West Coast Gimps

After finishing uni in 2004 i embarked on a epic climbing trip to the US with some fellow loons. The following 3 months were unforgettable, of course there was lots of quality climbing and amazing ascents but there were also lots of epics along the way. I managed to capture a fair few ascents (and epics) on my little camera. On my return i was living with Some Climbers hard gritter Dan Honneyman and he let me use his PC to put together the film. I got some covers printed out and managed to flog a few on UKB. It went down pretty well and they kept trickling out to across Britain and beyond for a few years to come. It was especially nice sending them abroad. These days i don't watch it much but whenever i do it makes me smile. It was the kind of trip that won't happen again. Everyone's too old, with girlfriends, jobs etc.. Anyway it crossed my mind that i should get it online to keep it alive. I considered a torrent but i preferred to have it more easily accessible so i upgraded my Vimeo account so i could upload it. It's pretty long, is very immature but hopefully people will still enjoy it 7 years later. It the greatest achievement of my amateur film career! Enjoy:

West Coast Gimps from Chris Doyle on Vimeo.

Some other bits. A relic of North Wales bouldering that is actually dead. I don't think Mr P's intro in the old Northern Soul coastal crags pamphlet can be beat:

A strange place to climb you might think; so close to a busy road, so devoid of traditional ambience; so fucking hardcore. The initial assault on your senses might send you scampering back to the mountains and pretty views. that is, if you fail to notice just how perfect this crag is. Believe me once you've gotten stuck into one of the many superb redpoint links you'll be so absorbed that you won't even notice the passing of the world beyond the confines of this magic little garden.

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Another from the archive, Irish Si doing Gaia:


And a nice 7a down Pigeons beach: