Sonnie Trotter

Presto!

Friday, July 31st, 2009

I know I’ve been bitching about the heat in my last few posts, but it’s for real, it’s HOT.  At least, it’s hot after 8am.  So get up early you wankers.  The last two days I set my alarm for 4:50am.  No this is not a joke.  Yes, I am a terrible morning person,  I get nausea, and sometimes I physically cannot open my eyes.  No matter how hard I try.  I love getting older though, gettin up early is gettin easier.

Hot Aches Productions rolled through town this week, they asked me if I had any projects worth filming for the next DVD.  I said, “Paul, I have about 20 projects worth filming, but I can’t climb any of them in this heat.  The rock feels like old salami left out in the sun for too long.  If you can imagine that.”  Then it came to me.  Instead of trying to climb 5.13d on rubbish wires and old slippery pins, I could “probably” climb 5.13a or even b on rubbish wires and it would “probably” feel just as hard.  Right?

So that’s what I did.  On Wed I went to a climb I had done previously called Presto, about 5.13a.  I had originally done the line on bolts about 4 years ago I think, and it’s fucking amazing.  Tall, proud, direct.  A must tick for all 5.13 climbers.  Three stars.  But when I did it back then, I do recall thinking to myself, “hmmmm, maybe this would be fun on gear”.  When I talked to Heavy Duty about it, he said, “That’s the way it should have been done in the first place”.  Now I don’t know about that, but I do know that’s it’s good solid fun.  Retro Trad is like a party trick,  you just do it to see if you can, for no other reason, than because it’s fun.  And the truth of it is, that sounds almost like the same reason I go rock climbing at all.

So, up at 5am, climbing by 6:30am. Still felt slimy, but way better than I expected. A hold broke off the line some time ago, but I think it’s more fun now, you have to do a very cool move that wasn’t necessary before, so I’m stoked.  The line took about 4 pieces of gear in 65 feet.  I found a nut at the very top that prevented a ground fall, so I was completely thrilled about that.  I led it on my first try.  Probably E8 or 12 or something in that range.  I would honestly like to see someone climb this ground up on gear, awesome style, it’s completely realistic and since I’ve blown my chances now, I nominate you.  Ya U.

A clip provided by the boys from Hot Aches.  Thanks.

In other news, Paul Robinson is here trying Dream Catcher.  5.14d,  Super Awesome.

From his blog….”The past week Alex has spent countless hours on the belay as i work out the moves and complain about how hot it is. I have been able to do some really nice links and feel that in cooler temps it could for sure be possible. I am going to continue to try the moves and get the climb all sussed out. Since the temps do not look as if they are not going to be under 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes climbing such a hard route quite difficult. I think i am going to try and make a trip back here for a long weekend sometime this fall to go for a redpoint attempt. Hopefully it will get cooler and i can try for it because today i finally figured out the slab section which was the last section of moves i need to do!!!”

Paul has the reverse problem I have.  I can do the slab, I can do the slopers, I can even do the pin scars, it’s the damn campus section at the end, only one move that puzzles me,  but I think I have a secret solution to the move, which I will try once it cools off, say in November maybe.

Also, more news,  Matt Wilder (the fly, the swarm, the scarface) is in the Bow Valley, my old stomping grounds of Accephale and Lake Louise, he’s been using this summer trip to get back into sport kletter shape, which I’m sure took him all of five minutes.  But what caught my attention was his email asking me for beta on the Path.  Dope ass.  Matt is another big gun who for sure has the firepower to walk it up, have you seen him crimp?  So strong.  He’s got a great lead head too, think “Musta Been High”, so it will only be a matter of time I have no doubt.  I think it’s fucking great that so many people are coming out to try this line, it’s really world class and I hope they each get as much joy from it as I did.  Any girls interested?  Vikki?

This is from his blog….”So far the trip has been a success on all points though I haven’t completed any climbs of significance. I tried The Path two days and figured out some beta. I’ll probably go back soon and work it some more. I’m not sure if I’ll commit to going for the redpoint. The route is really long and the setup is pretty involved. Redpoint attempts will be challenging so I’ll probably only try to redpoint if I think I have a high probability of success in a few tries. I’m always wary of taking on a project that could just consume the trip.”

