Mont Blanc & Gran Paradiso LIVE YouTube Q&A

Mont Blanc & Gran Paradiso LIVE YouTube Q&A

Hey folks ah yes we have audio oh my life the release this is good so the other one is still on at the moment um what I’m going to do is pin that and then end stream and sorry everybody well that was interesting um I will just say you’re

Really lucky because Bobby was frecking hacking away the whole time um I don’t know what happened there but what I can tell you is YouTube has been giving me no end of grief over the last few um months since returning home uh so maybe you want to ask some questions about

YouTube and I can answer happily and honestly I’m just going to close the door because um I need to do that and then I’ll be with you also you know that classic thing of when you’re at work right and you work from home you can uh wear what you want

On the top because you look like hi yes I’ve been working since 2 a.m. this morning but the secret is I am in my pajamas shh don’t tell anyone anyway um welcome to this YouTube live session we’ve lost like at least half the audience unfortunately but hopefully this will um this will notify

People can we have sound it seems like we all have sound that’s good anybody else having sound problems I can see on the sound monitor here that I have sound also I am sat here with my myself so I have sound um can you do me a massive

Favor because YouTube is going to wreck havoc with my life as always um can you click like on this video that’ be really helpful and then that’s also going to push it to subscribers who are already subscribed to my channel and make sure they see this and they are able to join

This evening as we are live I would be really really grateful for that um now Robert wants to go out of the room oh my life you know the thing with these live sessions I say bubble R because I need to be wrapped in bubble wrap because

They fill me with no end of stress for those of you who subscribed to my newsletter Robert for those of you who have subscribed to my newsletter um you will have seen that I sort of anticipated an error every single time I schedule a session Rober coughs um something goes

Wrong I’m just going to kick him out also one second welcome to my life right you go on Mommy and we’re back oh my gosh how do you click like um that’s a great question uh so you should probably watching this on YouTube so um you’ve

Got the video and you’ve got the the feed on the side so underneath the bottom of that there should be a like button yes thumbs up thank you thank you very much right should we try this again welcome do you know I wanted to just say then welcome to the Great British bolf

Oh man um now welcome to this evening’s live session 11 minutes late but there we go we got there in the end I don’t know what happened with the audio there um but I’m very glad that we are all here together as um Charlie Massy would

Say in his wonderful book I’m glad we’re all here together so I am here specifically to talk about M and Grand Paradiso in Italia um basically following the release of my film on Monday which has been a resounding success I have to see um absolutely CH to bits over the moon

With how that’s been going um and whilst Rachel apparently on the side is not all here hopefully we are here um thumbs up actually no no no no let’s not do thumbs up um this Emoji if you’re in your pajamas as well and um uh peace Emoji if

You’re not yet in your pajamas because you’re just freaking rocking life so well done uh that’ be super super cool and please let me know on the side where you’re tuning in from um maybe one word to summarize um your thoughts and feelings around the Mont Blanc film that would be

Super super cool and what I would just say from the off is um that uh if you have questions please ask them in a capital letters it does look like you’re shouting at me but I will not take offense it just means I can decipher on the side um generally speaking as these

Live sessions go I don’t look at the side whilst I’m talking which I’m trying not to do right now because my brain goes um and I’m trying to talk and it doesn’t work together uh which is what is happening exactly now as I’m explaining what’s happening um but

Welcome uh to this live session so yes please ask questions and capitals um the beginning of these sessions is always a bit of a just wibbly waffly um apart from me um you could argue the whole thing is that it is you know very debatable the dog now wants to come back in

Robert okay he now has a parent that’s great um yes so now we can all breathe that’s wonderful have a sip of tea if you have it good tea that and live in this session so I want to just first of all say I’m so grateful for all of you for

Tuning in this evening um these live sessions are always a very vulnerable thing they’re completely unedited how can they possibly be edited um you can see all of the Carnage of YouTube and live and dog um but I kind of love that and uh I feel like I’ve really grown to

Love these live sessions and it’s always a real treat to be able to do them and never know who’s going to tune in never know what you’re going to ask and it’s a really nice way for me to be able to interact with you guys and sort of give

Something back um in a sense of uh a thanks for tuning in to my channel and everything that I’m all about so if you are new here I feel like it’s always nice to just give a little spiel about who I am and what I’m about so my name

Is Abby I live in a hat and um I basically spend my life promoting the power of nature um in terms of a place that we can use to improve our mental and physical well-being and to bring a sense of meaning and purpose into our lives whether that’s through connection with

Nature or through nature as the uh vessel for bringing people together so I make films and I’ve been making films fulltime since 2018 um but I’ve been making them since I was 13 which is now over half my life when did that happen anybody like what

Um yeah but then also I lead walks up and down the country uh most most months I’ve got a walk going on um the next walk is the New Year’s Day walk which I’ll tell you a little bit more about later um and I I can write for magazines

I give talks to different um workplaces or groups like Scout groups and then I have YouTube and I make these films um documenting my Journeys which are often quite vulnerable because I too struggle with my my mental health um or certainly you know fight for the cause of staying

On top of my mental health um and I experienced chronic pain as well through what seems to be now a psychosomatic injury from my neck to um sort of the center of my back and I just pulled my t-shirt never mind um so yeah I share my journey of those basically and how

Nature helps me and hopefully then it helps you and it’s all about the love essentially the positive ripple effect um so my most recent upload was Bish bash BOS M Blanc and Grand Paradiso so this was in partnership with Adventure base I very transparent about the fact

They um offered me a place on their trip for free which was fantastic and enabled me to experience this lifelong dream um basically after that they just sort of left me to it um and just said tell your story do your thing and I did that um

