Dennis Gray was born 1935 in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and started climbing when he was 11, after seeing the great Arthur Dolphin in action at Cow and Calf rocks on

Ilkley Moor Ilkley Moor is part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The moor, which rises to 402 m (1,319 ft) above sea level, is well known as the inspiration for the Yorkshire "county anthem" ...

. He then climbed with a group who called themselves the 'Bradford Lads'. When called up for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

Gray volunteered to work as a pay clerk and was posted to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where he was able to climb with the Rock and Ice club members on a regular basis. He has climbed with some of the best

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

climbers of the day;

Tom Patey Thomas Walton Patey (20 February 1932 – 25 May 1970) was a Scottish climber, mountaineer, doctor and writer. He was a leading Scottish climber of his day, particularly excelling on winter routes. He died in a climbing accident at the age of 38. ...

Don Whillans Donald Desbrow Whillans (18 May 1933 – 4 August 1985) was an English rock climber and mountaineer. He climbed with Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. Early life Born and brought ...

, Joe Brown, Harold Drasdo, Robin Campbell, Eli Moriarty, Nat Allen, Slim Sorrell, Ron Moseley and many more. Gray was on the first ascents of ''Frisco Bay'' at Stoney Middleton, ''Grond'' on Dinas y Gromlech, ''Wombat'' and ''Macabre'' at Malham, and ''North Crag Eliminate'' on Castle Rock. After several forays into the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, in 1961 Gray was invited to join a group of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

climbers to the Kulu

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, which led to the first ascent of the

Manikaran Manikaran is located in the Parvati Valley on river Parvati, northeast of Bhuntar in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh. It is at an altitude of 1760 m and is located 4 km ahead of Kasol and about 45 km from Kullu and about 35 km from Bhun ...

Spires. In 1964 he and

took a small expedition to

Gauri Sankar Gaurishankar (also Gauri Sankar or Gauri Shankar; Nepali : ; Sherpa: Jomo Tseringma;) is a mountain in the Nepal Himalayas, the second highest peak of the Rolwaling Himal, behind Melungtse (7,181m). The name comes from the Hindu goddess Gauri, ...

, failing to reach the summit by a few hundred feet. Next in 1966 he led an expedition to film the first complete ascent of the north ridge of

Alpamayo Alpamayo (possibly from Quechua ''allpa'' earth, ''mayu'' river, "earth river") or Shuyturaju (possibly from Ancash Quechua ''huytu, shuytu'' oblong, slim and long, Quechua ''rahu'' snow, ice, mountain covered in snow) is one of the most conspicu ...

in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. Five members of the team reached the summit and that the film won first prize in an International Competition. He then led the expedition which made the first ascent of Mukar Beh in the Indian

in 1968, a project which had first captured his imagination in 1961. The climb turned out to be a race against the weather, and the

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

broke the day after the summit was reached. He was best known as the first General Secretary of the

British Mountaineering Council The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...

, a post he held for 18 years until his retirement in 1989. Two serious falls, first at

Glen Nevis Glen Nevis ( gd, Gleann Nibheis) is a glen in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, with Fort William at its foot. It is bordered to the south by the Mamore range, and to the north by the highest mountains in the British Isles: Ben Nevis, Càrn Mor ...

and then at

Font, Switzerland Font is a former municipality in the district of Broye, in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland. The municipality of Font merged on 1 January 2012 into the municipality of Estavayer-le-Lac.Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. Gray has written a multi-volume

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

described by

Jim Perrin Jim Perrin (born 30 March 1947), is an English rock climber and travel writer. Biography Jim Perrin was born Ernest James Perrin in Manchester, England, to a family of Huguenot descent. His father played rugby league for Salford in the late 1930 ...

as the "perfect counterpoint to the Bonington Saga".

Books

*''Rope Boy.'' Victor Golancz, 1970; 1979. . *''Mountain Lover.'' Crowood Press, 1990. . *''Tight Rope.'' Ernest Press, 1993. . *''Slack - the fun of climbing.'' Self-published, 1998. . *''Poems from the Edge.'' 2003. *''Todhra.'' Flux Gallery Press, 2005. .

References

Sources

*Rope Boy by Dennis Gray, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Dennis 1935 births Living people English mountain climbers