Ground Up is a new climbing media company started by Llanberis based climbers and co-directors of V12 Outdoor, Simon Panton and Rob Wilson. Both Simon and Rob are enthusiastic and experienced climbers and have worked in the outdoor scene for many years. Simon is perhaps best known for his ground breaking North Wales Bouldering guidebook and of course his regular columns in Climber magazine, but prior to that he managed the old Outside shop in Llanberis; he also worked in the climbing wall industry in the early 90s. Rob Wilson was also an Outside employee, managing the Sheffield branch, before moving on to work for DMM and then becoming the manager of V12 Outdoor, the well known Llanberis climbing shop which first opened its doors back in 2003.

Rob explained the vision for Ground Up:

“We want to inject some energy and creativity into climbing media, firstly by producing inspiring, vital guidebooks, and secondly by making exciting, contemporary films that both capture the moment and reflect the rich history of our climbing culture. We also have some exciting web based plans for the future.”

Simon added,

“We chose the name Ground Up because it indicates a climbing style that is both authentic and aspirational, but also one that all climbers, no matter what their relative standard, can relate to."

“We knew from day one that we needed to underpin all of our work with good quality modern design. We needed an in house designer, someone who had flair and talent, but crucially shared our vision for Ground Up. Luckily I had a potential candidate in mind; an old friend of mine, Al Williams."

“I first met Al whilst working in the climbing wall industry in the early 90s. Al’s design background soon marked him out as an innovator. The Gratton bolt-on hold range that he made for Bendcrete was an instant classic, which other hold manufacturers at the time (myself included) studiously copied. He also wrote the first and third bouldering guides to the Peak District. Aside from mainstream graphic design work, he has worked on a number of promotional projects for Wild Country and Ben Moon’s original company, S7."

“We met up, discussed the project, and almost straight away Al agreed to join the company. Since his arrival, his artistic influence on Ground Up has been nothing short of wonderful.”

So far, so good, but what about the nitty gritty? For the first major project, North Wales Rock, it was obvious that extra help was needed. Al Leary was immediately recruited, on account of him being V12 Outdoor’s resident climbing encyclopaedia. Al’s knowledge of the intricacies of the North Wales crags is legendary. He is also rather useful with a camera.

Graham Desroy, or Streaky as he is often known, was imported from Yorkshire where he had produced two of the most influential guides of the ‘80s: Yorkshire Limestone (1985) and Yorkshire Gritstone (1989). Streaky has a distinctly flamboyant taste in crag wear - only he could get away with that white trousers/bandana/hideously colourful Hawaiian shirt combination! He spends some of his time designing fancy new bits of kit at DMM, that is, when he’s not climbing or surfing, or mountain biking or trying to burn his 19 year old son off!

Finally, Simon Marsh, another DMM employee and former colleague of Rob’s, was co-opted. Aside from being very bright and energetic, Simon is a super keen climber. If you’ve ever spent any time climbing in North Wales the chances are that you will have him seen out at the crag with his partner, the rather talented Silvia Fitzpatrick.

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