UKC

As a relatively late registered member (2017), I’m curious about the beginnings - who founded it, who was involved in the early days, spicy anecdotes etc … 

Have you read here: https://www.ukclimbing.com/general/about/ ?

Jude and Mick show

Ah, I hadn’t seen that, thanks!

I have been knocking about here on and off for well over twenty years. There are a number of pub meets in London (and elsewhere) back in the day where it was nice to put a face to the username. Still know a bunch of people from here who no longer post.

There were plenty of robust debates and some colourful characters (batshit and otherwise) back then. 

I think Jack Geldard now owns a brewery in Chamonix. Can't remember what it's called but I applied for a job there. Didn't even get an interview

Ask who remembers reading about 9/11 on UKC to see the real old guard. I think the first thread about the outrage was called "Turn your TV on now".

If you click on people's profile I think it gives their number in the profile web address, I'm 527 for example. But it took some time for Alan and Co to persuade us all that we needed to register and create a profile so that doesn't mean someone wasn't active on the site previous to that now.

I had a week climbing in Lofoten in July 2002 with someone I only knew through Rocktalk and the idea for the trip came from discussing routes we wanted to do on here. There was a Rocktalk Picnic as they were called back then at the Clachaig in I think Feb 2002 or 2003 which I went to and climbed with other Rocktalkers (I don't think we were UKCers yet!).

"So the sh*t has hit the fan in your generation".

On 09/09/01, there was a thread entitled "how far can I fall?".

Rec.climbing

Rocktalk

Mick R vs JCT

Dominion "how to fight"

DJ Viper

Picnics

CJD

The first 1000 post thread about the guy who sold books but didn't supply them

The first competition - "my first lead"

The hippy chap who turned out to be a wife-beater

Graphing Covid

Hoping for Rachel and Tim

There's been some weird, some bad, but an awful lot of good over the years.  Thanks everyone!

Don't forget Andy F's seemingly irrational hate for anything Franco has done

& biscuits.

I first started visiting this site when the old mtn.co.uk folded  (around 2000 ?), well remember hearing about 9/11 on here a few minutes after a colleague asked if I'd seen the news from New York.

and a poster called JoHny

Norrie was always good entertainment, and never gave bad advice. How that advice was packaged was too much for some….

Owls and tapiers

Fantastists. Rich Simpson and Si O'Connor.

And of course “The Owl and The Cragrat” poetry anthology that was published following the thread on climbing poems….

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/rock_talk/i_know_that_i_shall_meet_my_fat...?

JCT vs Al Evans

Edit. Louise Watmough and her brittle knees probably desrve a mention, and some sort of Walter Mitty 'outdoor instructor' whose name escapes me.

Many thanks, this is what I’d been hoping for. Looking forward to digging in the forums on the long winter evenings

PS there was a thread speculating on the identity of Goucho a couple of years back; anybody know where it is?

I joined circa 2005 under my first username because at work I sat next to the legend that was Two Pints then Sam in Leeds.

He did some great shit posting to stimulate conversation here 🤣

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/off_belay/whatever_happened_to_goucho-713...

Maybe this is what you were think of?

Edit: You were the first person to respond on that thread!

Same here. Done a couple of pub meet-ups in London and met a load more people at a bunk house weekend in the Peak District - organised mainly by Emac01 (Emma), IIRC. Climbing at Froggatt and mountain biking around - possibly still owe Rubbishy/Nevis-the-Cat a pint, if I see him again.

Other names of note - Sutty, courtship of Hannah/Alex,

Big Mountain.

Just about to open a new bar in Chamonix.

Also Bruce Hooker and his contributions to the Politics threads - Especially any to do with The Falklands...

Andrew someone? Or was he the MRT wannabe?

And I can't believe no-one has mentioned Coel and Niggle - no prisoners taken!

I always enjoyed the posts of the sadly banned and even more sadly no longer with us Norrie Muir.

What was the name of the poster created by a bunch of friends who shared the log on and caused some hilarity?

I joined the masses in 2004 as I wanted info on climbing Mont Blanc. I posted earlier this year celebrating all things UKC as it was my 20th UKC birthday, there were lots of anecdotes on that thread but I think it has disappeared now as it was posted in the pub.

I organised a couple of events back in the day - pub meets in London and climbing meets in the Peak.

There are many names I remember from the past, sadly some of them are no longer with us.

