Climbing Blind (2020) - full transcript

I was thinking it was over there.

And then it's just come into
view there.

And it's standing about... You can
probably see half of it from here.

OK, what, so it's higher than us?

Yeah. Oh, my...

This is so adventurous. OK.

Oh, my God.

It looked properly epic. OK.

So, if I close one eye and I put my
thumb up against it...

Yeah, yeah. Probably about the size
of my thumbnail. Oh, right, OK.

If you put your thumb up there.
Imagine your thumbnail.



I can imagine it.

And that's how far it sticks out.
Right, OK.

It sticks out quite a lot, then.
Yeah, yeah.

Look at that.

The rock looks surprisingly clean.

Cool. Whoa. Oh. Steady here.

We're near the edge. OK. If you just
go up to about there.

Wow!

Oh, I can just see the base.

The base of it is just right
down there

and it comes all the way up. Wow.

That is nice.

So, is he going to lead it, yeah?

He is going to lead it, yeah.



Really?

That's a different story. Like, you
hear quite a lot of publicity

about people doing the
Old Man of Hoy, whatever -

old people, young people,
blind people.

But they're always seconding.

Like, is that a good idea?

Sounds like my kind of idea.

Sounds like a terrible idea.

For the best part
of the last two decades,

I have been making
rock climbing films.

I've been doing
some other stuff too,

but mainly making climbing films.

I've been lucky enough to film some
of the best climbers on routes,

that, in truth, I've got no business
being on. Yay!

From mile-high walls in Antarctica

to jungle-infested tepuis in
Venezuela,

to little miniature rocks
much closer to home.

I suppose you could say I thought
I'd seen the seven wonders

of the climbing world.

But when I heard about Jesse Dufton,
a blind climber

who was going to attempt the Old Man
of Hoy, I just had to know more.

So, there's a rock here that you
need to step across. Oh! Yeah.

Yeah, found it.

I have a genetic condition
that affects my eyes.

So over time, as more of the back
of my eye dies off,

my vision degrades.

Probably the big step change
was in about 2012,

something like that.

That's when I lost the ability
to read any more.

Doesn't really matter how big
you make the text.

I can't read it.

Most of my field of view
just doesn't exist.

On a day like today,

if I hold my hand out here,
I can't see my hand.

If I wiggle, I can just about tell
that there's some movement,

but I certainly can't count
my fingers.

I didn't think I would ever give
up climbing totally,

but I certainly questioned
whether or not

I was going to be able to lead
and certainly trad routes.

Before we go any further,

we'd better just explain
what trad climbing is

and why this is so significant
for a climber without sight.

So, what's really at the heart
and origins of rock climbing

is the spirit of adventure.

And this brings a hefty slice
of risk and danger.

Traditional climbing or trad
is all about this spirit.

It's up to the climber to make
the climb as safe as possible

by placing what's known
as protection during the climb.

That's not very good.

The basic theory is that
in the event of a fall

the protection holds solid
in the rock and catches the rope,

which the climber is tied
into... Stop! No!

..and stops the climber
hitting the ground.

That's the theory.

Once the climber reaches the top
of the route or pitch,

something called a belay is made,
basically a temporary anchor point

the climber is secured to, in order
to safely bring up their partner.

Are you safe? Despite the high level
of risk and obvious dangers involved

in traditional climbing,
SCREAMING

none of this seems to worry Jesse
when he arrives at the crag.

Obviously, route selection is pretty
critical, so we'll pick ones

that are blind person friendly,

ones with big obvious holds
to move between

and ones with gear, preferably that
Molly can see from the ground.

If there's some gear in a big
crack, I can place it,

she can see it from the ground,

she can tell me it's good,
and then I can move on. Nice.

I'm not really using my eyes,
to be honest.

HEAVY BREATHING

They don't really give me
any useful information.

All the information will be through
what I can feel through my hands

and through my feet as well, erm...

I just won't be using my eyes.

I might be able to tell when I get
to the top of a crag.

Oh, there's the sky and I can see,
tell the difference

between the dark rock and the light
sky and know that I'm about

to go over the top, but in terms
of looking for holes...

Argh.

..it's not going to happen.

Yeah, I want to shake your
hand, mate.

Jesse, pleased to meet you.

Jesse, I'm Jake. Have you
always been blind, or...?

So I was always partially sighted.
Yeah.

So I was born with 20% central
vision and no peripheral.

Imagine you're, like, looking
down a straw. Yeah.

And then over time, that little
straw has had successive layers

of clingfilm added over the end.
Right, OK.

I dunno where up to now,
but a few.

Send us a message
if you don't mind,

I'd like to go and get
a waterproof on.

Grab a jacket, mate, yeah.

Cool. Cheers, buddy.

So it seems it wasn't just me that
was impressed with this blind guy

climbing up rocks.

There was so much to ponder.
What was going on?

It just raised so many questions.

In search of answers, I took a trip
to Jesse's local.

So Jesse was just a regular customer
here at the Climbing Station.

He approached me.

I think it was just as he was
selected for the team, for Team GB.

And he kind of just asked
me about training

and whether I'd be interested in
writing some programmes for him?

And just general chit-chat
and advice.

I got on board and we've been
working together since then.

OK. OK, remember that?

The amount of time he spends
on the climbs

is three or four times more.

