Sometimes a long run can do wonders for clearing your head and fixing your mind. Other times it highlights what is wrong without providing a solution. My aim yesterday was to start covering 170km over 4 days but I blew up after just 1. I did, however, manage 49km with 2,700m of ascent in 10 hours, which I’m pretty stoked about.
But as I sought clarity and answers, I think more questions have arisen and I cannot help feeling that there are bigger things for me to address.
One of the most common questions I get is “How do you make life work in Chamonix?” and a follow up to this piece on living the dream.
Everyone will be forgiven for thinking that I am a man of leisure with no work commitments, and just a never ending string of days climbing, skiing, and running in the mountains.
If only that were true.
Actually, no, I’m glad it is not true, I would get really bored if I did not have work to keep my brain ticking over.
Time flies when you’re having fun, hey?
It has been nearly a year since my last blog post. So much has happened; summer continued with plenty of running and climbing, autumn saw me producing a feature film and filming on the north face of the Eiger, and then I skied 101 days in 140 over the winter. And that is all before this summer kicked off with tonnes of granite climbing.
I’ve been wanting to pick up writing here again for a long time but not felt I could. This post started out as some whiny and entitled post. I ranted about how I am conflicted with some people’s approach to social media – smoke and mirrors and doing it for the likes, and what I don’t like about it.
Crikey. If it wasn’t so boring it would have been comedy gold.
So, instead, I’m just here writing for the first time in a year about how I want to write again. Gripping stuff.
Been a while, hey? I’ve been wanting to write on Digital Steak for months now but just not really been feeling it.
This blog has always been very personal to me, an insight into who I am and what I am going through but I hit a roadblock. I’ve not really been able to understand what I’ve been going through and that has left me feeling paralysed; not just writing here but in life too.
ISPO is often about launching new products but it is also about new companies making their break and launching their dreams and initiatives. This ISPO I was really lucky to meet some of them and hear what is going on all over the world. From the USA to Sweden to a global sports initiative, here are 4 of my favourites.
After 4 mega days of seeing all the amazing new clothing, skis, climbing, and more that everyone has and will be launching in the next 12 months, I wanted to share my top 5 favourite bits of kit. This is just from the big guys as I want to follow up with another post on the incredible new startups that were there too.
Lost in a sea of bright colours, shiny objects, and cool new toys, arriving at ISPO this year has been even more impressive than my first trip here in 2015. With over 2,600 exhibitors, everyone from the biggest in outdoor and ski to the new startups are here to share their wares.
I’m scared to go into the mountains. There, I said it.
I’ve enjoyed some of the most incredible, inspiring, and challenging experiences in the Chamonix hills but I have recently struggled to get out and make the most of this amazing valley. My reticence has been about embarrassment and a reluctance to talk about the challenges and dangers that are out there. Talking with a friend about it recently I realised that I am in the second stage of my concept of mountain experience and judgement.
At 6.30am on Monday 10th October I am starting a very exciting, if not slightly terrifying, campaign with The North Face where I will be training skiers and snowboarders alike, live on their Facebook Page. You can sign up, download the plan, and get involved here.
Yikes!
Best. Decision. Ever.
As I leap off a block and plummet 6m into freezing cold pool of water in a gorge tucked up in the Swiss Alps, I can’t believe I almost chickened out on this. It’s day 2 of The North Face Mountain Festival and I’m trying out canyoning for the first time.
Do I write about the awesome cookies we tasted in a small Amish bakery in the middle of nowhere in Idaho? Or the perfect breakfast in Missoula, Montana? Maybe the long open roads that gave us both time to relax, reflect, and rebuild?
The States is really a stunning country and one I’ve wanted to explore further for many years. Here are some highlights from our road trip.
In design and engineering there is an acronym K.I.S.S – or, keep it simple, stupid – which states that most systems work better if they are simple. I came across it in web development where overcomplicating not just programming but design and user experience can have catastrophic effects for your end goal.
The more I find myself in difficult situations, or getting stressed out, the more I realise I just need to simplify what I am doing and, when I ignore that advice, how I end up in a pickle.
When asked why he wanted to climb Everest, George Mallory famously replied “Because it is there.” There is something undeniably attractive about scaling both massive peaks in the Greater Ranges and more humble hills in the British Isles. Sadly, the question now seems to be, “But for how much longer?”
My heart is in the mountains and has been utterly captured by these magnificent giants. If yours is too, you can show it with these t-shirts and hoodies! This is a deliberate plug for a new little venture I’m testing out and I would love your feedback, input, and, ideally your custom!
Buy a t-shirt or hoodie sharing your love of the mountains here!
‘Tis the season, on social media, for celebrating the year gone by and making grand declarations for the year to come. Posts sharing users’ most popular photos, highest viewing blog articles, or just favourite moments are everywhere and it is wonderful to see. Promises of new regimes, hopes and dreams are flooding my feeds and everyone of them is an inspiration. I’m afraid this post, however, is a little different.
Climbing Grossglockner by the Stüdlgrat | posted on August 5, 2014
A basic strength, stability & mobility workout for trail running | posted on June 2, 2016
Living the Dream – Moving to Chamonix | posted on May 9, 2014
Climbing the Frendo Spur – A very civilised affair | posted on June 26, 2015
Training, Nutrition, and Changing My Way of Life | posted on April 12, 2014
Switzerland, Winter Conditions and Climbing the Dufourspitze | posted on August 17, 2014