How many remember this kind of thing?

Me me, I do...

I used to love Aid Climbing although I was a bit late for the ladder type etriers and started with hand tied tape ones before the posh stitched ones came out.

I had to do some aid climbing for a guidebook. I hated it ...

John, is this a practice crag near Ogwen Cottage? Just wondering...
The problem I found with aid (apart from from too unmechanical and thereby rubbish at it!) was that, once in your etriers, you didn't want to get out of them again - even if free climbing became a viable option. Ironically, following Hangman was so gripping that I abandoned the etriers and scrabbled madly upwards. Obviously that wall could be free climbed. The rest is (Basher's) history...

I hated artificial climbing and was totally incompetent at it, but it was an essential Alpine technique. This photo I think was at les Gaillands in practice.But for me the interest is the utterly primitive technique, no waist band the hammer hanging from the rope around your waist ( no wonder J Brown dropped his on his partner on the Corner) the etriers etc. I have recently sent a copy of this to Johnny you lnow who asking if it was an early photo of him??!!

A mate of mine got in such a mess following following a route on Malham that he stepped into his third etrier... that was clipped to his waist. Not exactly the textbook way!

I too really liked aid climbing and as previously commented an essential skill for fast moving in the Alps and further afield. I learnt properly from Bob Dearman who was for a while known as the iron man, but he was one of the best/quickest aiders in Britain. He also used quick draws ever before they were used by anyone else and he also stayed seated in his etriers the whole time

Hello John - if you want to see some old fashioned wooden etriers in use and terrible technique take a look at page one of my gallery. I was with Ron attempting this first pitch of Slanting Slab.