Sonnie Trotter

tough as nails brits…

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

I made this clip for the Five Ten website a few weeks ago,  I just thought I’d share it for anyone who missed it.  It’s basically, a totally raw, behind the scenes look at life on El Cap and the Prophet, with charming prince William.  No hero shots, no post production, no HD, just the two of us up there, laughing and living large.

P.S.  A note from Will Stanhope: Sorry to all the British folk out there for the terrible British accents.  Basically, it made us less scared to talk British on that rig: less like scaredy-cat Canadians, and more like tough-as-nails Brits like Jason Pickles and Leo Houlding.  But as you can see, we had loads of fun up there, even in the midst of make-or-break redpoint turmoil.

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I REALIZE…

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

…I have some catching up to do, it has been too long since I’ve posted anything, and for that, I am not as sorry as I thought I’d be:)   But there’ no time for it now,  the sun is shining.

Here’s a recap, we drove from Mount Lemon to Santa Fe, New Mexico, it was cold, but beautiful, Lydia participated in a meditation retreat, and I watched movies in a Motel 6, and did dead hangs off the bathroom door jams while the FBI put on rubber suits and investigated a room three doors down.  Our next stop was Hueco Tanks, Texas.  One of the best places to boulder in the entire world, but one of the worst places to find organic groceries.   Despite the good climbing, the restrictions and constant hoopla made me want to leave sooner than later.  But then miraculously, we bumped into two friendly faces from Ontario, Canada.  Leslie Timms and Kyle Thomas.  At the time they were more like acquaintances, but instantly became nothing less than great friends.  We were lucky enough to be invited to their camping spot, along with two more of the best people we’ve ever met, Jason Marshall and Karissa Dunbar.  What was once a struggle, became a joy, and we owe our great climbing days to their hospitality.  Check out Leslie’s hilarious, passionate and honest approach to life and climbing through her blog,  you’ll see why Hueco is worth the extra effort.  Click on the image below to visit her site…

Besides that, we are now in Arizona again to Squeeze the Lemon, and off to Vegas shortly.  With any luck, it will be a long time before I submit a new post:)

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Arizona Dreamin’

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

I’ve always wanted to climb at Mount Lemon.  Every since I saw that classic climbing film with Bobbi Bensman sewing up some delectable fissure on impeccable quartzy-granite, (many years ago now).  So, after spending a few days on the California Coast and nearly a week in Wonderland, AKA, J- Tree, Lydia and I packed the van and headed East.   As we crossed the boarder into AZ, one obvious thing struck our attention, the Joshua Tree’s abruptly ended and tall, Western-movie-like Cacti sprung up everywhere.  It was as if the boarder of the two states is marked by where these distinct plants grow and stop growing.  Tucson was a much nicer town than we had anticipated, I drove through it before, but never stopped.  It was clean and every person we met greeted us with what I can only describe as a sort of Canadian friendliness:)   And the air-quality seemed pretty clean for a desert city.

The next morning, we got up and I looked on Mountain Project for a climb to do.  What jumped out at us was the 4 star classic,  Steel Crazy, 5.9. 3 pitches.  So, that’s where we went, and that’s what we did.  Here’s a picture from the site that LURED us in.  Click to enlarge.

Thank you to the First Ascentionists of this climb, Mark Colby, Scott Ayers, it was very, very enjoyable.  We originally wanted to sport climb honestly, but after seeing this Fortress Feature, I just couldn’t imagine not doing it.  And if time allowed, then maybe we’d run up another classic, such as “Another Day in the Orifice”, 5.12b, but such was not the case and due to the cold and wind, we had to be back at the car before the sun went down.  Hope you enjoy some pics of our romantic day in the hills:)

Unfortunately when we arrived to the base of the ski resort the road ahead was closed.  Which another 2 miles to our approach.

Which was fine by me because I had to do some product testing with some patagonia samples and Five Ten shoes.  So the longer day was better for that, not to mention it was just a beautiful day for a hike.

