UKC

The climber who inspired me most was Ron Fawcett because he seemed to be able to climb on all types of rock at the top level and could climb long scary routes unroped.He had a level of skill and confidence I could only dream of.Who inspired or inspires you and why?

In reply to BolderLicious:

Is the correct answer "the one having the most fun"?

In reply to BolderLicious: If it's purely about technical ability my choice would be Dave Macleod for being at the top grades accross several climbing disciplines.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

No.

The correct era adjusted answer is a tie between Fawcett and Brown.

In reply to Cameron94:

2nd.

In reply to BolderLicious: Two videos I remember from my earlier days of climbing - Ron on Lord of the Flies, and Stone Monkey, so it has to be those two for me....

In reply to BolderLicious:

Is the thread limited to British climbers?

In reply to Cameron94:

But the same goes for for plenty of others.

In reply to Robert Durran:

I don't quite get what you're trying to say.

In reply to kwoods:

I'm saying that plenty have operated at top grades across several disciplines.

In reply to BolderLicious: Moffat, Moffat Moffat Moffat Moffat Moffat.

In reply to Robert Durran:

But this is UKC Robert! They have to be likeable British blokes with a bit of a media profile

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Fawcett (aka God)?

In reply to Blue Straggler:
Include non brits too.
Reinhold messner climbed all peaks over 8000 metres first and did everest
without oxygen when medical experts said it was impossible.He climbed the Eiger in 10 hours.In terms of physical fitness and mental strength and self belief I doubt there has been anyone better than him.
He used to train by running 3000 ft uphill on his toes!

In reply to BolderLicious:

But what has he done on grit?

is someone going to Rickroll this thread?

In reply to BolderLicious:
It says on wikipedia's Reinhold Messner page:
Reinhold Messner (born 17 September 1944) is a mountaineer, adventurer and explorer from the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol, "whose astonishing feats on Everest and on peaks throughout the world have earned him the status of the greatest climber in history."[1]
So I suppose we should all feel inspired by him.

In reply to Blue Straggler:
That's why I chose ron fawcett-hard to relate to messner when you dont have 8000m mountains nearby.

In reply to BolderLicious:

If we're allowed foreigners and mountaineers, not just British rock climbers, then it's Bonatti. No contest.

In reply to Robert Durran:
I remember reading how he ascended the petite dru solo and had to lassoo
a flake with the rope to save himself.Nerves of steel.

In reply to Robert Durran:

+ 2, with Ron just getting the top slot.

Met big Ron on several occasions, and it would be hard to find a nicer bloke - and to watch him climb, was a revelation.

In reply to BolderLicious: I watched Fawcett climbing at Almscliffe when he was at the start of his career. B*stard. He more or less was responsible for me giving up climbing after I had gone to university, at a time I foolishly imagined that leading a few E1s and E2s was putting me at the cutting edge.

I think he is a great bloke, but his inspiration was strictly inverse!

In reply to BolderLicious:

Really surprised more people haven't answered with Johnny Dawes! His ability to understand movement on rock is astounding, as is his mental strength and stamina. Put up tons of new routes and was clearly at the top of the game in his era, definitely the climber whose skills i'd like to have the most!

After that for me its a tie between Joe Brown and Don Whillians, I have most respect for climbers who just want to climb stuff, no b*llsh*t and less competitiveness!

In reply to ciaran1999:

But what has he done on limestone?

In reply to Robert Durran: For me Wolfgang Gullich

In reply to BolderLicious: Who inspired me the most (not who was the "best" climber)? - Tom Proctor. Quiet, gentle giant, always friendly and happy to give advice to relative novices like myself. Lovely bloke.

In reply to Robert Durran:


8b... at the very least.

In reply to BolderLicious:

Lynn Hill for me,

In reply to BolderLicious:

Must also add Alain Robert, fantastic confidence in his own ability

In reply to BolderLicious: brown is my biggest inspiration

In reply to damo5000:

Not really. I mean if you can do the first of 100 identical floors of a building, then I imagine you pretty much know you can do the other 99.

Far more confidence in ability needed for real onsight climbing.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Agreed and point taken, but most people would never solo the stuff he does, granted a lot of climbers could achieve what he does, but stil fair play to him

In reply to BolderLicious:

John Dunne, what an inspiration he was to me in the early years, had the pleasure of climbing with him a fair bit in the early nineties.

And this guy...
http://tinyurl.com/2atnhre

In reply to BolderLicious:

For someone young like me who has only seen old film of Fawcett and Dawes, I'd say Pete Whittaker. Genuinely nice guy and trains/climbs like an animal.

