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A Climbing Mind: the wisdom of winter

words by Allan Evans

A little reflection on last year’s season as well as a bit of my thoughts on why I think winter is the greatest teacher of all the climbing disciplines. I also feel I should state, I’m a complete punter when it comes to winter climbing, but a little less so after this season.

Trip One


Having not done any winter climbing due to that thing that lasted a couple of years, that we would all rather forget, I kicked of the season with Number Two Gully on the Ben. A straightforward grade II gully to get back into the swing of things (I wish I could say that was intentional axe pun, but it wasn’t). My partner Ed was new to climbing and I’d been
mentoring him in the trad game for about eight months, he’s super psyched and got up to speed with trad very quickly. This would be his first winter route and I think he enjoyed it. I was rusty, and it was a long day finishing the walk out in the dark.

Ed looking at his first winter route

Trip Two


On my next outing I was climbing with Louise and Alec again opting for the Ben, going for Gardyloo Gully II/III. This route had been on my wish list for a while. It’s final pitch changes from season to season but often you climb through a rock arch/cave. This day was the epic of last season, with type two and three fun. It was Louise’s first winter climb and Alec didn’t have loads of winter experience. On the way up to the route we were chatting to some guys who had heard the crux was more like grade IV ice and had taken four screws. Needless to say, I was gutted when I fumbled a screw and it disappeared, even more gutted when Alec did the same shortly after, leaving us with only two.

We ploughed on, the climbing was steady for most of the gully, the ice was firm and there were steps from previous parties when it must have been a bit softer. So, we got to the last pitch and off I quest with my two screws towards the funkiest bit of ice I’ve ever seen form naturally. I don’t know how but the ice had formed into a kind of ice umbrella just in front of the rocky groove. I climbed into the groove to get myself established on the ice umbrella, threading a sling through the ice, and placing the screws. It was quite awkward to get on it and I had to reach back to get the axes in the ice, climbing in an overhanging position (maybe it was grade IV). I battled through till it eased off and I was in a comfortable position. Alec and Louise had been cheering me on from the belay, which I always find really helpful when I’m struggling. After finishing up the pitch I set up a belay on the summit, which was a big mistake, there was a scoop just after the pitch and before the summit, which was a lot more sheltered from the south easterly wind which was blowing hard.

My clothing and pack froze quite quickly, and my body started to go numb, I managed to get my belay jacket on which was a life saver.

The approach to Gardyloo


Louise and Alec managed to battle their way up the ice over a period of half an hour which was a long time to be in that wind. Once they got to the summit, we made the decision to down climb Tower gully a grade I as to escape the wind asap. It was steep and began getting dark as we began, it was a gruelling first winter climb for Louise and took its toll, so the decision was made for me to assist Louise walking down, while Alec built bucket seats in the snow to body belay Louise for extra safety. We bumped into the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team as we got to the CIC hut and they graciously offered us a lift from the top car park down to the North Face car park and gave us sweets, which we were very grateful for.

Trip Three


On the third trip me and Louise decided to car camp in our recently acquired campervan module for Louise’s Berlingo, which was pretty brutal in winter. Waking up to frost in the car one morning, but totally worth it to wake up and go to sleep with the stunning mountains in Glencoe. Our friend Jon headed up to meet us and we decided to tackle the three-star classic on Bidean nam Bian in Stob Coire nan Lochan, which is an absolutely stunning corrie.

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The walk in was a mixture of stunning views one minute then getting battered by wind and spindrift the next. The corrie was busy with teams, likely as it was one of the few places in condition in Glencoe at this time. Dorsal Arete was fairly straight forward mixed climbing with a crux at the end of the last pitch which I downclimbed on my first attempt as my hands had lost feeling, once I warmed them back up, I got it on the second go. With Louise and Jon following me shortly after, the wind had picked up and was strong enough to blow you over. We descended via the gully next to arete which was full of firm snow with me and Jon opting to slide down on our bums, the quick and fun way.

