Deep Play

by Middendorf, John, Pritchard, Paul, Parkin, Andy

  “That climb was near the limit for me. One of those rare times when you experience that inner flight.”

  These recent climbs herald the beginning of a new era in Andy’s life.

  “I don’t like to talk about that accident but these modern hard things I have done feel like part of a healing process to me.”

  These routes convey a level of self-trust and coolness of head that can only be achieved by someone utterly in touch with their body. And after being forced to listen to his body for so long this could definitely be said to be the case for Andy.

  He settled his tumbler of wine on the table top.

  “You’ll get better, kiddo. That time I lost everything. I lost my girlfriend, she looked after me for ages but I got so down, so distant, that she finally gave up. I lost my mind, for a while.”

  I nodded, trying to relate all this to my own sorrowful state. “But if I can’t climb what can I do?” I had a lump in my throat. I needed his help.

  “As you get older you’ll realise that climbing isn’t everything. Other opportunities will present themselves to you and to grow you have to explore them.

  “The next season I was in the Bridwell camp waiting for Cerro Torre.”

  When the weather window came he and his mate François began a new route on the South Face of “the hardest mountain in the world”. The line they had chosen was a steep and technical ice gully and much of the climbing was on rotten crud. They moved swiftly to lessen the risk of being taken out by the band of séracs above. After a thousand metres they at last arrived at the Col of Hope, in plummeting air pressure. They made it to the Helmet ice formation when the storm hit. After bivouacking, they began their descent and decided, upon reaching the Col of Hope, that it would be asking too much of fate to chance rappeling down the séracs. There was no choice. They rappeled the Ferrari route onto the Hielo Continental, the Patagonian icecap. They had no food left and no map of the icecap. After jettisoning most of their hardware, days of walking ensued. They stumbled off the snout of the Tunnel Glacier and onto the Pampa in a hallucinatory state and kept going by eating dandelions.

  I know it was all a mistake, but that’s the kind of experience I have always looked for. Andy remembers seeing horses prancing around him, mocking him, and this experience provided the mental material for his recent horse sculptures made from wire or cut from sheet metal with a blow torch. After another day on the featureless expanse of the Pampa they met gauchos who gave them cooked beef.

  “That made me sick. After nine days out I think I had done my internal organs some damage.”

  Andy showed me his paintings of the Torre. Before his climb the mountain had rounded edges and a classic mountain look with light coloured, almost warm, granite. And after, it looks brooding and Gothic. Higher, darker and sharper. That exercise showed him that the act of climbing a mountain can change one’s perception of that mountain for ever.

  The French chose to give Andy and François the Piolet d‘Or award for the ‘adventurous spirit’ of their climb, A La Recherche du Temps Perdu. He had hidden the tacky trophy out of sight, but he did admit that the prize money would be useful for the forthcoming Alaska trip. Don’t ask me how old he is. Really he is ageless. For him there is no time to lose but that is not to say that he rushes and loses sight of the reasons for doing what he does. Amidst the exhibitions and commissions, the sculpting of human waste, the climbing and skiing and the planning of imminent trips to K2 and Patagonia, and what inspires me most, this man still finds time to revel into the night.

  Summer ’96

  I’ve just finished my morning stretches, they take about an hour, and I move on to my mail. It’s a little package from – Andy! A book on homeopathy. And a card:

  Hey Paul

  I found this in a book shop while I was visiting my mother. I know people who’ve had wonderous effects with it. Look into it, maybe it can help with the broken back and sternum. I’m getting slowly ready for the other hemisphere. Loads to do and life is buzzing. Cham is buried deep in snow and I’ve just started X-country skiing to get fit for sitting around in Patagonia. Leave around 8th Jan. Look after yourself, Kiddo.

  Hasta la vista Andy

  AUTHOR’S GLOSSARY

  of less common climbing terms

  Climbing terms needing a precise definition and modern climbing terms or slang. Plus a chapter-by-chapter table of British colloquialisms needing definition for American readers.

  abseil, rappel To descend a rope using a friction device.

  aid climbing The opposite of free climbing. Using your equipment to assist upward progress and not just for protection.

  alpine-style A pure style. To ascend as a contained unit with no fixed rope or camps.

  ascender A clamp for ascending a rope.

  barring Using your knee or elbow in opposition with your foot or hand to ascend wide fissures.

  bashie, copperhead, circlehead Soft metal swages for moulding into incipient cracks to provide support for subtle aid climbing, though rarely strong enough to hold a long fall.

