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Archive for May, 2011

Canmore, World Cup!

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Hey check out my man CLIMBINGNARC.com for an extended list of the US turnout at last weeks World Cup event in Canmore, Alberta. This guy is ON IT. If you ever need to know what’s going on in the world of climbing, but don’t want to be bombarded with hero favor-a-tism or one sided opinions, check out his blog, he’s got (mostly) all the coverage you could ask for, plus a light weight and polite attitude towards it all. You won’t find as much snarky-ness on his site if someone makes a mistake, people are very respectful on this forum I find and if they’re not, the NARC keeps them in check. Which I like. Keeps me coming back.

I’ll try to get some good photo’s from the comp up here soon, I’m pumped them boys and girls from the Bow Valley made it all happen like that. Again, big up to the volunteers, the route-setters, Dung at the Vsion, the Alpine Club of Canada for recognizing this was a good healthy step to take and making it come to life. Mucho respecto.

| Posted in Climbing | 2 Comments »

BIG PLAYERS in the BIG MOUNTAINS!

Sunday, May 29th, 2011

While I have often wished to be two places at once, this weekend, I wish I could have been at three!

You see, there’s a part of me that never wants to leave Squamish, it’s big, beautiful and is home to one of the best most humble climbing and outdoor communities I can think of. On the other hand, I am a selfish bastard (working on that) and another part of me wants to travel the World. Well this weekend, I was torn in three’s. On one hand I had an obligation to be in Portland, Oregon to pick up my van, it was pretty much the only window I had to make it happen, so that’s where I am now. While on the other hand, the Alpine Club of Canada in partnership with MEC scenic Canmore, Alberta hosted the HISTORIC FIRST EVER World Cup Bouldering event on Canadian soil. I’ve never been to a Bouldering World Cup, and what better way to experience it than outdoors in the Rocky Mountains? For more info, check out these links and see the results below. This is a big step for competition climbing in Canada. I personally think it’s great for our athletes and even our mountain community at large. A HUGE high five to all the peeps who came together to pull this off, looking at the FB page, it looks like a pile of fun. I’ll be there next time, no half-way about it. Keep cranking y’all and congrats to all the athletes….

http://www.facebook.com/alpineclubofcanada?closeTheater=1

http://www.ifscclimbing.ca/

http://ifsc.tv/

http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/

Women’s

1. Akiyo Noguchi (Japan)

2. Anna Stohr (Austria)

3. Jain Kim (Korea)

4. Juliane Wurm (Germany)

5. Mina Markovic (Slovenia)

6. Alex Puccio (USA)

Men’s

1. Tsukuru Hori (Japan)

2. Klemen Becan (Slovenia)

3. Sean McColl (Canada)

4. Stefan Danker (Germany)

5. Atsushi Shimizu (Japan)

6. Wouter Jongeneelen (Netherlands)

| Posted in Climbing | 1 Comment »

EMS NY NY

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Thanks to all the radical peeps who came out to the Five Ten Slide Show in So Ho New York on Monday! I had a blast being there and meeting all of you, and I hope you got a kick out of some of my adventures. The EMS store New York is smaller than most locations, but what they lack in square footage, they certainly make up for in goods and services. Outgoing friendly folks and floor to ceiling climbing gear (like tri-cams and shit – ya). Wall to wall shoes, bikes and kayaks. A very fun store in all, in a location that will leave you feeling a bit wide eyed if you’re not from an urban area like myself. It’s a crazy place New York, foot traffic moves faster than auto traffic, and every single walk of life imaginable roam the streets. It’s certainly a sight to see. Thanks again:) I’m now in the Gunks of New Paltz, upper NY, hanging with my hero and legendary climber Russ Clune. Unfortunately, the rain has not let up, but, like always, Dana and I are making the best of it. But I will be in Burlington Vermont tonight, and back here to do another slide show for Five Ten at Rock and Snow on Saturday night. Looking forward to it, if you can, come on out, and I’ll show you the photo’s the magazines can’t print. ha ha ha!See y’all soon and thanks for the killer recommendations of all the places to go, (post below) but I can’t see it happening this trip, I have to be back after the weekend and the forecast doesn’t look promising, but it’s aalllllll goood, I’ll most likely be back this fall. And next spring, and next fall, and next spring and next fall and…….

| Posted in Climbing | 3 Comments »

East Coast!

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Yo what’s up y’all? What’s everybody saying? How’s the weather in your area? How’s the motivation? Anybody sending? Any new adventures? Always I hope. It’s been a crazy year eh! Wh0a! La Nina? What’s that all about anyway? I’m in Providence right now, it’s pouring rain here today, and yesterday too, bummer, but we did take a sweet stroll through Lincoln Woods – what impeccable rock, very aesthetic, great texture. I even got an itch to rap down a line that we spotted, just to see if there were any holds. There were. Like mega tiny crimps on a 15 degree wall, maybe next time, when it’s dry.

I’m hanging with Dana Seaton the New England Five Ten Rep, we’re on our way to New York City today for a slide show and visit. I’m looking forward to it. We’ll get to hit the Gunks this week as well. Hopefully the skies will clear long enough for a few pitches. We have a 3 hour drive ahead of us to shake off the ring in our ears. Imagine this…Social Distortion, in a theater of maybe 1000 people. We were front and center. There were some big boys and girls in the mosh pit, like B.I.G. – but friendly. Although dressed in leather hats, studded pants, long mullets and tattoo’s, most of the peeps kept a very high level of civilization on the floor. Nobody got hurt, nobody lost anything, except for a shoe, and the music was crystal clear, with amazing sound throughout. One of the best live show’s I’ve ever been to. If you get a chance to see these guys before they either die, retire or break up, do it, they will rock the house, you will sweat and in the morning you’ll be left with the lyrics of ‘Ring of Fire’, and ‘Story of my Life’ circling inside your head, and the mumbling of your friends will be lost behind the sweet distorted sound of the electric guitar. It was perfect. Thanks Dana and Kaila for the tickets! Hope to see you all in New York. Keep killing out there, life is short.

| Posted in Climbing | 7 Comments »

Has it happened already?

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Have we run out of fresh ideas? Are we starting to make copies of the originals? It’s almost as though they held the Rock and Ice issue in their hand before they took this shot for Rock. Maybe it’s a coincidence? Maybe not. Either way, it’s pretty funny, must be a good shot, they both made the cover. What’s most interesting here from a photographers perspective is that you can take nearly the exact same photo from nearly the exact same place, and still get a different image, a different feeling, a different perspective. One will work better than another nearly every time. And what is that “THING” that makes it work? We’ve all seen this in our own photography, we’ll take dozens of images within the same moment and yet one picture will shine above the others. Goes to show we need knowledge of the gear, experience, a keen eye and a bit of luck. Lets keep it fresh if we can shall we! This might take more work, more hustle, more creativity, but when you land a shot, that nobody’s done, and you nail it, that’s the reward. With any good fortune, you might even make a few bucks.