It’s been five days already, but I wanted to give mad props to my local hero, Will Stanhope, from North Van, BC.  Willy recently made the second gear ascent of one of the worlds greatest single pitch free climbs.  The incredible East Face of The Monkey Face, 5.13d (R), Smith Rock, Oregon.  This is an old photo of me just above the 5.12+ section and heading into the upper portion of the climb.  Ben Moon Foto.

Alan Watts climbed this 140 foot pitch back in 1980 I think, equipping it with pins, nuts and a half dozen bolts, it was one of the most difficult free climbs on the planet, a futuristic feat.  As a pinkpoint with gear pre-placed the climb is outstanding, and worth every single inch, like solid GOLD.  But as a gear climb, I think it’s even better.  Lynn Hill and a few other stone charmers made early repeat ascents and lead to my interest in the climb.  I have always enjoyed climbing media, not because of the hype, or spray, or grade spewing dribble, but because I enjoy the exposure to new classic lines I never knew existed.  Without photography or essays, I’d never have known about the Monkey’s amazing position and immaculate quality.  I may have never had the experience of climbing on it and my life would be forever missing that little piece to the puzzle.  So thanks to all of you around the world who continue to tell stories, take pictures, shoot video, and share your work. I can’t name names, cause it would take forever, but you know who you are and it’s appreciated, if at least just by me. ha ha ha.  Keep up the good work.

Here’s a few snippets from Will’s Blog.

“For the past week or so I have been trying the East Face of Monkey Face in Smith Rock Oregon. My good buddy Charlie Long has accompanied me on this adventure, patiently hiking up to Monkey to belay me many times. Having a psyched partner is critical.”

“At first, the route felt impossible. Powerful, painful, and hopelessly long.”

“I have been trying to wrap my head around leading the Monkey.  Now that I’ve deemed myself fit enough for an attempt, all that remains is the mental prep. If I pitch at the top, I could go for a huge fall. It’s safe. But punching it hard, facing a 50 footer is always a bit disconcerting.”

“I have now one-falled the East Face twice. Every time I go up there I lose a tonne of skin and blood. This route is, without a doubt, the most taxing line I have ever tried. It is a long, epic battle with a cruxy huge runout at the very top. Really, really draining.”

“In 2004 Sonnie Trotter climbed the East Face placing all the gear on lead. That was the spring I graduated from high school and Ben Moon’s shots absolutely blew me away… They still stand as some of the coolest photos I have ever seen. Trotter looks like he’s climbing 1000 feet off the deck given the airy nature of the Monkey at the laser cut arete to his right. At the time I could only climb 13a sport and mid 5.12 trad, so it was out of the question to try the line. But I vowed to one day get strong enough to send it.”

Congrats to the young lad, and read the rest at Big Willy’s Blog, the kid is not only a talented rock climber, but he’s got a nice way with words too.

Yesterday, I managed a couple of short but satisfying hours at the cliff.  After sensational fingerlocks and 5.12 warm ups, I got on what I’ve dubbed the ‘mini proj’, a brilliant 14 move direct start into an area classic. You gotta see this thing, it’s a beautiful, burly, overhanging arete.  I was so excited.  I got on, climbed into position and squeezed like Scrooge, but fell off.  I tried again, fell.  Again, nothing. I grinned through my teeth, but backed it up with a smile.  This thing was going to be VERY hard.

For me, this is what I LOVE,  knowing I can do a move, but haven’t done it yet.  Some people hate falling on hard moves, they say “what the hell is the point if you’re just going to go up there and fall off at the same spot every time?”  But I think climbing above (and beyond) my limit is where things gets really interesting.  If I climb below it, I get bored, if you know can do something, wheres the challenge?  Where’s the progression?

In the past, climbers would seek out the path of least resistance just to get to the top, but these days, I think many climbers are looking for the path of MOST resistance.  I’m looking for the line I think I can barely do, but only with a severe amount of hard work, and I don’t mean like glue up jobs, I mean hard sequencial effort.   In fact, I think that’s how Sharma gets better every year, he finds something above his current limit and tries it hundreds of times, effectively gaining power, endurance and stamina every day, every week, every year until on-sighting 5.14a is just not that big of a deal.  He’s fitter than ever.

