Blog
/Book//
operation certain death
— 03/09/10 Comments - 0
Been trawling through all my old emails today, looking for messages from my brother Robin, who plays a big part of my book, mainly through his emails as he goes off the Afghanistan and Iraq, and gets closer and closer to danger. I had the idea of showing two brothers doing dangerous stuff, one selfishly,…
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/Technique //
ROPE SOLOING 101 PART 4
— 02/09/10 Comments - 0
WARNING: This blog is not meant as instructional text, and is simply a description of how I rope solo. Rope soloing is highly dangerous and demands a great deal of experience and good judgment and in many ways is more dangerous than free soloing, due to an increased reliance on ‘systems’. Anyone…
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/Expression//
Not working clever
— 01/09/10 Comments - 5
I aspire to be a workaholic - the type of guy who can't stop, who gets it done no matter what, who ignores normal life in the pursuit of something else. Unfortunately I'm not - I'm a I'vegotworkdoaholic.
Every day is full of things I have to do - important things - things that can't be…
/Climbing//
Ten tips for the Valley
— 31/08/10 Comments - 2
It's around this time of year that I start to get a bunch of inquires about doing big wall courses, primarily by people with their eye set on the Nose. Unfortunately this year I've had too much on to do any, so I thought I'd scribble down a few random thoughts and tips for those bound for the valley.
/Expression//
Me & Stevie
— 28/08/10 Comments - 1
I noticed tonight when looking at my website stats (yes that is very sad) that a lot of searches that bring people to this site are via the words Stevie Haston. I imagined the rage in the man, to know that people looking for him were in fact winding up with me*.
Stevie Haston - just his…
/Movie//
Winters of My Life by Jonathan Burhop
— 26/08/10 Comments - 0
Winters of My Life is a portrait of Howard Weamer. For the past 35 years he has spent his winters as a hutkeeper in Yosemite's backcountry. He fills his days writing, reading, photographing, and being an ambassador to mountain culture. This is a brief look into his world and why he chooses to stay.
/Expression//
The Balance
— 25/08/10 Comments - 2
Writing your memoirs - well a bunch of stories about yourself - can be pretty tough once you dig below the surface. Time and again I look at my younger self and think "you're not a very nice person, in fact you're a bit of bastard."
I hope I'm not quite so bad now, but I feel ashamed of…
/Book//
How I write
— 21/08/10 Comments - 4
People are often surprised how many words it takes to write a book, and yesterday, talking to a TV producer (me and Karen are doing a daytime chat show next week) she said "oh how many words do you need to write - 30,000?" The answer for cold wars at least is 100,000 and I suspect it may be even more…
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/Expression//
The Race
— 20/08/10 Comments - 2
Yesterday was Karen's first race at the para cycling world cup in Canada, a 14km time trial, and all day I was gripped with tension, waiting for her to call me and say how she got on (for anyone who wants the back ground on Karen's inspiring dream to go to the Paralympics then have a skeg at this
/Expression//
Hero?
— 19/08/10 Comments - 3
My brother emailed this morning to see if I would help him raise awareness - and hence funds - for a charirty pull he was taking part in. This involves pulling a C-130 Hercules down a runway in aid of The Royal Air Force Association (RAFA)…
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/Expression//
Rock me sexy Jesus
— 16/08/10 Comments - 0
Cold Wars is coming along bit by bit (that's my book - not a reprise of the cold war), but today - sat indoors writing while the sun shone for what seemed like the first time in months, I had a sudden crisis of confidence. Was I writing stuff that people would want to read?
I was…
/Gear//
Best in Cam
— 14/08/10 Comments - 0
Went into Outside in Hathersage yesterday - the climbing shop I worked in for years -hoping to do some more work on my book. I should have known it's a non starter, as I know most of the staff, and most of the customers know me, so I tend to spend most of the time…
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/Movie//
Slovak Direct route
— 04/08/10 Comments - 0
Nice short video about and an ascent of the mind blowing Slovak route on Denali by Jesse Huey - a real route and a half!
For a full report go to blackdiamondequipment.com
/Expression//
Letter from America: Big Sur
— 11/07/10 Comments - 0
Down at the coast in Monterey with one night before I fly back to the UK.
After resting a few days I had time for one more go at my crazy plan of a one day solo of El Cap, and set off Thursday afternoon to try Lurking Fear. The day before I'd carried my gear up to the base so I could just…
/Expression//
Letter from America: Closer
— 06/07/10 Comments - 0
I'm sat in my usual spot in the Yosemite Lodge cafeteria typing out words with sausage fingers, my hips and feet aching with a dull throbbing pain, my head full of fog. I feel as if I've been run over or been cage fighting.
On Friday at 7.30pm I started up Zodiac for my 5th time (2nd time…
