To kick off our new ongoing feature – Days Off. We joined with friends of Hip Store Leeds Aimee and Jordan on their day off climbing at Brimham Rocks, Yorkshire in some of the new SS20 Patagonia gear. One of the standout pieces in the collection making a welcome return is the reworked and further developed 3L Torrentshell Jacket. Featuring new 3-layer H2No® Performance Standard tech for added waterproofness and breathability all made using Fair Trade Certified™ sewn recycled nylon.

Hi Jordan and Aimee, thanks for your time, tell us a little bit more about yourselves?

Thanks for having us come along, Jordan is a climbing instructor and route setter at a local climbing gym and Aimee is a Graphic Design student and part time stockroom assistant for Hip.

How did you first get into climbing?

 Jordan: I got in to climbing through mountaineering in the Lake District and Scotland and this naturally progressed in to going rock climbing; now I do a bit of everything!

Aimee: Through Jordan and mutual friends I found myself heading down to a local climbing gym every so often and eventually this ended up with us going outside and travelling to new countries to do it.

We headed to Brimham Rocks, how was it to climb and what makes a good spot in your eyes?

Brimham is certainly a unique place with some cool looking rock formations. The climbing was good considering the not so great conditions and would certainly be much better on a dryer day. Nonetheless we found some cool problems to try. I think as long as you’ve found a really interesting boulder that you’re having fun on, thats what makes it a good spot!

Where else in Leeds is there places to go climb? What’s the climbing scene like?

One of the best places in Leeds would be Caley crag which is super close, along with Almscliffe and Ilkley. We tend to do a lot of sport climbing which is a bit further out towards the Yorkshire Dales but well worth the extra miles! There’s a great scene both indoors and outdoors with a bunch of friendly climbing gyms and an abundance of outdoor boulders, you eventually end up seeing familiar faces wherever you go making it a really positive and friendly environment.

As climbers, how does Patagonia influence your community, with their values on the environment and a culture of outdoor living?

As climbers with a love for the outdoors it’s really important sticking to brands that coincide with your morals. Personally for us, this has meant buying predominantly from Patagonia to support their incredible commitment and to the environment and sustainability in the fashion industry.

What else do you like to do in your down time?

We’re both big food lovers so we’ll probably be found eating a huge portion of food in front of the TV if we aren’t out climbing!

What aspects of climbing do you think others could benefit from most?

Climbing really helps with your mental health and wellbeing as with any form of exercise! As well as that it introduces a sense of adventure in to your life and allows you to travel to some of the most incredible places that you most likely would never go if you didn’t climb.

For those wanting to get into climbing, would you have any tips on how to start out?

The best way to start out would be to visit a local bouldering wall such as The Climbing Lab or City Bloc and get an introductory session or visit with a friend that’s climbed before!

Keep an eye out for more Days Off features in the future. Shop new Patagonia SS20 arrivals and the 3L Torrentshell Jacket online now.