A couple of threads that have run and run include the 3PS grade debate and the discussion regarding an airplane on a conveyor belt.

I don't think it was to stimulate conversation, I think he really was stupid! (I met him a couple of times)

Does anyone else remember him getting a slap at a meet in the Peak?

Wasn't it (now Prof.) Midgets of the world unite who ended up in quantum theory when theorising why shoe rubber friction is better in the cold on grit?

I remember getting some great answers and bemused "why are you asking?" follow ups when I asked about how big and expensive air cooled lathes are and what maraging steel is, in about 2002. The answer was I was reading a book called "How to build a nuclear bomb" although I hasten to add I was trying to work out how hard it would be for others, not that I was trying to.

Must say I did enjoy the thread about someone bruising their hand 10m up climbing Valkerie, they ended up calling MRT to rescue and get them down for some reason…someone saying they should be ashamed of themselves and that they personally would have jumped off rather than make the call…

at this point a whip round was organised to persuade them to do just that.

There was the great chockstone removal controversy when someone removed one from a route at Curbar. That one made it into my friends PhD thesis!

of which i still have a copy.

My favourite post was Crimper's mothers day missive. Which I copied for posterity and maybe a little blackmail. It still has me howling. UKC 28 March 2003 if anyone can find it

An endless supply of trolling activity too...wonderful being a bystander. 

In other news, UKC has maintained great coverage of most things integral to the outdoors, including stoking controversy and providing essential info. My go-to is always the photos though. Worth it for those alone.

Thanks to everyone who make it, have made it what it is (& that includes the mischief-makers, fantasists and punters galore).

He was trolling on uk.rec.climbing for a while before he migrated over here, more or less as the newsgroups were winding down.

Still got my copy too.

Some of the meets (termed "picnics" because the first one was, well, a picnic) were entertaining. IIRC we once held one in Leicester and, yes, some climbing did actually get done.

And, of course, there was the yearly Glencoe meet, which was based around the Clachaig and was a reliable source of minor epics, good stories to tell in the pub, and, largely on account of said good stories, some horrific hangovers. We've all got a bit older and more sensible since, honest!

Right Eliminate.

I forgot all about Hannah and Alex, that was wonderful

Some classic Norrie in this thread I found today whilst looking for something else.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/winter_climbing/northern_corries_grades-6...

Good though all this is, I'm not sure UKC has anything to match the Picolax thread on Singletrackworld.

One of the most loved posters on here was 'Sutty' aka Keith Sutcliffe, who was always worth reading what he had to say, even if you didnt see his point. He was a friend for over 50 years and shortly before he died I was badgering him for an interview to record his epic ascent of some Dolomite grade VI desperate when the weather turned bad. He was climbing with Don Whillans and said he would never have made it down without him. If only we had met up, but it was not to be. One of those stories lost forever!

We climbed once at Craggy - bastard grading!

Without wanting to divert the thread into a eulogy for Sutty...he answered a ?partner post when I was travelling up to Yorkshire.  He wasn't really climbing by then, but still wanted to get out, chat climbing, and belay. Despite being a bit "traditional" in some of his views, he was genuinely a lovely bloke and we had a great morning.  He had beta for all the things I was daunted by and added a good grade that day!

As I say, sometimes UKC is weird, sometimes bad, but mostly charming and sometimes wonderful.

Does anything, anywhere, forum wise match the Picolax thread?

Probably not!

There was a Reddit post from a man seeking advice, re: sitting down, his testicles and a slatted deck chair.

I’m a few years of my 20 year UKC anniversary.  The activity diary here was a key motivator in my getting my fitness levels up 2008-2013.  

A standout thread for me was one on the dangers of how “keepers” on slingdraws can lead to an unpleasant fall/death.  I recall an even more vivid version of the argument at a friend’s NYE party which was settled experimentally despite the difficulties presented by inebriation.  

Edit: I’m so glad UKC have stuck with their own forum code and not adopted some awful system with avatars and threading.  The occasional cries for such insanity have died down of late.

Thanks! How could I have forgotten? That one ran and ran. And I was even in the Bob Downes hut at the same time as two people that had come to Froggatt specially to put a chockstone back. 

There was the confessions of a nymphomaniac thread.
Not sure how it started, but it was basically a young female going into quite explicit detail about her sexual exploits and her various kinks, etc.
Other UKC'rs joined in with their exploits and who would have known that climbers were dirtier than a cavers helmet...

