UKC

In this new podcast series, Wil Treasure shares stories from the climbing world through interviews with both well-known and lesser-known characters. In-depth, personal accounts that aren't read from a page on a variety of themes. Settle down with a cuppa and have a listen...

Episode 2, Part 1: Duncan Critchley talks about his record-setting 9.5 hour ascent of The Nose in 1984, with an 'appearance' from Adam Ondra...

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In reply to UKC Articles:

Loved that, cheers.

Fantastic, thankyou. I could listen to that guy's voice all day.

In reply to UKC Articles:

BRILLIANT! Brought it all back to me - big walls on borrowed gear, learning as we went, and finding partners in Camp 4 or the car park. This was in the Seventies, fortunately, so the speed of this ascent did not cast a shadow on our efforts!

In reply to petemeads:

Agree - brilliant!

A few years ago, somebody I knew mentioned that they were coming down from London to Portland with a bunch of mates, of mixed climbing ability, and would I meet up with them. I duly did and paired with a guy called Duncan. We did a bunch of fun little routes together and he was pretty much the ideal climbing partner. If there's such a thing as 'balance' (of desirable qualities) in a climbing partner, then he had well-nigh perfect balance.

He mentioned that he was intending to do the Comici on the Cima Grande with John Cox. Given John's well stated distaste for 'the Portland crowd', I quipped about the irony of Duncan 'training' for the Comici on Portland. The pair of them did it not long after.

You do a few routes with someone, you chat about this and that, and... you get a feeling about them. The feeling I got about Duncan was uncannily almost word for word what he said about Romain Vogler. He was laid-back, relaxed, unassuming. And yet there was this inner steel, allied to well-nigh perfect balance. He never mentioned Yosemite, let alone El Cap. But when the list of NIAD records was posted here a while back, somehow his ascent (and the time!) came as no surprise.

An unsung hero of climbing.

Mick

In reply to UKC Articles:

What a fantastic account Duncan and told with such typical understatement. Inspirational!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Excellent stuff, Duncan.

In reply to Mick Ward:



^^^ What Mick said. I found it interesting listening to Duncan describe Romain in these terms, because the implication is that he also has those same qualities. Part of him knows that or he wouldn't have achieved what he has, I was glad Charles could be more direct about it.

Glad people enjoyed this, I certainly enjoyed putting it together. Part 2 of this story is an interesting addendum.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Awesome. That was great. Thanks Wil (and Duncan!).

In reply to duncan b:
Oh man you two have soothing voices!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Excellent listen, and a great story - can't wait for the next instalment.

just a comment on the title format for this series - I misunderstood the E1 of the first 'Factor Two' thinking it was about low end extremes, and I misunderstood Episode 2 this time and went looking for the first part of an interview with Duncan thinking that I'd missed something.

Probably an age thing

In reply to UKC Articles:

That was great, thanks Duncan and Wil.

In reply to UKC Articles:


If this is going to be a series it would be helpful to let people know how they can subscribe. I believe this is on iTunes but that site is such a nightmare to navigate when I did a search it just listed a load of Apple products and rubbish. Best just to make it easy for people and post the RSS url.

Ta.

In reply to stp:

You can subscribe using the RSS below, or through a search on your podcast app for "Factor Two". I find the iTunes search a bit of a nightmare too, and some apps are even worse unfortunately.

I meant to include subcription details in this one, but totally forgot.

http://factortwo.libsyn.com/rss

In reply to stp:

I just went to the search on the podcasts app and typed in 'Factor Two' and it was the first entry, here's the link for iTunes store https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/factor-two/id1299132061?mt=2

In reply to Wil Treasure:

Great thanks Will. Now subscribed.

Listened to the first one earlier today and really liked it. Very professionally done and interesting having such a specific subject rather than the often more rambling interviews. Looking forward to more.

In reply to Arms Cliff:

Thanks.

I tried searching via the web site and got nothing even remotely connected to it or any other podcast. Thought a company as big as Apple would do better but that probably just shows how I've been taken in by all their marketing hype.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great stories. Totally captivating. Just listened to both Duncan episodes at once. Somehow even nicer that he's an unsung hero with just a small spotlight on him for this moment. What next?