Only just back from Terradets and I was already straight back into work route-setting and coaching for an MCofS event on Saturday! Routesetting whilst listening to some good tunes in freezing temps - LOVELY JUBBLY!The event in question has been on the calendar for a while now - it was set up to be a National Academy for young climbers who made finals in the YCS (or who were up to standard).  Iain Sneddon (Master Bloc Setter Extrodinaire)The two days prior to the event, I routeset with Neill Busby and Jackie Sequeira. The original plan was to run the day using a... Continue reading

Woah! 2 weeks out here has gone fast! I have just spent the last 2 weeks climbing in the mecca of Limestone that is Catlunya, Spain :D Of course that doesn’t really narrow it down much does it? I have been climbing at some mega impressive crags such as Terradets, Oliana and Santa Linya!Lee Cujes on "Energia Positiva" (7c+) belayed by Sam Cujes On arrival I didn’t really have a plan – I thought I would try and get some public transport to Terradets and work it out from there… I had heard there was a refugio and hopefully that would be... Continue reading

  After getting back from Kalymnos I only had a week before I was due to be setting off again, this time to somewhere a little less mountainous than my usual destinations. I was in fact heading off to Denmark! Whilst out in Kalymnos, a Danish friend invited me to set for a competition in a small town called Skælør. Seeing this as a great opportunity to do some fun competition route setting and visit a new place I happily accepted. In the meantime however I was desperate to get some training in as I had only 2 weeks before I... Continue reading

A few months ago I was asked by Rob Sutton (manager of TCA Glasgow) if I would set one round of the White circuit. The white circuit is the TCA's hardest with problems ranging from F7A to F8A+ historically. Of course I took up the opportunity as I always love setting at TCA and it would be good to put myself to the test and see if I could come up with some hard blocs for the west coast boulderers to get their meat hooks stuck into :D A few days before I was due to come home from Kalymnos I... Continue reading

I have just returned from an epic trip to Kalymnos! It was a bit of a mixed bag of climbing coaching and a bit of personal climbing at the end, but hey, its all good :) I was in one of the most beautiful climbing destinations on the planet with good friends and always in the sun - living the good life!   Coaching Week   The coaching week was aimed at kids who are already experienced climbers, keen to develop their climbing skills further and also to transfer their indoor training to outdoors. All of those attending compete at regional,... Continue reading

I’ve just returned from what I can safely say was a very successful BLCC for Scottish climbers. The British Lead Climbing Championships (BLCC) is the National competition of the year for sport climbers hence why it attracts so many young talented athletes from all over the country. This year we had a strong team attending with kids in nearly every category from Youth C through to Youth A (unfortunately no Juniors). Buz, Jessica and I headed down on the Friday night, stopping off in the Lakes before driving the rest of the way to Sheffield at 6:30am on Saturday morning because Buz was... Continue reading

It's been a long time coming... Climbing Coaching is finally being recognised as a real pathway for Climbing Instructors/Coaches and those involved in the industry to take if they wish to improve their coaching skills. Although I can't say I have been around long enough to witness the days when professional coaching in climbing didn't even exist, I have been working as a coach for long enough that I can see a massive requirement to provide those working at walls with the necessary skills to coach more effectively all aspects of a climbers performance.  MANCHESTAAA!!!!This week I travelled down to Manchester... Continue reading

Hey Guys I have just returned from yet another eventful and character building climbing trip to Céüse, France. I was out there for around 4 weeks in total with two others travelling with me from Scotland, Andy Latta and William Bosi. For those of you who don’t know Andy and William, Andy is one of my oldest and best friends, we have shared many adventures together since we were young and he is still my favourite climbing buddy on outdoor sport climbing trips. William is one of my young apprentices who is quickly becoming a master. For William, this was his... Continue reading

We are now well into the trip, 3 days to be precise. We have been non-stop since the Youth Color Climbing Festival in Imst, the kids have barely had time to sit down for a rest! I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that they have certainly been put through their paces training with the Austrians! WOW! Those kids have some endurance! But I think it is starting to rub off on our British kids as they have been looking fitter and fitter by the day... and tonight was probably the peak of the trip.Nathan on classic 6a... Continue reading

Hey Guys! At the moment I am writing from Natalie's flat, situated in the small village of Landeck, 15 minutes drive from one of the world's best climbing walls, Kletterhalle Imst! A busy day at Kletterhalle Imst Kletterhalle Imst has been hosting international competitions for many years, and one of the traditions of the wall has been to host a very special competition called the "Youth Colors". This is aimed at kids not yet able to compete internationally for their country due to being too young, so Youth Colors is for Youth D and Youth C kids (or Children and Pupils... Continue reading