Podcasts about ukclimbing

My old mucker Andy chatting North Wales in 90s, soloing, freedom, grit, history and rambling. So warm.

Lifer, and then some! Lakes legend Rob Mathieson was at the forefront of Lake District standards since the 1970s, rarely taking his foot off the gas of hard trad climbing. Skill, boldness and passion took him up the area's classics. His fire burns just as bright today as he aims himself towards one of the UK's most terrifying E7s. He's funny, kind and inspiring. Hear his crack!

Pure soul. Julian is one of the UK's most extraordinary climbers, a stoic toejammer, a ramrod individualist, an aesthetic ascetic. Film star, prize-winning author, hermit. Get in!   Support (thank you) from Summit Financial Services. Summit Financial Services have been providing Life Insurance, Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover for climbers for over 25 years. Speak to a climbing and mountaineering specialist today on 0345 565 0937 or click here for quote https://www.summit-fs.co.uk/  

Trad-monster James Pearson reflects on the early days of marching through the numbers to the top of grade-mountain and finding himself eventually on the edge of the cliff. Powerful stuff, lots of fun.

French-born ex-comp best turned lover of British hard trad mega-classics Caro sits down and answers some of her own questions - is that a thing? Super crack.

In part 2 of the Neil Gresham chat we talk Indian Face, Hard Grit, travelling and exploration, DWS, training and professionalism. Brilliant!

Russ Clune has been more places, met more people and climbed more climbs than most of us put together. Hear this Gunks legend tell us about decades of climbing fun around the world, how things used to be and how things have changed. Old school guaranteed!

Adventure boulderer Ruby Petch is one of the driving forces of the development of North Devon. By hiking pads, figuring tides, checking coves and sniffing out nooks Ruby and her small band of pad pirates have carried the proud Devon torch into new areas. Hear her crack here.

The young Scot owns the strongest fingers in the game and he has pointed them at many of the UK's hardest routes, and they have quivered before his might. In this podcast we chat early days, Malcolm Smith, Adam Ondra, Burden of Dreams, Excalibur, his diet and much much more. Much fun!

In this interview, The Climbing Doctor talks climbing movement with an expert on the subject, John Kettle! John is an experienced coach of over 20 years and is the author of "Rock Climbing Technique." Listen to this episode to learn about John's journey with injuries and how he applies movement to improve climbing performance. This episode covers: John Kettle's battle with finger injury and subsequent management John Kettle's approach to managing his shoulders Further injury history and management Relationship between climbing movement with performance and injury Changing climbing movement behaviors Leveraging tension for improved climbing movement John Kettle's key tips for improving performance John Kettle's Bio: During 20+ years of coaching I've helped thousands improve both in performance and enjoyment; from first trad leads to 8th grade redpoints and V11 boulder problems. ​My love of climbing has seen me gain extensive experience over four decades, including first ascents of trad, sport and ice routes, solo winter expeditions, and developing new bouldering venues. If there's a summit, climb or new grade that inspires you I'll match your enthusiasm and use my proven coaching approach to make it happen. I've published a bestselling book on climbing technique, and I deliver training for coaches internationally. I have also written coaching skills articles for UKClimbing, Training Beta and the Professional Mountaineer magazine. Listen to a podcast interview with me, about my own progression through the grades and my coaching philosophy. Where to Find John Kettle: website: johnkettle.com Instagram: @john_kettle_climbing email: ask@johnkettle.com Referenced Posts: Instagram Injury Post 1: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAXia_ijLFV/ Instagram Injury Post 2: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFjQg9EjtQ5/

