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FEATURE: The Stone Children - Cutting Edge Climbing in the 1970s

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 UKC Articles 14 Jan 2021

The 'Cream Team' at Cratcliffe.

Mick Ward remembers the key players in the climbing scene and major British ascents of the 1970s...

In 1972 Tony Willmott died, soloing in the Avon Gorge. To his friend, Al Baker, he was a stone child. His climbing shoes went to a young Londoner named Stevie Haston. Stevie and many others followed Tony Willmott's inspiration. Climbing standards soared; nothing would ever be the same again.


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 webbo 14 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Eroica and Darkinbad were abseil inspected and had preplaced pegs on the first ascents.

 Mick Ward 14 Jan 2021
In reply to webbo:

Totally agree, Steve. But generally speaking, his approach was ground-up. Wasn't Alien onsighted? And I suspect you'd have a hard time toproping Above and Beyond.

Mick

 Doug 14 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Thanks Mick, a good read but you ignored Scotland almost completely (just an in passing mention of Cubby & a photo of Doug Scott aid climbing) so hardly "the key players in the climbing scene and major British ascents of the 1970s" .

8
 Andy Farnell 14 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article, but I'd have loved to hear more about the Lancashire heroes. Hank Pasquill's route Constables Overhang in Wilton 3 still gets E5 6b. First climbed in 1974 it must have been one of the hardest routes of the time, in fact it's still bloody hard today.

Andy F

In reply to UKC Articles:

I started climbing in 1983, and despite the advantages of better, gear, shoes and knowledge came no where near matching the acheivements of the generation that came before me.

Great article Mick.

 David Alcock 15 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Mick, I'd say the mild critiques of omission i see above are just begging you to write a book about climbing between the late 50s to mid 90s. It's about time for one to be written by a sincere and humble writer. Do it. Just saying. Great piece. I agree with your Big Ron remark (he was our main hero as teens in the 80s), but I'm getting old too now, I find! Dx

 Michael Hood 15 Jan 2021
In reply to David Alcock:

Ron was definitely the man, but he's always been quiet and humble on the few times I've seen him - usually just a quiet acknowledgement.

Many years ago (probably late 80s or early 90s), at Froggatt, he's bumbling about when some girl at the top of the crag shouts down "are you Ron Fawcett?", slight pause, "I used to go to school with you". Poor man, he was so embarrassed.

 Mick Ward 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Michael Hood:

Could have been worse: "Hey Ron, do you remember when we went to the fleapit together and sat at the back and..."

That would be really embarrassing!

Mick

 Mick Ward 15 Jan 2021
In reply to David Alcock:

Hi David, That's incredibly kind of you. I certainly think somebody should write that book but don't really think it should be me. However you've highlighted the essential problem of this article (and The Vector Generation one). I've just (belatedly!) done a word count. It weights in at nearly 4,500 words. In my experience, once you start to go over 2,000 words in an article, you risk losing your audience. And 4,500 is, in my view, pushing it to the utter limit. So a big thanks to everyone who's read it!

Yes, the Lancashire heroes deserve a book on their own. They've been so overlooked, it's ridiculous. Yes, I totally overlooked Scotland. (Le Monde, by Black Nick - maybe the first E5? A chop route, by all accounts.) I missed out the legendary Positron. Not a single mention of Ireland (despite me being Irish). Because I wasn't trying to be comprehensive. You need a book format for that. I was trying to get at influences and trends. Thus the space given to the three US routes. I think they showed the way forward. Typically it only took me some 40 years to connect the (three) dots! Quick on the mark, eh?

All best wishes, David.

Mick

 JMarkW 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

What a great read! Thankyou

 petemeads 15 Jan 2021
In reply to JMarkW:

Pretty much nailed it, Mick - I was going to mention Alec Sharp as a player and Positron as a route but you have to set a cutoff somewhere!

Happy days...

 Michael Hood 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

The photos of "Crags" bring back memories - great mag especially when it was young and totally irreverent - I used to have the whole set (including the Ron on L'Horla poster) but got rid of them many years ago - Tyler of this parish may still have them.

IIRC although Mr Birtles was being deliberately provocative with 6c, at that time there was some debate over whether the technical grade should take the moves before the hardest into account, i.e. should the technical grade be for how hard the hardest move is when you get there (possibly knackered) or should it be as if you were teleported onto it (fresh as a daisy).

I think Ron was using the former at that time (more akin to a sport grade funnily enough) whereas it settled down to the latter.

Steve's Recent Developments was a laugh, in hindsight that guidebook may have had significant responsibility for bunching grades up and making the technical grade useless in the upper reaches, but it did get me up an E3 5c (current grade) thinking it was HVS 4c.

