“Mountaineering, climbing - whatever name you want to give it - is probably the most honest thing there is”
Sometimes… there’s room for one more episode. Even though Mountain Air is currently on a summer break between the end of series 3 and the eventual arrival of series 4, a timely interview opportunity came along that proved impossible to turn down.
The recently released book “Walking Out of the Dark: How I Learned to Love Life Again” comes from first-time author Kelvyn James. A searingly honest piece of writing, it recounts profound tragedies and long-endured traumas but ultimately describes “a life-affirming journey through mountains, memory and meaning”.
In this conversation, Kelvyn describes the origin of the book, and discusses why healing, mental health and the outdoors are so profoundly connected.
* Learn more about Kelvyn here: https://mountainservices.co.uk/
If you’d like to buy a copy of the book - profits from which go directly to the charity Wellness Walks - you can do so via the Wellness Walks website or on Amazon via the links below.
* https://wellnesswalks.org.uk/product/walking-out-of-the-dark-signed-hardback/
* https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-out-Dark-learned-again/dp/1068519436
Listen, enjoy, tell your friends.
[episode recorded on 16/06/25]
00:00 - Introduction
02:17 - Welcome from the most confused place in Britain
04:08 - A litany of outdoor achievements (“an insight into high-functioning ADHD”)
06:50 - An overview of Walking out of the Dark; “I didn’t know I was writing a book for a long time, I thought I was writing a journal”
09:00 - “Even from the darkest of things, people can find a way”; describing the “black hole” at the centre of the book
14:48 - Release and healing in the outdoors; a place to be open with others; the psychology of the outdoor experience
16:15 - “Mountaineering, climbing… whatever name you want to give it, is probably the most honest thing there is”
18:10 - “Climbing was the first thing where I felt me, where I first felt in charge... and when what happened happened, it was climbing I went back to”
19:20 - “I didn’t expect people to react well, and pretty much they all universally did... it gave me a sense of worth”; a personal history of a love of climbing
24:20 - Learning to lead in the outdoors: “I remember asking my instructor what his real job was”; thoughts on the tough financial reality for outdoor professionals
28:53 - All about Wellness Walks; walking from home during the COVID pandemic; putting an advert on social media and waking up to dozens of requests; the honesty that comes from walking and talking without the need for eye contact
35:00 - “I didn’t see the joy in the world for a long time, but the miracle is that joy doesn’t disappear”
38:35 - Greatest Mountain Memory: a peerless viewpoint just outside of the Chamonix valley
42:20 - All the time, money, freedom… where do you go and what would you do? Climbing Pinnacle Ridge on the Helvellyn range.
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“Mountaineering, climbing - whatever name you want to give it - is probably the most honest thing there is”
Sometimes… there’s room for one more episode. Even though Mountain Air is currently on a summer break between the end of series 3 and the eventual arrival of series 4, a timely interview opportunity came along that proved impossible to turn down.
The recently released book “Walking Out of the Dark: How I Learned to Love Life Again” comes from first-time author Kelvyn James. A searingly honest piece of writing, it recounts profound tragedies and long-endured traumas but ultimately describes “a life-affirming journey through mountains, memory and meaning”.
In this conversation, Kelvyn describes the origin of the book, and discusses why healing, mental health and the outdoors are so profoundly connected.
* Learn more about Kelvyn here: https://mountainservices.co.uk/
If you’d like to buy a copy of the book - profits from which go directly to the charity Wellness Walks - you can do so via the Wellness Walks website or on Amazon via the links below.
* https://wellnesswalks.org.uk/product/walking-out-of-the-dark-signed-hardback/
* https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-out-Dark-learned-again/dp/1068519436
Listen, enjoy, tell your friends.
