PACKING!
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Going to Sin City tomorrow, then who knows where….
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Archive for March, 2010
SUNSHINE!
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
“GONE FISHING”
If yesterday wasn’t THE MOST beautiful day in Squamish history, I don’t know what was. Today is looking to be about the same and tomorrow too. I’ll admit, I have shit to do, essays to write, photo’s to tweak, taxes to file, bills to pay, video’s to edit but I just can’t do it. Not with skies as blue as these. There’s just no way, screw it, I’m calling in sick.
Yesterday I stuffed two packs full of gear, ropes, racks, wire brushes and a hand saw and set off for the Second Summit. There’s a line up there I’ve been eye balling for three years, I could never find a partner who wanted to check it out with me, seems like most of my friends are busy pumping out the next generation of granite masters. So off I went, Hans Solo Style, with knees buckling under the weight of my 80 meter 11mm static line and all my crap piled on top of it.
Standing on the edge, I took in the view for 2 whole minutes, then I built an anchor, rapped over the side and spent the better part of five hours moving up and down the rope trying to find a weakness out of this wall. The exposure is about as intense as Squamish rock can get, it’s 1500 feet straight down. A drop zone for base-jumpers I believe. I felt a bit like Tommy Caldwell in Yosemite, but a weaker, skinnier, less committed and more terrified version:) The crux is that the wall is massive and it traverses significantly, like 150 feet, so in order to make certain that features connected, I had to keep jugging back to the top, moving the rope, rebuilding the anchor and rapping back in again, repeat, repeat, repeat.
BUT…
I think I found a line. 80 percent of it’s going to be difficult and fun, the other 20 percent however is going to be desperate if it goes at all and sharp as all hell. Razor burn sharp, with no footholds. Just squeezing the life out of some broken glass like crystal. That’s if I can even reach between the little fuckers. We’ll see, I would be very excited to know that it’s got real potential, that it’s possible, but right now, it’s hard to say, I think, I hope, is the best I can offer to you and myself.
Ain’t she beautiful? Three potential pitches of blistering bliss above. The sunshine was definitely an injection of motivation for this search, but so has been the BDEL journal.
As we all know, Tommy Caldwell is the “King of the Captain”. I think TC and Alex Honnold and Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra are the most exciting rock climbers in the world right now. I know there are more, this is just my personal opinion as of today. I recently read Tommy’s mini essay about his attempts on Mescalito at the Black Diamond website. I’ve been friends with Tommy for a long time, but I’ve been a fan of Tommy for even longer, and I’ve read many of his articles. This one is short, but it’s as powerful as any I can remember. REALLY good job Tommy, I loved it. Keep up the good work on that rig. We wish you success for all your hard efforts.
PLEASE CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF, NOW. and have a great day….
| Posted in Climbing | 4 Comments »
HILARIOUS!
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Thanks for all the feedback everyone, it’s much appreciated. I’ve gotten some great emails as well, and honestly, it’s not an easy choice to make, the odds that anything will happen are probably tiny, but the odds that if something did happen it will end in violence, are significant. So lets change the mood here shall we? Here’s an email I got from a friend yesterday, hilarious fairy tale…
“Once upon a time, a guy asked a beautiful girl ‘Will you marry me?’ The girl said, ‘NO!’ And the guy lived happily ever after and rode motorcycles and went fishing and hunting and played golf a lot and drank beer and scotch and had tons of money in the bank and left the toilet seat up and farted whenever he wanted.”
The end
And here’s a video I found on youtube. Also, hilarious….
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Booking Tickets to Mexico!
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
MAYBE! As I sit here at my desk, drinking coffee, looking at flight prices to Phoenix, Arizona. I get an e-mail from my mother who asks me to reconsider my trip to Mexico. For good reason. What are mothers for? I love her dearly. She then tells me to read the latest news blast from the Yahoo home page about the recent shootings from the drug wars. I am supposed to leave on March 23rd, meeting up with Andrew Burr and Alex Honnold, then we drive south to Hermosillo and then east bound into the mountains of Copper Canyon, then upwards on Logical Progression. What do you think? Should we go regardless? Is it worth it? What would you do?
OTTAWA – The federal government has issued a warning to Canadians who might be venturing into northern Mexico.
