22 may–jun 2020 http://www.climber.co.uk
Re-publishing haRd Rock
Jon Barton of Vertebrate Publishing said
this about why he has chosen to publish
a new version of Hard Rock, ‘We get
asked, almost daily, about when we will
do a new edition of Extreme Rock, the
ultimate collectors’ coffee-table climbing
book, but it was Hard Rock that is by far
the more important book for climbers
today. Extreme Rock is for dedicated
committed climbers only – readers
already get it. Publishing that book again
wasn’t going to change anything, it
wasn’t going to inspire anybody anew.‘When Ken Wilson handed over
his publishing legacy to us he was
entrusting us with a very important
and singular focus. We were to
maintain the tradition of adventure
climbing amongst rock-climbers in
Britain. Quite an ask, Ken – thanks!
Climbing walls are great fun – they are
absorbing, inclusive, challenging and
social but they aren’t a lifestyle, they
are exercise; you can take it or leave it
on the plastic. But adventure climbing
is different. Once you’ve tasted thesharp end on any single route in
Hard Rock you’re set on a course,
a lifetime’s quest. Climbing grabs you
and keeps you, you become a climber- it defines you and everything you
are from then on. Gym climbing is
entertaining, sure, classic rock-climbs
are fun, easy escapes. But hard
rock-climbs are a challenge with a
reward. Ken trusted us to keep that
adventure alive and, knowing what
it is like to climb a few of the routes,
I know what he means’. n
The people involved
Ian Parnell
Ian Parnell is a renowned Alpinist and
photographer, whose achievements
include the first winter ascent of the
Sioux Wall on Ben Nevis and the first
ascent of the South West ridge of
Annapurna III in 2003, as well as filming
Sir Ranulph Fiennes on the North Face
of the Eiger. Ian was also an organiser
of a Climbing World Championships
and edited Climb magazine.
Discussing the process of
compiling the new edition of Hard
Rock, Ian reflects on the daunting task
of regenerating the book, which ‘has
played a part in many climbers’ lives’,
and being wary of ‘potentially walking
all over something of real value to a
lot of people’. In response to concerns
that the book will be an unnecessary
new issue of a much-loved classic, Ianadmits he was ‘pretty confident that
what we were planning would have
been something Ken would have
approved of. Ken had already put
together a new colour version of
Classic Rock in 2007 and had begun
work on a new edition of Hard Rock’.
Regarding the new routes which
have been included, Ian reasons ‘often
in the case of the routes at Lundy,
Pembroke and Swanage they were in
an area not previously represented in
the book, and so have to be represen-
tative of the individual character of the
climbing of those cliffs’.
Compiling the new edition was not
without its difficulties and when asked
about the most challenging aspect of
the project, Ian is concrete in his
response that it was ‘undoubtedlygetting a complete collection of new
images’. The stunning photography of
the original Hard Rock was one of its
defining features and, with the help
of willing climbers without whom ‘the
book wouldn’t have happened’, the
new publication contains fantastic
colour images to accompany each
of its climbs.Ken Wilson
The original compiler of Hard Rock,
Ken Wilson, established himself
as one of traditionally protected
climbing’s staunchest champions and
was well-known for helping to protect
the climbing community’s ethos while
continuing to inspire young and future
climbers. A campaigner for women
to join The Climbers’ Club and a
committee member for the British
Mountaineering Council, Ken’s long
list of literary achievements also
includes Classic Rock and Extreme
Rock, in addition to The Games
Climbers Play.
In the first edition of Hard Rock,
Ken presented some of the most
iconic British climbs in the form of
literary essays, written by a collection
of highly regarded climbers and
mountaineers including Chris
Bonington, Jim Perrin, Al Alvarez
and Ed Drummond. Reflecting on the
book in an interview with the BritishMountaineering Council Hard Rock:
The Life and Times of Ken Wilson Ken
explained the style which defined and
set the text apart from other climbing
books as ‘a book version of the culture
that I’d effectively imbibed in my
magazine days’, referring to his time
as the owner of Mountain magazine.
Rather than try to target an elite,
select few, of the climbing community
as the audience for Hard Rock, Ken
wanted the book to be for ‘the
ordinary man in the street, getting
themselves up to a point where they
fancy that with a bit of good judge-
ment and good technique and with a
little bit of inside knowledge [...] they
can go and do the route and thereby
have an adventure [...] which is what
it’s all about’. It was this emphasis –
on having an adventure rather than
climbing for the sake of determining
oneself a ‘champion’ – which has
enabled Hard Rock to become aninspirational, accessible text for
so many experienced, as well as
developing, climbers.
When asked if he was proud of his
legacy, Wilson’s response underesti-
mated the importance and love held
for his text, ‘could be next year’s chip
paper, couldn’t it? Who knows?’
However, as seen in the response to
the new edition, both out of excite-
ment and love for the original, it is
clear that Hard Rock will always take
centre stage in climbing literature.feature