With an amazing week of fantastic speakers and films, The 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival comes to an end this Saturday with a bang. British rock climber Leo Houlding will be closing the curtains this year with a presentation on many of his adventures, including his most recent first ascent on the Mirror Wall in Greenland.
Leo Houlding has long been a pioneer of big wall climbing and hard trad climbing around the world. Most famously known for the first ascent of ‘The Prophet’ in El Cap in Yosemite, CA, Leo is no stranger to adventure, combining big wall climbing and BASE jumping around the world. Squamish Climbing Magazine had a chance to catch up with Leo via Will Stanhope to chat with him about his presentation at the VIMFF finale, his ascent of the prophet, and how things have changed since being a father. Special thanks to Will Stanhope to conducted the interview with Leo Houlding.
Leo Houlding. Photo courtesy of leohoulding.com
The following interview was conducted by Will Stanhope, one of Canada’s hardest trad climbers and an all-around good guy.
First off thanks for taking the time to chat with us.
Looking forward to VIMFF!
To give everyone a bit of background, Where did you learn to climb and at what age? Did you take to it straight away?
I learned to climb in the birthplace of modern rock climbing, the Lake District, UK. Some of the routes here were put up in the 1850’s. A friend of my dads taught us both to climb when I was 10. I immediately fell in love with climbing, I think because it offers such fast access to real, hardcore adventure, especially UK style trad.
I think I first read about you in an old back issue Climbing Mag article about you on sighting a route called Masters Wall in North Wales. It sounded wet and it sounded spooky, if I remember correctly! This must’ve been in the mid nineties sometime. Does that ascent stand out to you? Any other early, formative experiences that you would care to share?
I think that was 1996, and yes, it was an extremely harrowing onsight of a very serious and quite difficult route (5.12x). I was 16 and spent that summer in North Wales on my own, partnering up with anybody I could. I was laughing pretty hard and had a couple of gnarly experiences. The one on Master’s Wall where I very nearly dropped it in a no fall position and another when I couldn’t find a partner so went on a free solo mission for a few days and started pushing into 5.12 onsights. I was cruising then had a really bad experience on a steep, 40m 5.12b on a remote crag where nobody knew I had gone. I went up and down a load of times until I committed to what I thought was the crux only to find, 30m up above, a hideous landing in a strenuous, irreversible position that there was another hard section. I thought I was going to die. I made it to the top but pretty much put myself off hard soloing there and then.
You’ve spent lots of time in Yosemite and made many standout ascents there. When did you first visit the Valley, and what was your initial impression of the place?
I made my first pilgrimage in the fall of 1998 and immediately fell in love becoming a devout disciple. I thought I had found nirvana. Initially, I found the scale (of Yosemite) overwhelming but the warmth of the counterculture, dirtbag community, and alternative approach to life was intoxicating. I vowed to return every year and alway imagined that I’d end up immigrating to California. I made so many friends that season that had such a profound influence on the rest of my life. Dean potter, Jose Pereyra, Sean Leary, Conrad Anker, Kevin Thaw, and Alex & Thomas huber. It really felt like never never land and we were the lost boys charging the castle and evading Ranger Hook. That valley is magical and those with the disposition to spend extended spells of time are touched by that magic forever.
In 2010, Sonnie Trotter and I attempted your route, The Prophet. We aimed to climb the first five pitches from the ground, like your original bid with Britain’s manliest man, Jason Pickles. We were pretty freaked out up there. Basically the only thing that kept us going was knowing you guys had spirit-quested through that terrain. What was the drive to attempt that route in that style for you?
I was so psyched that you guys went up there so soon after our eventual top down free ascent and made the effort to go ground up on the start! Thanks! In 2001, big wall free climbing style was not properly established. Team free, redpoint, top down, sequence leads the accepted norms were yet to be decided. I wasn’t that into the top down, fixing, redpoint thing but also felt that aid climbing and inspecting wasn’t that different to top down just less efficient. I thought a ground up, onsight, free ascent of a new El cap route was the ultimate climbing challenge. The idea was to climb as high a possible, retreat then re-climb to the high point much quicker the next time and hopefully send after enough tries get to the top. It kind of worked up to a point. Jas and I made about five attempts before he fell and got hurt. I had a few more goes with other partners before taking an ankle spraining fall on the dreamer pitch at the end of the season. It was wildly ambitious and I think, knowing what I do now, we would probably not have been good enough to make a completely free ascent in that style.
Leo on THe Prophet. Photo courtesy of leohoulding.com ©
You’ve diversified your skill set to include wingsuit BASE jumping. What first attracted you to BASE?
