Closer to the Edge: Climbing to the Ends of the Earth

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The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Honing his skills as he grew, Leo would travel abroad becoming the first Brit to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in the United States at eighteen years of age, which cemented his reputation as a world class climber. One of Great Britain's finest climbers and adventurers, Leo Houlding started out climbing at ten years of age in the Lake District literally learning the ropes tackling the many peaks and crags the area was famous for.

He has since gone on to not only summit the world's toughest peaks, but to cross continents to explore the most extreme places our planet has to offer. In September 1998, shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I made my first trip to the Yosemite Valley in California and nothing would ever look quite the same again. With a brief overview of his life, Leo’s brand new show will follow on from his previous tour (The Spectre Expedition, 2019) bringing audiences up to date with his audacious expeditions, including his more recent ascent Mount Roraima, the high, rain forest-engulfed South American plateau which inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World! The social event of the year for outdoor people takes place across the town from 17th-20th November. Just decades ago women were unable to compete in traditional mountain races, yet today we see female runners winning ultra distance events outright.Excuse me, sir, I believe that was you up there and I am arresting you for a breach of the peace,' he said in his Mackem – not to be confused with Geordie – accent in the politest fashion the predicament could allow. The ethical debate as to where it was appropriate to place bolts for sport climbing or withhold them to maintain adventure values was a hot topic in Rogaland at the time. Back in North Wales, I enjoyed the rest of summer with Tim, Patch and others, climbing classic test pieces onsight and seeking out ever more difficult and dangerous first ascents on the remaining unclimbed scraps of rock in the Llanberis Pass, unaware that soon my horizons were to be blown wide open and my perception shifted so far that I would never again feel the same way about those precious little crags and that special place that had been so formative. He has since gone on to summit the world’s toughest peaks and explore the most extreme places on our planet.

We loaded a roof box on the Alfa full with beers and a case of fine single malt whisky as gifts for our hosts, which Andy had assured us was valuable currency in the extortionately taxed, oil-rich, socialist state of Norway. In a page-turning narrative, Leo describes his childhood inspirations to climb, his mentors who guided him, and the exhilaration of those teenage years when he broke into the public consciousness - such as his infamous race against Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear.

On the last morning as we said our goodbyes (snatched between violent fits of vomiting amidst my desperate hangover from the previous night's partying), Rolf, the wildest of their crew, with whom I had most bonded, took me to one side. I stepped out of the car, walked the short way to the base of the sculpture and without pause shimmied my way up the iron fins that formed the body, onto the wing, then surmounted the overhanging head to stand on top. Closer to the Edge' is Leo's 'warts-and-all' insight into the extreme life of one of Britain's best climbers who is active today and still planning epic adventures. When I started climbing, One Man's Mountains was a must-read book in the canon of mountain literature" says Rob Greenwood. Amazing story of adventure, but which also inspires to find one's own adventure, whatever that may be (climbing or otherwise).

How does he assess risk and judge what level he’ll take himself to be successful, and how does he balance this with teaching his own children the lessons he has learnt in some of the world’s most dangerous and extreme places. m. on a Monday and the A1 was full of rush-hour traffic that I noticed were braking dangerously to rubberneck at my display. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.We were heartily welcomed into the close-knit Stavanger climbing community and I was introduced to characters who proved influential in later years, including Sindre Bo, Rolf Bae and Robert Caspersen. Leo Houlding started climbing at ten years of age in the Lake District and was the youngest person (and first Briton) to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in the United States at eighteen years, which cemented his reputation. Honest, raw and exhilarating, Closer to the Edge is Leo's 'warts-and-all' insight into the extreme life of one of Britain's best climbers who is active today and still planning epic adventures. It was the most astonishing mountain I had ever seen and inspired a life dream that I would dare in a later chapter of life.