So this, where he's locked off
and he's searching?

And so the time he actually
spends, not just on the route

but on individual holds is much,
much longer than the average person.

Just do a little pot to get over it.

Nice.

So we've had to also include
little exercises to try

and maximise on that.

When we were first talking,
I remember I was impressed

by the fact that he led indoors.

I was, "Ah, right, this guy's
pretty tough, pretty serious."

And then when I found he was doing
trad outdoors, I don't know,

just, like, mind-blown. Just,
erm, "Are you kidding? Like, what?"

And not only that, but I mean,
he's climbing HVS consistently,

classic routes that are
high on, you know,

your average climber's tick list,
and he's doing them.

You missed about three or four
holes on that climb. What?

LAUGHTER

Like, if you're climbing at your
limit and you can't see,

man, like, yeah,
it's... I don't know.

I was definitely on
to something here.

Jesse's ability to lead trad routes
seemed to have everyone baffled.

Shit.

His climbing life was at complete
odds with his fading eyesight.

As the cells in his retinas
degraded, the ones

in his forearms were multiplying.

He wasn't just continuing
to climb with no vision,

he was actually getting better.

So one of the routes I've had my
eye on for a while

is a route called The Sloth, which
is over at The Roaches.

It goes through an absolutely
huge overhang.

It properly kicks back, pretty
much upside down.

So that would be exciting.

I think that I'm more than strong
enough now to have a good

crack at that.

And then once that's out of the way,
I'd love to head up to Scotland

and climb the Old Man of Hoy.

It's an iconic route and it's
not easy. It's E1.

That's, you know,
a respectable grade.

I think to get that done
would be awesome.

It's definitely the hardest
climb I've ever attempted.

That's why you do it.

You don't do these things
because they're easy.

You do them because they're hard,
you do it for the challenge.

You want the satisfaction.

You don't get the satisfaction
unless there's a chance of failure.

The Old Man of Hoy - hands down,
Britain's best adventure climb.

It's so good.

It's a 140-metre-tall,
tottering pile of chalk.

God knows how it's still standing.

It's always windy
and atmospheric up there,

the seas crashing round the bottom.

It's the very edge
of the British Isles.

You've got to take two ferries
to get to it.

The rock is really sandy. You can
scratch into the sandstone.

It's covered in fulmars, giant
seagulls that vom on you.

It's just got all the makings
of the perfect adventure climb.

2018, went up to the Old Man of Hoy
and I've always wanted to set up

this mad rope jump, so we put a
two-lead in across from the headland

and then jumped off the top.

Three, two, one...

This is Leo Houlding,
a world-class adventure climber.

Argh.

Leo shot to fame at an early age
with some amazing ascents

that stunned the climbing world.

Since then, he's firmly established
himself, not only as a brilliant

climber, but a dab hand at various
other extreme sports.

But all this means he's pulled
off a ridiculous list of expeditions

to all corners of the globe.

Very much a 21st century explorer.

Arguably the most remote
peak on Planet Earth.

And wouldn't you just know it?

Leo has a rather
special relationship

with the Old Man of Hoy.

Ha, ha, ha.

Woo-woo!

Ah-ha, perfect, nice one!

The Old Man of Hoy was pretty
influential in my life, really.

I did it for the first time when
I'd just turned 11.

At the time, I was the youngest
person to free climb it.

And for me, it was kind
of the defining factor.

As a little kid, I was like, "This
is what I want to do in my life.

"This is amazing."

And it's not so much the pulling
on holds and, you know,

using your muscles
to climb something,

it's the whole package of adventure
which is really, sort of,

personified in this big tower.

You complete the walk and you get
this stunning view

from the headland, just absolutely
picture perfect.

It's quite intimidating because
you see what you're facing.

But imagine if you were blind?

Well, I can't actually imagine

where you'd start if you were
blind.

But I know Jesse's very experienced,

so the first major stumbling
block is going to be getting

down to the base, because it
is like technical terrain.

It's not climbing, it's walking, but
it's walking with consequences.

And there's a couple of bits in
particular where you might want

to consider putting a short rope on,
because if you stumbled, you'd die.

And then you look up at this thing,

it's properly over hanging on
every side.

You think, how on Earth am
I going to be able to pick my way

up that at what is a relatively
amenable grade?

The first pitch is actually
quite straightforward -

it's like it's like a staircase,
basically, with big ledges.

You've got to watch out for
the sand and the loose blocks,

and then the stumbling block on
the Old Man of Hoy,

and I've done it half a dozen times
and it surprises me every time,

is halfway up the second pitch,
The Coffin Slot.

And it's actually pretty hard.

I suppose, if he's a good climber,
in a way, because it's such

in-your-face climbing, he might be
able to feel his way around it.

But it's hard.

There's another tricky bit
a little bit higher,

which is route finding.

As I understand it, Molly helps him
a lot and, like,

tells him where to go.

And it goes around the tower
quite a lot.

So she's not going to be able to
see him for almost half the route.

If he gets lost on that bit and
she can't tell him where to go,

it's, yeah, it sounds
pretty sketchy...

..to be honest.

And then the top pitch is the best
pitch of the whole route.

The rock gets better as you go up,
and by the time you get

to the top it's actually really
good sandstone.

It's just a perfect open book
corner with really good holes

and a triumphant summit.

