Caradog Jones
Encyclopedia
Caradog "Crag" Jones is a noted Welsh
climber. Whilst he has achieved a number of firsts on peaks around the world, he is most well known for being the first Welshman to reach the summit of Mount Everest
, a feat he achieved on 23 May 1995, at the age of 33. As such he was the 724th climber to reach the summit. The final ascent was made with Michael Knakkergaard-Jorgensen, the first Dane
to the summit. At 33, Jones was the same age as Edmund Hillary
when he reached the summit, and indeed this was achieved virtually 32 years on to the day.
Jones was born and bred in Pontrhydfendigaid
, a village near Tregaron
, Ceredigion
, in mid-Wales. He has admitted that as a boy he was inspired by the exploits of the early Everest pioneers, whom he read about because they undertook much of their pre-expedition training in Snowdonia
.
), Mozart Catao (Brazil
), Nicolas Chappaz (France
), Waldemar Niclevicz (Brazil), Ryszard Pawlowski (Poland
) and Nikolai Sitnikov (Russia
).
The first of the team to reach the summit was Ryszard Pawlowski, on 12 May, other groups following on 14 May and 17 May. Jones and Jorgensen formed the last group, reaching the summit on 23 May.
The team took the northern route (North Col - North East Ridge) following that of the former fatal expedition of George Mallory
and Andrew Irvine
in 1924, and their climb was equally plagued by poor weather. After three nights spent at the highest camp, their food and oxygen ran out. However, they learned on the radio that some abandoned oxygen bottles lay about 500 ft (152.4 m) above them, left by another expedition. They were also fortunate to find sufficient food, though bizarrely were joined by an American at this point, who, lost from another expedition, had overheard them on the radio. The American was, however, not in a good state physically, and Jones had to resort to threats to prevent him from tagging along and jeopardizing the push to the summit. There were, in fact, a lot of climbers on the mountain at the time - Jones was the 61st person to reach the summit in the month of May 1995 alone, and indeed the following day saw American Jeff Shea and two Sherpas on the summit, with the monthly May total in 1995 reaching 75 successful ascents.
As of his impressions of the summit, Jones said :
His ascent of Everest was made into a 52 minute film for television, and featured camera work by Eric Jones)
, another Welshman (but no relation) from Tremadog
who has now twice been part way up Everest whilst working as a cameraman, but has never reached the summit - he was the third member of the 1978 expedition when Reinhold Messner
and Habler became the first to reach the summit without oxygen cylinders.
Jones is not the only Welshman to have climbed Everest. The first disabled person (amputee) to successfully do so was Welshman Tom Whittaker
, on May 27, 1998. He had previously lost his right foot and part of his leg in a car accident in 1979.
In 1991, with Mick Fowler
, he attempted the south ridge of Ultar II
in Pakistan
but, despite reaching 6500m, was forced to descend due to bad weather. With Fowler, however, Jones had previously made the first ascent of Hunza Peak
(6200m) in the same year. The same trip saw Jones climbing Bublimoting, but this summit was reached ten days earlier by a Swedish team.
On 25 January 2001 Jones made the first ascent, solo, of the highest of the Three Brothers
peaks (2008m) at the north west end of the Allardyce Range range on South Georgia. The Brothers actually consist of four peaks whose summits are 1466m, 1783m, 1837m and 2008m above sea level.
Shortly after arrival the weather deteriorated, and although it cleared, the three man team of Jones, Novak and Hughes was later kept tent-bound for five days. On the last day, the team left the tent in a white out, expecting a later clear spell, which had been forecast. However, when conditions remained bad, the other two decided not to continue, and Jones went on with the climb alone. Better conditions did indeed follow, and he reached the summit via the north-east ridge.
This was part of a combined climbing and filming expedition, which resulted in five 30 minute programmes. Recorded in Welsh
, and entitled Haf Ganol Gaeaf (Summer Midst Winter), it was broadcast with English sub-titles. The series included :
In 2005, together with Julian Freeman-Attwood, Rich Howarth and Skip Novak, Jones completed a 17-day south-north traverse of South Georgia. As part of this they made the first ascent of Pk. 5680 (1,727m). (Some pictures here)
In October 1996, with Mick Fowler and Julian Freeman-Attwood, Jones made the first ascent of Yes, Please, a crag in Orkney. (A picture here)
He also supports local climbing and walking groups and is often invited to speak at functions arranged by such groups, which include the Alpine Club (UK)
and the British Mountaineering Council
. He is a former Vice-President of the latter.