And I I’m really really proud of the outcome I’m so annoyed though because yesterday I was doing some work for my 2023 highlights video which is a job in itself where I go through absolutely everything single shot that I have which is at least three terabytes worth of

Footage sorry um and yeah I noticed I missed out some very crucial shots that Nao one of the guides filmed and I’m so frustrated because they’re really good shots and I wanted to get them in and then Anna blesser watched it yesterday and she found a typo I’m like no you put

So much work into these things you expect them to be perfect but I am only human so I make mistakes and so here we are to talk about not my mistakes but the success that was the mon blong trip um it was a phenomenal experience it was

Really hard it was really exhausting I think it’s the have I ever been that crippled by self-doubt I don’t think I have actually um yeah it was really really hard like to stay in a place of belief and you know so often I’m in these experiences and

I’m kind of head down get the job done like I love the experience it’s amazing and nature does pull me forward but this trip was so different in that it was so raw um I just need some there we go and um you know there was there was a real

Regimented routine to it and and everything was just so different so yeah um what I’m going to do is I’m going to startop waffling on and just have a look and see some of these questions because I see there’s there’s a few e questions popping up um and then yeah we’ll just

Hang out here on some questions and then I’ll wrap it up with a few little updates for you folks to um just remind you there’s some very itical things you can get stuck into uh in the next actually couple of flipping days like how are we on the 17th of December also

When did that happen time um okay so Russell Cooper is asking does Mont Blanc lose a snow cap in the summer no it does not Mont Blanc um means basically the White Mountain so Monte biano in Italy um Mont Blanc the Massif is actually it sort of straddles three countries so

It’s France Italy and Switzerland hence the to the mon blon goes through all three countries walking around the massive and um at all months of the year you can look up and you can see the snow now what is um what is happening more and more is absolutely you know there’s

Warmer climates the Alps in particular as I mentioned in the film um is experiencing one of the fastest rates of glacia melt and snow melt um in the world everything is just slly off and then you know that impacts endemic species it impacts the water cycle impacts everything like let’s not go

Into that I just did um but yeah the the warmer temperatures means that that lower down sort of that that margin so you’re above the tree line but you’re not quite um on the snow in amongst the glaciers there’s a lot more rock fall um the Glaciers are melting but no the top

Of snot snot Blanc that’s a good one top of Mont Blanc stays white um all year round I think that’s a really good question actually um unlike Tule for example which is the highest mountain in um the Atlas mountain so Morocco that does lose all of the snow um

Kangaro uh there’s a little Glacier on top sorry I wasn’t sure what’s happening then yeah a little Glacier on top um but that’s uh very very rapidly retreating um that doesn’t stay white um so it is sort of in the Alps that the mountains are still staying white um but I think

It also really does depend on sort of the literal Dome shape of Mont Blanc there’s there’s a lot of surface area for snow and ice to stick to um whereas something like the matter horn which is much more vertical um it’s just a rock face so it’s you know more

Likely to slump off um don’t forget folks if you’re asking questions please keep them in capitals it just sort of helps me to filter through a we bit quicker with my weird dodgy nce uh nine mind eyes eyes my eyes my eyes oh my gosh Jan hello Jan is asking what is

Your definition of courage has it changed since your mon experience fing awesome question J I like that a lot um oh great now I actually have to think just said I have a dodgy mind so this is going well this evening isn’t it um definition of

Courage you know what I would say from the off the off is when you’re being brave so essentially courageous you don’t feel it it’s something at least for me I’ve experienced afterwards like there’s definitely a time where you know you you you’re sort of in the pain cave and you

Just got to get your head down and persevere and tap into that mental strength or physical strength depending on which one you know is is is triumphing in that moment and make yourself do the thing um but I would say courage is perseverance in the act in the courage is

Perseverance in the presence of fear there we go boom that made me sound clever didn’t it does that make sense I don’t know if that makes sense um perseverance in the presence of fear because it’s like you have an obstacle you have a barrier quite often it’s fear

And fear is always so much worse in our mind than we actually think or than it actually is physically around us so the obstacle is our mind and then when we choose courage we’re working through that fear we’re persevering we’re con showing up with consistency and intentionality and that is courage

Because you can’t be courageous by accident it is a pure intentional thing and that’s what I mean by that grit and that determination so in a really waffly way that does not fit in the Collins Dictionary that is what I’m going to go for courage is the perseverance through

Fear maybe that’s a film name I feel I feel cool that was great um so has it changed since the Mont Blanc experience I wouldn’t say that um what what has every already alluded to what surprised me the most about the Mont Blanc experience was just how much I was

Suffering with self-doubt I was not feeling well and I don’t even think that comes across very great in the film like I I I can say I did have a little bit of a mask um and I think a lot of that was the fact that I wasn’t in my own space I

Couldn’t just sort of have that little meltdown um or hibernate and throw my pen away in my tent and uh just sort of you know do what I needed to do because I was 24 hours a day like physically attached to other people or in the same room in a

Bed that’s just a long bed um other than sort of the time where we went back down to Shaman but for the bulk of that I was sharing a room and I did find that quite difficult because for me to recharge I need to be in my own space it’s just

Sort of who I am and what I’ve how I’ve learned to deal with things um so I suppose I’m very proud of the courage that I had to put in it did require courage but certainly not in the way I expected and you know what in the

Research of this film when I was scripting it scripting is a very big job you know I’m factchecking everything and I’m going through on like fat maps and stuff on Google and and I was going up Mont Blanc on fat Maps like you know you

Can put the little man and then you can walk up and um I’m just looking at like man that is so flipping Steep and I have to say like I I re I felt genuine fear when we were walking up in that wind the point before L says you

