Oh Shit! Awards

Part of my ongoing “stop climbers dying avoidable deaths’ project, I’ve decided to start a monthly “Oh shit!” award, the prize being a free copy of my Down book (the aim of which was part of that SCDAD project, which is why you can get the core version for less than a cup of coffee). 

To be up for a chance to win, all you have to do is be honest - for once.

The reason why honesty is so important in the whole not dying thing is that climbers are very good at covering their tracks, pasting over the cracks in their skills, the stupid shit they did and got away with. Yes we share some stuff, but we keep it within our circle - we don’t want it getting out - pro climbers being by far the worst offenders. 

I know this cover-up is true of almost everything, from model train building to live-action role-playing D&D, but climbing is an activity where failing to learn from other peoples mistakes - rules written in blood - can result in something worse than getting zapped by a level 10 wizard. The impact of a climbing death is something where the loss of one life is nothing compared to the tragedy heaped on those you leave behind.

So to take part all you need to do is share your story of your incompetence, ineptitude, fucktitude via Instagram, , or paste it in the comments, either about you, or someone else (anonymity is fine), include the hashtag #ohshitaward and @psychovertical and I’ll publish them here on Substack once a month and pick a winner, as well as critique the best ones.