Jules is one of Britain's most accomplished free solo climbers and over many years has gained an awesome reputation for his achievements in what is a totally unforgiving sphere of activity. His book, Tears of the Dawn, was awarded the 2014 Boardman Tasker prize. We interviewed him to find out what makes him tick.
The prize of £3,000 commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker and is given to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.
Niall Grimes talks to Jules about his climbing life:
Sometimes even the most under-the-radar characters can cause a blip on our screens. That happened in 2013 when a video appeared of a little-known climber falling off Hold Fast, Hold True, an E9/10 in Glen Nevis, causing jaws to drop around webland.
All alone, and padless, he plummets from a terrible height, drops catlike to the ground then casually dusts himself off.
Yet to anyone who has known Jules Lines over the years, the psyche and control shown here will be no surprise. For many years now he has been at the cutting edge, mastering the extreme art of soloing, whether it be gritstone slabs, huge sweeps of Cairngorm granite or pushing the boat out on deep-water solos.
Despite always staying away from the spotlight, Lines has pulled all his experiences together in a new memoir – Tears of the Dawn – encompassing early childhood and family life, a hill walking obsession that saw him complete the Munros by 18, climbing and everything else beyond.
Jules takes up the story:
When I fell off Hold Fast, I was so embarrassed I couldn’t show anyone . I’d spent months in the area preparing mentally and physically for the solo and when I fell off, even though I survived, I felt like I’d been really stupid. It was like falling into the pool in the Olympic swimming final.
I was given a copy of Munro’s Tables for my 14th birthday and that became my mission. At weekends, I’d sneak off from boarding school with a bivi bag, sometimes by myself, and walk for 50 miles.
I grew up without a mother which I think has had a big effect on me. My dad worked away all the time, so I barely knew him. I was brought up by a nanny then sent away to boarding school. I actually think I’m a disappointment to my father.
There is a part of me that’s always seeking an adrenalin rush. When I was offshore some of the guys were betting online and asked if I’d ever done it. I said no, and instantly slapped £5,000 on five tennis matches chosen at random and then disappeared off to do my shift.
I’m a wanderer. When I bought my house, at night I’d still drive my van down the road and sleep in that. After three years, I noticed that I was still on the same four-pack of toilet rolls I’d bought when I first moved in.
Proper soloists are some of the most controlled climbers you can get; it’s a pure case of risk assessment. It’s a neck-and-neck battle between control and madness and if they both increase together it keeps you safe. But what can happen is that madness can get ahead of the control, and that’s when things go wrong. You’ve got to judge it.
I have lots of projects all over Scotland, but it’s hard to find people to do them with. I could climb more with Dave MacLeod but he’s so strong he’d probably just do them all!
I’m really hoping to give up soloing very soon. Lately I’ve found myself walking along gritstone edges, looking at climbs I would have thrown myself at in the past but thinking, “No, I don’t need to do that”. It’s probably age. It gives me hope.
I’ve got in to free diving lately , holding your breath and seeing how deep under the sea you can go on one breath. I’m keen to see how far I can take that.
Climbing and walking have kept me good. I owe them a lot. I suppose they’ve been like a drug or a medicine to the problems I’ve had, but they have seen me right.
If I was ever going to try The Indian Face I would have tried it by now. I did think about it in the past, but when I saw it, it didn’t appeal to me aesthetically, which is probably just as well. I mean, I’m 44 now, and that’s not something somebody my age should be doing.
I was so nervous when I first took delivery of my books. I decided that if I wasn’t happy with it, I was going to burn the lot of them.
My best experiences now are just being in the mountains. Wandering into the Cairngorms for two hours to a crag, looking for new lines, abbing down projects and soloing a few big routes. These things really focus me on the place I’m in. Maybe that’s their value.
Interview by Niall Grimes
WATCH: Jules' terrifying soloing fall on BMC TV:
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