> Find galleries, blog posts and many more episodes at www.mountainairpodcast.uk“You've got to acknowledge that you're just a fragment in time.”Episode 2#9 settles down with Doug Bartholomew, a man who has the dream job of managing one of Scotland's great landscapes. Seek him on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday and you'll find him and his team of fellow NatureScot employees on Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree Islands National Nature Reserve in Wester Ross. This 48 square kilometres of magnificent highland wilderness requires hard work to keep it running sustainably, and constant attention is required to replenish the native Caledonia pinewoods that still grow in these soils. As a consequence, Doug finds himself stalking deer, nurturing and planting up to 20,000 pine seedlings, and enduring vicious swarms of midges throughout his working year. Told you it was a dream job.Doug reveals how he came to be in this “dead man's shoes” kind of role, why volunteers on the reserve are absolutely essential to its continued success, and how much joy can be found running and climbing in this exceptional landscape when you wake and work between its peaks.> Want to volunteer at Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree Islands NNR yourself? Walk this way.Listen, enjoy, tell your friends, subscribe to the podcast if you get and chance, and thank UKHillwalking.com for their kind support of this series![episode recorded on 30/08/22]00:00 - Introduction01:56 - Welcome, living on Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve (“it's a short commute to work”) amongst the “largest remnant” of ancient Caledonian pinewood06:06 - A run-down of a Reserve Manager's job, stalking deer and growing trees from seed09:06 - A small team for a 5,000 hectare area11:24 - Growing 20,000 trees per year, repairing deforestation by humans and herbivores16:06 - “As a manager, you want to see things happen in your time… but especially with woodland restoration like this you've got to acknowledge that you're just a fragment in time when you think of the hundreds of years it'll need to restore these landscapes.”17:11 - More about deer management, “aiming for a about 1-2 deer per kilometre squared”, the absence of apex predators (“we don't have an intact natural process”)20:06 - A “‘dead man's shoes” kind of job20:36 - Doug's journey to becoming a Reserve Manager, the challenges of conservation, feeling a connection to the environment29:36 - Getting out in the evenings and getting up high - “if you can run, you can pack a lot into a short time… to get up on the Beinn Eighe ridge while the light's flooding in from the west”, the scrambly mountain running in the area32:46 - Multi-pitch trad climbing on Beinn Eighe, and the appeals of winter when ice climbing is in. Being one step ahead of UKClimbing's forums36:26 - Welcoming the general public, the first waymarked route in Britain which rises to 500m with views of Loch Maree38:16 - The hardest days on the job, being uplifted by the “vibrance and enthusiasm” of volunteers on the Reserve, enjoying their varied backgrounds41:40 - Midge chat: “the weather's not always hot and sunny… and my house must be one of the midge-iest spots in Scotland. They never lose their bite”... don't end up with a “lather of dead midges all over you”... “grimace”45:36 - Greatest mountain memory… a winter traverse of the Cuillin in perfect weather and perfect snow conditions; a winter climb of the Fiddler's Nose (“I'm still buzzing”)48:16 - All the time, money, freedom… what would you do? Climbing in Alaska and the Himalayas, but “I love my job and I'm pretty content, so I wouldn't ask for much more”

He's an 80s trad boiler and Catwalk-walking sports cat. He's into telling you about his E7 when he's in the pub. He's got it in for Peakies. He's a right laugh. He's Mick Johnston.

This 28-year-old Chicago/Colorado climber is one of the world's top female boulderers, with multiple 8B+/V14s to her credit. Yet she flies under the radar, deciding to avoid the harsh glare of self promotion on social media. Let's hear what she's all about!

Taylor Parsons came to prominence in the climbing world about a decade ago when, as Chris Webb-Parsons, she was one of the world's strongest boulderers with a string of cutting-edge outdoor and competition performances. Parsons soon after fell out of climbing and, after years of dark struggles, has now transitioned into mum-of-three, Taylor. The story contains graphic detail and lots of laughs.

We all get enjoyment from climbing for different reasons. For many of us those reasons change over time, according to our geography, time, money and other pressures in our lives. I’ve read Katherine Schirrmacher’s blog for years, and she’s unusually good at expressing all of those little things that can affect your motivation or self belief. Like many of us, she was excited for the adventure of trad climbing in her early days, but she became an all-rounder; sport climbing, bouldering and competing as part of the British team. Being good at climbing can be a really satisfying thing, but if you spread yourself too thin, in too many disciplines that’s hard work. When you’re young and free you can sustain the energy needed, but as you get older all of those other features of life - work, children, relationships - creep in and put pressures on that time you were so eager to use for climbing. You pick up injuries, or can’t get out so easily when conditions are good, and when you’ve been so focussed on your performance that it’s hard to reel back. So how do you find a balance? For Katherine, it’s been about understanding what really brings her happiness in climbing. It could be giving herself permission to try a route, or leave it for another day. It might be focussing on the great friendships she has in the sport. It might be the sense of being in a beautiful place, or moving well on the rock. And, of course, it could still be climbing hard, but on her own terms. Many of us use climbing as an escape, but Katherine told me she’s learned to appreciate just how central it is in her life. In doing so she’s been able to find ways to match her goals to the things that will really make her happy, and she’s done so by listening to how others do the same. You can find Katherine on her website at lovetoclimb.co.uk and on Instagram @katherine.schirrmacher Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Follow Factor Two on Facebook or Instagram. Wil Treasure on Twitter - @treasurewild Music credits: All music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.