[episode recorded on 16/06/25]
00:00 - Introduction
02:17 - Welcome from the most confused place in Britain
04:08 - A litany of outdoor achievements (“an insight into high-functioning ADHD”)
06:50 - An overview of Walking out of the Dark; “I didn’t know I was writing a book for a long time, I thought I was writing a journal”
09:00 - “Even from the darkest of things, people can find a way”; describing the “black hole” at the centre of the book
14:48 - Release and healing in the outdoors; a place to be open with others; the psychology of the outdoor experience
16:15 - “Mountaineering, climbing… whatever name you want to give it, is probably the most honest thing there is”
18:10 - “Climbing was the first thing where I felt me, where I first felt in charge... and when what happened happened, it was climbing I went back to”
19:20 - “I didn’t expect people to react well, and pretty much they all universally did... it gave me a sense of worth”; a personal history of a love of climbing
24:20 - Learning to lead in the outdoors: “I remember asking my instructor what his real job was”; thoughts on the tough financial reality for outdoor professionals
28:53 - All about Wellness Walks; walking from home during the COVID pandemic; putting an advert on social media and waking up to dozens of requests; the honesty that comes from walking and talking without the need for eye contact
35:00 - “I didn’t see the joy in the world for a long time, but the miracle is that joy doesn’t disappear”
38:35 - Greatest Mountain Memory: a peerless viewpoint just outside of the Chamonix valley
42:20 - All the time, money, freedom… where do you go and what would you do? Climbing Pinnacle Ridge on the Helvellyn range.
> Find galleries, blog posts and many more episodes at www.mountainairpodcast.uk
Episode 2#07 gets to know none other than multi-talented photojournalist David Lintern. Based in Kingussie in the Cairngorms National Park, David is an outdoor writer and photographer of high reputation. You’ve likely seen his images and read his words across many different magazines and websites that focus on Britain’s hills, mountains and rivers. So, who better to spend an hour with discussing the challenges and rewards of this environment we all love so much?
Having just released his latest book, “Thunder Road: Voices from the Cape Wrath Trail”, David’s keen to describe the landscapes and people discovered along the most famous hiking route in Scotland’s epic north-west, as well as to discuss what he’s trying to achieve in documenting these unique subjects.
He also shares the fascinating story of how a person ends up living the life of an environmental journalist in the Scottish Highlands - a dream job, perhaps, but one which brings plenty of insecurity with its limitless freedoms. From London-based cinema projectionist, to “scruffy musician”, to founder of a children’s charity, David’s journey has taken him from a deeply urban life to one spent amongst the wildest of places. There’s even time to discuss a fateful two-month hike of the Pyrenees and a formative winter mountaineering trip across the Ben Alder range with some deeply eerie details…
Visit www.davidlintern.com to find out more about David’s work, and make sure to catch up with him on Instagram too: @davidjlintern
Listen, enjoy, tell your friends, subscribe to the podcast if you get and chance, and thank UKHillwalking.com for their kind support of this series!
[episode recorded on 26/05/22]
00:00 - Introduction
03:23 - Welcome, “a photographer and writer focusing on human-powered travel, landscape and the environment”, discussing the book “Thunder Road: Voices from the Cape Wrath Trail”
06:53 - Most definitely not “striding forth under self-imposed adversity”, more details of the Cape Wrath experience
13:28 - War games off the Scottish coast
17:33 - “Vanishing Point” photography project, the struggles of being a freelancer during the COVID pandemic, “lots of freedom, but lots of insecurity”
20:13 - Enjoying “the wrestle” of writing, details of an outdoor media career, “esoteric ramblings”
27:38 - “We were all feeling pretty experimental in COVID, weren’t we?”
28:33 - Coming to the outdoors relatively late, discovering the mountains as an adult. A former life as a London-based cinema projectionist, youth music worker, sound engineer, and university lecturer… seeing “literally thousands of films at the National Film Theatre”
33:23 - Becoming a community music leader, setting up the Soundmix charity (http://www.soundmix.org.uk/who-we-are/), working with the refugee council and “unaccompanied minors”, “what can a scruffy musician do?”
