• First ascent of 24 Hour Party People ED2 on the South Face of Mt Aspiring, New Zealand.
• Winter traverse of An Teallach II
• Winter ascent of The Citadel, VII,8 on The Shelterstone, Cairngorms.
• Heaven Crack, VDiff, Stanage Edge.
• Insertion Direct E5, The Isle of Arran.

James has been active in the outdoors since he was a teenager.  He first got the bug during the school holidays when he hitched and walked across North Wales looking for Snowdon.

Since then he has climbed, walked and explored throughout the UK, the European Alps, the Pyrenees, North Africa, the Southern Alps of New Zealand and the Himalaya.

He read Environmental Geology at Sheffield University and completed various post graduate qualifications at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities.

He specializes in adventure and exploration and has put up many new routes throughout the world during work and play. 

He is currently resident in the Highlands of Scotland where he is training with the British Mountain Guides association to gain his International Carnet.  This is the highest and most testing level of mountaineering qualification in the world.  The entry requirements to merely gain entry onto the training scheme are such that each year only a couple of people from the UK are accepted.  The training and assessment is ongoing for 3 years and covers all mountain disciplines including, navigation, scrambling, rock climbing, ice climbing, mixed climbing, alpine climbing, glacier travel, off piste skiing and ski touring.  It also includes topics such as mountain rescue, first aid, avalanche and snow studies, environmental awareness, coaching and sports psychology.

 

James writes for various websites and the UK based magazine CLIMB on Scottish Winter climbing and adventure climbing throughout the world.