In the spring of 1968 San Francisco film maker, Fred Padula, drove into the Yosemite Valley and gazed up at El Capitan. He had been approached by one of his film students, Glen Denny, a talented climber and photographer, to advise on making a film about climbing The Nose. Denny had been part of the team that made the third ascent of the route. He’d also made the first ascent of the Dihedral Wall and was well connected in big wall circles. The concept was to create a film that would be as awe-inspiring as climbing The Nose. The logistics of such a film felt impossible to Padula at first. The Arriflex camera alone weighed 6.5kg, without film, and filming capacity was measured in feet, not Gigabytes in those days. A 100 foot reel was just 160 seconds of footage, and changing the reel on the wall in bright sunlight was so awkward that they’d lose 40 seconds of that every time. Recording sound was no simpler. Padula had a 4-track recorder specially made as there were no commercial models. He had to experiment with masts to be able to receive a strong enough signal from the climbers’ microphones. After all of this effort only 2 of the mics worked. After much negotiation they found a team - Richard McCracken, Gary Colliver and Lito Tejada-Flores. They’d need money too. Denny approached the founder of The North Face, Douglas Tompkins, who had recently sold his San Francisco shops and was looking to invest in adventure films. With money from Padula, Denny, “Cado” Avenali and Tompkins they had what seemed like a healthy budget of around $30,000 - more than $200,000 at today’s prices. The problems with filming took their toll, however. Tompkins had been inspired by his friend Bruce Brown, who had become a millionaire after his legendary surf film The Endless Summer was released a few years earlier. Brown is credited with kickstarting a surf-travel lifestyle that was a boon to brands and the sport. Tompkins wanted a piece of that action and was starting to realise that the slow pace of both the film and the climbers wasn’t going to replicate the excitement of The Endless Summer. Unbeknown to Padula, Tompkins left the project and withdrew his money. Padula was left as producer, deeply in debt and with limited idea of what the film was supposed to be. They finished the filming on the wall and he and Denny continued to film scenery shots around Yosemite, before Denny also got cold feet and abandoned the project, asking Padula to destroy the footage. After a day in court Padula was left with the film and the debts. Over several years the film sat in his San Francisco basement while he paid off the debts and got hassled by different people over when the film would be made, either because they wanted to see it, or in Avenali’s case because he wanted a return on his investment. With the help of Tejada-Flores and McCracken, Padula laid out the film and the sound and got to work on creating his vision of what the film could be. In 1978, ten years after filming first started, he released El Capitan to much acclaim. It went on to win the Grand Prize at the 1979 Banff Film Festival. In this episode Fred Padula and Richard McCracken talk about making the film and the challenges they faced in both climbing the route and filming on it. Factor Two is produced by Wil Treasure for UKClimbing.com Find us on Instagram @factor.two Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions.

When it was released in 1998, Hard Grit gave us an insight into something we didn’t often see - the actual ascents of the hardest, most dangerous lines on grit. In an era before everyone had a smartphone, before digital photography was even mainstream, many of the photos we saw in the magazines were staged. The hardest lines captured on video were often toproped reconstructions. Hard Grit changed that, by virtue of a few lucky coincidences and a lot of hard work. Director Rich Heap had helped Johnny Dawes with some of the editing on his film Best Forgotten Art. Johnny left for a roadtrip in America, and Rich was left with his camera. Without much of a plan he started filming some routes on the grit. Being a talented climber himself, and living with Seb Grieve, meant that he had access to the grapevine of some of the boldest and best climbers around. He started to amass some interesting footage. Then one day at Black Rocks he captured the scenes that would bookend the film - Seb’s first ascent of Meshuga and Jean-Minh Trin-Thieu’s famous lob off Gaia - and he realised he had something special. Realising he had a film on his hands, Rich enlisted the help of Mark Turnbull to act as producer. The pair set about building on his footage. They created a loose storyline around the history of gritstone climbing, presented by Niall Grimes. In the process a new mythology around these ascents was born, and had an international impact. One of the central themes to the film was the madness of the whole thing. That madness was embodied by Seb Grieve, shouting and talking to himself on the most terrifying ascents. But Seb wasn’t mad, he’d practiced the routes carefully, he’d made detailed notes about the gear and, crucially, he’d actually looked closely at the “shipwreck” of a flake on Parthian Shot. Seb is the film's have-a-go hero, but he had a healthy CV of hard ascents already, including early repeats of Braille Trail and Gaia. In this episode Seb, Niall and Rich recall how Hard Grit came about and how it became a part of the climbing culture it reflected. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Follow Factor Two on Facebook or Instagram. Wil Treasure on Twitter - @treasurewild Music credits: All music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.

When you look at the books on a shelf of mountaineering literature one thing is quickly apparent: the vast majority are written by men. The same is true with the episodes I’ve produced for Factor Two. The simple fact is that there have historically been more men engaged in the kind of adventures that we choose to tell those high profile stories about. The kind of stories I’ve sought out have often fitted a similar mould. I came into this episode with a simplistic question. Would those stories be different if the protagonists were women? Back in 1987 Dave Cook addressed the International Festival of Mountaineering Literature with his keynote speech, Running on Empty. He argued that climbing writing was becoming stale and insular and needed to be prepared to “push the hyperspace button”. He wanted to see writing which embraced wider topics in the world and became more inclusive of ideas and people. Writing should talk about people as lovers, workers, genders and we should see the mountains not just as a playground, but as the ecosystem of which we are a part. Sound familiar? We often forget the fact that most of what we deem to be success or progress in climbing is socially defined. Our stories are important because they become the unifier - they help us understand community expectations and goals. Of course, there’s a good dose of vicarious glory to be wallowed in as well, but we often overlook that what we want to celebrate isn’t some objective reality - it’s the subjectivity of good stories. To explore this I sought the help of Helen Mort and Anna Fleming, both writers and climbers. I wanted to understand whether they’d been inspired by the same stories in the same ways that I had. Are we meeting the challenge that Dave Cook laid down more than 30 years ago? Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com You can find writing from Anna and Helen on their websites: Thegranitesea.wordpress.com helenmort.com Follow Factor Two on Facebook or Instagram. Wil Treasure on Twitter - @treasurewild Music credits: All music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.

