Busy times again

Climbing Batuka Extention 8b+, Freyr, Belgium. Photos: Jonas Haspeslagh

When I’m working these days it involves a lot of travelling. I’ve never been good with feeling at home wherever I am in the world. I tend to feel at home only at home. I guess thats my personality, but it’s annoying sometimes because my trips are always really interesting for seeing places and meeting people.

Last week among other places I’ve been in Slovenia and Belgium doing lectures to climbers. One of our goals with making Echo Wall together was for Claire and I to be able to travel to some of these nice events like Silvo’s festival together, instead of me disappearing on a bit of a lonely travel for work. We enjoyed seeing Llubljana and it’s people. Echo Wall won a prize at the festival too. It’s only the third year Silvo has run the mountain film festival there and it’s already a pretty big festival.

After a blur of Ryanair flights, working hard on my laptop and a squeezed visit to Dumbarton Rock I found myself in Belgium, climbing at Freyr the day after my talk. It was the first time I’d been out climbing in warm sunshine for several months, and it was making me impressively lethargic. In fact I reckon could have slept for the entire day. The Scots are so useless when we see a glimpse of decent weather. 

But it was a valuable chance to get some routes in, so I blasted off up a long 8b+, without really remembering the moves from my warmup bolt-to-bolt. I flailed impressively at the end, but bicycled my feet on the polished footholds through to the summit moments before forearm meltdown. All I could manage after that was a sleepy flash of the 8a next door. Although my head was still asleep, I did notice that I wasn’t really that pumped. Strange because I haven’t had time for endurance training with all this work. The reason, I found on returning home was that I’ve got back down to my fighting weight for the first time since I did Echo Wall. Feeling light on the rock is something I love but don’t get the chance often.

The grabbed climbing sessions in between work and travel have been really worth it, it seems. A friend showed me a prospective eliminate on Totality at Dumbarton. I made the mistake of trying it after I’d just spent a couple of hours pounding my forearms on my endurance circuit and failed from the crux several times. So it was nice to go back on the way home from Belgium and nail it quickly between showers. Before I left I also managed a quick hour in the glen and finally destroyed the roof project on Heather Hat I was talking about before. It goes at about V12 for me, but possibly a tad easier for giants. I’m not sure. I’ll try and get some video of it if the rain stops. 

Tomorrow, I am getting a new house which is very exciting. Comparatively little climbing has been done in order to make this happen, but naturally now I’m just starting to think of the coming months and churning around plans in my head. 

Thankyou for all your comments about Claire’s recent BAFTA award. There’s an video interview from Scottish TV about it here

Claire enjoying a ‘Coke Float’ a little too much on the way home from lecturing in Leeds.

Claire wins Best Director at BAFTA Scotland

Last night we were in Glasgow for the BAFTA Scotland new talent awards ceremony. Claire was nominated a few weeks ago for Best Director with Echo Wall. Claire was chuffed to bits to get the nomination and both of us were really happy to see a film from the small world of climbing making it into the glam limelight of the mainstream film and television industry.

But we both convinced ourselves totally that this would be as far as it went, and that the other three nominees for Best Director, with an obviously closer involvement in the film industry would have a better chance. 

I sat with Claire while she was briefed along with the other nominees (including the likes of Limmy) about which red carpet to walk down if their name was called out to come and receive an award. I thought it was nice to be invited to spend an evening in such company and see one of these ceremonies ‘in the flesh’. Loud music was played, presenters cracked jokes and announced winners. There was punching the air, shaky hands and tears from winners, and whoops and rapturous applause from a packed grand hall.

Claire’s Echo Wall was up against the directors of the thriller The Dead Outside, urban drama Running in Traffic and the documentary Ballads of the Book featuring contributions from Ian Rankin. We watched the nominees clips play including Echo Wall and then the presenter opened an envelope and announced the winner was Claire MacLeod. 