“I was up at Lake Louise for the past three days and I tried the Path again. This was exciting because I figured out the rest of the moves and had some good links on TR. I’m definitely more psyched about the climb now and am committed to doing it. I’ll probably start giving lead attempts the next day I try it. It’s definitely going to be a bit scary so it make take some tries to get my head in the right space to be fully going for it. I think it should be mostly safe though. Hopefully the weather cooperates. It’s hot right now and then it looks like it will rain a bunch soon. I’m worried that the Path will not dry quickly — it has many black streaks that are obviously from water running down the face. I have a week to two weeks left here so perhaps I’ll get some good conditions.”

When I googled Matt Wilder this was the only image that came up.  So, it will have to suffice for now.  I’m sure you’ll get fine conditions Matt, that thing stays super dry, we’re all pulling for ya, I know you’ll have fun up there, it’s hard not to.  Best of luck mate, best of luck.

And of course, last but not least,  Yuji Hirayama, will be in Squamish very soon, (if he hasn’t already arrived) and he’ll be getting amped to stuff his digits into the tight locks of the Brah.  I say, “onsight”.  Any takers????

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Waves!

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

The BIG NEWS:  While Southern California is getting slammed with some of the best surfing waves in ages, (click here)

…we’re getting slammed super hard by a three week heat wave.  Sure it usually gets warm around here in the summer, we tend to get 35 degrees and maybe it’ll last a few days, but shit, a few weeks?  What the hell is this?  I’ll tell you what it is, it’s a mandatory rest period.  We tried to climb several times, but I’ve lost all motivation.  This morning we did two warm up pitches at 8 am and called off the show, t’was hideous, like soup.  The days before last we went to our friends “secret” crag, and bolted a few new lines, cause when you can’t climb, well hell, you may as well haul a power drill around and pound in some hardware.  The first one is BAD ASS, solid 5.14, I might need the granite technician Ron Kauk to come and show me some footwork, it’s going to be pimpin.  The second one is also a 5.14 I think, but it’s hard to say, it’s so hot the holds feel 5 times smaller and it’s steeper than anything else at the cliff.  After I broke my back bolting it, I didn’t have much juice left over for pulling the moves.

This is a special cliff, because it’s rare to find good quality granite so steep with real holds.

The third one bolted, I joined forces with Cory Richards, he some how volunteered himself for the cleaning part and it quickly became apparent that this was going to be one of the worlds WORST routes.  The rock was soft, constantly exfoliating, crumbling like an oatmeal cookie.  Here’s Cory, putting in the work.

Oh man, is that a crack to the left of that bolt?  What losers.  This post sucks, I’m going to the lake again, starting to dehydrate and overheat.

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It’s the freakin weekend!

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

I spent 10 hours and 50 bucks on bolting two (count ‘em, 2) new routes yesterday, I’m so wiped.  Ground up, on a 45 degree wall of bullet hard granite, my lower lumbar is officially destroyed, my upper back muscles feel like someone beat me with a mallot and my shoulders must look like meatloaf inside (those Bosch’s ain’t featherweight units) and to make matters worse (or better depending on how you look at it) I could barely do most of the moves.  So, now I have over 14,000 projects to climb.  New routing is a damn CURSE I say, it’s the best way to ensure you’ll never climb hard again because it’s so much easier to find projects than it is to redpoint them, ha ha ha.  So, today, since it’s the freakin weakend and I’m gonna have me some fun, I’ll leave with you a new visual clip from my wanderings in India.