It’s hard to be truly disconnected these days. Even in the weirdness of isolation over the past few months many of us have been working from home, constantly bothered by the connections around us. Sometimes it’s just a little too much. I’ve missed the isolation of the mountains, but even they aren’t as isolated as they used to be. In most places in the UK you’re not far from a phone signal. If you’re calling for help that’s great, but if you’re trying to escape it’s not so good. There’s the expectation of contact now. In expedition terms this can mean live-streaming your ascent, even from some of the most remote spots on Earth. It means always having the ability to call for a rescue - and we’ve seen a lot of debate about putting rescuers at risk as the hills open up recently. In the more remote parts of the world rescue may be even more hazardous, or not possible. Where do we draw the line here? Are we just a bit too connected these days? In this episode I followed two stories. Piolet D’Or recipient Tom Livingstone told me about calling for a chopper on the descent from Koyo Zum in Autumn 2019, after his partner Ally Swinton had fallen into a crevasse and sustained a serious head injury. They had a text-only satphone, so were able to send out an SOS and receive some messages, but had a nervous 28 hour wait for help to arrive. The second story is from Mike “Twid” Turner, one of the world’s most accomplished expedition climbers. He told me about being trapped in Alaska with Stu McAleese 20 years ago, with food dwindling on a melting glacier and a malfunctioning satphone that meant they couldn’t call out. The Cessna that was due to pick them up was delayed. Despite the glorious weather in the Kichatna Spires where they were climbing, poor weather in Talkeetna had grounded the flights. So they waited - for 15 days. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Find Tom Livingstone at tomlivingstone.com or on Instagram @tom__livingstone Find Mike "Twid" Turner at themountainguidingcompany.co.uk You can follow Factor Two on Facebook and Instagram @factor.two Wil Treasure on Twitter - @treasurewild Music credits: All music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.

"I climb better when I'm scared." I've heard this quite a few times. I even thought it was true about myself for a while in my earlier climbing career, but it surely can't be true? After speaking with Hazel Findlay about maintaining the bubble of a flow state in the last episode, there was one part of her account which reminded me of something else. Something different. Hazel's story was about maintaining concentration and avoiding falling back into a distracted mind while climbing at her limit. Magic Line has spaced and difficult to place gear, but the physical danger was a small part of the equation. The distractions were the same social and performance anxieties that most of us deal with, coupled with an added expectation as a professional climber. When Hazel hit the rest just before the final boulder problem on Magic Line she burst out of her bubble of concentration and had to fight hard to rebuild it to finish the route. It reminded me of something. After flicking through some old magazines and guidebooks it dawned on me - Neil Gresham's account of climbing the Indian Face in 1994. Neil had described how his body was being torn apart by his mind on the final moves to the finishing jug. Anchored to that jug he had felt a wash of regret and joy at being alive. Unlike Hazel he had been completely distracted by a genuine fear of his impending death. He'd ridden it right to the edge on one of the most dangerous routes in the country. Despite this experience he went on to attempt Meshuga at Black Rocks a few years later - taking a bad fall on the unprotected section of the route and tumbling through the boulders below, sustaining a head injury that took him the best part of a year to recover from. He returned in 1999 and made the second ascent of the route. This decade of risk taking culminated in the second ascent of Equilibrium at Burbage South. He put everything he had learned into this route, physically and mentally, and when it was done he decided that was enough. He didn't want to risk his life for these routes again. On the Indian Face Neil described how close he came to falling off the crux, high on the face above questionable protection, certain that he would die. What was it that kept him on? With the tension building his calves were shaking, his tips were sweaty and his mind was wandering. He says he thought he was off, but something screamed inside him and kept him on the rock. Is there something primal that drives the urge to survive strongly enough that you can keep it together when it really matters? What was it that Neil had experienced in extremis on the Indian Face? And why would he put himself in that position again? In this episode I try to answer these questions by following Neil through the 3 ascents and understanding what's really going on in his mind, with help from clinical psychologist Dr Rebecca Williams. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Neil Gresham offers training and coaching services at NeilGresham.com. Dr Rebecca Williams is a psychological coach for climbers and a consultant clinical psychologist. You can find more information on her website at smartclimbing.co.uk. You can follow Factor Two on Facebook. Wil Treasure on Twitter - @treasurewild Music credits: All music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.

