First and foremost I am a trad climber, or perhaps an adventure climber. I love the challenge of the unknown in climbing and I think for me, that trad climbing satisfies this desire. I’ve spent most of my climber career establishing new routes either in the UK or abroad. Somewhere along the road, I fell into the niche of crack climbing and this is probably where I have had my greatest successes. I’m not sure that it’s because I’m any better than anyone else at this, but more that no one else enjoys the pain!
Secondarily, I am a business tinkerer/adviser with a love of fast growing start ups and brand creation. Happy to do what I can at (in no particular order) Climber’s Crag, Lattice Training, The Climbing Station, Dark Ventures, Crimpd, Reyt and Wideboyz.
(c) Tristan Hobson
Tom Randall Climbing 
man i watch the trailer for your guys movie everyday, i don’t have the movie but it motivates me to climb everyday. it would be a great favor to talk to y’all!!
Hey, great to hear you’re psyched for the offwidths! Get shuffling and enjoy the pain 🙂
Dear Tom,
I have seen the Wideboyz movie and it is absolutely awesome and extremely inspiring:-)
The movie made me wonder a little bit. I live near Adršpach (http://www.adrspach.com/) , a beautiful old school climbing area. There are thousands of sandstone towers here and in the areas nearby and the climbing here is especially known for cracks and of course OFFWIDTHS! Lots of the routes here have been established by hardcore guys in the 6Os and 70s. The climbing is beautiful but also very bold.
So, I was thinking – if you and Pete are looking for another wide adventure, you could consider coming here. I can guarantee tons of beautiful climbing for you. Maybe you won´t find another 5.14 crack around, but you will definitely enjoy the experience.
If you are interested, you might wanna check out some nice amateur photos made by the local guys http://www.piskari.cz/top-fotky.php . You can also see a 15 minute video about the area in the movie Sharp End. In this movie, climbing here has been depicted as very dangerous – it sometimes is, but you definitely can handle it:-)
I can give you more information if you write me at mmachac@mail.muni.cz
Have fun and enjoy Christmas. Even if you don´t come here, you will still be an inspiration for my offwidth climbing.
Martin Macháč
Hi Tom,
I spoke to you briefly at the Kendal Film Festival, regarding my dissertation. I was hoping that you are not too busy during the grit season to be able to spare an hour for an interview and a few questionnaires?
I also spoke to Pete and he informally agreed, if you could ask him as well I would be very appreciative.
If you are still interested in participating in the study just reply to this email.
Many Thanks
Joe McEvoy
Hi Tom,
I’m really impressed with your trip to the states and your accomplishments. I was wondering if you would not mind sharing how you constructed the artificial offwidth. Do you have a link to it?
Hi Jay, I don’t have a link, but if you contact Climbing Magazine in the USA they did an article with me about building a crack machine and that might be useful?
Awesome, Thanks Tom!
-Jay
Hey Tom,
In the process of building a crack machine. Care to share the width of the offwidth, century crack roof crack in your basement?
Hi Peter, I’m pretty sure that it is 13cm wide. Good luck with your crack climbing!!
Hi Tom,
I built a kind of a crack machine for 3 normal sizes (2-4 inch) about 20° overhang (the wood is 4x30cm). I have machined the wood surface in advance (it was not smooth at all) and now I find the crack really slippery (the wood flex is minimal). It is no big problem for my hand jams but my foot jams just don’t hold.
Did you apply any special layer to increase the friction and if yes how exactly did you do that? I tried lacque and fine glass powder but it went off after some use (just a few climbing meters).
Thanks for the reply.
PS: unfortunatelly I read your article just now.
Yes, try and use a type of paint called “Coovar” – just google it! It’s quite expensive, but good friction. Or you can use the paint for the floor of a garage just as well.
hey tom!
sorry to write you this way, but it’s the only contact i have found!
seen your movie at the vanka regule film festival brač, croatia. it soooo inspiring! think it’s a great thing you’ve done! and congratulations on the ascend! movie is also a great piece of work. few months later i’ve seen the trailer where pete talks about conquering the offwidth world, awsome! downloaded the movie, invited some of my friends to see it, they also liked it (but i think i ‘ve enjoyed it much much more!)
i’m participating in the organization of a climbing festival in paklenica here in croatia on a labour day where some small film festival is also held where the amateur films are projected. i was thinking to share the joy and make little change with showing your movie. how do you feel about that? would it be ok with you?
festival started as a big wall speed climbing competition 15 years ago (6c+, 180m route which is climbed for 20:43 min for a men team) and is open to everyone. tim emmet, mike weeks, stefan glowacz, dani andrada are just some of the names who competed here. if have no other plans, maybe you could also visit the event? it’s not an offwidth thing, but maybe you would like it!
ok, here’s the link: http://www.paklenica.hr/Paklenica_en/index_en.html
thank for your answer!
vedran vračar
http://www.vractehnike.hr
Hi Vedran, do you have an email I can contact you on?
Rgds
Tom
hey tom Im still waiting to hear from you about coming to sedona az usa. i have a few things you may be interested in. matt. swartzfab@yahoo.com
Hello Tom,
We are French belay glasses manufacturer and we would like to invite you to test our new product: Y&Y belay glasses V1.1
If you are interested in this, we will provide a pair for free. If you like it, please give me some feedback
We are looking forward to your reply
Cheers
Hello Tom, We met briefly at the Outdoor Show in London in February. We talked about a possibility for you to come and climb in Sintra Portugal where we have excellent trad and sports climbing. If you are still interested in this, let me know and we can arrange a trip for you to climb here! Virpi Oliveira, Active Lisbon Coast
Hi Tom! i´m a big fan of the wide boys :-).
you guys are great.
friends of mine are visiting the US and they wanna visit the century crack.
but it´s difficult to find any description how to find the way to the crack.
could you post or email me some hints where to find it?
rgds
Norbert
Hi Tom – big fan of the Wide Boyz blog! Is there a way I can get in touch to discuss a climbing project I am researching? Can you email me? All the best, E
Hi Tom,
saw somewhere you are planning a climbing trip to Norway I live in Sogndal and there might be some climbing round here that you would enjoy. Our local cliff is Kvam with some pictures of routes in amoungst the links below. If you plan on passing by and need a place to stay or just want more information just send an email.
regards
Simon
http://www.sogndalklatreklubb.no/04042013/index.php/bilder/item/59-petite-voyage
http://madskillzmedia.com/
Thanks Simon :-). Not quite sure which parts we are visiting yet!