Speakers
International Speakers
Peter Croft
Ben Heason
Timmy O'Neill
Arno Ilgner
Erik Monasterio
Australian Speakers
HB (Malcolm Matheson)
Jon Muir
Jonathan Clearwater
Tim Macartney-Snape
Chris Bray & Clark Carter
Gemma Woldendorp
Bob McMahon
Mike Law
Nathan Kukathas & Chris Fitzgerald
Simon Carter
Kent Jensen
Louise Shepherd
Garth Miller
Glenn Singleman & Heather Swan
INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS
Peter Croft
Two Presentations
1. Excellent Adventures
From boulders to big walls and alpine climbing, the search for climbing adventures in different parts of the
world and the weird things that happen along the way.
Spectacular and varied types of climbing with an emphasis on lightweight, big and sometimes getting up
very early. Linkups in Yosemite, free climbing alpine big walls and more. Images from Canada, US, UK, Nepal and Pakistan.
2. Off the Leash
Solo climbing that's not simply about lonely people who can't tie knots. The non-stop fun of being set
loose in the vertical world. From Joshua Tree and Yosemite to Mt Arapiles to alpine ridges in the High Sierra.
The reasons why free soloing is so much fun.
Both of these slide presentations are suitable for climbers and non-climbers alike. There will be limited
use of technical terms and everyone who attends will be able to understand what I'm talking about (apart from Canadian/Yank accent)
My qualifications: I've climbed for most of my life, have visited a wide variety of places around the world
and have given presentations at backyard barbies and international film festivals.
Ben Heason
Presented by Wild Country and Red Chili
'ANGEL FALLS VENEZUELA - FIRST FREE ASCENT'
British climber Ben Heason
describes the first free climbed ascent of the 1000m Angel Falls wall, the world's highest waterfall, last year by a team of British,
Russian and Venezuelan climbers. The team's successful (and bolt-free) expedition has been heralded by some as 'one of the finest achievements
by British rock climbers on foreign soil'. Situated in the heart of the Venezuelan jungle, this is not merely a story about a rock climb. Ben's
presentation covers the whole adventure, including the 4 day journey to base camp, the amazing flora and fauna found in the unique Tepui's
(the area that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel 'The Lost World'), as well as a look at 'life on a Big Wall' - they spent 14
consecutive nights sleeping on the wall!
Ben Heason is a professional rock climber, climbing full time for over 10 years. He is world-renowned for his bold climbing
and, more recently, his exploits on big wall expeditions around the globe.
Timmy O'Neill
'MAVERICK ENTERTAINER'
Presented by MSR, Therm-a-Rest and GORE-TEX®
Timmy has set speed climbing records from Yosemite to Patagonia. He is a world-class slack-liner, renowned building
solo climber, class 5+ kayaker and dangerously fast mountain biker.
Timmy is best known for his irreverent humor and quick wit, which have been on display at his sold-out slideshows
throughout the world and in the recent films Return2Sender and First Ascent.
Timmy partners with leading amputee and spinal injury athletes in technology development, stating, "Seeing my
friends overcome their disabilities and achieve the seemingly impossible feeds my soul and forces me to reach even
further!"
Timmy's independent, unfiltered and hilarious approach to just about everything makes him a great poster-child for
living life now.
Arno Ilgner
Presented by Desiderata Institute
'THE WARRIOR'S WAY: DIGGING DEEP INTO MENTAL FITNESS TRAINING'
Mental training is scarcely covered in the climbing literature, yet it is as important to performance as strength, flexibility, and technique.
In his unique approach to mental
training, Arno Ilgner draws essential elements from the rich "warrior" literature, as well as from sports psychology, and combines these with
his extensive climbing experience to create The Warrior's Way.
Here is a comprehensive
program for learning how to focus your mental resources during a challenging climb. It includes step-by-step
guidance on motivation analysis, information gathering, risk assessment, mental focus, and deliberate transition into action.
Poor use of attention creates fear, which can manifest itself as anything from performance anxiety to sheer terror.
By using attention more purposefully we can understand how fear is created, deal with it effectively, and free ourselves to get back
in touch with a far more powerful motivating force: our love of climbing.
The Warrior's Way is for all levels of climbers and the non climber.
