[MattH]

Heason Events has three exciting tours lined up for this winter and is looking for venues who would like to host any or all of them:

October - Dave Graham

American superstar Dave Graham will give his first ever lecture tour as he roams the UK in search of the best and hardest grit and limestone boulder problems and routes. Dave is psyched to give as many talks as possible and climb as much as possible during the month of October. He will also be giving masterclasses.

November - Reel Rock Tour

Big UP Productions and Sender Films are the two biggest climbing film producers in the world, responsible for King Lines, First Ascent, the Dosage collection, Parallelojams, and more. Each year they run a US based Reel Rock tour to over 50 venues. This winter, for the first time, the tour is travelling to Europe. At this stage we can’t give the definitive line-up, but it is currently looking like this:

-Film Competition Winners 6 min (Two 3-minute films - winners of online competition, 1 action, 1 humour)
-Grand Canyon Walls 10 min (Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden, Chris McNamara, climbing and BASE, by Big UP and Sender)
-The Aerialist 10 min (Dean Potter movie, short version, winner of awards at most of the film festivals in 2007 and 2008)
-Alastair Lee's (Posing Productions) new stuff 10 min (short from his next
movie)
-Dosage shorts 15 min (Sport climbing and bouldering from Big UP)
-Intermission
-The Sharp End 50 min (Sender's new movie)

February / March - Chris Sharma

Following his hugely successful tour of the UK in March 2008 Chris Sharma will be back for a longer tour with a different talk in Feb / March 2009. Chris is without doubt the most famous climber on the planet, an all-round nice guy, and a great speaker to boot.

We are expecting demand for all three tours to be high. For that reason allocation will be on a first-come-first-served basis if you are interested in hosting any or all three of them please get in touch for more information as soon as possible.

If you are just interested in coming along to watch / listen, and don't already receive the Heason Events Newsletter please sign up via the website or drop us an email and we'll keep you posted.

MattH - matt@heason.net - 01433 639378 - 07966 529219 - http://www.heason.net

[Johnny Brown]

Dave is psyched to give as many talks as possible and climb as much as possible during the month of October.

Why do they always come for the wettest month of the year?

[Greg C]

May I ask a question? Does Heason Events donate to the upkeep of UKB? As although these threads could be construed as news, there is no doubt that Heason Events are directly profiting from this exposure. If they do make a donation then I apologies for the insinuation.

[Jaspersharpe]

I don't know the answer to your question Greg but I did find it amusing that the "Premier Post" bit of the title was left on when this was cut and pasted from cocktalk. Thought maybe Bubba had started offering some sort of Mick Ryan style sell out option.   

[Plattsy]

Dave is psyched to give as many talks as possible and climb as much as possible during the month of October.

Why do they always come for the wettest month of the year?

I was going to answer with "So they don't have to climb the hardest grit routes". But the reason is probably because it is one of the wettest months in their usual climbing venues and so figure it the best time to go earn some moolaa.

[c.j.d.]

Wales is usually pretty mint in October, and obviously the venue choice by far... 

[n_man]

Was I the only person very disappointed with Sharma's lecture at The Works?

[dpb]

Was I the only person very disappointed with Sharma's lecture at The Works?

Nope. 

[grimer]

I heard the raffle on Sunday night was worth the entry price alone 

[samos]

Was I the only person very disappointed with Sharma's lecture at The Works?

Nope.

What was so bad about Sharma's talk? Out of interest.

[belperpete]

Was I the only person very disappointed with Sharma's lecture at The Works?

