Outdoor Living and Adventure
Imagine, 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?
Continue readingI 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.
Continue readingAfter 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.
Continue readingAfter 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.
Continue readingI’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.
Continue readingWe 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.
Last week looked like a busy one. Working in the climbing centre on Monday and Tuesday, doing an award show on Wednesday and Thursday, back to the centre on Friday morning, and onto a shoot in the afternoon. Busy busy! Thankfully the show on Thursday was canceled, giving me a day away from work and nothing planned.
I recently became a climbing instructor at the Glasgow Climbing Centre. It’s quite the career move from being a London based camera operator but it means I get to climb as much as I can and I’ve found a real joy for teaching people!
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