So in the end (by mistake) I grabbed a different part of the rock and realized the hold has a thumb catch, although nearly impossible to see without looking for it, the tiny bump made all the difference.  From “maybe next season” to “maybe next week”.  One minute I was thrutching and hucking, and the next minute I did the move twice completely static.  A sweet feeling yes, the line is outstanding, three stars, 5.13d runout, maybe r/x if you’re gear placement sucks.  But it’s not as hard as I was hoping for it to be.  I guess that’s the break you accept when discovering natural first ascents.  The best part is, the new move is much better, so not only is the climb easier, but more enjoyable too.   That’s rad, every crag needs a few moderates I guess,  joke,  I just hope to link this climb soon, I still haven’t climbed into the move yet,  so maybe it will put up a good fight afterall.  We shall see!

On a side note, summer is HERE and I ordered some new Patagonia Clothes for the big walls and patios.  Check out my new FAVORITE t-shirt.  How can you not love this?   Seriously,  I mean C’mon!

A Vice is a habit that is considered immoral.  But who decides?   Immoral means: “Not in conformity with accepted principles of right and wrong behavior”.  Bullocks.  I know we ALL have a vice, (yes even you oh virtuous one)  I have about three dozen myself and just to name two off the top of my head, climbing rocks and drinking coffee.  When I side stepped College and “the golden brick road” to wear thriftstore clothing and drive my truck around California my peers thought I was insane, a drifter, a loser maybe, mentally ill certainly, a vagabond and surely it would lead to murky waters and transgressional behavior.  But I had direction, I knew what I wanted and that is more than I can say for most of them.  So who decides?

In the morning, I smell the roasting aroma of the coffee bean long before my feet ever hit the floor.  I don’t need it, I want it, or is it the other way around?  ha ha ha.  But I don’t have to drink it, I don’t get headaches, I don’t get panic attacks and I don’t start shaking like a meth head.  The reason I drink coffee today is because of absurdly irritating allergies.  I don’t know why they are so bad this year, but I wake up feeling as though I’m under water, can’t breathe, can’t speak, can’t think.  It often takes a couple of hours of moving around with conscious inhaling and exhaling to release the pressure in my sinuses.  But there’s light on the horizon.

Would you believe that coffee is a natural Antihistamine?

Coffee can seriously help relieve allergies!  When you have an allergic reaction, you take an antihistamine. Antihistamines stop your body from falsely reacting to whatever is causing the reaction.  Coffee is a natural antihistamine that can bring relief to itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, and other reactions. The coffee doesn’t even have to be caffeinated–it can be decaf and still have the same effect.  But just be careful of drinking too much, as coffee has been known to lead to some mild health issues if taken in access, like high cholesterol.  So the question remains, what is or isn’t immoral?  I have mine and you have yours I guess, climbing rocks, skipping school and drinking coffee make me feel good, happy, healthy, alive, friendly, creative, motivated, productive and wholesome.  So is ones man’s vice is another mans virtue?  I dunno, it’s different for everyone I guess.

SQUAMISH  -   Okay so my latest scouting missions have proven to be quite an eye opener.  Some hikes take hours and I find absolutely nothing but scratches bruises and old dirty tuna cans and plastic bottles (left behind by completely inconsiderate climbers – SICK).  Other hikes take 5 min and I find diamonds in the rough.  I remember one time a friend asking me that if I climbed Cobra Crack if I would be bored with Squamish?  It was an honest question, and I didn’t have an answer, I wasn’t able to see that far ahead at the time.  But now, after getting more and more familiar with the different crags, both the popular and obscure I realize that with a bit of drive and imagination, there is more rock here than I or anyone can climb in two lifetimes.  There is always something higher, harder and more beautiful just around the corner.

I found another possible 5.13d/14- R route just the other day.  I was able to do all the moves but one, but I was very close.  The line is a steep overhanging arete and holds 14 hard moves to an easier 5.12 crack.  I need to pull out in my Five Ten Anasazi Lace ups, and not my mocs for this one.  It’s steep, bouldery and very serious and I need all the precision I can get my fingers on.  We might go back today, I need to get very aggressive for this route, hard granite usually means thuggish and bouldery, and I need to be more like Sharma today and less like Sonnie.  Wish me luck, I’ll try and bring back a picture of what it looks like, and you’ll see too that it’s a gem, waiting to be polished.  I gotta go, happy antihistamines everyone.

