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Kim Carrigan BOOK 3-Mar-2017 At 1:01:57 PM simey

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On 3/03/2017 One Day Hero wrote:
>On 3/03/2017 simey wrote:
>>Some truly remarkable climbers do just suddenly appear from out of the
>>blue. I don't think Alex Honnold was part of any scene........
>
>It appears that way because the climbing media runs that narrative. Everyone
>knows about Peter Croft, but what do you know about Hamish Fraser? You
>go over to Squamish, and (like the Carrigan and Moorhead thing), the local
>take on things is that Fraser was at least as talented as Croft, but just
>not as interested in being famous.
>
I must admit I don't know Hamish Fraser but to suggest that Peter Croft soloed what he did because he wanted to be famous is ridiculous. If you're a climber you generally want to tackle the most inspiring routes you are capable of, which is exactly what Peter Croft did.

>>And look at Angie Scarth-Johnson... here is a young girl that started
>>pulling hard with no outside influence pushing her.
>
>See, I actually live in Canberra, and I know that this version is not
>the whole truth.

Well free to enlighten me, but she comes from non-climbing parents and wants to jump on routes about 10 grades harder than most other kids her age would even contemplate. If there is some mystical figure that inspired her in that direction, don't hesitate to redirect them to me!
>
>>However there is a colourful story to be told about the climbing scene
>>in Australia between 75 and 85. And if you were to flesh it out the correct
>>way, then it would appeal to a very wide audience.
>
>My shitty, amatuer psych take on this is that we all tend to mythologize
>the generation who were kicking arse locally when we got into the sport.
>So, as a teenage bumbly, you saw the tail end of the 'New Wave', and thought
>they were gods.
>I definitely had the same thing when I started in the 90's, but grew out
>of it eventually.
>
>Your movie would ignore Ewbank, and Bryden Allen, Keith Bell, Joe Friend
>(that dude must have been a monster). Due to your Arapiles tunnel vision,
>you'd forget to mention 'golden era climbers' such as John Smart, Stasewski,
>Maddison, etc. And then you'd roll the credits just as you got to the era
>of Monks, Matheson, Dave Jones, and yourself..........who put up more three
>star hardish routes than the new wave did.

I'm not disputing the historical significance of the characters you mention, but I do believe the story potential of the era and people I am talking about is particularly rich. And maybe because I know a bit more about the background I can see how it could be crafted to make it entertaining.

Hell, there are a lot of great stories that I know nothing about. Even the other thread on Chocky at the moment about Josephine Flood (see A funny thing happened at work today...) was pretty enlightening. Her story sounds like potential gold for an inspiring climbing doco.