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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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"Gone on this day, 1985.08.04; Donald Desbrow Whillans, British climber, who, accompanied by Doug Haston, ascended the South Face of Annapurna I for the first time in 1970 and also ascended Tirich Mir in 1975, died of heart-attack, aged 52.
He is legendary for the quotes attributed to him. "People ask me why I drink so much. It's because of a morbid fear of dehydration." Or the following one, taken from Jim Perrin's splendid biography "The Villain"; "Don Whillans participated in the 1972 European Everest Expedition. The atmosphere was not the best among the various nationalities, no one wanted to carry loads because everyone was saving himself for a possible summit attempt. The German climbers heard on the radio that England had lost a soccer game to Germany. The conversation went "It seems that we have beaten you in your national sport", said a proud German to Don. After a minimal pause Don replied "Aye lad, and we've beaten you at yours, twice."
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Whillans and Brown. Wow. Such great souls. I didn't get
to know Joe, other than to follow all the writings and to gain
a sense of him through mutual friends, such as Don. I felt
I knew him, though, that we were
somehow connected in spirit. He was a true master climber, with
unbelievable technique. His brilliant leads, such as Cenotaph Corner
remain iconic. Cemetery Gates was an incredible lead for its day,
what with no chalk, no high-tech gear, no sticky rubber shoes...
just a few primitive points of protection.
I was fortunate to meet Whillans in 1966. He was there, with Royal,
when I led Supremacy, and earlier in the day he and Royal and I
climbed all six pitches of Ruper. I had heard that Don was a bit
of a ruffian, yet he and I hit it off right away. After his trip
to California with Royal, and his experience in the Valley, climbs
such as the Crack of Doom (with Royal) and Crack of Despair (with
Pratt), he returned to Boulder to look me up. At one point he
wanted to get rid of a lot of British coin, as it was of no
use in America. I traded it for an equivalent amount in dollars,
and for decades I cherished those coins. They simply were to
remember Whillans. To hold them in my hand was to have Don near.
In 1984, when I was a guest speaker at the British national
conference, Whillans found me and took me to the nearest pub
in Buxton. He told many funny stories. I remember every detail
of that get-together, not to mention his wonderful role as
the "beauty queen" at the festival, where some of the older
classic climbers, such as Dennis Gray, dressed up as women.
Though I'll save those details of that encounter with him
and the festival for another time.
I was, of course, heart broken when I was contacted and
informed of Don's passing. I consider our friendship one of the great
blessings of my life.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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The German climbers heard on the radio that England had lost a soccer game to Germany. The conversation went "It seems that we have beaten you in your national sport", said a proud German to Don. After a minimal pause Don replied "Aye lad, and we've beaten you at yours, twice."
witty. I laughed. Whillans strikes me as an intelligent person.
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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Great post.
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mrtropy
Trad climber
Nor Cal
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Missed this before, Thanks very cool.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Nineteen stone is 266 pounds.
I criticize myself for being 165, that guy was a badass.
He lived life as he wanted.
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mrtropy
Trad climber
Nor Cal
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Just watched this again, as heretofore mentioned the banter is classic, my partner of 30 years and I sound not unlike this. We , being in our mid 50's know this type of relationship. Everyone should watch this.
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CaNewt
Mountain climber
Davis, CA
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Aug 11, 2013 - 03:07pm PT
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Thanks for this post. It brings back such memories.
In 1971 I got to do a number of climbs in the Pass including Cenotaph Corner and Cemetary Gates. Brown and Whillans were years ahead of their time when they first put up these routes and many others.
Later, I got to climb a number of times with Don and treasure those experiences. In 1976 we did an alpine ascent of the West Rib on Denali with my mate John Howard and "Binksi". Mind you on that expedition we were the "B" team. The "A" team consisted of Ad and Al Burgess, Tut Braithwaite and Paul Moores. The Burgess twins mentioned the trip in their "Book of Lies". (I am sure the part about where they mentioned that we all got arrested is definitely a lie???)
In 1980, Anne Schneider and I climbed Mt Aspiring in New Zealand with Don. I remember a particularly great pub session with Don, Ed and Peter Hillary, Murray Jones (my NZ mate) Anne and a couple of others.
Later that year we did some rock climbs in the Lakes. It was great to visit his home and meet Audrey.
Don later came to California (in 1983 I think) as the speaker at the first AAC Sierra Nevada Section dinner held in some time. It was at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park.
I got a particular kick watching the video in that Don in the first scene is wearing on our our Celestial Peak T shirts. The shirt was designed by Mary Wagstaff (Brock's wife) Brock, Allen Steck, Erik Perlman and myself did the first ascent of Celestial Peak (in China.) I must have given him the shirt when he came out for the dinner.
I remember Don as witty, smart and engaging. Perhaps he has mellowed a bit? I learned a lot about the mountains from Don. In particular I think of how he had a sense as to what constituted a safe bivy location in steep terrain.
Thanks, Andy.
Cheers,
Bob Schneider
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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Aug 12, 2013 - 12:30am PT
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Great video, Andy. Thanks a bunch!
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Rick Sylvester
Trad climber
Squaw Valley, California
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Aug 12, 2013 - 03:36am PT
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Thanks for posting this, which I'd neither seen nor heard about before, and featuring Don who led me up my first ever roped climb. I have nothing but fond memories of him.
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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Aug 12, 2013 - 10:00am PT
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Bloody brilliant
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 12, 2013 - 12:12pm PT
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He looks more 'ska' than sky to me, the yogi, that is.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Aug 12, 2013 - 12:29pm PT
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"East meets West" as Frost would say in his slide show on the South Face of Annapurna Expedition.
His slide show started with a very similar photo and the Beatles song, "Here Comes the Sun" blasting away in the background.
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Stainless
Social climber
SLC, UT
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Jan 12, 2015 - 02:13pm PT
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The banter is f*#king brilliant! "Is that helmet to protect your head or the keep your fag dry?"
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overwatch
climber
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Jun 11, 2015 - 02:01pm PT
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Thanks for the bump...some good ones today
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Mark Force
Trad climber
Ashland, Oregon
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Jun 12, 2015 - 05:49am PT
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That footage of Bonington and Whillans climbing with only a rope, rope slings, biners, and some handplaced chockstones is amazing. One wonders what it would have been like to see Whillans climb when he was at his best. Picture a young and brutally strong Whillans climbing Goliath, an overhanging offwidth in 1958 with no gear and at E4 (5.11C/D)!
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crankster
Trad climber
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Jun 12, 2015 - 06:22am PT
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Classic!
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jun 12, 2015 - 06:54am PT
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Whillans encounters a sadhu in India and asks him "I suppose you are on some sort of sponsored walk?"
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jun 12, 2015 - 08:09am PT
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The really tragic thing is that Whillans last climb happened when he was only 52. A life of excesses led to his demise....a cautionary tale for all.
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