"Some of my best times were in North Wales doing new routes in the Slate quarries, and on Gogarth, in the late 70s and mid-80s. Concurrently visits to the Alps in winter started my tally of solos of alpine routes to around 86 of TD grade and above, there has been a slow down as paranoia has crept in, or avalanched in. Anyway, I moved to Chamonix for 20 years finally moving when I became badly smashed up due to a high-speed snowboarding prang. Relocating to the Pyrenees, recovery was aided by two of my old loves, Caving and slow hill running, these brought back some of the soul to my climbing after being a jaded 'Pro' for so long. It was also there slowly but surely that the lessons of a such a terribly long career finally bore fruit and I began to climb a little better, 9a arrived at the tender age of 52! Another good year was when I did the inaugural  Tor de Geants 200 mile mountain race, a 9a, and some E8 first ascents. Hopefully, I might have another good year......."