Ultimate Rock Climbing

"Theo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This IS outdoor television. Real emotion. I know the feelings Julia had
(but without the rope).

I know the feelings _with_ a rope, and (as an occasional VS leader) enjoyed
it too. Julia Bradbury made a 'good effort' for a novice. 'Ultimate' was a
b*llx title but 'ultimate in their grades' might have been too much to
explain.

Quoted message said:

Repeat on saturday at 18.35 BBC 2. Before that there's 'The Great Climb'
at 17.25 BBC 2 in the Cairngorms.
I'll be watching again tomorrow :-)

Sadly, I gather that The Great Climb has been postponed owing to weather
(Scottish Summer, ye ken) and may not be shown south of the Border. Let's
hope a tape gets run soon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6944130.stm

"The BBC's most ambitious climbing outside broadcast for 40 years. Eight of
the world's best climbers scale the massive Shelter Stone and Hell's Lum
rock faces. [S]
"The Great Climb was due to go ahead on BBC2 Scotland from 1300 - 1905 BST
on Saturday, 18 August, but was postponed because of bad weather.
"It is now scheduled to take place on BBC2 Scotland from 1300 - 1905 BST on
Sunday, 19 August. Part of the live broadcast will also be on BBC2 Network
and the BBC HD channel between 1725 - 1835 BST. The climb will be streamed
live at bbc.co.uk/greatclimb

Steve P

Steve Pardoe wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Repeat on saturday at 18.35 BBC 2. Before that there's 'The Great Climb'
at 17.25 BBC 2 in the Cairngorms.

Was that part of the Old Man of Hoy thing that they did a few
years ago ? ISTR it was Joe Brown on that occaision.

Chris

"Chris Gilbert" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve Pardoe wrote

<Actuslly, Theo wrote>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Repeat on saturday at 18.35 BBC 2. Before that there's 'The Great Climb'
at 17.25 BBC 2 in the Cairngorms.

Was that part of the Old Man of Hoy thing that they did a few
years ago ? ISTR it was Joe Brown on that occaision.

No, it's a new climb (attempt) per the BBC web page I cited,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6944130.stm

"The Great Climb is a fully HD broadcast from the stunning Loch A'an basin
deep in the Cairngorms National Park. Eight of the world's top climbers
will attempt some hugely testing routes on the imposing Shelter Stone and
Hell's Lum crags. It will climax with Scotland's top climber, Dave Macleod,
trying to get himself up a dauntingly difficult new route on Hell's Lum, and
will also include features on the local landscape, environment, hills and
wildlife".

SP

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Chris Gilbert" <[email hidden]> contains
these words:

Quoted message said:

Was that part of the Old Man of Hoy thing that they did a few
years ago ? ISTR it was Joe Brown on that occaision.

ISTR that the one a few years back was Joe Browns daughter.

--
Roger Chapman
Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme.
89 miles as the crow flies,
considerably more as the walker drives.

Roger wrote

Quoted message said:

ISTR that the one a few years back was Joe Browns daughter.

Ah, wasn't she repeating Joe's orginal climb in the 60s ?
I remember she got boffed on a lot by Fulmars.

Chris

In message <[email hidden]>, Roger
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Chris Gilbert" <[email hidden]> contains
these words:

Quoted message said:

Was that part of the Old Man of Hoy thing that they did a few
years ago ? ISTR it was Joe Brown on that occaision.

ISTR that the one a few years back was Joe Browns daughter.

Didn't she get from the top to the mainland by pulling herself along a
rope - I'm afraid I have no technical references for such a feat :-)
--
Bill Grey

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Chris Gilbert" <[email hidden]> contains
these words:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ISTR that the one a few years back was Joe Browns daughter.

Quoted message said:

Ah, wasn't she repeating Joe's orginal climb in the 60s ?
I remember she got boffed on a lot by Fulmars.

Joe wasn't in on the original ascent, only on the repeat. Per Wikipedia:

"The stack was first climbed in 1966 by Chris Bonington, Rusty Baillie
and Tom Patey over a period of three days, 13 years after Mount Everest
was tackled. On July 8-9, 1967 an ascent was featured in a live BBC
outside broadcast (which had around 23 million viewers over the 3 night
period of it broadcast.) This featured three pairs of climbers:
Bonington and Patey repeated their original route; whilst two new lines
were climbed - by Joe Brown and Ian McNaught-Davis; and by Pete Crew and
Dougal Haston.

