slab. I'm sure it's not...but has anyone been up there to have a look...are we all the victims of some huge con??

YMMV
 tobyfk 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Nic:

> I'm sure it's not...but has anyone been up there to have a look...are we all the victims of some huge con??

Surely a man of your maturity must have been up to Cloggy at least once?
 CENSORED 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com: Just ordered my copy and looking forward to having something decent to watch on Telly tomorrow when it turns up!
 Nic 06 Apr 2006
In reply to tobyfk:

yeah, I went once, but there was only one bolt in the whole crag...so I went back home again.

Ekshually I was talking about having a look at the top of Indian Face...and I *definitely* haven't been up there.
 Steve Parker 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

Hahaha... Excellent review, Marc, full of the Marc C exuberance and off-the-wall inventiveness. You're a class act!
 8A 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:
> (In reply to Norrie Muir)
> [...]
>
> I'll email Alun Hughes and ask Norrie.
>
> Mick

Count me in too please Mick.

P.S. Norrie what does a hardcore scottish mountaineer like you want with a video about some one pitch route in wales? Is Mrs Muir really that bad?

8A
 Norrie Muir 06 Apr 2006
In reply to 8A:
> P.S. Norrie what does a hardcore scottish mountaineer like you want with a video about some one pitch route in wales?
>
Dear Top roper

We are not all narrow minded and one dimensional.

Norrie
 Andy S 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C: Good article. DVD looks good too. If I wasn't so poor I'd buy one.
 8A 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Norrie Muir:

Top Roper! Careful, careful!

But I liked the comeback, very prefessional, to which I have no reply.

But seriously now, I think your idea of a competition to win it is pretty good and UKC moderators should get on the case.

I am yet to see stone monkey, I don't own a VCR so I am pretty pleased it is now out on DVD.

8A
 Mick Ward 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Nic:
> (In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com)
>
> Indian Face (oh alright West Indian Face then) looks like a frankly not very hard at all slab. I'm sure it's not...

Mmm... (in the flesh), things rear up a little... or maybe more!

Mick
 8A 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick Ward:

Hi Mick,

Hope you got my email ...

But yeah, I recon Indian Face is best left in the mind rather than filmed ...

8A
 Mick Ward 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

Fantastic effort. Some brilliant stuff in there!

Mick
 Mick Ward 06 Apr 2006
In reply to 8A:

Sorry, not got your email. I'm at lonestar62@hotmail.com
<waits for thunder and lightning!>

Yes, Indian Face is a pretty big pebble in our river of dreams.

Mick
karl walton 06 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:

"Even now I still lament the fact that Johnny wasn’t the first to climb what came to be known as Parthian Shot."

I found this a little puzzling, is there more to this?
Is it to do with the old 'Peak v Yorkshire' thing.
Are you wishing he was better than he was?
He was pretty damn good anyway.

Genuinely interested.

Karl.
 Steve Parker 06 Apr 2006
In reply to karl walton:

Having witnessed Johnny's attempts, aren't we all a little sad that the route was done by someone else? Not a fit conclusion to the Johhny Dawes story of that route, though a great, audacious steal by John Dunne, much praise to him.
 Marc C 06 Apr 2006
In reply to karl walton: No, not a Peak vs Yorkshire thing!
Just that it seemed to be a very much a bold 'Johnny' route (check out the fall he takes!), but he was let down by his lack of reach on one key move....and, by showing everyone else the way, it was bound to get done.
 Norrie Muir 07 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

Dear Marc

A route is never owned by a climber.

Norrie
 Marc C 07 Apr 2006
In reply to Norrie Muir: True, but I'm sentimental and like tó think Mallory climbed Everest.
 panyan 07 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:
Brilliant and fitting review--enjoyed it very much.
 GrahamD 07 Apr 2006
In reply to Norrie Muir:

> A route is never owned by a climber.


