UKC

Breaking News - Just In

UKC's evergreen roving reporter - Roberta Jinglestop has some amazing info on a cutting edge first ascent, breaking barriers in UK winter climbing standards:

"I'm very pleased to be able to report an outstanding and ground breaking new route on Ben McNaughty, the bastion of winter climbing in Tunbridge Wells." Writes Roberta.

THE KNOW-HOW is graded XXII 17 and takes the obvious line on the over-hanging onion, near the summit of Ben McNaughty.

Full Article With Video Here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=767

News Report Here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

UKC has excelled itself once again in reporting climbing news. Well done Jack, you are right up there with Mick in his reporting.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor: Erm ?

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Did you spend any money on this?

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Oh Dear.

The Ent

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor: mmmm piss takes are good when they are funny.

In reply to mikecopp: I wondered if this was a resignation piece, know what i mean ?

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

No it's not.

hehehe...Funny!

In reply to everyone: Well I thought it was hilarious when I read it! Especially: As he warmed up by covering himself in organic lard...

And the references to Dawes on the Indian Face and Gaia.

I hope some will find it funny. I think more satirical pieces would be great.

Thanks to Roberta for sending it in.

Jack

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Did u LOL?

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Oh dear. Doesnt Mick usually report this news?

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Something along the lines of My First Lead (E0)?

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor: I thought it was a creditable attempt to cheer people up on what the newspapers have been telling us is satistically the most depressing day of the year.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor: I think this was overgraded. It's clear on the video that the temperature must have risen to cause melting/thaw. Does it still get winter grade? Were the team in tears with placements and protection. cheers

In reply to Will Hunt:

Nope...several people do.

Got news Will? Send it in.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/sendnews.html

In reply to Ridge:

That would have been good but Fiend was lazy, he should have persevered.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

I did. You didn't even have the courtesy to reply.

In reply to Mr Justice Cocklecarrot:

I apolgise. What was it about?

I've checked UKC user news and see no trace.

Email me direct; mick@ukclimbing.com

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

A while back, the Czech on Narcissus.

In reply to Mr Justice Cocklecarrot:

THAT'S NOT NEWS GRAHAM.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:


As many people pointed out when it appeared in the news section.

Apology accepted.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

I used to despair of this type of piece when they appeared in OTE as I felt they dragged the credibility of the publication downhill. Sadly this is no different.

In reply to Jamie B.:

In that case check out the rest of UKC content, and say some kind words if you like any of it, after all it is free.

I Want That Job! - Tom Randall, Professional Route Setter

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=798

'An Ode' - Four Small Men

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=799

Nine Moments in the making of HardXS

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=757

Arco - Italian Sport Climbing Mecca

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=762

Climbing with Sir Ran Fiennes - The North Face of the Eiger

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=768

PREVIEW: The New Yorkshire Grit Bouldering Guidebook

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=763

Jan 19: Lisa Rands Climbs the Mandala V12, Bishop

reported 20 hours after the ascent"

Jan 19: Patagonia and Sea Shepherd

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

Plus Photos, forum threads and gear reviews.

Brits are slow to praise and quick to criticise.

Which may explain why you haven't got, yet, the kind of quality climbing media that climbing deserves.

Similarly with the climbing magazines, I was in a meeting with one of them today - raising funds for UKC so that you and many others can continue to post, read and view.

Advertising spend is down - the companies fund the climbing media!

Climbers are now very diverse in their interests - very hard to please.

You want a climbing media? What kind of climbing media do you want?

Are you willing to help for little financial gain?

Answers on a postcard....or even an email.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

How small a financial gain did you have in mind? I'm in need of a small financial gain at the mo...

Seriously, we both know that there is plenty of good stuff coming out of UKC, and if I've failed to applaud it I do so now. I just think that any satire is a very difficult thing to get right, and something as specialist climbing satire trebly so. An ameuterish description of some punter's epic on a severe can still be good reading, but attempts at whimsy just seem incongruous somehow.

In reply to Jamie B.:

My oh my whovever posted that news item must feel that thier feathers have been ruffled !!!!!!

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

cringe

just not funny at all, sorry.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

This is not funny it is cliqueish juvenile insider jokes perpetrated by people who do not have to earn a living (although they pretend to do so) because they have rich mommies and daddies.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:
I may have missed it but I dont recall the flash of the Inertia Reel Traverse ever being reported. It would be somewhat belated now though.
Oh, and for all those that didnt know the Inertia Reel Traverse at The Roaches was flashed. My bouldering knowledge isnt very good but at V11 (or maybe Font 8a?) could this be the hardest flash on (peak?) grit?