Know we got to pull the plug with this thing um I was feeling fear I was feeling like this is a bit much here and I hope we’re not pushing through um so no I wouldn’t say my experience my um definition of courage has changed since

Then but I would say that all of these experiences that you have to be courageous they build on top of each other and they make you a more resilient person because you know if you’ve done something once why can’t you do it again it’s just a battle of the mind um and I

Think so often you know I talk about in these sessions a lot like so often it’s our minds that let us slip you know you’ve got to if you say you’re going to do something you’ve got to show up and and do it and I said I was going to

Climb mon Blanc and the parameter of that is the essential uh the number one goal is to stay safe the secondary goal is the summit of Mont Blanc so we achieved our goal which was to stay safe and get as high as we can on Mont Blanc so I’m waffling here but hopefully

That’s helpful um thank you for that really wonderful question um all right scrolling down they see me scrolling some of these live sessions are so unpredictable I never know what’s going to come out of my mouth um can you show us your outes my my Sho

You want to see my shoes you want to see my shoes I’ll tell you something I haven’t worn them since M BLC I actually bought them in shamany I was a bit nervous about wearing um my Vios the Vio Barefoot I’m not like brandy like oh

Vios I have other barefoot shoes as well um yeah and I didn’t like you probably saw in the part going up through the forest in Grand Paradiso everybody else wore their B3 boots so you saw as well fitting crampons B3 boots have they’re very specific they have a very stiff

Sole um which means you can you know keep a crampon attached and they have that lip on the back so the crampon Clips in and then it’s welded to your shoe so you can’t do that with any boot um it has to be a very specific B3 boot

Um for mountaineering and um yeah everyone else decided to wear their B3 boots up to um the Refugio shod and I did not on um I was willing to carry them I was constantly being ripped for how big my Rook sack was L togged me off

For bringing the tripod a lot and I was like mate I’m flipping here to film and I’m not going to lie one thing I have edited out a lot is how stressed I was about filming this um there was very very little space I was just a participant and there was hardly any

Space to take photos um and I’m trying to not elaborate on this too much um but if you want to know the truth I can tell you the truth I mean you know no one’s paying me to be here um about that waffle so yeah that’s that

Um how did the altitude affect you awesome question did you find your ability to think clearly was affected listen my friend Timbo clearly my ability to think is affected right now at about 300 meters above sea level so how was it a 3,000 I’m sure it was

Terrible um no honestly the altitude is a very big thing um it’s something that you can’t be naive about I think a lot of folks are naive and you know what I really allude to in this documentary is that there is a stereotype person who goes into the mountains and does This

Thing very matu istic they’re very sort of Forward Thinking and um if you don’t reach the summit you failed and and I was surrounded by that and I did not like that um a couple of the participants um the other clients were sort of a bit more freethinking like me

Which was which was really nice um but the reason why I say this is uh I was very aware of altitude because I know I suffered altitude so when I did Kell manaro 10 years ago next year um I suffered a lot with altitude um probably

Like oh that was horrible I don’t need to do that again um and then tubic that was the other time I was at altitude in Morocco I’ve already mentioned that again I suffered um The Summit day for supercor was okay but the next day we did the secondary

Peak in my life I was um struggling to struggling to choose life it just it just makes you feel horrendous um and what I can say is when I got back down from our Summit push that that day um everyone else sort of went downstairs

And had a few beers and I don’t drink so that’s kind of like a bit of a down for a lot of folks but also I was like n n n and I just like curled like a hedgehog on my blanket or under my blanket on the

Bed and like I had all of my clothes on I was so cold and my head was pounding and I just I honestly I thought I was I genuinely thought it was hypothermic like you know as an outdoor first aid trained person for the last seven years

Or whatever you really become aware of signs and symptoms in other people but also in yourself and I was getting really quite concerned at one point um but I also knew this is is Extreme exhaustion and very likely the altitude you know we’re at 3,800 Metter here we’re well into that altitude sickness

Space so I can say it just made me feel very tired um I wouldn’t say it affected my mental space so much it did affect my appetite I really was not hungry that’s just weird for me um but no it wasn’t as severe as Killy Killy was Kil manari was um was

Horrendous like I can’t even express like it’s like you have it’s it’s almost like how can I even express it I don’t know because we don’t know what it’s like an elephant sitting on our head or being um squeezed between a vis or being under a thousand meters

Of water but it’s that pressure it’s pressure and that’s just horrendous so I did not experience that which was a massive thumbs up um and I do not plan to experience that again in the near future did you get any vertigo um no vertigo for me I suppose

The only time thing sort of equivalent I felt was a sort of that point as I just mentioned where we were nearly at the our our personal Summit points where it was really windy and I was just super aware they’re like Frick I can’t even stay upright this is a battering um and

Yeah it was super aware of falling but I had an isax that didn’t really concern me like too much um but then going down um unfortunately the folks I was paired with in my group of three were very speed head like it was oh it just it

Upset me quite a lot um because you know I’m there for this very wholesome experience and they’re just Keen to get the fastest possible time for straa which is one of the things that made this so stressful because you’re literally roped up you can’t just stop

And take a photo or do some video or anything and that’s where most of my monologues are at the end of the day when I’m by myself and I can finally talk to you wonderful people um so when we were going down that Guta Ridge which

We climbed up you saw us sort of scrambling up um we freaking ran down that man we got down in under two hours and that like I just felt like I was being pulled this way and that because I literally was the Rope was tight and it

Was um I found that quite hard and I wouldn’t say it was Vertigo but I I think it was the first time I really became aware of the fact that I was tired and I felt like I could fall um but I also felt like I just had to put

