CLIMBING
Q Steve showing what it takes to climb the mythical Hubble at Raven Tor in the Peak District. When it was fi rst climbed in 1990 by bouldering legend Ben Moon, it was graded F8c+. Steve repeated it in the summer of 2009 but, despite a few visits, Adam Ondra hasn’t yet managed it. He thinks it could be the world’s fi rst 9a.
P Hands off that cable! Steve onsighting the Via Ferrata Rino Pisetta, Arco.
UPDATE: JUNE 2014
How’s his potential F9b project going? “Rather rubbish. There was a run
of bad conditions – too warm, too humid – and I ended up losing fi tness because I kept
saving myself for any good day. Roll on the autumn.”
“AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF HARD CLIMBING, YOUR WHOLE BODY HURTS.”
How does it feel to keep pushing hard climbing when you’re over 40, I ask Steve? “My relationship to climbing is changing,” he explained, “It’s an interesting time. I still love climbing but the drive isn’t always there. I can come away on holiday and be as happy to onsight F7b+ as F8b+.” Was there any secret to staying at the top, I wondered? “I don’t train very much. I don’t use campus boards, they’re so dangerous,” he winced, “For some people they’re useful, but not for me. The single biggest thing that’s helped my climbing is that I can’t put on any weight. People look at me and think I’m super disciplined, but I like to sit on the sofa and stuff my face as much as the next person.” Is he feeling the onset of age? “I don’t know if it’s my age. But after several days of hard climbing, your whole body hurts. It’s always been like that, but now I can feel it
differently, almost like it’s on the verge of being injured. It just feels like it’s not recovering as much as it used to.” With two young children with his partner Vic (Amelie, 7, and Harry, 2), it must be hard to juggle having a young family and climbing, let alone above F9a? As he was fi ghting his way up his limestone projects, was he even thinking of kids? “Let’s just say it’s a good job that women are good at persuading even selfi sh climbers to settle down, otherwise we’d all be in trouble,” he laughs. For many committed climbers, having a family means game over, was he ever tempted to call it a day? “No, but it’s defi nitely a game changer. I often get contacted by strong climbers, panicking about parenthood, asking how their life will change. I tell them that having a family is the best thing ever. If I didn’t have kids then all I’d have is climbing, and
44 | 70TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR | FOR BRITISH CLIMBING AND WALKING SINCE 1944
W What F9b looks like? Steve working his potential F9b project at Malham, Yorkshire.
PHOTO: TIM GLASBY
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