Tributes to climbing 'Master' Joe Brown

Yesterday the Scottish mountaineering community led tributes from across the country to the fearless and pioneering ‘Master’ following his death aged 89.

“We are extremely sad to hear the news that the great, if not the greatest rock climber and mountaineer Britain has produced has died,” said a statement from Scottish Mountain Rescue, which represents 24 teams and over 850 volunteers.

“Joe was one of the masters of what he did and inspired so many in the outdoor community, including many of our team members.”

Nicknamed ‘the human fly’ and ‘the Master’ for his astonishing natural ability to conquer sheer rock, Brown came to widespread public attention with the televised ascent in 1967 of the Old Man of Hoy in Orkney along with a team of climbers including Ian McNaught-Davis and Chris Bonington.

Brown opted to tackle a new route, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats as they watched him and fellow climbers pick their way up the 449 foot sea stack as waves crashed around its base.

The live broadcast propelled rock climbing as a sport into the nation’s conscience and helped inspire a generation of mountain explorers.

However, conquering the famous sea stack was just one of Brown’s achievements in a climbing career that not only made him one of the sport’s best-known names but also shattered social barriers and led to the development of new safety equipment for climbers.

Born in Manchester in 1930, he began climbing as a youth, working as an apprentice in the building trade during the week and climbing with friends in his spare time.

He became the leader of a group of working-class climbers with roots in hard-up towns and cities battered by the Depression, but who would display astonishing skill in tackling unchartered rocky climbs at the very edge of difficulty.

His name became known beyond Snowdonia and the Peak District where he was usually found establishing new climbing routes when aged 24 in 1955, he and fellow climber George Band scaled the south-west face of Kanchenjunga, one of the Himalayas’ most difficult peaks, and the third highest mountain in the world.

The following year, he made the first ascent of the west summit of the Muztagh Tower in the Karakoram mountain range.

But it was the gripping live broadcast of Brown and his fellow climbers tackling the Old Man of Hoy in1967 that proved to be a real-life cliff-hanger.

Behind the scenes lay a mammoth task of transporting £200,000 of television equipment from Glasgow to Orkney by boat, while a BBC production team set up camp first in Stromness, then at a primitive basecamp established by the Scots Guards.

Heavy cameras and sound equipment had to be carefully dismantled and carried by tractor over spongy peat bog to reach the site.

From there, the live broadcast over three evenings in July left viewers gripped as they watched the team carefully pick their way up the stack, battered by the howling wind, shaky rocks and with the sea crashing hundreds of feet below.

The Great Climb followed three teams of climbers – Chris Bonington, Ullapool GP Tom Patey, Dougal Haston, Pete Crew, Ian McNaught-Davis and Joe Brown up three routes.

Microphones attached to McNaught-Davis and Brown enabled viewers to listen in to their idle chat and sanguine approach to what appeared to most to be a death-defying climb.

Brown, whose rock-climbing safety equipment included the development of nuts and helmets, went on to set up a chain of outdoor shops in Snowdonia, the Lake District and Buckinghamshire.

He was appointed an MBE and, in 2011, a CBE, for services to rock climbing and mountaineering.

Sir Chris Bonington, who took part in the television ascent of the Old Man of Hoy, wrote: “Immense sadness to hear of the death of my good friend Joe Brown whom I have known for over 60 years and had some wonderful climbs with him.

“He was one of the most brilliant innovative climbers the world has seen and a very special human being.”