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Mike Law (a.k.a. The Claw and Mikl) is an Australian rockclimber known for establishing routes across Australia, especially in the Blue Mountains. [1]
He became prominent in the New Wave Australian climbing scene when he made the first free ascent of Janicepts (21) aged 15. [2]
He went on to establish hundreds of routes around New South Wales and Victoria, [3] notably the Blue Mountains and Arapiles where he became known for sandbagging and gave routes "The lowest grade [he] could without laughing". [4]
Mikl wrote many unofficial guidebooks, first in paper form before the age of the internet and later online, including Rockclimbing at Mt Victoria (1978), Melbourne climbs (1981), Sydney and Sea-cliffs (1983 and many subsequent editions) and Blue Mountains Selected climbs (1988). He also contributed to a number of published climbing guidebook, including many editions of Simon Carter's Blue Mountains Climbing.
Mikl performed extensive testing of climbing hardware and bolts in Australian's sandstone, resulting in the most established guide for soft rock bolting. In 2013 he published the autobiography Law Unto Himself with Open Spaces Publishing.
He went to university aged 34, got a PhD in Material Science. He worked at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation until 2018, when he finally became a full time climber.
Many unofficial climbing guidebooks, some of which have later been translated into online websites. [5]
The Blue Mountains are a mountainous region and a mountain range located in New South Wales, Australia. The region borders on Sydney's metropolitan area, its foothills starting about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of centre of the state capital, close to Penrith on the outskirts of Greater Sydney region. The public's understanding of the extent of the Blue Mountains is varied, as it forms only part of an extensive mountainous area associated with the Great Dividing Range. As defined in 1970, the Blue Mountains region is bounded by the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers in the east, the Coxs River and Lake Burragorang to the west and south, and the Wolgan and Colo rivers to the north. Geologically, it is situated in the central parts of the Sydney Basin.
The Grampians National Park commonly referred to as The Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The Jardwadjali name for the mountain range itself is Gariwerd.
In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a grade to a climbing route or boulder problem, intended to describe concisely the difficulty and danger of climbing it. Different types of climbing each have their own grading systems, and many nationalities developed their own, distinctive grading systems.
A climbing route is a path by which a climber reaches the top of a mountain, rock, or ice wall. Routes can vary dramatically in difficulty and grade; once committed to that ascent, it can sometimes be difficult to stop or return. Choice of route can be critically important. Guidebooks, if available, are helpful in providing detailed diagrams and photographs of routes.
The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) is a three-part system used for rating the difficulty of walks, hikes, and climbs, primarily used by mountaineers in the United States and Canada. It was first devised by members of the Sierra Club in Southern California in the 1950s as a refinement of earlier systems, particularly those developed in Yosemite Valley, and quickly spread throughout North America.
Frog Buttress is a cliff on the north-west side of Mount French, in the Moogerah Peaks National Park near the town of Boonah in Queensland, Australia. It became famous when local rock climbers Rick White and Chris Meadows discovered it in 1968. Since then, 400 routes have been established by climbers including Henry Barber, Kim Carrigan and Tobin Sorenson.
Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. 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 and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. Knowledge of proper climbing techniques and the use of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.
Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and "Community Council" designated by Salt Lake County. The canyon is a glacial trough, carved by an alpine glacier during the last ice age, 15,000 to 25,000 years ago. A number of rare and endemic plant species are found in the canyon's Albion Basin. Mountain goats inhabit the surrounding mountains.
Royal Robbins 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 boltless, pitonless clean climbing, he, along with Yvon Chouinard, was instrumental in changing the climbing culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s by encouraging the use and preservation of the natural features of the rock. He went on to become a well-known kayaker.
Deep-water soloing (DWS), also known as psicobloc, is a form of solo rock climbing that relies solely upon the presence of water at the base of a climb to protect against injury from falls from the generally high-difficulty routes. While typically practiced on sea cliffs at high tide, it can also be done on climbs above reservoirs, rivers, and even swimming pools. Often a dinghy or other small boat is kept on scene to pick up the fallen climber, as a fall from a taller route can still pose the risk of being knocked unconscious on impact with the water, which could lead to drowning. Pioneers include Miquel Riera, Tim Emmett, Klem Loskot, and Chris Sharma.
Mount Arapiles is a rock formation that rises about 140 metres (460 ft) above the Wimmera plains in western Victoria, Australia. It is located in Arapiles approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the town of Natimuk and is part of the Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park. Arapiles is a very popular destination for rock climbers due to the quantity and quality of climbs. It is one of the premier climbing sites in Australia along with the nearby Grampians. The Wotjobaluk name for the formation is Djurid.
Bells Line of Road is a 59-kilometre (37 mi) major road located in New South Wales, Australia, providing an alternative crossing of the Blue Mountains to the Great Western Highway. The eastern terminus of the road is in Richmond, 51 km northwest of Sydney, where the road continues eastward as Kurrajong Road, which intersects the A9. The western terminus of the road is in Bell, in the Blue Mountains, where the road continues as the Chifley Road.
Rick White was an Australian rock climber, best known for discovering and developing the rock climbing destination of Frog Buttress near Boonah in Queensland, Australia.
North Palisade is the third-highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central part of the range. It sports a small glacier and several highly prized rock climbing routes on its northeast side.
Ron Kauk is an American rock climber. Kauk is associated with Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley, where he lived for decades, now a resident of El Portal, California.
Charlie Fowler was an American mountain climber, writer, and photographer. He was one of North America's most experienced mountain climbers, and successfully climbed many of the world's highest peaks. Along with his climbing partner, Christine Boskoff, he went missing in southwestern China sometime between November 11 and November 14, 2006. His body was found on a Ge'nyen Mountain on December 27, 2006, and was officially identified a day later.
Thomas John Higgins was an American rock climber with many first and first free ascents primarily in the western United States. He was noted for pushing standards using a purist, free climbing style.
John Ewbank was an English-born Australian rockclimber. He was born in Yorkshire, England in 1948, but emigrated to Australia at the age of 15.
Mount Piddington (Aboriginal: Wirindi, a mountain in the Explorer Range of the Blue Mountains region, is located south of the village of Mount Victoria in New South Wales, Australia.
Geoff Weigand is an Australia rock climber and road cyclist.