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View Article  Oct 30th: Parkour in the Park…
Parkour in very much an in-vogue activity at the moment, amongst certain groups that is. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to check-out the local scene and photo some young guns down in one of Sheffield’s city Park. It was nearly dusk when we kicked-off and time was limited but enthusiasm and energy was seriously high…   more »
View Article  Hiding from the heat at Sean’s Roof…
So at the 11th hour we get what must have been the hottest day of the year on 1st Oct! The un-seasonally high daytime temperatures followed by overnight dips give us a mass of soggy, gopping wet crags all last week. Just what we all wanted ahead of the weekend…   more »
View Article  Small is Beautiful but Bigger is Better
Climbing:2012 was rolling off the press this week and all being well it’ll only be days now before I’ll be able to start shipping – well over a month ahead of last year shipping date. Get-in… as they say…   more »
View Article  And the winner to this year’s ‘Be in My Calendar’ Competition is…
Cue drum roll… Folks, please give it up for Craig Bailey, the winner of this year’s UKClimbing ‘Be in my Calendar’ Competition…   more »
View Article  Final Proofs…
“Final Proofs? Sure, they’re over there on the table”. Music to the ears of anyone involved in print media projects. Within minutes they were signed-off and Climbing:2012 was committed to the press…   more »
View Article  Steve Rides the Shovel Head…
I’ve been in calendar mode for a good month now and a couple of weekends back I dragged Steve Mac and Mark Busby up to the Lakes for some pixs. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Lakes and Steve has too it seems. We had two days and figured two venues in different valleys would be cool. The weather wasn’t awesome as we went past Kendal so we figured that a low lying, easy access crag would be a good choice. I suggested Raven Crag, Langdale and Steve agreed; the question was would Steve fancy the ripe plums on offer?...   more »
View Article  Giant’s Highway…
Climbing into thermals, thick oversuit and wellies in the middle of the flippin’ hottest day for ages was more than a mare! Thankfully, the short walk over to the cave entrance was quick and as soon as we got there we lit-up and dived straight in. The cold blast that blew our way was real sweet – heaven in fact…   more »
View Article  World Cup Champs – Final Day…
The business day at Cliffhanger was even sunny and hotter that the qualification day – not a day for bearing down hard on small crimps or slopey volumes but that’s just what the World Cup hopefuls had to do – big style…   more »
View Article  World Cup Qualification Rounds…
Cliffhanger opened its gates yesterday in a blaze of glory – the weather, for once, played along with the preferred game plan...   more »
View Article  World Cup comes to Sheff…
A little kid walking through the green and leafy west end suburb/parklands of Sheffield asks his mum “Hey mum, what’s that big red tent doing there – is it a circus”? Mum, sage that she is, answers, “That’s the World Cup son – it’s here in Sheffield this coming weekend”. “No way, you mean the bouldering world cup - right mum”? “Right!” says mum. Kids are smart these days…   more »
View Article  Pssst, wanna be in my calendar?…
It’s time for the ‘Be in my Calendar Competition’ again as UKClimbing are sponsoring a page in Climbing:2012. We want YOU to feature in your finest kit and cut a lean, mean figure on the UKClimbing page. You should know the score by now; answer a few simple questions and then stand by and wait for Keith to call you to arrange the calendar shoot...   more »
View Article  Up the Devil’s Arse…
Peak Cavern in Castleton proudly proclaims itself to be the Devil’s Arse. Last Sunday, as ongoing prep for our forthcoming wee caving trip, we duly entered said Devil’s Arse with a clutch of sacs of camera kit with the specific intention of testing some new electronic wizardry and filling a card full of images…   more »
View Article  Night (Light) School…
For the last few weeks of so I’ve been prepping-up ready for a wee trip underground. Obviously, I’ll be dragging my cameras along as well – just to make life more ‘interesting’ - so I’ve been wrestling with a whole sack-full of how-to questions..   more »
View Article  He’s back…
A year ago the young top gun that is Adam Ondra blasted into The (Yorkshire) Dales and all but mopped-up. Well guess what – he’s back and straight down to work above the Malham Catwalk…   more »
View Article  Malhamites go on the B in Bang...
