A good friend of mine maintains that “guidebooks are a great shop-window for photographers” and as it happens, I agree. I’m dead chuffed therefore that a couple of the latest guides to the Peak, Ground Up’s Recent Developments on Peak Limestone and the BMC Froggatt, both have shots of mine in...   more »

An envelope from the land of the rising sun sure stands out amongst the junk mail!! Ripping said envelope open, I pulled out the latest copy of Rock and Snow - all shinny and bright it was too...   more »

Website are like most many things in life – a work in progress… The current KSP.com has run for a couple or three years now and it’s time for a re-design rather than a re-fresh. But what to prioritise, what to cut, what to add-in, what to big-up and what to down-size. My webmaster and I have our own ideas but your feedback would be gratefully received…   more »

It’s July, Cliffhanger has been and gone so it must be ‘Be in my Calendar Competition’ time! UKClimbing are sponsoring a page in Climbing:2011 and want YOU to appear in all your glory on their page. So it’s time to get cracking, answer a few easy questions and stand by for the eyes of the climbing world to feast their eyes on your awesomeness...   more »

Adam Ondra, the Czech climbing machine, has just crushed the opposition in the UK round of the World Cup bouldering to take a very convincing win. Top honour in the ladies competition, which was altogether much closer, went to Belgian Chloe Graftiaux. The Dyno competition went to (past) form with the silverwear being lifted by Skyler Weeks (with a new world record of 2.85m) and Lilly Fitzgibbons…   more »

On Saturday 26th June three climbers away on a jolly for the weekend, stood on one of the UK’s most inaccessible summits – The Old Man of Hoy. Most climbers have heard of the Old Man of Hoy but few have done it. Yet any (reasonably competent) climber with few days to spare, as well a bit of grit and a mate or two, can get themselves a top, if not unique, climbing experience – and having been there and done the Old Man last weekend I can tell you it’s well worth the effort...   more »

Looks like all change on the weather front – again – as the mercury hits the deck and the brollies come out; anyone would think that it’s summer-time!   more »

If you go down to the woods today, You’re sure of a big surprise. If you go down to the woods today, You’d better take your digicam...   more »

Sometimes don’t you wonder what mysterious forces shape our lives? In an ironic twist of fate I returned to Chee Dale Cornice for the first time in ages on Saturday, the very day after the infamous Fenchurch East CID gang finally imploded. Perhaps nostalgia, – just like Gene Hunt – will 'live' forever. Mind you, the Quattro is past its best now…   more »

The piece and tranquillity of Derwent Dam on a calm and sunny day belies its history; scholars of which would be able to recite the story of the famous 617 Dambuster Squadron and the practice bombing raids which were held at Derwent.   more »

It’s a few days now since Adam Ondra left the country and the dust has finally settled. Not so in the KSP office though where the requests for photographs, reports and comments from around the globe continue to come in to my inbox where there’s a wee backlog building up...   more »

The atmosphere on the Malham Catwalk was palpable yesterday – King Wad, a.k.a. Adam Ondra was in town! And man was he pulling down big style. Ondra, one of the best climbers on Planet Rock at the moment, is here for a week and clearly means business. Between tie-ins he was scanning the guidebook and scoping the crag. He looked to me like a big game cat stalking his prey before pouncing and going in for the kill...   more »

A now fully dry Malham has been baking recently. Wednesday this last week was a typical day; silly hot until the middle of the afternoon when temps (and chains...) started dropping. The Catwalk was pretty quite but Sheffield-based Rob Napier and Dan Walker were on joint pole position and took full advance of the (by then) great conditions to send Unjustified and The Groove respectively.   more »

“Je suis un Rock Star” - so proclaimed Big Ron to an admiring (female) onlooker at the end of a shoot for a climbing filming in the Verdon in the early Eighties – or at least so the story goes!   more »

Those not glued, either in person or via the nearest flat-screen, to the action from CWIF (Climbing Works International Festival) might well have ventured out onto the limestone crags for some action last weekend. And those that did probably found them in remarkable good condition. Certainly, the quintessential crucibles of Pennine sport climbing, Raven Tor and Malham, are now substantially dry – barring all the usual seepage lines anyways...   more »