Sometimes a climb is so good, you don’t even want to know the grade, someone tries to tell you and you box their ears before they can spit it out.  Ya just don’t give a shit.  Of course there is always an “idea” but it’s completely irrelevant.  What is relevant is the few moments you had with your buddies trying to create a solution, and if you’re lucky you get the send so you can point and laugh at the bozo’s that failed, but then you buy them a beer to makeup for your childish behaviour.  A quality bouldering session ain’t about grades at all, it’s about trying really fucking hard, laughing out loud till you piss your shorts, and getting the blood to pump through your system so you feel tired and satisfied.  If you have 3 minutes, watch this video of Danny Burkhead and myself topping out on the Double Arete, hopefully it will make you wanna climb a wee bit, and travel some too.  And if this is your first time dropping in on this site, go to my vimeo page where I have a few other clips on display.  Thanks for stopping by,  appreciate your support. Have a good weak end.

The DOUBLE ARETE! from Sonnie Trotter on Vimeo.

| Posted in Climbing | 7 Comments »

the final push!

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Well, I didn’t get as drunk as I have in the past, maybe it’s a sign of maturity, but I still had a pretty damn good time (imagine that) and I made it home okay, so that’s always nice. You never know when them Canadian custom folk are gonna get bored and give tha rubber glove. It was great to see all my good friends again, it’s not the same as hanging out on a rope, or at the crag or even in the backyard with a log on the fire talking shitsmack, but it was so good to see so many of the best people I know. Here’s some pics.

So, for Luke, (the guy who asked about the new nano puff in the post below), I got my hands on one and did some product testing.  I cranked the air condition last night (which is horrendously bad for the environment, but if you wanna make an omelette you gotta break some eggs right?) and then proceeded to spend 8 hours curled up beside the deadly machine, open bivy style.  What a suffer fest.  The shit I do for you people.

When the morning came I couldn’t feel my legs, at all, doctors think they’ll be forced to remove at least the big toes on each foot, but the good news is that I survived and since I didn’t bring a stove or any coffee grinds with me, I was happy to locate a Starbucks in the lobby.  The oxygen was a little lower on the third floor than it was on say the ground level, but not too bad so I feel pretty lucky walking away from this, however, the fourth floor would have been really pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.  At around 4 am I got bored, and watched some Law and Order, it didn’t seem to get in the way of my results, so I felt it was pretty harmless.  The Nano Puff rules, I honesty can’t believe how light it feels.  At one point (early on) I was sweating and without a base layer on, it felt a bit damp, but with a thin wool under layer it wouldn’t be an issue.  They’re going to have a few different versions of this, I think I would prefer a hood on mine.  The colors are BRIGHT.  Orange and green I saw and they’re like reflectors.  If that doesn’t bother you, than I say pick one up, fucking brilliant for long days in the shade.

“I love smooth skinned mormon boys THIS-much” says Timmy O’neill.  There is no off button on this man, it’s all Timmy all the time, even at o’clock in the morning the dude left his shirt and shoes at his hotel and came down for a session of slacking and the posing and the talking of life’s most sought after questions which we never got to the bottom of by the way.  Someone get this man a drink, he is an ambassador of LIFE.

And then after, he begged me to take a photo of his ass.  Ladies, behave.

The scene on the inside wasn’t much better I regret to inform you.  I went from looking at Timmy’s Ass to seeing my man WIG and the undesirable effects of a ‘Whiskey Wednesday”, not to mention crazy Ivan Green’s middle finger.  But it made for a cool snapshot I suppose, so what the hell?

But perhaps this was the coolest part of the day, ya know, if you’re some sort of tech nerd, playing with the new Metolius super small, ultra light, and ubber strong wire gate carabiner will get your butter churning.  I don’t know if they have a name for them yet, I’m sure they do, but they’re so small and so cute, like mini carabiners, but with equal holding strength.

Afterwards I went to have a gander at the Nutrino, just for reference, sorry the pics didn’t turn out that good, but noticed the curvature in my hand,  that should tell you just how much smaller the new micro biners are.  The funny thing is, they aren’t hard to clip at all.  They would serve a purpose in the alpine I’m sure.

Here’s another perspective, it’s as if they were built for your coffee mug or something, or for small children, or big burly dudes who hate carrying too much weight.  Imagine what a rack of these might weigh in your pack?  The world has come a long way since the days of nuthin but steel ovals.