On September 8th 2006 the stack was climbed by Sir Ranulph Fiennes (aged
62) in preparation for his proposed climb of the Eiger in the following
year. He was accompanied by Sandy Ogilvie and Stephen Venables.

The stack now has a number of climbing routes, but the vast majority of
ascents, of which there are 20 - 50 in an average year, are by the
original and easiest route at the British grade of E1 (5b) - one route
being an E6."

My memory said that the original route was HVS but that was in the days
of yore when E grades in Scotland weren't admitted to. OTOH it could
just be grade inflation, sticky boots should have made the route easier,
not harder, or even erosion.

FWIW I also came across a route description on the MCofS site claiming
the original route was Severe - 4a. Who is pulling whose leg?

--
Roger Chapman
Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme.
89 miles as the crow flies,
considerably more as the walker drives.

The message <[email hidden]>
from Bill Grey <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ISTR that the one a few years back was Joe Browns daughter.

Quoted message said:

Didn't she get from the top to the mainland by pulling herself along a
rope - I'm afraid I have no technical references for such a feat :-)

Can't remember that but the process is known as a 'Tyrolean Traverse'.

--
Roger Chapman
Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme.
89 miles as the crow flies,
considerably more as the walker drives.

Bill Grey said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Roger
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Chris Gilbert" <[email hidden]> contains
these words:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Was that part of the Old Man of Hoy thing that they did a few
years ago ? ISTR it was Joe Brown on that occaision.

Quoted message said:

ISTR that the one a few years back was Joe Browns daughter.

Didn't she get from the top to the mainland by pulling herself along a
rope - I'm afraid I have no technical references for such a feat :-)
--
Bill Grey

Quoted message said:

From memory I think she was the one 'volunteered' to swim from the

mainland with the rope so others could keep their feet dry!

Ted

"Steve Pardoe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Theo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This IS outdoor television. Real emotion. I know the feelings Julia had
(but without the rope).

Sadly, I gather that The Great Climb has been postponed owing to weather
(Scottish Summer, ye ken) and may not be shown south of the Border. Let's
hope a tape gets run soon.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/greatclimb/

Sunday 19 August

Due to poor weather, the conditions were too dangerous for the climbs to
take place as planned on Saturday. Instead the climbs have been rescheduled
for Sunday.

How to watch The Great Climb:

BBC Two Scotland 1300-1900
BBC Two network 1810-1900
BBC HD Channel 1810-1900
BBCi (red button for satellite and cable viewers) 1300-1900
Online here 1100-1230 then 1300-1900

In article <[email hidden]>, Chris Gilbert
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Steve Pardoe wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Repeat on saturday at 18.35 BBC 2. Before that there's 'The Great Climb'
at 17.25 BBC 2 in the Cairngorms.

Was that part of the Old Man of Hoy thing that they did a few
years ago ? ISTR it was Joe Brown on that occaision.

No. Old man of Hoy is a sea stack off Hoy in the Orkneys.

The Cairngorms is about as far as you can get in Scotland from the
sea...

--
Bernard Hill
Selkirk, Scotland

Bernard Hill wrote

Quoted message said:

No. Old man of Hoy is a sea stack off Hoy in the Orkneys.

The Cairngorms is about as far as you can get in Scotland from the sea...

Indeed. I merely failed to express myself clearly. I was speculating
as to whether the current venture was veing touted under the same
brand as the previous events.

Chris

In message <[email hidden]>

Chris Gilbert said:

Bernard Hill wrote

Quoted message said:

No. Old man of Hoy is a sea stack off Hoy in the Orkneys.

The Cairngorms is about as far as you can get in Scotland from the sea...

Indeed. I merely failed to express myself clearly. I was speculating
as to whether the current venture was veing touted under the same
brand as the previous events.

Yes it is (was) to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original
outside broadcast.

Except the Scottish weather had a different view on whether the
celebration should happen.

;-)

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Mike Clark said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The Cairngorms is about as far as you can get in Scotland from the sea...

Indeed. I merely failed to express myself clearly. I was speculating
as to whether the current venture was veing touted under the same
brand as the previous events.

Yes it is (was) to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original
outside broadcast.

Except the Scottish weather had a different view on whether the
celebration should happen.

The weather didn't put me off - I came through Glen Dee and the Lairig
Ghru on the Saturday. The Lairig Ghru's a dour spot in cold rain!

Jim Ford

"Roger" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On September 8th 2006 the stack was climbed by Sir Ranulph Fiennes (aged
62) in preparation for his proposed climb of the Eiger in the following
year. He was accompanied by Sandy Ogilvie and Stephen Venables.

