UKC

Part of a small crew of committed Scottish highliners, photographer Owen Hope captures spellbinding images in impressive mountain locations. Here he talks us through some of his favourite pictures from a sport that's arguably still in its infancy.

Read more

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Hi Owen, these are all just awesome. I'm well jealous (not the highlining itself, to be truthful, but the fact that you're in the position to take the photos). See you on Instagram. (Edit - Ok, no I won't ).

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

That photo of highlining on An Teallach with Broken Spectre is something else.

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Some amazing photographs!! I'm intruiged at how the rigging was done at each end. Is it multiple cams/nuts or big, burly slings?

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

This is fabulous

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

I'd love to see what the 120cm spikes he mentions are?

also given the recent controversy about anchors on the Old Man I'm curious about the highline perspective on the anchors there is??

great article and fabulous images

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

It is truly one of the most extraordinary adventure pictures I’ve ever seen. And very beautiful with it.

In reply to Colin Henderson: Thanks for the kind words Colin, would be very happy to try get the stars align so you could get along to photograph it too if that were of interest to you?  Thanks again 😊

In reply to Gordon Stainforth: these are powerful words to hear Gordon, thank you. 😊

In reply to yodadave: Hey, cheers for the comment.  Ping me an email via my website and I’ll share some PDF documents of the design specs for the stakes… once I dig them out from a folder somewhere.  They’re great but to be perfectly honest, we have little insight into any specific breaking strain vale because it is almost entirely dependent on the characteristics of the soil.  However, based on the kinds of usage they get from the 4x4 off-roading community, the max. force of ~5 kilonewtons that were equalising across 4 of them is pathetic. 😁

In reply to markryle: thanks a lot man 😊

In reply to yodadave: also, regarding the Old Man… this is a good point.  The most destructive thing we did was climb it, I suppose.  The anchor was basically just a load of industrial lifting slings around the top outcrop.  
 

In general though, I think we as a community are a lot like the rest of the UK… gradually coming to terms with the idea of bolting.  We haven’t bolted any highlines yet as it just wouldn’t really make sense; there aren’t nearly enough people regularly wanting to walk lines in places where bolts would genuinely make a worthwhile difference.  That being said, bolts do build communities.  The big thing stopping a mass highlining movement is just how much of an inaccessible faff it is to rig a line.  If it was simply a case of a 3-bolt sliding-x, then far more people could start rigging and getting on lines.  This would also potentially make it an after-work weekday evening hobby.  Food for thought, at least.

It’s hard to get away from how handy and often safe bolts are.  I’m as old school as the next person though, I hate the idea of Scotland’s beautiful rock being littered with metal.  But then again, perhaps that’s a tiny tiny cost in comparison to the benefits?

In reply to timparkin: We basically just wrap stuff with big lifting slings.  We’re not yet into rigging with trad gear yet as it hasn’t really become necessary yet.  I think it would have to be a seriously beefy set of clusters built from big hexes before I’d get out on a line though… there are people elsewhere in the world walking on some of the tiniest anchors you can imagine.  🤯

In reply to yodadave:

Heya! I think our highline anchors are relatively uncontroversial as there’s no fixed gear… just slings around the top of the stack. I thought it was pretty interesting to see that there are already lots of bolts on the original route so I feel like lots of people objecting to the new plans to bolt rappels are not aware that it’s already covered in fixed gear. 
In other countries bolts are used but we keep it traditional in Scotland  

In reply to owenhope:

Thanks for the reply! The continuous, large cyclic loads on highlines are a challenge for sure!

In reply to owenhope:

I'm sorry that your response got downvoted so much.

You and your friends are clearly not being destructive and I don't think openess to change should be viewed with such negativity.

I wasn't trying to "bait" you into controversy, it was more just a genuine interest in a different perspective and a curiosity whether the highline anchor needs differ significantly from a climbers needs.

I learned trad in Scotland and then moved to North America for 12 years so my views are perhaps slightly different to a lot of lifelong UK residents and that feeds my curiosity. I've seen rusty pegs staining beautiful faces and I've seen hand painted, to match the rock, hangers (that I almost didn't clip because they are so hard to spot). I struggle to define what materials and objects mar our "wild" spaces and which are justifiable in the pursuit of our varied pastimes.

In reply to LizzieAnna:

I think you'll find that that is not the case at all.

Anyway, spectacular photos.

In reply to owenhope:

Most of the climbing bolts placed nowadays are greatly superior to when bolting started in the UK. I think we're almost at the stage where it's possible to replace worn out bolts using the same hole without having to enlarge the hole - experienced bolters, please correct and enlighten us on the current state of the art.

