|
|
| Name: |
Paul Thorburn |
| Age: |
31 |
| Occupation: |
Rope Access worker/ Handrail Polisher |
| Base: |
Aviemore |
|
| Description: |
Paul is undoubtedly one of Scotland's most outstanding bold, adventurous rock climbers, but as with many of the Scottish climbers, his modesty has kept him out of the limelight. Primarily, he enjoys trad climbing, new routing and repeating the harder test pieces, but also likes to sport climb - "mostly easy stuff since it's just good fun and relaxed".
On the sports front Paul has on-sighted 7b/7b+ and red-pointed up to 8a. Although he has had an interest in winter climbing for many years, he describes himself as "a grade V bumbly with a preference for ice since it's easy. I do enjoy it though, but often just in retrospect and sometimes not at all!"
A few of his best achievements on rock include the first ascent of the stunning line, The Origin of The Species (E6) on Creag an Dubh Loch. He said: "I'd looked at the line so much in the pages of Extreme Rock, so many others must have as well! Worth the two day trip to clean it".
As well as putting up new E6's & E7's in Glen Coe, Beinn Eighe and on The Cobbler to name but a few places, Paul was also one of the key activists in the more recent developments on Pabbay and Mingulay. Amongst other excellent and testing lines, he left behind the superb Perfectly Normal Paranoia, an E6, climbed on-sight on Dun Mingulay.
On the repeat front Paul has climbed routes such as Flodden (E5 6b) and Cannibal (E6) on the Dubh Loch, and Realm of The Senses (E7 6c) on the Shelterstone. Ever modest, he now refers to himself as "semi-retired"...
|
| Finest Moment: |
"Perhaps not my finest hour but typifying climbing with Rick Campbell, Gary Latter et all: - on a hanging belay with Rick, under the roof on Flodden. Out of sight above was Gary fiddling unnecessary RP's in before a not-so-tricky move. We were giving him six foot of slack for each one. Unknown to him there must have been sixty foot of slack hanging in space when he finally did the move. We were laughing like hyeanas; with friends like that, who needs...".
(Editor's note: It was two years before they plucked up the courage to tell Gary about what they did!)
|
|
|
|
