Once upon a time seated in front of the telly I watched with a mixture of excitement and apprehension a mountaineering documentary on the Yank public television network (PBS).

"Whoa, this looks cool." I'd been snagged like a fish at the end of a hook and soon found myself at a used bookstore where I luckily stumbled across Chris Bonnington's "Annapurna South Face".....and presto, an aspiring climber was born.

My then girlfriend, shortly after, pointed out a climbing class at one of the local community colleges and off I went. Advancing quickly and naturally I became mates with not just the instructor but two other blokes, one of whom accompanied me on our mutual first trip to the crags without instructor supervision.

The destination? Taquitz Rock in Southen California.
"Yikes, this is uh....rather large innit? "

I was obliged by vow (plus the fact it was my rack/rope) to be the first and having had a look at what lay before us, we backed off. And I chose to lead what seemed to me at the time incredibly terrifying:
The north "face" of Lunch Rock.

Those familiar with Taquitz will realize that Lunch Rock is little more than a colossal boulder climbers gather round for a breather, a bite to eat, what have you. So when having completed my first lead, bits of pro scattered hither and yon like an A5 aid route and thanking Ye Merciful powers to have survived, someone wandered past and remarked, compassionately,
"Well, I never thought of leading that before."
Me neither!

www.dmmclimbing.com

Write approximately 500 words about your first outdoor lead and supply an image of you climbing (not necessarily your first lead) and submit to: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/send.html

The competition will be judged by us here at DMM and the winner announced on Monday 24th December and will win a complete DMM rack worth £500.

But more than that, everyone who submits an essay will receive a spot prize.

More details HERE