Replacements...

(what my guides look like right now, a pretty sorry state)

About a year and half ago I brought a pair of 5.10 Guide Tennies. They are a pretty simply made approach (though I dislike the term) shoe. They are not waterproof (in the style of a gore-tex liner etc), they have no fancy bells and whistles and the sole is very simple. I love them to bit, quite literally to bits as well because I spent the last week in Ecrin's spending my evening super gluing bits on the rubber on the front back on. 

(rubber coming away at the front, solution:

 Superglue!)

Whats good about these shoes? Well they're light, which means that you can carry them up behind you clipped to your harness when you're climbing. This is important as I like having this option. They're also pretty low bulk, so they are not a massive thing dangling off you. Unlike the 5.10 camp 4's (great shoes, I just didn't like them at all) they don't have a massive heel cages that make you feel like you're wearing high heels!

They're reasonably hard wearing. Considering the upper is only leather and the sole is made of 5.10 stealth rubber I didn't expect them to last this long. I have a bad tendency to wear my approach shoes into big mountain routes and other such places where boots would be much more appropriate. There is one hole in the leather, but I'll get round to that. The soles haven't exactly split but they do let in a little water. I can't work out from where though. 

(Damage and repairs with seam sealer)

I like the fact they have a massive covering of leather on the toe. This is good as toe's tend to get stubbed and battered when walking around the mountains. It's a shame that the rubber runs out down the side of each shoe like it does. This is my only gripe with the shoes. When you sit cross legged the outside of each foot wears a hole through the side of shoe. This can all be solved by longer rubber rands... or a liberal application of seam sealer (or something similar). It really does work and makes a huge difference.

If you're looking for a damn light, hard wearing approach shoe that you can probably climb about 4c/5a in then these are awesome shoes. They defiantly get my vote!

They're so good, instead of messing round trying to find a new and different pair of shoes to use I've just brought a new pair. I see them as a solid investment. 

(What they should look like!)

Never Descend Climbing Team (and other things)

Well somewhere along the line I've made it onto a climbing team. I'm now (along with a few of my friends) on the Never Descend Climbing Team (check out their website here). I'm definitely not the hardest climber in the world but I am pretty active which is probably why I've ended up on there.

Never Descend is a small climbing company that's been set up Sam Morley. He's really keen to develop products that climber use and need, rather than are mass produced to meet some marketing criteria. So far he's been asking us (being a large group of climbers from the stoke area, via facebook) about different bits of kit that just aren't out there on the market.

I've finally managed to get myself a laptop of my own sorted. This is a pretty big thing as not having a computer has felt a little like I've been missing a limb some days. It also means that I can start shooting short climbing films again. I've even managed to borrow a small HD camera and second tripod for my trip to Devon next week. With Stuart bringing along his camera as well and 3 days of sea cliff climbing, it should make for some pretty good footage and hopefully a half decent short film. It's nice to have something to work on.

As I just mentioned above I'll be climbing in Devon next week, if all goes to plan (and by that I mean it doesn't rain!). The plan has stemmed from another friend trying to organise a roadtrip down through Devon, round cornwall and then back along the south coast to finish at Portland. This would have been an awesome trip, but sadly he never really got round to organising it in full. It's still in the idea phase. Undeterred, but a little strapped for time Stuart and I hashed out a plan to go climbing in Devon, based around him wanting to do Kinky Boots. I don't know why but I've been looking forward to this trip so much recently. It'll all be sea cliff climbing and the Culm coast has a bit of a reputation for being loose, which is something that I highly value in a route (probably thanks to Soames; "the 4 qualities"). The current plan is to start south, at Bude and one of the cliffs around there and then work our way up the coast, finishing at Baggy Point. I've been to Baggy before and loved it. That trip resulted in "A Cornish Adventure" part 1 & part 2. It is literally only now I've realized that we weren't in Cornwall. I've pretty much been wanting to get back down to Devon since that trip. 

To make this a little more interesting, we've no camping booked. The reason being that it's bloody expensive to camp down there. Both of us would rather spend the time cooking on the beach and then having to find a roadside to sleep at. It's pretty much how we operated on our alps trip (which was with Dan and not Stuart) and it worked out well. And as I've mentioned the alps...