Erik Monasterio
Two Presentations
1. First ascents, exploration and original live music from Bolivia with 'The Monasterio Bros.'
Bolivian adventurers and artists Victor, Grigota and Erik Monasterio have performed throughout South America, Europe, Australia
and New Zealand. They have created "Orko", an awe inspiring audiovisual exhibition of photography, music and narrative.
Orko (Mountain Summit) explores the relationship between Andean music, photography, the landscape of high mountain regions
in the Andes and Himalayas and the extreme adventures of first ascent climbing and Jungle exploration. Original and traditional
music interpreted with panpipes, flutes, strings and percussion accompany a backdrop of dramatic photography and personal tales
in isolated regions of the world. The Monasterio brothers were invited for a plenary performance at the Wanaka Film Festival 2005.
The group has released three CD's which will be available at the performance. This performance is suited for the whole family and
for those with an interest in adventure, world music and photography.
2. Accidents, mortality and personality characteristics of climbers
Dr. Erik Monasterio (MB, ChB, FRANZCP, Senior Clinical Lecturer) is a medical doctor who has worked as a writer/ journalist, musician,
adventurer and photographer. Erik's specialty training and work is in the area of forensic psychiatry. He has also been involved in research
into the personality characteristics and accidents in mountaineers for over five years. Erik has been climbing and exploring in remote
mountain and jungle regions for over fifteen years, he has climbed over forty new rock, ice and mixed routes, and guided in the Andes of
South America, Alaska, New Zealand, the Himalaya and Europe. Erik has recently (2006) spent five months climbing in three continents.
He has combined personal climbing experiences in remote and demanding environments with scientific research to develop a training approach
to maximize performance under stress and in extreme environments.
There will be slide images and brief personal anecdotes of accidents to accompany this presentation. The findings of the research
presented have been used in a current affairs television programme.
AUSTRALIAN SPEAKERS
HB (Malcolm Matheson)
'28 YEARS ON THE ROCK: Experiences, Inspirations & Motivations'
Malcolm has been synonymous with the establishment of Australia's finest routes in the upper grades for over 20 years. In a survey of Australia's climbers to find out who they would most like to see speaking at the festival HB came out ahead of any other climber in the world!
Malcolm, in a very rare presentation, will tell the story of his lifetime of climbing, from the early days at Arapiles to adventures in Yosemite - the people, the places and the history that have inspired him to climb for such an extended period and the drive to continue to establish some of the hardest routes in Australia. He will reflect on the evolution of rock climbing over the last three decades and the changes this sport may face in the future.
Come along for this rare opportunity to hear what the legendary 'strongman of Australian climbing' has to say. Q & A session after presentation.
Jon Muir
Presented by World Expeditions
'MOTIVATED BY WILDERNESS'
Take an armchair ride
to the world's most extreme environments with one of Australia's greatest adventurers - Jon Muir. From climbing Mt Everest to kayaking
to Cape York, walking to the South and North poles as well as completing the first unsupported traverse across Australia - this has been
Jon's style of adventure. But what does the word 'adventure' mean to the rest of us?
Join Jon when he draws on his amazing experiences and provides his insight, and opinion, on the nature of 'adventure' today and
how it has changed since he began his career over 30 years ago.
This is a talk not to be missed by anyone who has been motivated by wilderness.
Jonathan Clearwater
'EPICS & ETHICS'
Presented by Earth Sea Sky
A presentation about going light and fast in the Karakoram.
In August 2005, JC and a bunch of international young climbers survived harsh conditions to make a 1st ascent of a 65 pitch rock
climb in the Trango Valley of Pakistan - check out his blogspot for details.
In this presentation JC talks about what really matters when testing your limits in the Alpine.
JC recently was awarded a prize as the '2006 NZ Mountaineer of the Year', he is a PhD student at Sydney University, and
is passionate about all aspects of climbing: from bouldering to high-altitude mountaineering. He produced NZ's award winning rock-climbing
documentary "Southern Faces" and was a keynote speaker at the 2006 Wanaka Mountain Film Festival.