I was told it was, say, "a good deal less than gripping", but then he's probably only doing it to fulfill his various contractual agreements.
I too have concerns about the growth of the celebrity culture in climbing and its' promotion as (obviously) a profit making business.
I can't stand to turn the tele on these days, as you can't seem to get away from Celebrity this, that and the other shows. It's all crap
and I don't want my sport to go that way. Yes I know I don't have to go watch and that's the same as having an on/off button for the TV.
It's just that I chose climbing, apart from other reasons, as a sport which allowed me to escape the 'normality' of modern living and blah, blah, blah.
I really love watching film of climbers like Sharma, Graham etc. doing amazing things, but I don't really give a s**t WHO they are, it's what they're
doing, if you see what I mean.
Am I too 'old school' - probably.
I know there's lots of holes in my argument, so I'll stop now before this turns into a simple rant - oops, too late!

[Johnny Brown]

I thought Sharma's talk was superb. I hadn't planned on going and wasn't expecting much, only to be really impressed. The best thing about it was discovering he isn't a slick self publicist, the show was a bit clunky, Chris was clearly pretty shy to the point of being uncomfortable, and very modest.

[Jaspersharpe]

I too have concerns about the growth of the celebrity culture in climbing and its' promotion as (obviously) a profit making business.
I can't stand to turn the tele on these days, as you can't seem to get away from Celebrity this, that and the other shows. It's all crap
and I don't want my sport to go that way.

Don't think there's any more of a "celebrity culture" in climbing now than there was 20 years ago. There have always been hero worshippers and arse kissers and those who either love or loathe the attention they give. Equally, making a living out of climbing is still as much of a chore as it always has been for those who just want to climb, however talented they are. And those good at self promotion have often done better than those who actually achieve. I don't see any change in this nowadays.

[Percy B]

Good points... The best climbers are not normally the best at giving lectures (there are exceptions to this, but as a rule I think it works!). The two activities require a good level of practice, so its going to be really rare to get somebody who does both at the highest level. I didn't see the Sharma lecture at C Works, but I have met Chris several times before and he is a pretty quiet and chilled guy, so the fact that he can give any sort of lecture is good on him (coupled with the fact that it amazes me that he can remain coherant with that quantity of THC in his bloodstream)!

[Greg C]

May I ask a question? Does Heason Events donate to the upkeep of UKB? As although these threads could be construed as news, there is no doubt that Heason Events are directly profiting from this exposure. If they do make a donation then I apologies for the insinuation.

Guess that's a "no they don't contribute" then?

[lagerstarfish]

For those who are interested Lagerstarfish Events will be making good use of the rainy weather this coming winter by being in the pub. The "Masterclass" sessions will be in the form of peer-led unstructured forums where topics for discussion will include football, relationships, what we used to climb back in the day, whose round it is next and funny stuff we have on our mobile phones. I will be performing practical demonstrations of the dangers to health of binge drinking and the incompatibility of this practice with sustaining a happy relationship.

I am psyched to talk as much as possible and visit as many venues in the Sheffield area as I can.

Following on from his success over the last 10 years it is hoped that Brighton superstar Jasper Sharpe will be delivering similar masterclasses - possibly at the same time and in the same venues.

It has not been confirmed yet, but expat internet star Houdini may be giving lectures on his opinions about everthing with particular emphasis on the effects of booze on his thinking and the difficulties faced by a short British man trying to survive in modern Germany - if he cannot be here in person it is hoped that he will hold virtual drinking sessions via the power of the internet.

I will post details of venues and approximate costs as and when they are confirmed.

Cheers

Lagers

[MattH]

Flippineck.
I manage to persuade Messrs Sharma and Graham to come over here for some lectures and, weather permitting, some climbing and it's business as usual on UKB - a dissing in reply #2.

