Where Whillans Went

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Messages 1 - 62 of total 62 in this topic

Peter Haan

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 25, 2009 - 05:33pm PT

Studly

Trad climber

Aug 25, 2009 - 05:35pm PT

Looks like Haight Ashbury BITD or someplace in Snowdonia or Patagonia.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Aug 25, 2009 - 06:16pm PT

He was already fat.

Ottawa Doug

Social climber

Ottawa, Canada

Aug 25, 2009 - 06:47pm PT

The Gangotri perhaps

rick d

climber

tucson, az

Aug 25, 2009 - 06:50pm PT

donini-

I triple dog dare you to say it to his face!

(if he were still here)

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Aug 25, 2009 - 06:58pm PT

Actually Whillans and I had a good relationship, he even bought me a beer in public once, which was unheard of. I spent a couple of days in Wales with Don and Audrey. She was quite the counterpoint to Don, sweet and gentle, qualities he did not possess in abundance. He was certainly an intimidating figure and his wit could cut like a knife.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

sorry, just posting out loud.

Aug 25, 2009 - 07:05pm PT

2nd what Tami said above based on the groovy cool wavey picture man.

Mighty Hiker

Social climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Aug 25, 2009 - 07:11pm PT

I had a beer with Whillans once, in the Padarn Lake Hotel in Llanberis. As an impressionable 19 year old. Guess who paid?

He seems to have become a sad and somewhat bitter character in later life, almost self-destructive. Jim Perrin's biography of Whillans is very good, but there doesn't seem to be any reason for why he behaved in that way.

Studly

Trad climber

Aug 25, 2009 - 07:25pm PT

A life of cigs and alcohol will do that to ya, regardless of whether you climb or not. Plus the Brit lifestyle is not exactly health oriented, unhealthy food, lack of exercise, bad water, pollution in abundance. No offense to the Brits, I love em and with total respect to Mr Whillans, he was the man!

rick d

climber

tucson, az

Aug 25, 2009 - 07:55pm PT

...but jim, did you call him "fat".

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Aug 25, 2009 - 07:56pm PT

Well...............ah...........no.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 25, 2009 - 08:58pm PT

The Tweezakoram in Funhawsastan, of course! Due to severe forelengthening the climbs seldom really end, the options just narrow a bit.

AND the Beerflowers grow everywhere, so Don is never thirsty while trapsing about!

Tarbuster

climber

right here, right now

Aug 25, 2009 - 09:07pm PT

SMASHING!!!

jstan

climber

Aug 25, 2009 - 09:21pm PT

We are never really able to distinguish reality from our perceptions of reality.

Peter, what you are doing there has to be a full on art form.

Ray-J

Social climber

east L.A. vato...

Aug 25, 2009 - 09:30pm PT

Will somebody please get Eric Beck to tell the story of Whillans at Woodson.

Mimi

climber

Aug 25, 2009 - 09:33pm PT

That photo makes me queasy, Peter. heh-heh

donini, that's not fat, that's mantle insurance!

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Aug 25, 2009 - 09:53pm PT

I remember the slide show Frost put together after the Annapurna South face expedition.

First slide, Beatle music in the background, and a photo of a pass with prayers wheels and flags. On one side, Willians approaching with umbrella and beer gut intact and on the other side ,out of sight, a Sadhu approaching.

"East meets West" Tom says.

Mimi

climber

Aug 25, 2009 - 09:57pm PT

Classic, Guido!

Imagine a bear with minimal fur; Don Whillans.

Peter Haan

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 25, 2009 - 10:45pm PT

A great book on Whillans is Jim Perrin: "The Villain: A Portrait of Don Whillans" 2005 The Mountaineers Press.

Ricky Accomazzo recommended it to me and I have to say thanks tons, as it is an awesome book by a very astute author.

Curt

Boulder climber

Gilbert, AZ

Aug 25, 2009 - 10:50pm PT

Well, his harnesses certainly influenced some Bassos to become Tenors--and Tenors to become Altos, etc.

Curt

Fritz

Trad climber

Hagerman, ID

Aug 25, 2009 - 11:27pm PT

Steve and Peter: Nice surreal mountains:----Such a thought----------- Whillams for evermore in "Tweezakoram in Funhawsastan"-----and the stream in the foreground flows Guinness Stout.