The alert comes after two Americans were shot to death across the border from El Paso, Texas last weekend, in Ciudad Juarez. Foreign Affairs in Ottawa is advising Canadians not to travel to that city, if they don’t have to. The shootings appear to be tied to drug wars and turf battles that have claimed 18,000 lives in Mexico since 2007. The weekend deaths prompted Texas officials to warn college students to avoid Mexico during their spring break.
But Claire Newell of Jubilee Travel notes that resort spots like Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, the Mayan Riviera, Ixtapa and Huatulco are very well policed. But she says even in safe spots, it’s wise to avoid potential danger by not drinking excessively or by wandering off the beaten track.
| Posted in Climbing | 21 Comments »
NO TITLE
Monday, March 15th, 2010
If you’re bored today like most people, and you’re dreaming about when you can finally move to Squamish and live the life you were meant to live, then here’s a few superbly cheesy, and highly commercial (yet granted well executed) videos to keep the dream alive. The music gets quite annoying after you’ve watched about 2 of them, but there’s no denying that they behold beautiful cinematography and a great marketing campaign.
I was asked to participate in these commercials last summer. I said NO because I felt like a complete tool saying the words, “I am the spirit of Squamish”. I hope that doesn’t offend anyone. I just could not sit in front of a camera and crew and say that line with a straight face. Impossible. I think the mountains are the spirit, but not me. I’m a nobody fool, just here for a short time trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I think the tag line should have been “THIS is the spirit of Squamish” not “I”. I, is lame. Just my opinion. But I’m glad these were made, I think, they do an excellent job at showcasing our outdoor activities, friends, and peaceful lifestyles here.
But these youtube files have a down side, they will probably draw more crowds here, and more population which cuts into what makes the Sea to Sky so amazing and wild. Understandably, this pisses a lot of people off. But please don’t forget, at some point or another we are all “imports” to this area. Immigrants if you will. Aliens. What really makes you a local I wonder? I first came here in the year 2000, roughly 10 years ago, some of our friends came about 30 years ago and we met one family who arrived 50 years ago, and so on. We are all coming from somewhere and we should try to embrace that other people will want to come here and live here as well. Why wouldn’t you?
Last month Lydia and I took a vacation to see the Islands of Hawaii and surf the waters. It came across to us at least that the (typically white) American citizens who lived there felt (for some strange reason) that they were special people. That they were better than you and me because we were just a tourist and they were “temporary residents”. Basically, many of the surfing worlds working class caucasian locals were (for lack of a better word), grumpy assholes. Which would never deter me from going back and enjoying the beauty of the area and meeting non asshole like people – BUT STILL – it’s as if they act like that just to fit in, so that outsiders won’t feel too comfortable and try to move there. Even if they could afford it. I watched them on many occasions going out of their way to be dicks to tourists, it’s like it’s part of the white man from the main land’s social responsibility. Each annoying roll of the eyes from some blond douche with a tan serving coffee at Starbucks said in bold type “I can fly over here from New York City during the winter months and live the beach bum life, but screw you if you try and do it too, I’m significant damnit“. What a crock of shit. That mentality really got to me bones. It’s weak and narrow minded and so very self important. When we got back to Squamish, it reminded me how calm and genuine it is here. I hope it can stay like this during the next 10 years, 50 years, 100 years. But who can say? I’ll do my personal best to remember what’s it’s like to be a tourist here, and I’ll try to be as friendly as I can, if I’m not, I’m sorry, it’s because I fell off my project earlier that day, or I recognized you from Haleiwa.
On to the videos and the editors note at the bottom…enjoy…
MOUNTAIN BIKING
ROCK CLIMBING
HIKING
KITE BOARDING
FAMILY
PLEASE NOTE: Not everyone in Hawaii were assholes. In fact, with all honesty, some of the coolest most laid back down to earth folk I had ever met were on that trip, BUT it only takes a few rotten apples to spoil it for everyone else. Please show respect and kindness and appreciation for the life you and we lead. It’s a wonderful world.
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Big Willy Style!
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
The 23 year old from North Vancouver is back at it again, this time with a slide show in Bellingham, WA. Perhaps the coolest place South of Squamish and North of Portland. Will is one of my many hero’s, he’s a natural entertainer, humble, real and with a passion for climbing that exceeds most. It’s his passion that allows him to achieve so much in the vertical world. When most climbers cough up excuses, will coughs up a can of Kokanee, then sends his project. In this photo below Will (green t-shirt) and Jason Kruk play safe at the Five Ten booth in Salt Lake City. Check out his blog for details, but more importantly, go to the show, I believe it’s free. (CLICK ON THE IMAGE)
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Whoa! Whoa!