Bubba, if you want to discuss payment for my postings that's cool. I just figured that the good folk who peruse this forum would be interested to know what's in the offing so used the relevant methods to let them know. I paid for the PP on UKClimbing, I pay for my newsletter, I run charity events from time to time that put a bit of money back into climbing, I am volunteer chair for the BMC Peak Area Committee, I maintain the CWMA website pretty much fre of charge, and I try to deliver some quality events for climbers to enjoy. What more do you want? Blood? ;-)

Sorry to hear that a few folk didn't enjoy Chris's talk. I thought it was pretty much exactly as I expected from having seen him on film. He is clearly talented beyond words, had some awesome photos presumably taken by a long list of professional photographers who have traipsed around the world with him, told his life story (which is what most climbers do when they first start out lecturing). He didn't, hwoever, set the audience alight a la Andy Kirkpatrick with wit and cynicism, as he's a pretty shy and retiring sort of guy. Full marks to him for chatting to anybody who approached him (even the scummy student who asked him to swap hats!), and giving a decent Q&A afterwards.

If the general consensus is that I should stop posting messages on UKB about Heason Events then I'll stop. Just trying to keep people in the loop as I figure that most of the events I organise are of interest to the majority of climbers.

[Scouse D]

Yo Greg. Maybe Bubba is just a nice guy who doesn't mind supporting a new business without feeling the need to chase a few extra pennies.

[magpie]

Aside from all the whether it should be posted here or not, what are the chances of their being anything north of the border this time round?

[MattH]

That all depends on who decides to host. Am in negotiation with Transition Extreme, but as yet no other takers.

[Jaspersharpe]

Dear Mr Heason

Please get Chris Sharma to come to Scotland so that I can slaver over him.

Many thanks

Miss M.Pie

[Greg C]

Yo Greg. Maybe Bubba is just a nice guy who doesn't mind supporting a new business without feeling the need to chase a few extra pennies.

Well that maybe the case but how the heck am I suppose to know that (is it really a "new" business). All I see is someone continually posting commercial threads on a site that is supposed to be none commercial and has laid in to numerous other parties for "cashing in".

Matt, I'm sure Bubba doesn't want any kind of organized payment but I don't think throwing a small donation his way would go a miss for advertising on his well visited site. Please don't try and throw the old "I was trying to do you all a favour" quip our way, its just the same a some retailer coming on saying "I've got £50 crash pads for sale click here", it's just free advertising, plain and simple.

Maybe I'm completely wrong and that's what people want on here, but I sure don't.

[dave]

..and it's business as usual on UKB - a dissing in reply #2.

For a kickoff, hows about not slagging off the site that upto now has let you "inform" for free?

On a more sternly administered non-commercial forum (there are plenty of them around!) your posts may be mistaken for spam and deleted, luckily here we give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're telling us about these events in your capacity as an enthusiastic member of the climbing community who just wants to keep us informed out of the goodness of his heart, rather than someone promoting a business, which of course as you've pointed out would be an incorrect conclusion to jump to.  We're a trusting bunch here and would hate to see your informative bulletins cease over such a piffling misunderstanding.

The flipside is that with the exception of the kind donations of some users, UKB is run largely out of the pocket of the forum administrator for no personal gain, and that it could, if finances dictated, close down at any minute if the not inconsiderable hosting bills were not paid. If such a thing happened then there would be no outlet for selfless individuals such as yourself to keep us all informed for free of upcoming events we may be interested in, which would of course be a major loss.

If you do particularly well after an event and can manage to scrape together a few surplus pennies then obviously keeping your number one favourite bouldering site running will be at the forefront of your mind, I mean where would you get beta for problems from, or find out the conditions at the Tor? In such a case, I'm sure you wouldn't need reminding where you could send those few coppers to a good cause, but I'll post the link here for the benefit of other budding entrepreneurs who may be reading.

http://ukbouldering.com/donate.htm

[magpie]

Dear Mr Heason

Please get Chris Sharma to come to Scotland so that I can slaver over him.

Many thanks

Miss M.Pie

    I love him for his mind and exceptional climbing skills, not his firm, tanned, muscular body and lovely, swishy hippy hair.  Honestly  We're not all perverts you know.

[Pantontino]

Considering this thread:

http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,9068.0.html

I feel a little guilty. I've just paid for a premier post for something similar on UKC, so it does seem only fair (on reflection) that Ground Up makes a donation to UKB. I've donated as an individual before, but Ground Up as a business never has. Direct posts about Ground Up guidebooks have been few and far between, but I still recognise the value that exposure on UKB has for my company.