And again the Nutrino,  nuthing against BD, at all, I love them guys, but it was pretty nifty to see metolius pushing the limits on this.  Just an observation.  But still my most favorite biner of all time is the PETZL SPIRIT.  For obvious reasons of course, and you’re lying if you don’t agree with me.  Admit it.  Liar.

This is a great photo of Collette being nothing shy of sensational, and Andrew being, well, Andrew I guess.

And of course one of many highlights, but this is me chillin with shorter than normal Glen Plake,  I never realized it before, cuz I’ve never seen him with his hair down, but I’m actually slightly taller than the legendary skier. So, I’m just going to throw this out there,  WHO, if anyone should be the Glan Plake of climbing?  Jason Kehl was on it for a while, but the image he goes for it a little darker and more doll like than the rainbow colored mohawk?  Honestly, who do we know that’s this fun and colorful and still rips? I vote for Fred Becky.

Here’s a picture of Glen in the days we remember him well for….

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No rumors, just pictures!

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

The Trade Show and stuff.

The Conservation Alliance gathering. 7:30am.  AWESOME.  Is all I can say.  The more I learn about the Freedom to Roam campaign the more excited I get.  Basically it’s about getting smart people together and making shit happen.  This group is making sure the right people in the highest places are saving our worlds most precious resources.  Basically the idea to connect these wild places so that animals can continue to migrate north and south east and west the way they have for hundreds of thousands of years.

Some people showed up the Conservation Alliance with throw away coffee cups, which was funny and maybe a bit ironic because the company that is trying to reduce our footprint on the world supplied free coffee to everyone and offered nice ceramic reusable mugs to go along with it. This particular throw away looks cheap, like it was brought down from a hotel room, and those hands, oh my, so feminine.

Ben Moon and Me, making faces before the lights go out and the speech begins.  Speaking of coffee, maybe too much?

My buddy’s Will Stanhope and Jason Kruk just can’t keep their hands off each other!   I’m not sure I support this entirely, but they are now adults and can make responsible decisions on their own.  We wish them well.

This year the Five Ten booth stepped it up with an upstairs board room…. DAMN.  It’s got a sick sleek look, a young fresh face and if I haven’t told you already, we are turning the world of shoes upside down, (climbing and otherwise), so hold on TIGHT.

These are called Killah Ass Shoes, and if they aren’t they should be.  You’ll know when I’ve arrived to the cliff, I’ll be kickin it in a pair of these bad boyeez!   Word.

This is a great picture of the back of Steve House’s head, signing the last of his books for the day.   Get a copy, it’s a collectors item. I held the autographed version for Walter Bonnati in my hand without even realizing it.  Between the two of them, they’ve climbed at least 2 or 3 good mountains I’m sure.  Notice the drooling fan coming in for a last ditch effort to get some ink?   What a stalker.

Even the booth has class.  Some worker bees scuttling around “THE” booth.  Notice the red carpet.

I’m pretty sure I know this guy, but I just can’t put my finger on it.

The future is now, Dario Ventura of the famous Miguels Pizza Enterprises stands tall and supervises the free pizza party at the Petzl booth, he’s making sure things remain in an orderly fashion and with any luck he won’t have to “bounce” any ol lady’s.

“dude throw me a slice, I’m back here, I’m open”,  Ammon’s sons looking to make it big in a hungry mob.

A believer.  A very, very excited and strong believer.

I was thinking it would fun to tie all these together and jump off a bridge.  Super psyched on those 8.2’s.

Somebody’s got to lock that biner, it’s just incredibly unsafe in that position.

This is why the ladies love Scott Milton.  A mysterious rupture in his middle finger is a minor set back for this rockstar,  he’s still pulling down small holds a long ways.  Anybody have any suggestions? cortazone?  Click to enlarge.  Oooh, bad joke.  Get it?  But seriously.

Andrew Burr checking all the catalogs for photographs he took, gotta make sure the ganstars ain’t ripping him off.  Check out his sick pics.

| Posted in Climbing | 7 Comments »

her father was a rolling stone….