On a bit of a face because you know the other two folks they wanted to get their experience out of it and I would have been holding them back if I sort of communicated that um that wasn’t the first time that happened it happened

Also a lot on the on the descent from um Grand Paradiso uh the pace was too fast and sort of a few of us were just I wasn’t physically struggling with The Descent on Grand so but it was just like frustrating to not be able to actually

Enjoy and be present on the glacia there was no rush to get down except for the beers apparently um and like yeah that that I found very difficult um so you know I I don’t really feel like I document sort of the lows in this trip um but

Because they were very personal um you know on a very professional level we were extremely well looked after and I felt very safe with with L and nacho nacho freaking ledge um so yeah that’s that’s my question so I wouldn’t say it was Vertigo but sort of that that falling and

That spinning type sensation of exposure um I did sort of get something like that on the way down um right there we go now we’re getting questions love it uh how do you maintain your energy physical mental on a difficult challenging height height height um so

How I maintain my energy is it’s just like life you know like you I just today I was just talking um about it with somebody and it like I call it health hygiene you know I take great pride in performing on quite high level when it

Comes to executing a task and I take great pride in ensuring my energy and I’m that I’m putting out into the world or into something I’m creating is of use of value I don’t want to just make noise um I struggle with some of the films that I filmed like there’s films I

Haven’t even put out because I’m like there’s no soul in this this is this is just a monopoly thing and I’m not just I’m not freaking here to make money you have make money off YouTube it just does not happen um and uh so basically the re

The way I keep on top of all of these things both on and off the trail is I I focus on my my health hygiene so I Ensure getting as much sleep as I possibly can as my body needs which is you know always extremely limited when

You’re on a trip for whatever reason environmental or mental whatever but just doing the best that I can you know having some kind of routine it’s staying hydrated it’s staying on top of my nutrition and making sure I’m eating good stuff like there’s various folks in

My life who take the mick out of me about how many different things I take to an expedition but do you know what having my multivitamins having my electrolyte powder having snacks that I know actually work for my body that gives me up for Success like yeah I can

Just go and eat the white bread that everybody else eats that’s given by the refugios but that’s not going to make me feel good um and I take responsibility for that and I take that very seriously because again I stand by the fact that we have won life and you want to feel

Good for it um so I feel like you know it can seem a bit difficult to some people or like I’m being a little bit pedantic but I’m really not I’m just looking after myself um and it’s nothing really to do with anybody else um but no that’s something that’s really important

To me and you know if you want to find out a little bit more about some of those things I made a really UNS Snappy um five-step self-care check-in video which went out about a month ago and you can find that on my channel under sort

Of tips and advice and I basically share five letters I think it’s HH fpi something like that I just I forgotten my brain is so full I’m so sorry um yeah and it’s basically you know it’s hunger hydration oh no here we go fatigue inspiration and pain H gosh uh and all

Of those things and basically what they mean and how you can check in with yourself so that’s essentially what I do um so I hope that helps with that that question um did Adventure Base put your kit together or give you a detailed list um so oh Adventure Base bless them the most

Loving amazing company uh you know me I’m authentic I’m not going to recommend something that I I don’t believe in I didn’t get paid for this trip I I was just given in that free space um you know so I am not obliged to say anything

I don’t want to say but I can tell you that they are they’re a very small team they’re absolutely lovely they’re all lovers of the outdoors um they have been so patient with me I’ve been able to be really honest you know in the buildup to

The trip about sort of my own mental space as you know I was on the oat route before and I pulled the plug and I messaged them like I’m really not sure about this and they were like cool if you want to postpone whatever um they weren’t they were very kind much Kinder

Than I am clearly um so uh but B the reason why I say bless them is um they I accidentally got missed off the emailing list so I was really quite in the blind as to kitten and stuff so I just sort of defaulted back to my like what I know

Essentially um so that was kind of a little bit tricky and definitely added to my gear stress but no ordinarily you get a full-on kit list um and they are they’re just there like able to help if you’ve got any questions but you know mountaineering kit it’s

Basically um hiking kit on never wor it’s thicker layers it’s more layers it’s it’s bulkier stuff but it’s also trying to keep it as light as possible um which completely goes just just very confusing and that’s what’s quite difficult and I think you know on the one hand I’m worried about you know

Making sure you’re warm enough but the other hand is you don’t want to be overwarm because sweating is then very life-threatening because then you cool down and you’ve got this liquid on your skin and you can end up again hypothermic so it’s much more almost serious than trekking in a sense of the

Consequences um are harsher so you got to get it right um so for example haven’t got to here I no I have a Norwegian wool pullover that I’m wearing all the freaking time because this house is cold except from now because I’m emotionally stressed that I didn’t get a

Session right at the beginning um but I knew that was going to be too warm for me so I didn’t wear that um so there is a lot of thought that needs to go into your your layering for mountaineering and and I have to say you know in my own

Research for this Mont Blanc trip um I did get quite frustrated because there’s again if you Circle Mont BLC or search Mont Blanc Cline there’s a lot of people like oh I did this with no experience oh I did this solo and it’s like you’re freaking lucky you’re not dead then like

To just put it simply like it’s so frustrating because you saw what happened at the end of this film somebody died he was arguably not being Cared by his guide for by his guy because he wasn’t roped in um and every time somebody puts themselves at risk

You’re not only putting yourself at risk but a whole chain effect of people and it’s just it’s again it’s negligence selfishness it’s not machoism it’s stupidity and it frustrates me um so why am I ranting about this now I don’t even know oh detailed kit list um be prepared