The view from the “actual” parking lot.  At least there weren’t any crowds.  Just how we like it.

As she blazes a trail in search of the Fortress, Lydia floats atop the snow like an angel, and I plunge through, (no more Krispy Kreme for me).

Our first glimpse of the feature, albeit the backside.  The snowy spine from the summit was our descent, we left our bags where the tree line met the rock and hiked down with only our shoes and gear and one water bottle.  It worked out perfectly.

Lydia sticks the first crux on pitch one.

Looking up at pitch 2, looks steep!

Lyds styling one of the best 5.9’s in the world, 100 feet, steep, positive chicken head climbing, and perfectly bolted.

Still Cruising.

If you haven’t noticed, Lydia was my personal guide for the day, and did an excellent job.  Notice the featured (not to mention solid) rock.

It’s easy being cheesy.

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SENDING…

Monday, December 26th, 2011

….a Happy Holidays to all y’all  -  and a New Year too!

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BIG dream pics!

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

I just thought I’d upload some images that my friend Ben Ditto took during my time on Ambrosia.  He’s a generous, not to mention amazing photographer.  I really like his unique perspective on life and in his images like the one below.  It’s not a typical hero shot you’d see in the mags, there’s something different about it,  it’s subtle, like, reading between the lines or something.   The crash-pad you see in the foreground is put up on a rock, about 6 feet higher than the ground.  It’s there in case you blow the final tech sequence to the summit.  There’s no spotting on this climb.  Andrew Burr is above, hanging out with me, encouraging me.   Which brings me to my next point….

Some people ask me if having a photographer up there is distracting.  The honest truth is that it’s not.  Not when they are a good friend like Andrew is.  In this case it was more motivating.  I feel like when the camera guy is up there, in position and they want me to send nearly as much as I DO.  Then it actually helps me focus.  I feel like it’s GAME TIME.  Because they give me energy, they don’t take it away.  Not because of the kodak courage syndrome, but because they are my friends, and it’s nice to have their truly positive energy beside me, perhaps I don’t feel so alone.  Maybe one could argue it’s a performance enhancer?  ha ha.  For me, I think it just might be.  Take Cobra Crack for example, I never wanted to be filmed on it.  Because I don’t like being filmed, ESPECIALLY on climbs I haven’t done yet.  But then Paul Bride (one of my best friends in the world) said, “Why don’t I just go up there and check out the angles, for an actual video shoot we’ll do later”, for both of us it was just a recon mission, but having him up there with me, cheering me on with his energy, was possibly just the kick I needed – I sent the route on my first try that day – the first time anyone pulled out a video camera.  It wasn’t the camera it was the positive energy.  Call me a cheater if you like, but I like hanging out with my friends in cool places, trying to climb cool faces, it’s as simple as that.  And it’s nice.  Another example (one of many) is the Prophet.  Ben Moon on a last minute mission, rappelled down the day of the hardest pitch, and he was all smiles and high fives, his energy lightened the mood and the pressure and allowed me to just smile and do what I love, which is climb up some rocks.  It was satisfying to send, and having him with us.

Without trying to sound too ‘cosmic’, as my friend Will Stanhope likes to say, I know you can’t always have a brother (or sister) around, dangling from a rope above, but sometimes when it’s on the line, it’s a nice way to distribute the vibe, and share the experience.

Okay, that’s my rant for the day, I have to go do yoga, apparently Ted Danson is in this class, it’s for stiff old guys like myself, Which is exactly what the class is called.  It’s on the brochure.

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‘B.I.G’ DREAMS!

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

While the big boys like Nalle, Woods and Ondra have all been busy warming up on V14 flashes around the world, (which is absolutely mind crushing to think about),  I’ve been eeeeeezzing my way back into bouldering in California.  The weather has been absolutely dreamy in Bishop, like 50 degree’s on average, but sunny every day with a slight breeze.  One could hardly ask for more.  Bishop was our first stop since leaving Yosemite, and it was also our last.  What was supposed to be a 2 week trip, kept magically extending itself.  Suddenly, 4 weeks passed and I just began to ‘feel’ it again.

