Paul Pritchard
Acting
Biography
Paul Pritchard (born 1967) is a rock climber and mountaineer and was one of the foremost British climbers of the 1980s and 1990s. He was born in Bolton, England and started climbing when he was 16 years old. He is notable for having climbed difficult routes across the United Kingdom and around the world. In 1998, he sustained a traumatic brain injury while attempting to climb the Totem Pole, which left him hemiplegic. Since the accident he has continued to engage in various forms of outdoor recreation, has published multiple books about his recovery, and is now a disability educator specialising in diversity and inclusion.
Known For
A cocktail of diverse climbing, from hard trad onsights and first ascents, to intense limestone sport, slate, bouldering and deep water soloing. Historic routes like Jerry Moffatt's Liquid Ambar and Johnny's The Quarryman as well as the new generation of test pieces. Line up of climbers includes Pete Robins, Tim Emmett, James McHaffie, Johnny Dawes, Pete Whtitaker, Nick bullock and Paul Pritchard.
Welsh Connections
Paul Pritchard, David Limb, Jamie Andrew & Pete Steane - four disabled climbers tackle Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.
Kilimanjaro: Going For Broke
Follow Ben Moon as he ticks some of the Peak's most classic boulder problems, including Ben's Extension (f8A), Pinch 2 (f8A+), and Pump Up The Stamina (f8B+). Filmed and directed by Ben Pritchard with appearances from Jerry Moffat, One Summer has become a fly on the wall account of hard bouldering in the early 1990s.
One Summer: Bouldering in the Peak
In October 2014, Steve Wakeford, a sports broadcast editor, fell 70 metres whilst climbing a mountain known as Les Petites Jorasses in the French Alps. It was a fall that required him to be airlifted out of the mountains suffering from a number of serious injuries and resulted in him being temporarily left in a wheelchair - he is lucky to be alive. At the start of a long journey of rehabilitation, he began to ask himself some serious questions - 'Regardless of injury or trauma, why are we drawn to the mountains in the first place? Is risk an essential part of what we do? Perhaps most importantly, why is it that I am planning to climb the same route from which I fell?'
Magnetic Mountains
Four adventurers with disability test their limits as they set out on an expedition through some of Australia's harshest terrain.
Larapinta: End to End
British climber – now resident of Tasmania – Paul Pritchard, was one of the leading climbers and mountaineers of the 1980s and 1990s, renowned for his hard and extremely bold first ascents. In 1998 Paul was abseiling in to climb the Totem Pole in Tasmania when he dislodged a rock with his rope that hit him on the head, leaving him with a severe head injury that he was lucky to survive. The aftermath of the accident left him with hemiplegia, which means he has little feeling or movement in the right side of this body. Despite this disability, Paul’s continued to live a life filled with adventure. Eighteen years later Paul returns to the Totem Pole to find out if he has recovered enough to finish the climb.