Remarkably,following the centenary marking the birth of pre-war climbing super nova,John Menlove Edwards yesterday-18/6/10. Today marks the 100th birthday of Menlove's great friend and fellow pre-war climbing genius Colin Kirkus. Like JME, Colin Kirkus was a Merseysider best known for his exploits in North Wales where many of his routes remain sought after classics.
Kirkus the futuristic cragsman specialised in steep, committing rock climbing at a time when protection was rudimentary and few thought it prudent. His natural ability and confidence enabled him to play a significant role in opening up the forbidding verticalities of Snowdonia's fearsome 'Black Cliff', Clogwyn du’r Arddu. (It is also Kirkus who is credited with coining its climbers' nickname of ‘Cloggy’.) Kirkus also undertook the first climbs on Scafell’s difficult bulging, barrelling East Buttress. He was also active in pursuing lightweight expeditions to the Himalaya, accomplishing the first ascent of Bagirathi III in India's Garhwal in 1933. Kirkus also possessed a splendidly subversive writing style, displayed to best effect in his classic climbing instruction book Let’s Go Climbing! Although Kirkus's enthusiasm for hard climbing was stymied in 1934 when an accident on Ben Nevis injured him and killed his partner Maurice Linnell, clear signs of a recovery of further enthusiasm and potential were tragically cut short by the war when he was shot down over Germany while flying on a bombing mission.
additional notes supplied by Colin Wells
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→Colin Kirkus centenary
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→https://national-grid-news.blogspot.com/2010/06/colin-kirkus-centenary.html
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