In reply to BolderLicious:
Dave Graham for inspiring trickery, Patxi Usobiaga for inspiring dedication and training

In reply to spidermonkey09:
I saw him on the Committed dvd doing the direct start to Braille Trail.
Really impressive.

In reply to Robert Durran:


Seconded.

In reply to BolderLicious: Well I climbed on a regular basis with several of them, particularly Ron and Pete, but the most inspiring to me was Joe Brown, AND Joe always seemed to be having fun (so did Ron really, but Pete was apt to be a bit serious). Other personal favourites from the 60's and 70's are Jack Street, Tom Proctor and in the bigger ranges Paul Nunn.

In reply to BolderLicious:

Fawcett for me too. Really nice bloke too if you ever bump into him at the works.

In reply to BolderLicious:

Cunningham was revered by my peers, especially by those that knew him, so by through their tales and marvelling at his skills he was was certainly a strong influence on my climbing direction at that time.
That said I would say that Cubby as been the most constantly inspirational figure for me...watching him efficently move over rock, reading every move with a considered deliberateness and being great bloke with an obvious love of climbing.

In reply to BolderLicious:

Anyone who trains really hard inspires me to be a better climber. So for me Patxi Usobiaga and Markus Bendler

In reply to BolderLicious:
Joe Brown, nice, unassuming bloke who burnt off everybody (for several decades) and all without making a song and dance about it. Add to that a legacy of routes that could keep the average climber inspired for yonks

In reply to damo5000:

Not sure how hard his stuff on buildings is but he has done really hard solos on rock (up to 8a+ including 7c+ in the verdon)

In reply to BolderLicious:

without oxygen when medical experts said it was impossible.

I never did get the significance of this.

There is little oxygen at 8000 metres
..true

there's no usable water at 8000 metres
there's no food at 8000 metres
There are no clothes at 8000 metres
No tents
climbing gear
first aid equipment
etc
etc
etc

In reply to Bulls Crack:

The significace of it is that I don't believe anyone has yet managed to climb alpine style with bottled oxygen. If that were done then I agree it would be no different to all the other stuff in the rucksack. The problem with oxygen is the expedition style it seems to necessitate, not the oxygen itself.

In reply to BolderLicious:

Dawes - Living near Black Rocks I often look up at Gaia / Angel's Share and wonder about the confidence and skill needed to do routes like that.

In reply to BolderLicious: For me it's Joe Brown, accross many disciplines including expedition and rock climbing he was brilliant, whilst also being an ordinary alright working bloke.

In reply to BolderLicious:

Joe Brown inspires me the most. An ordinary man, but a idol in the eyes of many.

In reply to Bulls Crack:
The significance is that when they embarked on their quest, they were the only people who believed they would be successful and return, thus they entered the true unknown.

In reply to BolderLicious:

No votes yet for Pat Littlejohn? Great explorational rock climber & probably the longest surviving director of the ISM at Leysin.

In reply to Mike C:
For me it has always been C.F. Kirkus.

In reply to BolderLicious:

Inspiration is a personal thing and doesn't really have to have anything to do with being the best.

For me the names that come through are Dawes (mainly started from a string of outrageous looking guidebook photos), Dunne (one man against the 'establishment' - whoever that was!) and Tasker (driving to the Himalaya in an old Escort van FFS !).

In reply to BolderLicious: JC Lafaille, Jerzy Kukuczka in the big ranges. Ron Fawcett, Dawes, Brown and Whillans.

In reply to BolderLicious: John Dunne for being years ahead of his time, putting up with the jealous Peak bullshit and being a nice guy too!

In reply to BolderLicious:
Johnny Woodward for Beau Geste.
I used to look at that route and think: "How the hell!"

In reply to BolderLicious:

A tentative vote for John Redhead - a man walking the tightrope between courage and madness - routes like Raped by afection on the Rainbow Slab strike terror into the soul of mortals!

In reply to BolderLicious:

How do we feel about Dave Birkett being in this list? I grew up in the lakes, and was starting out in the early 90's when there were local names that were doing high numbers on the high mountain crags, and getting not much credit, nor seeking it. Dave Birkett, John Burrell, Stu Wood, Paul Cornforth et al....

To my knowledge, Dave has never taken full sponsorship, has always had full time employment, yet manages to turn out climbs that are of quality (From being an observer, not trying them, obviously!)each and every time.

Combine this with the fact he has done quality boulder problems, sport routes and even winter climbs that are some of the hardest in the UK

Surely Dave has to be up there for inspirational, a regular guy who loves the Mountains, who climbs for the sake of it, not the Sponsorship....

In reply to Landy_Dom:
We used to laugh at his writing because he used big words we couldnt understand
such as prosyletise and perfunctorily.

In reply to BolderLicious:

A.F.Mummery