Nice article, and yes I think you could get a decent book out of that era - enough of the participants are still around to dig out plenty of tales.

Post edited at 10:41
 Grahame N 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

> Yes, I totally overlooked Scotland. (Le Monde, by Black Nick - maybe the first E5? A chop route, by all accounts.)

A very good read, but there were quite a few Scottish key players in the 70s, Cubby and Murray Hamilton for example.

Le Monde (1976) is E4 in the current guidebook, the first E5 was possibly Morbidezza (1979) at Dunkeld by Cubby.

1
 webbo 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Michael Hood:

> The photos of "Crags" bring back memories - great mag especially when it was young and totally irreverent - I used to have the whole set (including the Ron on L'Horla poster) but got rid of them many years ago - Tyler of this parish may still have them.

> IIRC although Mr Birtles was being deliberately provocative with 6c, at that time there was some debate over whether the technical grade should take the moves before the hardest into account, i.e. should the technical grade be for how hard the hardest move is when you get there (possibly knackered) or should it be as if you were teleported onto it (fresh as a daisy).

> I think Ron was using the former at that time (more akin to a sport grade funnily enough) whereas it settled down to the latter.

> Steve's Recent Developments was a laugh, in hindsight that guidebook may have had significant responsibility for bunching grades up and making the technical grade useless in the upper reaches, but it did get me up an E3 5c (current grade) thinking it was HVS 4c.

> Nice article, and yes I think you could get a decent book out of that era - enough of the participants are still around to dig out plenty of tales.

Most of the Cheedale grades in Steve’s guide  were arrived at by walking along the other side of the river to crag in question. Looking at the route, then who had done the first ascent then giving it a grade.

 Offwidth 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Grahame N:

Cubby's real impact (often much more shamefully underreported) was in the 80's.

1
 kwoods 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Offwidth:

Incredible the acceleration between the late 70s and Requiem free in 1983. It is like reading about two different worlds (reading only, I wasn't in either of them!).

I know an E6 onsighter who warned me of La Monde having nearly got the chop

 steveriley 15 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Nice one. Phil Davidson is still doing impressive big numbers now

 simes303 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Michael Hood:

> The photos of "Crags" bring back memories - great mag especially when it was young and totally irreverent - I used to have the whole set (including the Ron on L'Horla poster) but got rid of them many years ago

I've got a few if anyone fancies making me an offer...

 Wally 15 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Another excellent article Mick, thanks again.

I'd heard and read many of these stories growing up. My dad used to have lots of old copies of Mountain and to some extent Crags which I would flick through as my bedtime story. He used to tell me the significance of some of the routes we would see out when climbing in the late 80s early 90s. This was mainly at Avon and Swanage. I remember at the time thinking the standards were high.....and I've never got close. Even today, I like to look at routes of historical significance and imagine the FAs. Keep these articles coming....they are great.

Alistair 

 neilh 15 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Out of interest did Craig Smith do the first onsight of Grand Illusion?

 Southvillain 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Michael Hood:

>Many years ago (probably late 80s or early 90s), at Froggatt, he's bumbling about when some girl at the top of the crag shouts down "are you Ron Fawcett?", slight pause, "I used to go to school with you". Poor man, he was so embarrassed.

I also bumped into him at Froggatt in the mid-80s. I was on my own, messing about on the start of something, and saw a figure in the distance soloing up one route, then down-climbing the adjacent route, and so on and so on, gradually working his way down the crag as smooth as silk. As he got closer I realised it was Ron. He down-climbed the route next to me, so I stood back to let him go up the one I was on. He duly flowed up it and down the next, only pausing at the bottom to turn to me and say (as if by way of explanation for the ease of his ascent) "I've done it a few times". I laughed at said "Yep, that'll be it". And off he went. A seemingly lovely self-effacing man, which is something when you're the best in the world at what you do!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Hi Mick, brilliant writing again. I guess you’re referencing Al ‘shaker’ Baker at the beginning of the article. I had many ‘entertaining’ evenings out with him back in the day. A tremendous, witty person. Like Ron and John Allen and so many of the people you mention, behind the climbing they were great people to spend time with, on or off the crag.

Looking forward to the next episode on the ‘’80s with Ben and crew finally achieving world class status.

 Bob Kemp 15 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great piece Mick. Did you ever consider ‘The Stoned Children’ as your title? There are grounds...

 Andy2 15 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

You've mis-spelt Keith Darbyshire's name.

 Iain Thow 15 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

Actually Mick I hope it is you (that's not intended as pressure by the way). Judging by this article and some of the other things you've written I think you'd do a cracking job. I'd certainly buy it.