Flow is a concept that can divide in climbing. For Dave Thomas it was the joyous experience that removed him from other problems in life. For Mina Leslie-Wujastyk it was a performance tool. Mina told me that a lot of her understanding of flow had come from conversations with Hazel Findlay and it had helped her to develop a different mindset both on and off the rock. Off the back of these interviews I wanted to know more, both to understand flow as a scientific concept and as a more ethereal tool for self fulfillment. That journey took me down some interesting paths in climbing, from the writings of George Mallory to US legend Doug Robinson, to an understanding of how flow can improve our physical performance or our wellbeing. Through conversations with Hazel Findlay and Dr Rebecca Williams I've explored the strange places that a flow state might take us, how better to experience one and the apparent contradiction at the heart of it all. There are many inspirations for this episode. Obviously previous interviewees Dave Thomas and Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, as well as current. Robert Macfarlane's Mountains of the Mind provided some of the additional thoughts and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's excellent book Flow. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Compassion Lee Rosevere Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Other music licensed from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)

Internet forums wouldn’t be the same without their villains and heroes, would they? Franco Cookson appeared on the UKC forums back in February 2008. He began posting prolifically from the off and rarely stopped to consider the responses from others. In those early days, he was the classic antagonist, cocksure and loudmouthed, but also somewhat detached from the climbing scene at large. He was also only 16 at the time, but in many ways his obsession with the North Yorks Moors and new routing means that he is operating in his own scene. Franco’s early climbing career played out in an unusually public manner through the forums. A couple of months after his first post he went on a winter trip to Ben Nevis with friends Ian Jackson and Dave Warburton. It proved to be an eventful trip, with Franco being avalanched, an ascent of Point 5 gully and Dave being dropped a full rope length when Ian’s belay ripped on an attempt at a variation to Smith’s Route. Mike “Twid” Turner rescued Ian that day and wrote a short piece for UKClimbing detailing the incident and some lessons which could be learned from it. Ian was a couple of years older than Franco and had become something of a mentor to him, introducing him to the wider climbing world. Twid’s advice was considered and didn’t name names. Franco responded angrily to the perceived criticism. He hadn’t been on the mountain that day, but felt that facts were wrong and showed no inhibition in attacking people who thought otherwise. Ian responded calmly, correcting a couple of misconceptions and thanking Twid for helping him out. Just four months later Ian was killed in an accident while threading a lower off on a sport route in Chamonix. He was just 19 and made one of those mistakes that we’re all aware of, but that can be made so quickly and catastrophically. Franco was in the Alps with a young team at the time. Losing his friend and mentor has had an understandably profound effect on him, but not necessarily in the ways you might expect. Rather than turning away from climbing he plunged headlong, often literally, into seeking out dangerous and difficult first ascents. His internet persona may have calmed down, but his appetite for unusual routes and not playing the game the way that’s expected hasn’t changed at all. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Featherlight (remix - Vocals by Heather Feather) Lee Rosevere A Bicycle Ride Through The Nation's Capitol (Lokin' Out) Honey Trappists Sad Marimba Planet Lee Rosevere Waiting for the Moment Lee Rosevere Muted Space Tajirius Blur the World Tajirius Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Patch Hammond has remained a bit of an enigma in the climbing world. If you flick through the magazines from the late 1990s you’ll see a scruffy youth with an impressive climbing CV – onsighting E6 and E7 in North Wales and climbing with the likes of Tim Emmett, Neil Gresham and Leo Houlding. In the last episode we heard from Leo about their ascent of El Niño on El Capitan – Leo’s first big wall. Patch and Leo had travelled to Yosemite together, but while Leo was socialising at Camp Four and becoming part of the Yosemite scene it was Patch who was heading off trying to get better at the style of climbing there. Patch met Ben Bransby for the first time in the valley. Encouraged by the Huber brothers the two of them set out to repeat Free Rider – the same route featured in Free Solo with Alex Honnold. They set off from the base of the wall to attempt it ground up, with no experience and borrowed gear and made an impressive effort. They didn’t quite manage to free climb the route, but put in what was at the time the most impressive British attempt on El Capitan. Under the wing of the Hubers, Patch talked Leo into attempting El Niño, telling him that he’d already done a 5.13a pitch and was convinced Leo would stand a chance of onsighting 5.13b. Plus the route would suit them – no crack climbing on this one, slabs and adventure climbing exactly like they’d been training on in the slate quarries and at Gogarth. Patch’s memories of those years climbing revolve around the community he became a part of, and the mentors who guided him. He still seems in awe of the fact that he could be a part of this scene where everyone was a hero to him. He didn’t seem to realise that maybe he was one of them too. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Plantation Audionautix.com Stiller Tag Philip Weigl Aftermath Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com) Solo Acoustic Blues Audionautix.com Autumn Sunset Audionautix.com Subdivision of the Masses Philip Weigl Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The second part of my Emma Twyford interview. So fab. We talk about Once Upon a Time in the Southwest, Indian Face, Free Solo, The Big Issue and Big Bang. 