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

Just think of the 39,000 weekly users who don't criticise as a silent commendation of all the good work you are doing. Chin up, Mick!

(Is it 39,000 or 75,000?)

(Sorry, I didn't think it was funny either, and I really know my onions)

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:


And wouldn't exist if people like Jamie B and hundreds of others didn't contribute by using this site in the first place?

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC: Mick there is lots of jolly good stuff on UKC - some superb gear reviews for example - but I'm afraid I'm with Jamie on this one - I really didn't get it and I thought I would get most climbing 'inside jokes'...

You can't win 'em all.

In reply to Will Hunt:

Andy Earl flashed Powerband. I'd heard Superman had been flashed too, but that may only be hearsay.

In reply to TobyA:
>


I have to agree fraid, its not very funny & cringingly ordinary ...


glad some people liked it tho

Si

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Jack,this seems to have received mixed reviews?
Good point well made..
I do wonder if it should be removed however,cos it is obvious PR for
''Too Kool for Skool and the Team Wet Dreams''
As for Roberta Jinglestop,keep it coming even if the grumpy old Jocks don't like it.

Yours Aye,

Iceox.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:

Thing, is, it's not news. Why not put it in as an interesting article? I had a look at some other articles recently, the "I want that job" ones have been good, I enjoyed reading Kenton Cool's piece about climbing the Eigerwand with Ran Fiennes, however, a piece of satire is not news. There are many articles on this site, most excellent, a fair few to my particular taste, and some not. I should probably praise these more, however, I can't rememeber my ever criticising an article. Thing is, this "news" isn't news, just like the Grimer piece wasn't. Put it as an article! I've never seen anyone come out and criticise an article. When I log on to the UKC homepage and see "new hardest winter route" under the "news" section it should be news. Things like the climbing of "The Secret" and others are great, and genuinely newsworthy. I don't think people are objecting to the piece itself, just the placement under the "news" section. I certainly wouldn't have criticised if it were an article rather than "news".

Anyway, I don't wish to have too much of a go, UKC is generally excellent, informative an interesting, I just wouldn't want to see genuinely newsworthy stuff diluted by pieces like this being labelled as news.

Cheers,

Tim

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:
words fail me ah!!!! Onion head

In reply to Green Porridge:

Thanks Tim.

Yes perhaps we need an Off The Wall section to cover soft news and the odd non-serious piece about climbers not taking themselves too seriously.

This site is constantly evolving, often because of the people who use it and their suggestions and we need constructive criticism like yours; telling us what we get right, what we get wrong and importantly WHY.

Too often we get a short response like, "It's crap".......which adds nothing at all whatsoever and is quite demotivating. That kind of response is lazy and to be quite honest I have little time for it.

So thank you for your post and yes we shall discuss your suggestions and others.

Ta

Mick

In reply to Will Hunt:

Didn't link it to the forums; my bad

Dec 20: Inertia Reel Traverse Flashed

In reply to Green Porridge: I agree entirely

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Is this a piece of pissed-modernist irony?

In reply to Bulls Crack:

So diverse here at UKC.

UK Trad 2007 by Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=797

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:
I think the article had many layers.
I'm not crying; I just made a lasagne.

In reply to Removed User:


Like ogres.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:


Possibly one of the most grotesque and lazy Americanisms ever to infect the English language. This is UK climbing - please speak English.

In reply to Chris Harris:

Awesome Chris.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

Its often that an onion brings a tear to ones eye, but its never due to humour or amusement and this onion is no exception! The layers on this onion would seem to be pretty childish, pretty bitter and not at all a newsworthy one. UKC is a great resource for getting up to the minute news and views, there is a good crew of people who get an up to date report in as and when it happens on the news page for all to view long may that continue and hopefully they wont be put off by this 'news piece regarding the onion' by someone who is probably speculating from across the Channel and certainly a far cry from the hub of UK winter climbing.
Its a shame that the onion story has chosen to throw dirt on what still remains a fine achievement and certainly a breakthrough in UK winter climbing standards. Having climbed with the first acentionist on many occasions I have no doubt that he has both the strength and determination to pull off such a breakthrough and has. There seems to be a tendency here by the 'top brass' to quickly try to belittle someone's achievements maybe to try and protect their own throne !?!
Hopefully UKC will continue to publish newsworthy pieces and keep a great thing going, I and many others are big fans of this site long may that continue, but for childish digs please put them somewhere else so as not to take anything away from the real news, even if it means upsetting the odd onion as we all know they have very thin skins !!!!!!

