by Wil Treasure | UKClimbing
Factor Two is a climbing podcast with impact, brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com. It brings you the best climbing stories straight from the people at their heart - and the best climbing stories are always about a little bit more than just climbing. https://www.factortwo.co.uk
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August 12, 2021
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The whims and motivations of climbers really are another world to the person in the street. Understanding them is crossing a threshold, it requires a certain suspension of disbelief to start to see the world of risk, adventure, suffering and more in a different light. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Those thresholds exist within climbing too. One of them is understanding the obsessive new-router. I think we can all appreciate the buzz of discovering something no-one else has done. We could probably imagine cleaning something, maybe even drilling some bolts, although I bet few of us have actually done it. Even fewer can really get inside the mindset of the truly obsessed. That person who will plough time and money that could be used on trips and climbing into finding, cleaning and climbing new routes.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pete Oxley is one of these people, and what fascinates me about him, and others who were new routing at the same time, is the sheer volume of routes he was putting up - more than 800 new routes, many in Dorset, but also in Avon and Cheddar, the Peak District and south and west Wales. His output is probably only surpassed by Gary Gibson, Martin Crocker and Pat Littlejohn. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pete’s opened up routes of all grades, but was responsible for some of the hardest lines around, including Laughing Arthur, E8 6b, and Infinite Gravity, F8a+, both taking on the impressive overhangs at Blacker’s Hole in Swanage.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pete was also part of a new wave of climbing in the 1980s, with new ideas and a pushback against traditional ethics. That tradition is particularly strong in Britain - we don’t like bolts. Or, rather, we didn’t like them.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When Pete started his new routing activities the direction of climbing was changing. He had a reasonably traditional induction in some ways, spending years trad climbing before really becoming obsessed with bolting lines, but also a rather insular way of creating his own routes and problems, coming up with training methods and opening up unusual venues, like railway bridges. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the time, continental ideas about sport climbing and bolting were creeping into the UK. There was still an abundance of rock to be climbed, if you knew where to look, and there were venues where, today, it seems obvious that you’d bolt them. But back then that wasn’t the case - someone needed to be the first, and they had to have a thick skin to weather the storm of criticism that would follow. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pete’s routes emerged, through a few mistakes and accidents along the way, as one of the biggest legacies of the era. If you’ve climbed on Portland or Swanage you’ve almost certainly done one of his routes, and you’ve probably clipped his home-made bolts.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In order to achieve this legacy Pete lived on the dole, like many UK climbers in the 1980s. He was probably the only full-time climber in south-west England at the time. He invested his time in training, finding and cleaning new routes, testing out new ideas for bolts and enjoying the creativity of the sport.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His unusual drive - spending many days alone on the sea cliffs bolting and cleaning, in all conditions - have created a legacy for the climbing community. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode I talked to Pete about the source of this motivation, the development of Dorset as a sport climbing destination, and why he was so inspired by the late John Peel - a parallel story of a new creative independence in climbing, matched by the growing indie music scene.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pete would like to thank his partner of 29 years, Jan Rostrom, his parents and the Portland Pipers (they know who they are) for their support over the years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sign up to the newsletter at: <a href= "https://factortwo.co.uk">https://factortwo.co.uk</a></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can follow</span> <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/factortwopod/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Factor Two on Facebook</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wil Treasure on Twitter -</span> <a href="https://twitter.com/treasurewild"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">@treasurewild</span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Music credits:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All music in this episode comes from <a href="https://www.sessions.blue/">Blue Dot Sessions</a>.</span></p> <p> </p>
June 24, 2021
If you had to select your late 90s dream team for a British, all-female Himalayan big wall trip, you couldn’t go far wrong with this one. <p>Glenda Huxter was onsighting E7, Kath Pyke had extensive experience on rock and alpine routes, and Louise Thomas brought even more big wall and expedition experience to the team.</p> <p>Their 1997 objective was a first ascent on Beatrice, by chance the first Himalayan Peak named after a woman: British mountaineer Beatrice Tomasson. The south-east face of Beatrice towers over the Charakusa glacier in the K7 region of the Karakoram. The base of the granite wall starts at over 5000m, leading to the summit ridge at around 5800m.</p> <p>They were joined at base camp by Mike “Twid” Turner (now Louise’s husband, who featured in the episode Brave New World), Grant Farquhar and Steve Mayers, who were also attempting a line on the face.</p> <p>The dream of a pure all-female ascent crumbled fairly quickly when an initial reconnaissance revealed only one line of weakness through the overhangs at the base of the wall. The two teams worked together to overcome this section, with Louise establishing difficult aid pitches, and they found a higher camp above the difficulties for their portaledges. From this point the boys went right and the girls left.