The stack now has a number of climbing routes, but the vast majority of
ascents, of which there are 20 - 50 in an average year, are by the
original and easiest route at the British grade of E1 (5b) - one route
being an E6."

My memory said that the original route was HVS but that was in the days
of yore when E grades in Scotland weren't admitted to. OTOH it could
just be grade inflation, sticky boots should have made the route easier,
not harder, or even erosion.

FWIW I also came across a route description on the MCofS site claiming
the original route was Severe - 4a. Who is pulling whose leg?

Wasn't Ran Fiennes an explorer rather than a climber? If the easiest route
is E1 then that's a tremendous acheivement for someone with half his fingers
missing!

Graham

In message <[email hidden]>

Graham Seed said:

"Roger" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On September 8th 2006 the stack was climbed by Sir Ranulph Fiennes
(aged 62) in preparation for his proposed climb of the Eiger in the
following year. He was accompanied by Sandy Ogilvie and Stephen
Venables.

The stack now has a number of climbing routes, but the vast majority
of ascents, of which there are 20 - 50 in an average year, are by
the original and easiest route at the British grade of E1 (5b) - one
route being an E6."

My memory said that the original route was HVS but that was in the
days of yore when E grades in Scotland weren't admitted to. OTOH it
could just be grade inflation, sticky boots should have made the
route easier, not harder, or even erosion.

FWIW I also came across a route description on the MCofS site claiming
the original route was Severe - 4a. Who is pulling whose leg?

Wasn't Ran Fiennes an explorer rather than a climber? If the easiest
route is E1 then that's a tremendous acheivement for someone with
half his fingers missing!

Generally the adjectival grade, in this case E1, will indicate the
seriousness of the route for the lead climber. The technical grade, 5b,
indicates the difficulty of the hardest move if done cleanly and without
assistance or aid. If assistance was given, or the move aided (e.g. by
pulling on a runner that had been placed at the crux move), then the
difficulty could have been reduced to considerably less than 5b.

Incidentally Stephen Venables has also had amputations as a result of
suffering frostbite.

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Mike Clark said:

Generally the adjectival grade, in this case E1, will indicate the
seriousness of the route for the lead climber. The technical grade, 5b,
indicates the difficulty of the hardest move if done cleanly and without
assistance or aid. If assistance was given, or the move aided (e.g. by
pulling on a runner that had been placed at the crux move), then the
difficulty could have been reduced to considerably less than 5b.

"5b" in UK trad grades is at the level that I'd be pleased to do the
move without peeling off, but not amazed. It's harder than I'd want to
lead, even if I was in practice, but I'm a bit of a blouse when it comes
to leading, even when I'm in practice.

It's a respectable level of hardness for a "non climber" to get up, even
with a bit of "anti gravity assist" from a top-rope, though there are
some distressingly natural climbers who can do 5b straight away without
breaking sweat: I am emphatically *not* such a person, and they are
unusual cases IME.

Quoted message said:

Incidentally Stephen Venables has also had amputations as a result of
suffering frostbite.

Jamie Andrew has lost both hands and both feet, but he can still second
at about my level, or quite possibly a bit harder!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Jamie Andrew has lost both hands and both feet, but he can still second
at about my level, or quite possibly a bit harder!

And don't forget Ray McHaffie climbed Little Chamonix in boxing gloves
and roller skates (only V Diff but hey).

Roy.

"Mike Clark" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Generally the adjectival grade, in this case E1, will indicate the
seriousness of the route for the lead climber. The technical grade, 5b,
indicates the difficulty of the hardest move if done cleanly and without
assistance or aid. If assistance was given, or the move aided (e.g. by
pulling on a runner that had been placed at the crux move), then the
difficulty could have been reduced to considerably less than 5b.

Incidentally Stephen Venables has also had amputations as a result of
suffering frostbite.

I remember my first introduction to climbing when a friend told me how easy
the Cuillin ridge should be as the hardest route was only V Diff. I was
staggered to find out that Very Difficult actually meant very difficult and
not [censored] easy as he had lead me to believe. Later on another climbing mate
scratched his head in bemusement as I swung to and fro below him on a
Severe. I suppose he could have tried to man haul me above the crux, but
that missed the point. 5b remains so staggeringly beyond me that I'd be
better off going for a ticket on the first public trip to Mars. Ran Fiennes
is a class or two above me when it comes to strength and courage but I still
take my hat off to the guy if he had little climbing experience (or digits).
Perhaps he has, but I've not read about it.

Graham