Reel Rock Film Tour, Dunfermline

Tonight, Emily and I headed to Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline for the 2012 Reel Rock Film Tour. The event was great value for money and seemed to be well supported. The lineup of films was extremely strong, as you can see below.

THE FILMS

THE DURA DURA

This film follows the battle between Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma to climb the world's first 5.15c near Sharma's Spanish home. The film is very funny and has a very interesting comparison between the two athletes - both with very contrasting styles of climbing. The film hypes it up as a bit of a battle, but in reality I think they have a very sound friendship and both have the simple desire to see the other succeed. Very entertaining and well worth a watch.

THE SHARK'S FIN

A very moving film that tells a great story of a team's second attempt to climb Mt. Meru. Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk return and succeed in conquering the iconic Indian peak. The feat is all the more remarkable due to Renan's serious skiing accident only a few months before the attempt. Anker's will-power and character really come through in this fantastic short film.

WIDE BOYS

A short film that follows Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker and their quest to climb the world's hardest off-width: Century Crack. It's a very inspiring story and features some amazing footage of the lads training in Tom's basement. There are also some amusing american characters, as the film also features some of the tough off-width climbers across the Atlantic. My favourite film of the night and I can't wait to see the full-length version.

HONNOLD 3.0

This guy is even more crazy than when I saw him last in: Alone on the Wall. This time he attempts to climb all three Yosemite's big walls: Mt. Watkins, El Cap, and Half Dome... in under 19 hours... free solo! Ridiculous - but he pulls it off and makes it look very easy... even at night with a headtorch! The film also features Alex attempting a VERY highball boulder problem. A must see film, even if you're not into climbing.

A great evening that was well supported and excellent value for money - highly recommended!

Book Review: Psychovertical by Andy Kirkpatrick

Despite being a climber myself and a general outdoor 'all-rounder', I've never particularly been interested in climbing and mountaineering literature. Touching the Void, for example, wasn't really for me; because I couldn't relate to the situation? Perhaps...

As a general rule, I tend to steer clear of climbing 'novels', but a few weeks ago I was looking for my next piece of bedtime reading and spotted a copy of Psychovertical on the shelf. No doubt it had remained on the shelf since being baught for me as a gift by a relative one Christmas past. With an open mind, I decided to give it a chance... and I was certainly pleasently surprised.

Psychovertical by Andy Kirkpatrick breaks all the rules when compared to other climbing 'stories' and doesn't feel (or read) like a climbing tale of adventures, hardships and over-hyped 'epics'. Andy is clearly more of a climber than he is a writer and this is a breath of fresh air, as the text reflects that it was written by quite a 'normal' bloke; not by someone who is blinded by their own ego.

Kirkpatrick switches between his life story and the tale of his impressive solo of Reticent Wall. This style of following two stories combined with a very easy-to-read writing style and humour, makes Psychovertical very enjoyable to read and extremely hard to put down. Andy's account of his childhood and early life comes across with humour and honesty. I found it fascinating to read about his learning difficulties at school and being diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 19.

It is clear that Kirkpatrick hasn't lived the high-life or gained fame or fortune through climbing or writing. Indeed the book outlines the frequent struggle he has endured with the latter - although this particular text isn't badly written whatsoever. Despite leading a fairly 'normal' daily routine, Andy has managed an impressive tick-list over the years and as the book and story progresses, the reader is treated to numerous short tales of adventures in the Alps and epics in Patagonia - never a dull moment. I really liked the way that he is open and honest about not having much of a clue when he started out in the Alps and gaining experience through errors and tricky situations - this I felt that I could easily relate to on some level.

I honestly couldn't put it down. The book is a great read and very funny in places. I suspect that folk who have no knowledge of climbing would enjoy it just as much as I did and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone, as it is so entertaining. Another outcome has surprised me somewhat; I am now quite keen to rediscover some of the other mountaineering literature that I have been avoiding on my bookshelf over the years; watch this space...!

Neil Gresham & Kenton Cool - Sherpa Adventure Gear

Last night Emily and I braved the horrible Edinburgh weather and headed over to Edinburgh University at George Square. It was a well supported event with a good crowd and a few faces I recognised from the climbing world. The evening was run by Sherpa Adventure Gear, who support both Neil and Kenton on their various trips around the world.