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Today I’m going to Salt Lake City for the bi-annual Outdoor Retailers Trade Show.  I have a new camera since last week, the Canon G10 point and shoot thingy.  It’s rad.  I’ll be sure to take lots of annoying pictures and post them, partly because I’ll be bored, mostly because there’s going to be a pile of rock star celebrities to hound, but also cause there’s some really cool shit happening – from gear design, to clothing lines – and you deserve to know about it the very second it happens, that’s my job, to bring the world I see as it unfolds into your life via this computer screen, well that and to risk my health on inverted granite.  Okay I gotta go board the jet plane now,  but stop by tonight, and tomorrow for an industry update.  Any special requests? An interview with any of the divorced climbing couples for example?  How about Odub, he’s always got something controversial and real to say?   It’s gonna be fun.  Maybe I’ll see you there….

I took this pic with my new shutter box, last week, when I was on a different plane, one of thousands.

| Posted in Climbing | 7 Comments »

Too hot for kletter, a good day for tennis!

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

It’s warm today in Squamish, about 26 degrees and the sun is sitting plump, high in the sky. It’s a no shoes, no shirt day, yesterday was even warmer, I think they said 30. It’s hard to motivate in the heat, you just know everything’s going to feel like shit. Besides, my knee is still sore and I can’t hike up to my projects just yet. The most accessible projects I have need a 4×4 truck, which I don’t own, so there won’t be any of that today either. It’s more of a sit around, play Tennis, a game of Bocce Ball, drink some beers and let go of the tension kinda day. So, before I go get my rackets, I’m going to post this new video. It’s actually an old video, but it’s new for this site and for vimeo, facebook took it off because I used a Bob Dylan song. CRAP. It’s basically me screaming like a little chicken, trying to find a way to jam up the horrendous cracks of Master Blasters 12 foot overhanging roof, the absolute WORST ring locks I’ve ever felt. Painful in every way. I even managed to break off the only good foot hold there was, which made the damn thing even harder. Hope you enjoy it. Luv serving 30.

Sonnie Trotter, Master Blaster, 5.13c/d from Sonnie Trotter on Vimeo.

| Posted in Climbing | 6 Comments »

From Car to Car in SICKS hrs.

Friday, July 17th, 2009

If you’ve ever done the scenic drive from Calgary to Banff, you’ve seen the stunning peaks of the Bow Valley (hopefully it wasn’t snowing). Tiny in comparison to say the Himalaya, 3000 meters vs 8000 meter peaks. But a very aesthetic range to say the least and even more so, they are accessible. Driving west, when you hit Canmore, Alberta, you’ll see this on your left hand side. A giant wedge in the middle/left frame is the famed Chinaman’s Peak.

The controversial name of the mountain was originally referred to by locals as ‘The Beehive’. In 1896 Ha Ling, a Chinese cook for the Canadian Pacific Railway was bet 50 dollars that he couldn’t climb the peak and plant a flag on the summit in less than 10 hours. According to News Report of Oct 24th 1896, he started the ascent at 7:00 am the previous Saturday morning and was back in time for lunch. Because nobody believed him, he led a party of doubters to the summit where they planted a much bigger flag beside the original, this one visible to the naked eye from Canmore. The townsfolk referred to the mountain as Chinaman’s Peak in his honor. The name Chinaman’s Peak became official in 1980, but later changed to Ha Ling Peak in 1997, as Chinaman was viewed as somewhat derogatory for some.

Now, history aside, there are two things you may be surprised to learn I don’t enjoy, much. One is running, the other, hiking. For me running is like walking faster on purpose, which is fine if you have to get somewhere in a hurry, say to deliver an important message, like good ol Pheidippides did when he ran to Athens in 490 BC to win the battle of Marathon.

But lets not forget, once he delivered his message “we won”, he died on the spot. Running is hard work, it’s hard on the bowels and stressful on the joints, I don’t do it unless I’m trying to get away from something or if somebody throws a frisbee across an open field.