A key point which must be
highlighted, when I did it

and when this young lad did it
recently, we were seconding.

And what that effectively means
is someone goes up first

and then you come up with a rope
above you.

Which means it's totally
safe. It's 100% safe.

If you fall, nothing happens.

What is absolutely critical
in climbing and what climbing's

really all about is leading.

It's the person who goes up first.

That is a completely
different ball game.

It's exponentially more dangerous.

Instead of being totally safe,
it's incredibly dangerous

because the rope goes
down below you.

You place gear, you've got all our
climbers' toys to try and limit

the risk, but particularly on
something like the Old Man of Hoy,

where it isn't a gimme - there
isn't, like, good gear

all the way right where you want it.

There are places where you can't
fall.

Argh!

The difference between leading
and seconding is night and day.

So just how on Earth was Jesse
going to manage a climb like this?

I wondered if any amount of training
or climbing could possibly prepare

Jesse for all the variables
he was about to face?

Apart from strong arms and years
of experience, Jesse also

had something unquantifiable
in his armoury,

kind of a secret weapon...

And someone very special
in his life.

OK, Google, is it going
to rain today?

There's a good chance of rain
in Sheffield today at noon.

Yeah, that's now, great.

It's five past noon, so.

So the critical thing is that
I have a sight guide.

There's a rock on your
left, Jesse.

So Molly is kind enough
to lend me her eyes

while we're climbing.

Bit scrambly and blocky down here.

So she'll spot critical holes from
the bottom and she'll help me spot

places that might be good for gear.

See your next good foot is about
a metre up from...

Yeah, without Molly, I think
I wouldn't be climbing.

OK, I'm ready when you are.

So, about a foot higher, you've
got a really good foothold.

That's it, yeah.

I met Jesse at university.

I remember the first time
I saw him, it was on a trip.

I think it was his first trip up
to North Wales.

He's a few years below me so we'd
all had a group of friends already.

And then then this random
guy turned up.

We were like... We weren't really
sure. He was acting a bit odd.

I was only a few weeks later,
I think, that I realised that

he actually couldn't, well, hardly
couldn't see anything at all.

And I was like, "Wow, respect to
this dude," you know, turning up,

away from home.

We kind of hit it off. Well, not
straight away, but, you know,

I'd never met anyone blind before,
you know, I didn't know

what it was all about, so...

He's uber smart, he's uber bright.

I guess it soon became apparent that
it's only his eyes that don't work.

Well, if you can share your eyes,
then he's...

Well, I guess more than capable
of doing anything.

Yeah, that's it.
That's the best bit on there.

If you get that foot a little bit
higher, it widens...

I guess I just need to stay calm.
"Your feet are on a good foothold,

"just keep searching around."

You know, "Just try another
piece of gear in there."

Just like a calm voice and just,
you know, "You're all right.

"You've got a good bit just
below you," things like that.

Yeah, that's good.

Have you ever lied to him?

Have I ever lied to him?!
Yeah, all the time!

He's like, "How does it look?"
"Yeah, great!" And it's shit scary.

All I can hear
is the noise of the wind, Molly.

It's only if it looks sketchy,
and I just try and make it

that it's, you know,
it's all fine.

My hands have just gone
completely numb.

Get your foot in the main crack.
Yeah.

So, I think it was in 2016,
when we decided that

we'd want to go to Greenland.
Like, this was Jesse's idea.

He wanted to ski into somewhere
because he finds it much easier

than over broken ground.

So, I decided I was
going to propose to Molly

months beforehand.

The idea was that we were hopefully
going to get some first ascents.

I was going to propose to her
on top of a first ascent.

Probably about
a nine and a half hour climb.

It was mainly up a snow gully

with a few awkward rock steps that
we kind of pitched halfway up,

and then just a big snow gully
to the top.

This peak was much more amenable.
It had a snow dome on top.

We were there just
taking photos on top,

I guess just taking the views in,
and then...

Yeah, and then Jesse stood up
and turned round.

I got down on one knee.
I thought, you know,

I thought he'd fallen over.

Molly was totally caught off guard.

And I pulled out the ring,
which was a finger massage ring

for, like, climbing finger injuries.

Well, obviously, I said yes, but...

Er, yeah, that was pretty special.

You've got a good belay?

Nice one. I'll be off in a bit.

I kind of trust him that if he
hasn't found something decent,

then he'd kind of let me know.

There's been a few times like that
where I've gone up,

like scrambled round the edge,

and he's been stood, like,
in front of a massive tree.

And he's like,
"I found something."

I guess the trust works both ways.

He trusts me to tell him, you know,
where to go,

and if the gear looks good.

I trust him that
he's got a good belay,

and it's safe to bring me
up after him. Yeah.

Ah! That was a good lead!

That was a pretty good belay.

Was that all right? Yeah, yeah.

There's a photo
from when we went to the Alps.

This is stupid -
it's just a photo of Molly,

but a pair of sunglasses on,

and that's my mental image of her.

I think back, and I know
what Molly used to look like.

So I've got that mental image.

The thing that hurts the most
as I've lost my sight

is not being able to see Molly's
face any more.

That's the one that...

Yeah, I'd want back.

That's what I'm missing.

So when you organise these trips,

the day of the ascent
kind of decides itself,

as it's the one day when all
the different members of the crew

happen to be available.