(Sadly, as I now realise...) I came late in life to skiing but to be honest I reckon you can’t have much fun with your clothes on doing anything else! And those that know me, and my dedication to climbing, will recognise the enormity of what I’m saying...   more »

In what is reckoned to be the worst (or best depending upon you viewpoint...) winter for thirty years, the opportunities to ‘get out’ on rock have been pretty rare of late. Slowly though, there are signs that winter is coming to an end – even if it is that the snow, when it comes, doesn’t last for long – Scotland excepted that is!   more »

I have to admit to a near-obsession with the Burbage Valley, especially Burbage North. I first pulled onto Burbage North’s ramparts nearly forty years ago as a fresh-faced, snotty youth. I distinctly recall getting mauled on that occasion by Wednesday Climb. Not much has changed really over the intervening years except that there’s a lot more miles on the clock nowadays. I’m still getting mauled – albeit by slightly harder stuff!   more »

In the week that Wrossie (a.k.a. Jonathan Ross) jacks, Keith Sharples Photography hits the beeb (again)...   more »

In what might prove to be one of the few outside climbing opportunities this week Paul and myself headed out to Burbage North on Monday night. We figured it would probably be a dump-ass thing to do but that unless you try you don’t know what might be possible...   more »

We’re only into 2010 by a few days but I’m lovin’ it big time! In superb style, the clock rolled-over into a New Year and a new decade but the same sub-arctic conditions stayed with us and as a photographer I’m glad they did. It’s been time to get out and get snapping - I’ve added nearly 5gig of image files to the network drive already this year...   more »

When tales of no snow in some Euro ski resorts are set against the tales of snow across our fair isle, you start to scratch your head a bit. Then along comes a white Xmas, the first for some considerable time, and you really sit up and take note.    more »

Walking through the gate into the Stanage Plantation was a bit like stepping through the wardrobe door and into the magical kingdom of ClimbNarnia. It was still cold but gone, all of a sudden, was the heinous withering wind and boulderers were everywhere. One, slowly but surely, was inching his way up the top arête of Careless Torque. Could this be?   more »

The irony of the situation didn’t occur to me until this morning. Whilst world leaders cogitate on the ongoing crisis that is global warming we spent a glorious (December) day bouldering in skins and T’s at Baslow last Saturday. So what was our boulder of choice? Yeah, you guessed it – the Alan Williams classic, Flatworld (Font 7c). Talk about ironic!   more »

So did you catch Keith Sharples Photography on BBC1 on Monday? I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t! Not to worry, a few clicks of the mouse and bbciplayer is up and running and wadda you know – KSP is on the telli…   more »

Do the years just seem to roll by to you? Yeah, same for me – especially since I’ve been in the calendar business; man they seem to zip bye! Anyway back at the point, I heard today that Climbing:2010, my sixth rock climbing calendar, is now rolling off the printing press at Printworks in Sheffield. Next up is collating, trimming, binding, shrink-wrapping and then... bingo – it’s time to start shipping! ETA is, at the moment, a (known) unknown – but it’s pretty darned soon so watch this space…   more »

Now that the 9th day of the 9th month of the 2009 has passed without the merest hint of an apocalyptical horseman and all the doomsayers are having a two-week summer vacation, it’s obviously time to get on with life and back into the business of blogging ...   more »

And the winner, scooping top prize in this year’s ‘Be in my calendar’ competition, is Alastair Smith from Chester. The competition on top UK climbing website, www.ukclimbing.com, was to find a willing victim to feature alongside the good and the great in climbing:10, next year’s climbing calendar.   more »

Steve McClure’s summer mission continues, at a pace, with a rare repeat of Ben Moon’s Raven Tor test-piece, Hubble (F8c+). Steve sent Hubble on one of the hottest days last week when humidity was well high and most people were reduced to thrashing around and complaining about the shocking conditions!   more »

Acting on a half-decent forecast, Steve McClure was keen to head into the (Welsh) mountains last Saturday on a mission to boldly go where (few) had been before. But straining under rucksacks bulging with climbing and camera kit we weren’t travelling light nor fast. Chances were that the walk-in would kill us never mind the climbing!   more »

It’s calendar competition time again where YOU get the opportunity to appear in climbing:10, my climbing calendar for next year. UKC, www.ukclimbing.com, are sponsoring a page in climbing:10 and the comp winner will be photographed specially for the occasion.   more »