As for hiking, that’s not really my bag either. I would much prefer going for a walk, like say, through a wooded park, an after diner stroll around the neighborhood, or a walk down to the store to get some sugar. Walking is good, hiking… not so much. Hiking usually involves special boots, a nap-sack full of supplies, a swiss army knife, and more often than not includes slogging up and down hills (which makes me cringe just a little bit). Don’t get me wrong, I hike, I just don’t particularly enjoy it, or at least, I haven’t much before. My mind starts to wonder, “are we there yet”, “I’m hungry”, “I think my ass is chaffing?”, “my quads are killing me”, “is there a bar at the top?”. These are common voices that scream inside my skull.

I think my problem is that I’m somewhat of a goal oriented person, I need an objective in order to stay focused and follow through. I need a frisbee, I need a crag to get to, I need a summit, a loop, something that makes me WANT to get to the end. I can’t seem to just go for a hike, turn around and go home for no reason (and exercise alone is never good enough, that’s lame), I need to reach a goal, I need to have a climax.  So it was this motivation that led me to eventually hop and hobble off the plane in Vancouver like a war vet.

The day before leaving Canmore to come home to Squamish, I wanted to rock climbing, I got up at 8am but couldn’t close my hands very well, knuckles a tad bit swollen. I suppose 5 days of guiding and 4 days of climbing on either end at Lake Louise took its toll. All in all, I climbed 10 out of 11 days and decided to go for a hike instead because I still needed to get into the mountains one way or another, and more than that I wanted to be alone.  A day alone in the mountains is my equivalent of going to Church, I pray to ‘god’, I eat the bread, I drink the wine, but I don’t have to listen to some guy in a black dress tell me what to do all the time.  But like I said, I can’t just ‘hike’, I have to ‘hike’ with a purpose, a dream, an objective.   Some of my best friends still can’t believe after nearly 2 years of living in Canmore I still didn’t climb the beautiful Ha Ling Peak. Which takes about 2 hours for anyone relatively healthy.  So, It was 2 pm in the afternoon after I finished my coffee and cigarettes, and I had the whole day to kill. What would I do after Ha Ling if it only took me 2 hours?

On the opposite side of the valley rises Mount Grotto, a gigantic mass of Terra first climbed in 1858. The ever expanding mountain sits at 2,706 meters in height and who knows how wide, maybe 3-4 kilometers?

So, here’s the plan, climb GROTTO in less than 4 hours, run down, grab food and water and run up HA LING  in less than 2.  I wanted to go from Car to Car in less than 6 hours. If you don’t count the 15 minute phone conversation I had with Lydia, I made it. If you do, then I did it in 6 hours and 15 minutes.

Looking back towards Banff from the “false” summit at Lady McDonald.

Looking towards the “real” summit, which is another 15 minute scramble to get to.

Me taking a pretty gay self portrait. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. See the highest rock on the stack behind me? I put that there, Boooo-YA.   Ha ling in the background.

Throwing rocks is almost always a bad idea. Beer bottles are the preferred choice. That’s a joke by the way, please don’t do stupid shit in the mountains, it’s not like going to the crag where stupid shit is common place and even expected, the mountains are sacred, and deserve better than that.   Spread the word.

Towards Banff from the Summit, you can see the tip of Mount Rundle on the left side.

Another gay portrait, but this time a helpful bystander did the deed. How could I refuse, she offered. So I smiled and she clicked, thanks, to whomever you were.  Grotto in the background.

Okay, so I made it, I stuck it out, I hustled, I moved and I hobbled back to the car and I don’t remember anything. I think I have my fathers knees. The I.T. Band on my left leg got so tight I could hear it playing music. The friction in my knee during the last 20 minutes of the day felt like someone was rubbing sticks on my bones, trying to light a fire. It burned like nothing I’ve felt before or since, I had to skip down the trail, people must have thought I looked cheerful, but I had no choice, the searing pain was blinding. In the end I climbed Grotto in 3:45 min and Ha Ling in an 1:35 min. From car to car. I ain’t no runner, I ain’t no hiker, this my first time on these hills and it was a personal best for me, this was also a one time deal, but I had a goal and I went for it – It’s sort of what I do, it makes things more fun when I challenge myself this way, not sure why, I’m an egocentric bastard I guess. Beat that Will Gadd, I double dog dare you fool.   Just because you climbed Mount Robson (3,950 m) in 17 hours, doesn’t mean you can beat ME, I’m the best, or maybe you’re scared?  Wink. Wink.

| Posted in Climbing | 15 Comments »

Intelligent development vs tactless destruction!