Claire’s face was indeed a picture. 

Neither of us can still believe that Claire won this award. The feedback we had from BAFTA’s jurors was that apart from the practical challenge of shooting a film like this single handedly and the seriousness of what Claire filmed (her other half risking neck), they liked the personal nature of the film and the appreciation shown of the beauty of the Lochaber in the shooting.

The impact of it in the ‘outside world’ of film was summed up by one of the other nominees. He asked Claire about the clip that played from Echo Wall of me saying:

“If I make a mistake on the climb, the consequences could not be higher for me, or for Claire.”

He asked if I was meaning we’d have to re-shoot the whole climb if I failed.

Claire explained, “No, he was meaning he would hit the ground and die with his wife filming if he made a mistake.”

This week, Echo Wall also won the Best Scottish Film award at the Fort William Mountain Festival, and Best Film at Glasgow Mountain Film Festival.

A little lost

This winter has been strange for me. I did my hardest onsight of a mixed route back in December, so my level has increased a little. But in trying many of the lines I’ve thought of in the past, I have had the feeling that in the right conditions, with the right partner, I’d have a good chance. Sometimes that feeling is nice. But sometimes I’m looking for a bit more. The bit more is a true uncertainty about whether the climbing is actually possible for me.

The solution to this is really brain dead simple - try harder climbs. Dumb ass. I’ve had a idea for such a climb for some time now, and been turning over in my mind about how, when and with whom to try it. The ‘with whom’ is actually one of the big problems here. Everyone I’ve asked so far if they fancy a look at it seemed a bit unsure. It’s hard to take a serious gamble on precious good winter days. One man who’s keenness seems to vary in line with how hairbrained the idea is Kev. 

So off we went on a perfect day on Tuesday for a look. The conclusion was as expected. Over an hour trying to get past the first 5 moves, followed by failure of arms at the crux and lowering down with my upper body turned to jelly.

But this was the most exciting and inspiring day out mixed climbing I’ve had for years, or maybe ever. The thought that one day, after more training and maybe more tries, this line could be a winter route gives me the same feeling Echo Wall did. 

I have a project again!!

One step forward, one back...

Working on the remaining Heather Hat project last winter. Yesterday I finally managed to stick the second sloper and take the cut loose. If I can just repeat that on a dry day I can try and link it through the finishing lunge.

Today I had a nice walk in the rain on Ben Nevis with Malcolm who'd flown over specially at the hint of good conditions coming on the Ben. Sadly it was the thaw day in the current good freeze thaw cycles going on up there. Observatory Gully looked like a dangerous place to stand today with huge amounts of snow turning wet in the sleet and then rain and just waiting to 'go'. We picked our way across the sidewalls to stay out of the firing line, but it was too unfrozen to justify starting up a new route. The thorough soaking did wonders for my head cold though!

Maybe I'll see some of you tomorrow for my lectures at the Transition Centre in Aberdeen.

Knuckle Down

That has been the mantra of the month. The amazing freeze of the highlands last month has been replaced by a bit of a miserable thaw and damp weather. These things work out in good timing sometimes.

It’s less than a month until I move house and working super hard and saving every penny has been the main thing to worry about. It’s worth worrying about too since a couple of unexpected setbacks have meant I’ve needed to drop some other plans and work even more than I expected. The recession bites! Must bite back...

The prize though will be worth it. A good place to live for Claire and I, and my own personal domestic dream of having space for a training board in my house for the first time. Good motivation to work hard.

The great thing about working is that there is also plenty of time for uninterrupted spells of training after work. The ratio of elbow rehab:training time is lurching gradually in favour of training, and as is normal for coming out of an injury I feel pretty good and strong.

Between showers (week long ones) I caught the Glen’s boulders dry and returned to the roof sloper project on the Heather Hat. I finally managed to stick the second sloper after a million tries last winter. A good feeling to have made irrefutable strength gains. This for me is one of the feelings from training – new possibilities, where before it was the same old impossibilities.