(minor quibble about this one - in the list at the end of people of that generation who've died, a good half of them were killed in big mountains after having followed the traditional progression to mountaineering, which runs against the general thrust of the article)

 Mick Ward 16 Jan 2021
In reply to Andy2:

Eek, am so sorry about that. Huge apologies. Will see if there are any other mistakes and ask Natalie to correct them all at once.

Mick

 Mick Ward 16 Jan 2021
In reply to Iain Thow:

Thank you...

Re the (not so!) minor quibble, I totally forgot about Derek Hersey, Jimmy Jewell and Paul Williams, all of whom were killed soloing on rock (in Derek's case, obviously a big route). I suspect that I forgot not from any lack of caring but simply because it's painful.

Back in the '70s, we had a mindset that, if we were hard enough and we could climb hard enough, we could get up anything. And I mean anything! It didn't matter if it was something scary on Stanage, something scary on Cloggy, something scary in the Alps or something scary in the Himalaya. It just didn't matter. Soloing and going light and fast on big, scary faces were prized, maybe above all else.

Looking back, this mindset resembles madness. Yet we all had it! It's not that top young climbers nowadays are any less bold - far from it. The go places where we can't begin to imagine. But there's an immeasurably greater body of knowledge around today which simply wasn't available back then (and I hope they avail themselves fully of it).

If we take something really simple (but crucial) - weather forecasts. So many people of all nationalities died because the weather crapped out when they were committed to big routes, with little/no hope of rescue. They couldn't get a decent weather window. Go to the Himalaya and the problem's massively compounded. A couple of years ago, I belatedly read Arlene Blum's Annapurna book and was horrified. Those ladies were so brave...

Mick

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 Steve Woollard 16 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Thanks Mick for an excellent article. I was never hard enough but it was great times

 Bob Kemp 16 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward

> Looking back, this mindset resembles madness. Yet we all had it! 

I think this relates to my not entirely frivolous post about stoned children. I feel that people’s motivations for climbing then were more focussed on experience and sensation, and taking drugs was part of this. So many climbers, and not just the good ones, used drugs as part of maximising the high in both senses of the word. 
I have seen this articulated in a past article about climbing in the ‘60s and ‘70s but I can’t remember where or who by. Maybe you know?

 redjerry 16 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Quick points of order.
I remember an interview with Tony Yaniro when he said that he hadn't started dogging routes at the time he did Grand Illusion. Said he worked on it over 4 or 5 non-consecutive weekends.
Also re. Phoenix: From Mike Anderson I think.
"In regards to Phoenix being the first 5.13, apparently Jardine "did" the route in 77, but he never redpointed it. His idea of "working" a route (a term he apparently coined?) was to get to a point where he could do all the moves in 3 or 4 sections between hangs. Once he achieved that, he moved on. In the case of the Phoenix, he TR-ed it free, and he lead it with 3 hangs. Obviously this would be considered totally invalid today, but back in those days any hang-dogging in the valley was completely cheating, so this style wasn't thought of as any different then hang-dogging on the route for weeks and then ulimately redpointing -- it was all considired "invalid" by traditionalists.

 Mick Ward 16 Jan 2021
In reply to redjerry:

Wow - may thanks indeed. I thought it was appromixately two years for Grand Illusion. Half a dozen weekends sounds a hell of a lot faster. It would be interesting to know how much time he spent training for it.

Re The Phoenix, should the FA be credited to Mark Hudon?

Mick

 Mick Ward 16 Jan 2021
In reply to Bob Kemp:

Maybe:

'And there were drugs. After reading Doug Scott’s article about Jim [Fullalove], a friend noted of those far-off days, “Was it just hard-core climbers who took drugs – because I didn’t know any hard-core climbers and I barely knew anybody who took drugs?” 

My feeling is that many hard-core climbers were searching – searching via climbing, via alternative lifestyles, via drugs.' (The Golden Age of British Climbing)

Certainly drinking was a big thing. Drinking and soloing were a potentially lethal combination and yet so many of us did it. It retrospect, it was senseless folly. We simply didn't know any better. Our greatest strength was our ignorance. (Pretty unwise to rely on ignorance as your greatest strength.)

Drugs were even greater folly. I guess I'm extremely sensitive about discussing drugs on a site where young climbers can read stuff. We got drugs wrong too. If there were any great insights, I didn't experience them. Nor did anyone I knew. Yes, they might have heightened the experience - but at what cost? As Kris Kristofferson said about his deceased lover, Janis Joplin, "Was the going up worth the coming down?" No - it wasn't.

