Paul ("Tut") Braithwaite (born 2 June 1946) is a British rock climber, mountaineer, and company director. With

Nick Estcourt Nick Estcourt (1942 – 12 June 1978), educated at Eastbourne College, was a British climber killed on K2 by an avalanche on the West Ridge route. He took part in the 1970 British Annapurna South Face expedition. One of his notable achievements, ...

he climbed

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

's almost vertical Rock Band, a key to the success of the 1975 British Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition. He was president of the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...

from 2007 to 2010. Born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

in 1946, Paul Braithwaite, always known to climbers as "Tut", took to rock climbing at the age of fourteen on rock outcrops in the Pennines. He worked as a painter and decorator, saving up to go on climbing expeditions in the Alps. By eighteen he had climbed the Eiger and the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

. He went on to put up many new routes in Britain including ''Scansor'' on Stob Coire nan Lochan (a subsidiary peak of

Bidean nam Bian Bidean nam Bian ( gd, Bidean nam Beann, 'peak of the mountains') is the highest peak in a group of mountains south of Glen Coe and north of Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands. With a height of , it is a Munro and the highest point in Argyll. I ...

) and ''The Cumbrian'' on the Esk Buttress of

Scafell Pike Scafell Pike () is the highest and the most prominent mountain in England, at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, and is part of the Southern Fells and the Scafell massif. Scafell P ...

. He made the first ascent of ''East Pillar'' on

Mount Asgard Mount Asgard ( iu, ᓯᕙᓂᑎᕈᑎᖑᐊᒃ, ''Sivanitirutinguak'') is a twin peaked mountain with two flat-topped, cylindrical, rock towers, separated by a saddle. It is located in Auyuittuq National Park, on the Cumberland Peninsula of Baf ...

on Baffin Island in 1972; of

Pik Lenin Lenin Peak or Ibn Sina (Avicenna) Peak ( ky, Ленин Чокусу, ''Lenin Choqusu'', لەنىن چوقۇسۇ; russian: Пик Ленина, ''Pik Lenina''; tg, қуллаи Ленин , ''qulla‘i Lenin/qullaji Lenin'', renamed қулла� ...

in the

Pamirs The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...

by its south-east spur route in 1974; and of Point Innominata (a subsidiary peak of Aguja Saint Exupery) in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

also in 1974. He made the first British ascent of ''Croz Spur'' on

Grandes Jorasses The Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy. The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by Ho ...

. On the 1975 ascent of Mount Everest by its Southwest Face, he and

climbed the Rock Band at about setting up fixed ropes that allowed other expedition members to reach the summit of Everest for the first time by a route up one of its faces. Not only was this a key aspect of the climb of the face but, by expending their efforts on this part of the climb, they made it unlikely that they themselves would be able to attempt the summit. In 1977 on an expedition to The Ogre (

Baintha Brakk __NOTOC__ Baintha Brakk ( ur, بائنتھا براک) or The Ogre is a steep, craggy mountain, high, in the Panmah Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram mountain range. It is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.This region is disputed, and is ...

) he was injured by a falling rock. He joined

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, ...

's 1978 expedition attempting the West Ridge of K2 but had to withdraw due to ill health. Braithwaite has been a trustee of the

Mountain Heritage Trust A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

and, since 2006, of Community Action Nepal. In 1975 he founded a sports shop "Paul Braithwaite Outdoor Sports" which he ran until he sold the business in 1999. He was the managing director of Vertical Access Ltd, a

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshir ...

company he established in 1988 for developing techniques for working at height in a commercial and industrial environment.

References

English mountain climbers 1946 births Living people British rock climbers {{climbing-bio-stub