Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 34.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 34.

I'm hesitant about writing this one, not because I'm unsure of whether I had a good time climbing with this top bloke, but because I know he's a very discreet and private person. So I'll keep it short. Thanks for the fun times at Kilnsey, Chapel Head Scar and Cheedale during the autumn of 1989, they were definitely care free and happy days. Keep on cranking Dave.

Tim Lowe with Dave Hinton.

Dave Hinton climbing Western Front at almscliffe.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 33.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 33.

Mike (Twid) Turner became a regular fixturer on the North Wales scene from the mid '80's onwards (usually climbing with his then girlfriend Kath Goodey). He had all the neccessary attributes to become a really good climber (especially on trad routes, though he was no slouch on sport routes either). He had strong fingers (developed at The Breck), plenty of determination and was very necky. An added bonus was his wicked sense of humour.

Ironically Twid was rejected, by Gavin Peat, for the Outdoor Ed course at I. M. Marsh. It proved to be a good thing, actually, as Twid put his energy into becoming a British Mountain Guide. Nowadays he is one of the most accomplshed all-round climbers in the world, living in Switzerland with his wife Louise (also a very accomplished all-round climber) and daughter Erin. He's still as mad keen for any form of climbing: trad, sport, ice, big wall, Alpine, Himalayan. In fact you name it, he's done it.

Back in the day, we did some amazing trad climbing together, for example "Hunger", "Conan the Librarian" and "Hunter Killer". He took an ace photo of me wearing his shirt on "Wreath of Deadly Nightshade" (belayed by Owain Jones). We also used to work out on "The Boy" (as we used to call it) at LPT and "Indecent Exposure" at Ravens Tor.

Cheers Twid. Eat lard, climb 'ard.

Twid on "Isis is angry" on Gogarth's Yellow Wall. Photo by Ray Wood.

Twid on "Barbarossa" on Gogarth's Upper Tier. Photo by Ray Wood.

Twid on "Snake charmer" in Huntsman's Leap, Pembroke, in 1987. 

Wearing Twid's shirt on "Wreath of deadly nightshade" at Gogarth's North Stack Wall in 1990.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 32.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 32.

Another I.M.Marsh trip, this time on a biology field course on Anglesey, in 1989, allowed Duncan Potter and I the chance to zap across to Gogarth to do Dinosaur. I had backed off it twice over the years, due to horrendous damp conditions. The key to this route is being patient enough to wait for the sun to arrive, later in the day, to dry it out. Our late arrival was ideal, this time connies were perfect.

I hadn't climbed with Dunc, he seemed pretty cool with the sportsplan, and I knew he'd done some pretty hard climbing, though not much recently. I led the first pitch and Dunc seconded it easily. He then led the second pitch, slowly and cautiously. I led the third pitch and we got back to the sacks just as it was getting dark. What a blast we'd had. Better than superb!

It turned out to be the start of a mega week of classic ticking on the Main Cliff, ("Mammoth" with Steve Foxley, "Mammoth Direct" with Elaine Owen, "The Big Sleep" with Ian Barker and "Skinhead Moonstomp" with Mike Waters). What an amazing week that was.

A sleepy looking Duncan Potter (photo by Chris Grazia Calvert, thanks).

I.M.Marsh day at Aldery Cliff, 1988. L to R: Jackie Smith, Simon Bates, Gavin Jones, Duncan Potter, Nancy Peterson, Paul James and unknown.

Dinosaur first pitch (photo by Jethro Kiernan, thanks).

Another view of the first pitch of Dinosaur (photo by Nadir Khan, thanks).

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 31.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 31.

A couple of very special days with The Big Man.

Towards the end of our second year at I.M.Marsh we went down to Wales to practice advanced climbing and rescue techniques, under the supervision of Gavin Peat. I was paired up with Paul Mills (aka The Big Man) a really mellow, happy Scot, whose forte was sailing.

The first day was spent at Tremadoc. Paul was assigned the task of leading Meshack, my job was to fall off the top pitch and be winched by Paul to the top. It was pretty gripping to be honest but we muddled through and survived the experience. Thereafter we were allowed to climb for fun. Paul and I went off and did The Plum and First Slip, before heading to Ynys Etws, the CC hut in the Pass, where we were going to spend the night. However, there was still enough daylight to run up to the Mot and do Superdirect. Whilst I'd done all of these climbs previously it was great fun doing them again with Paul, we had had a very good day indeed.

Next day the plan was to go to Cloggy. Paul and I decided to do White Slab (which I'd never done but Elaine had). We did alternate leads and were quickly wondering what to do next. Gavin told us to do Jelly Roll (which I'd never done before either). I was amazed how well Paul was climbing, he was on fire and there was no stopping him.

Back down at the sacks and all the other students were still climbing. So there was time for one more climb. With the early evening sun shining on us, there was only one choice really, it had to be Great Wall (which I had in fact already done some years before with Elaine). Ok, Paul was happy to second by then, but he climbed it very elegently, it was a real pleasure to watch The Big Man, grinning and climbing so well on such an iconic route. What a day we'd had.

