Echoes: One climber''s hard road to freedom

About Nick Bullock

Nick Bullock was born on Christmas Day in 1965. After leaving school aged sixteen he worked variously as a gamekeeper a self-employed labourer and at Alton Towers (less exciting than it sounds) before joining Her Majestys Prison Service in 1987 where he was posted to the high-security Gartree Prison as a wing officer then a punishment block officer. In 1992 he was introduced to climbing at Plas y Brenin while training as a physical education instructor: Nick left the prison service in 2003 and has been a full-time climber and part-time writer ever since. Nick is one of the UKs leading climbers making bold repeats of many of the countrys most renowned traditional summer rock climbs. In Scottish winter he has climbed hundreds of routes and many new ones including Nevermore on Lochnagar with a grade of X/10 it is one of the hardest routes ever climbed ground up. In the European Alps he has climbed approximately forty routes both established classics and new lines and he is veteran of over twenty-three expeditions to the greater ranges. It is possibly in the big hills where Nick has truly demonstrated his imagination and abilities making significant ascents and failing on some audacious attempts around the world with partners such as Jules Cartwright Al Powell Kenton Cool Andy Houseman Matt Helliker and Paul Ramsden. In September 2017 alongside Ramsden he climbed the first ascent of the North Buttress on Nyainqentangla South East in Tibet for which they were awarded a prestigious Piolet dOr. An accomplished writer his work has been published frequently in Alpinist Climb Rock and Ice Climber Vertical UKClimbing.com Desnivel Climbing the Alpine Journal the American Alpine Journal and in 2017 he won the award for Best Mountaineering Article of the Year at the Banff Mountain Book Competition. His first book Echoes was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature and his second book Tides won the Mountain Literature Award at the Banff Mountain Book Festival. When not on expedition or extended climbing trips Nick lives in Llanberis North Wales.