00:00I often wonder how folk who don't venture into the mountains stay sane.
00:04The mountains help me to think clearly,
00:07sift through problems and put other troubles into perspective.
00:24The exquisite feeling of linking moves high above gear on beautiful rock,
00:28or simply moving over the mountainside high above the valley floor,
00:32focuses the mind and empties it of clutter.
00:35It's a much sought after, seldom found sense of the perfect moment.
00:40A childhood perched on the edge of the wild Atlantic in Cornwall,
00:43embedded a need within me for wide open spaces and endless skies.
00:49My wonderful grandma would take me scrambling across the rocks by the sea,
00:53sharing her sense of adventure and teaching me how to notice,
00:56how to stay calm, how to be myself.
01:00Moving away felt like a terrible wrench,
01:02but my school rucksack club brought escape to the mountains,
01:06and walking up hills felt like second nature.
01:15For a long time, I'd have said the most testing part of my climbing life
01:19has been my journey to become a mountain guide,
01:21or a particular climb that was dangerous and hard.
01:25But now, having just turned 50,
01:28perhaps it's the acceptance that I won't do all the things I thought I would,
01:31that staying fit and injury free is a daily battle,
01:35and worst of all, that I'll soon be out climbed by my daughters.
01:38I didn't walk how you said I should walk,
01:41I walk how I do walk, and that's fine.
01:45It didn't go how you said it would go,
01:48it went how it did go, and that's fine.
02:01That they love being out and about in wild places is a joy.
02:06That they both love climbing is a miracle.
02:10How many 12 and 16 year olds would choose climbing trips
02:13as their number one holiday?
02:19But I'm cautious though.
02:21I treasure each trip as the last,
02:23ready for a time when they might drift off in other directions.
02:29I want them to discover who they are,
02:31what makes them feel truly alive, and be true to that.
02:35Anything else will feel inferior, pointless even.
02:38I heard you say, meet you in the long grass.
02:47Something could have lost, but we're away.
02:55Zoe and Ruby helped me to grow roots here in North Wales.
02:59Snatching mini-adventures in preciously short time slots,
03:03North Wales is perfect for that.
03:05Small scale, but big character.
03:11Climbing here can be a busy, buzzy affair.
03:14The sheer number of keen and psyched folk
03:16who pitch up in North Wales keep it vibrant.
03:18And yet, as a long time resident,
03:21you know how to find the empty quarters,
03:23have crags to yourself,
03:24a sense of peace and space.
03:28Know whether to head into the mountains
03:30or escape the rain at the coast.
03:32Meet you by the seaside.
03:37I didn't set out to be committed to climbing.
03:40No one does.
03:41But looking back on the last 30 years,
03:44I realise it's turned out that way.
03:46I feel incredibly lucky to have found my thing,
03:48the part of me that has given my journey through life the most meaning,
03:51the most shape.
03:53It's a commitment equalled only by the one I feel to my girls,
03:57that they too now believe their climbers is an honour.
04:00There are these amazing little moments like a flow of understanding between us.
04:05They understand my passion, who I really am,
04:07and though their climbing journey is just beginning,
04:09I can empathise with their triumphs and frustrations.
04:13It feels very real and very precious.
04:19Climbing has given me an excuse to live a life slightly less ordinary
04:23and has allowed me a freedom that so many people don't have access to.
04:27It has taken me to some very special environments in all weathers
04:31and given me a reason to be immersed in wild landscapes from sunrise to sunset,
04:35to feel tired, hungry, scared and exhausted,
04:40but ultimately to feel properly, truly 100% alive.
