Blog Contributors
Tony Stone has been climbing for 14 years, the first five of which were mainly as an indoor "wall rat." Determined to make amends(?!) he has climbed as widely and as broadly as able since, even turning to Munro bagging for a stint!
Having lived most of his life in Edinburgh, Tony is attempting to lead a nomadic lifestyle of sorts, travelling from one centre of climbing to another as the seasons dictate. He has worked as a part-time climbing instructor (mainly indoors) for 6 years.
Tony enjoys all aspects of climbing from local bouldering to expedition climbing. Some of his top moments so far include:
- Completing the Cuillin Ridge Traverse, Skye
- Onsighting Above and Beyond (E6 6b), Fairhead, N. Ireland
- All of Stone (E5 6a), Sron Ulladale, Harris
- The first winter ascent of Sassenach (IX 9), Ben Nevis
- Bivying on Pt Walker after the Colton-MacIntyre (ED), Grandes Jorasses, France
- Putting up a new 700m E5 on the South tip of Greenland, War Cry.
Martin "Wilf" Holland has been climbing for 29 years. In more recent years he has been instructing on a formal basis while gaining his UK Mountain Instructor qualifications.
Originally from Derbyshire, Martin has been based in Edinburgh for 13 years, allowing him easier access to some of the more esoteric Scottish winter climbing venues of which he is a devotee!Martin has climbed, ski-ed, mountaineered and taken part in mountain marathons extensively throughout the UK and across the world. Some personal highlights include:
- Black Mamba a 320m VS on Creag an Dubh Loch, Cairngorms
- Indicator Right Hand (V,5) Ben Nevis
- Multiple top 10 finishes in the Karrimor/Original Mountain Marathon
- A solo of the West Ridge of Mount Haidinger (3), New Zealand
- East Buttress of Middle Cathedral (5.9/A1) Yosemite, USA
- Mount Aconcagua (6962m), Argentina.
Martin is an enthusiastic and highly experienced instructor who is working towards his Mountain Instructor Award and is a trainee member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI).