UKC

Who's life would you most like to read about that hasn't yet been written or that hasn't (yet) been translated.

I'd love a biography on the Walker family and Louis Lachenal 'Carnets' would be amazing if it could be translated - I don't have time to learn French

Allan

In reply to Allanfairfechan:
Pat Littlejohn.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Tom Patey ...There's one on its way!

In reply to Allanfairfechan

Jimmy Jewel.

Al Harris.

I'd also like a more in depth Joe Brown.

In reply to John Burns:


I'm sure I remember reading his auto biography way back in the 70s.........

In reply to Big Ger:


Me too. I can still remember the excitement I had discovering 'The Hard Years' when I was a nipper.

I gather that Brown has been recording his recollections with his daughter Zoe. So there's something in the pipeline.

Mick

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Brede Arkless https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/apr/18/guardianobituaries.mainsection
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=174818

In reply to Mick Ward:


Good news.

In reply to wynaptomos:


One Man's Mountains - I think its on a shelf at home.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Quite like to read a complete John Barry autobiography (I'm sure there's a whole lot of great stories that need to be told).

We've been pretty lucky in the last few years - Dawes, Whillans, MacIntyre etc. Would quite like to see some updated volumes (Fowler)

B

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Jimmy Marshall

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

DJ Viper.

In reply to ben b:

Would quite like to see some updated volumes (Fowler)

He could call it 'The Mad Tax Man'...

Talking of Fowler, he appears to be selling his house: -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3712349/Climbing-property-ladder-17...

In reply to FactorXXX:





So that's where all our tax went.....

In reply to FactorXXX:

You've got to love the national press.....apparently he's climbed Kilimanjaro you know...and er some other stuff in the Himalaya you won't have heard of.

Still fair play to them they've made a nice job of that house.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:


Andy Parkin
Fred Beckey
Stevie Haston

In reply to Chris Harris:
What a beautiful house. Good on him. Certainly a life well lived, and no doubt many Piolet D'Or worthy ascents still to come!

edit: and maybe he'll try to conquer Kilimanjaro again!

In reply to ben b:


Not forgetting Big Ron's book, which is the best of the lot to my way of thinking.

In reply to Big Ger:

Very true. I think we owe a big debt of gratitude to Vertebrate Press... I have a whole bookshelf of fantastic books that they have brought out in the last few years.

http://v-publishing.co.uk/books/categories/biographies.html not a bad line up!

b

In reply to ben b:

Ooooh! Cheers for that link, I'm going to buy the Boysen one right now!!!!

http://v-publishing.co.uk/books/categories/biographies/hanging-on.html

In reply to Big Ger:

I should be on commission I enjoyed the Boysen volume and always wanted to hear more of the knee bar escapade....

A little embarrassingly I note that I have read 22 of those, now sat on the shelf in the library. I picked up Alex Honnold's book a week ago, so reading that currently; next up is In Some Lost Place.

b

In reply to FactorXXX:



Who in their right mind would buy a house from Mick Fowler?

The masonry will be loose, there will probably be several cracks, the sleeping facilities will be called the torture tube, and access will be by boat.

In reply to DerwentDiluted:

But you'll have a fantastic experience... if you survive!

I suppose the house really should be called 'Breakaway'... though that's probably asking a little too much.

Mick

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Alan Austin would be good.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Anyone done one on Puttrell yet? He may not have invented climbing, but he pretty much pioneered single pitch climbing for its own sake.

In reply to lanky:

Austin is interesting - active for only about 20 years (at climbing) but intensely active! There was a brief retrospective in Crags. Someone whom I know, who has written about many eminent climbers, was considering a much fuller retrospective - although he didn't want to get drawn into the FRCC/Matheson stuff which may (and I emphasise may) not entirely redound to Austin's credit.

Certainly the photosequence of Austin soloing the FA of Wall of Horrors is the stuff of legend - no arguing about that! The hardest route in the country and he's giving it his all in a situation where fluffing it is emphatically not a viable option.

Mick

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Mountain spirit

In reply to Fraser:


Is that Zimpara

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Has there been a Livesey ones?

In reply to Bulls Crack: Fast and Free by Sheard and Radtke is probably the nearest you'll get to a biograpy.
Well written imho, with a number of contributors.

In reply to Bulls Crack:


There has indeed been a Livesey one...

https://www.amazon.com/Fast-Free-Livesey-Stories-Rock-Climbing/dp/191007701...