35:23 - An “early mid-life crisis” expressed by walking across the Pyrenees in a two-month charity trip, starting to work with the John Muir Trust
38:10 - A passion for cinema, music and soundtracks, performing background music for TV programmes, an interest in analogue machinery
40:13 - Creating electronic music and dub via Projector Records: “to call it a record label would suggest that it actually functioned… it was basically a group of friends that lived in a house in the mid-90s”
42:51 - Some heartfelt words about a love of the outdoors and life in Kingussie, “when you live here you realise that they’re called the grey hills and the red hills for a reason… it’s a special place”
49:39 - “The bit that’s important to me is allowing other people to speak… really I’m the least interesting bit of the equation”.
53:03 - Enriching your life through experiences in the “heavens”. How can we bring those transformative experiences back down to our everyday lives.
54:23 - Greatest mountain memory… a long winter mountaineering weekend in the Ben Alder range, the Lancet Edge, eerie sounds, unsettling footsteps, a golden eagle.
59:23 - All the time, money, freedom… what would you do? A simple answer… and a more complicated one: fixing the gap between recreational hill people, and those that live and work on the land, conservation and shooting estates (“we have big environmental decisions to make as a society… and we’re not able to have those conversations”)
Mountain Air
“Mountaineering, climbing - whatever name you want to give it - is probably the most honest thing there is”
Sometimes… there’s room for one more episode. Even though Mountain Air is currently on a summer break between the end of series 3 and the eventual arrival of series 4, a timely interview opportunity came along that proved impossible to turn down.
The recently released book “Walking Out of the Dark: How I Learned to Love Life Again” comes from first-time author Kelvyn James. A searingly honest piece of writing, it recounts profound tragedies and long-endured traumas but ultimately describes “a life-affirming journey through mountains, memory and meaning”.
In this conversation, Kelvyn describes the origin of the book, and discusses why healing, mental health and the outdoors are so profoundly connected.
* Learn more about Kelvyn here: https://mountainservices.co.uk/
If you’d like to buy a copy of the book - profits from which go directly to the charity Wellness Walks - you can do so via the Wellness Walks website or on Amazon via the links below.
* https://wellnesswalks.org.uk/product/walking-out-of-the-dark-signed-hardback/
* https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-out-Dark-learned-again/dp/1068519436
Listen, enjoy, tell your friends.
[episode recorded on 16/06/25]
00:00 - Introduction
02:17 - Welcome from the most confused place in Britain
04:08 - A litany of outdoor achievements (“an insight into high-functioning ADHD”)
06:50 - An overview of Walking out of the Dark; “I didn’t know I was writing a book for a long time, I thought I was writing a journal”
09:00 - “Even from the darkest of things, people can find a way”; describing the “black hole” at the centre of the book
14:48 - Release and healing in the outdoors; a place to be open with others; the psychology of the outdoor experience
16:15 - “Mountaineering, climbing… whatever name you want to give it, is probably the most honest thing there is”
18:10 - “Climbing was the first thing where I felt me, where I first felt in charge... and when what happened happened, it was climbing I went back to”
19:20 - “I didn’t expect people to react well, and pretty much they all universally did... it gave me a sense of worth”; a personal history of a love of climbing
24:20 - Learning to lead in the outdoors: “I remember asking my instructor what his real job was”; thoughts on the tough financial reality for outdoor professionals
28:53 - All about Wellness Walks; walking from home during the COVID pandemic; putting an advert on social media and waking up to dozens of requests; the honesty that comes from walking and talking without the need for eye contact
35:00 - “I didn’t see the joy in the world for a long time, but the miracle is that joy doesn’t disappear”
38:35 - Greatest Mountain Memory: a peerless viewpoint just outside of the Chamonix valley
42:20 - All the time, money, freedom… where do you go and what would you do? Climbing Pinnacle Ridge on the Helvellyn range.