Folks let’s move on this this rant are happening today I’m so sorry um okay anyway what was the hardest part and how much did the altitude affect you right we talked about altitude so thanks Chris the hardest part other than getting up in the morning my life and dealing with the

Stinky toilets in the Teta Roose Hut man I thought the toilets on kill Manar were bad like that was some pong um hardest part I think just overcoming my self-doubt like physically I can be honest the day to the summit um I was I was pretty spent I had more in the tank

And I could have done it but my gosh I think you’d have to put me in a barrel to get me down the mountain um but no it was just as always it’s that mental barrier um yeah and then the next question I see um Melissa is asking how did you prepare mentally

And physically um physically I prepared by freaking running up and down Hills do not recommend that no I do it’s great it made me work through tough stuff um just basically doing something that sucks every single day uh I think as modern humans I again I rant about this so much

In these live sessions you know I think we really condition ourselves that life is supposed to be comfortable and cozy because we deserve it and I’ve worked hard for this but it’s just like you’re not doing yourself any favors by living the good life like it’s when you add a

Bit of suck into every single day whether that’s through training or doing something that you don’t want to do because it’s a little bit difficult and it requires you to actually dial in and you know put the put the hours in um that’s what makes you stronger and when

It comes to a trip like this um that’s what I was really focusing on was just every day having a goal that I knew was going to challenge me and making sure I showed up for that and did what I said I was going to do um and that’s how I

Built sort of my mental resilience but you know I I don’t think it made it into the film but one of the things I say in my audio Diaries um because I keep audio Diaries on all of my Trails every single day recorded live on the trail that then

Released onto my patreon platform for my patreon members and Community um I talk about the fact that you know Mont Blanc really felt like an amalgamation of everything I’ve learned since I started hiking in 2012 um so I feel like I’ve been preparing for this T trip since I

Started hiking if that makes sense everything I’ve learned all of the mistakes I’ve made um all the Mast to manifesting this trip in the successful way that it played out so that’s that was it everything you expected and hoped it to be um I don’t think I had any expectations

I have the one thing I can say was that I found Grand parody so amazing amazing I did I know I think it’s so funny because you click on you book a Mont Blan trip and you s of everything’s about Mont Blan oh yeah Mont BL this

Mont BL that have you got this for Mont Blanc did you do that and Grand Paradiso poor little mountain it’s not a little Mountain at all just kind of gets pushed on the back burner or something you have to do and box you have to tick but it

Was an amazing experience and that was far more than I ever expected it could be and honestly just doing grand Paradiso would have been like fan Dy dozy so I can say that that far surpass expectations um and then the trip itself I don’t know if you guys ever

Experienced this and maybe it’s just the fast-paced life that I live um but sometimes I have like a really amazing experience and I sort of come back and I almost get really detached from it and I’m like did that really happen like even though I have a film and I’m

Editing it and it’s me it doesn’t feel like me and it’s like I don’t some trips I have a really visal memory of what I experien and then some trips I don’t and I sometimes I think it boils down to being really tired but like I can’t sometimes I can’t

Relate to the person I’m seeing on the screen um maybe it’s to do with like like this life and then the trail life I don’t really know but I feel quite detached from The Experience um but I know I did it because there’s a film so

That’s cool um yeah but it was an amazing trip and um whatever my expectations were I am just really glad to be alive so that’s cool um all right we got some good questions here favorite oh hang on yeah favorite part of the trip uh

Um the pizza at the end was pretty good actually no do you know what my favorite part of the trip was once we made it back down um and I’ve recovered from my hypothermic State and I came out to do that npce and you see all of those shots

I really enjoyed that it was really really cold it’s like minus 15 out there and I’m just there and Crocs I’m just laughing at myself because no one else is being stupid enough to come outside but I want to film this because I’m thinking of you guys and you know in the

The most weirdest wildest places I end up by myself and I’m thinking of you guys and that’s my favorite part because I’m like this is what it is to have purpose you know this is what it is to have a sense of meaning and what an

Amazing thing that I have found that in yous and in these films um and you probably maybe saw the shot I highly recommend going back if you haven’t but there was a Sund dog so as the sun was setting you could see the sun here in

The clouds and then you had these two rainbows either side so you can get two rainbows or you can get sort of a whole Halo and they’re called Sund dogs and it’s sort of about the refraction of the light and the ice crystals in the air

And um yeah I just I always love to see those and it sort of reminds me of all the other places that I’ve seen them and that was a very special moment to just you know digest and know that life is good you know did you feel okay guys I’m going to

Go for another sort 10 minutes I think um and then I will release you all back into the Wilderness um did you feel more pressure knowing you were making a documentary of doing it Abby um awesome awesome question yes I did um one thing I’ve really really felt this year is the

Pressure of making these films because whilst I’m doing less I’m doing so much more you’ve probably noticed I’m not really doing day walks and stuff at the moment I’m doing very few Kit reviews and things and it’s because I’m really trying to dial in have quality production I’d much rather put more work

Into something that can really change somebody’s life as I say than just doing a repeated thing of another walk another walk another walk like I’m not out for a quick bang for buck here um I am producing a documentary film like this is a high quality piece of work that

Requires like hours and hours and hours and hours and then a few more um and I do feel the pressure of that because I want to do it properly and I do have a bit of a motto if you can’t do it right don’t do it um for myself no not for

Anyone else for sake you learn for mistakes um and when I’m on the trail I know exactly what I need to do like I’m I’m good at this um I’ve bought a career out of this and when I don’t meet my own expectations it can be really difficult

And because of sort of that that fast pace not really being in control of anything experience um I was really worried I think my dad’s tuned in on here um you’ll see him under David Barnes like I’m on the phone to him just like I can’t I can’t make a film out of

