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Re: [curt] History of clean climbing / alpine style ethics:
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rgold
Feb 14, 2009, 5:48 PM
Views: 10522
Registered: Dec 3, 2002
Posts: 1804
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For a comprehensive illustrated history of the evolution of nuts, see
http://www.needlesports.com/...museum/nutsstory.htm
A few highlights from this account:
1926: British climbers use pebbles carried up from the ground to create "artificial chockstones." Slings have to be threaded around these.
1950's: British climbers begin using machine nuts with slings already installed.
1960's: First nut machined for climbing introduced in Britain in '61. Wired nuts and hexes follow soon after, a number of British manufacturers make increasing variety of shapes and sizes.
1967: Royal Robbins comes back from climbing in Britain and promotes the use of nuts in the U.S. with an article in Summit, "Nuts to You."
1970's In early seventies, Chouinard-Frost start making nuts, soon "bet the bank" by promoting nut use over their flourishing piton business. Frost writes an article in 1972 in the AAJ on protecting cracks and Doug Robinson writes his famous "Whole Art of Natural Protection" in the Chouinard catalog. About ten years of super clean climbing ensue, ending with the introduction of Friends in the late seventies.
In the US, the most under-appreciated figure is John Stannard, who, in my opinion, had as much, if not more, to do with the full-on conversion to clean climbing than anyone else.
Stannard was one of the first to understand and master the use of small wired nuts for protection at a time when most climbers still considered them to be aid pieces only. At considerable personal expense and effort, Stannard published and distributed for free The Eastern Trade, which became a vehicle for communicating about the possibilities of clean climbing.
While most of the country's climbers were celebrating all-nut repeats of 5.9 and 5.10 classics but were mostly still climbing with mixed racks of nuts and pitons, Stannard was climbing new 5.11 - 5.12 routes ground up with nuts only, on terrain requiring subtle and precise placements that could not be seen from the base of the pitch and had to be discovered and utilized as one climbed. Stannard almost single-handedly converted the East to nut protection, and profoundly influenced Steve Wunsch, John Bragg, and Henry Barber, who then carried the ability and discipline to dispense with the piton rack, even on the hardest routes of the day, back out West.
(This post was edited by rgold on Feb 14, 2009, 5:51 PM)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by rgold
() on Feb 14, 2009, 5:51 PM
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