In early 1978, an extraordinary new invention for rock climbers was featured
\non the BBC television science show Tomorrow’s World. It was called the
\n‚Friend‘, and it not only made the sport safer, it helped push the limits of
\nthe possible. The company that made them was called Wild Country, the
\nbrainchild of Mark Vallance. Within six months, Vallance was selling Friends
\nin sixteen countries. Wild Country would go on to develop much of the gear
\nthat transformed climbing in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Mark Vallance’s influence on the outdoor world extends far beyond the company
\nhe founded. He owned and opened the influential retailer Outside in the Peak
\nDistrict and was part of the team that built The Foundry, Sheffield’s premier
\nclimbing wall – the first modern climbing gym in Britain. He worked for the
\nPeak District National Park and served on its board. He even found time to
\nclimb 8,000-metre peaks and the Nose on El Capitan. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s
\ndisease in his mid fifties and robbed of his plans for retirement, Vallance
\nfound a new sense of purpose as a reforming president of the British
\nMountaineering Council.<\/p>\n
In Wild Country, Vallance traces his story, from childhood influences like
\nRobin Hodgkin and Sir Jack Longland, to two years in Antarctica, where he was
\nbase commander of the UK’s largest and most southerly scientific station at
\nHalley Bay, before his fateful meeting with Ray Jardine, the man who invented
\nFriends, in Yosemite.<\/p>\n
Trenchant, provocative and challenging, Wild Country is a remarkable personal
\nstory and a fresh perspective on the role of the outdoors in British life and
\nthe development of climbing in its most revolutionary phase.<\/p>\n
Mark Vallance was born in Cheshire. After watching the film of the 1953 ascent
\nof Everest, he developed an obsession for climbing and exploration. Educated
\nat Abbotsholme School and Goldsmiths, University of London, he spent two years
\nin Halley Bay working for the British Antarctic Survey. In 1977, he formed
\nWild Country to manufacture Ray Jardine’s revolutionary climbing protection
\ndevice, called Friends, launching one of the most influential outdoor brands
\nin British history. In 1990 he built and opened Outside, a new kind of outdoor
\nretailer in the UK.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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