The one in my mates garage is.
 Marc C 07 Apr 2006
In reply to GrahamD: Not according to Johnny. It's the routes that 'own' ('whisper to', 'seduce') us.
 Norrie Muir 07 Apr 2006
In reply to GrahamD:
> (In reply to Norrie Muir)
> The one in my mates garage is.

Dear Graham

Do you know that some 'climbers' climb outdoors?

Norrie

PS Does your mate get permission from his wife to climb in his garage?
melvin 07 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:

Excellent review and an excellent vid. might just have to get dvd.

Sh*t tho', was it really 20yrs ago? All that time, where does it go? Still a pretty impressive tick list.
 Marc C 08 Apr 2006
In reply to melvin: £24.99 might sound a lot for a DVD, but if you had to show a foreign visitor just one climbing video/DVD that captures the spirit of UK climbing, then IMO this would be The One.
melvin 08 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

Surely One Summer is the definitive film? Ahh lasers!

Or indeed my own, little known, "Brownstones: Modern Day Warriors".
 Marc C 08 Apr 2006
In reply to melvin: One Summer? But that's bouldering not climbing! I know your Brownstones film was well received at Cannes and Venice, but was the homo-erotic 'combined tactics' (set to Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg's 'Je t'aime moi non plus) footage strictly necessary ?

Setting modesty aside, I might also recommend my climbing instructional video for children 'How Spunky the Squirrel overcame his fear of heights'.

 robin mueller 08 Apr 2006
In reply to melvin:

> Or indeed my own, little known, "Brownstones: Modern Day Warriors".

I'd watch that. But then, I probably have spent more time than is healthy at the magical Brownstones...

...Nah, you can never spend too much time at Brownstones...

All joking aside, I did hint a few weeks ago at a forthcoming blockbuster on the south lancs bouldering website:

"QUARRIED BOULDERING AND HOW I BECAME A MAN AT LAST. Big name studios are involved, but of course everything is very hush hush at the moment."

Anyway, Brownstones will of course be a key venue, but much of the action will take place in lesser known spots. Buy property now - once the movie is released, house prices will soar! You heard it here first...
 JamieAyres 08 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:

Great review.

Saw the original release just once. Might even have been on telly, not sure, but never owned a copy.

On the strength of the review (oh, and the attraction of new 'extra' bits, Indian Face malarkey etc) I've ordered mine.

Hope Al is quick at posting them out, can't wait for a decent climbing flic to watch...
ultra montane 08 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:
> ...just one climbing video/DVD that captures the spirit of UK climbing, then IMO this would be The One.

Nice review, but I have to take issue with that little statement as being total bollocks.


 JamieAyres 08 Apr 2006
In reply to ultra montane:

What would you suggest in it's stead then?
ultra montane 08 Apr 2006
In reply to JamieAyres:

No dvd or video could ever capture the spirit of UK climbing, especially one featuring an english route.
 Mick Ward 08 Apr 2006
In reply to ultra montane:

???

Mick
 JamieAyres 08 Apr 2006
In reply to ultra montane:

Perhaps not, but if you had to pick one from all that have been made, which one would you say is likely to come closest?
 Marc C 08 Apr 2006
In reply to ultra montane: Ok Ok (Marc gets knuckles rapped!). Maybe best depiction of an English climber's view of the world
 Marc C 08 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick Ward: Hi Mick, I suspect ultramontane thinks that the new Stone Monkey DVD doesn't include some vital aspects of the 'UK Climbing scene' - e.g. Scottish mountaineering, winter climbing, bouldering etc. My feeling (as an English-based climber) was that the DVD features quite a large cross-section of 'British climbing' - i.e. bold grit climbing, bouldering, big routes in Snowdonia (slate and mountains) - so matches what I think of as British climbing more than say 'Hard Grit, 'Stick It', 'The Edge' etc do.
 CENSORED 08 Apr 2006
In reply to JamieAyres:
> Hope Al is quick at posting them out, can't wait for a decent climbing flic to watch...

