Meet the Community: Joby
What is your name? Joby
How did you get introduced to climbing? Through blagging my way into a job in the Boulders Cafe way back in 2008, despite having no cafe or climbing experience! It didn't take long before I was hooked and climbing has been part of my life ever since.
Where is your favourite place to climb? Way too hard a question! I love the Wye Valley for cragging, especially Shorn Cliffe where I had many of my first-of-the-grade experiences. These days though I'm more likely to be found doing a bit of mountaineering in Snowdonia, Scotland or the Chamonix valley if I'm lucky.
Describe your best climbing experience! Where was it, when was it, with whom and why? I've had so many great times climbing, this is another hard question. A couple of years ago I climbed at Gogarth for the first time whilst catching up with an old friend who I hadn't seen much of for a while- it was great to just plod our way up a huge atmospheric sea cliff multipitch route, the whole way just nattering about old times and mutual friends. It took us about four times as long as the guidebook said it would! All my best climbing experiences have been about being in amazing places with great friends.
What's your favourite piece of climbing kit and why? I got a full rack of DMM Dragon cams for my 21st birthday, not long after they'd been released for the first time. They were so bling my harness looked like a Christmas tree!
Why do you climb? For me climbing is about the places it takes you and the experiences you have along the way. I'm a photographer and filmmaker by trade so these days I'm often climbing a mountain with a bag full of camera gear to shoot something.
What would your advice be to someone thinking about trying climbing for the first time? Push with your feet don't pull with your arms, stop thinking about being scared of heights, trust the rope and remember to lean back all the way when you're coming back down.
What's your favourite food? Day to day it's the obvious choice, pizza. However the food I enjoy the most is a veggie-burger from Poco Loco in Chamonix - it's got a flipping hash-brown in it which is amazing, but mostly it's because if I'm eating one of those then I'm in my favourite town about to have some amazing times in the mountains. Bliss.
What’s your #1 most played song? I've just checked and according to Spotify it's ‘Big TV’ by White Lies. Very atmospheric.
What is the last book you read? I've just finished Michael Palin's ‘North Korea Journal’ and now I'm on Trevor Noah's autobiography which is called ‘Born A Crime’.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? It would have to be splitboarding in Alaska. I've sailed down some of the Alaskan Coast while making from videos for a cruise company and even the mountains near the coast are breathtaking, so I'd love to explore the interior.
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why? The chef, writer and presenter Anthony Bourdain. He lived a pretty full life until his death a couple of years ago so he'd have some amazing stories to tell, but mostly I think he had a great outlook on life and I'd have loved to meet him and set the world to rights over too many beers.
What would be your perfect day? Waking up in a chalet somewhere in the mountains to see a foot or two of fresh powder came down overnight, scoff down some fresh croissants with that ultra-salty butter you get in France then head out on the splitboard to get some fresh tracks before the lifts open. Anything that happens after that is just a bonus- as long as I can end the day in a cozy bar with a few Belgian beers and maybe an Old Fashioned or to I'll be happy. Of course, seeing my wonderful wife and amazing baby son some time during the day would be great too. Lunch maybe? I'm sure I'd find time...
Fun Fact about you? I was once locked in the second most secure room in the country (after the vault at the Tower of London), the safe at The Royal Mint in Llantrissant, to film the 2012 Olympic medals leaving by armed escort. I was one of only 7 people in the world who knew what was happening and when; even the chaps from the SAS who were doing the escorting didn't know what they job was until they arrived.
Please feel free to share some information about what you do - plug your business, your work, your fundraising, your Instagram, anything! I'm rubbish at keeping things up to date, but you can check out my websites at NewsonMedia.co.uk and JobyNewsonPhotography.co.uk