This footage like how am I going to do this like I I felt like I came away with very minimal uh content because it was just point and shoot and I don’t do that um everything is there’s a script in my head the whole way that I’m building

When I’m out there on the trip um but this time I really wasn’t able to do that because I had no idea what was going to happen and I wasn’t in control of anything um but that is the beauty of editing and that’s the beauty of of

Reflection is that you can you can build something after a trip and I did and it is it is an accurate representation of what happens and actually the footage is much better than I thought um there are some amazing moments that happened that I wish I’d captured but I wasn’t able to

Um for whatever reason whether the camera died or whatever ever it was like for example where I say and then the camera died as we were going up the guy Ridge like what I oh my gosh if that was a one shot I got I think I would have

Been happy we sort of came up right so there’s there’s the old Guta Hut because it burnt down let’s not talk about that disaster it’s terrible um and you sort of come up the steps and then you round the top of the Dome and then it’s just

Boom daylight and it was so amazing like that moment if you’ve just been in the shade in the snow you’ve just put through hard graft of a few hours climbing and then the sun and it was stunning and then it was just reflecting on all those like snow particles that

Were blowing BL out in the air and you could see the g hut and you’re like oh my gosh I’ve made it even though you’re only halfway that day but still not even halfway but um yeah moments like that but then the other side of it is you

Know I really had to make a pack with myself that I’m in this for the experience you know and and then that’s where Adventure based was so fantastic because I was transparent with them about my worries and they said you know what you get what you get have the

Experience tell your story however you can and we’re good with that and I I just think they’re amazing for that and I value a company that allows people to be themselves so that was super super cool yeah um I am talking a lot today aren’t

I but I mean that’s kind of the point it would be weird if I sat here and didn’t talk um any problems with your kit other than cameras it’s always camera problems um cameras are the ban of my life but they kind of create my career

So I kind of have to just deal with it but camera um problems with my kit uh no not really this was not a kit problem trip I got a new Rook sack you can see I’m wearing the orange um Mammoth Rook sack normally I use my sort

Of gray mammut Rook sack that you see in most of my day hiking videos I love that Packa bits but it just wasn’t quite big enough or streamlined enough um for this trip and what I needed to carry um the only thing I hated about that Rook sack

And hate it’s a big word but it was really inconvenient uh was that the water bottle pockets on the side were too slim for any freaking Water Bolt even this wouldn’t fit in it like who what is that that’s a freaking match stick holder not a water bottle holder um on that

Note um yeah so that was very frustrating and it meant I had to find a water bladder um and again the reason why this is something you have to seriously think about is because it was minus 25 like what a freezes um so having things on the outside normally when you’re at

Altitude or really cold temperatures you have a bottle that’s got very wide mouth you know those Nene bottles that have a wide mouth um and then it doesn’t you know you can still get water out through the ice that that freezes up um and then you can have your water bladder but the

Problem with that is a you don’t know how much you’ve got left but if that freezes or the hose freezes more likely to happen um you can’t access any of that water which is also a problem and it’s sort of minus 25 you don’t really

Want to be having bare skin too much as you saw I got frostnip on my nose poor little nose um and uh yeah so it was more of a problem than it seemed because obviously hydration is key when you’ve got like a two four six at least 10 hour

Day um so yeah that was that um but otherwise now I think all is good thank you for asking um okay other questions that are in caps how do you handle getting healthy food choices oh hang on sorry how do you handle yes getting healthy food choices

Or lack of them on trips like this a plan ahead Jan so I mentioned you know I I know what works for my body I am plant-based and don’t get me wrong the old bit of cheese slips in um but first of all Italy is great Foods so mostly I

Lived off palenta um obviously Adventure based knew I was vegetarian tends to be what I say when I’m International because it’s just so much easier I don’t think I could have been vegan on this trip I didn’t think there was a possibility um and then yeah you know

You buy all your food along the way anyway so I I paid for all of those meals um at the different refuges so it’s palenta I had an omelette um which is vegetarian it’s so weird when you eat eggs and stuff when you haven’t eaten them for like this many years and then

You do it and your py just goes what are you doing did you did you mean to eat that um yeah so that was that uh and then yeah I just I take stuff up I carry it with me um so again that’s why they’re taking make out of me in my big

RI sack but it’s like mate I know what I can carry I’m good at carrying heavy stuff and I did so deal with that so yeah plan ahead um yes you’re another a question all right I’m G to go for five more minutes folks and then that allows me time just

To wrap this up for half past 7 UK time given the F and the risk would you do another high altitude Alpine climb yes my friend I would uh I fear for my father blessing as his partner says he’s having kittens um literally none of us knew

That M Blanc was so dangerous until I made it down and then they flip and go and Google it and it’s like oh mon blanc’s more dangerous than Everest I’m like well thanks um so yeah that happen but um no you know I don’t underestimate the strain that not just this but any

Trip puts on my family um people that care about me you know it is a lot and I do have my struggles and most of them don’t make it on the camera um rightly so um so yeah I think I’ll give it I’ll give it give it some time but actually

Next year I am planning to go back to altitude um at a trip I am more familiar with um so stay tuned for that and actually I’m just going to put it out there because you have to manifest the future right I am planning on being able

To invite some of you guys along there’s going to be spaces for people to accompany me on a mountain not in this country not even in Europe oh what are you going to do with that information um so yeah actually I’m going to put it out to my patreon

Communy festiv all stay tuned for that update and we’ll go from there um but yeah things are evolving here folks like I love doing these films they are everything to me um they’re an archive of my life and my Journeys as much as anything else um but I am passionate