So it’s another month of hard work, hard training and putting in the hours for payback later. Such is the way with creating good stuff – the long slog in the middle between starting out and the end is the hard, but crucial bit.

Some stuff happening right now:

I’ve been writing a series of introductory articles for the Mountaineering Council of Scotland’s site and magazine on improving at climbing. They are focused very much on concepts that apply to everyone from beginners at climbing to those who have been climbing for years. The articles are here with more to come in the next few months.

On Tuesday (March 3rd)I am in Leeds giving a lecture on risk, climbing and Echo Wall. I’m giving this lecture again on March 8th in Aberdeen as well as a talk on improving at climbing. Details and tickets for these here.

Claire has just finished editing the showreel for this year’s Fort William Mountain Festival which is a couple of weeks away. It’s got the best bits of many of the films showing this year. I’m lecturing there on Thursday March 12th. Check the showreel:

Claire nominated for a Bafta!

I got home the other day to find Claire on the phone looking very cheery. Turns out it was Bafta Scotland on the phone saying she had been nominated for best director in the Bafta new talent awards for Echo Wall. Both of us were fairly dumfounded by this news to say the least.

It’s brilliant though that the quality and commitment of Claire’s work on Echo Wall has been recognised at such a high level. Claire has been creative all the time I’ve known her. But with Echo Wall she did what most others wouldn’t manage, she took it to another level by shooting footage that was extremely arduous and ultimately frightening to get, not to mention a year of long days and nights of work and all our savings and earnings to turn it into a finished film. I’m really pleased for her.

So next month the kilt will be coming out for the Bafta ceremony in Glasgow!

New Lectures in March

Claire and I have just organised some extra lecture dates in March, presented by Mountain Equipment:

March 3rd: Leeds, Mountain Intelligence. Safe is Risky lecture 7.30pm. Free beer! 

Full details and online tickets at my lectures page or at the Mountain Intelligence store.

March 8th: Aberdeen, Transition Extreme.

5pm – Training for climbing

7pm – Safe is Risky

In ‘Safe is Risky’ I talk about my two year preparation for climbing Echo Wall, centred around how my attitude to risk in climbing and life developed and allowed me to be 100% sure I was ready for the hardest trad route in the UK.

The lecture on training for climbing will be my first of this type. Many years ago when I’d not long started climbing I heard that the famous training guru Marius Morstad was giving a lecture on training for climbing at the Kendal Mountain Festival. I had to go to it! It made me go to the festival for the first time and I loved hearing what Marius had to say about a subject I was massively interested in. So now I’ve been immersed in this subject ever since I’m going to try and do something similar and pass on the most important elements that I’ve seen help climbers continue to break into new grades as the years go on.

There won’t be too much about tweaking the fine details of climbing training (because these only become important for the very few). Instead I’ll be talking a lot about how the attitudes, influences and habits you bring to climbing play out in how you improve at it, in lots of unobvious ways.

My aim with this talk is to pass on a useful insight for any climber, beginner or expert about how there is a linked chain right through from your general approaches to the changes in muscle that make you stronger otherwise. Most climbers don’t ever get good because they start in the wrong places and head in the wrong directions or get stuck in cul-de-sacs. I’m hoping to make the subject a bit easier to navigate.

There will be some time at the end to ask specific questions you have and I’ll be around all evening if you want to ask things. Tickets for both the training and Safe is Risky lecture are £8 or £12 for both. You can buy your ticket online from my lectures page here or from Transition Extreme.

But before all that a wee reminder I’m in The Cragg climbing wall next Sunday Feb 22nd doing technique masterclasses during the day and Safe is Risky lecture in the evening. Full details at the lectures page.

Catch you there.

North West adventures

Ben Nevis looking chilly. I should have been bouldering instead of taking pictures, but it was baltic!