The morning that day arrived,

it wasn't looking too good,

but by midday, the skies cleared,

and the old man himself
invited us to give it a go.

The first, and possibly
trickiest section,

just getting down
to the base of the stack,

got under way shortly after lunch,

which at this time of year,
in early summer,

meant we'd still have enough time

for what was an all-day route.

It's probably worth noting
the descent would normally take

around 15 minutes.

It's a bit of an along here.
If you grab my bag.

Kind of a narrow footpath now. Mm.

We're not quite in
by the grass yet, but...

Obviously, if you feel like you're

going to fall, if you lean left.
Yup.

Cool. All good? All good.

Keep hanging on on the left.

So this bit's pretty exposed.

OK. You can see the waves
crashing on the beach,

and it's pretty much
straight below us. OK. That's it.

It doesn't matter
if you get a muddy bum.

Tiny little paths with big drops,

when you can't see where
you're going, not the optimum,

but I'm used to these
kind of things now.

We've done plenty of them.

If Molly thinks that I can do it,
I trust her judgment entirely.

Right a bit. My right a bit.

Yeah, there.

There's a little platform
and then pretty much the same again,

but this looks a little bit steeper,
and a little bit slippier. OK.

Just walking around
the corner now.

OK... Just a bit lower
for your foot.

Yeah, that's it.

It was pretty sketchy, like really
narrow, steep grass slopes.

We've done worse approaches,

and I was reasonably confident that
he'd be absolutely fine on it.

I think the worst bit
was looking at the drops,

but obviously he doesn't
have that, so...!

Yeah, that's good. Good.

There's another good hand,
down in there. Right, yep.

Grip that grass. And then
it's straight down from there.

Yeah. Match your feet at that level.

That's it. Move across to me. Yep.

Bring your feet round, so you're
on the other side of that block.

Perfect.

That's it. Round this block
that you've got your hand on.

You grab onto my bag again.

You can put your bag down here,
if you want. Cool.

That's the first challenge done.

Probably find that harder
than doing the climb!

It probably took about an hour and a

half to get down, I think, in the
end.

As I spent more time watching Jesse
and Molly go about their business,

it occurred to me how finely tuned
they had become,

and how they made the extraordinary
seem very matter of fact.

Earlier in the year, during one of
Jesse's preparation climbs for Hoy,

I had an idea to try and expose
just how efficient

Jesse and Molly's partnership
had become.

Morning, buddy.

Hey, how's it going?
Hi, not too bad. Jesse.

Really nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you both.

Is it the slope we're doing?
Hopefully.

Have you done anything indoors
with your blindfold on yet,

or is it going to be
a totally new experience?

Do you know, I was tempted, because
the kind of red pointer in me,

the kind of control freak in me,
thought, "I've got to practise it!"

Do you know what? I'm going to go

for the total onsite... It's on
fondle!

You'll find that the tricky bit
is often getting down,

but once you're at the top, you can
take the blindfold off, obviously.

I take it think this is a proper,
like, no cheating...

..blindfold. No cheating.
Definitely.

That one goes on first.
And then... Where are you?

What, I need another one?
Yeah. No, no, no, no...

I actually can't see a thing.

Yeah. So let me just put that over.

I've got to have another one! There
we are. Yeah. It's really black.

You can't have any cheating.

I think I would trip over and
sprain my ankle straight away

if I tried to walk anywhere
with it.

All my mates think that my ankles

must be made of adamantium, or
something!

Right. Right, so, are we
going to try this boulder?

Yeah, I think so.

Where is the boulder? Er...

Molly!

I'm quite conscious of all these
boulders around me.

Is that all right? Yeah.

I want to use my knee!

LAUGHTER

I don't massively want to do this.

Go on now.

Nice. Yeah, you're there.

Nice one.

OK, cheers. I'm going to take
the blindfold off now. Yeah. Cool.

It's ridiculous.

I mean, if that was just
bouldering,

I can't imagine what it'd be like
to have to lead.

I'm now sort of imagining
having to actually...

Not been able to see
the piece of gear that you need

when you're really pumped, and
you're worried about falling off,

is...is... Tricky.

Yeah. I'm trying to work out
why you do actually.

Why?! Yeah, yeah.

So, like, you'll clock me
doing this quite a lot now.

What I'll do is I'll have a bit
of a feel at the piece of gear,

and I'll work out what size is.

So, that's like a two, er...

That's a two and a half, I reckon.

No way. And then I'll know,
like, what size that is,

and then I'll stick that on
a certain place in my harness

so when I need it, because I'll feel
the crack and I'll go,

"Oh, yeah, that's a two and a half",
I know where I put it.

And then, dunk.

Go on, test me. Go on.

So I'm giving you a crab
with three cams on it.

So, what's the smallest one
on that crab, do you reckon?

Two and a half.

I reckon that's a three.

Thing is, when I heard about you,
I was like,

"Yeah, hats off," but I didn't

really give it any kind of depth
of thought.

It's obviously coming here,
bouldering, chatting to you,

it's kind of all
unfolding to me now,

just how extraordinary it is,
really.

One of the things that people
always say to me is,

"Does it help that when you look
down, you can't see the ground?"

And the answer is, "No, not really."

You know where you are,

and you know what the
consequences are of falling off.