Sonnie.

As many of you may know I am a certified ACMG Assistant Rock Guide Instructor,  and I just wanted to point out a couple of dates and camps and clinics you may be interested in.  Some of them are a long way away and some of them are happening this weekend.  So if it’s something you or your friends, or a friend of a friend could be psyched on, please send along this link and we’ll see if we can make it happen.

May 2,  an Introduction to Rock Movement.  This is a one day course where we’ll cover crack climbing, slab climbing, friction, edging, sequencing, body position and technical face skills.

May 3, an Advanced Rock Movement course.  We’ll be covering the same things, but more advanced style, knee drops, proper hip placements, heel hooks, knee bars, advanced sequencing, resting and recovering.

For more information on this and other courses coming up, please contact the Squamish Rock Guides.

Another event worth noting is the Under 25 Climbing Camp, July 5th – 9th in the Bow Valley.  Brought to you by the ACC and MEC.  This is a very cool opportunity to get out of the gym and into the mountains with myself and local alpinist Rob Owens.  As a young climber who started in the gym, I always dreamed of a chance to get out into the Rockies and climb some real stone, so when the opening to be a guide for such an event presented itself, I jumped at the chance to participate.  If you’re looking to take your indoor climbing to the next level and are between the ages of 17 and 25 this may be the week of adventure you’re looking for.  For detailed info, please visit the site.

Andrew Querner pic.

I have to go, there are more projects out there that need to be discovered, and that ain’t going to happen without some good old fashioned, BUSH WHACKING.

Cheers.

Sonnie.

There’s so much going on,  I don’t know where to start.  Completely overwhelmed lately.   Ever feel like that?

Like a perpetual game of cat and mouse, or chase the tail, it gets further away the harder you try.

I could talk about it, blog about it, or work harder and stress myself out about it.

fuck it, I think I’ll sit back and have an icy cold beer on the patio instead.

It’s what I do best,  better than anyone I think.

Possibly even better than you.

TGIF starts right now.

Cheers ya’ll.

FINALLY it started raining here, I was beginning to wonder what the hell was happening, I mean this isn’t the Squamish I know, Squamish is wet and shitty, not dry and sunny, wtf?  I awoke this morning to a damp sensation, that ever happen to you?  ANYWAY, it’s been serving us the cats and dogs all morning, so finally I can get some productive work done.  “You’ll see, I’m gonna make something of myself.  You don’t know what I have.  You don’t know what I can do.” ha ha – Boogie Nights

Okay so moving right along, yesterdays rappel mission was a WORTHY one.  It’s nothing completely new, these bad boys have been around for a long time, but just never completely finished.  The prognosis:  Two climbs.  One,  A burly roof to a rest into an established climb, it’s been toproped at solid 5.13c, but needs to be lead from the ground, probably 5.13d, R.  Soo stoked.  The second climb has Adam Ondra’s name writen all over it.  5.14b at the very, very least.  5.14c is more likely and 5.14d R/X is very well possible.  The holds are all there, but barely.  For reference, think about the first half of Necessary Evil but without bolts and way less feet.  It’s been aid climbed before, but the gear is tighter than a pair of skinny jeans on a fat boy

So if you think you got the guns for this masterpeice, give me hollar, I’d like to show you the goods.  If not, then please stand by and wait patiently at your desk for the person who is man (or woman) enough to come tick this beast.  Maybe Pete Whitaker?  Pearson or McClure or Pringle.  Maybe I can get Ondra to make a serious visit. Who knows.  All’s I know for sure is that it’s there, sitting and waiting. More to come, stay tuned….

I gotta get some work done, the weekend starts tonight.  Hell ya!