I would like to make a donation, but I'm not sure what would be an appropriate amount? Any thoughts?

[MattH]

Fair pont re dissing the forum. It was a kneejerk reaction to the fact that, regardless of the commercial nature of the post, I thought there would be a little more positive feedback about the fact that Dave, and hopefully Chris, are coming over to do some climbing. The number of times I have heard climbers bemoaning the fact that foreign beats don't come over to the UK very often is many. Granted, I make a living (a fairly modest one at that) out of climbing, but believe it or not my motivation is not purely commercial. Ever since I started out with the business I've made it my aim to put as much back into climbing as possible.

Given the comments in the post I'm considering makikng a donation based on the fact that I've made numerous posts here over the years, but guys, can I make a request that there's a little less negativity in your posts :-).

p.s. consider me a cynic, but when climbers post on forums (UKClimbing, granted) of ways to get into my events for free it makes it difficult to always keep a balanced viewpoint. Perhaps not the correct attotude I know, but I'm just saying nobody's perfect...

[Drew]

Come on guys... I know the weather's not been brilliant recently, but let's all    and make up!

P.S. Can we set Shamra and Dave on Violent Nu Breed please? Or maybe Big Bang at Pen Trwyn?

[MattH]

That's more like it :-)
I'll keep you posted if they have specific goals (which I am sure they will).

[dave]

I'd love to see what those boys make of gaskins shit like walk away SS and that type of thing, but would be a bit of a pisser for them to come all the way over here and have to go to the south lakes though. I mean I like woodwell as much as the next man but I wouldn't fly 10 hours to get there. Ditto for parisellas. They're going to want to check out the grit. shame there's nothing much really above 8b on grit, maybe they'll have to make do with The Ace and Voyager SS.

Or if its raining, hows about the Tor?

[Andy F]

Malham's almost certain to be in great condition in October, so how's about Rainshadow/Overshadow? An onsite of Cry Freedom? There's alway's a line or two at Kilnsey they could look at as well...

[Stubbs]

Graham is such a hero - I hope they get some good weather - last October was pretty good wasn't it?  Sharma said at his lecture that he was quite psyched to check out Ste Mac's routes, although the idea of him coming from his home in Spain near to all of those awesome crags to climb at Malham was a little ridiculous.

[dobbin]

Malham is pretty good I reckon. And Kilnsey - surely these are world class crags? I mean, I know Jibe famously drove past the tor thinking that couldnt be it, but those two are fairly awe inspiring imho? maybe I havent travelled enough.

Imagine what the crimping fingers of dave graham will do to the tor! he'll lay waste to routes I only dream of doing! My mind is boggling.

I just hope they get some reasonable weather.

[Bonjoy]

Malham and Kilnsey are good crags, even by Euro standards. I recall seeing Marc Le Menestral at Kilnsey a few years back, seeking some cool conditions as everything in France and Spain was baking

[butters]

For those who are interested Lagerstarfish Events will be making good use of the rainy weather this coming winter by being in the pub. The "Masterclass" sessions will be in the form of peer-led unstructured forums where topics for discussion will include football, relationships, what we used to climb back in the day, whose round it is next and funny stuff we have on our mobile phones. I will be performing practical demonstrations of the dangers to health of binge drinking and the incompatibility of this practice with sustaining a happy relationship.

I notice that this has a similar business plan to those held by the Sloper Entertainment Corporation but the topics look far more interesting and your choice of panellists is of a far higher standard too - where do I sign up?

Also a quick warning to miss out on anything by McFiend Promotions unless you like discussing the disgraceful decline of ethics in climbing in the 21st Century over a half pint of beer with a side order of pork scratchings - its scary I tell thee... 

bluebrad

[n_man]

Samos - why was it so bad?