Mine was ordered Thursday afternoon and arrived Saturday morning!
NickF 09 Apr 2006
I remember this as a great film and a great route. Wasn't there a thread on here about great ascents that opened up new eras in climbing terms & Indian Face was touted ? In fact it seems clear now that it was the end of an era in climbing terms.There isn't the rock to play on and there aren't the climbers who think that it matters any more.
All credit to him and now he sits in rally cars & gets fat. You've earned it Johnny. It seems to me entirely plausible that anything that any British rock climber ever does is just a footnote to Dawes' s career. If that seems contentious can you think of anything that compares in the two decades since the first ascent of Indian Face ? No. I didn't think so.
lardarse 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com: suckadoodledo we have had some of the best climbers/and still do/and will have in the future ..... why do some of you dudes knock it? suck it up and sort yer selves out!!! and party on dudes.
 Rob Naylor 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Nic:
> (In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com)
>
> What amazes (and I guess disappoints) me is that the camera angle manages to make Indian Face (oh alright West Indian Face then) looks like a frankly not very hard at all slab. I'm sure it's not...but has anyone been up there to have a look...are we all the victims of some huge con??


Dunno about Indian Face, but last Sunday I was in Wales and it was pissing down, so rather than climb we jumped over the fences with the "keep out" signs and spent the day exploring the Llanberis slate quarries.

Although I've seen "Stone Monkey", coming out of the tunnel into the "Big Hole" and seeing "Quarryman" far up on my left was just awesome. The film doesn't do the reality any justice at all. It's far more impressive in real life than it looks on film.

In reply to Rob Naylor:

Indian Face certainly looks horrific from the bottom. About 10 years ago I went to have a look at it, out of curiosity, and found what I thought must be the start. I tried doing the first moves and, IIRC, was quite unable to get both feet off the ground!
 Marc C 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Gordon Stainforth: Couldn't get both feet off the ground? Hmm. Either it is indeed a fiendishly tricky climb - or else your boots are ridiculously over-sticky
 Marc C 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Rob Naylor: <Last Sunday I was in Wales and it was pissing it down>

That sentence is so evocative - stimulating many memories of weekends 'climbing' in Snowdonia! If Morrissey had been a climber what mournful climbing songs he could have written...
 Glyn Jones 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C: To start with

I started something I couldn't finish
 Marc C 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Glyn Jones: Or failing repeatedly on a slimey
Grochan.."Seven goes, I'm miserable now'

 Glyn Jones 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

A rush, a push and the land is ours
 Glyn Jones 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C: oh an appropriately for me if it was Quarryman

Panic!
 Marc C 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Glyn Jones: You could have a hanging rope just in case? "The Boy With the Cord By His side"
 Glyn Jones 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C: And for safety sake

Sheila take a bow(line)
 Glyn Jones 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C: And poignant for 1st ascentionists

Stop me if you've repeated this one before.
Anonymous 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com: reel round the mountain - climbing when drunk?
 Marc C 09 Apr 2006
In reply to Anonymous and Glyn: Er, lads, maybe you need another thread ? More apt would be The Police's 'So Lonely' with new lyrics to the chorus...

"Stone Monkey
Stone Monkey
Leap Stone Monkey"
 BrianT 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C: Great review Marc. If, as Johnny says, the routes "own" us, that means I'm owned by a mild VS at Reiff. And I thought i was a free man.
melvin 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

Excuse me but the 'homo erotic' scene you refer to was my mum bringing refreshments and tripping over a rucsac just as Gordon peeled off after being savaged by the Brownstones owl!

I know of many parents who may take issue with your 'instructional' video. I personally found the scene, where squirrel got his nickname, to be morally offensive. I wasn't aware that was possible with just a roll of sellotape and a small mammal.

