I just got back from a mega training weekend in the Ogwen Valley and it was a very, very welcome break. Just being able to get out of the country, talk to new people and do a great deal of walking and climbing was a spiritual boost for me.

Even though restrictions are gradually lifting in the UK and due to be gone by late July, I can’t help but feel the mentality of lockdown persists and continues to oppress people.

I’ve been working from home the better part of three months now and have gradually felt a flatness creep into my life. I’ve always considered myself a positive person, but found it hard to maintain with the same monotonous routine day-in-day-out.

Over the last few months I’ve learnt to really value the importance of close relationships, new experiences, being outside, and above all, to maintain a child-like curiosity about the world around you.

Camping in the Alfa Mito by Llyn Ogwen. Surprisingly comfy.

As the expedition’s objectives require fast and light attacks on the objective summit, Sam and I for this trip wanted to concentrate on moving efficiently together alpine style, avoid pitching a climb where we could and generally be as slick as possible.

I did my first bout of simul climbing (a climbing style where all the climbers climb at the same time whilst tied into the same rope) and also managed to tick off some classic rock routes such as Amphitheatre buttress, Grey Slab and Direct Route.

Sam on the fourth pitch of the classic climb, Amphitheatre Buttress.

The Last Month:

At the start of June I spent a couple of days up in the Peak District and was stoked to pass my rock climbing instructor assessment. If you want taking out on the rock for some fun, just let me know ;).

I got my first front cover shot this month with The Outdoor Writer and Photographer Guild summer journal. The image they featured was a shot I took whilst climbing a multi-pitch route on the Stockhorn, Switzerland. Read more about it below.

Further Reading:

First Front Cover With The OWPG

Photo Essays: #3: The Tea Fields Of The Cameron Highlands

What I’m Reading

Restless Valley - Philip Shishkin

I’ve become obsessed with reading about Central Asia. I recently finished Restless Valley and it is hands down the best book I have read on the region so far.

It sounds like the stuff of a fiction thriller: two revolutions, a massacre of unarmed civilians, a civil war, a drug-smuggling highway, brazen corruption schemes, contract hits, and larger-than-life characters who may be villains...or heroes...or possibly both. Yet this book is not a work of fiction. It is instead a gripping, first-hand account of Central Asia's unfolding history from 2005 to the present.

Philip Shishkin, a prize-winning journalist with extensive on-the-ground experience in the tumultuous region above Afghanistan's northern border, focuses mainly on Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Both nations have struggled with the enormous challenges of post-Soviet independent statehood; both became entangled in America's Afghan campaign when U.S. military bases were established within their borders. At the same time, the region was developing into a key smuggling hub for Afghanistan's booming heroin trade.

Through the eyes of local participants - the powerful and the powerless - Shishkin reconstructs how Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have ricocheted between extreme repression and democratic strivings, how alliances with the U.S. and Russia have brought mixed blessings, and how Stalin's legacy of ethnic gerrymandering incites conflict even now.

Music I’m Diggin

Tinariwen

I was looking for music to accompany my Kyrgyzstan documentary when I came across this old gem of Tinariwen at the KEXP radio station in Seattle.

I first saw Tinariwen back in 2007 at Glastonbury and was immediately blown away by their fusion of traditional desert rhythm and western rock. I’m tempted to travel to North Africa just so I can use them as a soundtrack to one of my films. Check them out.

Who I’m Following

Jon Gupta

I recently scored a sponsorship deal with Montane who agreed to kit out the expedition to Kyrgyzstan and contribute towards the film the team will make there. During my research into the company I came across one of their pro athletes, Jon Gupta.

Jon Gupta is one of the UK's most promising up and coming mountaineers with an impressive track record of big ascents from all corners of the world. He has summited Everest four times, with other notable ascents including Lhotse and Peak Communism.

He is currently crossing the monstrous Baltoro Glacier towards his objective of summiting K2 this summer.

You can find out more about him here.

What I’m Watching

Meru

I’ve been returning to some of my favourite mountaineering documentaries this month as I pry apart the shooting techniques of these master storytellers.

One of my all time favourites is Meru; a tale of three elite climbers who struggle to find their way through obsession and loss as they attempt to climb Mount Meru, one of the most coveted prizes in the high stakes game of Himalayan big wall climbing.

Quote I’m Pondering

Oh boy, what a month it’s been. I knew expedition planning was stressful, but it’s been truly something else; all of the team’s expedition funding has been withdrawn, three team members have pulled out and my flight to Kyrgyzstan was cancelled.

With all this going down I’ve been a bit down and felt the project would never get off the ground.

As I discussed my woes with friends at the climbing wall, one recommended me a small book by the Vietnamese Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh.

In his book, ‘No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering,’ Thich teaches the secret to happiness is to acknowledge and transform suffering, not to run away from it.

Therefore, ‘No Mud, No Lotus.’

I’m off to Wales again this week for a full weekend of expedition training humping big packs in pouring rain and preparing for the life of high altitude climbing.

What projects are you working on?

Until next month,

Alex