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TimP's 17 Down Under Review

ajfclark
5-May-2015
9:21:03 AM
On 5/05/2015 TimP wrote:
>When I first got a copy of 17 Down Under my thirteen year old son flipped through it and was chuffed to see a bunch of climbs he’s done. He can’t do that with a climbing magazine.
>
>Disclaimer- this is not an impartial review. I've been buying climbing gear from Rock Hardware for a couple of years now and have got to know and like Steve and John. I've been following this project with interest; just the concept sounded great when I first heard about it chatting in their relaxed store in Bendigo — Rock Hardware. So this is a personalised response to the book, as are the stories of each climb in it. When I think how climbs imprint in my memory it is the atmosphere around it: people, place, a bit of history, my state of mind - this is the tone of 17 Down Under and the stories are of climbs I've done.
>
>I was very pleased to see 17 Down Under make it to print; it was not an easy road but John and Steve persisted and this book is the payoff for all their hard work. They got through the long process to create something many climbers new and old will enjoy.
>
>This book is truly a celebration of moderate grade climbing: which is the sub-title. How rare is that? Climbing media is full of elite climbers, as if anyone climbing below grade 20 doesn’t exist. Yet I'm sure the audience who can climb over grade 30 is not big enough to sustain a climbing magazine or website. Sure we all admire, even aspire to this level of climbing but I believe it’s the relative challenge that is the satisfaction in climbing - getting a few moves on a climb above your grade is a great feeling. Thankfully for all of us there will always be climbs to challenge us.
>
>I've enjoyed the fragments of stories and [background] in the guidebooks but even these give a scant survey of lower grade climbs; I’m often scratching to find enough stuff I can do, these books are of course made by higher grade climbers so there is little enthusiasm for the moderate stuff. For myself and a lot of new climbers the collection of climbs in 17 Down Under is a great tick-list. The book expands on each climb giving a personal account, more than just topo / beta. It’s like chatting with friends about worthwhile climbs (but these friends are very experienced - both hold guide qualifications). There are also broader passages in the book like “why I climb”, and photos of the places, people, and gear.
>
>You get the feeling this project was done within a community, there are contributions of words and images from many people. 17 Down Under comes also from within a family. One of the threads being Steve and John's relationship: a father helping a son through the tough times of youth. What fuller duty in life is there than guiding your children and helping them through difficulties.
>
>The revelational power of climbing: physical and mental, leads us to achieving beyond where we think our limits are (with a little help from fear / adrenaline which you appreciate only after the climb!). Climbing offers very real yet simple challenges that are rare in our complex lives.
>
>On first scan through the book it dawns that the imagery is different. These are average climbers on climbs I've done, not the professional photo of the elite full-time athlete swinging their legs in the air on a desperate 30 something overhanging climb (they've got to have some payoff for campus boarding), actually I'm beginning to dislike those shots, impressive as they are the first 200 times you see them. Photography tends to exploit the extraordinary to simulate drama that can't be captured in a 2D image. As climbers we know the drama of being there, especially the climbs in 17 Down Under, and I feel this has been captured by climbers photographing climbers. The quality is there though, and the overall design and colour balance of the book is good for all the printing technicalities that can go wrong.
>
>The personal nature of this book caused me to reflect on my own experience - climbing specific routes, and climbing in general. Having the shared ground of moderate grade climbing enables this reflection. Reading an elite climbers perspective, though interesting, is well out of my experience and so, abstract.
>
>In the years it took to complete this project Steve and John immersed themselves in: printing, self publishing, photography, writing, graphic design, and editing. This was a mammoth task, and a task well outside the fun bit of the actual climbing. Perseverance got them through the problems; perhaps this is one of the many things climbing teaches: just keep going and you'll get there no matter how impossible it seems at the time.
>
>Congratulations to Steve and John on this effort. It has already formed the core of my climbing trip planning (actual and imagined trips) climbs I can do that are treated with respect in 17 Down Under.
TimP
5-May-2015
9:43:15 AM
Thanks Andrew for sorting the suspicious content
Have now put this text in the review section.

sliamese
5-May-2015
10:33:57 AM
Good review, your right in that its great to see something everyone can relate to.

My only criticism is that its not 'down under', merely 'Araps and some buffalo routes'. They could have easily included some classics from other places (Sweet Dreams, Apline, Moonarie etc) could have greatly increased the awesomeness of the book.

I think its great to see Australian climbing in any shiny physical form, so top work guys!!
Will_P
5-May-2015
11:03:28 AM
Surely there's some Gramps routes in there?
TimP
5-May-2015
12:11:11 PM
On 5/05/2015 Will_P wrote:
>Surely there's some Gramps routes in there?

Yep, 8.

Also: Cathedral Range, Camels Hump, Mt Beckworth, You Yangs, Red Rock, Black Hill, Werribee Gorge, and Mt Alexander.
mikllaw
5-May-2015
1:20:36 PM
On 5/05/2015 sliamese wrote:

>My only criticism is that its not 'down under', merely 'Araps and some
>buffalo routes'.

Crowdfund a few interstate climbing holidays for them.

shortman
5-May-2015
3:15:01 PM
On 5/05/2015 mikllaw wrote:
>On 5/05/2015 sliamese wrote:
>
>>My only criticism is that its not 'down under', merely 'Araps and some
>>buffalo routes'.
>
>Crowdfund a few interstate climbing holidays for them.

Won't the millions they make selling books cover that for the next book?

Isn't that how you were able to gather the funds for your sequel?

There are 7 messages in this topic.

 

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