I had never thought past my impending retirement in the: "Old Climbers Home" in Emporia KS-----safely out of sight from dangerous mountains.

The good-looking nurses are trained to say: "Oh!! You climbed that!" at the nightly slideshows.

I got my Whillams stories secondhand from John Cleare and maybe even some from Donini.

The biography book "The Villain" was well worth the read.

SteveW

Trad climber

The state of confusion

Aug 25, 2009 - 11:32pm PT

BUMP!!!!1

Reilly

Mountain climber

Monrovia, CA

Aug 26, 2009 - 12:07am PT

I fear I won't read that book as I don't want my bubble burst of one of my heroes. I met Joe climbing at the Red Wall in Anglesey. That was the high point of my climbing career.

mark miller

Social climber

Reno

Aug 26, 2009 - 12:48am PT

P.H., Mikey I recommended and gave me that book and I'm only deep enough to have Whillians pulling plumbing carts through the streets. I grew up on Haston. etc. stories and Whillians was a gawd.....The book is a little desperate ( for lack of a better word...) I'll try to make it through it. I always wore a Whillians harness until I jugged and pulled 2 pigs up the Salathe to the block.....Now I wear something a little more "cadillac".

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Aug 26, 2009 - 03:21am PT

Fritz

Trad climber

Hagerman, ID

Aug 26, 2009 - 11:58pm PT

Guido: Re "Old Climbers Home" nurse photo you submitted------I thought your: now deleted by management, submission was "pure art."

The brochure and contract from the "The Old Climbers Home" show dozens of skilled attendants as good looking, but slightly more dressed up.

I should note that qualifications for admission are any of the following:
1. Demonstrated senility.
2. A recent history of prolific posting on climbing blog sites.
3. Proof of ownership of at least 1000 climbing slides, dating to 1980 or earlier.
4. A lot of money, and a reference from a fellow climber already in residence,(or Donini) as to your potential to give climbing slide shows.

I appreciate that 1 & 2 do tend to be the same qualification criteria.

See you soon in Emporia----if I recognize you.

You get to make "new climber friends, every day, in The Old Climbers Home."

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Aug 27, 2009 - 12:23am PT

"You climbed that"!

Sorry Clint but I have to post this again, even though Photobucket will pull it off and you will probably be upset.

The key question here, is what would Whillans say? Now, if you have never set and drank with the man, you can't have an idea laddie, what the hell his wee witty mind would conjure up but I can guarantee it would be profound.

A toast to the Don.

Hey Fritz, let's see if I can get this to work correctly:

Now, I guess the moraltiy police on the Photobucket team did not appreciate the photo of Pratt's Nurse so they dropped it into oblivion, or more likely forwarded it to their friends. However, what I find funny is right next to the Deleted image in my Album is this rather risque and sensual advertisement. Money talks mate.

I don't think Whillans would have any complaints having this Sheila serve up a couple pints!

Fritz

Trad climber

Hagerman, ID

Aug 27, 2009 - 12:49am PT

Guido: Here's one of the brochure nurses. I think she checks blood pressure 8 times a day.

couchmaster

climber

pdx

Aug 27, 2009 - 01:02am PT

Guido, post it on another climbing web site. They'll host it and you can post your pics here. Screw photobucket.

try www.cascadeclimbers.com
You can put anything there and they seem fine with it.

Love to see your post.

Retro edit for Studly: sorry buddy, I'm sworn to secrecy.....

DrDeeg

Mountain climber

Mammoth Lakes, CA

Aug 27, 2009 - 02:47pm PT

Whillans and a couple of other Brits, including Mike Kosterlitz, spent some time in the Valley in the summer of 1966. I had met them both in Chamonix the previous year and ended up doing some climbs here with them, and therefore remembering some good stories. Here are a couple:

Whillans had a keen wit about our free-climbing ethics. With Robbins, we did Coonyard to the Oasis one late afternoon. On the first pitch above Monday Morning Slab, Whillans just waltzed across the hard moves at the bottom, using both the inside and outside edges of his feet. When he got to the top bolt, he said, “Ah, here’s a good hold,” put his finger through it, and pulled up. Royal took it in good humor.

