Mark Vallance (1946 – 19 April 2018) was a British

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

and founder of Wild Country, a

climbing equipment A wide range of equipment is used during rock or any other type of climbing that includes equipment commonly used to protect a climber against the consequences of a fall. Rope, cord and webbing Climbing ropes are typically of kernmantle c ...

company. He was instrumental in the design and development of a range of new equipment. American climber

Ray Jardine Ray Jardine (born in 1944) is an American rock climber who, along with Bill Price, in May 1979, was the first to free climb the ''West Face'' of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. Jardine is also a mountaineer, sea kayaker, sailor, hang glider pilot, s ...

, a climbing partner, had developed the first SLCD which were called "friends" by Yosemite climbers who had seen Jardine's climbs. Vallance took out a second mortgage on his house around 1977 so that he and Ray could produce "friends". A particularly successful design was a

spring-loaded camming device A spring-loaded camming device (also SLCD, cam or friend) is a piece of rock climbing or mountaineering protection equipment. It consists of two, three, or four cams mounted on a common axle or two adjacent axles, so that pulling on the ax ...

branded the 'Friend'. It was revolutionary as a form of

climbing protection Climbing protection is any of a variety of devices employed to reduce risk and protect others while climbing rock and ice. It includes such items as nylon webbing and metal nuts, cams, bolts, and pitons. Different forms of climbing draw on ...

, enabling climbers to tackle routes involving parallel or flared cracks in relative safety. Climbing gear - Wild Country Friends - 06

Mountaineering

Vallance was a member of numerous Himalayan climbing expeditions, including one to

Broad Peak Broad Peak ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It was first ascended in June 1957 by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, ...

Role in the development of UK climbing and mountaineering

Vallance was co-founder and part of the build team of the Foundry Climbing Wall in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

—the first modern

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

in the UK. Vallance started the retailer Outside in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...

. He served on the board of the

Peak District National Park Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

and was president 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 ...

Literature

Vallance's book, ''Wild Country: The Man Who Made Friends'' was shortlisted for the

Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3,000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for "an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature". The pr ...

. The prize is awarded annually to the author or authors of the best literary work, whether fiction, non-fiction, drama or poetry, the central theme of which is concerned with the mountain environment.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vallance, Mark 1946 births 2018 deaths British mountain climbers British rock climbers