mountaineering
Near misses in the mountains.
People frequently ask whether I’ve experienced any near misses while BASE jumping. It’s a valid question every jump operates on an edge where seconds and meters can dictate success or disaster, so potentially I would say every jump brings us precariously close to a disaster. Nevertheless, there have been a few standout moments that have imparted crucial lessons, particularly regarding speed and energy management when navigating close to terrain—where, paradoxically, speed can be your ally.
Altitude dreams
If the goal is easy to achieve, is it worth setting in the first place? If you know the outcome is inevitable, is it still a challenge?
First wingsuit flight from Aconcagua
Below the tip of my toes is a 300-metre drop onto the glacier below. My foot is curled over the edge of the rock. Gaining maximum purchase as I push off at a perfect angle, pre-determined by a thousand other jumps. Ingrained into my muscle memory. Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect, but it does make permanent so I’ve made sure to practice perfectly.
The Fault Line
Some times I think to myself why the fuck do we do this. I sat in the helicopter swooping around the sharp valley ridges. The pilot would drop me in Saas fee so I could pick up my car and drive to the hospital. Although everything was now ok, this is when the flood of thoughts and emotions hit.
Kyrgyzstan: New routing & new friends
DAY 1
We drove for 5 hours over rough tracks, through rivers and over makeshift bridges. Heading deeper into the valleys of the Tien Shan mountains. Each valley led to another, branching off again and again until finally a wide river stood between us and our base camp. We had driven hundreds of kilometres but as the crow flies we were only 50km from our hostel.
Climbing the Eiger with an old school friend
James and I went to school together, where I remember the first time I found out he climbed and I asked if my trainers where good enough to climb in. 10 years later having never climbed a single route together, we are bivied out at the base of the North Face about to attempt the infamous Heckmair route.
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