A modest guy Ned's achievements in the last couple of years as he seems to have just got stronger and stronger have made him stand out from the bouldering pack. Ned's been studying at Sheffield Uni with a fulltime biology degree at university and having finished his degree in the summer of 2009 he' sbeen up to plenty: consolidating his climbing and his place as ones of the Uk's most talented boulderers.
And you can see some great footage of Ned in action in the videos here....
Can you give us some background to your climbing?
I started climbing when I was 9. I first went out in the lakes with a friend of my Dad’s. He dragged me up something on a top rope. I thought it was ok, but it didn’t grab me particularly. My parents saw that I liked it and started taking me to the local climbing wall (in Leicester) where eventually I got into it more and more. After that I went to a few of the kids comps and got really keen. It just progressed from there.
Which styles of climbing do you prefer and why? (trad, sport, bouldering, competition etc ?
Bouldering all the way. I have done the odd sport route but never any trad (apart from the odd bit of highballing/soloing). I just can’t get my head around climbing on a rope. I don’t know why but I just become rubbish as soon as I tie in! As for comps, I really enjoy them. They seem to have a bad reputation amongst a lot of climbers but in my experience they are a lot of fun and really inspiring.
How often do you train and how do you structure your sessions?
I train quite a lot, I do something every day, but some days are just stretching or going for a run or something. Climbing wise it depends on the time of year as to what I do. During the comp season I do a lot of fitness/power endurance work, sometimes 2 sessions a day and quite a lot of days on.
Out of comp season I chill out a bit and mainly work on power and basic strength (lots of fingerboarding and climbing on step boards) and try to get out when the weather is good (but often train afterwards as well).
What sorts of specific training to you use? (campus, weights, finger board)
I used to do weights when I was a skinny kid but now I weigh quite a lot so stay away from them. Mainly I train on a fingerboard. My friend Dan Varian (very strong) and I have a business that makes wooden fingerboards. These are great as we designed them with hard training in mind. The texture of the wood allows you to train after a session at the crag or the wall without hurting your skin and all the holds are designed specifically for hanging onto rather than looking cool so you can train to the max without tweaking your fingers on nasty holds.
What would you say are your most memorable moments in climbing to date on the rock, in the gym and in competition?
On rock it is probably all the time I have spent in Font – I love it there. Castle Hill was also an amazing place to be. I have had loads of days out that have just been so much fun, even if I didn’t really climb much. Its nice to get stuff done but you have to have fun at the same time.
Careless Torque really stands out as it is something which I have looked at for years and have always wanted to do. Its such an amazing line. I was so happy when I topped it out.Also I guess winning the BBCs this year was pretty memorable. I never expected to do at all well (I had been on holiday for the month before so wasn’t very prepared) and it was such a surprise. It was also really nice that it was in Sheffield as there were loads of friendly faces about cheering me on.
Top ten boulder problems/climbs in the UK?
It's hard to say. I like anything that has nice holds and nice moves, especially if it is also an amazing line. These are not in any order but are a few that come to mind…
- Careless Torque 8a+
- Queen Kong ??
- Renegade Master (very) Highball 7c
- Toy Boy – (Very) Highball 7c+(??)
- Shine On – Highball 7b+
- Candy Kaned ??
- Lowrider 7C+
- Thumbalina (Very) highball 7B+.
Top ten boulder problems/climbs abroad?
- Again, not in any order…
- La Balance 7C+
- Hyper Plomb and everything else in Font
- Blown Away (Magic Wood)
- Roof of Darkness (Magic Wood)
- Bach Bloc (Brione)
- Loads of stuff at Castle Hill.
Are there any other sports or activities that you make time for outside of climbing?
I do a few other things. I am into music (I play the drums and try to play guitar) but I don’t have the time to be in a band at the moment. I am also into running and a bit of rowing, its good to stay fit.
Our fingerboard business also takes up quite a lot of time.
What goals do you have for the next year and in the future?
In the next year I have to pass my degree, then I will have escaped the education system and can try something else for a bit. I am planning to go to Font in Feb, then maybe South Africa in the summer.
After that I will try to earn some money so I can do a few more internationals as I want to see how well I can do in them if I really put my mind to it. It would be good to consistently make semi-finals or better.
Other than that I just want to enjoy myself. At the moment climbing is lot of fun so I will stick at it and see what happens.