The Villain: The Life of Don Whillans

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Located at the Roaches in Staffordshire, the Don Whillans Hut is a unique building, superbly located amongst the buttresses and boulders of this historic climbing area. It was also in the early eighties that Troll expanded into the Industrial safety market, which we revitalised. Our revolutionary 'RAT' and 'RAM' industrial harness designs, based on our comfortable, lightweight and high performance climbing harnesses, brought a breath of fresh air into an industry where cumbersome, heavy equipment predominated. Together with the Allp, the first controlled 'hands-off' descender, designed by our very own Dave Allport, our new approach to old industrial problems facilitated the change from traditional time consuming and often prohibitively expensive access methods, to what are now commonly used 'Rope Access' techniques. Troll were now setting the standards for industrial gear. There seems to be no secret that Don, especially in later years, drank a few pints - probably more than was healthy. The interest in alcohol could be explained by statements as "People ask me why I drink so much. It's because of a morbid fear of dehydration." Give Don Whillans a thought next time you have a pint on the terrace at the bar "Le National" in Chamonix. When Don was not sitting in his favourite place he was most certainly out climbing. One might wonder why Whillans, with so obstinately and sometimes cynical behaviour, has become so famous? Probably it is not only due to his qualities as climber and mountaineer. The question is difficult to answer but we all love heroes – and anti-heroes – don’t we? His dry wit and humour were legendary (though some of the better known stories probably didn't happen) .

You will be missing out, because it is a brilliant book, and extremely fair (it refrains from delving too deeply into some of the darker aspects of Don's life, and avoids even mentioning some of the worst incidents). All the good aspects of Whillans, and particularly his climbing skills and mountaineering sense, are well depicted. It's also an extremely good resume of that whole period in British climbing history. I'm one of Don's nephews. I read the book but was disappointed in that I don't feel that I know any more about Don than I did before I read it, except perhaps that the booze was a much worse problem for him than I had realised. Herzog, Maurice (1954). Annapurna. Translated by Morin, Nea; Adam Smith, Janet. Reprint Society. Introduction by Shipton, Eric. Ed Douglas is the author of Tenzing (National Geographic). 'The Villain: The Life of Don Whillans' by Jim Perrin is published by Hutchinson.On 30 May, the mountain was being cleared with most of the party reaching Base Camp when Thompson rushed down, calling out in despair. He and Clough had been passing under the place of the "Sword of Damocles" when a serac fell, creating an avalanche which killed Clough. [note 15] His body was carried down to base camp and he was buried at the foot of a face where Clough had taught the Sherpas and the television crew to use jumars and to abseil. Returning down the valley, they found the earlier snow had melted and flowers were blooming. [100] Aftermath [ edit ]

The Mountain Heritage Trust said: “We are deeply saddened to learn that Joe Brown has passed away. A legend and inspiration to so many, we are proud to have had him as a patron.” Perrin knew both men well and believes their climbing styles reflected the differences in their characters.Huts aren’t just a place to stay, they’re a place to socialise. They are communal places, with beds or bunks in dorm type rooms, so you’ll need to bring a sleeping bag or blanket, and possibly a pillow. You can expect to find separate men’s and women’s bathrooms. Depending on the size of the place there might be several rooms to sleep in, and depending on the mix of people attending, rooms might be allocated for men, women, couples, families and/or visitors. Often it’s just down to individuals to grab their preferred space on arrival - this is usually down to the meet organiser to coordinate, so just ask if you’d like to know more. Following this success, Troll, already familiar in parts of Europe and the States, became internationally known, and expeditions from all over the world were using and recommending our gear.