Marc le Menestrel, who did it third go. But from Brad Pit on, boulder problems got to share the red carpet with the great routes.
Gary Gibson Neil Gresham
Mad for it, mate! Permanently energised climber and training guru who predicted the future with personalised training programmes, masterclass sessions, coaching holidays and the world's fi rst training DVDs. Drop and give him 20.
the Foundry climbing wall in 1991. The time of hard plastic and heavy beats had begun.
On The Edge magazine
Oh OTE! Glossy Sheffi eld-based pre- web climbing rag that combined all that was good about hard climbing, ridiculous training, bad dreadlocks and celebrity routes to create a monthly dose of anti- beard propaganda. Forcibly mated with High to spawn Climb magazine.
Cellar boards
In the early 1990s, a damp, dusty underground scene arose in Sheffi eld. A new wave of strong young climbers moved into cheap shared accommodation and used the city’s characteristic cellars to build overhanging training boards. Damp mattresses and chalk dust fuelled this generation as they became stronger and climbed less. A few of those who escaped – Neil Gresham, Nic Sellars and Airlie Anderson amongst them – went on to become great climbers, albeit with a bit of a cough.
Malcolm Smith
The Scottish bedroom rocker was, and is, widely acknowledged as one of the strongest climbers in these lands. He rose to prominence with his second ascent of Ben Moon’s Hubble in 1992 having trained almost exclusively on a sheet of plywood in his bedroom. Even today, mention of his name will produce a wince of respect from the weight-belt crankers and iron pumpers of climbing.
Brad Pit
There was a time, believe it or not, that bouldering was something you did to warm up for routes. If a day went by when you didn’t do any routes then you had to apologise by saying that you were ‘just bouldering’. Then came Jason Myers’ Brad Pit, the result of endless effort and the hardest problem in these lands. This was the fi rst bloc in the UK to get signifi cant reporting in magazines, and people came from afar just to see it including, unfortunately,
If you sport climb in the UK then chances are you owe more to Gary Gibson than to Chris Sharma. The champion of sport- for-all, Gary’s enthusiasm and battery drill never seem to run out and he has spent decades travelling the UK with a quantity- hungry drive to add new routes.
Wolfgang Gullich and campus boards
A true pioneer of sport climbing whose death in 1992 while at the height of his powers has placed him forever at the heart of climbing. The gentle German used monk-like dedication and Arnie- like arms to power his way up cutting- edge redpoints in his local Frankenjura. He developed campus boards and one-fi ngered his way up them, making tendons around the world weep. His greatest monument, Action Direct, is still a prized tick 23 years later.
Roger Payne
Tireless mountaineering, hard drinking, egg-breaking ex-boss of the BMC who ruffl ed feathers to create the omelette that’s the modern BMC. Invented Summit.
Alison Hargreaves
British alpinist ahead of her time. Possibly most remembered for outraging pundits when she climbed the North Face of the Eiger at fi ve-and-a-half months pregnant. Followed that up by soloing the six most famous Alpine north faces in a single summer, then climbing Everest without oxygen. Died descending K2 in 1995.
EasyJet
For years, sun rock meant Cornwall, Pembroke or a soul-destroying drive to the south of France, but when Stelios arrived with his big orange planes, he blew everyone’s idea of a good holiday out of the water. Suddenly a few damp days in a tent weren’t enough: climbing well-bolted tufa followed by cheap G&Ts was the new norm. Ole.
UKClimbing
In 1999, a forum called Rocktalk is added to a little site called UKClimbing. British climbers fi nally had an online hangout and grumpy armchair climbers a golden opportunity to vent opinions about very small things that had clearly been bothering them for a very long time.
Cameron McNeish
Non-shrinking-violet and passionate Scottish outdoor advocate. Charmed the outdoor world with his 20-year stint at the helm of The Great Outdoors – establishing it as ‘the thinking person’s
P Lynn Hill freeing The Nose.
SUMMIT#73 | SPRING 2014 | 55 Hard Grit
One of the most popular climbing videos ever made, showing gritstone action behind the curtain of the big numbers happening at the time. Extensive top-roping, big characters and near-ground-falls gave the fi lm its heartbeat while Seb Grieve was the nutter at the helm. For a decade afterwards E7 was the democratic right of anyone who owned a top-rope.
outdoor magazine’ – despite polarising some with his outspoken views on wind farms (very bad) and Scottish independence (very good).
Mick Fowler
Choss-loving, understated taxman continues to give hope to those who desire to terrify themselves within their two-week holiday allowance.
Lucy Creamer
Lucy went climbing for the fi rst time aged 17, strolled up an HVS in trainers and realised two things: one, she was quite a natural and, two, she didn't have to be a PE teacher after all. Dominated British female climbing, onsighting E7 and more F8 sport routes than any other British woman. Also a double- fi gure British climbing champ.
Bouldering mats
Okay, so imagined you’d pushed back the mental barriers and punched out a wild gritstone solo above a terrible bone-crunching landing after several days on top rope. You give it a mighty grade and feel the admiration of your peers. Then (from America, of course) comes a terrible invention: thick foam pads to land on that turn hard landings and hard climbers soft. Before you know it, climbers are throwing themselves at your chop route and enjoying it, forgetting your once-mighty grade. Despicable! Climbing cheat #6.
Lynn Hill climbs The Nose
“It goes, boys.” Lynn Hill’s freeing of the most iconic rock climb in the world, The Nose on El Cap, was conclusive proof that women could stand on the number one spot. That she went on, a year later, to free it in a day showed that she was the greatest of her generation. By crushing the Great Roof she had smashed the glass ceiling.
PHOTO: LUKASZ WARZECHA.
PHOTO: JOHN BACHAR.
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