Hello readers and thank you for visiting this page. Our 24 year old daughter Rachel, along with Tim Newton (age 27), were swept away by a huge avalanche at the foot of Ben Nevis on the morning of February 13th 2016. You may find more info by searching “Rachel Slater” in google. Family, friends and…
Flicking through cheap flight websites trying to find a suitable climbing destination for a week at Christmas, my top priorities were: Likelihood to be warm and dry; The presence of steep, pumpy climbing; and Somewhere I haven’t been before. Athens seemed to fit this bill and whilst its merits as a great sport climbing destination…
Following a pretty average UK summer, September and October, on the other hand, have not stopped giving. The weather and psyche gods must have been smiling! In summary: 4 weekends away to North Wales and the Lakes, lots of evening exploring, and some wide crack wrestling. What more could I ask for? The first weekend in…
A short drive and an hour of brambly bushwacking later leads us to what we hope is the top of the route. Name: Liquid Armbar. Type: Offwidth. Gear: Size six cams only.
Why are we here again???
Isn’t it such a wonderful feeling when you can push yourself climbing without getting scared? Sometimes I feel like a bit of type 1 fun really is good for the soul. This year during much of my trad climbing I’ve felt like Bambi skittering around on a slippery piece of ice. Its felt harder than ever…
I’m going to start this post by admitting that the Dolomites have never really been on my climbing radar. Sure, I’d heard of friends going, stories of being stuck in tents in the rain or getting benighted on long, chossy multi pitches. Somehow the idea of doing either of these never really jumped to my…
When she was just a girl She expected the world But it flew away from her reach So she ran away in her sleep Dreamed of pabba- pabba- pabbaydise Pabba- pabba- pabbaydise Pabba- pabba- pabbydise Every time she closed her eyes On Saturday morning I feel my way into the shower, eyes mostly shut from sleep.…
I was going to wait until after Pembroke this coming weekend to post this blog (to see if anything changes massively) – however, most of the bank holiday weekend now looks like yucky rain so I’m going to this post anyway… I’ve written about this before, I’m writing about it again now, and I know…
It’s that time of year where everyone is starting to get properly excited for the trad season. It’s March, the hour is about to change, there are tulips, daffodils and lambs. The most common words on everyone’s lips seem to be ‘Spring’, ‘Cadbury’s creme eggs’ and ‘Pembroke’. Normally I’m mad keen for real rock, however, having…
Chris reminded me this weekend that I haven’t blogged in a while and, feeling a bit guilty, I decided to write one. It’s not that I’ve forgotten or had nothing to write about. I’ve almost been too busy to write one and so much has happened, I haven’t known where to start. I should probably…
I claw my way over the final bulge and collapse onto the belay ledge. “SAFE!” I yell when I catch my breath. Must get fitter. I’m exhausted, the meat grinder I’ve been forcing my hands into for the last 40 meters has nicely re-opened yesterdays wounds. My knuckles proudly dribble blood as if to say,…
I first visited Red Rocks, Nevada when I was only a jelly bean in 1991, and since 1997, my family have been coming back on an almost yearly basis. In my opinion, there are few places a family can visit year after year which truly never get old. Red Rocks is one of those places…
It feels so long ago that my biggest concerns were whether I should eat rice or pasta for dinner and which 3* beautiful, Spanish 7c to try next. “The future” was not an issue that often crossed my mind. Upon returning to the UK, the prospect of “the future” and “getting a job” began to hang…
“Would you give it a star Tim?” I inquire as we tick off yet another Pembroke mega classic. Having just returned from perhaps my most successful trad trip ever, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed at the amount of ridiculously good meters of climbing we’ve completed over the last nine days. So many routes that were…
Yesterday I had a gripping trad experience which had me thinking a lot about the WCS14 ‘be bold be brave’ hashtag. I can be bold sometimes. For years my hardest onsight lead (E3) was also my hardest onsight solo. I love the feeling of being on a smeary grit solo, finding the climbing committing yet ultimately…
Rachel Slater 