The perfect end to 2012

Well 2012 has certainly been a year to remember. I reached the summit of Mount Everest, raised over £70,000 for two great charities and married the girl of my dreams….. Can’t be bad.

The last month climbing was put on the back burner due to the preparations for the wedding. Both mine and Natalie's spare time was taken up prepping for this magical day.

Natalie and I got married on the 21st December, 2012, at Pendennis Castle, Cornwall. Surrounded by close family and friends, we exchanged vows and committed to each to the very end. This was by far the most amazing day of my life to date and I struggle to imagine what might come close in the future. My bride was 20 mins late, did I worry….. ? No. Her dad is always late and it was to be expected!!! Pendennis Castle was the perfect place to tie the knot, set on a headland on the Cornish coast, the rain stayed away and we even managed to get down to the beach for pictures before dawn.

Guests were seated in the barracks at 4.45 for a 5 o clock wedding breakfast and on que the heavens opened, 20mph winds and a monsoon storm hit the coastline and I'm not exaggerating when I say the rain was coming in sideways.

Line caught sea bass caught on the morning of the wedding and all locally sourced produce made up an amazing feast, fish being the perfect change from Christmas dinner!!!! We liaised with a wine specialist in Truro to choose a wine that would complement our dish and this worked a treat, resulting in a fine dining experience.

The speeches were great, started with kind words and a toast from Paul, the bride’s father. It was then an honour to have my dad say a few words. I was then heckled every second word during my speech and then my best man, my brother, absolutely smashed it. I have never laughed so hard in all my life.

An intimate dance with my wife to Luther Vandross, 'So Amazing' and then it was time to party and that dance floor was on fire.

This was the best day of my life and I will cherish every second of it for the rest of my life. I will post some of the professional pictures and the video in due course.

A mini moon in St Ives was the perfect retreat after the wedding. We stayed in the most amazing boutique apartment, woke up on Sunday morning to flipper and his friends doing acrobatics 150m off shore. The most amazing experience. Also we went horse riding through the Cornish countryside and ate like royalty. The perfect closure to our magical wedding celebrations.

So, how do you move on into 2013? That is the question.

I have been approached to do some pretty cool stuff next year in the mountains, all relying on sponsorship and hard work. I will reveal more as the plans come together. I do really fancy heading back up the Khumbu Valley in May to visit another 8000m peak. I miss this region, the people and this unique and magical place.

Off the mountains I quite fancy getting my parachute licence and joining my brother in the round the Isle of White yacht race. Exciting times ahead.

I am really looking forward to 2013, pushing the limits and exploring new places.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has made 2012 the best year of my life and a special thank you to my wife, family and friends for their support and belief in me. I could not of done it without you.

Happy New Year!

Indoor climbing on the axes

It's time to prepare for a February ice trip. Destination not yet confirmed but defiantly hitting the ice.

Indoor training has started and ill be honest, there is a lot of work to do....
So time to focus and push the limit.

Train hard or go home!!!

I made FHM

Made January's edition of FHM. Great article on adventure athletes by Mark Bailey.

Very proud boy.

Inspired today by someone special

"On a journey to fulfil a dream, I have discovered a new world of exploration that has no limits."
Paul Keleher 2012

Everest 8848 Art Project

Eight tonnes of litter left on Mount Everest has been turned into 75 works of art.

A group of artists have now turned eight tonnes of this trash - including the remains of a helicopter - into works of art and sculpture to highlight the issue of littering on the slopes of Everest. It took 65 porters and 75 yaks to carry down the rubbish from the mountain over two Spring expeditions.

The exhibition of 75 pieces commissioned for the 'Everest 8848 Art Project' is on display in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu before it moves to Pokhara next week.

Project organiser Kripa Rana Shahi said: "We thought that this would help promote the artists as well as contribute to making Everest clean. We were happy to get the trash and (the waste collectors) were happy to get rid of it."

Fifteen Nepalese artists spent a month preparing pieces for the exhibition. In one of the works, by painter and poet Sunita Rana, white shards of aluminium from drinks cans are fashioned into medals signifying the bravery of mountaineers, while black metal tent poles are transformed into a wind chime.