Not going into it much, (because I’ve already written about it on the BD Journal), but basically, El Cap took a lot out of me, the long days stacked on top of each other,  the lack of sleep and the long drive as well, when I arrived in Bishop for the first week, I felt like a Zombie.  Only after the second week did I start to remember how to climb rocks again.  And only after the third week did I feel ready to climb them.

Since I lack the firepower to climb anything hard, I focused on the beautiful.  Bishop as far as I can tell is probably the WORLDS BEST climbing area for BIG.  I’d include BOLD in that statement, but bold is relative. As you may know, there’s been a flurry of activity in the last 5-10 years in Bishop and climbers like Kevin Jorgeson, Ethan Pringle and Shawn Diamond  have all been adding there signature routes on the hillsides.  Whenever I think of Bishop, I think of the Buttermilks, naturally, they’re some of the most inspiring blocks I’ve ever seen.   We may as well be on the moon up there.

Which only reminds me of how silly climbing really is, ha ha ha.  Basically, we drive all the way from wherever we live, sometimes up to 20 hours, to drive up a bumpy corduroy road, to hike into the desert, to climb up some obscure friable rock that someone actually gave a name to, via a path of holds that someone else named something differently.   They’re sort of like Pet Rocks.  Pictured above is the Grandpa Peabody Boulder.  Home to Ambrosia, probably the biggest, baddest ass highball in Bishop. Below is the road to the boulders with the high Sierra’s that surround them in the background.  It’s a land of stunning and drastic contrast.

Lydia crushed a slew of V5’s showing that she continues to be the strongest, sexiest off the couch climber I know.

The relatively unknown Alex Honnold came out as well, to climb some big rocks with me, offer moral support, two mondo pads, and steroidal levels of psyche.  Pictured below I tie my shoelaces underneath the Golden Boulder.  Above me is a 20 foot tall, 8 move sequence, stunning line of chicken-heads we called, “On the Shoulders of Giants”.  It clocks in around a “supple” V9, but is unique in the sense that it actually requires an Old Alpine technique where you stand on the shoulders of your climbing partner.  Hence the name.  It’s absolutely classic:)

There’s a very obvious starting hold for both hands about 10 feet up the wall, and a savage opening sequence from the start that still remains a project.  I’ve seen V14’s before, and this thing looks harder to me, not to mention, painful.  But shit, they are only rocks, and we are only PLAYING around – so why not see it as a glass half full?  Instead of thinking, “oh damn, it’s too bad those incredible holds are so high up the wall”, why not say, “OH damn, look at those incredible holds, lets go up there and climb on them”.   And so we did.

‘On the Shoulders of Giants’ is one of the best problems I have ever done, even with the contrived yet hilarious start.   I managed the climb on my first try after a solid TR session from last week.  Alex, intrigued, stepped up, ground up, and climbed perfectly.  He sort of jumped off the crux, proving that the landing is perfectly safe and flat.  Then, under the watchful eye’s of curious bystanders, he sent beautifully on his second try!  Nice job Hondo.  I’ll see if I can upload some video of that one.

And below,  a photograph sent to me by a new friend, Julien Lecorps,  just after the crux on Giants.

We also sent the amazing Luminance that day, V9 and the day before that, I pulled my emotions together for a rope free ascent of Ambrosia V11.  Which I personally think that after the giant foothold broke last year is now possibly, a mushy V12, since I think it’s considerably harder than all the other V11’s I’ve done in Bishop.  But maybe it’s the nature of highballs, maybe they all get inflated grades because they are scary.  I don’t know.  I’m not a great boulderer.  I’m just glad I did it and nothing broke and I didn’t fall.  It was really a dream of mine since watching Kevin’s first ascent.  A BIG dream.  I have never linked to the dreaded Hueco before, but as soon as I did, I knew I didn’t want to do it again.  Keep calm and carry on, says a friend of mine…I just breathed my way to the top.

