Location
Sheffield
Best Climbing Experience
Discovering the joys of redpointing in 2011! Flowstone Shuffle 6b+ onsight, A55 N Wales 2010. Penon de Ifach April 2010, Direct de UBSA (NOT Diedre note!), led all pitches clean, Climbed Penyon in 1995 and again, 2006, both times dogged but still awesome. Alps easy high routes - Castor 2013 and Parrotspitze 2014 the highlights to date.... collecting 4000ers! (now given up - August 2018 - due to illness)
Warmup day at Font d'Axia, Costa Blanca, Feb 2005, the crag to ourselves & with brand new RockFax guide, perfect weather. Heaven!
Shorn Cliff, July 2006. 7 pitches, including two E1 leads. Best trad day ever (took me a week to recover!)
Favourite Climbing-Related Discussion Topic
Where to go cragging. The sensible use of bolt & other fixed protection. Passionate about cragging trips. Not taking it too seriously and having a laugh even when on the sharp end. It's about having fun.
Recent Postings
Interests Outside Climbing
***NOTE: no longer running due to issues with Chronic Fatigue syndrome** Orienteering (big time - England representative in 2019 at Vets), distance running (including races - mainly off road), travelling, music (playing guitar / piano), hill walking, drinking, eating. Avoiding the office. In fact, avoiding work generally! ME/CFS research and advocacy (now retired)
About My Photography
iPhone SE
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Anything Else We Should Know
I had ME or post viral/chronic syndrome 1997- 2006 and have/*had recovered & can climb properly again! I'm not the only climber to have had this. It's not "all in the mind" and is a nasty physical affliction that also ruined my career & social life (both are also recovered). I never lost any finger strength, though ... I climbed harder than I was before I fell ill, age 52; I was 33 when i fell ill. This is good!
Note (Summer 2018) - My ME/CFS comes back when I try to do Alpine mountaineering - ruining trips in 2015, 16, and now 2018. No amount of optimism & careful planning can prevent it. So I hang up my ice axe & crampons. Age 54, it's game over. Sad about this, but at least I can choose to be well. There is nothing worse than suffering an ME/CFS relapse in the mountains - you cannot then even contemplate going up them. :-(
Sad edit - Oct 2021 I had another postviral reaction - severe. I tried to "jog" parkrun on NYD 2022 & that was that - acutely ill (couldn't stand up - Dysautonomia), 3 months' very sick, lost job. Couldn't go to a shop. Summer 2022 improvement going OK - can walk 10km, and "trundle" round easy orienteering courses, and do easy rock climbs again. Controlled bouldering indoors OK too. Long way to go. But am on my way back already.