In another, remains of a helicopter which crashed in 1974, while carrying food for Italian climbers, are incorporated into an idol of the Hindu God Ganesh. The artworks range in price from £12 to £150,000, and several pieces have already been sold.

What an amazing idea and big question, why are climbers littering such a beautiful place??

The North Face speakers series

Looking forward to hear Conrad Anker talking about his return to Meru.

Aborted mission on Armageddon

A cold and clear November morning, Tommy and I headed for Portland. A atmospheric drive down south with pockets of fog lining sections of the motorway and then the most magical sunrise..... What a start to a Sunday morning, must mention I had a Starbucks flat white and a rise and shine muffin too...... How fitting.

To Portland we go and arrived earlier than usual and headed for a nice slab on the beach to warm up. Nice slab with a horrible landing zone. We didn't hang around here for long.
We moved to today's mission. To conquer Armageddon, probably the longest boulder problem on Portland.

Tommy started well but with a bad tendon in his finger had to abort. I carried on and started to get to grips with the first 4/5 moves but its tough and for a V4 questioning its grade. This could be one we have to work at but I will complete it.

I went and played around on a few other lower grade problems and then decided to call it a day. Found the perfect cafe serving the perfect mocha nice finnish to a nice day.

Need to somehow try and get more training time on the walls.... My finger strength is not where I want it.

Next weekend is my Stag do, Madrid get ready!!!

EVEREST 12 watch by Legends in Time

Watches have arrived for more info check out http://www.legendsintime.co.uk/

Amazing project and amazing watches. Every dial was carried to the summit of Mount Everest. Limited Edition only 100 time pieces in the world.

EVEREST 12 Ltd Edition watch

"Making A Dream A Reality" at Wentworth Club

Tonight's the night

Tonight is the night. It's time to talk about my journey to the top of the world.

Reception is kicking off at 7 15pm where Napals national dish Dal Bhat will be served on arrival. Something we lived on during our expedition

The talk starts at 7 45pm with a introduction by Judy Maycock followed by me talking you through the journey.
The ladders, crevasses, avalanches good times, bad times it will all be revealed.

A Q&A will follow to answer any unanswered question on my trip.

Looking forward to a night of celebration.

FHM photo shoot

Was approached last week to be part of an adventure athletes article which will be in January's issue of FHM.

I headed to Soho to FHMs head office and had an interview with freelance writer Mark Bailey. Great interview which was followed by a photo shoot. I got dressed up in full summit gear and had a full on shoot, axes out, crampons on and even got the tent out. There should be a warning that comes with the down suit, do not wear inside, especially under those studio lights, I started to boil!! I would just like to add that smells were coming out of the down suit I thought I'd left in the himalaya

Got some great shots with arctic swimmer Dan Martin and polar explorer Henry Cookson.

A great afternoon and a big thank you to all involved. Looking forward to see January's issue out first week of December. Who would of thought I would be in FHM.

In search of something new

In search of something new Tommy and I headed down to a area called Blackmore Fort. We made our way right down to the waterfront and went in search of new boulders that have never been climbed before.

We stumbled across a boulder quite early that looked good. We set up camp got the chalk out got the shoes on and started marking possible hand holds. Then opened the mat trying to get as much protection as possible. The landing in this area was ridiculous. Definite brake your ankle territory. We even moved a few rocks around trying to level out the drop zone.

At the start we could barely get of the floor, then move by move we strung it together. Tommy got the first assent and called the route "First Blood" as attempting this route made him draw blood!! brutal bouldering.

We then had a scramble around and decided to take a walk in search of something inspiring. Without much luck I must add.

We where scrambling over some pretty sketchy ground and found nothing that caught our eye. We made the decision to move up onto the headland and climb some problems from the book. I managed 7 routes in total in the range of V0 to V2. Nice climbing tho.

It was a great day out and Tommy well done on the first assent. My arms are to short for the 3rd move.
It's a problem being short!!!

On route to Portland I was inspired by a mask, check it out!!!

My new mask...... Awesome

Tommy's new climbing partner

Today's routes

A few more of today's problems

Tommy Harris (My Camera Man)