Next day we all headed to Castell Helen on Anglesey and Nancy Peterson and I were paired together. This was the same place where I first climbed above the sea, with my old school mate John Roberts back in 1975, so I could appreciate just how Nancy felt that day, as I don't think she'd done much climbing. It turned out to be another wonderful day, I had a load of fun encouraging her and she made fantastic progress doing alternate leads on Rap and Pel. Brilliant!

Unfortunately Paul screwed up on the end of year exams, so he didn't return to college that autumn. Nancy passed and graduated with me (and everyone else) two years later.

Sadly, The Big Man is no longer with us, I miss him dearly. On a happier note, Nancy is living the dream with her family in Canada (though I don't think she went into teaching).

On the way to Cloggy in 1988. Gavin Peat, Paul Mills, Duncan Potter and Nancy Peterson.

Duncan, Nancy, Gavin (with camera) and Paul en route to Cloggy, 1988.

The Big Man fooling around.

The Big Man in his element.

The Big Man.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 30.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 30.

Fast cars and hard climbing in 1987.

John Hartley and I spent a few days at Pete Gommersall and Bonny Masson's place near Skipton and climbed at Malham and Kilnsey. John drove at warp speed in his RS2000 but I think Gommy was quicker in his Renault 5 Turbo. At the time Elaine and I had a white XR2 and Phil Davidson had a black XR2. We all used to drive far too quickly, it's a miracle that none of had any serious accidents.

Pete Gommersall, Bonny Masson, Maxine and John Hartley, Kilnsey, 1987.

Gommy, Exponential Exhaustion, Kilnsey, 1987.

The start of Exponential Exhaustion.

Pretty in pink on Exponential Exhaustion, Kilnsey, 1987 (both photos by Gommy).

The Overlap, Kilnsey, 1987.

Gommy on Raindogs, Malham, 1987.

Girl Racer, 1987.

Boy Racer, 1987.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 29.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 29.

I had a fantastic time during my four years at I.M.Marsh as a "mature" student. It was a great course, including learning how to become proficient in a wide range of outdoor activities, eg. climbing, mountain leadership, winter mountaineering, skiing, caving and canoeing. I was rubbish at canoeing, the roar of the Tryweryn (a section of horrendous white water near Bala) used to fill me with dread every time we went there. I even enjoyed the periods of teaching practice, that ultimately led to me becoming a science teacher.

Most of the other students in my year group were younger than me and most had a general outdoor pursuits background. The only other real climber was MarkFluff Taylor. Unfortunately we were usually separated during any climbing trips. However we did manage to get out for a couple of hilarious days on Yorkshire limestone.

Fluff didn't particularly enjoy studying in Liverpool and was a bit disappointed that there was more time spent studying on campus than in the outdoors. He also decided that he didn't want to become a teacher, so he packed it in and moved to Llanberis. That summer we did manage to spend a few days climbing on the slate, culminating in "Naked before the beast".

Llanberis became Fluff's home, where he quickly settled into the local scene and climbed with many of the great names of those times. He's still there, enjoying the quiet life and appreciating being in the mountains with his partner Kate. Not surprisingly, he has no regrets about packing in teacher training!

Fluff at Malham in 1987.

Fluff found a novel rest on Ground Effect at Kilnsey, 1987.

Fluff at the Rainbow Slab, 1987.

Fluff hasn't lost his sense of humour!

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 28.

Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 28.

Immediately after my first year at I.M. Marsh, I spent a few days bivvying underneath the Shelter Stone (a huge rock underneath the crag of the same name) in the Cairngorms, with Murray Hamilton and Pete Whillance. 

Pete was a couple of years ahead of me, also studying Outdoor Ed (in the same year group as Phil Davidson and Ian McMullan). He wanted to check out and hopefully climb a big new route on the impressive Shelter Stone crag.

At the time, I was looking after Gavin Peat's new Vauxhall Astra whilst he was away somewhere. A nice long drive up to Scotland would be perfect to ran in the new engine. The three of us had a luxurious drive, none of us were used to travelling in such comfort. The car ate up the miles and eventually we parked up at the Cairngorm ski lift car park. It was a long walk and we had very heavy loads (Pete even had a long static abseil rope). 

Whilst it was a completely new experience for me, Pete and Murray both seemed very calm and laid back, they were obviously very familiar with the tasks of new routing in the mountains and knew each other so well.

They did inspect their new line but, unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good, it was pretty cold and damp. So they decided not to try it. However we did do "The Needle" and "The Pin" whilst we were there, before making the sad decision that conditions weren't good enough. None the less, we had a fun time together (despite Pete's chain smoking). I was very relieved Gavin's car was where we'd left it (and even more relieved when he was really cool about the massive mileage we'd done in his new car).

Typical climbing on the Shelter Stone. Murray Hamilton on "The Steeple" (photo Rab Anderson, from Extreme Rock). 

Murray Hamilton on "The Missing Link" (photo Rab Anderson from Extreme Rock).

Pete Whillance climbing in typical waist belt at Hodge Close quarry (photo from Cumbrian Rock).