About being able to empower you guys and when you come on my wild walks when you actually join those events like they are unlike anything else like the is almost secondary it’s the community it’s the sense of fellowship and belonging that you will experience no matter who you

Are um you are welcome and I’d like to just take that Upp a level basically literally not here but here so anyway that’s that um okay last few questions we got one two and then if anyone wants to jump in with a third feel free it’s yours if not

No worries I’ll just be here all alone it’s fine um okay so last go for questions Sam is asking do you feel any anticlimax when any of your adventures is over yes Sam I do um it’s really hard actually uh I feel like I’m still lamenting the end of the season some

Nights I lie in bed and I sort of go through particular trailers in my head and and sort of remember them it’s particularly like really like life affirming ones um but yeah it can be really hard because I love who I am on the trail actually um

And I love the pace of that and I love exploring and I love the new things every day and it is tiring and it is hard but a lot of that actually is the filming um you know I am working out there and I work really hard and I don’t

Call the day done until that’s done usually it’s pitch black and I’m doing my patreon recording and bless the lovely listeners but I’m just there like yawning a million times it’s a running joke like how many times can I yawn in in an audio

Diary um but yeah I do I I would say I still am um and probably probably part of how I deal with that is by going and doing another hike so you know that’s how it goes um yeah and it can be quite a lonely feeling actually and I I want to

Make a film sort of called how do you deal with post Expedition Blues because you know whether you’re walking the west highland way or you’re going and doing your first over nice Camp you know Expedition Blues as they call them officially um are not an unreal thing

Like they are real and they you know it can be really hard um but there are ways of dealing with that aren’t just sort of numbing yourself because if you numb one emotion you numb all of them that’s not a wise thing to do um so yeah keep an

Eye out for that video it’s kind of good to know that there’s interest um but if you are feeling that after any of the trips this year you know I do see you I know how it is um but what I always say is try and bring who you are on the

Trail to who you are at home and I say that in the film as well I think don’t I um it’s the best gift we can give the world is ourselves and sometimes the world can’t handle that um and we hide ourselves away but if we can let

Ourselves out on the trail we can do it here as well because life is just like the trail if you choose to see it that way and it is a mind shift and that takes a while but you can do it I know you can um cool very deep and heartfelt

Have you ever thought about tracking the pool yes um Abby you shouldn’t feel pressured to film when you don’t feel like it sometimes taking a break to recharge means you’ll be so much better and efficient when you return I really appreciate that AA thank you so much um

There’s definite truth in that um my recharge has to come when I’m home though not on an expedition because I’m there to do a job um but absolutely I steal those moments thank goodness for Disney plus being able to download things offline and I just tuck myself

Away and I’m like I’m going to watch some ice age now no what did I watch when I was in the Kung sladen I watched one thing I was I was really rubbish you’ll see it in the film um and I freaking watched Monsters University and

It was just like oh yeah I’m not going to be eaten by a bear cuz I’m watching Monsters University see I’m normal so that’s that um oh gosh this is this is a good session thank you for all these very lovely comments you guys are an amazing

Bunch today I like you all very much um AB walks are amazing to be experience thank you Rachel W some people three different wild shirts at watch this is very true all right last question Nadia is asking how would you summarize your trip that seems like a very fitting place to

End doesn’t it how would I summarize my trip congratulations you made me be quiet um oh man I would say it was great no I wouldn’t say that well it was um do you know what it’s really hard because you come back I come back from

These trips and I hit the ground running like I had a really quick I think was it half a week a week turn around before I was off onto the Kung slayen so the digesting time wasn’t hadn’t really happened um life affirming you know like it’s it’s one thing to talk about achieving

Your goals it’s another to actually do them and this year I’ve achieved a lot of goals The Mont Blanc was one of them I said I was going to do something and I did it um and it was life affirming and it’s really nice to do those things um

That you say you want to do and yeah sometimes it takes a year sometimes it takes four years sometimes it takes 10 years you know maybe you’re thinking about whatever you know it doesn’t have to be an expedition it’s something in life but you know you have to sit down

And plan and actually make these things happen if you don’t give them the time of day they’re not going to happen you can’t just accidentally fall into a trip like I put the work in to build these connections and make this thing happened they didn’t email me um I I built this

From day one and that happened when I was on the tour the mon Blanc so that’s why it’s life affirming because you’re seeing that linear process the person I was in 2019 when I did the toy M blong is so different to who I am now but equally as beautiful but the journey

Between then has been like this but I’ve showed up for it every single day and I couldn’t have got to mon blong if I hadn’t done the tour than M blong and everything in between does that make sense so it just really affirms the journey I’ve on and the fact that yeah

You know what like I’ve put in the work and it’s enabled me to get to this place and have this amazing experience and have this really beautiful film that I really hope that has genuinely inspired you guys to know that whatever your dreams are they might not be happening tomorrow

But you know keep showing up for them because they’re real if they matter to you then they’re worth making happen like life is short don’t wait forever you and it’s that’s where you have to be courageous you know what did I say it was perseverance through fear so often

It’s fear that holds us back and it was it’s it’s fear holds me back there’s a few really big emails I need to send um that I’m not being courageous and sending so um yeah that’s that’s something that’s just that I’ve really taken away from

That and I think I can say that about free trips this year really life affirming but it’s because I’ve given them 100% And I’ve shown up for myself and I’ve shown up for my channel so when I say myself it’s yes it’s you guys it’s this platform it’s this Mission and this

Is what I want to be remembered for you know yeah I’m 27 and I’m thinking about a legacy but it’s cuz that’s just what I want to do so yeah that’s kind of that boom that’s a what is it mic drop I wasn’t even using a mic pointing a pen hello hello

