- Julian Lines was captured scaling a sheer cliff face in the Cairngorms using only his fingers and feet for support
- The 42-year-old, from Northern Ireland, said he has had some 'near misses' in his nearly 30 years of solo climbing
- But insists that 'life's problems evaporate' while edging towards the summit and describes climbing as 'simple'
This dramatic footage shows a climber as he scales a sheer 60ft rock face in the Cairngorms.
Julian
Lines was filmed edging towards the top of the cliff - without any
equipment to stop him plummeting into the freezing water below.
The
42-year-old, who has been solo climbing for almost 30 years, is seen
grappling to find handholds and footholds as he edges towards the
summit.
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Sheer: Julian Lines, pictured in red,
was filmed completing the climb in the Cairngorm, Scotland, using just
his hands and feet for support
Edging
towards the top: Mr Lines was captured grappling to find footholds and
handholds in the sheer rock face as he scaled the cliff
Don't look down: The solo climber
clings to the side of the cliff - hugging his body to the stone - as he
climbs further from the freezing water
While
the ascent would leave most with their palms sweating, Mr Lines, from
Northern Ireland, said 'life's problems evaporate' when he is climbing.
But he admitted there had been times he had fallen and had 'really close calls'.
He said: 'There's a lot of feeling and emotions going on when soloing. It's quite complex, yet so simple.
'Although you have to be clear headed before you start soloing, once you're up there life's problems just seem to evaporate.
'Of
course there are fears and nerves, more so now that I'm older. In fact I
don't really like it anymore if I'm more than about 60ft up
'I
don't worry about slipping, I worry about my arms tiring rapidly and
not being able to hold on. It's all about speed and precision.
'Slipping is uncommon unless I'm really tired or the standard of the climb is of the upmost difficulty.
Risks: Mr Lines said slipping is
uncommon, but he worries about not being able to hold on if his arms
tiring rapidly during an ascent
Fearful: Mr Lines said 'his inner mortality was catching up' with him, which makes climbing more difficult than it used to be
Struggle: Face contorted in concentration, Julian Lines clutches to another rock face, high above the rough woodland below
Planning:
The 42-year-old said solo climbing is about risk assessing, calculating
and fine tuning in order to 'minimise the inevitable'
'In
more than 25 years of soloing, I've had some really close calls.
Soloing is all about risk assessing, calculating it all correctly and
fine tuning to minimise the inevitable.
'There have been times when I've actually fallen and been so lucky with the way I've landed it's close to miraculous.'
All
of these stories are written in Julian's book 'Tears of the Dawn' which
was published last year and won the prestigious Boardman Tasker award
for mountain literature in 2014.
Alastair
Lee, director at Posing Productions, who recorded the footage said:
'Jules is very much the dark horse of British climbing and easily the
most accomplished free soloist in the UK.
'Filming
soloing isn't for the faint hearted but it was a spectacular journey we
embarked on as Jules guided around many of his favourite climbing
destinations.'
Dramatic moments: Alastair Lee,
director at Posing Productions, recorded incredible footage of Julian
Lines climbing, as seen above
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