So I go right with me hands
and then left foot...?

Yes, then back left.

Further right, further right.

Right. Yeah, right there.
Down there, that's it.

Good stuff.

Then and high and left now.

A bit higher, bit higher.

You're almost at the top there.

You're so close.

Yeah, right a bit, right a bit.
Yes! Nice.

And get your feet in
where your hands were.

So where's the crack?
At the right.

Just beyond... Right, right, right.

Yeah, in there.

That's it.

Yeah, in there.

Stick that on the right side...

It's always interesting for me
to think about the counterfactual.

What would it be like if I didn't
have this mutation in my genes,

and I'd just developed normally
and I could see?

I mean, it's quite possible that
I wouldn't be as good a climber

if I didn't have these challenges -
it wouldn't focus me.

Keep going.

That determination is built
through my disability.

Whoa!

That's it, you're up, man!

Cheers, everyone.

Cool. Right, now I'm looking forward
to seeing how Neil does on this.

Yes...

I would honestly... I would
honestly rather be soloing that

than climbing it with a blindfold.

I mean, I know I wouldn't fall
off that in a million years

if I was soloing it, but if
I'm climbing it blindfolded,

I could fall off it anywhere.

Yeah, I must say, I'm...

Yeah, all right, I'm scared. OK?
All right.

There you go. I said it.

It seems like a good enough hold.

Trouble is,
you get a good handhold,

but it doesn't mean you've
got anything for your feet.

Never know what you're going up for.

I've got no idea where I am.

I don't know if I'm near the roof,
or what.

But the worst parts are
when you can't find a handhold.

I can tell there's something there,
but I just can't obviously see it.

OK.

Talk us into it.

Am I in the roof?

Yep!

Go on, Neil, I've got you.

You just get so pumped

because you're hanging on
so much harder than you would.

Over here? Go on, mate,
you're almost there.

HE STRAINS

Is there a hold,
or is it just a jam?

Just a jam.

Go on, buddy.
Is there a jug up there?

Oh, yeah.

You could even fall off this bit.

Nice on, mate. Almost there.

Nice one, buddy.

I'd shake your hand if I could
see it! Where's your hand?

I want to shake it! I can't see it!

Oh, there we go!

I'd reached past it!
Nice one, buddy.

Well done. Thanks, man.

Mate, honestly,

what a lead.

What a lead!

Welcome back to the world
of the living, Neil. Well done.

And then you take it off
and it's just normal -

here I am just on a great crag
and it's just like yeah.

And it just feels completely normal.

Suddenly it's the flick of a switch.

It's like I'm home.

What happens if, you know, through
science we can fix my eyes?

Well, instantly, you know,
suddenly I'll be...

Obviously I'd be able
to climb harder,

but I don't know how much harder,
much harder that'll be.

You know? Um, I think Adam Ondra
better watch out!

Ha-ha! I'm not sure about that!

This wasn't the first time
I'd heard Jesse make reference

to a future where he could see.

We took a visit to Jesse's
eye specialist

to see how realistic
this notion was.

And it turned out to be
a bit of a family affair.

So what do you think
my first route was, Dad?

Oh, that was on Idwal Slabs.

We were in North Wales.

You were two and a half, and
we took you up ordinary route.

I was with my climbing partner.

One of us climbed beside you
all the time,

and the other belayed,

and, you know, we managed

to get you all the way up.

At this point, we had no idea

there was anything particularly
wrong with your eyes.

I know that laugh. Morning! Hiya.

All right? Yup, yup.

Morning. How are you? Good.
You've been spotted! Been spotted.

We can go through that way. Yeah.

So, retinitis pigmentosa represents
at least 80 different genetic

conditions, and there's a wide
spectrum of how it affects people.

Unfortunately, in Jesse's case,

he is on the severe end
of the spectrum,

severely affected.

What we really need to do for Jesse
is rebuild his retina.

The retina's like a sandwich with
sort of four layers of cells.

It's possible to transplant

one layer of cells into the
back of the eye

at the moment.
We haven't figured out -

nobody's figured out - how to
transplant the four layers of cells

that need to sit
on top of each other,

and then integrate with the cells
that are already there.

Realistically, that's
a very long way away.

It may be a solution down the line

to people with, you know,
really tough problems, like Jesse.

There are people who've looked at
what it's like to lose vision,

and it is the sense
people fear losing most.

In some surveys on
the quality of life,

it affects people as much
as a diagnosis of terminal cancer,

in terms of how they feel
about their quality of life.

So it's, you know, as I say,
it's devastating.

I'll give you... Yup. Oh, sorry.

That's your stick.

Anyway, awesome. Brilliant.
Thank you so much.

Pleasure. Nice to see you again.
Yeah. OK.

Do you want me to take you out?
Oh, yes, please. Yeah.

Just describe Jesse
when he was young.

Very cute.

SHE LAUGHS

Sorry!

You can cut that.
Cut that, yeah, yeah!

There was a time when I was a pushy
parent and trying to get you to read

before you went to school.

Making little cue cards with Postman
Pat and other exciting words on.

And I just didn't react to it...

You just flipped them all
out of my hand,

as if to say, "Oh, sod off."

It wasn't really
till you went to school

and there was a knock
on the door, we went "Ohh!".

Yeah, we didn't really know, did we?
No. Was it not obvious

when I couldn't see at night?

