I used to work within the camera department in film and TV. I loved the camaraderie within a good crew, with everyone pulling for the same objective. I loved the creative output, and the recognition of a good shot or a job well done. But there were parts of the job I disliked. The egos, the live broadcast stress, the feeling of your work being constantly judged. So I decided to move away from London, back to my home village in Scotland, to have a break from the industry. I hadn’t realised that this would be me stepping away fully, and embracing a new line of work.
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I find my birthdays weirdly stressful. I still get a childlike buildup in the days leading, and it all comes crashing down when I then focus on how old I’ve become, how little I feel I’ve achieved in the past year, and how fast time seems to be flying by. Obviously, all super unhealthy! So last year, I decided to distract myself with a packraft mission. Float down the river that I grew up next to.
Continue readingImagine, it’s 2020 and you’re locked down in a city centre. Time to cultivate a sourdough starter, pick up a craft, and bash some pans in the street every Thursday evening. Yes, I did all of these, but I also jokingly started a running project that began to take over my lockdown life.
The project? Try to run every street in central Edinburgh, starting from the flat.
Ok, truth be told this isn’t actually my first packraft. I bought a DIY packraft kit many years ago, began making it and got so stressed out by it I tucked it away in a box. This is my first complete packraft that I bought to try and push myself to finish the original one.
So what is a Packraft?
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I love the idea of big mountain trips, with plenty of climbing and plenty of exposure. But I also love the idea of heading out on a solo adventure, and most climbing related activities require you to team up with others to tackle the task. That’s probably why the idea of via ferrata has always seemed to appealing.
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After our disastrous attempt to summit Bidean Nam Bian, Louise and I had gone on a couple of other (far more successful) trips. But we hadn’t returned to the challenge. That was until 8 months later when I got a message from Louise saying she’d be up from London for her birthday. Rather than spend the day inside eating cake, she suggested we should head to Glen Coe again to give Bidean another go. This time we’d be far better prepared and we’d have the weather on our side.
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After a very relaxed start, Louise and I arrived in the viewpoint car park in the heart of Glen Coe. It was mid October and the clouds sat low and threatening. Even though it was only 10.30am, the light seemed to already be fading as the rain switched from drizzle to torrential and back again.
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I’ve now been climbing consistently for a few years; in fact my job is to teach people how to start climbing. I truly love the sport, from how it pushes you personally to how much of a community there is around it.
But I’ve also really struggled with my motivation to climb when I’ve not seen any improvements in my climbing. Yes, I hit the dreaded 6C plateau and stayed there for two years! And at times it made me question why I even bothered with the sport.
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We were treated to some fantastic weather this summer, and coupled with my recent purchase of a bouldering pad, I decided to test out as many local bouldering spots as possible.
Thom and I headed out one day to the south shore of Loch Katrine to check out the Trossachs boulders. The walk-in was a little boggy but the views made it worth it. The spot feels like a total dreamland once you get to the boulders. We spent a few hours climbing before the midges got so bad that we had to leave. Continue reading
It’s almost been a year since I lost one of my best friends to suicide. Here is a story and some pictures from one of the last times I saw her.
I met Anna while living in London, and in a short period of time we became really close friends. We kept in touch over the phone when I left the city, but as her mental health got worse, I suggested she came up to Scotland to get away from everything.