There was a classic post where someone welcomed Hannah while rather slagging off LittleMissNoIdea, not realising they were the same person, just changed username!

I'm pretty sure it was the Brandler-Hasse that Sutty and Whillans did together.

I've been here on and off for about 20 years, always as aln. Always talking shite.

I don't remember the nymphomaniac thread but I do remember Deviant always having something to say whenever anything sexual came up. 

Two posters I miss, who haven't been mentioned, are Fawkesy and ice.solo.

Deviant was quality. 

I miss Jon Stewart, possibly the most articulate and thoughtful sweary ranter this site has seen.

Fawksey delivered what was probably the funniest line in the history of UKC threads. It was a thread about prostitution and I think it was Al Evans who posted that he often saw prostitutes in lay-bys near where he lived in Denia, and said something like, "I can't think of anything less erotic than getting a blowjob from a trafficked east European drug addict kneeling in a muddy puddle by the side of the road," to which Fawksey immediately responded with, "Keep typing Al, I'm nearly there."

There also used to be a vociferous Scottish contingent most of whom were funny. There was a thread about rude phrases and words in local dialects and many of the respondents were Scots. I was quite new to the forums at the time and posted that I was pleased to see so many rude or obscene Scottish phrases and ended my post with, "Wha's like us?" The almost immediate reply was, "Nae c**t!"

I also miss Trangia, who was a voice of reason, decency and honesty even if I disagreed with him often. I exchanged a few emails with him a couple of years ago, he was taking an extended break from the forums as like many of us he felt he was wasting too much time on them.

That's brilliant from Fawkesy, I remember him on a post about bikers, as he rode his in the morning,moaning about them flashing lights and waving. He was just going to work, didn't want to be their pal. And one of the 1st to be really open about his life and his own failings. Talking about his time in prison. 

I also appreciated Jon Stewart, opinionated and loud. I didn't always agree with him, but he always seemed genuine.

I wasn't going to 'wallow' in this nostalgia, but damn you, Sutty was one of the ones I was most greatful to meet in person (and continued to stay in touch with):  his death was really sad despite his age... he was like living loving history with a sharp sense of humour and a tinge of danger (he was banned here a few times), if only those meets, where he sat as the sage elder, could be resurrected.

The Owl and the Cragrat contributors had quite a few of the others I became especially glad to meet... plus too many others to mention.

Reading some of the posts above it feels like some of us 'lived on different planets', but maybe that's a strength of UKC.

Like wintertree (of notable historic UKC covid input) hinted, I'd more explicitly thank Alan and the UKC team for what they did and continue to do: to make this place worth our time... it's not easy work but it is important; that even included Mick, as mercurial and at times infuriating as he could be. I've been clear enough where I think more should be done (especially on improving poster diversity) but I won't let aiming high get in the way of what's genuinely good.

As a coda on the good and the less good, Sav (Mountain Spirit) climbed a Diff with me today as his first simulated lead climb and his hardest completed outdoor route. He was misunderstood and attacked on his arrival (and earned around a hundred of those bloody dislike presses on his OP) but the warmth some showed (to someone who seemed almost certaintly to me what he is when you meet him) spawned an interest that led to yet another friendship. Here's to many more.

Arse, I didn't realise Jon had actually left... just thought he had stopped posting for a while. Last post two years back (6th Nov) with kind spectacle advice.

I'll admit that some of Sav's posts have been a bit worrying at times (the name dropping and obsession with big names felt like it would have been quite unpleasant if I had been the target of it) but when he first appeared in around 2014 I had a nice discussion with him over email about climbing, dyspraxia and how our experiences of the two interacted and I could see that he really genuinely wanted to climb and was hitting a lot of barriers he didn't really understand (this sort of thing is more often talked about in relation to the workplace, but it's relevant to hobbies too). I think you had taken him under your wing a bit by the time my life had calmed down and wasn't entirely club focused. The responses to some of his threads were quite unpleasant though, I am amazed he came back after the first period of posting.

Another poster who always came across as a lovely bloke was The Onion Magnet/ The Wild Scallion, we met up a couple of times and went climbing at Pleasley Vale on Christmas Eve or Boxing day one year, I felt completely embarrassed as I got one of my ropes completely jammed on a VD when pulling them up and was put off climbing with him again for fear of looking totally incompetent (I was using an ohm due to our weight difference I think and it jammed solid!