Aye
Dan

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:

I reckon poor Roberta Jinglestop should stick to Facebook stalking action as opposed to "articles". The thing about humour is it's meant to be funny. This is like being savaged remotely by a dead sheep.

In reply to Chris Harris:

well said dude.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor: Pretty funny, but I wouldnt like to see this kind of stuff all the time. Its a bit of cheap gag.

In reply to Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor:


Cast your mind back to early December.

The faithful are dusting off their tools in keen anticipation of the Scottish Winter. Surely it will be a good one this year. Wait and see….

And then…..BANG! Like a ptarmigan rising from the snow capped hills of the Highlands….Sam Loveday’s iconic photo…..What’s this? THAT line on The Ben has been climbed.

WOW!

BY WHO?

WHAT STYLE?

We want NEWS. We want photos. We want video. And we don’t want them in a few months time, when the magazines come out. We want them now.

And we got them.

So how did we come to THIS….?

Oh dear UKC. You were (rightly) quick to jump on Simon Richardson’s words and slap them into a news article covering one of the most inspiring ascents in the British climbing year. Yet only a few weeks later folk logging on for the latest news in the mountaineering world are subject to this sponsored terminally tedious trivia.

Of course, taking the piss is a great part of the British climbing scene and legends have evolved around it. Whillans, McNaught-Davis, Rouse….not to mention most of your mates….All as quick with a one line put down as a swift layback. But, as many folk have already pointed out, an essential ingredient in this, is that it is actually funny. (And based in reality.)

It all smacks a bit of that very 90’s phenomena – ‘It can’t be that hard because he doesn’t live in Sheffield’. Happily, Fort William resident, Dave Macleod, and many others, blew this out of the water years ago.

I’ve had dozens of emails from folk inspired by Andy’s new route.

Sam’s photo, published worldwide, will bring folk to winter climb in the Highlands.

Talk is cheap but inspiration is divine.

The Secret remains….blissfully indifferent to all this posturing.

And it’s always up there. Often liberally covered in verglass and thick hoar as on the first ascent….

Aye, Rob(in).

In reply to Dan Goodwin:
Dan,
You're dead right,the onion was wrong,so wrong!It should have been a thick skinned,perfect neep ( turnip to the Southern raiders based in the Fort).

n reply to Rob Jarvis:

Passion. Love it Rob.

Check out

UK Trad 2007 by Jack Geldard - Assistant Editor

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=797

We have very little Peaky bias at UKClimbing.com especially from myself and Jack.

Jack is North Wales based.

I've tried Sheff but I'm moving back north to Ambleside. Peaks/Sheff is good but not my cup of Yorkshire tea. It is a great climbing area and as you know, with good reason, very popular. See the logbooks for proof of that.

UKC Owners, Andy Hyslop is based in the South Lakes and Aviemore. OK the other owner Ali J is a Peaky but is far removed from the 'scene' and we do forgive him for his location.

Readers at UKC are from all parts of the UK as are most of the people who write at UKC.

The News is very geographically spread out, as are climbers these days.

I think this particular satirical piece (whether you liked it or not) was scribbed in Chamonix by a bunch of bored alpinists on a rest day none of who live in Sheffield. In fact if read carefully they took the piss out of some Peakies, boulderers, Dawes, Bear Grillis whatever his name is, the Parnell, Redhead, mountain guides.....as well as the Secret.

Good stuff. But yes not to repeated too often and we do like to try things out on here. We often get it right, sometimes get it wrong and we are always learning - above all we value all thoughtful feedback, so thank you.

Cheers,

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:
>

. OK the other owner Ali J is a Peaky but is far removed from the 'scene' and we do forgive him for his location.


Surely we are not alowed to call him that are we?

...I'm not going to try - well ok I might do next lift I get & see the response!?

...I'll blame it on tha tho!

;0)

In reply to Simon:

There's actually a song that Greg Chapman (lakesbloc chap) sings about Ali J and Micky R. It's a rap song I think. So blame him.

In reply to Mick Ryan - Editor - UKC:


You got off lightly!

;0)

Si