This is obviously the ideal if bolts are to be used because once the original bolt "damage" to the rock is done, it could be renewed "forever". When bolting started in the UK there was a definite vibe that bolts were permanent - 40 years later we know this isn't the case and that they do need to be periodically renewed.

So if you do decide to start bolting, please aim for the ideal and learn from the years of experience within the climbing community. Oh and be prepared for "reaction" to any placing of bolts.

Edit: oops, forgot to mention, stunning photographs.

In reply to owenhope:

Is that just a euphemistic way of saying that dumbing stuff down with bolts makes it more popular?

In reply to owenhope:

Hi Owen, thank you, that's very kind of you. I've got an idea in mind that might interest us both - will send you an email.

In reply to Robert Durran: this is certainly one way of looking at it… not my view as I think this is itself a slight ‘dumbing down’ of what’s actually a bit less trivial.  I hope the hypocrisy of your comment was satirical and on purpose! 😂

Is increasing accessibility always ‘dumbing down’?  Might this just be a trope of an elitist group that we’re all part of?  I doubt either of us will completely convince the other, but there’s at least a bit of appreciable merit in each perspective. 

In reply to yodadave: just checking in on all of this now… 19 dislikes!  I’m quite happy to have hit some nerves; without having so much as drilled even one bolt!

I’m equally happy to be baited into controversy, so don’t worry.  I’m also reading the downvotes as fair dissent rather than negativity 😂

I do think that, like pretty much everything else, bolting is something that needs a proportionate approach.  Neither a bolting frenzy nor an absolute amnesty is ever going to be right.  The hard part is agreeing on where exactly on the spectrum we should be in Scotland.  

In reply to Robert Durran: Lizzie, perhaps you were hallucinating as Robert suggests! 😂

In reply to owenhope:

"The benefits" you refer to are a load of numpties highlining in wild spots no doubt splurging on twitterbook about how radical and spiritual they are.

For a lot of us it's hard to see that as a "benefit". 

Don't bolt, you don't need "to build a community" the world doesn't need a 1000% increase in the number of highliners, it does just fine as a niche activity.

Each bolt you place builds access for you but takes access from someone else, leave the wild places wild.

In reply to owenhope:

You may have misunderstood; those objecting to new bolts on the OMOH are perfectly aware of the existing fixed gear, but they just don't think it in any way justifies placing new bolts.

In reply to owenhope:

Maybe you could explain then. "Bolts build communities" just seemed a weird thing to say.

I have no idea why it could be seen as hypocritical; it was just asking what you meant.

No, but bolts are.

Absolutely.

In reply to Robert Durran: Robert, you sound like a man that will well and truly die on this hill.  Fair play, you’ve obviously made your mind up!  
 

I’m sorry you thought my premise was a bit weird; my suggestion that bolts built communities was a nod to the idea that a fundamental part of accessibility to outdoor pursuits will be making them easier to access.  Ethically and sensibly placed bolts will likely achieve this… but that’s just my young and naive opinion (and that of a few others, none of which seem to be here!).  I think society stands to gain from having more people derive the kind of enjoyment from their pastimes that we all derive from climbing.  My view is that a few properly implemented, discrete and conservatively placed bolts is a small price to pay in achieving that end.  
 

Do you have a better suggestion?  I’m sure there is one!  I’d hate to imagine that a majority of climbers are satisfied with the sport (especially its outdoor version) just perpetually remaining this really expensive and elitist hobby for a small group of us. 
 

In reply to gravy: strong words, ‘Gravy’!  I’m going to assume this is the best case scenario where you’ve just been spending too much time on social media.  It would be great to have you out with us one day so you can come to your own independent conclusion about whether we are these spiritual yeh boastful numpties you seem to know of.

It does seem true that, as is often the case, a loud minority don’t appear to see any benefit in the growth of the sport.  Fair enough!  Thank goodness we don’t live under some pro-Slackline Big Brother. 

I’ll admit I’m a little bit excited to have a counter-movement.  I didn’t see that coming!  You’re probably quite safe in your beliefs as the very nature of highlining pretty much ensures it will stay quite niche.  Does your prejudice extend to simple slacklining?

I’m also interested in the principle that appropriately conservative bolting would take access away from others?  
 

Also… to be clear, I’ve never highlined using bolts as anchors in Scotland and am in no way an advocate for trigger-happy bolting.  At the root of it, I’m probably just a little unnerved by how fat and unhealthy most of our population are and daringly suspect that (among other things) getting outside might chip away at that.  Call me controversial. 