The walk in to Dorsal Arete


Trip Four


On the fourth and final trip to Scotland it was again me, Louise, and Alec. This was the most successful trip, racking up three routes in consecutive days. Which was likely due to the weather, there was no type 2 fun weather conditions. It was more like a summer alpine trip, with clear blue skies on all three days. Day one we started with Curved Ridge II 3, it wasn’t in great condition with the snow being quite soft, but being a rocky route it will go in any condition. I solo’d and Alec roped up with Louise more for a bit of confidence for Louise. Occasionally chucking the rope round a rock to belay. While it wasn’t in great climbing condition, the clear skies permitted us some stunning views of the Glencoe range.

Louise on curved ridge

Day two saw us heading to Aonach Mór and being able to take advantage of the gondola at the Nevis Range ski resort, making the walk in a little less painful. We went for Golden Oldy II a three-star classic ridge, there is some reasonably nice ice low down to climb to the base of the route, the ridge itself was stunning with incredible views. Alec solo’d while I roped up with Louise and we moved together placing the occasional piece of gear. We topped out and walked back to the gondola watching skiers and snowboarders enjoying the conditions.
We were all in a fun mood and had a little boogie in the gondola.

Me on Golden Oldy

Day three saw us tackle Tower Ridge, the longest of all the ridges on Ben Nevis and maybe the biggest in Scotland and therefore the UK. I’d been on the route a couple of times before, so let Alec do all the leading while I sat on the back of our rope of three and took pictures. It was a busy day on the Ben with it being March, people were likely making the most of one of the last weekends of the season. Although I’d been on Tower Ridge before the conditions were the best I’d experienced, the ice was in great condition and every axe and crampon placement felt solid.

A part of me was a little sad I’d not done any of the leading, especially when Alec quested off route. But I did get some great shots, so I shouldn’t complain. Car to car was around twelve hours, which is pretty good going for this route. Although I imagine guides are doing it in eight to ten. This was a great end to what had been my best season.

Louise on the Eastern Traverse – Tower Ridge

The wisest discipline

Climbing can and has taught me so many lessons, which can be taken into everyday life. Patience, determination, humility etc, the list would be long. It also teaches how to push through our fears and anxieties.

How to continue when things go wrong (like when you drop two ice screws, and the climbing is way harder than you thought it was going to be). So, what is special about winter climbing, well it teaches all the things other disciplines do and more, it does so in the most extreme and hostile of environments.

It teaches us to suffer and endure in a way the other disciplines can’t. Everything feels heightened, ultimately, I feel more alive and more thankful for life afterwards, because in this arena it’s ever more present how fragile life is and therefore how precious it is.

 Unknown climber Ben Nevis
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Seven ways to go plastic free as a climber

Seven ways to go plastic free as a climber

words by Allan Evans

It’s recently come to my attention through some social media posts by Greenpeace that microplastics have been found in the human body for the first time in several studies over the past couple of years, from our blood to our lungs and most shockingly in the placentas of unborn babies. While the issue of plastic has been in my awareness for some time and I have made changes to reduce it, I feel these studies have highlighted a greater urgency for change, certainly within myself.

It’s also felt that while recycling and upcycling help in terms of plastics entering the environment at a slower rate, we ultimately need to look at alternatives. As even in reusing these plastics they are still entering the environment, through washing our plastic clothing, our helmets, ropes, and other plastic equipment scraping on rocks as we climb. I recognise this will take time, I certainly don’t want to start climbing with a hemp rope from the old days, but maybe we can look to the past and apply new technology to it, I’ll leave that to the scientists though.

These are some ways I have been able to or am going to reduce my plastic consumption as a climber and I thought they would be worth sharing:


1 – Bottles/Water


An oldy but a goodie, this is always on any list of reducing plastic. Let’s face it, it’s a no brainer. My personal preference on this is to go with a metal water bottle, reason being, if it gets dropped and lost then there’s less damage done to the environment. I use Sigg bottles which have a plastic top, I do feel this could be changed to metal and rubber for the screw part, so maybe they could be pressured to do so. I do also use a bladder which is of course is plastic, but far less likely to be dropped or lost.


2 – Clothing


Most technical clothing these days is made of plastic, it’s fast drying, abrasion resistant, easily made to be waterproof, or water resistant and of course one of the biggest selling points, lightweight. There are areas of technical clothing that I feel don’t need to be plastic, zips, toggles etc. I feel they are only done to so to cut costs, I imagine there can’t be that much of a weight difference? Does technical clothing always need to be made from plastic? Base layers, socks and underwear is one thing I have found it certainly doesn’t.

