Professional Rock Climber, Amateur Photographer, Videographer, Writer, Guide, Speaker, Runner, Nature Worshiper, Mountain Addict, Lydia Love Slave, Aspiring Carpenter, Soccer Enthusiast, Surfer Wannabe
Friday, May 17th, 2013
If you’re under 25 and keen to climb, join my friends Will Stanhope and Jen Olsen this July over a 5 day vertical extravaganza.
Let them help you fall in love with the Rocky Mountians.
My
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Monday, May 13th, 2013
I am getting very excited about my trip to Yosemite. Valley memories are priceless.
Here’s a classic shot I found on Google. Just good friends going scrambling in good weather. Simple as that. And since cams were obviously not invented yet (just look at all those hexes), they were probably scared most of the time, now THAT’S rock climbing. Ha ha. 7 more days. Stoke factor HUGE!
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Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
I just wanted to give a shout out to the Mountaineers Club of Ohio State University, thanks so much for having me back, I had a total BLAST! Great energy. You kids sure know how to party:)
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Sunday, April 7th, 2013
An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”
The tourist then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”
The Mexican said, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
The tourist then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”
The tourist scoffed, ” I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
The tourist replied, “15 to 20 years.”
“But what then?” asked the Mexican.
The tourist laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions?…Then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
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Thursday, February 28th, 2013
I’m at the airport right now for an Ontario slide show tour and I’m feeling the need for quality crack. So, since spring is coming and I have 10 minutes, I thought I’d compose a new blog post. IT’S ALMOST MARCH AND IT’S TIME TO MAKE YOURSELF INTO A CRACK MACHINE!
Last summer while living in Squamish, I built a portable crack machine (photo below, not above). I needed it to be something I could take with me to the crag (as it was a crack climbing workshop after all) but could still demonstrate the full range of crack sizes. It was a very simple design, relatively lightweight, took me 10 minutes to build, and it got the job done. It now lives in my friend Jamie Selda’s garage.
Summer is coming again and it’s time to build yours. Like everything, there are MANY ways of building crack machines, and for a variety of different reasons. It all comes down to what you want. Some people want to learn how to crack climb, some want to improve, and some want to train for the prize project at their local crag. Some have portability issues, size restraints, angle and depth preferences, etc…so think about your needs, take notes from others and draw up some plans and bob’s your uncle.
Building a crack machine is a lot cheaper than you think, and often, depending on your lifestyle, cheaper than spending a month in Indian Creek. But unfortunately, not nearly as much fun:) Below are just a few different ideas floating around on the wide world of web. Some great pictures, ideas and inspiration. I love this stuff, so I’m sharing other peoples ideas and vision and hard work. So, Thanks and enjoy.
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Thursday, February 14th, 2013
Hey All - I just updated my V-Board page for anyone interested in finger training. I have about 20 left for sale, click on the image below for more details. Cheers.
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Tuesday, January 15th, 2013
If you’re bored, here’s a few words I wrote about my last year living in a van with my wife, and what we learned, click on the image to read the full story.
And again, some words and text about our drive up the Northern California Coast to explore lost rocks, click on the image to see more.
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Sunday, January 13th, 2013
If Banff and Canmore are too busy and hectic for you, try Mosquito Creek. It’s got no cell service, no indoor plumbing and no electricity, but what it lacks in luxuries, it makes up for in mountains and simplicity. It’s really not a terrible place to go outside when it’s minus 25 and if you work for 3 hours a day, you can stay for free, talk to Roger the manager:)
Mosquito Creek is a rustic Hostel located only 25 minutes North of Lake Louise, Alberta. It grants you instant access to some of the Rockies most sought after ski touring. Here’s just a few pictures of our time spent up there. Sadly, we only stayed for two days, but it felt like a week. ABSOLUTELY going back. I have never liked winter so much.
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Friday, January 4th, 2013
Happy Belated Holidays.
Lets all raise a glass of the good stuff to longer days and shorter nights coming fourth.
So, I just spent 10 days with my family, from Kelowna, BC to Toronto, Ontario. Great times. My nieces and nephews are at that oh so special age where they actually think I’m cool and fun to be with. I love it. I wouldn’t trade a minute for anything in the world. But then I get back to Canmore and realize I haven’t climbed in over 2 weeks. Crazy. So I get on the ol’ V-board again, and my fingers hurt and tire quickly, my arms ache a bit and (like a sissy) I let go before falling off.
I was feeling strong and confident before I left. So what gives?
Then, I open my online banking account to pay this months rent, and realize how much I actually spent over the Holidays, and let me say, it’s looking pretty bleak – from coffee shops and plane tickets to Christmas presents and ski passes. Where did it all go, and more importantly, how did it go so quickly?
It occurred to me at that moment, how much harder it is to build something than it is to maintain it.
For example, I’ve been saving up for Christmas for a while now, nearly 3 months, and I spent the money in 2 weeks. Similarly, I spent two months gym climbing and hangboarding again, doing more core workouts and even hitting the weights, you know, trying to be more like Sean McColl the plastic prince, and less like Sonnie Trotter the moss scrubber. It’s been hard work getting my contact strength and overall fitness to a pretty acceptable level again after a summer of guiding, low angle granite tech/crack climbing and new route development.
So, why are the things like fitness, power and money, so hard to build and so easy to destroy? I suppose that’s just another life lesson I can add to my list. It takes months or years to build a house and only one day to tear it down.
But they say the best way to get in shape is to stay in shape. So, after two weeks of some R and R, it’s time to get back on the wagon and whip myself into shape. It’s a new year after all, a fresh start to an old routine, train in the winter so we can crush in the summer. May the days ahead be painful, exciting and inspiring. On that note: Here’s an awesome video of Jan Hojer climbing “Off the Wagon”, V-hard.
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