UKC

Does anyone know why Ken opted for photos of The Sloth and The Rasp for the covers of Hard Rock?

In reply to petegunn:

I don't know directly but I've always assumed (dangerous, I know!) that he thought, "Iconic routes... commitment." He was always very much in favour of adventure, but a kind of 'sane adventure' rather than 'psycho adventure'.

Not sure that this really helps. Doubtless someone will be along soon with a better take on things.

Mick 'in vino (non) veritas'

In reply to petegunn: The Rasp was my first grit E2 in the Peak and I was overcome with the pump and beauty but also the compelling line and quality of the route, they are both really good and without ground fall potential, just pumpy. jamming/sloper technique also means it feels challenging for 6c/7a indoor climbers? So ha ha to them?

In reply to petegunn:

My guess is he just wanted a good photo.

Sometimes the cover photo is chosen as it offers a good layout for the title wording, often looking from the left so the letters fit on a nice blue sky.

Called in at Ken's house once for some reason. He was keen to show me ( and Squark ) potential layouts for Extreme Rock. At the same time he asked if I knew who the climber was on the new cover pic for Hard Rock ( Rob Matheson ).

So I guess is he just wanted a good photo, probably one he had snapped himself so avoiding royalties

In reply to petegunn:

You missed out Shrike - another cover that wasn't in the book,


Chris

In reply to petegunn:

He told me he wanted good eye-catching cover photos of routes that weren't in the book but could have been, partly because he used all the good ones of routes that were in the book in the book and also because he wanted to try and show that the climbs in Hard Rock were just a small selection of the huge number of really great routes of that standard in the UK.

When the first edition appeared in the early '70s, there were far fewer climbers and even fewer who carried cameras. Cameras were heavier and one either took slides or film, both expensive, so one was careful how many times the shutter was pressed. Consequently there was far less photographic material to choose from. I think this is the main reason Sloth was chosen and then it carried on for subsequent editions.

In reply to Pilo:

As most E5,s are usually no more than 6C/7A and climbing walls are full of slopey moves at that grade, given a little outdoor experience for gear placement, E2 would be a walk in the park