The format was set out in a kind of interview-style; with Ian Parnell asking the questions. Neil was up first and started from the beginning - how he had got into climbing from a young age thanks to his dad, how he had attempted to climb up the side of the PE block of his school (a la Johnny Dawes)  and how he had come to live in a house in Sheffield with a load of other top UK climbers. I knew a little about Neil from his various instructional DVDs and had seen a couple of his climbing videos but other than that I knew little about his story. He described how he had gone from hard sport climbing to hard trad and then had got involved in the world of deep-water soloing. It was a very interesting tale and Neil had also managed to climb some pretty hard winter routes all over the world too. Neil was very easy to listen to, very funny and had a rather relaxed and humble manner. I was most impressed and found him to be quite inspiring.

After the interval it was Kenton's turn to tell tales of his experiences on Everest and at high altitude. At first he seemed a little erratic and a bit nervous - but he soon settled. He had some great stories and a few video clips of his most recent Olympic Pledge. Emily and I had been following the story closely on the internet but it was interesting to hear about it first-hand. Kenton also pointed out that Sir Humphry Wakefield (great nephew of Dr Arthur Wakefield, a member of the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition) was in the audience - a special moment indeed.

A very enjoyable evening and excellent value for money.

Simonside

Emily heading through the woods on the approach to Simonside North Face, Northumberland

As this is the Edinburgh September long weekend, Emily and I have taken the opportunity to come down to Yorkshire to visit the family in Northallerton. It just so happens that Richard and David are running in the Great North Run 2012 on Sunday so we felt compelled to cheer them on and show our support. It didn't make sense to drive all the way down to Yorkshire and then drive North again to South Shields for the GNR so we decided to stay two nights in Northumberland; with a view to get some climbing in. We opted for two nights in Rothbury, as I quite liked the look of Simonside in the Northern England: Rock Climbing Guide (Rockfax Climbing Guide).

Boulders in the woods on the approach to Simonside North Face, Northumberland

We woke to a cracking morning and after a good cooked breakfast, we were soon gearing up in the Simonside picnic area car park. After a bit of a faff, we were making our way through the woods along the forestry track. After around ten minutes of steady climbing, we left the track and took the path that led around to the clearing below the main Simonside North Face. It was a very pleasant walk through the trees with the sun coming through and the temperature was mild.

Simonside North Face, Northumberland

As we left the woods, we were suddenly out onto the open moor and we got our first view of the crag in all of it's glory. The other thing that struck us was the strong, cold wind. As we made our way past a couple of the large boulders to the face, I realised that the wind was going to be a bit of an issue for the day.

Emily sheltering from the wind, Simonside North Face, Northumberland

By the time we were at the crag, we had experienced the full scale of the relentless gusts that were going to be with us for the rest of the day. I had read in the guidebook that the crag can be quite exposed but I had gambled on it not being an issue; a bit of a shame. Undeterred, we managed to find a fair amount of the crag that was slightly out of the wind and had great fun ticking off the many easy classics. It was all about quickly ticking off the many easy classics, as we didn't want to be stationary for too long and freeze! The highlights were most certainly Great Chimney D*** and Innominate Crack VD**. We had a great fun and Emily thought the climbing was great. I ticked off the very enjoyable and well-protected Flake Corner VS 4c* before we packed up our gear - a tricky move to stand on the top of the flake!

Gearing up at a chilly Simonside North Face, Northumberland

We were going to head back but Emily suggested that we circle back to the car via some of the bouldering venues that were further along the summit track - a great idea! Another reason for picking Simonside was that I quite fancied trying Dulcinea font 7a+***. I knew that there was no chance of sending it today, given the conditions, but we were keen to find it and at least check it out. After a bit of a tramp, we found Old Stell Crag and then Dulcinea. It actually looked ok - but was rather damp. I spent a few minutes on the start but the friction and conditions just weren't great; one for another day and a great excuse to come back! I was still keen to get on something so I quickly dispatched the 4 very easy problems on the Warm Up Wall - see video for anyone who is interested.

Flake Corner VS 4c*, Simonside North Face, Northumberland

Simonside Lookout, Simonside North Face, Northumberland

Feeling the cold, Simonside North Face, Northumberland

The light was now fading so we took the main path down and around Dove Crag before heading back to the car via Joe's Wood (following the Coe Burn). A fantastic day and I can't wait to go back to Simonside on a calmer day to try some of the harder routes.

Simonside Climbing from Chris McMorris on Vimeo.