The Blue Cliff is focused on the more aquatic sea cliff exploits, i.e. those where you stand a serious chance of getting wet, and the sea is by necessity engaged with, not just a pleasant backdrop to the action. So, it's mostly about sea-level traversing, sea stacks and, above all, deep water soloing.
The book takes you on a clockwise circumnavigation of the British coastline, starting from the chalk of the White Cliffs of Dover. Along the way, the book deals with some particular questions: Did Aleister Crowley invent sea-cliff climbing, and was he the best climber in the world in the 19th century? Did the St Kildan natives really evolve prehensile feet? What is the truth about the famous story of commandos watching Menlove Edwards deep water soloing and then drowning while trying to emulate him?
The chapters are structured by area. Most of the essays and images are previously unpublished but some have appeared before in books, magazines, or journals.
Grant Farquhar has been climbing for over 40 years. Currently resident (and climbing) in Bermuda, he has deep water soloed in multiple locations in the UK and elsewhere in the world.
The book includes contributions from John Alcock, Henry Barber, Lee Bartrop, Steve 'Crusher' Bartlett, Ricky Bell, Richard Bingham, Nick Biven, Stu Bradbury, Nick Buckley, Marc Calhoun, Frank Cannings, Simon Cardy, Jess Carr, John Cleare, Damian Cook, Jacob Cook, Jon 'Joff' Cook, Liam Cook, Martin Crocker, Martin Crook, Dave 'Cubby' Cuthbertson, Andy Donson, Max Dutson, Tim Emmett, Toby Foord-Kelcey, Mick Fowler, Matt George, Peter Gillman, Mark Glaister, Pete Greening, Neil Gresham, Nick Hancock, Des Hannigan, Brian Hannon, Chris Harle, Sue Hazel, Craig Hiller, Graham Hoey, Graeme Hunter, Mike Hutton, Gordon Jenkin, Jethro Kiernan, Rob Lamey, Tom Last, Julian Lines, Pat Littlejohn, Dave MacLeod, James Mann, John McCune, James 'Caff' McHaffie, Alan 'Richard' McHardy, Iain Miller, Jerome Mowat, Pete Oxley, Ken Palmer, Iain Peters, Robbie Phillips, Dave Pickford, Greg Pittam, Richard Pollard, David Price, Simon Rawlinson, Stephen Reid, Glenn Robbins, Mike Robertson, Mark Robson, Carl Ryan - Black Planet Photography, Pete Saunders, Colm Shannon, Ben Silvestre, David Simmonite, Andrew Steinberg, Tony Stone, Steve Taylor, Alan Tees, Dave Thomas, Phil Thornhill, Scott Titt, Crispin Waddy, Andrew Walker, Lukasz Warzecha, Frankie Woods, and Brian Wyvill.
Edited by Grant Farquhar.
Hardback, 42cm by 30cm, 392 pages.
Published 2023.
ISBN: 9781999960063.