Merino wool outperforms its plastic counterparts in all areas for these items.

It is more comfortable, dries just as well, good warmth to weight ratio and where it excels, not smelling after days of wear. I also question if we always need technical clothing. In a mountain environment, most definitely, I’d even argue at coastal crags as well. General cragging, sport climbing and bouldering I’d say we don’t. Organic cotton and or wool for the win! If you do need some technical plastic clothing, then why not look at a brand that is using recycled materials. Let’s face it there is enough plastic out there for us to not be making virgin plastic. I should also mention one way to combat microplastics being released into the environment is by using a guppy bag when you wash your clothes, I recently learned about these through a story on fellow Dirtbagger Lily’s Instagram.

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3 – Brushes


I’m going to be honest, plastic brushes infuriate me, I just don’t understand why? Especially when we know how harmful plastic is to our environment and now us! I have a selection of wood brushes, but my favourite is definitely my Sillygoat brush, they are worth every penny and I’m a big fan of the fact they can be re-bristled.


4 – Chalk


Some people really aren’t bothered about the chalk they use and there are plenty of brands on offer that deliver their chalk in eco-friendly packaging, with companies like Psychi taking it a step further and having chalk bins in gyms to save even more on waste, which is great. I’m unfortunately not one of those people and I’m a bit fussy, I love Friction Labs chalk and have used it for several years, I can no longer justify purchasing it anymore though. My latest chalk purchase came in a brown paper bag, Friction Labs please fix this!


5 – Clip Stick


May seem like a bit of an unusual item to add, however, I recently purchased a stick from Pongoose. There are a many reasons, I was impressed with the design; no moving parts to go wrong and so much less plastic than its biggest rival the beta stick and arguably better built, I have seen beta sticks lose their ability to hold solid gate biners, this would never been an issue with the Pongoose. Also made in the UK so keeping it local.


6 – Food


Much like water we can also reduce plastic by prepping for a day out and making food at home rather than stopping to get a meal deal on your day out. I’ll be honest this is one I have been guilty of a lot, but with a bit prep you will have a better meal that costs less, is better for the environment and yourself. It’s not even that hard to prepare your own protein bars or flapjacks.

7 – Skin Care


Rhino Skin has burst onto the climbing scene with a range of products, whereas most skin care brands have focussed on aftercare, Rhino skins have also paid attention to prepare the skin, which is great, what’s not great is their packaging, while all the other brands have used tins, Rhino skin are using plastic, not ok! I did purchase their performance cream a while ago, as I liked the anti-perspirant aspect, I still have it, it’s been used sparingly in the summer. If you have a particular issue like sweaty hands I see the appeal, but most of my skin care is when its thin or cuts. I have used various creams/balms that have come in tins. My new favourite though is Cloud Balm, made locally in Staffordshire using beeswax from hives they keep and in eco friendly packaging.

This leads me onto my closing statement, in today’s western society it’s near on impossible to avoid plastic, in our house we did the big plastic count set up by Greenpeace to understand exactly how much plastic we are consuming.

We actively avoid plastics as much as we can. Even with that, the plastic we are using in a week feels high.

The results of the count were shocking and can be seen in the link below. Greenpeace now have petition against the government to implement change, also linked below. I feel trying to avoid it isn’t enough and we need to start pressuring companies to use alternatives and pressure the government to make legal changes. There are so many alternatives that exist, many have existed for a long time and new technologies are available, it’s time for companies to step up and take responsibility, as do we the consumer and pressure them to act and take responsibility for their actions and their impact on our planet and our health.


Links:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297?via%3Dihub
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/microplastics-in-humans-after-blood-
scientists-find-traces-in-the-lungs#Microplastics-in-human-tissues
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/resources/big-plastic-count-final-report/
action.greenpeace.org.uk/plastic-waste-
crisis

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A Climbing Mind: psychology of environmental impact

words by Allan Evans

If you are reading a blog post from Dirtbags Climbing, I imagine you probably have an interest in the environment, big or small. I also imagine that like me, you may be confused, angry and frightened by the little to no interest that the majority seem to have, especially given this years IPCC report.  Rather than sit and stew in these feelings, I thought I would do some research and reflecting to try and find out why? Why are people not panicking or changing their ways, when the science is reporting that things are going to get very bad! 

