20 January 2020
Saved
Our house burnt down last year, and what the fire didn’t destroy was destroyed by the firemen/persons/. How did it start? Well, it was one of our tenants, who had been praying to God and left the candle burning (make of that what you will). We’d been renting the house out for years as we’ve been wondering around the world in search of better life (I say ‘our’ house, but I still feel it’s Vanessa’s, plus my name’s not on any deeds,...
17 January 2020
Q&A: Episode 8: Andy Kirkpatrick: The Flame
Climber, writer and monologist (Google it), Andy Kirkpatrick talks about how to help motivate people who have passion and drive while also trying to hold them back from killing themselves trying.
16 January 2020
Opinion: Raising Ships
Sorry about radio silence (well for me!) of late, bug hunkered down putting the words and images together in Adobe Indesign, which of course is one of the last pieces of the book making puzzle, but which, only being 20% of the project, often takes 80% of the time (getting all those words and images corraled in one place). I often think doing layout...
08 January 2020
900 second blog: Grafter
I just found this picture of my brother Robin, taken on the balcony of the flats we grew up in. Robin is two years younger than me and has always been a grafter, all three of us (I have a sister Joanne), having some kind of divine grafting spark (it wasn’t divine at all, it was just not wanting our kids growing up in a slum, or be dependant,...
07 January 2020
Q&APodcast: The Back-up
A new mini series from climber and writer Andy Kirkpatrick where he answers questions and tries to make the climbing world a safer place. If you’d like to ask a question then contact Andy through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or his website.
30 December 2019
Q&A: Foot Fangs
Hi Thanks for the question. At first glance, there looks like a big difference in performance between the simple twelve-point mountaineering crampon, and the technical models; but really there isn’t. Yes, one type looks boring and clunky, like training crampons, while the other looks cutting edge: go-faster orange, laser-cut and modular; but...
19 December 2019
Climbing: Process
While searching through my photos, looking for abseiling images, it struck me that four Winter trips to Patagonia was where I’d really learnt how to get down of mountains in one piece (often when I had no pieces left once I was down). This image is of Ian Parnell on the way back down from the first winter ascent of the Parkin route on the East...
05 November 2019
Q&A: Little Anita Needs to Fly
I probably get two messages a day from someone who wants to do the climb, or trip, of their lives; to climb a big wall, to pack in a job they hate and go somewhere wild, dreams big and small, some doable, some less so. The message I got from Anita from Romania was sort of typical, someone who wanted to climb El Cap, but really had zero experience...
31 October 2019
Conversations : “Tia Maria and Orange Juice”
The following conversation with the award-winning poet, author, climber, runner and mother, Helen Mort, was carried out over two months via email. I should warn those looking for fast food words that you won’t find them here, and that is probably something to consume over several sittings, being over 8000 words long. As with the last...
24 October 2019
Opinion: Marieke Vervoort
I had a period in my life when I went to a lot of para events, and so I saw Marieke Vervoort around, always with her dog. Her story can be viewed as being tragic – because it was – but it was also heroic, like tragic lives can be. Each of us is given our measure of life and left to do with it as we wish. A few gobble it up all too...
22 October 2019
Conversations : “Learning lessons never ends”
The following is a long conversation with the UK climber Hazel Findlay, a conversation that took place over a month, via email, and so is very wide-ranging; covering topics such as truth and lies, stoicism, and making money as a full-time climber. Be warned, this is not a Q&A, where Hazel is selling you something, or directly about climbing,...
10 October 2019
Opinion: Ashtray Wasp
Anyone who’s watched my stand up show “Inappropriate Climbing” on Youtube, will know I was told my son had some form of attention deficit disorder, and I was pressured into agreeing to – basically – drug him. My theory is the people in charge are suffering from AiDD, which is Attention to Deviance Disorder, and they run everything,...