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Born:

NA, Cheadle, Staffordshire, England

Biggest achievement:

Paying off a 25-year mortgage at 37 and leaving a secure job to go climbing with no other plan / Sixth overall and first British ascent of the Slovak Direct (VI 5.9X M6+ WI6 A2), Denali / Second ascent of Guerdon Grooves (VIII), twenty-eight years after the first winter ascent / Fear and Loathing on Jirishanca (ED3 VII 6+ A2), Peru (with Al Powell) / Second ascent of War and Peace (E6 6a) on Craig Doris, twenty-four years after the first ascent / Banff Mountain Book Festival award winner for Tides (2018), and also at Banff, winner for best mountaineering article for Threshold Shift (2017) / Grand Prize for Best Mountaineering Book of the Year at the Lądek-Zdrój Mountain Festival, Poland / Boardman Tasker Prize shortlist for Echoes (2012).

DMM athlete since:

2004

Nick Bullock is one of Britain's most accomplished and distinctive alpinists, trad climbers and mountain writers. He grew up in Cheadle, Staffordshire and started climbing in 1993 while working as a Physical Education instructor in the prison service, a career that equipped him with the mental tools for modern alpine climbing before he gave it all up to live in a van and climb full time. What followed is a career of staggering breadth and commitment: over two dozen expeditions to Peru, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Tibet and Alaska, with first ascents across the Greater Ranges, including the Piolet d'Or winning first ascent of the North Buttress of Nyainqentangla South East in Tibet with Paul Ramsden in 2016. An equally committed rock climber and prolific writer, his debut book Echoes was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize and his second book Tides won the Mountain Literature Award at the Banff Mountain Book Festival in 2018. Outspoken, principled, frequently funny and entirely uninterested in social media performance, Nick remains one of the most authentic and compelling voices in the sport.

"My climbing is dictated by the seasons and my motivation. If it's cold I wear gloves and climb ice. If it's warm I wear shorts and a chalk bag. Simple."

Get to know Nick

When did you start climbing?

Too long ago to remember, although it was so far into the past that the route T-Rex was very applicable.

Did you always know you were going to be a climber?

No, I grew up with a lot higher aspirations. It all went wrong somewhere.

What do you consider your most significant climbing achievement to date?

Staying alive.

Who are your role models, both within and outside the climbing community?

Gandhi, Dr Martin Luther King, Neil Young, Michael Sheen, George Monbiot. Basically anyone who stands up for people, animals and the environment contrary to most of the idiots in power or people with millions in their bank accounts. In climbing, I respect anyone who goes out doing grassroots stuff for themselves, not for the adulation or their bank account.

What keeps you motivated?

Staying alive.

What has climbing taught you?

Being dead is overrated.

Which crag or mountain is your favourite and which do you consider the most beautiful in the world?

Craig Doris for both.

Would you rather send a 9c+ lead route or a 9A+ boulder problem?

I'd rather climb a three star E3 in the sun and go to the pub afterwards.

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