On the last day before I left, Alex convinced me to rally up for “Transporter Room” V5/6 on the same boulder.  He called it Ambrosia’s little brother.  Which it thankfully was, but the rock was not perfect up there and to be honest, I’ll never do either of them again.  ha ha ha.

Watch this outstanding performance from the 15 year old Enzo Oddo, and watch Dan Beall climbing Luminance and watch Kevin make the second ascent of Transporter Room. Thanks for reading.  best wishes.

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OUTSIDE

Friday, December 9th, 2011

I love being outside.  Naturally.  I also like going to the grocery store after a hard days climbing for a bag of Newmans Own organic chocolate chip cookies and seeing Outside Magazine on the shelf at the checkout.  With stoic poses of Kelly Slater and Lance Armstrong on the cover, and headers like, “The top 10 places you should never live,  ever”.  Or, “Why the outdoor industry just isn’t cool anymore.  And what you can do about it”.  But the online version is a different beast, with it’s many drop down menu’s, news flashes and rotating imagery, or is it?

A few days ago, a friend sent his congratulations along with this link…OUTSIDE MAGAZINE. .com.   Quite frankly, I’m still not sure what to make of it, should I be psyched, or embarrassed?  Can you really create a top ten Best list for climbing sites?  Really?  Wow.

Without wanting to sound like one of those annoying pot head conspiracy theorists, but sometimes, I wonder if they do this sort of thing to collect data and information?   Seriously, (not really), but sort of…lets say for example, that they do this for every sport they cover, climbing, running, biking, swimming, skiing, whatever it is,  (they cover a lot of rad sports), oh yah, surfing, paddle-boarding, yadda yadda yadda.  I’m not prying, I’m just curious, I think it’s good to wonder, even if you sound like a dink.  So anyway, ya, lets say they run a ‘TOP TEN BEST BLOG’ list on every sport,  then, they sit back, and collect the data.  If every blog does what I do, which is publicly pat themselves on the back, (and I suspect they will), then Outside Mag.com will get an increased number of hits from each site,  (or Facebook likes), won’t they?

I’m no intraweb specialist, so correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that how it works, and can’t they tell where these “HITS” are coming from?   If so, then they probably pay some young keen intern from Boulder, Colorado to stay late and crunch the numbers.  Maybe it’s just a fun way to celebrate climbing, or maybe it’s a target market research experiment, maybe it’s to see who the largest user groups are, and to specifically sell advertising to reach them?  Maybe they’ll learn that SURFING got 10 Trillion pingbacks or whatever they’re called. and CLIMBING only got like 1,432 because it just so happens that Adam Ondra recently sent another V16 and the video is SICK – which by the way, it WAS, watch Adam crushing HERE.

But, it’s all in good fun I suppose, (isn’t everything?), not to mention good business sense too, so I’ll roll with it, why not?

It sort of feels like when you do a climb that’s unexplainably easy for you – maybe you’re just tall enough, or just short enough, or your finger fits in that little tiny pocket like so, or maybe you’re too damn strong, or you’re wearing lucky pink underwear, the point is, you crushed it, then you say, “there’s no way that’s a 5./V/A/Whatever”.  BUT,  your friends kindly remind you that it IS printed in the guidebook bro, it’s been published dude,  so you take it, and why wouldn’t you, who cares, mark it down in your little pocketbook with a little red pen, like my buddy Alex Honnold does, then smile, pat yourself on the back and move onto the next climb, which, if you’re like me, you’ll then get schooled on and beat down.

The moral of this dribbling rant is that we all have little surprises out there waiting for us, ones we should be grateful for, and this one in Outside Magazine is no different, I’ll mark down with a little yellow LINK,  to say THANK YOU, it’s truly an honor, my mom and dad will be proud of me:) not to mention my sponsors, which I’ll be sure to politely share this news with, so I can hound them for a few extra bucks to get my sorry ass to Hueco in January.  he he:)    Okay, enough deep (and ridiculous) thoughts. Thanks Outside, I love you, please keep up the GREAT work.