</p> <p>Over the course of several weeks, they endured poor weather and problems with altitude sickness, but they pressed on. The face was putting up a fight, but the boys had found the easier line and eventually topped out on the wall. The summit itself was a dangerous, loose ridge traverse away, so like subsequent teams they avoided it.</p> <p>The girls were left in a difficult position. They were committed on the wall and had put in weeks of effort to get this far, but time was running out. They had one day left to push for the top. They formed a plan. With an alpine start, they would press on as far as they could and hopefully make the top before a self-imposed cut-off time, but the weather had other ideas. They woke to fresh snow and all seemed lost, so they zipped up the flysheet and got back into their sleeping bags, resigned to retrieving their gear and making the long abseil retreat.</p> <p>But luck was on their side after all. With a later start they headed back up their fixed ropes and, as they neared the top, the weather cleared. They decided to press on to see how far they could get, and the wall started to relent. Their cut-off time came and went, but they kept climbing, determined to make the summit. They made it, late in the day, but elated.</p> <p>The descent was arduous, with huge haulbags, hundreds of metres of rope and one shredded sheath before reaching their advanced base camp on the glacier. It’s a testament to the determination of the team that they were able to push on right to the end, but also to the talent they had brought to this expedition.</p> <p>They called their route “Hateja”, meaning “Strong-willed, determined lady” - a suggestion from their base camp cook - and graded it ED+ A3+ 750m.</p> <p>In this episode, I spoke to Louise and Glenda about their experience of the expedition and what had helped them to dig deep on that final day.</p> <p>Follow Factor Two on <a href="https://facebook.com/factortwopod" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> or <a href= "https://instagram.com/factor.two" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Instagram</a>.</p> <p>Wil Treasure on Twitter - <a href= "https://twitter.com/treasurewild" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">@treasurewild</a></p> <p>Music credits: All music in this episode comes from <a href= "https://sessions.blue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blue Dot Sessions</a>.</p>
March 23, 2021
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We all get enjoyment from climbing for different reasons. For many of us those reasons change over time, according to our geography, time, money and other pressures in our lives.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’ve read Katherine Schirrmacher’s blog for years, and she’s unusually good at expressing all of those little things that can affect your motivation or self belief. Like many of us, she was excited for the adventure of trad climbing in her early days, but she became an all-rounder; sport climbing, bouldering and competing as part of the British team.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Being good at climbing can be a really satisfying thing, but if you spread yourself too thin, in too many disciplines that’s hard work. When you’re young and free you can sustain the energy needed, but as you get older all of those other features of life - work, children, relationships - creep in and put pressures on that time you were so eager to use for climbing. You pick up injuries, or can’t get out so easily when conditions are good, and when you’ve been so focussed on your performance that it’s hard to reel back.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So how do you find a balance?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For Katherine, it’s been about understanding what really brings her happiness in climbing. It could be giving herself permission to try a route, or leave it for another day. It might be focussing on the great friendships she has in the sport. It might be the sense of being in a beautiful place, or moving well on the rock. And, of course, it could still be climbing hard, but on her own terms.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of us use climbing as an escape, but Katherine told me she’s learned to appreciate just how central it is in her life. In doing so she’s been able to find ways to match her goals to the things that will really make her happy, and she’s done so by listening to how others do the same.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can find Katherine on her website at</span> <a href= "https://www.lovetoclimb.co.uk/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">lovetoclimb.co.uk</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">and on Instagram</span> <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/katherine.schirrmacher/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">@katherine.schirrmacher</span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Factor Two</strong> is brought to you by Wil Treasure and</span> <a href= "https://www.ukclimbing.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">UKClimbing.com</span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Follow</span> <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/factortwopod/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Factor Two on Facebook</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">or</span> <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/factor.two"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Instagram</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wil Treasure on Twitter -</span> <a href="https://twitter.com/treasurewild"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">@treasurewild</span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Music credits:</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">All music in this episode comes from</span> <a href="https://www.sessions.blue/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Blue Dot Sessions</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
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Factor Two is a climbing podcast with impact, brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com.
It brings you the best climbing stories straight from the people at their heart - and the best climbing stories are always about a little bit more than just climbing.
https://www.factortwo.co.uk
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