My aim is that by understanding people’s positions, I can have conversations that can facilitate change in a positive and respectful manner for all. 

Defence Mechanisms

Defence Mechanisms are tools that our subconscious mind uses to protect itself, it will employ these tools when reality is too much for it bear. Two that may be employed for climate change are denial and rationalisation. Denial is self-explanatory, we simply deny the reality of a situation. You would hear a person with climate change denial say, ‘the climate has always changed, it’s natural, we once had an ice age’. Someone who is rationalising might say something like, ‘hotter summers, that sounds great’ or ‘it won’t affect me in my lifetime’. The person rationalising isn’t denying the situation; however, they are making it more comfortable for themselves. 

The best way to engage with people who are employing these defence mechanisms, would be to ask them questions and reflect what they say back to themselves. As an example, you could say, ‘are you sure it won’t affect you?’ or ‘what about the younger generation?’. To the denier, you could ask, ‘are you sure that human activities aren’t playing a part?’ This will make them question their beliefs without getting defensive, when we state things at people it can come across as aggressive, which leads people to go into a defensive mindset. 

Capitalism, Politics, Self-Identity

Most western countries have a religion which has surpassed all others in terms of a strict following, capitalism. I realise that capitalism isn’t a religion, however it has become a belief in something larger than oneself and I merely use it as a comparison having read Sapiens, in which Harari states :

‘It now encompasses an ethic – a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think. Its principal tenet is that economic growth is the supreme good, or at least a proxy for the supreme good, because justice, freedom and even happiness all depend on economic growth.’

He goes on to describe how ‘this new religion’ is even ingrained into science and politics, as scientific research is typically funded by private investors or governments, typically with the aim of improving ‘economic growth’ in some way.

As our governments are so invested in economic growth, we have been too, people are generally indoctrinated into a belief that they are ‘British’ or whatever nationality you are. This then goes on to develop into smaller tribes within the large tribe of nationality, what town you are from, what sport, music etc you like. These are all microcosms of identity. Many of you reading this are likely to identify as a climber, wild swimmer, runner; the list goes on. All these smaller tribes have their own set of values and ethics within the larger tribe. It even goes into smaller tribes from there, are you a boulderer, trad climber, sport climber etc. 

The point I’m hopefully making here, is that we all have our own unique set of beliefs dependent on how we identify with ourselves and those around us.

Most of our belief systems develop from an early age, from when we are a baby to around seven years old. Any beliefs which were developed at this age are very ingrained into the subconscious mind and are difficult to change. I’d argue that the capitalist doctrine is ingrained into us at these ages, with adverts for the various toys available shown between cartoons, our parents taking us around shops, we are consumers from an early age. We learn that we can acquire goods with relative ease, no one discussed where they come from or what impact they have.  If I look at myself that was me for a long time, my awareness of the environment didn’t start developing until my early thirties (I’m 37 now). I feel I was open to changing my belief system and to reject capitalism for several reasons, I was going through a period of change with my mental health, I was studying psychology to become a counsellor, I got into climbing and got interested in its history of anti-establishment. 

So how do we change things?

Ultimately, we can’t make people change and it would be ethically wrong to try do so in my opinion, we can only hope that by using some of the language I have suggested, we can have positive conversations which allow people to decide what is best for themselves as well as the planet and their fellow humans. 

We could also change the system, for those who want to remain with the consumerist mindset, we can do so by us switching to a more circular system, rather than using fresh materials, we repurpose. Dirtbags are one of those companies leading the charge in this field, it seems larger companies are starting to follow suit, particularly in the outdoor industry. 