P.S.  Congrats to all the bloggers on the list, and props to Narc for being #1.  Respect!!

P.P.S.  What’s a blog these days without imagery,  I’ll leave you with pictures of Bishop and the The beautiful ancient Bristlecone Pines!  Peace!

The Thunderbird is a Bishop CLASSIC.  It’s affordable, warm, and located right downtown.

The 4000 year old Bristlecone Pines are not only true survivors, they are stunning.

Bishop is located in the Deepest Valley on the Continent, surrounded by 14,000 ft peaks.

The Buttermilks, always a pleasant place to drink more coffee.

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ST+R&I

Sunday, November 27th, 2011

It’s very difficult to talk about the climbs we have done (anyone) without sounding arrogant, but screw it, I’ll let it fly….

As far as the pure aesthetics of a line,  I’d say the Cobra Crack and The Shining are two of the most beautiful First Ascents I’ve ever done.  This fall, I had the pleasure of working with the Rock and Ice crew again.  They’re amazing.  So dedicated to telling great stories and pumping out quality imagery and it’s an honor to be able to tell ours through their pages this month.  January 2012, Issue # 199.

A bit of background:  This summer, I recruited Tommy Caldwell to join me on a 7 year dream.  To free climb the Diamond Face on Mount Louis, (pronounced Louie).  Our new climb is called the Shining and turned out to be a little harder than we expected.  It had been in my mind ever since my friend Eric Dumerac had told me about the rock quality, and it’s probable 5.13 cruxes, AND it had been taunting me every single year since.  Each summer I would stare up at it from the highway and promise “ONE DAY”.  But life happens and I put it off again and again.  Until this July when I basically stole TC and we dedicated 3 long climbing days to equipping it’s upper face, and then 2 more to freeing it.  To this day it’s one of the raddest things I have ever done.  For Tommy, it may just be another day of climbing.  ha ha.

To read the full story, please check out the current issue of Rock and Ice, you’ll know it because Lonnie Kauk (yup, Ron’s sickly strong son) is on the cover climbing Separate Reality.  It’s a great issue.  Good stories by Alex Honnold and Dean Potter.  Also check out the Mickey Schaefer interview, great guy, very talented climber, turned mega talented photographer.  Click below.

Below are a few point and click teaser pics from our fun adventure in the high and wild.  15 pitches in all, from 5.6 to 5.13+.  We kept most of it a secret until the issue came out, because we wanted to tell the story properly.  Now that it’s out, pick it up and enjoy.    Oh and CLICK on images to enlarge them!

A peek through the tree’s.  This image only shows the upper 3rd of Mt. Louis.

After a 3 hour hike, Tommy gets stoker near the base of the limestone mountain.

A little snow traverse brings us to a VERY foreshortened perspective of the Diamond Face.

A lawn chair?  Why not.  For comfort, in an uncomfortable place.  Check the issue for more details on this….ha ha ha….

An ocean of limestone.  Where to go next?  Tommy blazes straight up the middle.

A beautiful place to hang, if it were not for the crowds.

Rappelling off on our first day of inspection, the wall looms above and taunts our inevitable return.

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New York Times, Ad of the century!

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

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A CHAPTER ENDS!

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

Wow.  What a roller coaster.  As life is I suppose.  The Highest of highs, and Lowest of lows.  It’s a beautiful thing really.  I’m now in Bishop, California, with my incredible wife Lydia, I don’t mean to brag, but she gets more beautiful with each day:)  I am soo lucky.  I missed her dearly, I didn’t even realize how much until I saw her at the San Fransisco airport 2 days ago.  But there’s a sad truth that when you’re so focused on a project such as the Prophet, time literally just flies by. Days turn into weeks and you don’t even think twice about it.  Looking back now, most of it’s a blur.

