UKH

What Joe Brown routes are there in Scotland?  The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Sassenach (E1 5b) but I'd be interested to know of others.

In reply to arose:

There's a Joe Brown route on the Old Man of Hoy climbed as part of the BBC broadcast in 1967

In reply to Doug:

Yep, the South Face (E2 5b) is a Joe Brown route. It's not one I've done, but it looks impressively birdy in its upper reaches - a sure sign of quality if ever there was one

In reply to arose:

This is a Joe Brown Route Dead Mouse Crack (VS 5a)  done in 1985.

In reply to arose:

Not many new routes but in his 50's from around 1980 to 1990 he spent at least a month in the Glencoe and Highland area on and off from spring through to autumn climbing rock often in the company of locals or with Mo Anthoine.  He was ticking off routes like Apocalypse on slime wall, Freakout and many others all over the NW. One of the most graceful and easy moving climbers you could ever see, even when older. And a really, really nice guy.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

It's pretty chossy. My mate placed some gear behind a big, solid looking flake on the first independent pitch, pulled on the flake and all the gear fell out. We traversed off onto the normal route.

In reply to DaveHK:

Oddly it still has some appeal, although if I did ever go back to Hoy I think I'd take a bee-line for the arete just to the right of it - A Fistful of Dollars (E5 6a). Curiously it doesn't have any registered ascents within the logbook, although I gather it's good from those who've done it. I think Calum Muskett and Emma Twyford did it for a Rab photoshoot a few years ago and it looked amazing there, but can't find any evidence of these pictures ever existing. Hopefully it's got better rock than the South Face!

In reply to arose:

He did some winter FAs with Tom Patey, including Wendigo (IV 4), Diadem (IV 4) and Blue Pillar (Winter) (V 6)

In reply to Grahame N:At Diabaig?  Wow - I figured if there were many they would be on the bigger cliffs.  That fits with Davy's timeline of when he was spending a bit of time in the Highlands.

In reply to arose:

Dire Straights (E2 5b) next to the Pillar is a Joe Brown FA too.

[this turns out to be not correct: see post from arose below]

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Am I right in thinking Brown repeated this with his daughter for the 1984 live TV broadcast when Murray Hamilton freed A Fistful of Dollars?

In reply to arose:

There's a wee story behind this. I did what I thought was the first ascent of Dead Mouse Crack and wrote it up and sent it to the SMC, and it appeared in the new routes section of next SMC Journal. However in the following years Journal there was a note saying "Dead Mouse Crack (SMCJ 1988) was climbed by one J. Brown on 8th June 1985. (Someone has always been there before you!)."

In reply to Wicamoi:

I was just looking in the SMC guide myself.  Theres a note about J Brown starting up Dire Straights but finishing in Upper Corner (HVS 5a).  Dire Straights is attributed to M. Moran 

In reply to arose:

I stand corrected. Both now sadly gone.

In reply to Grahame N:

I'd no idea that Dead Mouse Crack was a Brown route! Quite hard for the grade from what I recall, unlike most other routes at Diabeg, but very worthwhile.
This is particularly good news for me as to the best of my knowledge my Joe Brown travels only comprised Cenotaph Corner on attempt #2, (I fell off the first time) and a retreat from Sassenach.

In reply to Davy Gunn:

In May 1980 he took part in a live televised BBC production on the Lower North-East Nose on Aonach Dubh, climbing with Mo Anthoine's wife Jackie, I think. I recall an amusing exchange: Cubby & Murray Hamilton were making the first free ascent of the adjacent Spacewalk. Joe made comments about not using chalk - Murray quipped he'd rather use chalk than aid, as Joe was hanging in slings on Freakout, which had of course been freed the previous year...

In reply to Robert Durran:

I think you're right, but have never actually seen the footage - I've only heard of it as something that happened. Had a quick search for it but sadly nothing comes up on Google/YouTube. Would love to see it...

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

I remember Zoe Brown being the star of the show with her excitable commentary, on the back of which I think she had a (brief?) career as a television presenter.

In reply to Gary Latter:

I remember that well. Also Murray taking off his jumper half way up the crux pitch of Spacewalk!

In reply to Gary Latter:

I was there that day, the weather was atrocious. Murrays lead of the crux pitch of Spacewalk (E5 6b) was very impressive in the wind and rain.

In reply to Grahame N:

My fault Grahame, I told Andy.

I suspect he did a number of new routes there, we met him there on two different days.

He mentioned a route that didn't have any gear "but it was only 5b", I've no idea what that was. He also pointed at your crack climb and said he had climbed it that day.

In reply to Cog:

Thats okay Cog, it was a great honour to be usurped by Joe Brown.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

I have done JB's South face on Hoy and I thought it was brill, sustained, quite beefy for the grade and at times felt really exposed lots of squirming round the lips of caves. Recommended. Fistful.. looks a great feature but littered with ironmongery - some of the great and the good (not JB as far as I can tell) left behind a lot of crap!

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I also enjoyed South Face and was happy to get my first Joe Brown route done (didn't know about the Diabaig stuff until now, perhaps thought it must've been a different J Brown). Quite an impressive route considering it would have been done onsight, setting off up sandy walls sometimes without knowing if/when gear was going to appear...

Could be wrong but there seemed to be an obvious potential direct start into Fistful of Dollars. 

Anyone know about Joe Brown winter routes in Scotland? You'd think there might be something on the Ben / Glen Coe.

In reply to mike barnard:

Sorry, I see a couple are mentioned above

In reply to Robert Durran:

I also remember trying to watch that on TV in a pub south of Derby with a new girl friend after a day climbing together.  The pub is no more. The GF still is.   

In reply to Gary Latter:

Yep. Many of locals were employed as porters on the film and plied with whisky to do night watch on the gear. On one occasion the plm Squirrel helicopter landed on a a scaffold platform Hamish had rigged up and shut down for a break. It slowly slipped off only to be saved by Ian Nicholson who held it on long enough by a skid for the pilot to get back in, startup and fly off. Murray and Cubby freed the aid point on spacewalk "live". It was pretty damp.

In reply to mike barnard:

He certainly climbed here in winter. Even came and helped on a rescue from Macartney Gully Lost Valley with us one time. 

This is one of the best threads I’ve read in a while!!

Should be saved as a piece of social history.  Thanks all!

In reply to Davy Gunn:

He also had a couple of goes at Zero but I think he was avalanched out of it. Wasn't there also the attempted rescue of some your girl also on the Ben, but she was dead when they got down to her?

In reply to Sean Kelly:

Point Five not Zero. 

James

In reply to james mann:

Did he not try both. I think he was with Nat Allen on one occasion and they both took quite a tumble.

In reply to BrendanO:

I had hoped there might be more routes but some of the stories are great.  For social history around Lochaber Davy has a good blog, theres a lot to do with Avalanche education etc but I really like some of his writing of decades past.  heres a good one to get you started if you're interested - http://crankitupgear.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-five-favourite-hard-rock-route...

In reply to arose:

Castle of Yesnaby.

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/rock_talk/hoy_1967-719153

In reply to Cog:

Cheers cog, I'd not seen that