Paul Pritchard

Background

Paul Pritchard was born on April 26, 1967 in Bolton, England, United Kingdom. He is a son of Bernard Pritchard, a builder, and Jean Pritchard, a teacher. He grew up in Lancashire.

Education

It is unknown, where Paul Pritchard received his education.

Career

Paul Pritchard started climbing at the age of sixteen. Within a few years, he was developing some of the hardest routes in the country, including Perimeter Walk (E7 6b), Strawberry Kiss (E7 6b), Soot Monkey (E6 6c) and Pretentious Gallery (E5 6b) at Wilton One in Lancashire.

In 1986, at the beginning of the Slate boom and the Gogarth revival, 19-year-old Paul moved to Llanberis in North Wales and made early repeats of the new slate test pieces, including the terrifyingly bold Raped by Affection (E7 6c), with its first bolt at 22 metres, and the daring and technical Dawes of Perception (E7 6c). He also added some of his own slate routes, such as I Ran The Bath (E7 6b), Bathtime (E5 6a), Wishing Well (E6 6b) and Cure For A Sick Mind (E6 6b).

However, it was on the sea cliffs of Gogarth that Paul was most active. On these infamous and committing Anglesey cliffs Paul established an incredible number of new routes, including The Enchanted Broccoli Garden (E7 6b), Schittlegruber (E6 6b), Come To Mother (E7 6a, although this route no longer exists), Heart of Gold Direct (E6 6a), Salem (E5 6a), Unrideable Donkey (E7 6b) and Super Calabrese, a three-pitch E8 6b still considered to be one of the most serious climbs in the United Kingdom.

In the Llanberis Pass first ascents included the bold and burly Surgical Lust (E7 6b) and King Wad (E6 6b) on the Scimitar Ridge. The first free ascent of The Scoop (E7 6b) and Knuckle Sandwich (E7 6b), both in Strone Ulladale, Scotland, also stand out during these years.

In 1990 Paul began mountaineering and pursued some of the most challenging lines around the world, including first ascents on the Torre Central del Paine in Patagonia and the West Face of Mount Asgard on Baffin Island. In 1990 Paul began mountaineering and pursued some of the most challenging lines around the world, including first ascents on the Torre Central del Paine in Patagonia and the West Face of Mount Asgard on Baffin Island. In 1995, with Adam Wainright, Paul climbed the Trango Tower, in the Karakorum, Pakistan, via the Slovenian Route in alpine style.

When he won the Boardman/Tasker Award for mountain literature in 1997, with his book Deep Play, he spent the prize money on a world climbing tour that found him in Tasmania climbing a slender sea stack known as The Totem Pole. After climbing on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo and the Blue Mountains of Australia, Paul found himself in Tasmania. On February 13, 1998 a TV-sized boulder falling from 25 meters inflicted such terrible head injuries that doctors thought he might never walk or even speak again. Being in hospital for a year gave Paul the impetus to write his second book: The Totem Pole in 1999. This narrative about his personal journey through hemiplegia.

Pritchard has continued to lead a challenging life even after the catastrophic injury. He has climbed Kilimanjaro, ridden a recumbent trike through Tibet to Mount Everest and took the lead rock climbing again. In 2016 Paul finally climbed the Totem Pole, 18 years after his accident. In 2017 Pritchard, and four other people with disabilities, accomplished the first journey under human power between Australia’s extremities of altitude. On the Lowest To Highest Expedition the team members cycled from Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre (-15m) to Kosciuszko-Targangil (2228m), a distance of 2152km.

Achievements

• Paul Pritchard is best known as the leading climber of his generation and an award-winning writer on his sport. He is renowned for his technical expertise, scaling rocks and mountains few others were bold enough to tackle. He is the recipient of Boardman Tasker Awards and Banff Grand Prize.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Deep Play

    (Paul Pritchard's Deep Play is a unique, stylish and timel...)

    1997
  • The Longest Climb

    (For climber Paul Pritchard the biggest challenge he ever ...)

    2005
  • The Totem Pole

    (Paul Pritchard gained a reputation as a climber of routes...)

    1999

Religion

Paul Pritchard is not a religious person.

Views

Paul Pritchard once told: "My primary motivation for writing is to highlight the cause of head injury. My own head injury in 1998 inspired me to write on this subject. Menlove Edwards and Edwin Drummond have both inspired my writing."

Connections

Paul Pritchard has a partner, Celia Bull.

Father:

Bernard Pritchard

Mother:

Jean Pritchard

life partner:

Celia Bull

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2000
• The website of Paul Pritchard