I'm going to Ecrins with Soames on the 18th! Soames, who've never done any alpine climbing before asked me in January I think if I'd like to go to the Alps in the summer. He fancies doing some longer routes, right in the mountains. With little snow and ice experience, we're leaving the crampons and tools behind in favor of some sun-kissed rock, baguettes and french cheeses. Flying has was never really an option for us and be both pack a little heavy and enjoy a little more comfort (we even have a camp table) so we were going to train it over. Now car has replaced train and I'm not looking forward to the 12 hour drive. I'll be happier having the car though, as it'll give us some more options to move around. We're going back to the same area in Ecrins I went to last time, La Berade so at least I'll be going somewhere that I've been before.

So the next few weeks should be good!

Couch surfing 101:

Couch surfing: 

A skilled professional sport; most often taken up by the homeless musician. It may consist of riding the 'ultimate wave' (prolonged or permanently scored sofa accommodation) or smaller and shorter waves (temporary stays).
These skilled and talented 'couch athletes' sometimes consider getting a job, but usually are back out in the surf within a few weeks thereafter. 

I've been couch surfing for what seems like years. This doesn't mean to say that I've not had a house of my own (or a room at least) to live in but the climbing life (if you wanted to call it that) just seems to work well with couch surfing. I think it stems from living in B'ham for so long while the majority of my climbing partners and friends live in Stoke-on-Trent. Over the years I've stayed on many couches, floors, occasionally spare beds, but no bath tubs mind and I've picked up a few things.

1. Find out what time the house owner is getting up in the morning. This is pretty important, especially if your someone who likes to sleep late or you've ended up having a late night. Be prepared to fit around somebodies else's living arrangements because at the end of the day they are giving you a place to stay. This works with bedtime too. If they want to sit up till 4am playing xbox or watching films, sat on the couch your supposed to be sleeping on, then it's well it is their call. If you really need sleep just ask if you can crash on the floor in another room.

2. Make sure that everyone in the house is cool with you crashing on the couch. Most of my friends are also climbers and they understand that you'll need a place to crash, especially if you're both heading out to climb again the next day. But just because they're cool with you surfing their couch it doesn't mean everyone else will be. Sometime they're not the house owner or there's other less accommodating persons living there which might cause a problem. You don't want to cause an issue for a friend who's putting you up for the night. There's always somewhere else to crash. (see points 5 & 6)

3. Karma's important! I surfed a while back with a bunch of friends as part of an impromptu bbq and they basically just got drunk in my friends living room (like very drunk) and the chipped off in the morning without much more than a thanks. Part of being a good couch surfer is giving a little back. Whoever is putting you up for the night is going out of their for you, and even though it is only sleeping at their house it's nice to give something back. I generally try and do the washing up, make them a cup of tea for when they wake up (always best to ask if how they like their tea), tidy up anything from the night before. Hell I've gone to the trouble of sweeping someone yard before. This is really important if it's a house that you stay at regularly or it's with one of your friends. You don't want friction because in a friendship because they think you're sponging off them for living space and if it's somewhere your staying regular then you want to keep up a good relationship with the homeowner. 

Oh, and always try and replace the milk if you've been sat around all day drinking tea!

4. Orientation is key. Find out where everything is, like kitchen, bathroom, front and back doors. Light switches are a pretty key thing to know the location of too. Hopefully this'll stop you bumbling around in the night should you need something and waking everyone up with a load of bashing and crashing.

5. Don't impose. Don't assume that you're staying there, even if you've crashed before. If the nights getting late don't wait till the last minute before requesting a sleeping space, especially if you've been drinking. You don't want to put someone in a awkward position where they feel they have to let you stay, even if they don't want to because they can't turn you out onto the street. It's best to always have a back-up plan (like a car to sleep in) just in case you forget. Also don't guilt trip people into letting you stay by complaining about staying the night in the car. It's just not cool. I've found that if you've stayed there before and you've been a good house guest that you'll generally get and offer of a couch, before you feel the need to ask.

6. Know when to leave. This is a big one! You don't want to jeopardize a friendship because you can't shift your lazy ass off the couch. Know when someone wants you to leave or give them a bit of time to themselves. If that means finding a new couch or returning to base camp (wherever you call home) then so be it.

Inbetween the rain

Managed a short day in at Baldstones last week, before the rain hit of course. We'd got up late so I only managed to get three routes in before getting a real soaking on the walk out. It was one of those "I'll be ok, it's not too far, I won't need a waterproof" moments. Apparently I did, and thus got wet. 