I’m about to head out to investigate a potential new lead climb, could be 5.13d or harder, maybe R.  Right up my alley.  I don’t know why I gravitate towards these types of climbs, they are just so pure.  Bouldering can be just as fun, agreed, so can sport climbing, but when I find something that’s big and beautiful and a little bit spicy, I can’t help but be pulled in.  I just can’t help myself.  The question of “if” seems to linger a little longer than “when”.  Some people might say I do it because I’m sponsored, but that’s such bullshit,  I’m sponsored because I do it,  it’s not the other way around.  I did what I do, what I love to do long before I ever got any free gear, and I’ll do it long after as well.  Nobody can stop me from climbing the rocks I want to climb, but if people want to support me, that’s cool, I got no qualms with that.  Just don’t tell me I climb because I have to.  We all love it, we love it dearly, maybe to the point where it’s a character flaw, an obsession, but everyone is trying to live a dream to some degree, everyone.  So here I go again on my own, I’ll hike to the top and rappel the face today with a jumar and “investigate”.  If it goes and it’s worth the energy, I’ll have a new project,  if it doesn’t, I still have unfinished business elsewhere, everywhere,  so it’s a win win situation.  The sun is bright and it’s a crystal clear sky, spring is the most uplifting time of year I think.  Gotta get after it.

But before I leave, and I know you’re all like ’shut up already and go you douche bag Canadian, but I want to thank all the cool peeps who left comments on my post below, especially the stories and stuff.  I know we’ve all had close calls out there, some serious epics, and mine ain’t the big fish, but it’s nice to share, cause I get to interact with some like minded souls, some wise and clever folk who aren’t afraid to raise the questions like.  Is it worth it?  Well here’s my answer  -   Isn’t it always?

Two and half weeks ago, ski/base legend Shane McConkey passed away in a tragic accident.  Like Alex Lowe, Wolfgang Gullich and so many others Shane was a larger than life and indestructable being who was taken from the world when we least expected it.  But his fire will keep burning brightly in all of us, a little bit each day, and we’ll pass that bit of fire on the next, the next person, the next day, the next generation.  In this way, Shane’s influence will last forever, a thousand lifetimes, as will so many other great people who’s choices in life made this world a bit more positive.  Some people plant gardens and flowers,  others huck themselves off cliffs.  Here is a video worth watching.  RIP SM.  Check ya’ll later and make it a good one, if you know what’s good for ya.

An ‘Act of God’ is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible. This does not protect those who put others in danger of acts of nature through negligence, such as an adult who instructs a group of children to stand under a tree to escape a lightning storm.   However,  the legal term, “Act of God”, does not necessarily imply that God had a direct intervention which specifically caused a “natural” occurrence or disaster.

Now that we have that straightened out, you should know that free soloing isn’t for everybody, and it’s not always for me either.  I’ve probably backed off from as many pitches as I’ve topped out.  They say grades don’t matter in climbing, well, when you solo, they matter even less. I’ve backed off a 5.7 slab because it felt insecure, but later in the day soloed a 5.12b roof.  It’s not what is harder or easier, it’s what feels harder or easier.  Feeling is the most important part of the game, not thinking.  Well one time, I was feeling on top of the world, I was higher than a kite, and suddenly without warning, it all came crashing down and it left me thinking…

Exasperator, 2006

-    The pleasant chirping of birds echoed softly against the massive granite face before me, a morning song.  The infamous coastal wind swept up and across my face as I finished the crux sequence, and the classic fissure opened to swallow my knuckles deep.  I still remember my shoes sticking like velcro and clamping down tightly onto those tiny crystals, I felt the tight lock take hold of my fingers and secure any drifting thoughts I may have had.  A smile came over my face while reaching for my chalk bag and I knew with all certainty that this was exactly where I wanted to be, where I needed to be, it was the only place that felt exactly right.  With only a few more feet to the ledge…

“Whooooooooooooo——-paaazzzzzzzzzzing”

Like the sound of a hot bullet whizzing by my face from an old Clint Eastwood Western, the rock that nearly killed me, the rock I never saw, ripped into the wooded forest behind me and bounced off (what seemed like) every single tree to the highway below.  I stared intently at the crystal white scar it left behind, only 16 inches from my pale face, still smoking like incense burning inside an ashram, while the knocking sound of hollow wood lingered in the air for longer than I’d like to remember.   What the fuck?  I thought, practically laughing to myself.  As if that just happened?   My face slowly drained of its warm blood and enthusiasm – what was once an extended moment of jubilation suddenly shifted into superstition and trepidation.  Does it always happen like this?  I looked up to see if I was in any more danger, to see if I could avoid getting hit by a close relative, who knows, maybe a big brother, but how much wiggle room did I really have to work with?