Mick

 redjerry 16 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

I wouldn't be making any changes without talking directly to Anderson (he's the training manual guy).

https://www.mountainproject.com/user/105878863/monomaniac

Also part of the Yaniro interview is that he found a crack in a garage somewhere in LA that replicated the crack really well and spent a load of time training on that.

Post edited at 19:41
 Sean Kelly 16 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

I might forward a similar article I have put together in similar vein Mick for your interest. The other massive difference from 1970 to late 80's was the gear for protection, harnesses, rope, cams and nuts, more frequent guides along with an improved grading system, climbing mags, and training at the climbing wall and not the pub.

Post edited at 19:49
 redjerry 17 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

Another point worth mentioning is that is that on the day Hudon did it he had his rope pre-clipped into his highest pro, so  not a whole lot different from Jardines TR ascent.

 Mick Ward 17 Jan 2021
In reply to Sean Kelly:

Hi Sean, that would be great. Look forward to it. But I would strongly urge you to get it on here too. And I would urge others to do likewise. Nobody's getting any younger and, if people don't get stuff out, it'll be, 'All of these stories will be lost in time - like tears in rain...'

Right now, I don't have any plans to carry on from the '60s and '70s, into the '80s and '90s, etc. Although I still climbed a fair bit in the '80s and knew a few of the top climbers, I didn't have the same feel for things, e.g. the Llanberis slate scene. I was desperately trying to save jobs in industry. Was far too exhausted to go to wild parties any longer. 

It's a pity that Andy Pollitt isn't still with us. He'd almost certainly have been the ideal person to cover the 1980s. What a lovely person he was! Sadly missed.

Mick

 Mick Ward 17 Jan 2021
In reply to redjerry:

Many thanks indeed for both observations - and the earlier ones. Mark Hudon's ascent has always seemed amazing. Clearly he gave it everything he had and seemingly succeeded by the merest whisker. A lesson to the rest of us to put more effort in, try harder!

Mick

 Sean Kelly 17 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

The problem Mick is that not that many climbers actually put pen to paper so to speak,  especially in their formative years. It is often done in retrospect as we come to the end of climbing careers. Stuff I wrote in the early 70s has been lost in the sands of time. Hopefully with social media  this will be less so today.

Now I must update my chapter on high altitude mountaineering, the K2 bit!

 George_Surf 17 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

I read it all, it was ace. Thanks for writing it. I recently met hank in the pass and it was great to hear his old stories about what was done and when! 

 pneame 17 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Another fabulous history lesson - and a boatload of covers that were really iconic in themselves. 

Thanks for writing this - yes it is long, but it covers a lot of ground at speed. 

 Stone Muppet 18 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article, despite being someone who usually skips over the history section, I really enjoyed reading this.

Funny how the reactionaries haven't really changed much since those days (even residing in some of the same clubs haha) but I like Mick's nuanced perspective, a bit of distance in time does make it easier to respect all of the different games climbers play.

Post edited at 11:15
 alan edmonds 18 Jan 2021
In reply to Andy Farnell:

Ancient recollection. In 1966 we drove from Birkenhead to peg Constables Overhang. In the quarry were three teenagers soloing all the medium grade climbs dragging a rope ineffectually. 

 We chatted to them and discovered they had been climbing a matter of days. One stood out for his natural ability.

Of course it was Hank who freed the very route we antediluvians were pegging in the fullness of time.

  

 David Rose 18 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Thank you for writing this very enjoyable piece. I agree with those who've already said it: an expanded version would be a great book.

 Hughbery55 19 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Another great article Mick. I'd have read another 2,000+ words! Seeing the mag covers took me back like it was yesterday. Having come back into climbing relatively recently after a decade plus layoff I've reflected on the risks I took when I was younger - repeated solos of Brown's Eliminate being one of them (my solo grade was close to my leading grade) - and found it hard to work out whether that was just my youth and sense of immortality or the nature of how it was then with poorer gear and more pre-bolt boldness. In F1 we've seen a growing intolerance of risk of death or serious injury over the last 50 years, is it the same with climbing?

 Lankyman 21 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Thanks again for another great article, Mick. I was getting into climbing in the early seventies, mucking about in the Lancashire quarries and then becoming aware of the amazing stuff being done all over the UK. I was drawn more and more into caving and put climbing on the back burner for some years but was always aware of the trends and the big names. The only minor point I'd take you up on is the portrayal of Pete Livesey as a 'top caver'. One of the refreshing contrasts of caving with climbing for me, was the virtually complete lack of a pecking order. Caves are graded of course but nowhere near as finely as climbs. I was aware at the time that Livesey had been a caver but he was just one of dozens and dozens of 'ordinary' cavers doing their thing. I suspect that ego has a great deal to do with climbing motivation and perhaps that's why Pete went into climbing? When a new cave is discovered it's almost always your club that gets the credit in the caving press and guidebooks. I knew that Pete had been on the British exploration of Ghar Parau (a cave in Iran) in 1971 due to the subsequent book but he wasn't portrayed as anything too different from anyone else. I think cavers have a healthy suspicion of 'stars' but do have respect for anyone worthy of it. I only ever met Pete on a superficial level even though he ran the ML course I was on at Buckden. He would have been great to really talk to.

