Squamish News Update

With my ear still to the ground, I thought I would post some news from the past couple weeks.  Jeremy Smith has freed a new six pitch line on the Chief directly above the Titanic boulder called Great White North, Tim Doyle added a new problem in The Farm called The Bull that starts on Chicken Lips and moves left across the face and finally, I am pleased to announce that Gord Konkin made his first ascent of Backseat this Sunday afternoon after getting some key beta after four years of work. Congratulations Gord!  Nice one!

In a little bit of my own news, I did my first Squamish mutli-pitch today.  Ben Harden and I went up the route Snake on the Apron.  After placing a bomber piece on lead and feeling on top of the world, I ended up loosing one of my shoes from the back of my harness on the final pitch.  Thank goodness no one was hurt, and even better, Ben found my shoe in the woods where we started the climb.  

Post in if you have any other sends to report over the weekend.  It looks as though the summer is off to a great start.

Tuesdays and Rain

I am here at home waiting for the rain to stop in Squamish.  It doesn't look like it is going to happen today so I decided I would post a few videos because everyone loves video posts. 

The first video is one I stumbled upon that features Robin Avery (a guy i don't know) walking a slack line in the north gully of the Chief.  Pretty awesome I would have to say.  I think the funny part here is that Matt Maddaloni got him to sign a waiver before he walked.  After watching those guys jump into a safety net with holes I don't think  I would be the first to sign that piece of paper!

Squamish North Gully Highline from Robin Avery on Vimeo.

The second video I am posting is a video that was posted on someone's facebook page featuring an unknown climber on an unknown route in an unknown area.  The reason I am posting this is because we have been talking a lot about using new camera angles when filming.  The way this film is shot, it looks as though the camera is swinging back and forth slowly, allowing the camera to capture all aspects of the route.  Let me know what you think.  

Natalija Gros from Jure Breceljnik on Vimeo.

Finally, I am going to post another photo from Walker Kearney that features his trip to Squamish a couple years ago.  This is still the best montage of Squamish climbing that I have seen on the internet from an amateur film maker.  Most people may have seen this already but it is worth a look. Hope you enjoy!  

Trip Report: Fountainebleau Part Three

Everyone is climbing without me today because I came down with a cold yesterday so I thought I would take the time to finish up the Trip Report for Font.  I have left this last post of my Font photos far too long but I ran into some computer problems along the way which has left me sans computer for the past couple weeks.  The psych for these photos has long diminished but I thought I would post them anyways.  

Week Three in Font opened up my eyes to how big Font really is.  I climbed 6 out of 7 days in the last week and everyday we went to a new area that was off the beaten trail.  Each of these areas was pretty big with at least 3o classic easy problems (I use this term loosely because I fell off pretty much all of them) and then a handful of lines that will keep you coming back for more.

Screw John Butters!  Dan making this thing look good!

To start off the week, we got Dan back from the Swedes.  Dan had ditched those of us at the campground during my second week for the high life in a gite with his swedish friends.  After too much cleanliness, he was back in full force.   We also got Gord back from the city so the crew was back to full psych and everyone was climbing together.  Nice!

Gord putting his manclaws to work.

One of the sweetest areas we came to was a place called Gorge aux Chats.  This place had a lot of problems with unique moves and also a few classics to keep us busy for the whole day.  We even got Micky to climb a couple problems here.  All and all a pretty rad time.

Are these guys city workers?  Two guys standing around while one guy does all the work.

Gord getting ready to fly on a red circuit dyno.

What the... is that a new spotting technique you statue-like son of a bitch.

Timbo getting his pig paws on an unknown problem at Gorge aux Chats.

That pretty much sums up the trip.  Hats off to Brent who drew the short straw when driving me to the train station, and actually everyone who made the trip a huge success.  I will definitely be back to Font again.   Till next time Tara..till next time.  

Squamish News Update

Looks like the weather held through the weekend despite the bad outlook during the week.  In climbing news, Thomasina Pigeon sent Encore une Fois on Sunday.  This may be the first female ascent of this problem and the way she did it encompassed a number of extra moves to compensate for her size.  Pretty awesome!

In development news, there is a small new cluster of boulders that have recently been cleaned just past the Funeral Arrangements boulder.   I think these were cleaned by Andrew Boyd and crew.   A couple of classic problems here that are sure to put a smile on your face.  That's all for now folks.  Looks like the rain is going to give our fingers a break for a few days.