Saddened to hear about the death of a true British climbing hero and adventurer, Joe Brown.
Joe was a true pioneer of rock climbing and was most active in the 1950s and 1960s. His ascents were as varied in style as they were in location and ranged from the gritstone outcrops of the Peak District to 8000m peaks in the Himalaya.
The routes he put up in the UK, the Alps and the Himalaya in the '50s, '60s, and '70s were incredible. With routes like Cenotaph Corner on Dinas Cromlech, Shrike, November, Llithrig, Vember on Clogwyn D’ur Ardu (Cloggy), The Unconquerables at Stanage, Great slab at Froggatt Joe set a new benchmark in difficulty.
He went over to the Alps and climbed the hardest routes in Chamonix at the time in half the time. With Don Whillans they knocked days off the fastest time up the West Face of the Dru.
In the Himalaya, he made (along with George Band) the first ascent on Kanchenjunga, at 8586m it is the third highest mountain in the world.
Originally a plumber's apprentice and a 'Jack of all trades' in Manchester, England, Joe moved to Llanberis in North Wales where he opened a climbing shop in 1966. He was made a CBE in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to rock climbing and mountaineering.
His autobiography "The Hard Years" was a text of our youth. In our hearts, Joe will continue to climb evermore.
A true legend of the climbing world has passed.
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