I have been in the north west with Blair. I was keen on a look at the uber hard lines on Ben Bhan. In a scene rather typical of our most frustrating climbing discipline, we waded through the deep snow in the dark to arrive at the giants wall to find all the snow had been neatly blown off the wall by the northerlies. Damn it! That it would be too cold, too warm, too wet, too dry, too windy, not the right kind of wind, not the right kind of snow or other such reasons is nothing new to anyone who tries to do hard Scottish winter climbing. The harder grade you want to climb, the harder it is to catch the climb in good condition.

Sunrise on Ben Bhan

Blair eyes up Giants Wall, Coire am Fhamair

We went for a nice jaunt on an easy route instead (the Fowler classic Great Overhanging Gully VI,7). The aerobics of swinging tools and pulling in ropes all day was good therapy for my creaky elbow, compared to pulling on a Font 8c project in minus 4 conditions the day before. The scenery of the highands has been quite amazing of late though, especially at night with clear skies, full moon illuminating the snow buried mountains in strange light and all the lochs frozen over with temperatures down to minus 18.

Blair ventures up Great Overhanging Gully, VI

Sunrise on the Skye Cuillin

A nice looking piece of ice in the distance - lets check that out!

Next day we headed for Sgurr a Chaorachain, hoping to find some ice. And some ice we found. A lovely hanging fang, unclimbed. I grunted my way up overhanging rock towards this and found a nice body wedge behind the fang for some claustrophobic respite. I forgot my ice screws so a sling around the middle of the fang was the only protection to pull round onto the front face of the fang. Leaning back and eying this up from a seemingly secure placement in the ice, I was relaxed and looking forward to blasting up the ice above. All of a sudden the chunk of ice around my axe decided to part company with the rest of the icicle and I went flying. It was all over before I could blink but my sling held and I suffered only a bash on the arm from the bottom few feet of the fang which broke and hit me as I swung in. 

Next time there were no such antics and I blasted up the headwall of ice to bag a nice new grade VII. Every time I go to the north west I see so much more to do. It’s quite amazing how few routes have been done on the cliffs there. The question is, will I be good enough to climb them?

Jerry's Revelations

One of the nice things about running my webshop is that I can choose exactly what I think are really cool films or books that are worth reading or seeing for climbers. Something I got pretty excited about was Jerry Moffatt’s biography which is just out. Of course I read everything Jerry wrote in the climbing magazines and watched all his films when I started climbing. It was pretty obvious to me then, even as a youngster that Jerry was who he was because he had something a bit different, a bit more. It was the single minded determination that helped him overtake everybody else, and then stay at such a high level through the injuries and upsets that would knock most other athletes down a few pegs. 

Reading stories like Jerry’s are always inspiring because it reaffirms what can be done with the right attitude, and just how critical attitude is. I just got my stock through yesterday, so I haven’t read it yet. When I do I’ll get a review up. In the meantime, if you are as keen to read this as I am, you can get it in the shop here.

New possibilities

With my elbow demanding another rest day after recent exertions I cheered myself up after work by looking for new projects in the glen. As usual, it came up with the goods, in the shape of this strange cave. It's actually quite a well known cave, but I'd assumed it would be of the damp and unhelpful type. It actually turned out to have a bone dry and weatherproof roof with a rather nice ships prow feature in it. I worked on this today, seems maybe V12 although I couldn't do the first two moves just yet.

I also went back to this daddy boulder I'd looked at some years ago and was biding my time before feeling strong enough to even try to climb on it. There are some easy things to go at here too V0-V4, but the main event are three projects that all look between V11 and V14.

Today I had to be careful as my elbow is inflamed and complaining because I've stepped up my training a little too early and not been disciplined enough with rehab. BTW whenever I talk about my own injury rehab on my blog many of you email to ask for advice on the subject. I've been working hard on a book about this and getting through it. I will of course be shouting about that as soon as it's ready which won't be too long.