With April fading fast in the rear-view mirror it’s clear that it’s been an exceptional month - both weather wise and climbing wise…   more »
View Article  One Down, More to Come?…
Spain is where it all seems to be going down these days. Adam Ondra has been a regular in the news recently but this week it’s Chris Sharma’s turn. Hot off the press is the news that Chris has just made the first ascent of his long term project at the Laboratory, Margalef, First Round, First Minute…   more »
View Article  Back to the Future
Several years back I had a quick early season visit to the old skool climbing mecca that is Siurana. I’m off back there this week, to get some new images, (hopefully) mop-up some outstanding business and to check-out some of new nu skool venues. Whilst packing, I pondered the changes that had occurred since my last visit...   more »
View Article  Best of a Bad Day…
A fickle thing isn’t it the weather! Two day ago the forecast was for a wall-to-wall sunshine weekend in the Pennines, sadly, it turned out a little different than that. Almscliff was to be the venue and bouldering the game. Well we went and we saw and we left – for Malham…   more »
View Article  Cabin Fever…
Woke yesterday to find an inch of wet snow covering the ground; winter, it appeared, was back. Today was no better either; Stanage area was covered in around 2 inches of the white stuff – very wet, white stuff it was too. Inside was the only way forward - for (another) training session…   more »
View Article  Just lovin’ the (winter) light …
Amidst the grim winter weather here in the Peak we get an occasional burst of brilliance – a shaft of sunlight blasting through the clear air it’s looks nothing if not magical. The trick, as ever, is to be in the right place at the right time and this weekend the right place was Stanage and the right time was the evening ‘golden hour’.   more »
View Article  Golden Egg morphs Clifftop Boulders to Ticket Only
Whilst most folks were doing Crimball John Fulwood was out havin’ it on Peak Grit. From under the noses of all, John nailed Golden Egg (Font 7c+) at the former off the beaten track venue that is Clifftop Boulders down in the Cratclife area.   more »
View Article  Annual Eye Candy - A review of Climbing 2011
Ian Parnell has just reviewed Climbing:2011 for Climb#71. Here’s what he said…   more »
View Article  Back to the Future…
At the last minute I turned the car out to the Peak rather than heading inside for a wall session and I’m glad I did. The days that are laden full of expectancy can so often fail to deliver. Conversely, days that are ‘obviously’ going to be rubbish turn out to be totally the opposite. Today was a case in point…   more »
View Article  Climbing 2011 is now shipping…
After a twelve month gestation period, Climbing 2011, my rock climbing calendar for 2011 is back from the printers and is now shipping! Initial feedback suggests that others think it’s a cracker too. Positive feedback is a real blast for any producer – so I’m pretty happy at the mo…   more »
View Article  Blog Admin – A Dirty Business?…
OK time to fess-up – I’ve not being keep up to date with the blog and the blog admin recently – sorry!   more »
View Article  The 2010 ‘Be in My Calendar’ Competition Winner and appearing in Climbing 2011 is…
As leaked in a previous blog entry, the 2011 ‘Be in My Calendar’ Competition winner was Liam Lonsdale from the Lakes. Capitalising on some truly awesome weather on August Bank Holiday Monday – not a day traditionally know for it’s good weather, Liam and myself, ably supported by Phil and Rae respectively, hit the Lake in a two-venue photo shoot...   more »
View Article  Stoney Rules OK…
Climbing nostalgia is alive and well – very well in fact – so it seems if the great turn-out this weekend for the Stoney re-union is anything to go by...   more »
View Article  Carpe Diem
Of all the great quotes on time some have struck a real cord with me over the last month or so: “The bad news is time flies. The good news is that you’re the pilot” – Michael Althsuler   more »
View Article  KSP covers Peak rock…
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 »
View Article  Turning Japanese – I really think so…
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 »
View Article  KSP.com – a website in re-design…
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 »
View Article  Calling calendar wannabes…
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 »
View Article  Ondra in crushing mode (again)…
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 »
View Article  Tres Amigos go walk-about with an Old Man…
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 »