RIP Joe Brown

RIP Joe Brown 1930-2020.

There’s just too much to say about this one. 

One of the all-time giants of the climbing world, of any era, and a kind man with a great sense of humor, Joe Brown has left us. Joe grew up in the “Blitz-bludgeoned streets of south Manchester”. He began climbing in the late 1940s with visionary rock climbs on the crags of North Wales and continuing on to do legendary ascents on the giant walls of the Alps, Himalaya and Karakoram. He left a deep and influential mark on all disciplines of climbing. When I began formulating ideas about my book The Climbers Joe Brown was one of the first names that came to mind for it. Fortunately, in 2014, I was able to spend a long, enjoyable day with he and his wife at his home in Llanberis, Wales. He was suffering from cancer and would say, “OK, I’m very sorry, this cancer just wears me out… I need a nap.” He would get about 6 steps upstairs, only to turn around and come back down to talk for 2 more hours, repeat until nightfall. I tried to leave him to rest… he wouldn’t have it. “Let’s have one more cuppa…”

Condolences to his wife Val and daughters Helen and Zoe.

Photo © Jim Herrington

Two verses from fellow climbing legend Tom Patey’s song about Joe:

He crossed the sea to Chamonix,
And to show what he could do,
He knocked three days off the record time
For the west face of the Dru.
On the unclimbed face of the Blaitiere,
The crux had tumbled down,
But he cracked the crux by the crucial crack
Now known as the Fissure Brown.

In the cold, cold Karakoram,
Where crags are five miles high,
The best in France had seen the chance
To pass us on the sly.
You may talk of Keller, Contamine,
Magnone, and Paragot.
The man of the hour on the Muztagh Tower
Was known by the name of Joe.