After climbing the Crack of Despair, Whillans was sitting shirtless at one of the Camp 4 tables, flanked by two babes, an arm around each. He was powerfully built, of course, with a bit of a paunch, and very little chest hair. Someone said, “Whillans, now that you have climbed Despair, you should do the Crack of Doom. It will put some hair on your chest.” To which Whillans replied, “Aye, it takes one ‘ell of a mon to keep the ‘air worn off his chest.”

Interestingly, when Whillans climbed the Crack of Doom soon after, he said he thought that Despair was harder.

At the end of their season, Whillans, Kosterlitz, and two others did the regular route on Half Dome. I believe this was the first British ascent of a Yosemite Grade VI.

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Aug 27, 2009 - 03:12pm PT

Something's wrong here, DrDeeg. I thought every Whillans story was supposed to end with "So I 'it 'im."

DrDeeg

Mountain climber

Mammoth Lakes, CA

Aug 27, 2009 - 03:19pm PT

Maybe by 1966 he had mellowed. He didn't get into any fights here. In the old days, he and Joe Brown would sometimes fight with each other while waiting for the train.

TYeary

climber

Aug 27, 2009 - 04:54pm PT

Reilly, you can borrow my copy.
Great man, great climber. The book was, IMO, ok, but as a friend pointed out, Perrin's editor let him down. Way too hard a read. Too many footnotes braking the rythum of the book. Hard for someone who was not familiar Whillans to read through. Still, it's on my shelf.
Tony

Mighty Hiker

Social climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Aug 27, 2009 - 05:14pm PT

The Villain is a fine book, but never really explains why Whillans came to behave as he did in later life. Almost a caricature of himself. Perrin looked in detail at Whillans' supposed propensity for fighting, and concluded that it was much exaggerated in popular myth. A reputation for being outspoken and fearless got him a long way.

Studly

Trad climber

Aug 27, 2009 - 06:23pm PT

Ever walked the streets of Liverpool on a Friday night? Try it with a shirt on that says Manchester United and I guarantee you'll go a round with one of Joe Brown's cousins.
Whillans and Brown were just working class stiffs, rock climbing, pub crawling, brawling Blue collar brits, and also some of Englands finest. They should have been knighted.

scabang

climber

Aug 27, 2009 - 06:53pm PT

Interestingly the Villain was only released after Audrey (Don's wife) passed away. Perrin did that out of respect for her. Say what you like about "Jimmy 5-Bellies", he was the Lad.

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Aug 27, 2009 - 11:06pm PT

Just remembered, that the Beatles song at Frosts slide show accompanying the first slide was, "Here Comes the Sun".

Now here is an interesting scenario:

Robbins, Whillans and Dozier, are sitting around Camp 4 knocking down some suds after their ascent of Coonyard.

Bridwell walks up to the table and flippantly says, "gotta be careful Don, too much Apron climbing and your going to grow tits".

And the reaction from Whillans?

Peter Haan

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 27, 2009 - 11:17pm PT

Stichie, get the Perrin book; you will like it.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 10, 2010 - 11:43am PT

Still searching for that damn Beerflower! Bump...

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Jul 10, 2010 - 12:51pm PT

Martin Boysen, who knew Don well, told me the Yeti thing was a complete fabrication designed to pull in sponsor money for future trips.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 10, 2010 - 12:53pm PT

I bet that he used his own footprint, too! LOL

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Jul 10, 2010 - 01:06pm PT

Martin Boysen, who knew Don well, told me the Yeti thing was a complete fabrication designed to pull in sponsor money for future trips.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 13, 2010 - 10:23pm PT

Sheridan's spoof from Joe Beige Meets Godzilla, Mountain 31.

mark miller

Social climber

Reno

Jul 13, 2010 - 10:29pm PT

I'm struggling to endure the Whillian's book and Messiers book,,,,,I'm going back to G Meyers Yosemite climber, after every Freaqkin chapter.....I hauled the plumbing cart to work-everyday, or I left my partner and summited.......BS.....Gawd damn what happened to real folks? Fulkin Euro's......

