Paul ("Tut") Braithwaite (born 2 June 1946) is a British rock climber, mountaineer, and company director. With

Nick Estcourt Nicholas John Estcourt (1942 – 12 June 1978) was a British mountaineer and alpinist who was killed in an avalanche on the West Ridge of K2. Early life and education Estcourt spent his childhood on the south coast of England, in Eastbourne a ...

he climbed

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

's almost vertical Rock Band, a key to the success of the 1975 British Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition. He was president of the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

from 2007 to 2010.

Early life

Born in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

in 1946, Paul Braithwaite, always known to climbers as "Tut", took to rock climbing at the age of fourteen on rock outcrops in the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

. He worked as a painter and decorator, saving up to go on climbing expeditions in the Alps.

Climbing career

By eighteen, Braithwaite had climbed the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

and the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

. He went on to put up many new routes in Britain including ''Scansor'' on Stob Coire nan Lochan (a subsidiary peak of

Bidean nam Bian Bidean nam Bian (, "peak of the mountains") is the highest peak in a group of mountains south of Glen Coe and north of Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands. With a height of , it is a Munro and the highest point in Argyll. It is a complex mounta ...

) and ''The Cumbrian'' on the Esk Buttress of

Scafell Pike Scafell Pike () is a mountain in the Lake District region of Cumbria, England. It has an elevation of above sea level, making it the highest and the most prominent mountain in England. The mountain is part of the Scafell massif, an extinct v ...

. He made the first ascent of ''East Pillar'' on

Mount Asgard Mount Asgard (, ''Sivanitirutinguak'') is a twin peaked mountain with two flat-topped, cylindrical, rock towers, separated by a saddle. It is located in Auyuittuq National Park, on the Cumberland Peninsula of Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. Th ...

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...

in 1972; of Pik Lenin in the

Pamirs The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among ...

by its south-east spur route in 1974; and of Point Innominata (a subsidiary peak of

Aguja Saint Exupery The Aguja Saint Exupery is a mountain spear ('aguja') located near the Cerro Chaltén in the Los Glaciares National Park in Patagonia, Argentina. The mountain is named in memory of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French writer and aviator who ...

) in

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

also in 1974. He made the first British ascent of ''Croz Spur'' on

Grandes Jorasses The Grandes Jorasses (; 4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy. The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by H ...

. On the 1975 ascent of Mount Everest by its Southwest Face, he and

climbed the Rock Band at about setting up fixed ropes that allowed other expedition members to reach the summit of Everest for the first time by a route up one of its faces. Not only was this a key aspect of the climb of the face but, by expending their efforts on this part of the climb, they made it unlikely that they themselves would be able to attempt the summit. In 1977, on an expedition to The Ogre (

Baintha Brakk __NOTOC__ Baintha Brakk () or The Ogre is a steep, craggy mountain, high, in the Panmah Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram mountain range. It is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.This region is disputed, and is claimed by India to be an i ...

) he was injured by a falling rock. He joined

Chris Bonington Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest. Early life and expeditions Bonington's father, ...

's 1978 expedition attempting the West Ridge of K2 but had to withdraw due to ill health.

Other climbing

Braithwaite has been a trustee of the Mountain Heritage Trust and, since 2006, of Community Action Nepal.

Non-climbing career

In 1975 he founded a sports shop "Paul Braithwaite Outdoor Sports" which he ran until he sold the business in 1999. He was the managing director of Vertical Access Ltd, a

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

company he established in 1988 for developing techniques for working at height in a commercial and industrial environment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, Paul ("Tut") English mountain climbers 1946 births Living people British rock climbers Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)