Rodney Frank Bolton
22 July 1943 - 20 July 2022
Early in 1970, Rod Bolton accepted a commission from noted Queensland climber Rick White to produce a short silent Super 8mm movie of Rick and his then climbing partner, Ross 'Cecil' Allen, making the 2nd ascent of the climbing route, 'Odin', at Frog Buttress. 'Odin' was at the time one of the hardest routes in Australia and certainly amongst the most strenuous, requiring superlative jamB-climbing skills and a high level of energy. Rick White had both and it was these elements that Rod captured in the historic four-minute movie he created. It is a rare glimpse of the climbing style that defined that particular clean-climbing era in Australian rockclimbing history. Hanging on abseil lines beside the climbers and with a second camera unit in action on the day, the skilfully-edited short film was affectionately dubbed Deep Purple on Rock by Rick, a longtime fan of the British rockers, Deep Purple (and of the colour purple), and screened to disbelieving climbers in the southern states in the early 1970s accompanied by Deep Purple's booming anthem, Smoke on the Water.
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Rick White starts the 2nd ascent of 'Odin' in 1970 (Rod Bolton collection) |
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Rod Bolton (left) hangs on an abseil line filming Rick White's 2nd ascent of 'Odin' at Frog Buttress in 1970 (Rod Bolton collection) |
Rod was something of a polymath with climbing included in his set of diverse outdoor interests. His name appears on several new routes in southeast Queensland in 1969: on the now banned Glass House Mountains pinnacle of Crookneck ('Stairs', climbed with Rick and Alan Brown) and a memorable Frog Buttress contribution, 'Chocolate Watchband', again climbing with Rick.
Born in London in 1943, Rod soon discovered his interest and skill in building and repairing, starting with model aircraft, some with tiny diesel engines and even one with a pellet fuel-powered jet engine. By the time he was 13, through Scouts, he discovered a great love of the outdoors. He started work at British Railways as an apprentice electrician, repairing vacuum cleaners on the side often using materials salvaged from the scrap bins at the train yards. Like his climbing contemporary in Australia - Ted Cais - albeit years earlier, Rod successfully directed a small electrical current through a doorknob to 'shock' the lowly apprentices when they grabbed the handle. This sense of humour was a theme that ran through his life.
Like many previous climbers, Rod was into motorbikes as a teenager and frequented local haunts on his beloved Norton Dominator. He was definitely a 'Rocker' in the age of 'Mods' and 'Rockers' - the Swinging Sixties - modelling his hair style on a youthful Marlon Brando who came to fame in the cult movie, The Wild One. One of Rod's challenges was to put on a three minute-long vinyl record and race his bike to an appointed place in town, trying to make it back before the song finished. And again, like earlier daring climbers in Queensland (Bob Waring in particular), he was fascinated by the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races, once completing a lap with one of his mates as pillion in 46 minutes! His earlier contemporary, Bob Waring actually entered the race one year in the early 1950s and was in third place when he had to withdraw with engine trouble!
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Rod on the summit of Beerwah, Glass House Mountains, in the late 1960s (Rod Bolton collection) |
In 1964, Rod emigrated to Australia, along with several of his friends as '10 pound Poms', ending up in a share flat at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane after driving north from cold, miserable Melbourne in a Khombi van.
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An Adventurers' Club outing on Tibrogargan in 1969 - Alan Milband (with the rope) instructs beginners on an ascent of Caves Route (Rod Bolton collection) |
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Rod abseiling on the lower slopes of Mt Beerwah in the Glass House Mountains on an Adventurers' Club excursion in 1969 (Rod Bolton collection) |
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Alan Milband leading boldly in Volley OCs on Tibrogargan - Adventurers' Club outing 1969 (Rod Bolton collection) |
A few years later he joined the Adventurers' Club, a group of outdoors' enthusiasts who met regularly at a refurbished boathouse on the banks of the Brisbane River at Kangaroo Point. It was through this active organisation that he met Rick White who had been engaged by the club as a climbing instructor. He also met up with ex-pat Welsh climber Alan Milband and local Ian Cameron, both featuring in bold early ascents in southeast Queensland - Alan on the 3rd ascent of the East Face of Mt Barney (with Greg Sheard) and Ian on many of the early 1st ascents at Frog Buttress (with Rick White). Rod was a highly skilled photographer and worked for some years as a camera repair technician, drawing on his extraordinary engineering skills. In more recent years, both Rod and Ian joined a growing number of backyard native bee keepers with several hives of the curious little stingless insects between them.
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Rod with Alan Milband on the summit of Tibrogargan in the Glass House Mountains in 1969 (Rod Bolton collection) |
I reconnected with both Rod and Ian through my research for climbing history book, The living rock, and my own interest in native bees. Rod and Ian had planned a visit to my place to split one of my hives when COVID struck in 2019, grounding us all temporarily. Although I never climbed with Rod, his infectious good humour and his extraordinary attention to detail will forever stay with me.
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(from left) Alan Brown, Rick White and Rod on the summit of Coonowrin, Glass House Mountains, probably after their 1st ascent of the climb, 'Stairs', in July 1969. |
When Rod was diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer a few months ago, his typically throwaway response was simply: 'Shit happens.' His experiences are emblematic of so many of us who comprise the climbing-outdoors community. All of us have lives, families and friends beyond the crags and for me, his story underlines the broad spectrum of 'ordinary' people who comprise the Australian climbing/outdoors community. The vast majority of us will never find our names aligned with terms like 'the longest', 'the hardest', or 'the best', but it explains one of the great appeals of exploring the outdoors in whatever form we choose: each of us is able to have our own unique, intensely personal experiences that can - and usually do - enrich our lives. Crossing paths with Rod has enhanced this process for many of us.
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Rod on an early ascent at Frog Buttress in 1969 |
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Ian Cameron (belayed by Rod) searching for a suitable 'cracker' placement on the 1st pitch of Carborundum Tibrogargan, 1969 (Rod Bolton collection) |
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A smiling Rod Bolton (centre rear with beanie) oversees a stretcher party carrying his friend, Alan Milband, seriously injured in a fall on Mt Barney's West Peak in 1969. Greg Sheard (front left) leads the rescue team to glory (The Courier-Mail, Rod Bolton collection) |
