A Climber in Wales

Frank Showell Styles (1908-2005) or Pip (as he was universally known) first went to the hills, probably with his parents, at the age of 16 and remained committed to the mountains for the rest of his life. During the years before the Second World War he mostly frequented North Wales and was particularly fond of the Rhinogydd, which at that time would have seemed particularly wild and remote to a young man brought up in the English Midlands. With the war over, Pip's parents retired to live in Borth-y-Gest, across the Glaslyn estuary from his beloved Rhinogydd, and he came to live with them and set out to make his living as a writer. He became a prolific author, with over 160 titles to his name. In 1955, he moved to live in Croesor where he kept the village post office, did some guiding, and continued to write. It was here that his young family grew up and he began to amass his multiple ascents of Cnicht. It was typical of him that one day in 1994 he came home and announced he had been up for the last time. His total number of ascents was 879 and he never went there again.