Posts Tagged ‘Sonnie Trotter’

TALL STOREY!

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Happy Civic Day Long Weekend my fellow ‘Eh’ people.  I’m sitting in a cafe in trundy Kitsilano, Vancouver.  “Trundy” is a new word I just made up right now, it means Trendy and Yuppy at the same time.  But clearly my need to make fun, simply advertises my jealousy for such a tidy neighborhood.  I too wish I had both a 2010 BMW and a counterculture 1974 Volkswagon van sitting in my driveway, it’s true, they both look like so much fun to drive.  Although I could do without the skinny jeans and the twin Weimaraner’s for now.  Also, I can’t help but wonder if the dual surfboards on the top of the mini-bus actually get wet from time to time?

It’s now 7am on Monday morning, and the streets are glowing from a mango colored sun.  Old men and hipsters alike walk the streets outside with coffee, newspapers and cigarettes in hand.  The roads have few cars, the city slickers must be sleeping in today.  Hopefully not too much, some University, Somewhere, just released a study recently that says “more than 7 hours sleep and less then 5 can dramatically increase your chances of getting” something bad for your health I’m sure.  Which isn’t good news for me, I like my 8-9 hours.  Maybe athletes are allowed a little more pillow time?  I hope so.  I haven’t had much of a rest day this week.  I’m working on 3 projects all at the same time.  Which means, a tonne of vertical pitches, a tonne of cleaning, a tonne of hauling, a tonne of hiking with heavy packs and a tonne of sleep. I think it’s a mild addiction I might have, my girlfriend thinks I’m just an idiot.  She’s probably right.

Today, I have a slide show type flick – It’s a super dorky day with me and my lady ninja, Lydia Zamorano. I say dorky, because it’s true, you see, when you’re in love, you don’t have to be cool any more. ha ha. Those who are there, know what I mean. Tall Storey is a modern mega classic, towering 8 sport pitches high, it goes all free at 5.11c in Echo Canyon, Canmore, Alberta and we got the 3rd ascent baby, Yah!  In case you’re wondering, Echo Canyon is the latest name to a MAJOR limestone zone also known as Grotto Canyon, or the Colosseum.  Incredibly enough, it’s located just behind the Alpine Club of Canada’s Clubhouse. Basically, you park in the lot and walk up the hill from there, you can’t miss it, and when you come down, you can have a hut waiting for you, with clean showers, and a hot mug of tea.  The route has an hour and a half approach, and we went pretty slowly, enjoying the day.  We did the climb in 8 hours car to car, but a rock slide washed out the descent trail, making it scary and dangerous, glad we’re home and I’m able to upload this for family and friends. Just another fun day in the Rocky Mountains I guess. Stay tuned for the finale – after 8 pitches of solid 5.11 climbing, and an off the couch no falls ascent, Lydia gets pumped (finally) and nearly loses her cool gunning for the summit…:)

TALL STOREY from Sonnie Trotter on Vimeo.

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TICK!

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

A bit cloudy this weekend and a bit of rain (finally), much cooler than it’s been in the past as well. Which is good if you’re trying to send your projects. My mom and dad were in town, so I had to hang up the shoes for the weekend myself, but someone else was out there representing. Now I’m usually not down with reporting news much anymore, I used to a bit because I was on the road more and I was more involved with who was doing what, when and how hard, but this year I don’t care as much, and since I’ve decided to stay more local I don’t feel right by reporting other peoples news all the time, I leave that up to you.  But in this case, I’ll make an exception, I am SUPER stoked to report that yesterday Will Stanhope made the FIFTH ascent of the direct fissure known as the Cobra Crack. SA-WEEEEET. I will release a video of his highpoint tomorrow, but wasn’t there to capture the full ascent. A nice overhead heel hook and a slip from the lip is the highlight, but maybe I can convince him to reshoot it, we’ll see? Congrats Will you continue to inspire us all, you’re my hero dude, keep ticking them off, one by one. For those of you who don’t know this about Will, he has now officially climbed harder on gear than he has on bolts. His previous hardest redpoint was a sport 5.13d sport climb, but like he, I think he got bored with clip ups and quickly moved on. This 22 year old has now ticked two 5.13+ gear routes and now his first 5.14. BIG UP to the white pages. He’s sort of like the Canadian version of Leo Houlding, but without the Audi.

On a side note, we’ve had the Test of Metal bike race here in Squamish this weekend, they say it’s one of the busiest weekends of the summer, good to see all the peeps coming out for that and getting all muddy. Maybe next year they’ll add wrestling to the program? Okay I gotta go, the Yoga Studio here is hosting a 108 sunsalutations evening to raise money for a dear friend and her battle against cancer. It’s officially the longest day of the year, or the shortest night depending on what your counting and it’s a celebration to welcome the change. I’m not sure I can do them all, that’s about 98 more than I’ve ever done in one session, but dammit if I ain’t going to try. So much going on these days I can’t keep up. Check ya later.

Sonnie.

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