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Dec 18, 2010 - 03:41pm PT

Don negotiating a tricky bit on the way to the Lost World!

I can't wait until I have a chance to read Hamish's account. Just got it!

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 9, 2011 - 05:57pm PT

Desperately Seeking Don!

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Jul 9, 2011 - 06:15pm PT

"... So I 'it 'im."

Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber

Fruita, Colorado

Jul 13, 2011 - 07:35pm PT

I couldn't say enough good about my friend Whillans and my friend Jim Perrin. These are the real spirits. Whillans and I hit it off from the
first time we climbed, in fall 1966, when Royal brought nuts to Eldorado and made me use them on Ruper and try to use them on harder... In England, with Whillans, I laughed so hard my stomach almost cramped. Jim's book is like everything he writes, just simply good. There are errors, but what book doesn't have them? It's a deep look at a true icon... Donini (I use this name, so as not to confuse you with Perrin), Don would buy almost anyone a beer. It was how far into it you could get, and into the conversation, before he recognized you were full of b.s. At the national conference, Don and I were in the nearby bar where he bought me my first "Shandy," a lemonade drink with a splash of beer, and we overheard two climbers debating whether mental ability or physical ability was more important in climbing. Don blurted, "What if youuu don't 'avvve either?" The house came down.

cintune

climber

Midvale School for the Gifted

Jul 13, 2011 - 07:55pm PT

http://dev.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=552503&tn=80

survival

Big Wall climber

A Token of My Extreme

Jul 13, 2011 - 08:05pm PT

He seems to have become a sad and somewhat bitter character in later life, almost self-destructive

A very common human condition......

Doesn't happen to everybody, but nobody could accuse Whillans of being the Lone Ranger on that front.

Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber

Fruita, Colorado

Jul 14, 2011 - 11:40pm PT

Whillans was never sad or bitter, in my experience, and not
in later life. He was always solid and positive. His health
wasn't great, because he smoked and drank too much, and he
died in his sleep, but few
could outdo him in his prime, as a physical athlete... He was
quite impressive even in much later years when he and Brown
teamed for a reunion climb in Wales, one of those vertical testpieces.
I'm trying to think of the name, Cemetery Gates, possibly, or
one of those off right of Cenotaph Corner... It was a pleasure
to watch him make those moves and joke about being a bit out of
shape... when most men that age could hardly get out of their
rockers...

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 15, 2011 - 10:48am PT

I just posted some really good Brown and Whillans history on the Rock and Ice thread:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1011774&tn=20

Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber

Fruita, Colorado

Jul 16, 2011 - 12:13pm PT

Thanks for that, Dingus. That was a magic day, with
Whillans and Robbins, fall 1966....

My last images of Whillans are from England, when he
was crowned "beauty queen" at the National Conference.
He and Dennis Gray and others dressed up as women
and did a hilarious fashion show, with a table of female
judges. At one point Whillans backed up toward the judges
and lifted the back of his skirt...

Gypsy

Social climber

Usually behind the camera

Feb 20, 2015 - 02:33pm PT

Ooh just saw the post above this one. Patrick Oliver--didn't you climb El Cap with Randy Hamm?

TYeary

Social climber

State of decay

Feb 20, 2015 - 02:34pm PT

Cirque...
TY

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Dec 22, 2018 - 10:10am PT

Bump for fun. Gotta figure out a way to get rid of those PhotoF*#ket watermarks...The OPs are easy enough but psat that they are a real bummer.

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber

Pomfert VT

Dec 23, 2018 - 07:07am PT

Lot of good Whillans stories and insight in Bonningtons Boys. a Must read INMOP. He certainly got screwed over by bonnington and it seemed to cause some bitterness but the screwing also seemed self inflicted to a large extent....

steveA

Trad climber

Wolfeboro, NH

Dec 23, 2018 - 10:12am PT

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Dec 23, 2018 - 10:31am PT

That is priceless! And not a trace of "toxic masculinity". LOL
Back in the seventies when streaking was all the rage Whillans was giving a talk when a streaker made the scene. As the story goes Don didn't miss a beat and said "Well I'll be buggered...and so will he if I catch him".