 Root1 21 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Many years ago in Derbyshire on a dismal winters day Ron was soloing at at the crag we were at. He downclimbed a route and deftly jumped off onto a muddy slope and slid down on his arse and stopped near my feet covered in mud. Hmmmph I thought so that's Britains finest.😜

A few years later he was downclimbing our route having finished some horror story next to us and stood on my hand (it was the best hold in the vicinity.) 

The next year he came to our club to give a talk. I accidentally drank half of his pint and survived to tell the tale.😂

 Mick Ward 21 Jan 2021
In reply to Root1:

Brilliant! You've made it all worthwhile.

Mick

 Mick Ward 21 Jan 2021
In reply to Lankyman:

Accept totally that cavers are a very different breed to climbers. My understanding is that Pete was pretty pushy as a caver - but I know very little about caving. (Seem to remember Carr Pot as my very first outing underground - 'interesting'!) Did he go on an expedition to Jamica?? I gather he was due to go down Mossdale Caverns on the fateful day but didn't (was ill, missed the bus, something like that). Thus Mossdale Trip...

The late Brian Cropper, formerly of this parish, was in touch with someone who was writing a biography of Pete. I think he gave up on it when the collection of climbing essays came out. But really, there seem to have been many Petes: the runner, the caver, the paddler, the climber, the fellrunner... It's said that he missed out on a four minute mile in the late 1950s by about a second. Such cruel luck, if so.

To my mind, the climbing essays in no way invalidate a biography looking at all aspects of Pete's career - the different disciplines to which he gave himself, his work in outdoor education, etc. If the author should read this, I would strongly urge him to reconsider.

Like you, I didn't know him on anything more than a superficial level. And I was far too immature to begin to understand him. I think he wanted to be the best at climbing - and he became the best. When he could no longer be the best (and it happens to everyone) he seems to have simply walked away, poured his energy into orienteering and fell running. 

He once reckoned ('Travels with a Donkey'?) that, when he'd grow old, it wouldn't be the big routes he'd remember but the characters, the trips, the craic. And he was so right! But, sadly, he never lived to grow old.

Mick

 Lankyman 21 Jan 2021
In reply to Mick Ward:

Yes, I was going to ask if there'd been a book on Pete. There have been so many rock biographies recently I've lost track! Certainly a big, big omission if there isn't. I'm not surprised you didn't get into caving after Car Pot - who on earth thought of that?! I did it well into my caving career and well remember the Baptistry Crawl sorting out the 'less committed'. That left just two of us to bottom the pot. My companion Les also missed out on the Mossdale accident in 1967. If I remember correctly, it was an argument over a girlfriend (was it with Livesey, I can't recall?) and he survived. I'll have to ask Les when I see him again. Mossdale was the big news in the sixties but the real hard case of its exploration was Mike Boon. Read 'Down to a Sunless Sea' for the story. Someone told me a story about Livesey but I can't remember who. It may have been the man himself in the pub after an ML session. He was out running on the fells above Malham and his route crossed a road by a parked car. Unfortunately for the occupant, he emptied his ashtray out the window as Pete approached. Pete just gathered up the contents and threw them back through the window saying 'I think you dropped this'. Class!

 Simon 23 Jan 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Always a fan of your writing Mick, you seem to be the only one who is articulating the scenes of yesteryear these days and it's ever a pleasure to read your work. A collective book of your essays would indeed be something special.

I do love that pic of Jim and Al Evans at the top of Two Pebble Slab (yes two, not three!) - although I am rather dissapointed that no one mentioned the other member of the 'Cream Team' - Ken, the tailors dummy. Dear old Al (of whom is one side holding Ken up with Big Ron in the Cratcliffe pic) used to delight in his tales of Ken and how they carried him around the crags.

I was fortunate enough to spend a few nights going through his Crags collection with him (Al that is, not Ken) and his eye's would always light up when Ken had made it into a picture alongside one of the legends of the day.

Post edited at 11:43
 payney1973 07 Feb 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great read Mick 

 Doghouse 07 Feb 2021
In reply to UKC Articles:

Brilliant, enjoyed reading that. 


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