One Summer, what could better encapsulate british climbing more than blindfold one-handed dynos, excellent training for routes requiring blindfold one handed dynos!
 Lizard 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com:
I see from his Al HUghes website that he plans to re-release Total Control- featuring the late great Jim Jewel! Now that's I a dvd I would like to see.
 Mick Ward 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Lizard:

It's fantastic - utterly enthralling, surprisingly peaceful and, ultimately, so very poignant.

A moving tribute to a very bold climber.

Mick
 Marc C 10 Apr 2006
In reply to BrianT:
> (In reply to Marc C) <I'm owned by a mild VS at Reiff>

Does Jude know about this Scottish veterinary surgeon who has a hold over you( my mind boggles at what kind of 'hold' he exercises on you after a day castrating alsatians)?

 Marc C 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick Ward: Maybe Alun will film me climbing at Lumbutts in my owl-suit on a lichenous misty day -provisional title "Totally Out of Control" ?
 BrianT 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C: I always wanted to be a vet but had to settle for playing the bitch.
 Marc C 10 Apr 2006
In reply to BrianT: Quite appropriate, given your habit of sprawling on top of Lads Mags with your 'tail' wagging and your tongue lolling..."Look, the bitch is on Heat"
 Mick Ward 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

"Lumbutts? Lumbutts?? What the 'ell's a Lumbutts???"

Mick
 Marc C 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick Ward:

Can I use that as a quote for the cover?

'Lumbutts Lizard: Lancashire's Leaping Lad' - a film by Alun Hughes...starring Marc C - contributions by Joe Brown, Walter Bonatti, Reinhold Messner.
 Duncan Irving 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:
> (In reply to melvin) £24.99 might sound a lot for a DVD, but if you had to show a foreign visitor just one climbing video/DVD that captures the spirit of UK climbing, then IMO this would be The One.

A close second would be Leo Dickinson's film of the self-effacing Eric Jones soloing the Eiger Nordwand and it's half the price....
 Ridge 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Duncan Irving:
Is that available on DVD? I remember it being on TV years ago.
 Mick Ward 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

Chacun a son Everet - or summat like that...

Bless you, Marc, nobody bothers to ask me for permission for cover quotes, e.g. The Villain, Master of Rock.

'Lumbutts Lizard: Lancashire's Leaping Lad' - aye, it's got a ring to it, all right.

All very well, young Mr Mc Leod doing E11 but he'll have to learn he just can't have everything!

Mick
 Marc C 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick Ward: Could be a brilliant spoof of Stone Monkey...

Lenny Clawes IS the Lumbutts Lizard!

By day a chiropodist, by weekend the Lumbutts Lizard..Lancashire's Leaping Lad

Marvel at his prodigious talent...gasp at his awesome moves...Shudder at his bold death-defying climbs ...laugh your socks off as this bungling dreamer makes a complete pigs-ear of the simplest routes... Sigh at his seemingly doomed attempts to win the love of Rosie (the girl who works in the chip-shop) by winning the Lancashire bouldering tournament...

Coming soon to a cinema near you.
 Mick Ward 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

So that visit to the nail clinic was... research! My God, suddenly everything's fallen into place (space?)

Remember Alf Tupper, 'The Tough of the Track', hard nut, lived off chips, always beat the posh gits, then had to leg it home 'cos he'd missed the last bus (and hadn't the fare anyway)? Remember the mysterious Wilson of the Wizard (with his well dodgy outer underwear, soloed VS on grit and did the first four minute mile (Stanford Bridge, 1948)?

Those lads had nowt on Lenny Clawes!

Get scribbling! The world awaits. As Patrick Kavanagh sagely noted, "Tragedy is undeveloped comedy."

Mick
 Marc C 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick Ward: Oh I DO indeed remember Tupper and Wilson...and Bernard Briggs the goalkeeping plumber!

btw The nail-care appointment was fictitious. Just had to come up with an excuse that Sutty would understand and accept. Would break his heart to tell him I was really trapped inside a Motorway services public convenience en route to The Peak District...
 Norrie Muir 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick Ward:

Dear Mick

Please don't encourage Marc, he may think he can write humour.