Back in 1998 Leo Houlding and Patch Hammond achieved something almost unthinkable – a near onsight ascent of El Capitan. They were just 18, had no big wall experience and headed to Yosemite without any great ambitions for the big faces. They had intended to try to headpoint some bold, hard new lines, but quickly discovered that the sort of lines they were after didn’t exist in Yosemite. When they arrived there were just two free routes on the mai wall of the Captain. The Salathé Wall, freed by Paul Piana and Todd Skinner in 1988, and The Nose, freed by Lynn Hill in 1993. But the mid 90s saw a new team emerge – the Huber brothers. In the few years before Leo and Patch’s trip the Hubers had started to establish themselves as a free climbing force in the valley. In 1998 Alex and Thomas Huber made the first free ascent of El Niño. The Hubers employed seriously redpointing tactics to achieve their route, preparing each pitch meticulously before making their ascent. Taking Patch and Leo under their wing they encouraged them to try the route. It was still well chalked, the hardest climbing was in the first few pitches and their hand drawn topo was still fresh. After borrowing the gear they would need and making up their big wall tactics as best they could over 5 days, Leo and Patch stood on the summit. Leo had managed to onsight all but one pitch, with Patch freeing many as well. It was an astonishing achievement at the time, but even now El Capitan awaits a true onsight ascent. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Plantation Jason Shaw (audionautix.com) Solo Acoustic Blues Jason Shaw (audionautix.com) Porch Blues Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com) Subdivision of the Masses Philipp Weigl Brookes Kai Engel Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

With interviews from Wil Treasure of Factor Two Podcast from UKCLIMBING.com, Matt Meggitt & Katy Smillie. The Reviews this week are Captain Marvel, Free Solo, Cold Pursuit, The Aftermath, Triple Frontier, Serenity, Fighting with my Family, What They Had, What Men Want, Border! Thank you to everyone who took part in this episode. Big shout out to Cineworld Hemel Hempstead for their consistent help and support. Here's a code for you: ISITWORTHIT - This gets you £10 off your first month of Unlimited card subscription! head on over to www.cineworld.com/unlimited to join today. Wil's Podcast can be found here : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/factor-two/id1299132061?mt=2 Matt is running the Marathon! https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MattMeggitt find out more here! And Katy rasising money for The Pahar Trust! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/KSmillieDNE

With interviews from Wil Treasure of Factor Two Podcast from UKCLIMBING.com, Matt Meggitt & Katy Smillie. The Reviews this week are Captain Marvel, Free Solo, Cold Pursuit, The Aftermath, Triple Frontier, Serenity, Fighting with my Family, What They Had, What Men Want, Border! Thank you to everyone who took part in this episode. Big shout out to Cineworld Hemel Hempstead for their consistent help and support. Here's a code for you: ISITWORTHIT - This gets you £10 off your first month of Unlimited card subscription! head on over to www.cineworld.com/unlimited to join today. Wil's Podcast can be found here : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/factor-two/id1299132061?mt=2 Matt is running the Marathon! https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MattMeggitt find out more here! And Katy rasising money for The Pahar Trust! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/KSmillieDNE

Prompted by Franco Cookson’s article on headpointing recently I thought I’d dig out this interview I recorded in November 2017 with Tim Lowe. Tim is a climber from Yorkshire with an enviable ticklist of routes, including the Yorkshire Triple Crown of The Groove, Urgent Action and Supercool. Over the years he’s been a keen sport climber, but Tim also likes to stick his neck out on trad routes. Back in 1992 he took a huge fall on The Cad, on North Stack Wall at Gogarth. A little hungover and not warmed up, he lunged for a break and didn’t quite make it. He thought it was the end, but his belayer caught him. It put in Tim’s mind the idea of “dropping a rope” down some of the more dangerous routes before going for the lead, resulting in broken bones at Ilkley in September 2017. You can see photos from Ilkley on the links below: https://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=299700 https://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=299729 Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Reflections Lee Rosevere Somnolence Kai Engel Background 02 AccusonosSFX Free Tone Textures Small Colin Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  

