The Rock and Ice Club was an English

climbing club Climbing, or alpine, clubs form to promote and preserve the climbing way of life, including rock climbing, ice climbing, alpinism & ski mountaineering. Clubs frequently act as advocates to protect climbing areas, advocate for climbers around th ...

formed by a group of

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 ...

climbers. The group regularly climbed on the weekends and met in the week to discuss the past weekends climbs and plan their future trips. This loose group crystallised on 26 September 1951 with founding members Nat Allen, Doug Belshaw, Joe Brown, Don Chapman, Don Cowan, Jack Gill, Pete Greenall, Ray Greenall, Ron Moseley, Merrick (Slim) Sorrell, (Instructor Ullswater Outward Bound School) Dick White,

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 ...

. Notables amongst these founders (in particular Don Whillans and Joe Brown) were at the forefront of British climbing at their time. They were the first British climbers to compete on equal terms with continental alpinists since before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References

Climbing clubs in the United Kingdom Climbing organizations 1951 establishments in England Organisations based in Manchester {{Climbing-stub