Media and Psych
On this page, you will find the sunday videos from the past year, which are a great way to keep the psych high when the weather is not playing ball. Some other material, mainly podcasts, news articles or famous climbing stories we wanted to share but did not seem appropriate for sunday videos will also feature here.
You can also find some tips, tricks and advice, once again, primarily videos, but sometimes written articles here too.
As always, suggestions are more than welcome!
For 2023/24 videos, click here.
Sunday Videos:
Sunday Video #1: Dan Turner's mission to climb significant boulders around the UK!
Sunday Video #2: This weeks Sunday video features a huge moment for British bouldering with the first ever 9a boulder completed on British soil by Aidan Roberts.
Sunday Video #3: Jacopo on a journey throughout Europe and America looking exploring the world of trad climbing.
Sunday Video #4: A trail running film covering a very technical 5k race in the heart of Alaska won by a certain Kilian Jornet.
Sunday Video #5: Klaas Willems, a Rock Climber who, due to his Cystic Fibrosis, has dedicated his life to climbing in clean air! It is well worth a watch!
Sunday Video #6: A race between a runner (Killian Jornet) and a base jumper (Tom Erik Heimen) up Romdalshorn in Norway.
Sunday Video #7: A film about Jesse's climb of the Old man of Hoy and is well worth a watch!
Sunday Video#8: Looks at the first ascent of a proposed 9A boulder problem out in Las Vegas by Sean Bailey.
Sunday Video#9: An amazing video of a new route in Peru completed by Josh Wharton and Vince Anderson.
Sunday Video #10: A video that captures the true essence of climbing/walking/orienteering and much more.
Sunday Video #11: This weeks video features an inspiring story of two scottish twins and their mountaineering adventures.
Sunday Video #12: The Winter Spine Race! With a 268 mile course from Edale to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders and the battles of British weather even finishing is an incredible feat.
Sunday Video #13: A Dream of White Horses (HVS 4c), a stunning climb up a wonderful sea cliff.
Sunday Video #14: Font!
Sunday Video #15: An attempt at the Bob Graham round by Jeff Pelletier.
Sunday Video #16: First ascent of the boulder 'Lupin' 8B.
Sunday Video #17: Some ice climbing involving Matt Segal and Will Stanhope.
Sunday Video #18: We have a Sunday podcast featuring BUMC Alumni Jessie Dufton!
Sunday Video #19: A video from the world of ultrarunning and an exciting showdown between the three previous UTMB winners at Chianti Ultra Trail.
Sunday Video #20: A film made by our very own Reuben Strickett on Font!
Sunday Video #21: To celebrate the start of this year's hotly anticipated Golden Trail World Series, this video features an epic recap of last years series!
Sunday Video #22: An article on the epic second ascent of a 9A boulder in Colorado.
Tips, Tricks and advice:
Buying guides and checklists
Sizing climbing shoes: good advice if you’re buying new shoes, the people in the shop should also be able to help.
Advice on choosing a harness:loads of options out there, but this can help you narrow down your search.
Sport climbing checklist: the kit you’ll need for your first roped climb outdoors (don’t worry, most of this can be borrowed from the club)
Bouldering checklist: if you’re trying out bouldering outdoors, you’ll still need some kit. Once again, pads and shoes can be borrowed from the club.
Climbing kit checklist: If you’d rather an article, this also covers trad and multipitch
More stuff about roped climbing
Coiling ropes: a few different methods for coiling ropes and their advantages/ drawbacks (P.S: The gear sec will be very grateful if you coil BUMC ropes with the second method :) )
Brief explanation of trad grades
JB mountain skills, plenty of good advice on all things rock climbing
Multipitch.com, a helpful website with loads of info and advice on trad climbing, by the uni's very own David Coley
Curious about pegging? The black art of pitoncraft
Loads of info on everything from the very basics to big walling and glacial travel on vdiffclimbing.com
Bits and Bobs for colder weather climbing (ISB, alps ...):
Mountaineering boots advice: always a tough choice in the time before ISB, hope this article helps
Alpine climbing advice, from Will Gadd
Ortovox safety academy, while not replacing proper training, a fair bit of good advice for alpine shenanigans, with glacier, rokc and avalanche info
Why does Scotland feel so cold?, why is the perceived temperature always so much lower than the measured temperature
Scottish winter layering system, a video from Dave MacLeod explaining a tad bit about what to wear for climbing in Scotland
Food for further thought:
Justification for an elitist attitude: a controversial piece written by Mark Twight in 2000. It is worth a read, whatever your views on the article.
The murder of the impossible: another famous article about climbing ethics
Everest, then and now: a reflection on Himalayan climbing and its evolution
Alpine Psych, by Andy Kirkpatrick
Fastest known time up Mt Blanc: Hilary Gerardi’s incredible achievement from last summer
WAM race article A look into the detrimental effects of corporation in outdoor sports
A word about clean climbing, the introduction the 14-page essay written in 1972, promoting loving the rocks and mountains on which we climb as much as the climbing itself.
De-gamify your climbing, making climbing more about the experience, and less about the grade
If your climbing media needs are somehow still unsatisfied here is a list of 33 books about the subject.
mntnfilm.com has an incredible selection of climbing films also