  Bird Beak Oddly shaped piton for tapping into the thinnest of rock seams.

  capsule ascent A compromise between alpine-style and seiging for big climbs that are too technical and prolonged to be done in one continuous alpine-style push. The party is self-contained using a camp or camps on the wall or face, pushing the route forward without returning to the valley.

  crimp A small finger edge on a rock climb. diedre, dihedral A corner feature in a rock wall.

  drive in A type of ice piton.

  dyno A dynamic move where the whole body parts from the rock to catch a hold.

  EBs, PAs The most popular rock-shoe (French) until the early eighties when they were rendered obsolete when stickier rubber was introduced by Spanish manufacturers.

  egyptian Turning side on to the rock to get more weight onto your feet.

  Friend Camming device. Trade name of the first device of this type which is sometimes used generically for all similar devices.

  Gri-Gri Trade name for a belaying device.

  ground up, on-sight The finest style of climbing. Ascending a climb with no preinspection and therefore no knowledge of what horrors await you.

  hand drilling Placing bolts or rivets by manual means. Ethically more respectable than power-drilling, particularly on big wall routes.

  hook, bat hook Device for hanging on tiny edges on the rock’s surface.

  Jumar See ascender. In common with the “Friend” a generic term taken from the first device of this type.

  jumaring, jugging A bout of climbing a fixed rope using an ascending device such as a Jumar.

  nut A general term for any metal wedge (fitted with a wire or rope sling) that is handplaced into a crack or slot to provide protection or aid. Types include: Hexes, wedges, stoppers, curvers, spuds, Moacs, sliders, RPs.

  piton, peg, pin Metal spikes of many sizes which are hammered into fissures in the rock. Types include: angles, Lost Arrows, blades, bongs, RURPs, knife blades etc.

  portaledge Hanging tent which climbers sleep in on a vertical wall.

  power-drilling Placing bolts or rivets using a power drill (either by rap-bolting or during an on-sight climb or by retro-bolting after an aided lead). This is increasingly done by some European and American big wall climbers to leave solid protection to allow pitches (that would otherwise need to be aided or semi-aided) on a big-wall climb to be freed by an athletic follow-up team and thus leave a climb more likely to attract sport climbers. Often controversial, particularly during on-sight big wall climbs.

  rap-bolting Placing bolts in the rock using a rope from above.

  redpointing Making a climb after rehearsing all the moves on a top rope and pre-placing all the quickdraws.

  retro-bolting The adding of bolts to a climb after the first ascent. Considered ethically unacceptable by most climbers.

  rivet Small metal pin driven into a shallow drilled hole for artificially climbing blank rock. Quicke
r and more lightweight than fixing a bolt on an aid climb and, providing it is done sparingly, it is presently thought to be visually and ethically preferable than equipping blank passages with bolt ladders.

  sieging Climbing a route from a secure base camp, with repeated ascents and descents (sometimes with intermediate camps) to and from the high point to push the climb forward. Less committing than an alpine-style or even a capsule-style ascent. Climbing terms needing a precise definition and modern climbing terms or slang. Plus a chapter-by-chapter table of British colloquialisms needing definition for American readers.

  skyhook Steel hook for hanging on a rock edge. Usually for aid climbing but also used on Wales’s most dangerous free climbs.

  slap Dynamic lunge for a hold.

  sport climbing Convenient, safe climbing with drilled bolts for protection. A derivation from proper climbing – initially an attempt by normal climbers to push standards but soon evolved into a broader movement to process rock-climbing into a more athletically orientated, sanitised and measurable procedure by removing its main dangers and logistical complexities. Controversial, except on some (not all) extremely overhanging and crackless cliffs that are difficult or impossible to free-climb by other means. In other circumstances it is thought by many to represent a threat to the uncertainty and adventure of the cliffs that lies at the centre of making climbing a uniquely rewarding pastime. Dates from the easy availability of cordless drills which made such climbs feasible to establish. Supported by a growth in guiding, hut wardens, manufacturers, media and educational interest in the commercial exploitation of rock activity. Environmentally destructive.