Monday, July 6th, 2009

For those of you reading for the first time, I’m a complete hack (just warning you). I’m a climber, scribbler, picture taker, part time rock guide and full time bumbly. I’m in love with the mountains, my girl and orange sunsets, I always climb for fun, I sometimes climb as hard as I possibly can (which is also very fun), I pretend to play soccer, I fake carpentry, I snowboard okay, but I’m a wannabe surfer. If I could have a few skills I lack, it would be the technical right brain thinking of Charles Cole, the commitment of Yvon Chouinard, the forearms and fingers of Chris Sharma, the gargantuan balls of Alex Honnold and the hair of Donald Trump.  You also may want to know that I say things that are on my mind, not necessarily things you may want to read about, so if you don’t want to read about it, try visiting this site instead, it’s very funny….CLICK HERE!

Otherwise, listen up.  Right now this is what’s on my mind, BROHM RIDGE, see this picture and remember it.

In the future, you might be calling it GAS (aka Garibaldi at Squamish).  I’m not against development, please understand that, I’m against dumb and inconsiderate development.  I may be wrong but I feel this is likely one of those cases.   A case for all small mountain towns.  Imagine destroying hundreds of acres of wildlife, only to erect 25 ski lifts, 2 golf courses, 6,000 part-time (mostly out of country I assume) residential units, 100 km of new roads and lets not forget the hotels, the hot tubs, and suspicious message parlors, AND imaging doing all of this while knowing very clearly that WHISTLER/BLACKCOLM lives just 20 minutes down the road, that you would be HEAVILY impacting the local environment and basically making yourself no friends in the process.  Here’s the e-mail that is buzzing around our beloved community, please read it…..

The development encompasses land that’s been identified as prime habitat
for endangered or at-risk species such as peregrine falcon, wolverine,
and marbled murrelet. The GAS area also includes a threatened grizzly
bear population unit that has been designated for recovery by the
province. The project has come under especially intense fire because
of its potential impacts on Brohm River, one of the most productive
salmon and steelhead streams in the province. The development calls
for expansive water management, including sewage and storm water
discharge, irrigation for golf courses and potable water, extractions
of water for snowmaking, and as many as five dams.

WHAT:  Attend the Tuesday, July 7 Squamish council meeting.
WHEN: Tuesday, July 7.
WHERE: Council Chambers, Municipal Hall, 37955 Second Avenue.

*If you can’t attend the July 7 council meeting, please urge
provincial and local officials to reject the GAS ski resort proposal.

Environmental Assessment Office: eaoinfo@gov.bc.ca
Premier Gordon Campbell: premier@gov.bc.ca
West Vancouver – Garibaldi MLA – joan.mcintyre.mla@leg.bc.ca

District of Squamish
Mayor Greg Gardner: ggardner@squamish.ca
Councillor Bryan Raiser: braiser@squamish.ca
Councillor Corinne Lonsdale: clonsdale@squamish.ca
Councillor Doug Race: drace@squamish.ca
Councillor Patricia Heintzman: pheintzman@squamish.ca
Councillor Paul Lalli: plalli@squamish.ca
Councillor Rob Kirkham: rkirkham@squamish.ca

I’m truly torn here, on the one hand, we’re all fucked anyway right, why don’t we just enjoy the ride into the depths of hell and jump on the devils wagon, er I mean, the chair lift and go skiing and use the new roads to access new terrain and great cliffs, it could be fun, and in the end, we may not be able to do anything about it anyway.  I mean shit, honestly, this would be pretty darn good for the value of my house, and jobs for the local economy, but at what COST?   It’s worth putting up the fight.   On the other hand it’s not very sustainable, it’s not very palatable, and it’s not good for our community, it’s a wasteful and damaging project and I would much rather see our council and our attention be brought back to the downtown core, the only true resource that separates us from Whistler and Vancouver, make it clean, pretty and beautiful, focus on THAT and good people will come, I promise, it’s easy peesy.  Now go, or write a letter, whatever you can do to stop the dumb and inconsiderate people from the city stepping over us in their attempt to do the wrong thing for the wrong reasons, and I don’t have to tell you what those reasons are.  Do I????

