Sorry about the lack of posts this week - a) it's been a whirlwind of a time and b) my phone has stopped uploading the posts!... anyway, back to last Friday!.... As part of my work with the Rab AMI test team, I’ve been up in The Lake District at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival. It’s been a crazy 24 hours or so, but well worth the effort. The trip started off with a lucky lift share. I’d agreed to give a friend a lift, which in turn led to a free bed to sleep on and a good breakfast before the festivities began the next day.
I was due to be running some technical workshops to promote the Association of Mountaineering Instructors on a small training wall at the Rab Equipment stand. These were good fun and it was good to be using my brain to answer lots of on the spot questions about everything from tying knots to complex rescue situations.
I got a little bit of free time to explore the other stands and chat with numerous friends from the ‘Outdoor World’.
As we were packing up for the evening, I was rather luckily given a ticket to a sold out presentation with the worlds hardest rock climber - Adam Ondra. During his talk he showed a film clip that showed him ‘resting his arms’ on a hard overhanging climb - by hanging from his toes!!
And if that wasn’t good enough, I also got to meet him afterwards and have a quick chat! Amazing!
From then on it just kept getting better as I subsequently got introduced to American climbing hero - Tommy Caldwell.
As we were packing up for the evening, I was rather luckily given a ticket to a sold out presentation with the worlds hardest rock climber - Adam Ondra. During his talk he showed a film clip that showed him ‘resting his arms’ on a hard overhanging climb - by hanging from his toes!!
And if that wasn’t good enough, I also got to meet him afterwards and have a quick chat! Amazing!
From then on it just kept getting better as I subsequently got introduced to American climbing hero - Tommy Caldwell.

I’d said I’d meet some friends to say goodbye at the DMM festival pub quiz. Accompanied Jonny Dawes, who had suddenly appeared, we made our way over and Tim had to do some smooth talking to get us through the door of the packed venue. Then in a fantastic twist of fate, as we were about to leave, we were asked to join a team of two who needed us to make a complete team. We sat down, signed up and enjoyed a riot of an evening - and would you believe it, we won the £250 top prize! And got a free rucksack to boot! Bonkers!
It was a late exit from the party, but what a giggle it had been. We’d only been in Kendal just over 24 hours yet packed in so much! Worked, played, met old friends, made new ones, been to a lecture, hung out with the A-list of the climbing world and won the quiz! It was time to cut and run! Arrived back at The Cottage at 2am elated and utterly shattered.
It was a late exit from the party, but what a giggle it had been. We’d only been in Kendal just over 24 hours yet packed in so much! Worked, played, met old friends, made new ones, been to a lecture, hung out with the A-list of the climbing world and won the quiz! It was time to cut and run! Arrived back at The Cottage at 2am elated and utterly shattered.
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