Rog Wilko

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Never an obsessive climber - family came first - but an enthusiastic one. Initiated in 1968 on Little Chamonix and soon became a keen climber with modest ambitions. These were the days just before hexes, kernmantel ropes and wedges. People leading VS were admired and respected. Served an apprenticeship largely on Staffordshire and Derbyshire grit. Owing to family responsibilities climbed very little from 1972 till around 1989 when Debbie and I became born-again climbers. In the interim climbing had changed greatly with the improvements in gear so my climbing standard increased and while I recovered from a broken wrist Debbie began to lead more and harder routes. I have never chased grades except as a means to getting on a greater range of routes, so VS beceme my normal grade, which also suited Debbie on both ends of the rope. While I’ve regarded myself as primarily a trad climber, I have enjoyed bolt clipping especially in France and Kalymnos, but my greatest pleasure has been in ticking off multi-pitch routes in the Lakes and North Wales, especially the routes less travelled. Sadly, I’m having to come to terms with not-so-gradually becoming an ex-climber. Age and general decrepitude seemed to advance rapidly under the yoke of covid, and getting back into climbing is proving difficult. I haven’t quite given up yet……..

Location
South Lakes

Recent Postings

List all my recent posts.

About My Photography
I like landscape photography particularly, and sometimes get enthusiastic about climbing action shots.

Photo Gallery

Click to view Rog Wilko's gallery. (498 photos)
Chosen as the Featured Gallery on 25-Oct-07.
Click to search for photos of climbers called Rog Wilko.

Click to list photo comments written by me. (506 comments)
I've voted for 192 photos, average vote 4.5.
(58% superb - 35% good - 1% average - 1% poor - 2% rubbish)

Anything Else We Should Know
A grumpy and opinionated old git (so I'm told).

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