Norah Maddison - A Personal Appreciation
By Rick Kruze
As I sit and write this I still find it hard to accept that she has gone. The "little woman" (as Lynne with heavy irony used to call her) who despite her lack of inches climbed some impressive and "well 'ard" routes. Keen to the point of wearing out partners, encouraging whilst being competitive, an all-round good climber. I want to give some impressions of how Norah affected me.
When I first joined the club she was on her round-the-world trip with Joan and the tales I heard of their exploits made me a little in awe of this person and on meeting her it was a little difficult to reconcile their stories to this diminutive figure. I was to learn that size isn't everything.
It wasn't until 1992 on a Craig Cowarch meet that I first teamed up with Norah. I'd not long come out of plaster, having broken my wrist in a rather embarrassing accident. Lynne, with whom I'd been climbing, had had enough for the day, but Norah still full of beans and grabbed me to do a couple more routes. She breezed up two E1s, one with quite an overhanging and run out section and made it look easy. I followed and was suitably impressed. I remember she was very encouraging, saying that I could have led them if I'd wanted to. This gave a boost to my confidence which was in need of some bolstering!
When Colin, Norah, Lynne and I went to the Alps that summer, Norah and I teamed up for some cragging around Chamonix. I was a bit fitter and so it was a more even partnership. When the weather crapped out and we headed south to Orgon for a bit of sun that's when the healthy competition between us started. I'd lead a 6a+, so of course Norah would lead it. Then she'd choose a 6b, walk up it and I'd give it my best to try to match her. I'd never climbed harder than 6a before but was Norah's drive and self-belief that pushed us both on. By the end of the holiday we were both leading 6b+ !
Another incident from that holiday that shows that Norah wasn't just a good rock climber but also a considerable Alpinist was her and Colin's ascent of the Aiguille d'Argentiere via the Fleche Rouse route. Very soft snow conditions, a long route and a midnight start contributed to this being an "epic" in Colin's book. He reported that Norah had disappeared down some snow holes a couple of times and had to be lifted out and dusted down. It took them eighteen and a half hours hut-to-hut and despite the bad conditions, done safely and I think with still a bit of a smile at the end.
There were also other aspects of Norah's character I learned about on that trip for example her colourful language when things weren't going as planned. She had an interesting and wide vocabulary; that would put many a docker to shame. No wonder she went to confession on Sundays!
The next year a KMC team went to El Chorro in Spain and I again partnered up with Norah. The sun did shine and we did climb. There was no holding her on this trip. Even when I was suffering a particularly nasty hangover and wanted to rest she was having none of it and dragged me out into the heat. I followed a couple of routes as I was a bit shaky until she led a route that she insisted I also lead as it was so good. Well I managed to (just) get up it and once lowered to the ground, found my hangover had completely vanished. What a cure! On the last day, as the last route of the holiday with everyone else starting to wind down, and just hang around the crag, Norah was still going for it. She went and climbed a 6c. Everyone cheered when she made it to the top.
That summer we climbed quite a bit together and my overriding memory is of Norah's enthusiasm and encouragement. I said we became competitive but it was always in a supportive way. We always wanted the other person to succeed. I also learned quite a lot of technique from watching Norah climb. She didn't have my reach or brute thugishness to get her up climbs but her footwork was so precise that she seemed to just walk up routes. Following her and looking at what she'd stood on was a revelation!
Another aspect of her (and I admit, my) drive was that there were certain routes we both wanted to lead so badly that sometimes we had to find other partners with which to do them. T. Rex, at Gogarth, had to wait until 1997 before I got a chance to climb it since it was also high on Norah's tick list. At other times it could lead to some lengthy negotiations until we were both satisfied that we'd each get a fair deal.
1994 saw Norah fit and strong. She'd been training over winter. This was something relatively new as she usually didn't like climbing walls but it meant that on the Whit Bank Holiday meet at Pembroke she was storming along. I remember holding her ropes on the classic route, Travellan Pillar (E4 6a, 5c). Again her precision and skill got her up it in fine style.
On that meet she brought down a prospective member, Ruth Ashton and with Ann Freund, we swapped round partnerships that weekend. Well it wasn't too long before Ruth and my partnership wasn't just confined to climbing! Thanks for that Norah.
Also during that year we had a meet (in fact my meet) at Dove Crag in the Lakes. I think we must have been the first on the crag that year because the lichen was particularly bad. This highlighted a knack Norah had of somehow giving the unpleasant pitches to someone else. I thought I was lucky to lead the crux pitch of Extol. In fact when I got on it and found how dirty it was I soon changed my mind and when I pulled a loose hold off and took a 20ft. flyer I knew I had drawn the short straw. How she could see from 100ft. below that it was going to be so bad I'll never know.
With Ruth coming on the scene, Norah and I climbed less and less together and in fact it was later that year that Norah announced she was expecting. It was the end of a very competitive, motivated team. I got a tremendous amount of enjoyment and satisfaction out of climbing with Norah. I hope I gave her the same.
After Roisin was born, Norah was still a keen climber, though the opportunities were much less frequent. When she did get the chance, look out! Chris Williamson was sitting in the pub in Rhoscolyn after a day at Gogarth, just sipping his first well earned pint. It was about 7pm when Norah stormed in and grabbed him to do a last route of the day. She'd just been let off child minding duties and Chris couldn't say no to her request for a partner. He looked totally bewildered as he followed her out and looked longingly back at his unfinished beer. They returned about 9.30pm with the sun just setting. His second pint was richly deserved.
These are just some of the stories I've remembered about Norah. You'll all have your own. I hope you can share them and keep her memory going and passion burning for a long time.
Rick Kruze
