Pete Whittaker

Pete's one of those guys that makes your heart skip a beat if you are a climber... his audacious burst onto the scene with the incredible 'Dynamics Of Change' E9 7A, and it's mindbending photo and video coverage was one of the higlights of the last few years grit seasons and for me one of the most amazing grit ascents ever. So I for one am mega-psyched to have him on the Wild Country team for 2011 and pretty keen to see what he'll get up to next...

Pete tells us more about himself:

"Some stuff about me - I got into climbing through my parents, they are really into the outdoors so I didn’t have much choice really. (Not that I would have had it any other way!) We used to have family days out walking, scrambling and multipitching in The Peak, Wales, The Lakes and places like that, we would all follow Mum up as she lead the pitches. This started when I was about 6/7. From this age I also did the usual thing of entering the local comps, I was on the British Competition Climbing Team for about 5 years as well and managed to get to compete internationally which was good. The team trips were usually pretty eventful too!

Throughout this period I gradually progressed with my trad climbing. But it wasn’t until I met Ben Cossey, when I was 16, who came over from Australia that I realised I could climb significantly harder then I was climbing at the time. I started to progress through the grades at a pretty rapid rate, cramming in absolutely piles of routes, climbing everything I could and having a right laugh.

I keep a diary of routes that I have done and looking back at that period of time is ridiculous even for me to look at, I went from climbing E3 5c to putting up a new E9 7a and climbing English 7b, in a year! At the time it didn’t feel like I had taken that big a step, as my progression was fairly even just very quick.

Since Ben went back I have found a new regular climbing partner who can often be found hanging upside down in an offwidth somewhere. Yep that’s Tom (Randall.) He is pretty much as stupid as me and is always up for a good laugh, so since meeting him the climbing trips have been some of the best ever with a lot of my best climbing achievements incorporated in there somewhere. I don’t know how because usually the trips consist of complete epics and ‘Where the hell are we?’ Sometimes I wonder how we even get any climbing done!

Anyway, since this time I have managed to climb at lots of different places and widen the variety of rock I have climbed on, mainly trading it with some sport climbing and bouldering thrown in there if my biceps can take it (they usually say ‘no’ though, but I’m working on it!)

Over the last year I have been getting into the wider variety of cracks (that’s offwidth cracks by the way), I’m pretty psyched for this climbing as it requires a different type of strength that most other climbers aren’t up for using. It makes you try really hard and you know you’ve given every bit of effort after coming ‘out’ an offwidth route, which is what it’s all about.

I have done quite a few new routes in the last couple of years and this is what I really enjoy doing. I have some routes in mind that I want to try in the future, I just need to train harder to make sure I get up them.

Overall, I just love to go climbing whatever the weather with good friends and try and climb to my potential.

Climbing achievements - A few first ascents:

  • Dynamics of change E9 7a
  • Loose Control E8 6c
  • Inspiration dedication E8 6b/c
  • Grandad’s slab E7 6c,
  • Re-mastered edge E7 6c
  • Gobbler’s Roof E7 6c (completely recommended………….)
  • Gloves of war E6 6c (first new route abroad)
  • Back Down Under E6 6c (my first, first ascent)

Few of my best or favourite repeats:

  • Braille Trail E7 6c
  • A little Peculiar E7 7b (2nd ascent, first repeat for 16 years, also climbed it without the bomber side runners)
  • Ugly E7/8 6b or XS (2nd ascent, first repeat for 17 years)
  • Quarryman E8 6c (groove pitch, although I want to go back and do the whole lot)
  • Ray’s Roof E7 6c (5th ascent)
  • All Elements V11 (2nd ascent)
  • A lot of E6’s and E7’s ground up, a couple of E7’s flashed.

Other 'stupid' things:

  • Traversed the length of Stanage (4 miles) 2nd ascent
  • Record for most outdoor routes climbed in a day, 550 each (with Tom Randall)
  • First pair to complete Staffordshire Brown and Whillans Challenge (with Tom Randall).

2nd Jan 2012 Wild Country - ascents of the year 2011 from the Wild Country and Red Chili Uk climbing teams.

It’s been a fantastic year for Wild Country and Red Chili and it’s also been a great year for our climbers who between them have managed to post a host of incredible ascents on the national and international scenes. 

So in case you missed any of the action we’ve compiled a bit of a ‘hitlist’ of some of these fantastic achievements (and for bit of fun put them in order) to make an end of year round up – and to toast everyone who climbs for us.