Well, I mean... Well, yeah,

but we just thought all kids

couldn't see at night. We didn't
know.

Yeah. It's terrible.

You used to bump into things, but
then, you know, we just thought,

"Well, he's not looking where
he's going." Yeah.

I felt guilty about trying to make
him read before he went to school!

After the diagnosis, you kind of...

..all the things, you think, "Ah!"
Yeah, that's right.

You always wanted to sit
far too close to the television.

Yeah. We said it was bad for you.

Yeah, bad for his eyes!

Bad for your eyes, yeah!

And then afterwards you think,

well, of course he sat close
to the television.

He couldn't see it otherwise!

At the hospital, when you were five,

they said, you know,
"His reading may never develop.

"He may never be able
to write properly."

You know, and he'd just been saying,
"What's a university?

"Oh, that sounds good."

And then the next moment, we're sort
of told, "May never read or write,"

and you think, "Yikes."

Our attitude was always that,
you know,

A, kids have to take risks,

as they're growing up... Yeah.

You don't... You learn by doing
things, taking risks, and therefore

you always have to let kids do that.

But apart from that, you know,
the fact that he couldn't see,

well, he couldn't see, you know,

doesn't mean to say
you stop doing things.

We just sort of continued
to do what we wanted to do,

and what he was interested in.

There were a few classic occasions,
like when he was playing rugby

and he got given the ball

and he's running towards
the wrong tri-line,

and his mates had to say, "No, turn
round! Run the other way!"

You know? But, you know, those were
just sort of funny incidents.

But, by and large, he just
got on with it.

Really cruel parents, you know,
making him do all these

horrible, difficult,
dangerous things.

Oh, most of our friends thought
we were completely nuts.

Like, completely nuts.

I'm pretty excited

because obviously this will be
the first time

a blind man's ever, like,
led the Old Man of Hoy,

so it'll be nice to be
in the history books.

Something pretty special, I think.

It's not the easiest route
in the world

to be able to do without the use
of your eyes, I think, yeah...

It'll be something worth recording.

Indeed it will.

But wait a minute.
How are we going to record this?

I had to ask myself.

So on most cliffs, when
you're filming rock climbing,

you would fix a rope
to the top of the cliff,

and the cameraman
would go down the rope

to then be in position
above the climber.

Obviously on a freestanding
pinnacle, like the Old Man of Hoy,

a great big sea stack,
you can't do that.

The only way to get the top
is to climb up.

So I climbed ahead
of Jesse and Molly with rig,

and then I'd kind of look over my
shoulder at various positions

and try and look for good shots
as I was climbing, basically.

OK, Molly. I'm going to start.
OK. Let's crack on.

Wow, what a day, dude.

It's incredible.

Everywhere you look,
it's just awesome scenery.

Huge big sea cliffs,
crashing waves, blue sky.

So, yeah, just be careful
of loose and sandy shit.

Over to the left might be better.

The thing to understand
when you're filming

is that obviously you don't want
to interfere with the climb,

for this to be a genuine ascent.

Where am I going now?
Straight up here? Yeah.

So you're on... You're standing on
quite a bulge now, so I can't see

up and behind it.

And I think on this occasion,

as we knew there were going to be
large parts of the climb

where Molly wasn't going
to be able to see Jesse,

this did present a bit of
a moral dilemma for me.

What if the situation occurs
where I can see a good bit of gear,

I can see some really good holds,

or I can see Jesse's
clearly going off route?

Maybe he's climbing himself
into danger.

What am I going to do?

Am I going to interject?

So the second pitch
is down the traverse,

so I'm climbing down,
and I'm traversing across

and I'm very conscious
at this point

that I need to put some runners
in because I need to protect

Molly for the traverse, so I put
a sling in them and clip it.

What I hadn't realised is
that there's some ab-tat in situ

to haul yourself across, if you
haven't got long enough ropes

to get to the ground
from this point,

and rather than clipping
my climbing ropes to the runner,

I'd clip the ab-tat to the runner,

so when Molly gets to it,
she's not being clipped in at all.

so, despite my best efforts,
you know,

I hadn't protected her for that bit.

It's never been a problem before.

Usually, the only rope
around is my climbing rope,

so you just reach down, grab a rope
and clip it to the runner

and that's it - there's never
any other ropes around.

Is that a good hold there?
No, that's nothing.

Yeah, on the second pitch traverse,

I had seen that he'd clipped
that bit of ab-tat.

I don't know, I think I made
the decision as a cameraman,

as a documentary film-maker,

I wasn't there to interject.

I was just there
to film the climbing.

Just sandy and shit.

There might be an undercling
under there.

Yeah, but it pulls the wrong way.

A little bit further up?
A little bit more?

Oh, I could just shuffle across,
like that.

Is this as far as I'm going?
Am I belaying here?

Yeah, maybe slack off a bit.
Yeah, I'm going to.

Well, that went pretty well.

Kind of.

But Jesse still had the
crux sections to go

on the hardest route
he's ever attempted.

Just a couple of weeks earlier,

Jesse took on a climb
of the same technical grade

to try and gauge if he was ready,

and to give things a bit of an edge,
we gave him a new sight guide.

Hello. Hi! Hey, mate, how are you?
All right. How are you doing?

