Sometimes the most unexpected opportunities come from simply being helpful. That’s how I ended up plastered with Solo logos, hanging off a cliff face for one of Australia’s most iconic soft drink brands.

It all started with a phone call from TBWA, the advertising agency behind Solo’s campaigns. They were planning something special for Solo’s 50th anniversary in 2023 and needed help with location scouting. They had a specific brief: somewhere near Melbourne with a spectacular rock face outlook that would look dramatic on camera.

Having spent years exploring Victoria’s climbing areas through Melbourne Climbing School, I knew exactly what they needed. I suggested Omega Block at Camel’s Hump – a stunning location with the kind of dramatic rock formations that would make any director’s heart sing. The views are spectacular, the rock is solid and it’s close enough to Melbourne to make filming logistics manageable.

Originally, TBWA planned to use an actor and “fake” the climbing scenes. You know – the usual Hollywood magic with green screens and creative camera angles. But when I offered to handle the real climbing, something shifted in their approach.

I was asked to put forward a few climbers I know of with the right kind of “look”. I chose a few friends I knew and forwarded their details. They um’d and ah’d about it, then I got a call from the director, in the middle of a day of teaching, asking me if I could audition by sending in a video within the hour.

Me??!

Now I should mention that my acting experience is non-existent, unless you count the high-school plays I was involved in (I was terrible). But climbing? That I could do. And apparently, authenticity is exactly what they were looking for.

The audition was crazy. I was asked to go for a run to get my heart rate up, then get someone to film me climbing up a short cliff, open a water bottle or something and chug it like my life depended on it. I explained this to the clients who I was with at the time, we all laughed and they kindly agreed to film me.

My first attempt was abysmal. I sipped that water like I was an actual adult who could show some kind of restraint. The director called me right back and told me to “do it again, but go all out like you have never seen water before. Just pour it all over you!”

“do it again, but go all out like you have never seen water before. Just pour it all over you!”

So I tried again. Here’s a screen-grab of me with water bottle in hand, attempting to make it look more cool. Can you tell the difference? I’m not so sure. But it seemed to have convinced the decision makers, because the next thing I knew, I had the part!

The day of the shoot was surreal. There must have been 50 crew members milling around, and remember, we were in charge of the camera rigging too. With no drone permit, we instead offered to set up a tyrolean traverse line for the $100k camera rigs, in a way that “faked” a drone shot.

So to convince the crew we could *probably* keep their camera safe, Jo demonstrated how much trust we had in the line first!

With the camera safely rigged on the line, Jo Lee belaying me for a frikkin hour or more (!) and either Hamid or one of the crew members pulling the camera back and forth from either end, the camera rolled along the line, creating that nicely panning drone-like shot you see in the final video.

As for me? Well I hung onto the crux of that climb (Boogie ‘Til You Puke, 22) for over an hour, climbing up it, down it, clipping and unclipping the last couple of bolts while the camera crew went oooh and aaaah and asked me to do it again. Luckily, stamina on climbs is one of my biggest climbing strengths, so I didn’t mind one bit.

I tried lots of new things, like topping out, making a ridiculous hulk pose and roaring at the top of my lungs (did you hear me? let me know if you were out there that day!). I also managed to secure a couple of small sponsorship deals – Scarpa sent me a brand new pair of Dragos, and Spelean sent me a new Petzl Sirocco helmet too. Sweet as!

Somehow it all worked out perfectly, they got the shots they wanted and I found myself, drenched in solo around sunset, saying goodbye to the crew, Hamid and Jo, and driving home with a stupid grin on my face, wondering how on earth I’d managed to become the face (and body) of Solo’s 50th anniversary campaign.

Ready to see the video? Check it out here and watch me very nearly hold it together while drinking my 10th or 11th can of Solo: