UKC

In between throwing himself off cliffs in a wingsuite in preparation for The Asgard Project, Leo Houlding found time to visit China and with fellow Berghaus climbers Carlos Suarez and Wang Zhi Ming climbed a new rock route up the sacred mountain of Mount Huashan in the Qinling Mountain Range of Shaanxi Province, Northwest China.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=48357

In reply to UKC News:

It’s a great shame that someone as hugely gifted as Leo has seemingly given up hard climbing and is frittering away his talents in PR-driven non-events like this.

In reply to flaneur:

There is something called reality.

For the top climbers and mountaineers to make cutting edge ascents they have to do their fair share of what is known as 'chimping'.

No one gets paid just to climb.

I just saw recent footage of Leo Houlding on a hard crack project on El Cap and he was far away from, "frittering away his talents".

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Hence the cheesey over the top "extreme sports" program on itv. Everyone has to earn a wage.

In reply to flaneur:

are you saying you wouldn't want his "job"?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

The second photo with the article alone makes it worth reading.

A climb is about more than its grade.

In reply to niggle:

Indeed. How did they get planning permission for those houses?

Nice article.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:


What a strange statement.
Indeed there is a reality, but what people choose to do with it is debatable. More to the point, the 'reality' UKC news chooses to report to us the readers is (and should be) up for debate. So don't be so quick to dismiss.

Maybe our top climbers could go climbing dressed up as pandas in the big brother house, and you could report this 'News' to us on UKC as reality.
As part of the media system, UKC appears obliged to report celebrity antics, presumably to keep advertisers happy and continue building celebrity idolisation and eye catching headlines, but that doesn't mean that a proportion of UKC readers don't find these 'News' items rather tiresome and irrelevant.

Obviously there is a grey area between what one defines as 'climbing' news, and reporting celebrity/sponsor driven events. I suspect many climbers feel reports about Leo Holding are slowly moving away from genuine 'climbing' news (what ever that is!!).

In reply to MattDTC:

People are prepared to buy newspapers without expecting every word to appeal to them. I probably read about 60-70% of mine. Likewise we don't read all the articles on the front page of BBC News Online.

Why do people expect every word of this website to be riveting and relevant to them?

In reply to MattDTC:

There is something called reality Matt, I'll repeat that. It isn't strange at all.

This news item may provide a useful insight in to what sponsored climbers have to do to earn their crust and how the outdoor industry works.

No this is not a cutting edge ascent but it is an interesting ascent and yes I have made it perfectly clear, I hope most readers can interpret that, why Leo and Bonners are in China. Berghaus are opening stores in China, hence the additional information at the bottom of the news report. I didn't need to put that there but thought it would add to the bigger picture.

Now I could have produced the press release verbatim as some media have done so (example: http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/6177 ). But I didn't, I added a slant to it which included my choice of photos - I could have used the hero poses supplied.

Further, most media are in the pockets of outdoor companies as they are desperate for advertising pounds. I believe that is counter productive. We believe in attempting to keeping it real as it benefits us all - readers, UKC, outdoor companies). As we become more successful we have more editorial independence and that is what we all want.

Both readers and our advertisers, well most of them understand this and hopefully appreciate our efforts.

Mick

Quoting MattDTC: "Maybe our top climbers".
Do they belong to everyone now with some sort of requirement to please people? no, they get paid by companies to do a job, they have a free will. If they want the money and they choose to do what is asked of them that's their choice.

In reply to gethin_allen:

And it's not as if they are being paid to clean verges for a fortnight. This sounds like a genuinely fun and interesting experience that few of us would turn our noses up at. The clickthrough to Leo's blog gives a lot more detail.

In reply to MattDTC:


Very true. But truer still is that climbing itself, in becoming more and more popular, is slowly moving away from genuine 'climbing', as some would have it, isn't it?

Of course some will see it as rot we must stop. But many others will see it as exactly the influx of money, interest and publicity which will give climbers the resources to push the art.

Both are right and both are wrong.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Sorry Mick, run that by me again, was this article written for;
a) UKC news readers – in which case what is there of interest, unless you enjoy following celebrity.
b) Berghaus – who will gain international audience exposure.


And with regards to ‘reality’, the media (including UKC) have a very powerful roll in influencing peoples perceptions of what constitutes ‘reality’. Hence my earlier point about reporting verbal tripe about celebrity stunts as ‘News’. I can’t help but feel it has a skewing effect on peoples perception of what climbing is all about and the slow change of values within climbing which will be carried forward into the future.

Maybe I am alone on this, but part of me finds these types of ‘News’ articles rather saddening; for me this isn’t what climbing is all about.

In reply to MattDTC:

Climbing is about many things and our news page reflects that.

If you want pure OINews go to our Gear page: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/

I understand the role of the media and sadly how it is turning into advertorial in a mad scramble for a small amount of advertising.

One main difference at least here, is that we all have chance to comment if you think we have overstepped the line, this keeps us honest. You will note how most everything we publish editorially at UKC is linked to a forum thread, a significant difference from static print media where everything is swallowed hook line and sinker without any accountability or redress.

Not so here.


In fact the opposite is happening here. We present a far bigger picture of what climbing is about and that includes the commercial side of climbing.

Check our News page for the diversity of news that we cover on a daily and weekly basis. http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

If you follow our news page and articles you will get a far bigger and clearer picture of what climbing is, and it is many things, than ever or anywhere before.

Back to this news item - there are other issues which could be addressed here.

- a British based outdoor companies expansion into the Far East
- the production of outdoor brand copies in the Far East
- the growth of the outdoor market in China
- the growth Chinese consumer culture
- the celebritisation of outdoor athletes

....and others, but I have another news report to write, a drive to the Lakes to pick up a print job, and a flight to catch...

But thanks Matt, much food for thought.

Mick

In reply to MattDTC:

all of us: readers, Leo and team, UKC and Berghaus......

In reply to MattDTC:

Some climbers have put up a 600m new route in a spectacular-looking place, in good style. I found it interesting as far as it went but would have liked some more details. Certainly nothing to do with 'celebrity', I'd probably have been even more interested if it had been someone I'd never heard of

In reply to Toreador:

UKC News May/2009

The Sea Monsters of Donegal

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=47391

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: reality mmmmmm does that include china occupying tibet, i'm not sure berghaus opening stores in china sits all that well with my lunch.

In reply to the flash:

Given what actually goes on all over the world all of the time, it would suprise me if you managed to get any food down you at all based on your words above. Worrying about Berghaus in China? Get a grip mate, that's pathetic...

In reply to UKC News:

Just got some words from Leo.

Leo actually organised this trip himself, it wasn't part of the shop launch but obviously their ascent was a plus for that

Leo organised the whole thing from scratch and was keen to visit China as he had never been before and in particular Mount Huashan which he had heard about.

He says, "I lead 10 of the 11 pitches and it was pretty f*cking epic and hard - HXS probably E6 but so over grown hard to grade. I ended up under massive pressure and its the worst time of the year.

It has been one of the best climbing experiences I've ever had."

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
Sounds like a good project for Franco & co

In reply to flaneur:
"It’s a great shame that someone as hugely gifted as Leo has seemingly given up hard climbing"

Jeesus how ignorant can you get?! You reckon climbing a new 600m E6 ground-up with a trad rack on a crag like that is "easy". Go on yersel big man!

Wake up and smell the coffee, and look beyond the numbers for a change you f-ing media lap dog.

In reply to UKC News: what a strange thread, some of you should probably step outside and have a word with yourselves about something i like to call "proportion".

as a few others have said: climber visits unusual and visually impressive region, climbs new route, 600 metres, ground up, trad, E6

seems reasonably interesting to me.

It's interesting to see Berghaus getting into bed with the Chinese government. It would be very amusing if their products started getting knocked off in a big way, especially if any Berghouse makes it to Western markets. At least the gore-tex-miles will be reduced.

Have any outdoor brands ever had any campaigning done against them on political ethical grounds in the past?

In reply to gabriel_m:

plenty of knock off North Face jackets in the markets of shanghai, but i'm sure they think imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

why shouldn't China develop it's market for outdoor gear?

In reply to MattDTC:

What I find saddening is your pathetic whinging.

Maybe it was all a PR exercise but that doesn't diminish the facts that
a) the fact that it sounded like a pretty good adventure and
b) such a story enables committed and talented climbers like Leo to make a living out of doing something they love.

You come across as jealous and bitter. I'm sure we both would much rather be exploring a new route on a mountain in China than be sat in front of a computer monitor, though why you feel the need to moan about somebody else having such an experience is beyond me.

In reply to fxceltic:

Some people have nothing better to do mate.

enty

In reply to MattDTC:

I enjoy these articles, it highlights people getting out and doing stuff I will never do.

A couple of threads recently have had this theme, "not news" "not worth of coverage" etc etc, which would be fine if we were subscribing to some worthy and expensive journal. But, as far as I can see, this website is free (to me) so I am happy with what I read, it's worth every penny.

Nee