Some of the discussions on here over the years have driven my interest in equipment safety and I remember the first thread about Bob's MoNC was the catalyst for me getting involved with the BMC and the friendships that have followed from that (including yours and Lynn's).

Used to be a big thing about spoof versions of other threads.

I remember a topic once on giving up cigarettes with a VERY long opening post about withdrawal and how hard it was to avoid situations with tempations, etc, etc.

Shortly after, someone wrote an almost word for word, but with clever tweaks, spoof titled giving up courgettes!

In response to both this, and also to your thread (https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/the_pub/are_we_being_infiltrated-776371) about the results of your searching for 'jude' on this site:

The search function on this site is pretty crude (*) and, in addition, when a user is completely deleted, their posts lose the record of their username. But replies to those posts can still retain details of interest.

So, for a start you could try a Google search along the lines of something like "site:www.ukclimbing.com/forums 'jude calvert-toulmin'"

(* It would be easy to improve. E.g. by the implementation of 'and's.)

I seem to remember that some of the threads in t'old days used to have 500+ posts. And that some top 10 posters, were posting several hundred times per week. Just imagine how much more productive the country is now, without all that time being wasted.

I do miss some of the combative posts (waves at Niggle), but the site is far less toxic now. Possibly as a result of us all catching woke, or people moving to other platforms, where they could indulge their vitriol.

I think the number of female posters has dropped, which is a shame. I avoided threads about moon cups, but their perspective and contribution on a range of topics is welcome. Being male, I'm not great at empathy, affinity, intellectual curiosity etc, so I'm blissfully unaware of many things. However, I was shocked when a top female climber said she'd receive dick pics, and lots of other women said, me too. The fear that some people face going out for a run or walk on their own, is heartbreaking.

Not sure about this. I was completely deleted, but to my knowledge my name still appears on all my old posts. 

I could be wrong on that. It might have been an inference I incorrectly drew, having looked up some old threads.

There was a legendary “p*nis beaker” thread on Mumsnet a few years back.

Edited to add - in response to the post about Singletrack World Picolax thread.  I’m not a complete weirdo

I thought it was a shame when he was banned, and Sutty too for 'being robust', since they both gave mountain wisdom, like pointing out to one person that climbing the most challenging mountain route first without knowing the easy way down from prior experience could be a mistake, where if one is knackered and the weather has closed in, they helpfully filled the gap which having the right gear and being technically able doesn't.

Helpful for those like myself, yet to gain decent mountain experience (for which there's no real alternative).

Is there a confirmed record for thread length? The longest I recall paying attention to was the PLB one from (I think) 2010.

That seems to be a much less contentious issue these days...

Religion and evolution used to be sources of lengthy threads.

Yup.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the rise of white christian nationalism in the US would have had multiple gigantic and very busy threads. 

Workingclasslass who was a poundshop Che Guevara. 

JCT who appeared on Come Dine With Me and felt it worthy enough that she loaded a film credit on imdb. 

There were a lot of stories involving JCT, some people live more interesting lives.  She could sing well from what I recall from one of the picnics.

Anyone remember Pois?

I recall a parents and children meet in the Peak about 20 years ago and met Sutty when he dropped in to see us at the campsite.  For some reason his amazement that I cooked a fully curry from scratch, on a couple of camping stoves still sticks.  He came across as both interesting and humble in person.  Marie the Bingly Bong, a once prolific poster came along, Masood, and other names from the past too.

There was an immensely long one basically on what it means for something to "exist" which ran over and had to be restarted several times. It covered a lot of fascinating ground.

Followed by Saor Alba's independence for Scotland threads

Then Brexit (and the long fall of the Tories)

I'm amazed we ever had time to think about climbing...

I bumped into her at a crag once , was surprised she was still alive based on her ahem climbing and belaying abilities.

Just checked and it seems i’ve recently got my 20 year badge, feels the longest time I’ve been part of anything. The Friday night drinking threads used to be my bag, great fun most times. The likes of Fawkesy, Sutty, Al Evans etc always brightened things up. Been to a few meets over the years and even organised one. Made many friends here and even though I’m now virtually retired from climbing, checking in on the forums is part of my daily routine. it’s such a diverse range of real world experience in all things on here and if you ask your question in the right way, you’ll get great advice and answers.

