So I’ve been in mainland Europe for a week now… I am out here climbing with a good friend of mine, Logan Barber (Australia). I first met Logan on a climbing trip to Ceuse back in 07 and since then we have been on many a good climbing trip together and share a lot of similar goals. At Christmas time I spoke to Logan about a trip to the Dolomites, and thus the seed was planted… Logan was keen for it immediately and we spoke more about the plan when I was in Australia. Before I knew it I was flying... Continue reading

I have just returned from a great week climbing and coaching in a wonderful little island on the east coast of Denmark called Bornholm. "Climbing in Denmark?" I hear you say... Well yes! Amazingly this little island hosts the only real climbing in all of Denmark! The island itself is just a massive chunk of granite plunked a mere half hours flight from the city of Copenhagen. A gem of an island for Danish rock climbers, Bornholm is the home of a growing scene of sport climbing (and trad climbing) as well as some serious potential in granite bouldering :D Scouring... Continue reading

  “Punks in the Gym” is an iconic sport climb steeped in history. It was a route bolted by a local Australian climber that was free by Wolfgang Gullich in the mid 80’s and became the world’s first f8b+/32. It has since been the goal for many climbers to one day repeat this hard historic piece of sport climbing history. When I first got on the route, some of the moves felt really low percentage, like I could fall of them a lot and it could get rather frustrating for me quite quickly. Every foothold is a smear of sorts, nothing... Continue reading

Hey Guys A lot has happened since my last blog post! I have been climbing in the Grampians, the Blue Mountains and around Queensland. It’s been an incredible trip and I don’t want it to come to an end :P Towards the end of our time in Arapiles, we made a couple of trips to the Grampians, which is only a short distance away. We visited one of the most amazing crags I have ever been to, a super steep sculpted sandstone wonder known as Muline. This place is literally like something out of a crazy dream world where the rock... Continue reading

  The last week has been a whirlwind of climbing here in Australia. I have dabbled in both trad and sport but the highlights for me have certainly been in the sport climbing (and sometimes mixed). Tracey on "Krank 'N' Dangle" at Muline crag, Grampians Firstly, after doing “Punks in the Gym” so quickly, I had surprised myself at what I could achieve already. I was keen to do more challenging routes in the area but there wasn’t anything really hard in Arapiles that inspired me. I had a looke at the f8c/33 “Somalia” which had last year only received it’s... Continue reading

Hey Guys My first week in Australia is almost over, but I still have 5 weeks left in this incredible place!!! I actually can’t believe the quality of the rock here, it’s without a doubt a completely new experience for me, and different to anything I have ever done before.Arapiles in all it's glory :D I have been staying in a really nice cottage just outside Natimuk called Banksia Hill. Highly recommended for anyone coming to the area and conveniently located between Arapiles and Northern Grampians. For the last week I have been climbing in Arapiles for the most part. Arapiles... Continue reading

Hey Guys So things have been moving quickly since I returned from Spain a few weeks ago. I am back into my usual coaching and route setting routine based at Edinburgh International Climbing Arena, but it's never long before I am off on another adventure :P My next trip is to Australia for 6 weeks at the end of March! I am seriously looking forward to this trip as Australia is somehwere I have wanted to go to since I was a wee knipper. Something about this place down under has always intrigued me... I don't know why? Even before I... Continue reading

New Years and Xmas in Catalunya   HOLA!!! Well I'm actually in the UK now so saying "Hola" is probably not gonna get me very far but I will probably continue saying it to everyone I meet over the next few weeks until I get out of the habit :PSkies leaving Liverpool early morning I've just had what has been such a seemingly quick trip to Spain, the time there just flew by, something I am only too well acquainted with from my climbing trips over the years... why can't they last forever!!! This time I headed out with a more... Continue reading

  Last weekend was the British Youth Open - a competition open to anyone fitting the age categories Youth C to Junior (11-19 years old) and is one of the major competitions throughout the year where the GB Team Coaches select new team members.B-E-A-UTIFUL Morning Outside Casa Hamer This weekends Youth Open was held at "The Foundry Climbing Centre" in Sheffield. "The Foundry" is one of the oldest climbing walls in the country opening in 1991 as the UK's first dedicated indoor climbing wall! So I was 1 year old when "The Foundry" opened :P The Foundry has a massive following... Continue reading

Since getting back from Spain it’s seemed like the world has just suddenly sped up double time! I’ve been doing a lot of coaching work at EICA as well as attending competitions, training and assisting in running a Fundamentals 2 Coaching course – all of this has made time fly by and before I knew anything it’s almost Christmas!!! I can’t believe it really! How can time go so fast? Too much fun I guess? As much as it’s been a fun period of work and climbing, it’s also been really tiring. I don’t remember a time when I’ve felt so... Continue reading