If you want to see a change, be the change

I feel one way we can have a positive impact is by making changes ourselves, I have made small steps in being more environmentally friendly over time, I know there is more I can do and shall continue to do so. Through making changes I have seen that this inspires people around me to also make changes. Our subconscious is a bit like a sponge it soaks up all the information we consume, it stores it away to learn from it. Conflicts will arise as that old capitalist and consumerist mindset is still stored, however the newer information our mind receives the greater the influence it will have and the stronger it will become in fighting the old belief system. So don’t be too hard on yourself if you occasionally take a step back. 

 Set a goal

I set myself a task for 2021, to not purchase any clothing or shoes, to repair or resole. Honestly, I didn’t achieve this, I bought three items of clothing and one pair of shoes. Which could be viewed as a failure, however my decisions for the items were more conscious and not from a simple consumer angle. The items either replaced worn out items or fit a specific purpose within my life that other items didn’t achieve. While this goal is a personal one, in setting personal goals where you make a change, you can talk about these publicly creating a conversation with others. Your changes can have ripple effects within your tribe. 

Final words

I realise that the climate crisis we are facing can seem daunting and overwhelming, I certainly feel that way sometimes, especially when I don’t see the change happening as quickly and as urgently as I personally feel it needs. However, change happens over time and the more we engage the bigger this change will be, things might start small but over time will have a larger impact. I also feel by staying in a positive mindset with our goals towards making changes, is something people are more likely to want to embrace and become a part of. 

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A Climbing Mind: Breathing Power

Breathing Power – by Allan Evans


We often hear our fellow climbers reminding us to breathe when we are climbing, and, likewise, it is us shouting it up to the climber.

When we are climbing at our limit it can often be the first thing we forget about. I don’t need to tell you how important it is to breathe while climbing, or for just generally living. But I do want to explore just how important controlled breathing can be while climbing.

Breathing and particular types of breathing can help you manage your fears and anxieties – pre and during climbing. Regardless of what type of climbing we are doing it’s common to have anxious feelings at times, whether it be a fear of falling, of failure, of blowing an Onsight attempt on a route you have been saving for years! The list goes on.

A technique I came across in researching breathing techniques to use with my counselling clients was hacking the Vagus nerve.


What’s the Vagus nerve I hear you ask?

This nerve secretes a fluid which helps regulate our heart rate. As our body can’t distinguish the difference between what our mind is making up or what we are imagining, it responds to whatever story the mind is telling it.

Therefore, if we start getting fearful or anxious before a climb, our body responds. It elevates the heart rate and will produce adrenaline and a whole host of bodily functions are affected.

That explains the sweaty hands…

We can hack this nerve by performing longer exhalations, simply take a deep inbreath and on your outbreath make it slow and controlled and slightly longer than the inbreath. This stimulates the Vagus nerve and therefore slows down our heart rate, putting the body into a calm state.

Breathing deeply also has the added benefit of allowing more carbon dioxide to enter our blood stream, and having more carbon dioxide in our system slows down parts of the brain, including the amygdala, which is where fear is generated. Deep rhythmic breathing can also help us focus, when we get scared it takes our attention from the task at hand, to climb, to place protection well.


Do breathing techniques work?


In my own personal experience yes, they do. I can remember countless times on routes where I have been scared for whatever reason, a little voice in my head tells me to focus on breathing, in doing so I’m able to shift my attention back to climbing and continue.
Unfortunately, that little voice doesn’t always appear, and my fearful mind takes over, I hesitate, get pumped and either down climb or ask my belayer to take. I’m still working on using this powerful tool myself.


Disclaimer
These breathing techniques can be used to help you manage your mind and body whilst climbing, including your fears. I am however not suggesting you should not be fearful, fear keeps us alive and stops us from hurting ourselves. Climbing is an inherently dangerous activity and managing your risk is your responsibility.
It’s science!

I have linked a few articles I used as inspiration, they go into greater detail about the techniques used as well as the science behind it all, it’s interesting stuff.


Thanks for checking out the first instalment of my blog, I hope you find using the power of the breath useful not just in climbing, also in your day-to-day life.


If you see me at a crag, say hello and let’s do some breathing together!


Allan

References
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-athletes-way/201905/longer-exhalations-are-easy-way-hack-your-vagus-nerve


https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/mind/stress/why-deep-breathing-makes-you-feel-so-chill


https://neurohacker.com/breathing-technique-focus-mind

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