7 x British Champion, Arco Rockmaster, Blokfest Organiser and route setter.
Thank you to Gaz for letting us interview him at Blokfest 2018 Round 1 at Harrowall.
Who you are and what do you do?
My name is Gaz Parry and I’m a climber and a route setter and I also run Blokfest.
What was your first climbing experience?
I started climbing when I was 12 years old. I started climbing outside on gritstone in Lancashire.
How did you know that climbing was your thing?
At that time I didn’t really know that it was my thing, but when I was 16 I saw a competition where Jerry Moffatt won the World Cup in Leeds in 1989. That was when I decided it was my thing.
Where is your favourite outdoor climb?
It’s really hard for me to say where my favourite outdoor place is because I’ve climbed in so many places. A lot of them are really, really good, but my favourite recently was Norway. I went to a big cave called Flatanger in Norway, which is huge and very, very, very good.
What has been your proudest climbing moment?
Winning the Arco Rockmaster event in 2007.
What are your ambitions?
I only really have one ambition now and that’s to keep climbing.
Lead, Speed or Boulder and Why?
I’ll do them in order. Speed is in last place. I enjoy speed climbing because it’s fun but it’s quite repetitive. Bouldering; I used to do a lot of bouldering, I used to compete as a boulderer but now I’m a little bit too old for how high the level is and the holds are too small for my old fingers. So I’m really into route climbing nowadays. I prefer really, really long routes, like 50m. Big things.
What are your most liked and hated healthy foods?
Most liked healthy food. Bananas. Most hated , I don’t know. I don’t think I really have a hated healthy food. I think when you have them altogether, when you have lots of healthy food together then they taste nice. But maybe if you have cucumber on it’s own, it’s a pretty boring.
If not climbing, what sport would you be doing?
I used to play rugby at school. I played rugby until I was 19 actually, so after I left school I played rugby as well. So maybe I’d still be playing that but I’m not big enough for rugby really.
Give us an inspiring quote (either yours or someone else’s).
I’ll give you two. My quote, my phrase is “Don’t let go”. Because if you don’t let go then you can’t fall off. Then a quote I was brought up with from when I was very young, is from Ron Fawcett and it is “Come on arms, do your stuff”.
Click the links for more information about Gaz or Blokfest.
Interviewed by Olivia (10) and Rose (9)
