UKC

Astonishingly, the Financial Times' House and Home section today carries an interview with Molly Thompson-Smith http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d9fc7282-5062-11e4-8645-00144feab7de.html#ax... .

In reply to John2:

Why astonishing? FT seems to be doing a good job on 'normal' news and some other interesting stuff outside of finance. Thanks for the link anyhow.

In reply to Offwidth:

Well usually this column features a description of the pleasant home of a high-achieving, often retired, academic or business person together with a discussion of the issues that particularly interest them. I never expected to see 1 6 year old's bedroom featured.

In reply to John2:

I'd have happier if the paper had put the climbing pic 90degrees clockwise so it was showing the steepness.

In reply to John2:

Indoor climbing - Is that actually newsworthy?

In reply to John2:

I'm impressed that a 16-year old owns some CDs

In reply to The Pylon King:

"House and Home" sections of broadsheet newspapers - are they actually claiming to be "news"?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I think the clue is in the word 'Newspaper'

In reply to The Pylon King:

Let's call "House and Home" a 'supplement' instead then.

And I will leave this thread now. Have the final word if you must. I have interesting things to be getting on with. :-P

In reply to Blue Straggler:


No they're not. It's comforting middle-class porn for the eyes that tells you that we all live an affluent, owner-occupied, tasteful decor dream. So proud that climbing is now part of this.

In reply to The Pylon King:

Perhaps if you restricted yourself to posting about things you actually know something about we would all be grateful.

In reply to John2:



Is that the royal 'We'?

In reply to Jamie B:


I like the observation. However, how did we get here in just a few decades from scraggly doley climbers and Stoney ledge life? Seems like a rebranding exercise almost as radical as Skoda?

In reply to Jamie B:


Yep, bourgeoisie bullshit. Thank god its not actually to do with real climbing.

In reply to john arran:

I suspect because someone involved in the production of the supplement goes to the Westway climbing wall. Previous interviewees have included Uta Frith, Dame Wendy Hall and Hans Blix, so it would be more true to say that this particular column is based on interviews with exceptionally high achievers.

In reply to John2:


I don't doubt that but I rather hoped my rhetorical question would be seen as somewhat wider in scope.

In reply to john arran:


I think this can be answered realistically. The advent of much more common colour printing in magazines led to more garish colours on outdoors gear (1988-1990 was the turning period) which made things look really "cool" and "rad". Also at least in the UK the fame of Alison Hargreaves helped to make things mainstream, getting away from the "beardy old man" image.

Either that, or Jerry Moffatt on You Bet

In reply to john arran:


To be honest, I find the notion that any climber who doesn't come from an impoverished working-class background is somehow lacking in credibility the worst sort of inverted snobbery. Or were you asking why the mainstream press should be interested in climbing? Surely that's a good thing.

In reply to John2:

Not sure where you could have got that notion from - certainly not from what I wrote. Even my Skoda example was one of a brand hugely gaining credibility over a similar time frame.

I'm just surprised at how much the place and public perception of climbing has changed over this time, some for better certainly and perhaps some for worse too, and was wondering what could have brought about such change in quite a short time.

I like the notion that it was Jerry on You Bet but I rather think it may have had more to do with Mrs T.

In reply to john arran:

OK sorry, I see what you're saying now. Skoda were re-engineered rather than rebranded though.

As for Mrs T, when she passed a law stating that if you voluntarily resigned from your job you had to wait 6 months before claiming the dole she brought to an end the period when someone from a non-wealthy background could spend an entire summer climbing on the dole. British climbing was never as influential again.

In reply to john arran:

Surprised that no one has mention the FT's obscene (to me) How to Spend it supplement - that really was (upper) middle class porn! I wouldn't know if the FT still publish this as it is what stopped me even buying the FT occasionally.

While obviously competition climbing is here to stay, it really is a completly different world from the outdoor trad climbing than us old farts grew up with.

In reply to Bob Moulton:

There was indeed a How to Spend It supplement in the same edition. Personally, I find it a source of considerable amusement.

In reply to John2: I loved the caption to a deeply tedious photograph:

"Thompson-Smith’s bedroom and a shelf unit holding her books and CDs"

Mainly it was a photograph of her shelf unit.

In reply to The Pylon King:

'real climbing' ?

In reply to John2:

"one of the world's best climbers"

really - i have no doubt she is talented but what's she actually....you know, climbed?

In reply to Morgan Woods:

You could perhaps question the significance of her achievements to date on a truly world scale but clearly she must have climbed pretty impressively to win the (senior) British Lead Climbing Championships last month and to qualify for many international finals as a Junior. If these undeniable climbing achievements don't fit in with your personal idea of what climbing is about it's your prerogative to completely ignore them but the implication that indoor events aren't now an integral part of British and world climbing is either impressively ignorant or several decades out of touch.

In reply to Morgan Woods:
Great to see the support from some members of UKC for the achievements of the young climbers in the GB Team.

I have the pleasure of taking these young people to competitions around the world, they work really hard, they train really hard, they want to bring back medals and good results for British climbing. They are a great bunch of talented athletes, they might not do the same kind of climbing as everyone else but if you have a look at some of the climbers who have come through the GB junior team and what they are doing in all disciplines of the sport now I for one am impressed; some examples of past team members; Hazel Findley, Pete and Katy Whittaker, Shauna Coxsey, Tom Bolger, Robbie Phillips, Ed Hamer, and currently we have young climbers pushing hard outdoors like Buster Martin, Jim Pope Aiden Dunne, Emily Allen

Perhaps a bit of encouragement and respect might go down well rather than just being negative.

In reply to Ian Dunn:

I and many others think you and the kids are doing a grand job. Yet its not as if climbing never had more than its fair share of ethical stick in the muds.

In reply to Ian Dunn:

If there's one thing that comes out of this interview, it's Molly's single-minded dedication to her climbing.

In reply to Ian Dunn:

Gosh you and John should get off your high horses....I just noted this person is undoubtedly quite talented then just asked about the routes she has climbed. I don't see why that would elicit such an emotional response?

In reply to Morgan Woods:

I rather think that if there's a high horse around here then you're still on it. The routes Molly has chosen to direct her energies into climbing were clearly self-evident from the article, i.e. comp routes, and she has climbed these to an exceptionally high standard. You chose to completely ignore this in making what came across as a poorly-veiled snide comment about comp climbing not being on 'real' routes. If that wasn't your intention then you did a very good job of sounding like it was. Such an attitude is several decades behind the curve and frankly quite pathetic nowadays.

How else do you think you can win leading comps without climbing hard routes?

In reply to Morgan Woods:
I wasn't just commenting about your comments, rather the regular bunch of UKC posters who don't consider anything worthwhile except some trad route.

The are so many aspects of climbing that can be appreciated by those who have an open mind and can appreciate the hard work involved when people perform at high level in all disciplines.

In reply to Morgan Woods:

Nice. Laying into the 16 yr old.