Colin Kirkus is an unsung hero. He was a British climber who put up remarkable first ascents during the 1930s.

In his teenage years he was a lonely wanderer who scrambled and solo climbed in the mountains of Snowdonia. In 1927, when Colin made a solo attempt of Lazarus, a route on Holy Tree Wall, Cwm Idwal, he only succeeded the crux by lassoing a bollard with some spare rope from his rucksack.

Around this time, Colin sight-soloed a new route, Kirkus’s Route on Craig Lloer, whilst carrying a rucksack. Today this route is graded VS 5a. This bold ascent from Colin, coupled by his knowledge of Snowdonia, was clearly a benchmark in his climbing vocation.

Mountaineering during the 1920s was a sport for the upper classes. Mountaineering was capitalism, and for the privileged only. It was obvious from the outset, in terms of social status at least, that Colin did not really match his archetypal role.

It was Alan Hargreaves, known in climbing circles then as ‘AB’, who proposed Colin for membership of the Wayfarers’ Club. AB was already an established climber, being member also to the Climbers’ Club. Colin and AB became good climbing companions.

In the summer of 1929, Colin spent a weeklong trip in North Wales, staying in the now famous Helyg hut. He had cycled from Liverpool. During the trip, Colin climbed with the ‘Cambridge party’, and put up two new routes - the first route was Lot’s Groove on Glyder Fach, and the second route was Central Route on the east face of Tryfan. During this trip, Colin gained the reputation of rock gymnast, being an exemplar of mastery and technique. At the end of the week, for Colin, it must have been a long, but satisfying, cycle ride back to Liverpool.

During this period of history, car ownership was uncommon, even for middle-class peoples. Climbers were dependent upon the kindness of senior club members to provide transport to the mountains. Graham MacPhee, an experienced climber, owned an automobile and was to impact on Colin’s life.

CLOGGY or Clogwyn Du’r Arddu? After the first ascent of Great Slab on Clogwyn Du’r Arddu, by Colin and Graham MacPhee, the climb was duly written up in the Helyg logbook. However, Clogwyn Du’r Arddu was written up as CLOGGY, which stirred interest and controversy in several Climbers’ Club Bulletin articles.

When Menlove Edwards succeeded in leading Central Buttress on Scafell Crag, which required bold lay-backing moves to succeed the crux, it was Colin Kirkus who wrote to Menlove, congratulating him on his achievement. At around this time, Colin was barely twenty-one years old, but established at that time as the finest rock-climber in the country.

In 1932, Mount Everest had not been climbed, and in the upper echelons of mountaineering various expeditions were taking place. There was a great social prestige to be included in any of the expeditions, and the climbers came from the same class that had traditionally provided the membership of the Alpine Club for the previous 75 years. Unconcerned by such matters, Colin continued to climb regularly.

When Colin was not included in the 1933 Everest expedition, there was a conflict of interest. Colin was not included because he had only once visited the Alps and was too young, which was the prevailing attitude at the time. AB wrote angrily to the Alpine Club, outraged at the decision to leave Colin out of the team. 

However, Colin did manage to gain a place on a small-scale expedition to explore the unexplored Gangotri glacier, with the aim to demonstrate that it was possible to climb mountains of this height (6000m). The expedition was successful with 8 peaks attempted and 6 peaks climbed. This success broadened Colin’s outlook towards mountaineering.

“….going to the right place, at the right time, with the right people, is all that really matters. What one does is purely incidental”. Colin Kirkus

Overall, Colin Kirkus had a large impact on British climbing, not only by pioneering new routes, but also by writing an inspiring book, 'Let’s Go Climbing!'