  CHAPTER 1

  “bricking it” – scared stiff

  “paggered” – beaten up or punched or feeling that way

  “spends” – money available for spending

  Youth Training Scheme – Government scheme to gainfully occupy the young unemployed

  CHAPTER 2

  “fifties for the leccy meter” – 50 pence pieces required for a pay-as-you-use electricity meter

  “lashed up” – drunk, intoxicated

  tannoy – loudspeaker in a factory or other crowded location

  Giros – Government cheques issued (on the Giro Bank) to registered unemployed

  “skint” – out of money, stony broke

  CHAPTER 3

  “Gobsmacked” – stunned, surprised or amazed (usually about something nice)

  CHAPTER 4

  “hacked” – getting there fast

  “knackered” (as in a car being knackered, or even a person) – totally used up, tired, utterly spent (derived from Knacker – one who buys and slaughters spent horses)

  “get a ton out” – squeezing 100mph out of a car

  “ceilidh” – a Scottish dance and drinks party usually with accordion music

  CHAPTER 6

  “Wendy house” – a play house big enough for children to enter

  MEF – Mount Everest Foundation based at the:

  RGS – the Royal Geographical Society in London

  “barny” – an argument or private row

  CHAPTER 8

  “gurning” – pulling a face sometimes through a horse bridle (an old Devonian custom)

  CHAPTER 9

  Wackford Squeers – a route named after the headmaster in Dickens’s “Nicholas Nickleby”

  Moac – an early and classic British nut design, a slender four-faceted wedge

  CHAPTER 12

  “bottling” (abbr. from “bottling-out”) – running out of courage, “bottle” being a cockney term for courage

  CHAPTER 13

  “hoolie” – a strong wind

  CHAPTER 14

  Gemini – a make of bivouac tent

  NOTES ABOUT THE ESSAYS

  FIRE-STARTER. The gritstone quarries of Bolton are dismal places but to me they were everything. Since my childhood, I have always felt summoned to such places of industrial dereliction to practise my art or simply to explore the past. Previously unpublished.

  RUBBLE MERCHANTS, SLATEHEADS AND OTHERS. I moved to that capital of British climbing, Llanberis, in 1986 to follow the path of full time climber. It is both fortunate and unfortunate that things can’t always stay the same. On the Edge 69 (1997).

  LOST IN THE BROCCOLI GARDEN. Gogarth epitomises British sea cliff climbing. When you make contact with the rock you can feel the history seeping into your fingers. I have loved Gogarth and I have hated the place. I feel I grew up a little on the Red Walls. High (1987).

  A PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD. Ed Stone was part of a close-knit team of friends in Llanberis who shared many good times. He died solo climbing on the Trinity face of Yr Wyddfa in 1994. Previously unpublished.

  ON THE BIG STONE. The first of many trips to Sron Ulladale. I later climbed Knuckle Sandwich (E7) with Johnny and Moskill Grooves (E6) with Johnny and Ben Moon. Ten years later the Scoop has been climbed in a day, but with pitons in-situ and a description of where the climb goes, it is a much more feasible proposition. On the Edge 49 (1995).

  BHAGIRATHI DIARY. In 1990 I went on my first mountain climbing ‘expedition’ with Johnny Dawes, Joe Simpson and Bob Drury. We travelled in tandem with another British team who were attempting Shivling and made a feeble attempt on Bhagirathi 3. It was all so new to me, Bob and Johnny and we set about the task of organising a big expedition with enthusiasm. Now, a few years later, it’s difficult to recapture that magic. Expeditions are now called holidays and though I need them I have a more relaxed approach. Previously unpublished.

  EL REGALO DE MWONO. My first big wall climbing experience and the beginning of a nine-month road trip. I forsake the Yosemite training and jumped in at the deep end. The route is 1200m long and the grade is 6, 5.11, A4 and Scottish ice V. Team members were Noel Craine, Sean Smith, Simon Yates, Hanneke Steenmetz and myself. American Alpine Journal (1993).