A quote from Percy B: I didn't see the Sharma lecture at C Works, but I have met Chris several times before and he is a pretty quiet and chilled guy, so the fact that he can give any sort of lecture is good on him (coupled with the fact that it amazes me that he can remain coherant with that quantity of THC in his bloodstream)!

I take the view (particularly if your not a great speaker) getting off your face isn't that clever a thing to do before you go out to speak. I had also heard that he was so out of it he was unable to recognise people he knew quite well!

Seems to me that if your asking people to give up time and money to see you......

[Whyatt]

Get em at the cave of justice!, louie into clyde? in hell into pilgrimage!   

[nik at work]

Why come here to climb on limestone? There are loads of (better?) limestone venues all over the world.
The unique thing here is grit. My hope would be that if they do come and if the weather is good they would get on the grit routes and either:
a) Prove that it is a bit of over-hyped slightly highball bouldering climbed by a bunch of english wierdies, but really isn't that impressive or difficult
Or preferably
b) get spanked and run home crying to their mums.

Obviously they should try the grit bouldering also.

It is regularly stated that international rock heroes would crush poxy grit routes. So lets see them do it.


P.S. If you're looking for specific venues then I'd suggest Rivelin Quarries would be a good place to start....

[Houdini]

Warm grit is shite.   Also, I think imagining what your heroes may or may not be capable of is most vicarious.

[nik at work]

Dave Graham is planned for October and Sharma for Feb/March. Hardly the warmest of months.

Is your second point that you would rather imagine that your heroes can cruise grit than actually finding out for sure?
in that case I disagree. It's all nice and entertaining discussing whether or not Sharma could cruise Equilibrium over a nice cup of tea and a chocolate hob-nob or 5, but I wouldn't want him to avoid climbing grit just so me and my chums can indulge in a bit of speculative verbal wanking.

[butters]

Warm grit is shite.

Dave Graham is coming over in October and Chris Sharma is here in February\March - even taking global warming into account it's not going to be that warm though it might well be a bit damp at times.

bluebrad

[nik at work]

Ha ha beat you....

[Houdini]

Doh!   Not reading closely enough.

My second point is that I have no climbing heroes (excepting A Dense Loner, obviously); they just ain't heroic enough . . .

[nik at work]

In that case I agree. I also don't have climbing heroes. There are climbers whose achievements I respect and climbers who I respect but not heroes.
I take back the use of the term "international rock hero" and suggest it be replaced with "top international performers currently in climbing". All other uses of "hero" or hero-esque terms should also be struck from the record and be replaced in a manner in accordance with the above.

I'd still like to see (or at least hear about) Sharma and Graham cruising/being spanked by the grit.

[samos]

Samos - why was it so bad?

... (coupled with the fact that it amazes me that he can remain coherant with that quantity of THC in his bloodstream)!

I take the view (particularly if your not a great speaker) getting off your face isn't that clever a thing to do before you go out to speak. I had also heard that he was so out of it he was unable to recognise people he knew quite well!

Seems to me that if your asking people to give up time and money to see you......

That's hilarious. I've watched most of Sharma's films and always thought he was high off his tits. Since I was always stoned myself, I was never sure of my intuition. Glad to hear I was actually on to something.

Amazing that he can push the limits in that state. I always just ended sitting in the sun pretending I was Dave Graham.

[SA Chris]

That all depends on who decides to host. Am in negotiation with Transition Extreme, but as yet no other takers.

Works for me. Challenge them to eat two butteries and then climb. Anything. I suspect lagerfish would do it no worries though.

[mark R]

Was I the only person very disappointed with Sharma's lecture at The Works?

No you were not, there was a group of 8 of us at the Works, 2 walked out at the break! I must admit, Sharma is one of my all time hero's he may be able to climb like a demon, and also seems like a really good lad, but when it comes to a stand up lecture he definately needs a lot more redpoint practice for this!