For my generation of Orme climbers Tony is the person who first comes to mind when you're talking about Ormesmanship. Tony has spent a lot of time climbing in the area for 20 years. He's scaled the majority of routes all over the Orme, climbed on every crag and even soloed about 30 routes. When i'm looking for some potential new lines i'll give Tony a bell and try and stimulate his memory. He knows about every bit of limestone round these parts but sometimes hasn't thought about them for years so needs a bit of prodding. I'm often sat there with a piece of paper while he fires off the info: "there's this route here, and this crag there, and this route here..." His knowledge is testament to the hours he's spent in the area and in North Wales in general. Tony was one of the first people to collect cash for the early bolt funds. He carried a jar out at the crags with him. Those who were seen to be enjoying the re-equipping work but wouldn't contribute were confronted with the Shelmerdine growl. Quite a scary thing! Only one man can get you where all the smoking holes are on the wall on the marine drive. Despite his knackered elbows Tony is as keen as ever and has been my partner in crime on the crag development scene.
Me, tone and spidey underneath Yellow Walls:
2 comments:
Can't believe you got him to use a gri-gri :)
He still doesn't know which way to put the rope in though
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