So I thought about having a pic of the week section, dedicated to the funny, weird and “just cause” stuff I see during my wanderings. I’ll start with this one and we’ll see if it gets any reactions. I took this three days ago while walking to my workshop. I laughed so hard. Also, if you’re in the area tomorrow, or you know somebody who is, come by the Okanagan Heritage Museum in Kelowna at 7pm and check out my slide show, I’m doing a lecture about…drum roll please…climbing rocks. Maybe it should be more about falling off rocks, I do more of that anyway.
It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything at all, the Squamish Mountain Festival Swept into town and took over everything. There were so many “ON” days in a row I had little time or energy to do anything else. It was still hot, but not as bad as it had been. So, what’s new, what’s new….?
First Off, HUGE CONGRATSto Matt Wilder for making the third ascent of The Path. Wilder is a serious force on the stone. He commented that the climb may be 5.14a or b, depending. I basically rated the climb the same grade thinking that for a tall climber it may feel more like 5.14a, but for a slightly shorter climber it would feel more like hard 5.14b, because of the long reaches between crimps. Matt Segal commented the crux felt like V11 for him. So I gave it the slash grade and people can say whatever they like, but what remains the same is the big fat RUNOUTS. I’m glad Matt sent it, he did it differently than Ethan and I, opting for approaching the climb via the 5.6 corner, instead of the straight up 5.11- solo that we had chosen. For me, I wanted to climb the whole overhanging face, from the bottom to top in one pitch without clipping any fixed gear. Anything less than that for me would have been a compromise. But I’m glad Matt did it the way he did, he obviously wasn’t as concerned as much about the style as we had been and put more focus on the headwall, but most importantly he showed more climbers that it’s in fact a safe and classic climb, he showed us all that there are options, and because the climb is trad, the leader can feel free to roam where the natural line wants to go. It’s a choose your own adventure situation.
Secondly, The Squamish Mountain Festival was AWESOME. Will Stanhope and Peter Croft gave impressive slides shows, as usual, and the Steep Shot photocontest was as good a party as it was last year. My photo’s came out okay and I was stoke on the amount of good positive feedback that came back to me afterwards. The winners were truly inspirational however, Andrew Burr, 1st place, Keith Ladzinski, 2nd place and Cory Rishards, 3rd place. It was such a fun night, I’m looking forward to it again next year, big time. The crowd was nice and rowdy and didn’t hesitate to let out a hoop and a hollar when a particularly strong image flashed the screen, it was instant feedback and I’d be lying if said I (like the other presenters) didn’t get a huge rush from the raucous applause. So thanks to everyoe who helped organize the events and to everyone who came out to support it. Respect. Here’s funny photo I took the next day while guiding during the event. We stumbled upon this baby toy, (apparently forgotten) stuffed into a 5.12c crack and thought it was hilariously placed, so we made a moment from it. Thanks Stephen.
Last but not least, projects, making good work on them dispite the heat, sent my ubber scary projects again on Top Rope, so I think during the cold weather we’re about to have in Sept, I feel very confident that they’re both going to go down. I also have some bigwall projects, but they may require some more days of cleaning and preperationg before I link them, probably hard 5.12 or 5.13 R. I also tried DreamCatcher yesterday for the first time in nearly 2 months. Keith Ladzinski wanted to do some photo’s and I was up for the challenge. I was so stoked, the slab crux feels super easy now and the sloper traverse as well. I didn’t have much skin, but I was able to unlock a new sequence at the pin scar crux which makes things much easier for me, but still I have’t yet stuck the final campus match move. DESPERATO! It’s sort of a shame I wasn’t able to hook up with Paul Robinson during his visit here, but I had too many other commitments, summer in Squamish is a very busy time. But maybe when he returns to finish the route in Oct. Also, Yuji Hirayama arrived yesterday and has 4 weeks to crush everything he can. His first objective is to climb Cobra Crack, then who knows what else. Yesterday he onsighted (with many tick marks in place) the Zombie Roof, 5.12d/13a. Super impressive. I had dinner with him last night and many friends, he sounds keen to tear it up, two months of solid gym climbing, no rock, he’s fit, and when he’s fit, he’s unstoppable. Check this space for more updates.
Somehow I got sucked into doing a photography slideshow tonight at the Brew Pub here in Squamish BC. It’s part of the five day Mountain Fest they throw on here every year with climbing clinics, lectures, movies and slideshow party’s. Tonight is the event they call the “STEEP SHOT” contest. Basically, they invite five photographers to come in and put together a 5 minute multimedia presentation coordinated with music. There are three judges and the best performance overall wins the event. Last years champion Keith Ladzinski has been invited back to defend his title, but he’s got some stiff competition, Andrew Burr, Cory Richards and Susanica Tam. As for me, well, I think I’m the wild card, the local guy they felt sorry for, who didn’t have to pay for travel, who got invited only to make these other photographers look really good. But whatever, I’m perfectly okay with that, I get to share some images, crank some Nirvana and watch the event for free while guzzling free pints of beer. The only thing I hope is that I don’t make a complete fool of myself because of course, as I do, I was climbing all the time procrastinating the shit out of this project, until I had no other choice but to sit down at 11pm the night before it was due and pump it out. I stayed awake until 5am to get er done. So tired. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. ha ha ha.
You see the thing is, I’m not a photographer at all, the other peeps in this contest however, are, and are very talented and hard working photographers. They all have $5000 camera’s, (or more), they all travel the world non-stop for photo’s, they all work with the BEST climbers and athletes in the business and they all jug lines daily to get in the best location. Me, I’m a climber who more often than not is on the other side of the lens, and who sometimes takes pictures with my $500 camera. BIG difference. ha ha. But we all love climbing, we all love being outside and the truth is we all love to capture rare moments and share them with the world. Besides, it’s going to be fun as all hell and I hope everyone can come out and be inspired by these truly moving pictures tonight.
On that note, allow me to share two pictures I took yesterday during an early morning hike up the Chief, 7am start, the forest came alive to say hello and to greet me with it’s enchanting light. I love the Squamish forest. Hope you enjoyit too.
Last week the patagonia blog posted Lydia’s short account of her first experience wearing a wet suit. After reading it I was quite moved and so I’m posting it here because I think many of you will enjoy this….
I don’t know when it started for me, but somehow, over the last ten years, yoga as a practice has melted into everything I do, as a continuous flow. My favorite translation of the Sanskrit word Yoga implies that everything is already united. The practice part is learning how to pay attention to this wholeness in every waking moment.
Yoga usually starts with the most perceptible and tangible aspects of life: breathing and the body. The way people experience yoga in our culture today is usually in a studio setting where one is led through a sequence of postures to promote health and wellbeing. However, the practice of yoga does not have to be confined to a formal room or an hour-and-a-half time slot. It can be as simple as the act of listening. When playing outside, it’s amazing to me how this mindset can unmask a dull experience and expose a brilliant one. It has been a way for me to realize that boredom doesn’t exist.
