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WHAT'S MADE YOU?


Crags magazine Leeds Uni climbing wall


In 1964, Don Robinson designed the fi rst true climbing wall in a corridor at the University of Leeds; think chipped brick-edge highballs above a hard concrete fl oor. Five years later, a young beginner named John Syrett discovered this creation. After training obsessively, he made shockwaves with his quick repeat of Wall of Horrors at Almscliff. The climbing wall revolution had begun.


Nepal opens for trekking


In 1969, the mountains of Nepal re- opened to foreigners and fi rst trickle of trekkers headed up the Khumbu to Everest Base Camp.


Al Rouse


Hedonistic climber who applied his analytical brain to women, technical rock climbing and, fi nally, the Himalaya. A BMC vice president, Al was the fi rst British climber to reach the summit of K2 before dying on the descent. Made climbing hungover look fashionable.


Ken Wilson


Hugely infl uential commentator who rose to national importance with his world-renowned climbing mag: Mountain. This fondly remembered rag took a magisterial look at the climbing the world over, with lots of chin stroking and heavy opinion. Later, with his ultra- classic series Classic, Hard and Extreme Rock, he essentially gave birth to the modern tick-list.


Whillans Harness


Long-awaited fi rst sit harness invented by Don Whillans in partnership


with Troll. His nut- cracking design was the forerunner to all of today’s super- comfy harnesses.


Gore Tex


In 1977, Berghaus introduced a strange new fabric called Gore Tex to the UK. Suddenly walking in the rain was a serious business.


Climber and Rambler magazine


Until 1977, belays and beards lived in perfect harmony twixt the pages of Climber and Rambler. But the rock revolution of the 1970s put paid to that and the magazine split; its twin offspring, The Great Outdoors and Climber, are still going today.


Doug Scott


Flower power mountaineer who climbed 40 peaks in good style and crawled down one. In 1975, when Britain was beleaguered by boring strikes and rising mortgages, he made the fi rst ascent of the South-west face of Everest with Dougal Haston and the press went delirious. Founded Community Action Nepal and picked up the 2011 Piolet d’Or award for lifetime contribution.


52 | 70TH ANNIVERSARY | FOR BRITISH CLIMBING AND WALKING SINCE 1944 Wellington Crack. Pete Livesey


The fi rst rock athlete? The man who nudged climbing away from ‘adventure’ and towards ‘performance’, casting away a few traditional values along the way. Although criticised by some and begrudged by many at the time, Livesey shook British climbing to its hairy socks and showed what application and dedication could produce while talent sat in the pub musing about what it was going to do.


In the days before the internet and online videos people used to hear about climbing news by READING about it. Quaint. In the new route explosion of the 1970s, it was Crags magazine that stepped forward to become the cheerleader of a generation. It was a fun-fi lled British-centred redtop of a mag, much less stuffy than Mountain, that poked fun, used inside jokes and featured the infamous Javlin adverts.


PHOTO: JOHN CLEARE.


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