My last Q concerned wifi routers that run with just sim cards, here I am 2 months later posting this on my new router and sim card with no problems at all after taking the advice from here. 

Most memorable threads? Apart from those mentioned, Fishy1 with his home made boots and Ben Nevis burger stand threads were hilarious 

Could have been worse, BrianT could have made a guest appearance making one of his 'offerings' (If you remember that particular thread)…

Middle east conflict threads got very toxic for a while and iirc they were stopped by the moderators. Threads on that area in the last couple of years, whilst still containing lots of opposing views, have not degenerated in the same way - this is good but won't be nearly so memorable when being nostalgic.

That is some epic achievement in a snowstorm. Tough enough on a good day!

From https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/rock_talk/sutty-720442:

"Did two routes with Whillans, Brandler Hasse, and Cassin on Cima Picolissima where got rained on top half.

"Epic was with Cockney Pete, worked repairing motorway barriers. Can't trace him now."

Oh God, yes ! 

Just when I had purged that from my memory........

Sadly a look at any woman posters profile/gallery pic and there was a fairly good chance there would be some sleazy comment underneath it. There was a thread years ago where the women on here were recounting their various negative experiences with random men (flashing, grabbing, following home, general inappropriate language etc) which made for extremely depressing reading.

I never managed an actual crag meet 'op north' which I regret. The London pub meets were good value though insofar as getting a very diverse bunch of people around a table who ordinarily would never be the same room together. 

Here's the first capture of the UKC site on WayBackMachine: https://web.archive.org/web/19991013054306/http://ukclimbing.com/index.html

Cool to see what UKC looked like the week I was born!

I remember getting increasingly excited about the possibilities of the 'Internet' when we published the North Wales Limestone guidebook in 1998 - below. I wrote some jibberish about it in the book and pasted cheesy graphics all over the page. It is interesting to see where we were at the time.

Andy Hyslop of Rock and Run had was ahead of most in the outdoor industry then and he had already gone full steam ahead with Rock and Run. UKClimbing was cruising on his web domains back then although we definitely had the domain registered back in 1994.

Alan

Just a huge thanks to everyone who’s contributed here, I think that to follow all the links and search for all the names (which I intend to do) would give an amazing picture of the UK climbing community (family?) for the last 20+ years. I’ve just read the Sutty RIP thread for instance; such a wealth of good feelings in there. I stopped climbing between around 2004-2017, and it’s great to catch up on what I missed. Here’s raising a glass to you all!

I don't think David Hooper has had a mention yet - if you're looking up people who made a significant contribution in the past he should definitely be on your list.  (Sadly he passed away in 2012.)

Seconded.

I picked my username on a whim influenced directly by the nature of the posts on here at around this time!

JCT did have an absolutely spectacular ability to polarise opinions.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/off_belay/making_love-98014

Ta-dah!

I really enjoyed ice.solo’s past contributions. He really knew his stuff. His website remains an excellent source of gear geekery.

The thread about how to store your cams was brilliant. Someone claimed with seriousness that their mate, who had climbed the Eiger NF, carried theirs in Tupperware.

That is damn funny! 

I know someone who carried theirs in Tupperware, but they havn't climbed the Eiger NF.

What is his website? 

I randomly came across a site yesterday offering hardcore sounding mountaineering trips to remotes parts of central Asia and one of the company's owners/founders sounded like it could be ice.solo. He was an Aussie living in Japan wasn't he?

That’ll be the one. Feedingtheratexpeditions is him, used to be Iceclimbingjapan.

CRIKEY, THERE'S A LOT OF CAPITALS IN USE ACROSS THAT WEBSITE.

Coldthistle Dane always used to have helpful input, too. I think he eventually got the hump with some people's t wattery (plus a battle with cancer, if I remember rightly). It's nice to see his blog is still going for similar in-depth nerding:

https://coldthistle.blogspot.com/

Yes, and not unique.  There was a truly impressive level of banter in that era, very often laugh out loud funny.  Not quite so much these days, but that’s probably because I’ve got grumpier.

Mostly via the medium of relentless self promotion and the steering of threads back to her no matter the topic. Occasionally funny in a batshit kind of way before becoming eye rollingly tedious. 

Yeah - I thought exactly the same. I was trying to read a crampon review but it was surprisingly annoying trying to read it in ALL CAPS.

And of course...a shout out for Chewie

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