Paul James Nunn (6 January 1943 – 6 August 1995) was an English mountaineer, rock climber, author, and economic historian. He was elected President of the British Mountaineering Council in 1994 and held the position until his death.
Early Life and Education
Nunn was born in Abbeyleix, County Laois, Ireland, in 1943 and was raised by adoptive parents in Macclesfield, Cheshire. He graduated in economic history at Sheffield University and completed a Ph.D. in the same field. He taught briefly at a school in Buxton before becoming a lecturer and later principal lecturer in economic history at Sheffield Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University).
Mountaineering Career
Nunn was an early member of the Alpha Mountaineering Club and later joined both the Climbers Club and the Alpine Club. He pioneered numerous rock climbs across the United Kingdom, particularly in Derbyshire, the English Lake District, and Scotland. He established over 40 first ascents on gritstone and 30 on limestone, as well as routes across other parts of the UK. More than a dozen of these new routes are regarded as "three-star" classics, including Megaton (featured in Extreme Rock) and Emerald Gully (featured in Cold Climbs). In 1966, he was part of the team that first climbed the Old Man of Stoer (with Brian Henderson, Tom Patey, and Brian Robertson).
He compiled several widely used UK rock climbing guidebooks, including a Fell & Rock Climbing Club guidebook to Borrowdale (with Oliver Woolcock), British Mountaineering Council guidebooks to the Peak District Northern and Southern Limestone, a guidebook to the Kinder edges, and a commercially published guidebook covering most of the Peak District that ran to several editions over 12 years.
Nunn participated in major mountaineering expeditions internationally. Highlights include:
- 1970: A new route on the north face of Pik Schurovski (4,259 m) in the Caucasus with Chris Woodhall and Hamish MacInnes.
- 1972: The east pillar of Mount Asgard on Baffin Island (a 4,000-foot rock climb within the Arctic Circle) with Paul Braithwaite, Dennis Hennek, and Doug Scott.
- 1980–1981: An attempt on the west face of Mount Everest during winter as part of an eight-man team (including Joe Tasker, Alan Rouse, John Porter, Brian Hall, Adrian Burgess, Alan Burgess, and Pete Thexton); this unsuccessful attempt was recounted in Tasker's book Everest the Cruel Way.
- 1994: Ascents of Rangrik Rang (6,553 m) and Manirang (6,593 m) in Himachal Pradesh, India.
He served on the UIAA Expeditions Commission in the 1990s as a Karakoram expert. He was on the editorial team of the magazine Mountain from its inception in 1969 as reviews editor, becoming associate editor in 1979, a role he held until the final issue in 1992.
Film Work
Nunn worked as the climbing double for Sean Connery on the film Five Days One Summer, which involved extensive filming of climbing sequences in the Swiss Alps. He was also involved in other short films, including The Bat (1978).
Personal Life
While a student at Sheffield University in 1963, Nunn met his future wife Hilary, with whom he had two daughters.
Death
On 6 August 1995, Nunn and his climbing partner Geoff Tier were descending from the summit of Haramosh II (6,666 m) in the Karakoram Range, Pakistan, when they were overwhelmed and buried by a massive icefall collapse. Both were killed.
Legacy
Nunn served as Vice President of the British Mountaineering Council (1986–1990 and 1993–1994) and was elected President in 1994, a position he held until his death. His contributions to British climbing, guidebook authorship, and mountaineering literature are widely recognized.
