I grew up in Slough, Berkshire, in a bungalow beside a farm. My father was a scout leader, and I was always outside, building dams and dens, sleeping out and hiding in trees. In my teens, family holidays were two weeks in Wales. At home, nature was my playground.

When I was 17, a school friend took me to a climbing wall where he was a regular. I loved the physicality of it and trying to work out where to put my hands and feet next. We would go there twice a week. In sixth form, we headed to the south coast in Dorset for my first real climbing outing. The waves were crashing and it felt scary and exhilarating. I thought it was magical.

We would go climbing there or in the Peak District whenever we could. After A-levels, we caught a bus to Chamonix, in the Alps, for five weeks of camping; we climbed Mont Blanc and made stupid mistakes like starting too late in the day. It was a huge learning curve, but it was fabulous.

I did a geology degree at the University of Leeds and joined the climbing club.…