Goto Chockstone Home

  Guide
  Gallery
  Tech Tips
  Articles
  Reviews
  Dictionary
  Links
  Forum
  Search
  About

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

  Shop
Chockstone Photography
Australian Landscape Photography by Michael Boniwell
Australian Landscape Prints





Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Author
Balls Pyramid book review
nod
11-Jul-2016
9:16:41 PM
Balls Pyramid. It's out there. With an ''out there'' atmosphere, ''out there'' bugs and birds, ''out there'' exposure and ''out there'' climbing. And it's out there in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean.
As such, the world's largest sea stack has a rich history and countless larger-than-life stories.
Jim Smith has collected many of these stories over the past 47 years and put them together in his richly-illustrated new book ''South Pacific Pinnacle, the exploration of Balls Pyramid'' with support from Keith Bell. Jim was on the second ascent of Balls Pyramid in 1969 and Keith was on the first ascent of the west ridge (1970) and first to do the skyline traverse (1973), so they know their subject intimately.
The book covers a myriad of topics including the pyramid's discovery, early exploration and ascents, reflections of pioneer climbers, the Japanese, French and American expeditions, the rare stick insect, the sharks, the fishing, the circumnavigation by lilo, the anonymous expedition in 2014 and the controversial ban on climbing introduced in 1986. Fittingly, the book is dedicated to the memory of pioneer NSW climber John Davis, who figures largely in the stories and photography of Balls Pyramid.
Coupled with many superb photos, this book is essential reading for anyone with an appreciation of wild and lonely places.
- review by Keith Lockwood, who was on the fifth ascent in 1975.
Postscript: Lockwood will present a talk and slide show on Balls Pyramid in Natimuk on Saturday August 6. Copies of the book will be available on the night. The talk is one of a series organised by Steve Findlay to raise money for Syrian refugees.
Kable459
4-Aug-2016
10:36:39 AM
Ben Sandilands gave the following Introductory Speech at the Balls Pyramid Book Presentation last Friday night. He spoke of his heroic swim across 200 metres of shark infested waters at twilight in order to get the Australian scoop of the spire's first ascent in 1965.

THE UNNAMED REPORTER – Ben Sandilands - 1965 Balls Pyramid Expedition

I was the unnamed Sydney Morning Herald reporter on the 1965 first ascent expedition.

In those days, ‘old school’ journalists were never the story. We were the narrator, the observer, the reporter. I liked it like that. I even pushed the boundaries of the times a little because I was also a participant, having only recently joined the SRC (Sydney Rockclimbing Club). I had been press ganged in a manner of speaking, into joining the Sydney Rockies while on a bushwalk that used the now vanished Fish River water supply pipeline ladders on the Narrowneck Peninsula in the Blue Mountains. I’d expressed curiosity to a few Sydney rockies who we saw in action beside the ladders, including Bryden Allen, who roped me up on the spot, to do the sensationally unchallenging but picturesque Giuco Piton route.

I even had to leave the Pyramid a day early to stop the Lord Howe Island’s resident ABC correspondent scooping me at my own story having learned that our state of the art 20 kilogram acid battery and vacuum tubed radio base apparatus had been ‘overheard’ every time I dictated copy to the Postmaster on LHI, for transmission to the GPO in Sydney via a daily 30 minute morse code session.

‘Granny’ Herald had chucked in a few hundred pounds to sponsor a successful climb, and if I was beaten through such competitive treachery, I’d have to find a new career. So I swam for Clive Wilson’s hastily summonsed boat to ensure that the Morse code operator sent my ‘Pyramid victory’ story, filed in person rather than by radio, to the GPO in Sydney in time for the first edition to go out before the other reporter would have realised there was a reason for the sudden silence from the pinnacle.

There are so many memories of the trip. We arrived, stunned into silence, at this jagged and gigantic place resembling the ruins of a gothic cathedral of unprecedented scale, surrounded by wheeling and screeching congregations of circling sea birds. Like nothing any of us had seen on earth, (well, sort of it was after all the 60s), but this was special, a place of powerful magnificence totally indifferent, but not hostile, to the arrival of a boatload of awestruck if unintended acolytes.

When I began turning the pages of South Pacific Pinnacle I read story upon story of other Balls Pyramidians who I confess, I had in many cases never even heard of, or had known, but lost track of, all drawn to this incredible place, and all being admitted to its stacked treasuries of experiences. Some found the Pyramid in an astonishingly wild and difficult state, while others received the benediction of a warm sun and calmer seas, and all were allowed to go home alive but no doubt altered in some way by their adventures.

This is a genuine gripping read for the climbing narratives alone, and made so by the exceptional care that editors, Jim Smith and Keith Bell have taken in researching those who spent time on this very steep, and highly unusual and complex place.

It’s not just a ‘pinnacle’ nor just a fragment of the walls that surrounded a caldera. I have never read a climbing book that comes remotely close to going so thoroughly into the astonishing natural history of any feature on this planet that attracts climbers.

It is accurate, scholarly and generous in its scope and exemplary attention to detail and chronology. There is no other book like this, in its words, and its superb illustrations, in the literature of climbing!!!

http://www.ballspyramidbook.com/
Facebook: Balls Pyramid Book - South Pacific Pinnacle
Kable459
5-Aug-2016
9:46:50 AM
SOUTH PACIFIC PINNACLE: The Exploration of Balls Pyramid, can only be purchased from the publisher. $50 including GST and postage. Go online to:-
http://www.ballspyramidbook.com/ Contact page.
Check out the reviews.

Keith Lockwood, a pyramid veteran from 1975 will be giving a presentation on Balls Pyramid in Natimuk this Saturday (6th August) and some copies of the book will be available for purchase.

There are 3 messages in this topic.

 

Home | Guide | Gallery | Tech Tips | Articles | Reviews | Dictionary | Forum | Links | About | Search
Chockstone Photography | Landscape Photography Australia | Australian Landscape Photography | Landscape Photos Australia

Please read the full disclaimer before using any information contained on these pages.



Australian Panoramic | Australian Coast | Australian Mountains | Australian Countryside | Australian Waterfalls | Australian Lakes | Australian Cities | Australian Macro | Australian Wildlife
Landscape Photo | Landscape Photography | Landscape Photography Australia | Fine Art Photography | Wilderness Photography | Nature Photo | Australian Landscape Photo | Stock Photography Australia | Landscape Photos | Panoramic Photos | Panoramic Photography Australia | Australian Landscape Photography | High Country Mountain Huts | Mothers Day Gifts | Gifts for Mothers Day | Mothers Day Gift Ideas | Ideas for Mothers Day | Wedding Gift Ideas | Christmas Gift Ideas | Fathers Day Gifts | Gifts for Fathers Day | Fathers Day Gift Ideas | Ideas for Fathers Day | Landscape Prints | Landscape Poster | Limited Edition Prints | Panoramic Photo | Buy Posters | Poster Prints