River boulder, Laramade

Leaves are falling, autumn has arrived.  Three or four years ago I found a really good boulder  in the Vicdessos valley, near the popular and developed area of Laramade. I was very surprised no one had found it before, being about 45 degree overhanging some evidence of cleaning or chalk would have been visible, but…

sport or art

In 2015 I finished a Phd THE PROBLEM OF REPRESENTING THE ‘BOULDERING’ EXPERIENCE AS IT EXCEEDS CONVENTIONAL FORMS OF REPRESENTATION in which I hope I argued relatively successfully that bouldering was in fact an art form.  Since that time things have inevitably changed. Currently there are people practising bouldering as an art form consciously and…

Olympics

Climbing, skateboarding and surfing are this year all included in the Olympics. I can’t say this fact particularly excites me. In fact I felt distinctly underwhelmed. So I had a chat this morning with my boyhood self and asked him what he thought. He said he started skateboarding in the late 1970’s. At this time…

Aude, Ariege border

Lovely views, tired legs, flies, snakes. I think I prefer it in the winter.

Camurac

Hazy sunshine and blown snow. Photos by Sandra Baizid-Whall

hair

First haircut

squint

I look hard into the wind driven snow, a grey white depthless landscape. On the same day I look inside my Dad’s old glove, I couldn’t see much in there either.

website shop

Wooden climbing holds – Hand carved. You can find the shop on the menu or click here https://andywhall.com/wooden-training-climbing-holds/ The holds are ideal for training boards – the smoother texture is more skin friendly than conventional resin holds but also requires greater tension which contributes to more productive training. They are also significantly better for training…