Yeah, good, good. Are you up
for some routes today? Yep.

No, you're up for some routes!
Ah, yeah! OK.

Cool.

I'm up for some guiding. OK.

So, you get one of these...

ECHOING HEADSET: Once it turns on...

Sorry, I'm just
going to turn you down. Yeah.

Like, even when my sight
was at its best,

I could never stand
at the bottom of a route

and see the holes
and plan my sequence.

It's always been like climbing
into the unknown, every single time.

Yeah, with this start,
the feet are not great.

It's only going be the hardest
route you've ever tried! Yeah.

We should be fine.
We'll see how it goes!

The critical thing is
to get the information across

as quickly as possible.

To the left, to the left.
Yup, there.

Up a bit, up a bit.

Hmm.

I think the thing that screws me
over is I can't plan.

I don't suppose you can
see any other rests?

Um, rests...

Not obvious ones, no.

And to do well,
you have to be able to plan.

Have a feel out
to your right as well.

Yeah, your right foothold
is waist heigh.

Up, up, up,
with your right foot down.

You've just missed it.

Yeah. The good bit
is further to the right.

Yeah, there. There, there.

Good.

Good.

There's a break a bit higher to
place some gear.

HE PANTS

Oh!

HE ROARS

I'm going to pump out,
so just watch me.

Yeah, yeah, I'm watching you.
I'm really watching you.

Oh.

That was a good fight!

My arms!

Oh, that is hard work.

I think I can see
how it would be done.

Just not my day today.

I can't move as quick as
a sighted climber would, so...

..you just wind up burning through
your reserves that much quicker.

Oh, I've got like pins and needles
in my fingers.

If I was to go up there now,

blindfolded, for example,

it would be so much easier for me
because I've seen it

from the ground. Yeah.

I mean, I can't imagine -
you'd be totally desperate

walking up to a route blindfolded,

and then trying to climb it.

Totally desperate. Yeah.

We're going to try and get back
to the car. OK. Right, so...

..I have got you
your very own white stick.

Let me just put it...
Where's your hand? There you go!

Shall we? Yes.

I think the cars are
in that direction!

I don't know! I don't know
if they're in that direction!

Let's just go and have a look.
Let's have a look, shall we?

All right, nice one. OK.

We're going. Right, that's me.
Yeah, yeah, that's you.

Oh, we're onto a winner here.
Still behind me? I am, somewhere!

Oh! Are you good? Yeah.

Ow!

LAUGHTER

People often ask me,
"Why rock climbing?"

It's not what you
immediately think of

as a good activity
for a blind person.

Certainly, when I think
about the danger,

it's not the most
dangerous thing I do.

Crossing the road on the way to work
is far more dangerous,

and also it's something
where I'm not in control.

Crossing the road, you don't have
any control over the risks there.

You do your best to tell
when the cars are coming,

but you don't control them.

I think one of the things
that's great about climbing,

and one of the main reasons I do it,

I'm doing it -
I'm not being taken out,

especially when I'm leading.
I'm the one going up first.

I'm the one with responsibility
for putting the gear in,

and I'm the one who's responsible
for my partner's safety.

Climbing is where I'm in control.

So, at the base of the crux pitch,
we had a bit of faff with the ropes.

We got in a bit of a tangle
and wasted a bit of time.

Not a problem,
but time was ticking on,

and we knew we were
on a tight time schedule.

Every now and again, Jesse,
it might be a good idea

just to brush your shoes off
against your leg, or something.

Just feel the stress building.

The difficulty is here -
if I can get past this,

I'm confident I can get to the top.

Oh, God.

You climb up into
what they call the coffin,

and the first I knew about it

was I could feel the two rock walls
on my shoulders,

and the difficulty
is passing the roof,

and getting up into the crack above.

It's hard and it's covered in sand,

and it's really overhanging,
and it's insanely awkward.

It's like somebody
created the definition

of awkward British rock climbing.

There's no easy way to do it.

Ace. Come on.

Yes! Come on. You've got this.

HE STRAINS

This is when I could really
do with being able to see!

Finding a hold would be nice.

Yeah, go on.

Nice.

Go on.

Neil would be proud.

Nice!

Good work, matey.

Are you going to get a piece
in before you move on? Should do.

Oh, look! There's a seal down there.
Can you see it?

Not the time, Mol.

We'd read beforehand that there
were the opportunities for big gear.

So I'd taken this huge
size six cam with us.

If we I get the chance to place
something like that, it's brilliant.

Really good for me
in head game terms

because you can place this cam,
and it's so big,

you could put your hand in and you
can check each of the lobes

by feel individually.

And when you know you've got
that in and it's good,

you know you're not going anywhere,
and it puts me at ease.

Have you managed to get
any gear into that last piece?

No. No, no, I haven't.

Despite my best efforts
and believe me, I tried,

there was nowhere to put that was
quite right for this cam.

Ohh.

Nice one, man.

Right... Well done, that man!
Awesome!

Oh! How was that? Ohh!

Not too bad.

Yeah, I can hear you. I've clipped
into the anchor, I won't be long.

I'm not quite safe yet.
Don't take me off belay.

It's all done.

Oh!

Yeah, um...

..I ran out of big cams
after I'd gone round the thingy,

so that last bit,
I felt a little bit run out.

Apart from that, it was all good.
Ohh!