Nearly an entire rope length above the forest floor, my scattered mind began pondering the idea of luck vs fate, chance vs destiny, chaos vs predetermination, but there was no time for this shit, this senseless talk was for drunks during ungodly hours of the night, not a soloist.  Without a rope, and zero backup, I had to make a decision, up or down?  There was no way of knowing if another rock was on its way south bound to meet me, perhaps this time with the initials S.J.T. etched into the side of it?   Even if it hit me in the arm, hand or shoulder I was still a dead man, at least if it hit me on the head I wouldn’t be thinking clearly enough to care.  Ha.  I began a quick but very precise climb back down to the ground, reversing every lock, smear and shuffle I performed on the way up.

On a good day Exasperator is one of the most enjoyable free climbs in the world.  Especially the ’second pitch’ where I was resting, where the climb traverses left across the wider seam.  I would have down climbed it anyway (there’s no easier way off) but I was hoping to rest at the belay for a while, who knows, maybe take my shoes off, pull in some deep breaths and enjoy the sensational lookout.  I never assumed I’d be a mark, retreating like a wounded soldier.  Just a few moves from the station.

The fact is, I was wounded.  Perhaps not my body, but my mind – at least for a short time.

For the rest of the day I pondered what would’ve happened had I been one move too late?  10 seconds and 16 inches to the right and I would have taken that falling rock right between these Irish eyes.  I wonder if they’d be smiling?  –   So what force allowed me to step aside before the bullet rocketed down to earth?  I came to a very important conclusion that it was nothing at all.  I think it was just life being life – completely random and perfectly unexplainable.  I could have picked another great climb with a slightly lower level of objective hazards.  I could have, but I didn’t.  I picked this line for this time for its beauty and quality, I picked this day in October for it’s high friction and low traffic.  I never saw a car in the parking lot.  I feel I made smart choices, I did what I could and yet the rock still fell.  Why?  Who knows!  Who cares!  Maybe it was a squirrel, maybe a snake, maybe a tourists warming up their pitching arm  OR  maybe it was just time it fell, but I think it is futile to always try and make sense of this crazy world.  We don’t know why some things happen and others don’t, and I’m assuming we never will.  So I ain’t spending more time thinking about it, I’m just glad I got down.

But, here is what I DO know, soloing is one of the best sensations I’ve ever felt,  it is a feeling I knew I would enjoy from the moment I stepped off the ground for the first time.  It doesn’t mean I enjoy it everyday, nor do I enjoy being terrified, but I do like to practice a little bit of ‘amplification‘ from time to time.  I find it makes the fruit taste a little sweeter.  So was it neglegence on my part?  Debateble.  I think I’ll continue on my merry way and chalk this one up as an inaction of god.  A close call with zero questions and even fewer answers.

Play safe!

Right now, the buzz is all about the CORE.  CORE this and CORE that.  Well, what the hell is the CORE anyway?  When I started having back troubles, my physiotherapist told me I had weak core muscles.  I said “pardon” she must have been mistaken, either that or she hasn’t seen my chiseled abs.  HA.  I said, “Well, I feel pretty strong” poking at them with vigor and watching my knuckles collapse on impact.  Like steel.  That should show her.

“Not those muscles” she replied, rightfully embarrassed for me.  “Those are what we call ‘Superficial Muscles’, they may look good from an outsiders perspective, but they won’t do much for the health of your back or your alignment or even your rock climbing.  In fact, that’s probably why you’re here, your superficial muscles are stronger than your core”.  I wanted her to stop calling them that, ’superficial’.  I worked hard for those muscles dammit, not to mention the strength I assumed they’d supply me.  But in the end, she was right, all this time I was working the wrong group.  In fact climbing is probably what led to this.