In the last two episodes we looked at aspects of flow, whether seeking the euphoria as an escape or chasing it as a performance tool. But there’s an area of climbing where flow won’t be enough. The objectives are too long, too complex and too unpredictable. At altitude everything becomes harder, your muscles ache under the lack of oxygen and, as Rick Allen has found more than once, your mind can wander. Rick is one of the world’s most accomplished high altitude mountaineers. He’s climbed several 8000m peaks, including a new route on the north face of Dhaulagiri. In 2012, together with Sandy Allan he made the first complete ascent of the Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat. The Mazeno is the longest ridge on any 8000m peak, with more than 10km of climbing over eight 7000m summits before the final push. Rick and Sandy spent 18 days on the route, running out of food and water and pushing themselves to their menta and physical limits. The ascent won them a Piolet D’or in 2013, although Rick says the recognition from the climbers he respected was more valuable to him than an award. Last July Rick was the subject of an unusual rescue on Broad Peak. After attempting the summit solo, he became disorientated on the descent. His hallucinations saw him discard his rucksack and take a fall down the face before he was spotted by a drone sent to search for him. The episode has given him a chance to reflect on the risks he takes in the mountains and his partnership with Sandy, who told him in no uncertain terms that he’d made the wrong call on Broad Peak. Rick realised he needed that other voice to ground him, to help him see what was real. Yet he and Sandy are very different characters, chasing the same dreams. For more information on their ascent of the Mazeno Ridge you could read Sandy Allan’s excellent book, In Some Lost Place. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Arisandra Parvus Decree Aspirato Kai Engel Expectations Lee Rosevere Run Kai Engel   Meekness Kai Engel   Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  

Mina Leslie-Wujastyk has already established herself as one of the best sport climbers in the country, with redpoints up to 8c. For the past few seasons she has been attempting Rainshadow, Steve McClure’s iconic 9a at Malham. It’s more than a step above her previous ascents, and initially something that it hadn’t even occurred to her to try. It seemed too unfeasible. When pushing the limit at some point you will find it. We often say this with risk taking, but the same is true when pushing your physical boundaries. Over time Mina has become more confident that she could successfully redpoint Rainshadow, but at first it was an impossible dream. Staying motivated for a few sessions on a route isn’t hard; but staying motivated when your project enters double digits and multiple seasons isn’t easy. I wanted to understand how Mina stays focussed on a long term goal, and how she does that in the face of the chance that she might never succeed. In the last episode with Dave Thomas we saw how a need for control, maintaining integrity and establishing your own identity were important. Finding ways to enter that elusive flow state was how Dave achieved this. Mina isn’t out for risk or resolving inner conflicts, but her story boils down to the same key features: desire, belief and understanding her own identity. The difference is that for Mina flow is a tool to be utilised. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Looking Back Lee Rosevere Somnolence Kai Engel Quit Bitching Broke For Free Aspirato Kai Engel Pulse Sioum Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

He’s one half of the Beastmaker team, and one of the strongest climbers in the UK. Ned Feehally has added some of the country’s hardest problems, bouldered up to Font 8C, done well in comps and pushed the art of highball bouldering as far as it’s been pushed. Yet he remains backstage and keeps his climbing to himself. Let’s hear what this dark horse has to say.

The young Dave Thomas was motivated by one thing above all others – soloing. In his own words he’s “Never climbed a hard route”, but anyone looking at his climbing C.V. would beg to differ. In 1989 he soloed the classic E6 Lord of the Flies at Dinas Cromlech. It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. He’d been putting the miles in on the Rubicon traverse in the weeks leading up to the day. In his mind he had set a date with destiny. He’d decided he wanted to do it, so he would. The logic here might seem strange to some; Dave had led the route 3 years earlier so he knew he could do it. That was enough. He showed up on Easter Sunday, waited for the streak of water running down the wall to dry, and flowed up the route. The experience has lived with him ever since as a joyful memory to draw upon. But Lord wasn’t Dave’s most impressive ascent. The year before, on the back of a conversation with Crispin Waddy, he set out on what still stands as one of the most audacious solos the world has seen. He took in the first two, crux, pitches of Caveman at the Old Redoubt in Devon before veering off to create a new direct version, Terra Cotta. All of this solo. John Redhead talked of having Authentic Desire in climbing dangerous routes. It was the thing which kept you safe, the honest reflection on your own motivations. I wanted to know if Dave experienced Authentic Desire for his ascents. The answer was a lot more complicated that I thought. Factor Two is brought to you by Wil Treasure and UKClimbing.com Music credits: Small Steps Lee Rosevere Soli Kai Engel All the Answers Lee Rosevere Silence Kai Engel Under Suspicion Lee Rosevere Evermore Kai Engel Very Low Note Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Scottish-based crusher Natalie Berry gives her thoughts on the world of climbing as seen through the lens of her competition experience and role as something to do with UKClimbing, exactly what, I can’t remember.

Katy Forrester is a former member of the British bouldering and ice climbing teams. She's a fell runner and an accomplished trad and sport climber, with routes up to 7c+ and E8 under her belt. She also has a black dog. Katy is open in talking about her experience of depression and how she tackled her metaphorical black dog with a real one - a 5 month old labrador called Jade. In this episode Katy talks about her experience of dealing with depression. As a naturally competitive person she became frustrated at being unable to perform to the level she wanted, her frustration turned to self-loathing and what had started as a positive experience became something she realised she needed to walk away from. I was curious; there's a mental resolve and mindset needed to be successful in competition climbing, but also in hard headpointing, which is what Katy turned to for her fix. How can someone have such difficulties in one aspect of their mental life but be so strong in others? Katy talks about how learning coping mechanisms to deal with aspects of her depression has also brought benefits in her approach to hard climbing. Katy is sponsored by Eden Rock climbing centre and Scarpa. You can read her blogpost at http://katyforrester.com/i-had-a-black-dog/. If you or someone you know is affected by the issues discussed in this episode help is available. You can contact the Samaritans on 116123, seek a referal through your GP to NHS mental health services, or you can go to ntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp where you'll find an array of self help guides dealing with depression, anxiety, bereavement and other mental health problems. Factor Two is brought to you by UKClimbing.com Music credits: Odyssey Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  March Kai Engel Somnolence Kai Engel Brand New World Kai Engel Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  

