UKC

Founder of HB climbing, Hugh Banner dies. 23/04/2007

From www.dmmclimbing.com

"It was with great sadness that we heard of the death of Hugh Banner this morning.

He had recently been admitted to hospital and was fighting the illness with his usual stead fast resilience.

Hugh was well known to us...

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Stunned, never see that funny smile and quirky humour again.

condolences to all who know and love him.

In reply to sutty: Very sad.
Great guy. Really generous. Used to come and stay at our house in Aviemore, and bring 'seconds' for me, saying they were defective and couldn't be sold. They were perfect of course. He gave me 5 Quadcams, and numerous slings, krabs etc. My rack never looked so healthy!
Top bloke. Will be sorely missed.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

How sad. I met him a couple of times and he seemed a top bloke. My sympathies to his family.

Very sad. Hughie was a friend and an inspiration.

Hughie was the slowest climber I ever climbed with - he could take hours (it seemed) over a single move on the tiniest of gritstone routes, but would never put a foot wrong. I guess that's the legacy of that generation of climber - you couldn't dare to fall.

I remember his unique approach to climbing (my wife's face, agog, as he head-jammed his way up something at Stanage because his wrists were hurting), his comical disregard for driving safety (taking his contacts out while doing a ton on the A55), I remember the clarity of his thoughts about climbing, about climbers and about the engineering that has saved many lives and has tamed some of the world's boldest routes.

His illness had not long been diagnosed, and it is a mercy to him and to his wife that the suffering did not go on for long. He will be missed.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I first met him when he saved me from being marrooned by the A5, hitching to Wales. I was the archetypal penniless student with a rucksack, and very obviously soaking wet, when a very flash Alfa stopped. It was one of those dream lifts; blissfully warm and dry, nice stereo, leather seats and the Bettws bends dispatched at terrifying speed. And, I quickly worked out, he did know an awful lot about climbing, although with characteristic modesty he made light of his involvement. I think it was my first encounter with a Famous Climber but he just came across as a generous and kind man who was genuinely interested in my climbing ambitions.

Of course, he insisted on taking me to the door of the hut, despite the fact that it was significantly out his way to do so.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: #

condolences to all who know and love him,ne will be sadly missed in the region.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

The references to Hugh's fast driving suggest his nasty motor bike crash a few years ago when he lost half a leg was not such a shock in the circumstances.

Shame it was a bloody brain tumour which carried him off.I'm sure he'd have preferred falling off Troll Wall or breaking the land speed record at Pendine Sands !

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I in truth no nothing of Mr. Banner. All the same his name carried icon status whenever I read it. Perusing the comments here I see he deserved it.

Sincere Condolences to family, friends, and all who climb.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
great chap, all very depressing now.

In reply to Regis Von Goatlips:

*clearly I meant 'know nothing of'.
Was swept by the emotion of another loss to the community and failed to proofread.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
Hugh was a friend and an inspiration, another taken too early, his bike crash rocked the CC.
Last time I saw Hugh on the crag I was cleaning a new route on White Ghyll and Hugh appeared soloing up Haste Not
"Hi Al, wot yer doing"
"Err just looking"
"Sure"
I knew I had to do it that afternoon.
Saw him quite a few times since, and he always used to remind me of that moment.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Sad Loss. First spent time with Hugh in New Hampshire whan he was just thinking of making climbing gear.... and what a great impact he eventually made on that industry... Always looked forward to seeing him at the Salt Lake Trade show . My climbing mate still wears a hard hat Hugh autographed and gave to him at the show...Will miss that smile ... Paul Ross

In reply to me.:
I never met him, but I've met one of his routes in Northumberland - Trouser Legs at Ravensheugh. And so have many others, and backed off. No wonder he was happy soloing Haste Not.

He must have been quite a character, condolences to friends and family.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Hugh's funeral will be held at Bangor Crematorium on Friday 4th May at 1.30pm and after at the Vaynol Arms in Nant Peris.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

A sad loss. I didn't know him, but I remember Jim Perrin's article about him starting a competitive soloing frenzy on some gathering at hen Cloud by downsoloing Delstree at 60-odd; not a thing I'd expect to be trying to emulate.

jcm

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Hi Mick. Sad to hear of Hughs death. I only met him a handful of times, mainly in regards to designing stuff for HB, Non of which ever came off. I really liked him and felt that a great pity. I was never very keen on a lot of HB's kit due to 'look' and 'ease of use' issues. I found Hugh hard to comunicate with as well. But I really wanted to work with him because I felt the fundemental engineering basis of the HB kit was the best. As far as I was concerned, he had by far the deepest and most complete understanding of what was really going on with a piece of kit when placed under working stress. This was illustrated perfectly at a BMC Tech meeting where the waffel was begining to go off scale. Hugh chipped in and cleared the air with a few laser like explanations of what the real issues were and what the easiest and most effective way forward should be. Everyone sat up and nodded in slightly embarrassed and muffled agreement, and his suggestions were formaly adopted. It was a priceless moment. The MASTER had spoken!

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Great guy, quality gear and quality routes that inspired me since the early days with climbs like Troach on Cloggy. Well done Hugh, you left a lasting legacy, Tony

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

This is a link to Hugh Banner's obituary from The Independent today (5 May 2007):

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2514305.ece

Tom