Following a meet of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, he said "One aspect of these meets that is very important to me is that the visiting climbers go home with a much clearer understanding of (and often downright enthusiasm for) the adventure climbing ethic."
In 2003 a talk he gave was entitled "Speed Climbing - from Strone to the Antarctic".
Dafydd Morgan, Secretary of Clwb Crwydro Caron, Tregaron's Walking Club, described him as :
As a Welsh
speaker he is occasionally approached to speak on Radio Cymru and S4C
.
Jones now lives with his wife and daughter in Frodsham
, Cheshire
, working as a freelance fisheries consultant.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
climber. Whilst he has achieved a number of firsts on peaks around the world, he is most well known for being the first Welshman to reach the summit of Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
, a feat he achieved on 23 May 1995, at the age of 33. As such he was the 724th climber to reach the summit. The final ascent was made with Michael Knakkergaard-Jorgensen, the first Dane
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
to the summit. At 33, Jones was the same age as Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE , was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest – see Timeline of climbing Mount Everest...
when he reached the summit, and indeed this was achieved virtually 32 years on to the day.
Jones was born and bred in Pontrhydfendigaid
Pontrhydfendigaid
Pontrhydfendigaid is a village in Ceredigion, Wales, lying on the River Teifi.It is known for the ruins of the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey, founded 1164, where Dafydd ap Gwilym is said to be buried and Llywelyn the Great held a council....
, a village near Tregaron
Tregaron
Tregaron is a market town in the county of Ceredigion, Wales, lying on the River Brenig , a tributary of the River Teifi. The town is twinned with Plouvien, in Finistere, France. According to the 2001 Census, Tregaron's population was 1,183, of whom 68.8% spoke Welsh fluently.-History:Tregaron...
, Ceredigion
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
, in mid-Wales. He has admitted that as a boy he was inspired by the exploits of the early Everest pioneers, whom he read about because they undertook much of their pre-expedition training in Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
.
Everest expedition
Jones and Jorgensen were part of a larger world team, led by Henry Todd of the UK, and using Himalayan guides. Other members of the team were Paul Deegan (UK), Graham Ratcliffe (UK), Sean Smith (UK), Anatoli Boukreev (KazakhstanKazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
), Mozart Catao (Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
), Nicolas Chappaz (France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), Waldemar Niclevicz (Brazil), Ryszard Pawlowski (Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) and Nikolai Sitnikov (Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
).
The first of the team to reach the summit was Ryszard Pawlowski, on 12 May, other groups following on 14 May and 17 May. Jones and Jorgensen formed the last group, reaching the summit on 23 May.
The team took the northern route (North Col - North East Ridge) following that of the former fatal expedition of George Mallory
George Mallory
George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s....
and Andrew Irvine
Andrew Irvine (mountaineer)
Andrew "Sandy" Comyn Irvine was an English mountaineer who took part in 1924 British Everest Expedition, the third British expedition to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest....
in 1924, and their climb was equally plagued by poor weather. After three nights spent at the highest camp, their food and oxygen ran out. However, they learned on the radio that some abandoned oxygen bottles lay about 500 ft (152.4 m) above them, left by another expedition. They were also fortunate to find sufficient food, though bizarrely were joined by an American at this point, who, lost from another expedition, had overheard them on the radio. The American was, however, not in a good state physically, and Jones had to resort to threats to prevent him from tagging along and jeopardizing the push to the summit. There were, in fact, a lot of climbers on the mountain at the time - Jones was the 61st person to reach the summit in the month of May 1995 alone, and indeed the following day saw American Jeff Shea and two Sherpas on the summit, with the monthly May total in 1995 reaching 75 successful ascents.
As of his impressions of the summit, Jones said :
His ascent of Everest was made into a 52 minute film for television, and featured camera work by Eric Jones)
Eric Jones (climber)
right|thumb|250px|Eric Jones' cafe at Tremadog , viewed from Craig Bwlch y moch.Eric Jones is a Welsh solo climber, skydiver and BASE jumper....
, another Welshman (but no relation) from Tremadog
Tremadog
Tremadog is a village on the outskirts of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales. It was a planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who bought the land in 1798...
who has now twice been part way up Everest whilst working as a cameraman, but has never reached the summit - he was the third member of the 1978 expedition when Reinhold Messner
Reinhold Messner
Reinhold Messner is an Italian mountaineer and explorer from Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol "whose astonishing feats on Everest and on peaks throughout the world have earned him the status of the greatest climber in history." He is renowned for making the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without...
and Habler became the first to reach the summit without oxygen cylinders.