In part one of this story we saw how Duncan Critchley's quick judgment of his partner for The Nose resulted in a piece of big wall history. Despite his good judgment, he was left with the regret that they never climbed together again. In part two Duncan's judgment isn't so good, but it leaves him with few regrets and some firm friendships.   What do you do when you've just set the speed record on The Nose? For Duncan the answer was to set out alone. First with a free solo ascent of the Steck-Salathé route on Yosemite's Sentinel, a route that had become a speed testpiece for the likes of Royal Robbins and Henry Barber in the 1970s.   His next goal was a big aid route on El Capitan - Sunkist. The route had only seen two ascents and no-one had tried it solo. In the heat of a Californian summer Duncan set off and made good progress until he met one of Yosemite's infamous offwidths. What followed cemented his place in the hearts of the climbers in the valley at the time and resulted in an unlikely business proposition.   Photo: Wet Denim Daydream (c) Lydia Bradey   Factor Two is brought to you by UKClimbing.com   Music credits: Dark Fog Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Very Low Note Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Luminous Rain Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Ghost Processional Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Porch Blues Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Nose on El Capitan is perhaps the most iconic rock climb on the planet. Its been big news even outside of the climbing world since its first ascent by a team led by Warren Harding in 1958. The crowds in El Cap meadow became so unmanageable that the park rangers asked Harding to halt his work on the route until the autumn when the tourists had left. Today a major first ascent or speed record is news even in the mainstream media.   Back in 1984 mild-mannered British climber "Sir" Duncan Critchley set out for Yosemite with a picture book dream and made his mark in the history of Yosemite climbing. With Swiss guide Romain Vogler he made the third "In a Day" ascent of The Nose, setting a speed record which stood for a further six years, at nine and a half hours. It seems surprising enough that the "mini Ernest Shackleton of Yosemite" made the ascent in such good style, but the details of the story paint a picture of a climber with a love of his sport and a deep respect for the man who shared his dream.   This is the first part of a two part story. Climbing The Nose in record time might have impressed the dirtbags in the valley, but in part two we'll hear what really secured his reputation.   Photo: The Changing Corners (c) Duncan Critchley   Factor Two is brought to you by UKClimbing.com   Music credits: Porch Blues Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Odyssey Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Mysterioso March Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Ghost Processional Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Silence Kai Engel Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Every generation of climbers looks to improve on the performances of the last. The saga of the Great Wall on Clogwyn Du'r Arddu provides one of the best examples of this in British climbing.The climbers looked to improve the style and the difficulty of the lines: Joe Brown abandoned his efforts with a peg at his high point. Pete Crew surpassed it using pebbles for aid in the thin cracks of the top pitch. A young John Allen freed the line in 1974.   In the early 80s the eyes of the best were drawn a little rightwards - The new line would eventually become Dawes masterpiece the Indian Face, but before that John Redhead famously tumbled from its upper reaches. He marked his highpoint with a bolt.   Jerry Moffatt was making a name for himself as a bold and strong climber at the time. He inspected the line and, offended by the bolt, chopped it and headed rightwards to create Master's Wall, one of the boldest and hardest routes around. The next step in this progression? To onsight the line. In 2000 a 19-year-old James McHaffie attempted the feat. It's an experience which has lived with him ever since.   Factor Two is brought to you by UKClimbing.com Find Factor Two on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/factortwopod/ Twitter - @treasurewild Music credits: Dark Fog Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Spirit of the Girl Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Night of the Owl Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Very Low Note Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Aftermath Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Morning Walk Lee Rosemere Brooks Kai Engel Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/      

With interviews from Wil Treasure of Factor Two Podcast from UKCLIMBING.com, Matt Meggitt & Katy Smillie. The Reviews this week are Captain Marvel, Free Solo, Cold Pursuit, The Aftermath, Triple Frontier, Serenity, Fighting with my Family, What They Had, What Men Want, Border! Thank you to everyone who took part in this episode. Big shout out to Cineworld Hemel Hempstead for their consistent help and support. Here's a code for you: ISITWORTHIT - This gets you £10 off your first month of Unlimited card subscription! head on over to www.cineworld.com/unlimited to join today. Wil's Podcast can be found here : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/factor-two/id1299132061?mt=2 Matt is running the Marathon! https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MattMeggitt find out more here! And Katy rasising money for The Pahar Trust! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/KSmillieDNE