Tight hip flexors, tights soas muscles, strong upper abs and a strong mid back has allowed me to get away with a lack of CORE strength for the last ten years.  I’ve been using all the wrong muscles to perform my movements and now at 29,  it’s starting to add up.  I’ve had more lower back discomfort these last two years than ever before, and I realized that if I don’t make a serious change soon, this could lead to something a lot more serious than just some minor aches and pains in the night.  Here’s a picture for the ladies, notice my, er… I mean this guys toned upper abs.  They may look good, but you have to wonder, – How strong is his transversus abdominus?   And I know you’re wondering.

BUT, there is hope on the horizon, or so I have found, and I’m not the only one who’s experienced this.  It seems wherever I go traveling, I’ve come across people with the exact same symptoms.  It’s called anterior pelvic tilt, and it’s more common than you may think and beware that it can easily morph into lordosis.  There is also posterior tilting that exists, but lets focus on one thing at a time here.

Society’s pressure on external aesthetics have guys in the gym doing abdominal crunches until blue in the face and girls working on their asses, so they can put it out on display and lure the less intellegent gender (men) over to buy them a free drink.  Don’t get me wrong, it works everytime, but the issue here is on our overall health and wellbeing. Isn’t it?  Notice the serious emphasis on the pelvic tilt here in this picture,  what’s the message?

Perhaps 150 years ago, this wasn’t such a big deal, men and women got their workouts in the field, out on the farm, trying to survive, now days, life is easier and there is such a thing called RECREATION and it’s growing at an incredible rate.  Not that recreation didn’t exist back then, but now it’s become a lifestyle, and for many people, even a career.   You can get paid to be an athlete if you’re prepared to be one of the best.  But to be the best you need to earn it, people today are training harder and getting stronger than ever before.  But not always without consequence.  If you train improperly, you’re going to do more damage than good.  I’m learning this as I go.

The Transverus Abdominus is a corsette than WRAPS around your lower bodies organs.  Below the rib cage we have very little to protect ourselves, except our Trans Abs.  Because my stonger more “superficial” muscles have done all the work, I’ve litterally lost connection to my Transverus Abdominus, it took me three days of trying just to be able to send brain signals (neurological transmission) to the area and start firing them consistenly.  Now, I do it all the time, while eating, stretching, working, walking, breathing.  I’m constantly trying to keep my CORE engaged.  Otherwise, we get sloppy, we get weak and eventually, we get injured.  Not to say this will happen to everyone, but some of us are at greater risk than others.  Doing yoga has taught me many things in the last 2 years, but I can’t thank it (or Lydia) enough for helping me correct my back pain.  I still get sore from time to time, but nothing like in the past and I’m getting better and stronger every week.  Here is a picture of the CORSETTE or girdle concept.  It’s the only thing that can protect you from injuring your spine,  it’s all or nothing.  Also, keep in mind, an aggravated spine can even lead to pain in the knees and ankles too.

To engage these muscles, try laying on the floor on your back, relaxing and then squeezing the top of the pelvic bones together, across your stomach.  It’s like when you get into cold water for the first time and you want to lift the jewels up to protect them, YAh, now you got it,  it’s those muscles.  They’re all connected. try it.

If neglected for too long, things can get out of hand fast and soon you’ll have to deal with an accute case called Lordosis, which as the diagram describes is an exagerated lumbar curve.  I find many climbers use our extremeties to pull ourselves in, while yogis use their core.  Climbers pull hard and engage the core last, if at all, while yogis initiate nearly every single movement my engaging the core first and foremost and then branching out.  This is the sort of awareness I’m working towards.

In conclusion,  take care of yourself,  invest in yourself, invest in preventative treatment, it’s like maintenance, a small bit of work each day can save you years of pain and suffering and perhaps surgery tomorrow.  I’m working every day to fix the damage I’ve done to myself, and not just climbing, mountain biking, surfing, snowboarding and drunken party tricks.  They add up and it’s time I head them off,  join the core users of the world and hopefully be stronger than ever.  I hope you can get something from this, it’s really directed toward everyone, but mostly atheletes.  Besides, it doesn’t mean you have to ignore those superficial muscles, but I’m thinking a strong core and a pain free body is going to be a lot sexier in the long run.