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
…hold on just a cotton pickin minute. Not that Smith Rock or Australia don’t sound incredible, although I’ve been to both of them before….
Sonnie may have found a partner for his dream trip to Mexico.
Sonnie is getting very stoked again to climb some limestone.
Sonnie will share more soon, when, where and with who.
Thanks for your patience, keep up the pulling down.
Namaste!
P.S. Here’s a tip when doing pull-ups. Instead of pulling your body UP, try to think of pulling your elbows DOWN, it’s weird, but it will feel easier.
| Posted in Climbing | 5 Comments »
deep thoughts!
Monday, March 8th, 2010
So my climbing partner for Mexico, Tim Emmett, broke his ankle last week (no not base jumping, cat skiing). We were supposed to leave on March 13th, but his cast won’t be removed for 3-4 weeks. So, it looks like the El Gigante trip will have to be postponed. Shit. In the meantime, I need to find somewhere to go and climb, the weather here has been SICKy beautiful, but I need more consistency, and vitamin D. Hmmm, maybe back down south, Nevada? Cali? Arizona? Maybe Smith? We’ll see, where my heart and available partners and cheap plane tickets take me. We’ll see…I got some deep thinking to do. Very deep.
In the meantime, here’s a cool little clip of Tim for his lecture tour last year, he’s incredibly animated and makes for a perfect public speaker, not to mention climbing partner, and there’s something about that goddamn British accent, it doesn’t matter what they say, it always sounds sort of interesting, those bastards got it all lined up, even when they’re drunk (which is much of the time) they still sound engaging, even more so perhaps. That’s probably the reason more North American athletes aren’t proper television stars, they sound like idiots when they get drunk where as the Brits, sound they’re even smarter than sober.
Tim Emmett 09 lecture tour from Speakers from the Edge on Vimeo.
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What’s the ROI ?
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
ROI - Many a Western man and woman will live and die by this one agonizing question,
What Is the return on my Investment?
If it’s high, move forward, if it’s just medium, then perhaps sit and chill for a while, and if it’s low, you’ll probably want to pull out, sometimes literally. This can be applied to many things in our often shallow society, work, training, relationships, finances, diet, whatever you can think of. Nearly everything has an ROI, with the exception of spirituality perhaps, which (physically speaking) there is very little “return” (except for the one you give to yourself). It seems to me at least, spirituality means having faith, ROI means having facts.
So with that being said, here’s a training video that my new friend Bailey Manson sent me regarding a new-ish grip strength routine. Or at least it’s new to me, I’m sure the Chinese have been doing this for thousands of years already. Anyway, check it out, and please give us some feedback, we’d like to hear if anyone out there has any thoughts on this or are doing this already. If nothing else, it looks like a great way to get the blood pumping, but then again, what’s the ROI?…
Here’s my Two Cents.
1. That dude with the bleached blond hair is sort of intense. 2. You could probably do this with whey protein cookie dough as well, and when you’re done, just pop that shit in the oven and presto, you got yourself a tasty energy bar at the end of it all:) ha ha.
But seriously, I think it’s a super interesting idea, and I may even give it a shot one day, just to see what it feels like. I think stronger muscles almost always create better climbers, (i.e. Nels Rossasen) and this seems to me as though it will definitely get you stronger, pump more lactic acid through the veins and get you to recover quicker too. Also, it will help strengthen rotation, mobility and the smaller more stabilizing tissues. I like it. But, how well it translates to REAL climbing? I don’t know. From what I’ve learned, hard rock is generally about how much force you can put on your finger tips, and then maintain core strength and wrist control throughout body movement without letting that force slip. I still think hangboarding and fingerboarding workouts would deliver better direct results. Basically, I think rice buckets will help with overall grip strength, like for ice climbing and mixed climbing, and probably pitching and hitting baseballs, but slightly less for face climbing and crack climbing purposes, (unless you’re on big roof holds and tufa’s) but small edge crimping probably not as drastically. But still, it’s kinda cool and worth a try I suppose!
| Posted in Climbing | 10 Comments »
