In reply to UKC News:
Me and Andy had couple of weeks around Saas fe a few years ago. He was climbing even harder then (5+/6a or HVS), and everywhere we went (particularly when we were overtaking folk), strangers would approach him, grasp him enthusistically by his remaining upper limb, and exult him as 'an inspiration'. This, and, well, just watching the man devise devious techniques to overcome the trickiness of alpine granite (my fav move was the chin sprag), gave me a whole new appreciation of what climbing can be about. That feelin is with me still. Thanks Andy.
John Cuthbert