IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME WHEN MIKL LEARNT TO CLIMB AS A SCHOOLBOY. IT WAS A TIME BEFORE THE MODERN GEAR THAT WE KNOW AND LOVE TODAY MADE CLIMBING JUST THAT MUCH SAFER. BUT DESPITE BETTER HARNESSES, BELAY DEVICES AND PROTECTION, FUDDY DUDDY—THREE PITCHES, 95M, AND NOW GRADED 15–CONTINUES TO TERRIFY BLUE MOUNTAINS TRAD CLIMBERS TO THIS DAY.
The following piece is an edited extract from Michael Law’s memoir, Law Unto Himself, Open Spaces Publishing, 2013.
I’d guess the date was 1972, the highpoint of the modern climbing era, when John Croker and I stood beneath the awesome gash of “Fuddy Duddy”. From where we were it looked about
