After the quick ascent of Blitz, I realised how I could apply my strength and tactics from sport climbing, to harder dry tooling routes. Despite my excitement I reminded myself that the focus here wasn’t the grade. It was about gaining experience and confidence in a variety of terrain.

It was approximately 6:30am and I had been on the go for almost 4 hours. As a human I wanted nothing more than shelter and warmth. As a photographer I simply could not let this opportunity pass.

Doing so much power endurance climbing before facing the technical headwall of the Groove would make for a pumpy number! A new route at Malham and certainly far beyond anything I had climbed before.

Arco Rockstar, an international climbing photography competition whereby you have 2 days to shoot, edit and present your best 4 photos. Oh, and some of the best climbing photographers from around Europe are invited to compete.