UKC

In reply to John Cox:

Thank you for these articles John, I have really enjoyed all of them.

Superb winter reading.

Thanks,

Jack

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Agreed - a fine turn of phrase and wry humour. Clearly he's not always a dour old git!

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Great stuff. Again.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

I am not reading that stuff;
















till I have someone to resuscitate me from laughing.

I have read some of his stuff before.

In reply to John Cox: good work as ever.

In reply to John Cox: If you're thinking of taking this sea cliff climbing lark up, I'd recommend the purchase of a static abseil rope.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Another quality write-up, John. Why do I get the feeling that I got off lightly with our relatively epic-free sea cliff ascent this weekend? Are you saving the worst up for next time...?

In reply to alicia:

I think John held the article back till after your trip so you would not realise the tomfoolery he an get up to.

Can you swim BTW?

Not going near a seacliff when he is around.;-0

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC: Another great article, thanks.

In reply to sutty:

I think before we abbed in I made some comment about the likelihood of the ropes, and us, staying dry considering his track record...

I'll be practising my swimming for next time though!

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

great stuff - well written.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Another classic!

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Brilliant. Thanks

In reply to JCM:

John - another lovely account.

Thanks for that

J

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

fantastic- tried reading this out loud to non climbing friend... couldn't get through it for laughing and even she understood why it was funny! It's the way you tell em!

In reply to Jon Cox / Jack Geldard.

As Jack says, great winter armchair reading.

Rather than comment on how you could get off route at all on Stop Press, what/where is 'Zawndecker Finish'? Surely you were on the right Island (!) but its not made it into the new (2008) guide and it sounds like this experience is a good few years old (Letter to the Editor being 1987).

Please don't disappoint us and say it was fiction after all?

In reply to CuriosityCanKill:

Yeah, it's strange: ZF used to be in the supplement, but it's been edited out in the guide itself. As I remember it was straight up where Stop Press moves back left over the roof.

I thought Letters to the Editor was 1994 (was Paul actually even the Editor in 1987?) - anyway this episode occurred in 1996. I must admit I met Paul many years later and reminisced about it and he denied that LTE was named after my partner's tirade, and of course he should know, but that's what we thought at the time.

jcm

In reply to Masood:


I resent that. Of course I'm always a dour old git.

jcm

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

A certain Mr. G. Gibson edited the guide in 1985 and also co-edited the '94 guide with Paul. The route Letters to the Editor is consistently written up in the historicals as having been ascended on 2nd August 1987 by Simon Cardy and Paul Harrison.

The new 2008 guide actually has a photo of Stop Press (p318)- having looked at the photo more closely and, yes, having done the route myself, I'm not certain the leader isn't drifting off route! But to take the roof direct and then lob off into the sea - Hmmmm! Amazing your 'leader' only lost his glasses.

Anyway, I managed to get out of my armshair long enough to find the 2003 supplement but no sign of ZF in there either.

I have however discovered another error in the lastest guide (already written one up in the Marisco Tavern logbook). Despite it still having its obelisk, 'Deadline' clearly finishes up the top pitch of Pawsher, not Stop Press as described. Which (coupled with the ZF omission) means, of course, that one of us might have to write a ......

Cheers John - have now read and enjoyed your other short stories published on UKC.

In reply to CuriosityCanKill:

You're right about LTE. My memory really is going.

Oh well. The rest of it is more or less true, allowing for a bit of memory failure on the exact dialogue.

He did jump backwards rather a lot, and very sensibly so, as it turned out: I imagine that saved him. As it went it was a clean sixty or seventy feet into the sea, I should think, landing in the approved armchair position. Definitely a good thing the tide was in, though, otherwise it would have been messy and unpleasant.

I'm fairly sure the ZF was included in some on-line version or proof-reading version I saw at some time, but I could be wrong of course. I remember because it said that the name commemorated a jump into the sea from the halfway ledge, and I either did correct it or made a mental note to do so.

jcm