Got my first taste of the hills in my early teens. A few trips in the Cairngorms and other local hills with the scouts. Also had a camping trip to the lake district but can't remember what hills we went up!
Started hillwalking in the early 90's, usually as a hangover cure of a Sunday morning.
Walking led to the almost inevitable Munro fever, so started my round after realising I'd already done a few. Completed the Munros in July 2002.
During my time on the hills, I found the exposure and exertion of scrambling to be much to my liking, so would seek out the pleasures of the rock whenever available. This in turn led me to try my hand at roped rock climbing, as the Munro list was getting shorter and I realised I'd need another fixation to keep me active.
Joined the MMC (Moray Mountaineering Club) in 1999, as there were a few members involved in climbing and I reckoned they'd be up for teaching me the ropes.
Since then, the hillwalking has taken second place to climbing, be it small crag, mountain route or sport. Although it's nice to get out and lose yourself, figuratively, wandering in the wilds now and again.
I have also climbed on the local indoor walls as often as possible, mainly during the winter months. Started off visiting Inverness Leisure wall and Glenmore Lodge. Also used RAF Lossiemouth wall, before it was upgraded and the Extreme Dream one in Aviemore before it shut down. Since then, Kinloss barracks (previously RAF Kinloss) had a wall built, which the MMC were able to use; the RAF Lossie wall was upgraded; Craig Mclean leisure centre in Grantown and Speyside Climbing Centre in Aberlour had walls put in, all of which I have climbed on. I have only visited Transition Extreme in Aberdeen once, but it is an impressive wall to which I will definitely return.
I never thought to keep note of the times I visited these walls, but in total I can say I've had over a hundred sessions, leading, bottom roping and seconding many routes during each session, between all the walls in the last 16 years, and I think that's quite a conservative estimate.
Since writing my original CV, I have started working at the new SpireRoxx climbing wall in Elgin. As I am full-time there, I supervise, instruct and floor walk 5 days a week for up to 12 hours a day. Because of this, my log would be long and tedious for all the sessions I'm involved with, hence this additional paragraph to cover my daily graft.
