Kenneth John Wilson (7 February 1941 – 11 June 2016) was a British writer, publisher and editor of books and magazines about climbing and mountaineering. 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 ...

's ''Summit Magazine'' described him as "one of the most influential voices in British climbing". In 1974 he edited and contributed to the first editions of the book ''Hard Rock'' which ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' considered was "among the most influential climbing books of the 20th century."

Early life

Wilson was born in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe ...

to Blanche (née Colman) and John Wilson, a salesman of stationery. He attended Birmingham College of Art where he studied architecture and photography before working for the architectural photographer Henk Snoek for four years in London. During this time he met his future wife Gloria – they married in 1971 and had two children. Based on his experience from the early 1950s with a holiday in the Lake District and with climbing and walking with the

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

, in 1968 he took up a post to run a Youth Hostels Association magazine called ''Mountain Craft''.

Writing, publishing and editing

In 1960 with his long-time friend Dave Cook he went on a Mountaineering Association course in 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, ...

climbing 19 peaks near Arolla. Wilson never became an outstanding climber although he did climb the Younggrat route on the Breithorn. He became a significant figure in the group of young climbers that formed in

Llanberis (; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking, ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

. Gaining the support of his network of climbing friends, he was able to develop ''Mountain Craft'' into a flourishing magazine which he then bought, changed its name to ''Mountain'' and then fostered, wrote for and edited from 1969 to 1978. It distinctly reflected the culture of the climbing and mountaineering community of the time. The magazine had high journalistic standards, exemplified by its coverage of the Cairngorm Plateau disaster in 1971.

Alan Hinkes Alan Hinkes OBE (born 26 April 1954) is an English Himalayan high-altitude mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. He is the first British mountaineer to claim all 14 Himalayan eight-thousanders (mountains above in height), whic ...

considered it "perhaps the finest mountain magazine ever published". His 1974 compendium ''Mountain Craft'' was aimed firmly at practitioners of the sport and attracted writers such as

Chris Bonington Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest. Early life and expeditions Bonington's father, ...

Royal Robbins Royal Robbins (February 3, 1935 – March 14, 2017) was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock, he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent of b ...

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 lat ...

, Ed Drummond and

Al Alvarez Alfred Alvarez (5 August 1929 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, essayist and critic who published under the name A. Alvarez and Al Alvarez. Background Alfred Alvarez was born in London, to an Ashkenazic Jewish mother and a ...

. As well as ''Hard Rock'' he produced ''Classic Rock'' and ''Extreme Rock'' and his 1978 anthology ''The Games Climbers Play''. He founded two publishing firms: Diadem and Bâton Wicks. Wilson became prominent in British mountaineering politics with campaigns to allow women to join the

Climbers' Club The Climbers' Club is the senior rock-climbing club in England and Wales (outside the Lake District). The club was founded in 1898. The CC one of the largest publishers of climbing guidebooks in many of the main climbing areas of England and Wal ...

, becoming a committee member of the

and voicing his forceful opinions on mountaineering ethics.

Early life

Writing, publishing and editing

References

Further reading