It's a very good read

b

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Sir John Hunt
Dr Charles Warren
Geoffrey Winthrop Young

In reply to DerwentDiluted:
"Jim Puttrell, Pioneer Climber & Cave Explorer" was written by John Craddock in 2009 and self published through Troubador. It is out of print and I have searched the used book sources to no avail. I mentioned this in a thread on here a while back and someone responded saying they had a copy but not for sale. They kindly lent it to me and I read it.
It was heavily based on his diaries - obtained through the support of his family - and described a lot of his activity but for me it failed to reveal the man himself or indeed how he was seen by his contemporaries. I think there is still a job to be done there.

In reply to FactorXXX:
His library looks well stocked.

In reply to Trangia:

Alan Hankinson has done Winthrop Young, and I guess it's unlikely there'll be another soon.

No Boivin in English?

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

A one about Johnny Woodward would be amazing. The rumour is he moved to Salt Lake City after the grit scene. I have not heard of him since.

In reply to Mick Ward:

I haven't seen the photos of Austin on WoH - are they online? The man obviously had cojones like melons.

Not so much a biography, but I would love to see a book about the Rock and Ice and other working class clubs after the war; those guys - and quite a few women too, perhaps surprisingly - were so enterprising, adventurous, fit and downright courageous that they deserve a permanent record. Dennis Gray did an OK job but his books are hard to find nowadays.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Rene Desmaison
Pete Crew
Hugh Banner
John Allen
Steve Bancroft

In reply to Jim Walton:

There's an autobiography by René Desmaison (Les forces de la montagne : mémoires) but I suspect its never been translated into English, plus other books on particular climbs including '342 heures dans les Grandes Jorasses' which I think is available in English

In reply to Doug:

Yes, you can get "Total Alpinism" by Desmaison. It is though written by Desmaison and therefore not really a Biography. He seemed to be an incredible character having done some incredible climbs and managing to wind up most of his fellow Guides along the way (Dru Rescue, Dragging a camera up the shroud in winter so that he could do an interview with Paris Match at each bivi - 8 days?) in "342 Heures dan les Grandes Jorasses" he's fairly blunt in his reaction to the rescue services not coming to his aid and leaving him to die.

He was one of the first climbers to understand the need for Media to get money. It would be interesting to get an in depth look behind the mask of someone who was certainly one of the Best Alpinists of the 60's and 70's.

Added to that an English Biography of
Patrick Gabarrou
Christophe Profit

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

In Fact we could really do with a book about Alpinism in the 1960's, 1970's &1980's.

Think of all the great people climbing then and the routes they put up as equipment became more reliable! The list is huge.

Desmaison
Gabarrou
Profit
Boivin
Messner
Habeler
Destivelle
Rouse
Carrington
MacIntyre
Harlin
Haston

the list goes on and on

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Ron Moseley

In reply to Removed User:


I was thinking about this very question the other day and Haston was top of my list. He has a bags of character.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Wojciech Kurtyka - I know he's written a number of books in Polish but I'd like to read more about him in English. The bits on him in 'Freedom Climbers' are excellent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Kurtyka

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Apologies for the delay in replying. Life (and climbing!) got in the way.


IIRC the photos are in an article by the late Dave Cook, 'The Sombre Face of Yorkshire Climbing', circa Mountain 21/circa 1971. There are two or three shots (from a photosequence?) of him on the lower wall - clearly giving it his best shot! Total commitment.

With (in the style he did 'em) the FAs of High Street, Western Front and Wall of Horrors, Austin surely raised the bar in terms of seriousness. Perhaps only Whillans' FA of Sentinel Crack is comparable for the time.



Sadly, my guess is that we've left it a bit late - though I'd love to be proved wrong. That generation must be dying off. It will be fascinating though to read what Brown's putting together. And we've got Dennis Gray. The late Harold Drasdo's 'The Ordinary Route' is well worth reading on, inter alia, 'the poetry of the poor', the Bradford lads and so many others heading for the hills. Right now, John Appleby is deciphering a three hour film of Harold and others. The late Alastair Borthwick did a great job about the 1930s counterparts (with 'Always a Little Further') and similarly the late Al Parker wrote a lovely book ('Alpha Males') about the 1960s counterparts.

For me, the early part of Gwen Moffat's delightful 'Space Below My Feet' captures a post-war bohemianism. She'd now be termed a dirt-bag climber. A tough lady!