Cool! Dry mouth?

Oh!

Time for a pork pie!

By 8:30 in the evening, I'd been
hanging round on these ropes

for over five hours.

Yeah, I'm just trying to find some
gear.

There was some relief
at getting past the crooks,

but Jesse was still only
halfway up the climb,

and we'd used well over half
the day's light.

OK, clipped it.

As far as climbing this thing
without sight was concerned,

the biggest challenge
was yet to come.

The nerves were definitely
jangling, but Jesse climbed on.

Getting some gear in, matey?
Yeah, I've got it. Nice one.

You don't go the obvious way -
you don't follow your nose

up this, like, crack.

You need to go further right,
which isn't obvious at all.

It's all green and covered in
bird muck, and there's no gear.

Technically speaking,
it's easier to climb,

but when you're on the sharp end,
you basically can't fall off.

If you fell off that bit,
you probably wouldn't die,

but you certainly wouldn't be
having a very good day.

You'd be taking like a 100-foot fall
into a corner.

I'm amazed I can still hear you
if I can't see you!

I can still hear you.

Once you turned that corner,
I just... I can't see you at all.

The ropes are just disappearing
into the rock.

My radio's beeping.
Can you still hear me?

Yeah, I can still hear you.
OK, that's good then.

So, on the fourth and fifth pitches,
the architecture of the rock is such

that you pull around a corner
as soon as you climb

out of the belay,

and that means that you start
to lose comms.

Obviously, there's no direct
line of sight to Molly.

She can't see me, so she can't help.

He could have been going anywhere.

He could have been doing
a new route for all I knew!

Clipped. Nice.

I think you keep just going direct,
the line you're heading in now.

There should be some big...

RADIO CRACKLES

Oh, yeah.
You're starting to break up now.

I'm totally on my own at that point.

All I'm doing is
I'm feeling around for holds,

and just trying
to find the best line.

Often you know
when you're going off route.

If you find lichen, or if you find
that you run out holds.

Being blind forces you to take
the line of weakness up the cliff.

If you run out of holds, then you
know you've going the wrong way.

I knew that I just had to keep
going and get through that section

as quickly as I possibly could.

You're feeling all over the place,
trying to search out for holds

and gear, and you're not
getting any directions.

It's all on what you can find.

And on that fourth pitch,
it was pretty gripping to watch.

And there were places where I could
see he was starting to go off route

and I'd be... I just had
to keep tight lipped,

just keep filming.

Yeah, I'm just informed of
danger...

There was one section where
I just couldn't help myself.

First of all, he was trying to get
that damn big cam in once again -

unsuccessfully, I might add.

Oh, you joker!

I could see he was about a foot
below this massive fulmar,

and I knew he was just going
to climb straight up,

so I had to, kind of, like
tell him, you know -

"There's a great big seagull here.
You might want to climb around it."

I didn't want him to grab
the seagull by the beak!

So if I go...traverse along
toward it, toward that...?

I'm safe, Mols. I'm safe.

I am absolutely starving.

But I am so glad
that the crux is done -

just time to romp on up to the top
now, because time is ticking.

There was a real sense of relief
when he got up to the base

of the final pitch.

You know, no-one was saying it,

but I think we were all
kind of feeling that, you know...

..he's going to do it.

And then the last pitch,
I could see the whole corner.

There was loads of gear -
I could see the footholds,

the rock was, you know, a perfect
rock. It was just quite spectacular.

Nice one.

So the top pitch
is just beautiful climbing,

like an open book corner
with a crack in the middle,

which is formed by a cleft
that splits the stack,

and a series of awesome moves.

You reach up and
you find these holds,

and you've got this huge
sense of satisfaction of, like,

you know you're almost there.

You can start to relax
and enjoy at this point.

Any more cracks up there
you can feel?

Just fondling. Hang on.

Found something?
Something in there...

Nice.

Yeah.

Is that tat? Yeah, it is.

You can see the light
shining through the, er...crack.

I can see the sunset
shining through the crack.

Very special.

Good work, matey.

Is that the top of it?

That is flipping awesome.

Nice!

All right.

Have you got some tat there?

OK, Molly, I'm safe.

Are you filming? I am filming.

Well done, that man. Cheers.

There was a time,
maybe about three years ago,

where I thought I might have to give
up leading as my eyesight got worse

and I thought maybe, well,
not give up climbing,

but certainly leading trad - my
days were probably numbered.

Look where you're sat now!

Where am I sat now?!

Right. You can take me off belay,
Mols!

I really hope that when Molly
gets up here, she's going to take

some awesome photos
because in 20 years or so,

when they fix my eyes,
I want to see that view.

Yes!

Oh!

Oh, my God.

How the hell did you do that
on lead?

That coffin...was so hard.

That was awesome.

How do you feel? Yeah. Pretty good!

You raced up that last bit.

Did you cry
when you got to the top? No.

I didn't think you would.

I can feel the sand in my eyes.

Are you going to use this to find
your way down? Yeah, yeah.

Put your arms up...

Oh, there's a puffin on top! Yes!

A little puffin, right up there!

Whoa!

I think doing the Old Man of Hoy
was really great.

It was a route
that I always wanted to do,

and a testament, really, to the
outlook that I've always had,

which is that I'm not disabled.

I'm blind and able.