I think we probably ticked off three of the crag classics, the Original Route (E2 5c), Baldstones Arete (HVS 4c) and Baldstones Face (VS 4b). I've been wanting to do the Original Route there since I spotted a picture of Justin Critchlow leading it in the old guide book. That slab just looks awesome to climb on... and it was! However the 5c boulder problem proved to be mighty hard to get up to it. It gets V2 on it's own so I was glad we'd brought a pad with us as I managed to slip off more than enough times before I nailed it.

Tim lead the Arete, in fine style and not bothering to get worked up but the run out nature of the route. He said afterwards that he was really surprised he'd actually carried on and lead it because normally stuff like that just freaks him out. To me it seemed to be a good lead. He did hesitate just before he stepped out onto the arete, but he didn't stop.

We then looked at a few horrible offwidth crack that were caked in green and decided against them before I lead Baldstones Face, the longest route of the day at a whopping 15 metres. Again a good route, runout but traversed the slab I'd already climbed as part of the Original Route. It was sitting on top that I spotted the rain coming in and urged Tim to climb quicker. As I said earlier, we got wet. 

(all photo's courtesy of Matt Snell)

Life, jobs and becoming a full-time climbing bum

These last 2 months or so have been a bit of a weird one for me. In this time I've broken up with a long term partner, quit my job of 4 years because I'm sick and tired of it and thus thrown myself into a life of uncertainty. I've not got a job to walk straight into, and no real prospects of work. I also don't really know what I want to do with my life either. I guess a lot of this is just normal at the moment. I'm slightly annoyed that I've got not job because there were some parts of it that I really liked, but the crux of the whole issue was that it was paying me enough to get by and climb, but not enough that I'd ever really make anything of it. It was also a dead-end and without retraining, that was it. I did toy with the idea of teaching, but I really don't think that's the job for me. The good teachers I've met over the year (either being taught or working along side them) have been passionate people, who poor everything into their teaching. They might not be the highest qualified or have the most degrees but they provide for the students like no other. I can't be a teacher like that, not until I've sorted some way to managed the other obsession that seems to dominate my life.


I did managed a to get a weeks work, through a friend and climbing partner (Tim). It was sold to me as a residential where I'd be doing ML work for two days (walking with a group) and an overnight at a campsite. Then a days SPA work (leading groups climbing and abseiling) and then another two days like the firsts. I was also told my hours would be 8 till 4, which I thought was pretty sweet, little did I know...


What a wild week is all I can really say. I did work 8 till 4, but also a bunch of hours before and after that. I didn't care as it was nice to have something dominating my day like work I enjoyed rather than sitting round getting bored. As freelance instructors we were offered a room and food for the week at Malham Tarn Field Centre, if we agreed to do one evening activity for the groups. Of course we accepted. I met loads of really cool people, from all over the country and I learnt loads. It realised how long I've been out of the Outdoor Ed industry pretty quickly and for the first couple of day I felt like I was running just to stay level. By the wendesday I felt much better about the whole thing. 


That isn't to say there were some bad moments. We have awkward staff to deal with, difficult kids, medical issues (some they bothered to tell us before hand, and some they didn't), kids with SEN, odd groups sizes and bad weather. I got a ride in an ambulance too but none of the bad things really mattered. I didn't wake up each day, put on a shirt and tie, tie up my shoes and drive across a town centre in rush hour traffic. I'd have done this weeks work for free if they'd have asked.

Oh yeah, and I was based in Malham. Amazing scenery:

(Malham Cove)

Climbing seems to have taken a little rest for the moment. I've trashed my fingers attempting Tierdrop (and bumped my head!) but I just feel generally knackered. Instead I've spent sometime at base camp (parents house) spending time with my little brother and sister who've I've missed after a week away. 


My ex (I hate using that term to describe someone, but it fits so) used to tell me "do what you want". It never came over how she meant it but I finally got it after I handed in my notice. I am doing what I want, even if it isn't much. Tim asked me the other day is we lead good lives (during a reasonably deep conversation on the journey home from Yorkshire). To answer I asked him if he felt he was happy doing what he was doing? and did his lifestyle impact negatively on anyone he knew or cared about. 


life is good.