Mick

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

I'd like to read something of
"The Jaws of Borrowdale"

In reply to Jim Walton:


You can piece together the history from recent books written by Bernadette Macdonald, John Porter, Steve House and Sandy Allan among others. They all mesh together and some amusingly tell the same story from different viewpoints - which you wouldn't get in a single book.

In reply to Big Ger:


Ron was always The Best, The Man my gen had to keep up with.
Ed could've done him way more justice IMHO.
Grabs coat ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Pete Crew is one that always fascinated me... he was known as not being particularly physically talented, but he was right up there for a while putting up big, hard routes that have stood the test of time. He fully expected to overtake Joe 'the master' and the rest of his generation and be the future (from what i gather), but seemed disillusioned with his progress and the climbing scene - then disappeared into obscurity, never to be heard of again. There is certainly a book in the posthumous investigative style of Perrin in there somewhere.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Jim Perrin....

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

The legendary Big Jim Jewell is a story that needs telling too. It's close to my heart as he started out as a Cave and Crag member (like me), but is famous now as the guy who slipped off an easy route and died. In his time, nobody could touch him for scary solo's, he lived the life of the dirtbag in 80's llanberis, like a moth to a flame and burned off all the big names in wales. What goes through the mind of a soloist on the very edge of what is possible? What takes a lad from being your average punter, to someone who can't live without looking death in the face on a regular basis? The journey from being a midland nobody to someone so obsessed that he couldnt live without risking it all. The emotional ups and downs, relationships and logistics of making a life on the rock work - would be a great read, but a lot of work as hardly anything has ever been written about him - a lot of the focus of his era was taken by the later legends of the late 80s onwards.

In reply to Blake:

didn't he end up teaching archaeology at university somewhere or have I confused him with someone else ?

In reply to Doug:

I'm not entirely sure Doug. I have heard various things, this may be incorrect, but I think he still lives in North Wales and works (worked) in something to do with history/archaeology for an academic institution. I'm sure there is something on here about it. As with any character from those days, the clock is ticking and valuable sources of information are unfortunately growing old and will not be around forever - many of them aren't.

(A quick Google shows that he did indeed become an archaeologist and appears to be a recognised (and published) specialist in the field of metallurgy.)

In reply to Blake:

I believe that he is now head of archaeology for Snowdonia, and regards his climbing years as a waste of time.

In reply to Blake:

a little searching led to http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=138403
Seems he is/was head of archaeology for the national park although I guess he may well be associated with one or more university departments as well

In reply to AP Melbourne:

Get your coat AP, Ron's book was a brave piece of honesty, and reflects the man well.

In reply to Trangia:




Of the same ilk...Howard Somervell. The little about him in 'Into the Silence' reveals a very interesting man, from working as a doctor on the first day of the Somme, the highest oxygen free attempt on Everest until 1952, and devoting the rest of his life to missionary work in the Indian sub-continent.

In reply to Dawes of Time:
There was a profile of Jonny Woodward in Climbing, the US mag a long time ago. I dont think i still have a copy, but yes, he was active around Salt Lake

In reply to Blake:


Me too... that lonely figure in the while sweater. He's still with me all these decades later, probably always will be now.

But I'm not sure there's enough for a book. Surely it would be horribly disjointed, his life up to becoming a climbing icon, his life afterwards a repudiation of it.

I suspect the same applies to Jimmy Jewell and, for that matter, Jonny Woodward - not enought for a whole book (60,000 words?) Though - as ever - I may well be wrong. One compromise, which Steve Dean has followed with notable success, is to go for the 3,000 to 5,000 word length - quite long for an essay but more space to do justice to people.

Climbing has thrown up such fascinating personalities; so often, we yearn to know more.

Mick

In reply to Blake:

He's one of my best-mates' step dad. Pete lives in North Wales still.

In reply to wbo:
After much scouring, I think he works for Black Diamond.
Another few to add to the list are:
Simon Nadin
John Dunne
Nick Dixon
John Arran
Dave Birkett
Bobby Drury
The list goes on but these are quite a bunch of characters.

In reply to Dawes of Time:

Another few to add to the list are:
Simon Nadin
John Dunne
Nick Dixon
John Arran
Dave Birkett
Bobby Drury
The list goes on but these are quite a bunch of characters.