  EL CABALLO DE DIABLO. The best free climb I ever made was marred by feelings of guilt. This climb means more to me, perhaps, than any other. The day, the company, the style of ascent, everything gelled to make the perfect climb. The descent was another story, a story from which I learnt a few lessons. To me it is sadly ironic that Philip should have later died on this mountain. We graded the climb ED+, E5, French 7A, 550m. On the Edge 59 (1996).

  JUST PASSING THROUGH. Another stop on a long journey through South America. On the Edge 61 (1996).

  THE DOCTOR AND THE WITCH. In 1992, whilst feeling homesick in Bolivia, I went down with amoebic dysentery. I had just arrived from Brazil where my Basque, Catalonian and Argentinian friends and I had made a fabulous wall climb. In my fever the present and the near past became intertwined. On the Edge 65 (1997).

  A GAME ONE CLIMBER PLAYED. In 1993 I came unstuck at Gogarth whilst trying to make the second ascent of Pat Littlejohn’s direct start to Games Climbers Play. My Australian friend, and partner for the day, Glenn Robbins, pulled me out of the water, resuscitated me and sat with me for three hours until Oliver Saunders, who was out walking, happened to pass by. Glenn shouted to him and he ran to call a rescue. Mountain Yodel 6 (1997).

  ADRIFT. In May 1994, with Steve Quinlan, I climbed a new line on the East face of El Capitan, Yosemite. The essence of the climb for me was here, on the UK Cowboy pitch. We got down off the climb and headed straight to Baffin Island. Grade 6, A4, 5.9, 1000m. On the Edge 60 (1996).

  HYPERBOREA. Asgard West Face, 1994. Simon Yates, Sean Smith, Keith Jones, Steve Quinlan, Noel Craine, Jordi Tosas, Paul Pritchard. Grade 6, A4, E4. 1000m. On the Edge 45 (1994).

  A SURVIVOR’S AFFAIR. Teo Plaza died in an avalanche on El Tronador with other friends whilst training to become an Argentinian guide. He was the most talented of the young Bariloche set. On the Edge 50 (1995).

  MAKING CASTLES IN THE SAND. Trango Tower mixed men and women’s expedition 1995. Donna Claridge, Celia Bull, Geraldine Westrupp, Kate Phillips, Noel Craine, Adam Wainwright, Andy Cave, Paul Pritchard, Ali Hussain Abadi, Ismael Bondo, Captain Jamal Mohammed. T
he Slovene route is 1000m long and has been free climbed in fine style by Wolfgang Güllich and Kurt Albert and later, for a film, by Catherine Destivelle and Jeff Lowe. The grade was 5.12b. With ice in the cracks we were forced to use some aid and for us the grade stood at 6, 5.10, A2. The first ascent was made in 1984 by Franček Knez, S. Canker and B. Srot. On the Edge 53 (1995).

  ON THE SHARK’S FIN WITH PHILIP LLOYD. In 1993 Philip Lloyd, Johnny Dawes and I tried to climb the Meru Shark’s Fin in Gangotri. We were repulsed after Johnny accidentally dropped his boot whilst trying to get it on after a bivouac one morning. A reminiscence of my last time with Philip. Mountain Review 7 (1994).

  ACCIDENTAL HERO – SILVO KARO. A tough man from a tough world. An inspiration. On the Edge 58 (1996).

  A LESSON IN HEALING FROM ANDY PARKIN. On Centre Post Direct Finish I came unstuck and fell 50 metres sustaining four crushed vertebrae, a broken sternum and a fractured skull. Nick Kekus lowered me and four clients down a thousand feet of gully and stayed with me while the others went to call for a helicopter. From Andy I learnt how to re-build life (and maintain sanity) when all seemed devastated by injury and illness. A combination of articles in On the Edge 48 and 57.

  Note: Most of the articles have been substantially edited and developed since their first publication.

  THE SLATE BOOM

  North Wales climbing was revitalised by the developments in the Llanberis slate quarries in the early eighties. Many of the routes had long run-outs with marginal protection, calling for great skill, coolness and tenacity. These photos illustrate three of the finest slate climbs: Rainbow of Recalcitrance E6 6b on Rainbow Slab (right); the author making the critical moves to reach the bolt and sling on Raped by Affection E7 6c (left, top) and leading the first ascent of I Ran the Bath E7 6c with Nick Harms belaying (left, below). Photos: Iwan Jones (right) and Tony Kay.