Norrie
 Mick Ward 10 Apr 2006
In reply to Norrie Muir:

Hi Norrie,

Oooh... we need fun - and lots and lots of it, to banish that nasty black dog to his kennel!

All best wishes,

Mick
In reply to Mick - UKClimbing.com: Just watched the dvd and it's definitely worth the money, especially with all the extra bits.
 Duncan Irving 11 Apr 2006
In reply to Ridge:

> Is that available on DVD? I remember it being on TV years ago.

Yep - I got mine from UpandUnder in Cardiff. I also note its presence on the Needlesports site.
 Steve Parker 11 Apr 2006
In reply to Mick and Marc:

Do you remember a similar character to Alf Tupper who was a cyclist rather than a runner? Like Alf, he was a working class boy, so he couldn't afford a decent bike, but he drilled loads of holes in his bike frame to reduce the weight (so the posh gits all called him gorgonzola), and he, of course, eventually whupped em all. Might have been in the Eagle or the Victor. Ring any bells?
 Steve Parker 11 Apr 2006
PS. Think he also scoffed lots of fish and chips!
 tobyfk 11 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:
> but if you had to show a foreign visitor just one climbing video/DVD that captures the spirit of UK climbing, then IMO this would be The One.


No, no that would be my upcoming production "Too Real Thing: Stone Bunnies Brick It on Mild Grit One Summer". TR:SBBIMGOS follows a group of seasoned but unaccomplished East Midlands climbers from Stanage to Portland and .. back. Highlights include a busty girl in a t-shirt 'splashing down' from the starting moves on a DWS and shrieking a lot, a sport route attempt thwarted by an unjustifiable 10cm run-out above the second bolt and a complete set of Friends abandoned in Heaven Crack. The climbing action is supplemented by a thrilling 'road trip' on the M6, M40, A34 and M3 during which Bent Spoon appears in a short cameo to explain how the Newbury Bypass was defeated by a brave set of 1990s climbers chained to a Lancia Delta .... sorry: chained to a tree. The film culminates in an exciting UKC 'picnic' at which no one climbs, the busty girl is stalked by a weirdo with a made-up name and a group of students on a freshers meet complain about the noise.
DaveC at Work 11 Apr 2006
In reply to tobyfk: Well your first sale is guaranteed. Can I have a preview copy? That'll bring back loads of memories now I'm back in the sunshine again.
 Marc C 11 Apr 2006
In reply to Steve Parker: No, Steve, doesn't ring a bell Sounds an interesting character, though!
 Marc C 11 Apr 2006
In reply to tobyfk: Need a snappier title, Toby...maybe something that captures your bungling attempts at jamming on Heaven Crack... 'Scarred Git'?

ps you still get the busty girl at the end. "OOh Toby you're my hero, so brave...let me lick your wounds..."
 tobyfk 11 Apr 2006
In reply to Marc C:

> ps you still get the busty girl at the end. "OOh Toby you're my hero, so brave...let me lick your wounds..."

Sadly the 'Blair Witch' cinematic technique employed with this one means that I am unable to step in front of the lens. However I will be appearing in Josh Lowell's 'Dosage volume 37', a veil-lifting exposé of the secretive Arabian desert climbing scene ...
 Mick Ward 11 Apr 2006
In reply to Steve Parker:

Hi Steve,

Name o' Bogg, wasn't he? Came from, err, sunny Silsden?? Took up climbing, didn't he???

Oh, God, I'm really tempting fate!

Mick

P.S. For balance(!), there was 'Sandra of the Secret Ballet' in the, umm... School Friend - or was it Girls Crystal?

P.P.S. Picture Johnny D surfing through this, scratches head,
thinks, "WTF??"
 Mick Ward 11 Apr 2006
In reply to tobyfk:

Brilliant! Cinema verite. The abandoned Friends in Heaven Crack seems to be the only bit that hasn't happened yet...

Mick

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...