I personally think a Biography should only be written when the person has to all intents and purposes 'properly retired' from the activity that their renowned for. That way, the reader gets a full sense of their whole (in this case climbing) career and they aren't left with an unfinished chapter.
For example, Moffatt, Pollitt and Fawcett have timed it well.
To counter that, I think Moon should have waited a bit longer. After all, he climbed 9a after his book was released and the chapter on that would have been a magnificent way to finish it.
As for the likes of Arran and Birkett, they've hopefully got many more adventures to encounter before they even consider putting pen to paper...
From your list, not sure if all of them would warrant a whole book. Maybe a 'Coffee Table' type book of biographies from the slightly lesser known climbers could be done? The ones that have climbed with the 'big names', but could maybe tell some interesting tales...

In reply to FactorXXX:

Reckon Geoff Birtles would have a few stories to tell - early Peak days, almost the first new route on Gogarth, Crags & High mags, being besties with Ron etc.
And meeting Me of course ,,, Ha!

In reply to AP Melbourne:

Totally agree, Geoff's got a lifetime of tales to tell. His first part of the Stoney climbing history was superb. He's supposed to be getting the second part out - what we're all waiting for - the Proctor era - 1968 to 1980. I suspect he feels the anticipation is so great that folk are in danger of being disappointed by anything, no matter how good it is. Just do it, Geoff!

A snippet. In 1964, when Geoff was 16, his new best mate, Al Harris (pretty much everybody's granny's definition of bad company) led The Thing - then, and for long after, a route with a huge reputation ('nothing harder in the valley'). They scrambled down from the Cromlech absolutely buzzing and just caught the bus to Beris. Running upstairs, they shoved themselves into a seat and kicked their legs up on the hand rail (a big no-no with bus conductors). Pure, utter joy - the kind of golden moments that you can spend the rest of your life vainly trying to recapture.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:


Agree back and have been asking Geoff for about two years when the next Stoney section will be out. I don't know how to upload links but its in the Stoney Middleton Hysterical Society site. Nip 'round and give him a hug from me. Then a slap and tell him we're getting bored waiting now.
Thanks Mick.
AP.

In reply to Mick Ward:

I've got the honour of having Birtles as my best man and Paul Nunn giving the bride away, a long long time ago....
Back to bio's, my vote is for John Allen who provided what have become the staple diet of hard, highball boulderers, in EBs and a glorious South Yorkshire accent.😀

In reply to paul_in_cumbria:


An interesting pair. You did well.

Mick

In reply to Allanfairfechan:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ed Drummond.
Or in fact Royal Robbins and 'Batsy'.

In reply to FactorXXX:




>

The danger of that approach is that people have a habit of dying as they get old, so unless you can interview them and get anecdotes prior to their demise you may struggle to present the "full" picture.

I was thinking of one of my suggestions Dr Charles Warren. I knew him quite well in the 1950s/60s and his tales of climbing and mountaineering were one of the early inspirations to get me into the sport. He was particularly keen on climbing in North Wales and spoke of driving up there from Cambridge for the weekend in what would now be a vintage sports car. I remember one bit of advice he gave me was to always go out regardless of weather. He told me not to be put off by rain, but still go cragging regardless. That way if you did get unexpectedly caught out in bad weather you would cope better with past experience under your belt. Unfortunately I didn't record any of it and now that both he and his peers are dead much of this has been lost for ever.

His pre-War experiences on Everest made him a firm believer that Mallory and Irvine had summitted before they vanished. He also believed that one day Everest would be climbed without oxygen.

In reply to Al Evans:

There has been a Royal Robbins biography written by Pat Ament called 'Spirit of the age'!

In reply to neilh:
I bet he would love to write the review of his own biog! Just add that his collections of essays 'Yes to Dance' & 'On and Off the wall' are superb collections. I re-read them regularly. Great mini biogs in there.

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Andy Nisbet, and Simon Richardson's book promises to be amazing!

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Stevie Haston surely would make a great read - greatest all rounder of all time? He was there through the heady, macho Llanberis era and pretty much started the slate scene - plus a list as long as my arm of other 'firsts' all over the world. A lifelong training guru, he smashed 9a relatively recently! Fiery, passionate, frosty, never seemed to get the credit he deserved. What a tale.

It would have to be written in the forensic, posthumous style of 'The Villain' though surely to give a fair character representation, but I also reckon a good editor could coax a very amusing style out of him - I follow his blog and love his style of writing.

In reply to DerwentDiluted:

Puttrells book is 'Jim Puttrell, Pioneer climber and cave explorer' by J.P Craddock 2009, published by Matador, a good read.