Um right folks so I’m going to wrap this up with the U Mont blany things um and there’s just a few things I want to remind you of and invite you to join if you would like to not stab you with a pen because that was weird um sorry I’m

Suffering a lot with my elbow um I think I mentioned I had a diving accident and it’s it’s really sore um yeah I’ve had a few accidents in the last month also my hand got squashed and the tendon here is still very very uncomfortable um so this arm is just a bit

Like um so anyway 21st of December for those of you who are brave souls and wish to en join me on a grand expedition to your garden you’re welcome to join me on the great Garden camp out so the 20 first I don’t even know what day that is

What day is that is a day coming soon to you um it’s a it’s a Thursday the Thursday is a working day for most of us every day is a work day for me anyway um so I’m going to be going live again you can join me on

YouTube um and basically the great Garden camp out is something I established in 2020 with the goal of having ordinary Adventures on our backyards um AKA Gardens or living room room if you don’t have a garden so basically all over the world in 2020 we had a few great Garden

Camp outs people came together and basically put their tent up in their Garden or in their living room and made a blanket fought and camped out for the night and had a family adventure um and it’s so freaking fun so I decided why not do a winter solstice wild garden

Camp out you could ask why did you decide that it’s winter and I am asking myself that and I did ask does my van count no it does not Tony that involves you too get out of your van into a tent um Tony is a great friend of mine who I

Think is here somewhere um so yes get your tents out into your garden have a little fire um and join me at live session I think I’m going to go live at 7:30 on the 21st so make a note of that in your Diaries on your hand if you care

That much just don’t wash it between now and Thursday oh my gosh this is not good is it um and uh yes I am planning on having a big fire um there he is look I’m planning on having a big fire um if the weather allows so it literally will

Be hanging around the fire um thumbs up for marshmallows and uh yeah just one of these live sessions and then I’ll sleep in my tent um I won’t lie if it’s horrendous I will potentially build a blanket for with my little fam including the we dog uh so please join and you can

Share your pictures on social media thank you to everybody who has also been sharing their um wild winter photography challenge pictures on social medias I’ve been inundated it’s really hard to stay on top of so many of you basically every single day going outside taking a photo

Of something in nature that makes you stop pause and feel grateful because winter is a time where it can be really hard to motivate ourselves to get outside and you know what it’s working wonders for me as well um just to get outside and take a snap of something

Small things big things whatever it is and tag me on social media so when you go Abby Barnes Wilds or whatever it is on Facebook um I will then be able to see that and trace it or you can put it in your stories and tag me in it there

So yep we’ve got however many days left of December keep going folks I believe in you so that’s that and then the final last thing I will mention to you before I will love you and leave you is first of all I really drink mate not drinking enough for

This is um my next Wild walk is going to be on New Year’s Day so this is a tradition I think this is the sixth year now that I’ve done this um New Year’s can be a tricky time for many folks and it can be a really awesome time for many

Folks um basically the whole goal of my New Year’s Day walk which is on the quto Hills here in Somerset um is to basically come together on New Year’s Day and really Kickstart that new year with Good Vibes with nature with a walk uh with good Community um and hopefully

Some coffee and cake afterwards because what is a walk without coffee and cake um so yeah that’s the plan and there’s still plenty of spaces on that if you would like to join don’t don’t worry we don’t start too early um so there’s time

To do what you need to do uh but we’d love to welcome you guys um on board with that one and then the next walk will be in February um I’m just figuring out the dates at the moment um so yeah I need to sort that out might probably

Going to be the beginning of February and that’s ath bre so also here in the southwest um in Wilshire uh in the UK so you can join that one as well but anyway those are basically the few things you can get stuck into so that’s great

Garden camp out on the 21st be there or be square photography challenge keep taking pics keep sharing them on socials uh also sorry with the great Garden campart I do have a Facebook group there’s not a lot going on there because I have had no time and capacity to

Really revamp that um but I will send that again in my newsletter which I’ll send on the 20th three days time um and if you want to join that please feel free I know not everybody’s on social media um there’s not much I can do about

It I don’t have any other platform to enable you guys to come together um so yeah Facebook group photography Chanel Challenge and New Year’s Day wild walk would love to see you there that is a wrap people I want to say thank you so much um we’ll be seeing each other on

The 21st so we can do all Christmas handshakes hugs all that there and then um so yeah love it anyway folks uh thank you so much for tuning in I’m a bit talked out now man on the spin bike I think I went faster with my talking than the spin bike need

Some dinner what have you guys got for dinner what it when did I call it dinner it’s tea the debate is out right folks that’s enough from me thanks for being awesome thanks for being wild thanks for tuning in look after yourself have a look on my

Website have a look on my socials there’s always things to get stuck in share the videos please please please that’s the number one thing you can do for this channel is share this video so people click it and they watch it um YouTube is not being a friend to many

Creators at the moment the algorithm is so anti our stuff um so so the more you can share things the more that really helps um take screenshots put them on social media anything you can do like that honestly it is the future of people like me it’s in your hands not mine I

Can I put in the work but it’s down to YouTube and YouTube needs people to be proactive um so anything you can do is amazing So yeah thank you and until next time what do we do three two one stay Wild I can’t go any higher than that come

Thanks have a good evening bye

Here is take two!

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— Camera Kit —
Sony A7iii | Canon M50 | Rode VideoMic Pro | Rode Micro | Boya Shotgun Mic | Rode Wireless Go | GoPro Hero 7 & 8 | Manfrotto Compact Aluminium Tripod | K&F Concept Carbon Fiber Tripod | A whole bunch of different lenses

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