I think it’s appropriate for me to post a picture I took today at the Canadian Alpine Clubhouse, it creates a wonderful feeling I have about the development in our FRAGILE mountain areas.  The sign before this reads “SLOW”,  but knowing the poor habits of our HUMAN ways, the second one reminds you ever so kindly, I hope you enjoy my attempt at photography…….

That’s all for today,  I’m out.

| Posted in Climbing | 23 Comments »

What Dreams May Come! Dreams of Verdon! 5.12a

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

My boy Andrew Wexler and I got up to something delightful on Sat, a little golden nugget of a place tucked behind the Swiss Chalets of Banff, and across Lake Minnewanka, a sweet rugged valley called… “The Ghost”. I know – I know, it ain’t no secret, but I’ve always been too much a pussy to drive in there with my van (which I’m sad to report is no longer with us). They say there are pot holes big enough to swallow entire cows, and powerful water so white and cold it could push a cement truck 3 miles down river. But Wexler’s got himself a TOYOTA T-A-C-O-M-A.

So away we went. The route has a “reputation” if you know what I mean – “it’s sharp on the skin” ( yah, if you’re a 3 year old – or an upcoming hand model preserving yourself for a Palmolive commercial), “it’s steep”, ( yes, but nothing like we expected), “it’s very difficult route finding”, ( agreed, but with a bit of common sense and a willing to keep going up, you’ll have no trouble at all). So I say again, away we went.

8 am, coffee and a bagel ($17 Can dollars)

8:30 am, gas.

9:30 am, wrong turn.

10:10 am, river crossing.

10:30 am, parking lot.

10:40 am, wrong trail, shit, idiots.

10:41 am, right trail, now we’re hauling ass.

11:15 am, base of Wild West Wall.

11:25 am, base of “Dreams of Verdon” 6 pitches, 5.12a.

11:30 am, more coffee.

11:35 am, shitting in the woods.

11:40 am, ROCK CLIMBING……………………………..

Top of pitch one. We are off to a good start I recon.

Wexler looking for his way, (look left mate, look left)

A terrible picture of the temperamental sky, and the OCEAN of First Ascent potential in the Valley.

Wex, AWESOME lead, about 30 seconds before the first rain hit us,

Me, being way too focused on a 5.8 (toproping)

Wex at the Belay, with a terrible back drop. Somebody quick, build a hotel and some condos back there and obstruct the view, pleeese, maybe a golf course?

Shooter McGavin. “You’re in big trouble pal. I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.”

Following Wexler on the best 5.11b in the Bow Valley. Nothing but net.

After the first crux on the last pitch.

6th pitch, 5.12- (brilliant limestone, but needs traffic) oh and by the way, yah, we like onsighted it, like, bro brah americah, fuck ya!

I don’t know where this is. Sorry, I’m sure you’re wondering, I’m sure.

Somewhere towards the top!

So of course, we completely lost track of time, but this is obviously at the end of the day and we are completely SOAKED from head to toe. The final storm came in, the whole enchilada, thunder and lightning, just a few hundred feet over our heads, sheets of precip, but we made it back to the TAC, and the skies lifted a little, just long enough to take this SNAPPY. Hope you enjoyed the slide show, I gotta go and call my girlfriend, you have NO IDEA how much I miss her right now.

ALL PHOTO’s by ANDREW WEXLER, (thanks for everything champ) and be sure to visit his site at www.globalalpine.com

| Posted in Climbing | 5 Comments »