Jones is not the only Welshman to have climbed Everest. The first disabled person (amputee) to successfully do so was Welshman Tom Whittaker
Tom Whittaker (mountaineer)
Tom Whittaker was the first disabled person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.Whittaker's right foot needed to be amputated following a car accident in 1979. Following this serious accident, he regained his strength and continued climbing.In 1981 he founded the Cooperative Wilderness...
, on May 27, 1998. He had previously lost his right foot and part of his leg in a car accident in 1979.
Other peaks and "firsts"
Jones has climbed in many countries across the world. His climbs include some "firsts" :In 1991, with Mick Fowler
Mick Fowler
Michael "Mick" Fowler is a British mountaineer. He was awarded the Piolet d'Or and Golden Piton with Paul Ramsden for their 2002 ascent of Siguniang , was voted "the Mountaineer's Mountaineer" in a poll in The Observer, and was described by Chris Bonington in 1981 as "the most successful...
, he attempted the south ridge of Ultar II
Ultar
Ultar Sar is thesoutheasternmost major peak of the Batura Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram range...
in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
but, despite reaching 6500m, was forced to descend due to bad weather. With Fowler, however, Jones had previously made the first ascent of Hunza Peak
Hunza Peak
Hunza Peak lies in the westernmost subrange of the Karakoram range along with the Ladyfinger Peak . It lies on the southwest ridge of the Ultar Sar massif, the most southeasterly of the major groups of the Batura Muztagh...
(6200m) in the same year. The same trip saw Jones climbing Bublimoting, but this summit was reached ten days earlier by a Swedish team.
On 25 January 2001 Jones made the first ascent, solo, of the highest of the Three Brothers
Three Brothers, South Georgia
The Three Brothers are three mountain peaks at the north west end of the Allardyce Range range on South Georgia. They aligned in a north-south direction, situated 4 miles west of the head of Cumberland West Bay in the central part of South Georgia...
peaks (2008m) at the north west end of the Allardyce Range range on South Georgia. The Brothers actually consist of four peaks whose summits are 1466m, 1783m, 1837m and 2008m above sea level.
Shortly after arrival the weather deteriorated, and although it cleared, the three man team of Jones, Novak and Hughes was later kept tent-bound for five days. On the last day, the team left the tent in a white out, expecting a later clear spell, which had been forecast. However, when conditions remained bad, the other two decided not to continue, and Jones went on with the climb alone. Better conditions did indeed follow, and he reached the summit via the north-east ridge.
This was part of a combined climbing and filming expedition, which resulted in five 30 minute programmes. Recorded in Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, and entitled Haf Ganol Gaeaf (Summer Midst Winter), it was broadcast with English sub-titles. The series included :
- Sailing to get there and back
- History of the island
- South Georgia's wildlife
- First ascent of the 'Three Brothers'
In 2005, together with Julian Freeman-Attwood, Rich Howarth and Skip Novak, Jones completed a 17-day south-north traverse of South Georgia. As part of this they made the first ascent of Pk. 5680 (1,727m). (Some pictures here)
In October 1996, with Mick Fowler and Julian Freeman-Attwood, Jones made the first ascent of Yes, Please, a crag in Orkney. (A picture here)
Other work
Following his Everest climb, Jones was afterwards in demand to make TV programmes for younger climbers.He also supports local climbing and walking groups and is often invited to speak at functions arranged by such groups, which include the Alpine Club (UK)
Alpine Club (UK)
The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...
and the British Mountaineering Council
British Mountaineering Council
The British Mountaineering Council is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers...
. He is a former Vice-President of the latter.
Following a meet of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, he said "One aspect of these meets that is very important to me is that the visiting climbers go home with a much clearer understanding of (and often downright enthusiasm for) the adventure climbing ethic."
In 2003 a talk he gave was entitled "Speed Climbing - from Strone to the Antarctic".
Dafydd Morgan, Secretary of Clwb Crwydro Caron, Tregaron's Walking Club, described him as :
As a Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
speaker he is occasionally approached to speak on Radio Cymru and S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
.
Jones now lives with his wife and daughter in Frodsham
Frodsham
Frodsham is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population is 8,982. It is approximately south of Runcorn, 16 miles south of Liverpool, and approximately south-west of Manchester...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, working as a freelance fisheries consultant.