But after a lot of deliberation it ended up being too difficult to separate three outrageous ascents by some quite different climbers: so instead there’s a joint first place for three different but equally amazing and inspiring ascents. So here are our top 8 ascents from our Uk team in 2011....

# 1a. Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker for Century Crack 5.14b/8c/E10 6c? ‘They said it would never go free’ – well they didn’t say that exactly but it did seem a preposterous proposition, 100+ feet of horizontal offwidth, that can be seen on Google maps, which had repulsed ‘the best’, out in the desert a 4hr drive from anywhere....well the rest is history...

You can see the Century Crack video - here: http://vimeo.com/31873646

And there's a Wideboyz Interview here: http://vimeo.com/34089389

One of the ascents of the year - James Pearson on Muy Caliente E10 7a, Pembroke.

#1b. James Pearson for Muy Caliente, E10 6c, Pembroke, Wales, UK. One of the Uk’s most talented climbers went away, thought about it, trained like a demon and applied his new found skills to upsetting the applecart again with a skin of the teeth failure to flash a UK E10 route. Once again pointing the way forward as he has since the age of 17 James has used the adversity of some grading ‘setbacks’ to make him a stronger climber once again. See the Muy Caliente video – here: http://vimeo.com/25140891

#1c. James McHaffie - Big Bang, 9a, Lower Pen Trwyn, North Wales, UK. In some people’s minds the strangest conversion since St Paul on the road to Damsacus was James McHaffie becoming one of a very small number of Brits who’ve climbed 9A as well as getting the second ascent after 15 years of this ‘rat crimp’ nasty. However, to those who have watched his career for many years this is a guy who simply doesn’t know limits and constantly invents new ways to surpass himself on rock.

See the Big Bang video - http://vimeo.com/28107941

#2. Ed Hamer – 2nd place at the World Youth Cup Imst, Austria as well as a second in his last ever European Youth Cup. And I know these aren’t strictly ascents but it seems worth celebrating a first podium finish for a Brit in a leading championship for a very long time as well celebrating the fact that Ed’ll be as the fact that Ed will be around for a very long time to come.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/skHYQR and here http://bit.ly/u0eofk

See Ed Hamer interview video here: http://vimeo.com/26593785

#3. Hazel Findlay – Golden Gate, 5.13a, El Capitan, Yosemite, USA. In becoming the first British woman to free El Cap Hazel simply cements her status as an amazing talent and maybe just theone to watch in 2012 for something truly special.

Read more here - http://bit.ly/rrTHCr Hazel video here - http://vimeo.com/26106509

#4. – Jordan Buys - 2nd ascent Loaded E8 7A, Ilkey, Uk. after a very long time. No video but a great spread in Climb magazine in Jan 2012. Jordan’s had a great year and his ascent of the very hard and not often repeated sports route Controversy 8b+at Malham earlier this year was simply the precursor to some more hardcore grit action from this Lancashire hotshot. I predict more amazing things this winter.

You can see more about Jordan here - Other Jordan videos - http://vimeo.com/16885645

#5. Ned Fehally - Samson E9 7A, Burbage South, Peak District, UK. Now this is probably not Ned’s hardest ascent this year, the man is a veritable machine, but by ground up highballing this classic Jerry Moffatt ‘route’ Ned seems to have caught the zeitgeist by showing how some amazing climbers are changing the game on gritstone by blurring the lines between routes and boulders. We’re expecting great things in 2012.

Samson video here - http://vimeo.com/33103583

#6. Adam Hocking – Return Of The King E9 7a 2nd ascent, East Buttress, Scafell. Following his first ascent of ‘The Keswickian’ E8 7a, in April (http://vimeo.com/25808567) Adam does the unlikely and becomes the first person to repeat one of Dave Birkett’s many E9’s – and it’s a big one, taking an impressive line up the very overhanging east Butress of Scafell. All caught on film it’s a very impressive bit of climbing from a very underrated climber.

Return Of The King is the middle part of the film ‘Islands’ – see it here - http://vimeo.com/33813853

Anyway thanks to everyone who’s pulled on a Wild Country t shirt this year and stuffed our gear in cracks or clipped up a route and to those wearing Red Chili shoes as well – A BIG THANKS. See you all in 2012!!

And here's some footage of Tom and Pete on the amazing Century Crack...