In 2004, I, like many other, realised that BASE had evolved to the point where almost all accidents were caused by pilot error. It wasn’t such a reckless gamble as we’d thought, and in some ways it was very similar to hard, bold climbing. The adventure and excitement of climbing was what first drew me to it in the first place. I committed a lot of time to getting good at climbing but after some years realised that there are many other extremely fun adventurous sports out there to be enjoyed. It’s so exciting and every jump is a real adventure. Wingsuiting came later for me, and honestly, I never got that into it and I never did any proper proximity flying. I was on the verge of going in a lot deeper when carnage started getting closer. Eventually after losing lots of friends, the final straw came when Stanley, one of my best mates with whom is shared so much adventure, crashed proximity flying and died leaving a heavily pregnant wife when my own daughter was not yet one years old.
Reluctantly, I have hung up my wings, at least until my responsibilities as a father are less acute. I do miss it and some of the lines people are flying now are utterly mind blowing, but there is more to life than just adrenalin and adventure. And, there are plenty of other fun adventures out there that have less drastic effect on your life expectancy.
Photo courtesy of leohoulding.com ©
Did you ever have any close calls personally in the world of BASE?
Never so much as broke a fingernail, but in reality, I think I had a couple of very near misses. Air sports are so unforgiving the difference between a fatal accident and a none-event is minute.
Has your risk tolerance changed since becoming a Dad?
In a word, yes. As I said, Stanley’s death leaving a pregnant wife whilst I was enjoying a baby daughter was a heavy slap in the face. I’m still up for serious fun & big expeditions and in some ways, with increased skill, knowledge and experience, I am doing gnarlier stuff than ever but with a higher degree of safety because I’m operating with higher level of tolerance. That said there is definitely stuff I’ve done in the past I wouldn’t do now.
Before we go, I have to ask about a few things. Way back you were on Top Gear where you are climbing in the Verdon Gorge with Tim Emmett. How did that all come about back then? (Editor’s question)
I got a call from a researcher enquiring about the possibility of racing a car against a climber. I explained that even speed climbing is actually an extremely slow way to move and that perhaps it would be closer and more exciting if we raced up and down via a BASE jump. His bosses loved the idea but there are very few cliffs that you can drive right to the bottom and to the top that are suitable for speed climbing & BASE jumping. Tim Emmett and I spent the summer of 2005 looking for locations and eventually we found the perfect spot! Top Gear was one of the BBC’s biggest shows so they have decent budgets and use the best crews in the business. First broadcast in November 2005 the section was selected for best of season special and is still showing on some satellite channels! The best thing was that Audi were so happy with the PR that they gave Tim and I fast cars for a couple of years!
You have also been known to send routes with a bit of style out there. Is there a story behind that Fedora? (Editor’s question)
I have always liked to be different, that’s part of the thing that attracted me to climbing in the first place. In Yosemite, it’s very sunny so everybody wears visors of baseball caps. I saw the Fedora in the tourist shop in the valley and thought it was a strong look as well as being practical. I suppose you should really be wearing a helmet on a route like the Prophet but I decided to stick with the Fedora.
What will you be speaking about at VIMFF Finale?
The title of the show is Reflections. I’ll touch on a few career highlights from previous exploits, many of which have featured in films that have been shown at VIMFF over the years, I think they may even have won awards? Then, the main focus is new material from an expedition I led last year to a massive cliff called the Mirror Wall in a remote part of NE Greenland where we established a hard new route we called Reflections. The sub context is that it was my first major trip since the birth of my daughter and since my great friend and partner Sean “Stanley” Leary died in a wingsuit flying accident.
Leo Houlding on the Mirror Wall. Photo courtesy of Berghaus, Matt Pycroft, Coldhouse Collective ©
Finally, any pearls of wisdom for younger climbers aiming to push their limits, and explore big walls around the world?
You might die tomorrow, but the chances are you’ll still be alive when you’re 80. Bear that in mind. Life is long, today’s nightmare will be nothing but future memory unless you blow it and die young. On expeditions you’re more than halfway to the top before you leave home if you get your planning and preparation right. Good partnerships are very hard to find and nurture. If you find one, make it count as nothing lasts forever.
Thanks again Leo for taking the time to answer all our questions and I know a lot of people are very psyched for the show.
To purchase tickets for the VIMFF Finale featuring Leo Holding Saturday, February 20th, 2016 @ Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver, please visit the VIMFF website. For more information on Leo, please visit leohoulding.com.