Tim Macartney-SnapePresented by World Expeditions
'GASHERBRUM IV'
Gasherbrum IV is one of the most challenging and beautiful of the world's high mountains. In 1986 Australians Greg Child and
Tim Macartney-Snape made the second ascent of the mountain, Tim will present an account of the climb using slides and film to illustrate the grandeur and drama
of the struggle to climb technical terrain at extreme altitude.
A classic expedition commentary with spectacular images and film taking you to the heart of the greatest mountain area on the planet
- the central Karakoram. Tim Macartney-Snape is well known as a proponent of the lightweight approach to Himalayan climbing and this expedition
was a good example of it. Tim will also give a brief historical account of climbing on the mountain.
Chris Bray & Clark Carter
Presented by GORE-TEX®
'YOUNG ICEMEN'
Chris
Bray and Clark Carter's inspiring and often humorous presentation on their recent world-first arctic expedition will leave both active
and armchair adventurers frozen to their seats. Backed by awesome photographs and several short video clips, the pair
unfold their incredible tale - the challenges, setbacks and terrifying/hilarious moments that go with setting out to try and cross the 9th
largest island on the planet, unsupported, each towing 250kg of gear behind them in home-made wheeled kayaks. They have both presented a
similar talk numerous times to the public, including sell-out and repeat lectures for 'Australian Geographic'.
Gemma Woldendorp
'BLOOD, SWEAT & SUN CREAM'
Two Australian women set out for a six-week
journey in East Greenland in the Arctic summer of 2006. 
Their plan to climb new rock routes in the Schweizerland Mountains was one of their
most demanding experiences, both mentally and physically. The search for climbs took them from
the vast white expanse of the inner mountains to the mosquito-ridden fjords, while the Arctic weather
went from one extreme to another.
Gemma Woldendorp has been an enthusiastic climber for the last 14 years.
For the last 8 years, she has shared many of her climbing ambitions
with Natasha Sebire and together they have climbed around Australia and abroad.
Glenn Singleman & Heather Swan
Presented by ClimbFit, St Leonards.
'BASEClimb 3 - the journey to make the world's highest BASEjump'
On May 23rd 2006 Glenn and Heather set 2 new BASEjumping world records. After 23 days arduous climbing via a new route
on Mt Meru in the Garhwal Himalaya, they jumped from a tiny ledge at 6604m in 'wingsuits' and flew for 45 seconds before
opening their parachutes and landing on the glacier over a kilometre from their launch site.
In this presentation they will tell the story of their 6 year-long quest to make that jump.
Glenn will also present a brief history of 'BASEClimbing' or 'ParaAlpinism' (combining mountaineering and BASEjumping
to jump from high cliffs) a sport that is gaining in popularity especially in Europe. They will support their story
with stunning slides and DVD clips.
Mike Law
'CLIMBING IN MY WEEKEND STATE'
Mike Law is one of Australia’s most colourful climbers. Mike in his hey day would have established Australia’s hardest graded route – were it not for his penchant for ‘sandbagging’. Over 30 years Mike’s climbing contribution, insights and humour have remained central to the climbing scene with hundreds of first ascents and numerous articles in magazines.
His comments on his presentation… Are climbing and adventure the opposites of having safety or a job? Probably. Incompetence is the
way you can plan and still freak out. A few climbs are described along with some slides. Some rambles and shit-kicking epics are also described.
Nathan Kukathas & Chris Fitzgerald
'MT. BUFFALO TO THE KARAKORAM - A BIG WALL ADVENTURE'
"Buffalo to the Karakoram" is about two young Aussie climbers and their big wall adventures. They start wall climbing at Mt Buffalo on home made gear, travel to the USA and Canada, then to the Karakoram and establish a new A5 big wall route: "One Degree of Separation".
Suited to wall climbers, closet wall climbers, anyone doing anything fun, non-climbers will understand presentation too, as limited climbing terms will be used.
Nathan Kukathas is 24yrs old. "At 15 most kids are convincing their parents to let them stay out late...I was convincing mine to let me hitch hike to Mt Buffalo for a big wall trip"... "After hanging on a string of heads and hooks for 17hrs; nailing my way up a single pitch, I questioned how is this fun? Then I thought lets go to the Karakoram, it just is"!
Chris Fitzgerald is 21yrs old, climbing 9 years and loving every minute. "El Cap: yeah that was the best fun I ever had on the end of a rope"..."Why did we choose Reticent Wall - A5 for our first El Cap climb? Well we only had a few cams.... the guide showed Reticent only needed two of most cams"!
Simon Carter
'SLIDESHOW: INSPIRING PEOPLE AND PLACES'
Simon Carter leads you on a visually stunning tour of the highlights of 13 years of professional climbing photography around
Australia and the globe - including the most inspiring characters of climbing, the most impressive destinations and the most
dramatic photographs of his career.
Simon Carter has published two coffee table books on climbing. His most recent book 'World Climbing:
Images from the Edge' won the Best Book - Mountain Image award at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival.
Bob McMahon
'TASMANIA EXOTICA'
Ranging far and wide, and across the decades, Bob McMahon explores the diversity, brilliance, uniqueness and sheer
strangeness of rock climbing in Tasmania.
Acknowledged as one of the most exotic and extraordinary climbing destinations in the world, Tasmania has it all:
remote big walls, sea cliffs, sea stacks, crack climbing to die for, sports crags and trad crags scattered like
confetti across the landscape, true wilderness cliffs, many still unclimbed, and stunning scenery.
Since 1968 Bob McMahon has been involved in the discovery and development of many of Tasmania's major climbing areas:
Freycinet Peninsula, Ben Lomond, Cataract Gorge and South Esk, North Esk, Bare Rock and the Fingal Valley, Hillwood,
Tasman Peninsula, Schouten Island, Deal Island, Tasman Island, Cradle Mt, Eldon Bluff etc.
He is the author and co-author (with Gerry Narkowicz) of six books, five of them rock climbing guides to Tasmania.
He has been the instigator of a lot of the history of Tasmanian climbing in the last nearly four decades, and has
kept a thorough written and photographic record. He has been a regular contributor of photographs and articles to
outdoor and climbing magazines.
Kent Jensen
'WALL OF DREAMS'
In August 2006 Kent and a team of four other Australian climbers became the first in the world to live for 41 continuous days on a portaledge. They lived on the 4000 foot north-west wall of Asan-Usan in the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan. In the process they also raised over $200,000 for charity and established a new 29 pitch free climb. Then, to cap it off, one of the team members became the first in the world to BASEjump off Asan-Usan's massive summit.
'Wall of Dreams' is not only a story of courage and determination to achieve the seemingly impossible, it is the story that shows that dreams can come true and is set to a background of stunning photographs and film.
Louise Shepherd
'Secret Women's Business'
(Photo by Ian Brown)
Louise Shepherd presents stories about Australian women climbers from the 20th century, when the bolts were few and the boys were many.
How did women climbers fare before sport climbing existed? Before cams were even invented? How did women cope when the climbing scene was thick with testosterone?
Now and then we need to be reminded of our past. The struggles and triumphs of women climbers of last century are part of us and how we shape our identity as climbers.
Louise Shepherd was a leading Australian rock climber in the 80s. She was the first person to on-sight Trojan, grade 25, at Mt Arapiles. She did the first female ascent of many world classics like A Separate Reality and Tales of Power (in Yosemite). In the Grampians, Arapiles and Moonarie, she put up dozens of new routes, a handful of which have become classics.
Garth Miller
'CLIMB TO YOUR ABSOLUTE LIMIT'
Presented by Australian Climbing Consultants
A look into some of the mental and physical training techniques used by Garth Miller to achieve peak performance.
Suited to any climber wishing to improve in rock climbing. A brief look at the integration of mental and physical training techniques used by Garth Miller. Will explore the identification of weaknesses & self analysis, building of a training program, mental training and process orientation, dealing with fear, technique improvement & re-training, engrams, and the performance state.
Garth Miller lived and travelled extensively through Europe and the US during from 1995 – 1998 encountering many top level climbers and different methods of training in the various places he visited. Taking what he saw as the best methods, he blended them with his background of yoga and martial arts where he learnt techniques to improve reaction time, speed, power, body tension and freedom of movement. By 1998 he had a tick list including two 32 and a dozen 31 on sight including two in the same day, red pointed 33 in three tries and a v11 boulder problem flashed. At the time he was one of two people in the world to on sight at this level and still the only Australian to do so.