5 weeks in the Valley, 5 failed ground up attempts, 4 days in Lake Tahoe, 2 days in Santa Cruz, and over 25 days climbing, hiking, rappelling, hauling and slogging.  El Cap is a glorious son of a bitch – that’s a fact.  And the Prophet, is one of the richest, most deeply rooted climbing experiences I have ever had, with a partner who’s got both a boyish charm, a man’s ambition, and a spirit that’s tougher than leather.  It was more like an expedition than a climbing trip.

I’m a little sad, but a little happy to report that this seasons El Cap Chapter has ended.  It’s time to shift again.  Bishop is a mellow place with lots of sun, a great crew of amazing people, and all I want to climb are tiny little rocks, in fact, the smaller the better, ha ha ha!

In the end, after two snow storms, two flight changes, and after Tommy spent 16 days on the Dawn Wall, Will Stanhope and I got our lucky break.  Heading up the day before my birthday, on Nov 14th, and 2 days before Will’s birthday (Novemeber 16th), we embarked on a final attempt and we were the only climbers on all of El Cap.  That was an odd but invigorating feeling.  Our dream was to breakthrough the “Screamer” pitch on day one, and continue up the wall hauling and grinding on the pitches we had rappelled into and send the entire climb, all free, in one continuous push over 3 days.

The stars were aligning.

To make a long story short.  On the very last day, I desperately managed to redpoint the A1 Beauty pitch on my second try in evening light.  I was overwhelmed with euphoria.  Putting Will on belay, he climbed brilliantly, as he hit his personal high point I thought it was in the bag, he looked calm and strong, he then climbed beyond it, past the crux.  It was all happening in slow motion in my eyes.  But it WAS happening.  Stanhope on the other hand told me later that THAT was when he knew he had nothing left.  He hit the end of the rope and swung into the abyss.  Weighting the cord for a flash he got back on and continued to the anchor.

We had both given it nearly everything we had.  Only saving enough mojo for the next 5.12 pitch and the Final Defence, 5.13-, which we completed by headlamp and adrenalin.  The next morning, Will heroically tried the A1 Beauty pitch again.  After 3 days of hard, scary climbing, he mustered the energy and psyche for 4 honest attempts at dawn.  But ultimately, his skin was too thin, our knuckles swollen, and our muscles aching.  We had climbed 6 out of 8 days.  He calmly surrendered and vowed to return as soon as possible.  There isn’t enough time or words to explain it all, but in a nut shell, I have so much respect for Will’s determination and motivation.  He’s one of the best and strongest climbing partners I have ever had and I could not imagine doing the route with anyone else.  It was a truly unforgettable experience.  I know he’ll be back because that’s the type of person he is, and because he told me before I dropped him off at the airport for a trip to China with Matt Segal and company.  We talked about the remarkable failures in climbing, and how in many ways they trump the summits.  We grow the most in those moments.

But more than any of that, what I’ll remember forever are the really little things.  The chocolate cup cakes Kyle Berkompas rappelled down to us on our birthday, the cold beers we drank on the port-a-ledge on the night of our birthdays, the 50 0r so shooting stars I saw, the cold mornings and hot coffee wrapped up in warm sleeping bags.  Watching the horsetail waterfall pour over the top.  Getting text messages from Tommy Caldwell and friends in the Meadow.  Laughing with Paul Bride over Simpson’s episodes.  Calling Lydia every night to report on our progress.  Hearing the cheers from the valley floor when we ticked off another pitch on our quest.  Seeing Ben Moon rappel down above us to capture some pictures.  The sunsets that engulfed us in orange and purple light.  The magnitude of the wall, the exposure and belaying Will on the Devils Dyno pitch, absolutely one of the wildest and most memorable belays of my belying career.

It wasn’t just the A1 beauty pitch, it was everything, all wrapped up into one massive and ideal chapter.  The beginning and end of everything.  I think it was the most savage and satisfying rock climb of my life.  One of the hardest routes I have ever done.  My first El Cap route ever.  And I’m glad it’s over.

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