In reply to owenhope:

I'm not sure your logic really works, personally I would find the idea of highlining, even on bolts, terrifying. To make it accessible it would be much better to install a via ferata style bridge no? Anything else is just elitism.

In reply to owenhope:

I thought it was weird because the word "community" comes with a whole lot of meaning which is not simply about numbers of people; the two things are not the same. Indeed, it is quite possible that there will be a stronger sense of community among a smaller number of people doing something which is less easily accessible and perhaps more hardcore - elitist if you like; bolts might actually undermine community. Has the rise of sport climbing (and indoor climbing) made the climbing community stronger or better - certainly not an easy question to answer.

Actually I think the word community is one of those words which is now so overused that its meaning is being weakened.

In reply to ebdon: although I disagree, I think you’re taking an interesting and valid angle.  I suppose your comment brings into question the nature of the elitism we’re talking about.  You’re absolutely right that by its very nature, highlining is somewhat elite in that you need to be in a higher fitness bracket if you want to stand any chance of doing it successfully.  No debate there from me.  
You may find it terrifying the first few times.  If you were of a disposition to persevere and rationalise the experience, you’d quite quickly find the fear disappear as it isn’t a sustainable response.

 
About your via ferata idea… this is an approach taken by lots of people trying to encourage beginners.  From what I understand, there are many people for whom highlining was made possible by slowly transitioning from using a via ferata-like support to walking un-aided.  

Appropriate implementation of bolts makes anchor building quicker, repeatable, and also requires less equipment.  On one view, this also makes it broadly safer.  Perhaps consider it analogous to how sport climbing compares to trad.  

To repeat myself; I’m not an uncritical proponent of bolting.  I love the creativity of natural anchors and consider it one of my favourite aspects of rigging highlines. 

In reply to Robert Durran: when we get down to the precise definition of words like community, the conversation becomes a bit abstract for the comments section of a UKC article.  However, ping me an email if you’d like to continue as I’m fascinated by your line of thought and think it’s a useful way of putting the whole issue.  Perhaps we should have agreed the a working definitions of all kinds of terms before we got into this, but I think you’ll agree that would have been a little intense for the comments section beneath a UKC article.

You could very well be right.  As useless and obvious a point as it is; we don’t know the counterfactual.  More bolting might lead to all kinds of horrible outcomes far worse than any of us were ever able to predict.  I somehow doubt it.  
 

In reply to owenhope:

I'm pretty sure that would not be the case!

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Great article Owen, pleasure to be mentioned and canna wait to get out with you again. ( so that i can splurge on twitterbook about how radical and spiritual it was )  

In reply to aidanlynch: excited to read the radical and spiritual twitterbook splurge and it sounds like @gravy might be too. 😂

In reply to owenhope:

I think this is the nub of it and is worth exploring. Elitism is a loaded term whose meaning has become very broad. You appear to be using it to imply there are barriers to entry that we should remove, be that to highlining or climbing (feel free to correct me if I am wrong or have misinterpreted your point).

In the wild places of Scotland, part of the attraction for trad climbers, and I assume highliners, is the fact there are no permanent installations to aid our passage, that being self sufficient is part of the challenge and removing that element of the day/route adventure would be detrimental to the experience.

In this case, the barrier to entry to competence, i.e. an ability to build belays, place gear, manage ropework etc. This something I don't think we should be dumbing down as it is, to many us, an integral part of the activity. Adding bolts removes some knowledge requirement but I would say this the wrong approach. We should be removing the barrier by removing the need to be able to buidl a belay, we should remove the barrier by ensure the path to become competent is easier, be that by easier access to learning via clubs or other such ideas.

I do agree that there is a cost barrier to entry, but part of that seems driven by a lack of adventure and willingness to "wing it" and an obsession with having "all the gear". The concept of a shred rack seems alien to many.....

Anyway, I think the images were amazing and I appreciate you sticking round for the discussion!

In reply to galpinos:

What is a shred rack? Not come across that phrase before. 

In reply to Stuart Williams:

My reading is that the word is applied as you would to a "shredded" bodybuilder. That is, bulging obscenely with every conceivable muscle/piece of gear clearly marked.

In reply to Stuart Williams:

It’s was a typo of shared rack but I’ve changed my mind and am going with Darkinbad’s definition. 

In reply to galpinos:

I really hope that “check out their shredded rack” doesn’t take off as a phrase. At least we’ll know who to blame if it does.