I'd recommended the line of The Dark Side to Jordan Buys the previous day, and eager to take up the recommendation Jordan threw a rope down the huge 55m pitch as I climbed Jolly Roger on the perpendicular wall. As I was topping out, having plugged my entire rack into the route, I could see my belayer 55m below, slightly distracted by Alex Honnold who was heckling the amount of gear I'd placed and clearly engaging my belayer more than my bumbling about on an E3!
Following on from the Workload Challenge, I was commissioned by Advanced Learning to write a short report on the potential role of edtech in reducing workload. The report "Can technology reduce teacher workload" focusses on the key barriers that are holding back edtech innovation and its potential to impact upon workload.
Just over 12 months ago I was doing a route toward the end of an endurance training session at the climbing wall when I popped out for a hold with my left hand. My forearms were already very fatigued and as I caught the hold and pulled through into a deep lock I felt a bursting strain at the elbow end of my forearm and in my wrist.
I'm lucky to climb with some of the best climbing photographers in the UK (if not the world) who take some incredible shots of the climbing and skiing that we get up to together. Here's a selection of some of my favourite photo memories of the last 10 years of climbing in the UK, Alps, Africa, Iran and the Karakoram. Thanks to Alex Messenger, Scott Mackenzie, Lukasz Warczecha and Henry Iddon for many of these photos.
It's pretty clear that over the last 10+ years the ethic at Millstone has been to try and move further away from fixed gear. I can imagine a new peg being placed on a significant new line at Millstone, but it won't be without controversy and I wouldn't place a bet on it happening ...
Sometimes in the mountains things goes wrong, the unexpected occurs, the shit really hits the fan. You think you’re prepared, you think you know how to handle every situation, over the years you’ve probably rescued a few people here and there, but then something happens you can’t control and you’re helpless. The weather was foul …
With the news that Michael Gove has been appointed in charge of the Ministry of Justice I can already see on social media and in some sections of the press that the personal attacks are starting. He was unpopular with swathes of the teaching profession, but the profession made some big mistakes in handling him …
Skiing in the Peak District is a fickle sport, we get out usually 1 or 2 days a year. It’s not the alps, there’s usually no base snow, but every now and again we get a fairly sizeable dump of snow. This coupled with the winds which often accompany the snow in the North of England and …
Business secretary Vince Cable recently announced that he was signing off a “minor” amendment to the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures after a year-long consultation. In the next breath he called for Acas to carry out a full review of the same code. Why did the outcome of a minor consultation trigger a full review ...
“K2 is the most demanding climb in the Himalayas. 1 in 4 climbers who have tried to get to the top have perished.” James Naughtie, BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, 16th Nov 2011 If my mother was listening to Radio 4 this morning I’m fairly sure there’ll be no way she’ll ever allow me to …