Stone Country – Landscapes and Lifescapes

With the new edition of Stone Country almost ready to go to press, it's been a year where it's fair to say I have maybe not been reflective about the bigger picture, having been swamped in detail and numerous new venues, repeats and quality new lines. It's the time of year to sit back, pour a glass of port and mutter on about all the good things we did... That said, what strikes me as possibly a watershed in scottish climbing activity is the army of young boulderers coming out of the walls and finding their own way, that is, exploring their own abilities in a wild landscape. Trad may not exactly be dead, but everyone wants to do something new, and if you're young and keen (or just old and know no better), bouldering is a Yukon of gold rock and new possibilities. The amount of new venues that get mentioned to me (usually casual hints as I'm about to print a book!) is encouraging and it's good that Scotland is providing new impetus in mountaineering circles to co...

November may be autumn in the forest but it's a time of revival. Waking in the tent at 4am, I wriggle about in my cocoon a bit, wrapped in a chrysalis of decaying dreams. A rain of leaves whispers on the skin of the tent... the morning chill snapping them off the birches. I am beginning to go numb, so I crawl out, open the car and wipe my breath off the dashboard thermometer: -10 degrees. Minus ten in the forest, a star-studded sky that's already going from black to purple with the promise of perfect egg blue at noon... everything is frozen: the olive oil a thick lime-green cake in a bottle, the water taps spilling out their clear mutant forms. I feel invigorated with hidden movement... the bouldering will be perfect. The stove roars up a protest against the silence and the coffee acts like oil for the diesel engine, we begin to throw our arms in circles to loosen shoulder tendons, crack fingers outwards, begin a slow rhythm of waking to the forest, an old friend... a place of...

We are gearing up a little for Christmas and providing a few offers if anyone is looking for gifts for that keen boulderer! All items can be bought securely through the STONE COUNTRY SHOP : Stone Play - The Art of Bouldering £19.95 'The prints excellently portray the many aspects of bouldering, from aggression, technicality and confusion, to calm, subtlety and mastery. The essays complement the prints, taking the reader into the minds of some of bouldering's main protagonists – old and new. Overall this is a thought-provoking book for any climber, prompting personal reflection on one's own style, attitude and habits.' Dave Redpath Free additional T-Shirt with each T-Shirt order (£9.99) ie. two for a tenner!! Stone Country Edition 1 - NOW ONLY £9.99 !! Free draw - win the new Bouldering Guide!! The new full colour edition of Stone Country will be available by February 2008, and I'll be entering everyone who gets in touch in a draw to win a free copy, deadline is D...