>> December 2001- January 2002
Foreign Affairs
Ontario Climber Organizes Gear Donations
for Kids in Mexico
John Wier, a long-time avid climber from Ontario,
who has climbed all over the world, collects state-of-the-art, gently-used
climbing equipment, corporate returns, or manufacturers' seconds to donate
to kids who otherwise would not have the resources to climb. He believes,
he says, that climbing, sport, and physical and psychological achievement
are universal stimulants that allow youngsters to get on, and stay on, the
path of health and spiritual well-being in life. Also, he says there ought
to be more melding of corporate and social responsibility in the climbing
world. A family and youth counselor working in Bracebridge, Ontario, Wier,
who has over 25 year's
professional experience with children, successfully launched Phase One of
his program in February of 2001 at Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He is attempting,
with the help of friends and potential
corporate sponsors, to broaden his initiative in Phase Two to reach even
more young people.
Wier, who works strictly on a volunteer basis, documents the donation process
from corporate contact to collection to delivery in a developing handbook
that he hopes will lay down a step-by-step system so that this corporate-climbing
partnership program may be implemented with greater ease anywhere. "In
this way, we perpetuate the giving," says Wier. "We all win, but
especially the kids we reach. And it expands the overall industry growth
in a responsible and cost-effective manner." Companies who get involved
get great publicity (photographic series will be done on the next project),
says Wier, who is attempting to arrange equipment drop-off and brief storage
locations across the country in key retail climbing gathering points. It's
the socially right thing to do, says Wier, and the equipment we
collect goes nowhere otherwise.
The program works this way: Wier contacts and collects used, returns, or
seconds equipment from corporations, manufacturers, retailers and individuals.
He then sorts the stash, fixes what needs fixing, cleans it up, labels it
and stores it for donation. At the moment, he and his climbing friends target
specific areas or schools or groups for participation in the FirstAscents
program. The young participants themselves are selected by the community
in which they live.
"I believe in what we are trying to do," said Wier. "And
perhaps
others will climb on board. Just look into the faces of the kids we teach
to climb- we know they matter- and they know we care. It doesn't get any
better than that."
People who want to assist this program or just have questions
please feel free to contact John Wier at (705) 687.8296 or at jcwmara@muskoka.com.
Nova Scotia News
New V8’s
At Chebucto Head The Little Feller V7 was done
by visiting Ontario Climber Jodi Miall. The crux is a 1m horizontal dyno
back to an edge, and missing it means blowing the mantel, pitching off,
breaking your back on a boulder and tumbling about 20m down a ramp into
the ocean. The Joey Ramone Memorial Area was found and developed in the
spring of 2001. Standout problems include Gimme Shock Treatment, V8, a Fontainebleau-like
problem with powerful slaps up an overhanging bulge, and Chainsaw, a V8
powerful lip traverse on which the opening move, according to Therien, "rips
your ankle open." At Herring Cove Miall sent Dyno Flatulator Direct
V7. This is a link up of two outstanding problems, one is a technical
traverse and the other is a huge dyno problem.
American ace Tommy Caldwell visited Nova Scotia in the fall and checked
out the
bouldering. He commented that "there’s lots of potential, and
I like the atmosphere. You might see a whale or a ship going by while you’re
bouldering." His favourite problem, though, was a V8 surmounting the
front of the wave statue in Halifax.
Correspondent: Sean Therien
Alberta News
Seth Sends New V11
With Help From Villeneuve
At Big Rock, on his second day, Seth Mason sent
Mon Cal V11. The project had been tried by Simon Villeneuve. After trying
it for the first time, Mason emailed Villeneuve and they shared beta on
the climb and agreed to meet at the rock on the weekend to try to send it.
Mason said "Simon really gave me some good beta, making the route loads
easier than I had initially thought it would be. We traded high points for
about an hour then I managed to do it first. Simon gave it another few close
tries and wasn’t quite able to get it. He did it the next day though.
It would have been brilliant if we had both done it on the same day."
Mason and Villeneuve agree that the route is one of the best around. Mason
also repeated Kevin Wilson’s new route, Insurrection/annihilation V10,
in about 30 minutes, and put up a new traverse called Ord Mandell v8.
Lev Leviathan 14b - 8c
Last year Scott Milton added
an 18m 14b finish to Leviathan at Acephale. Lev Pinter sent the route as
well. Milton also sent an old Darren Tremaine route just left of Existence
Mundane at 14a. Tremaine himself spent the summer recovering from a torn
thumb. This gives Acephale two climbs at the 8c level which are fully independent
lines.
Heart Creek Canyon saw a lot of action. The staple 13a/b route: Salty, had
part of its crux hold break off and is now solid 13b. A three bolt Tremaine
project got sent at 13b by Pinter, Milton and LeBlanc. Randy Coleman put
up two very good routes in the 12c range: Arm and a Leg and Mumblebunny.
Marcus Norman put up Kung Pow 12c that starts on the latter route and then
breaks right for some "interesting climbing." To the left of Palm
Sisters, on a small overhanging wall Leblanc sent Old Timer 13c/d. Milton
confirmed the grade in that range and said: "It just doesn't let go,
with three really intensive off-kilter moves at the start."
Correspondent: JD LeBlanc
Firth Adds Heinous Trad Lines to Back of the
Lake
Ben Firth recently put up an extension to Where
Heathens Rage (12c trad) on the Air Voyage Wall at Back of the Lake. The
extension, Where Geezas Get Amongst It (13b trad), adds another 20m of climbing
on the arête of the crag. There is one bolt on the extension with
the rest of the climbing protected by nuts, RPs and a cam. The last five
metres don't offer much for protection and a fall just before the anchors
results in a 15m whipper.
Correspondent: Jeff Moore
Ontario News
Hard Sends in Ontario
Continuing the trend reported in the last issue,
the close of the season saw some heavy
traffic at Lions Head with numerous repeats of the area test pieces. At
the top of the heap are the repeats of the Big Kahuna(5.13c/d) by Kaizaad
Bilimorya and Daniel Martian. Billimorya, whose power and displays of strength
are well known locally, solved the multiple cruxes of the Jerry Moffat testpiece
after working it for short sessions spread over a few weekends.
After some initial frustration, Daniel Martian battled through the bouldery
Aruga (5.13c) and carried the momentum for the send of the Big Kahuna. Greg
Jackson of Toronto had no such trouble, however, and dispatched Aruga in
a lightning quick second go.
Young up and comer Koichi Sugiyama, the latest incarnation in the line of
teenage mutants, closed out his season with his hardest redpoint to date
with the send of Hole New World (5.13b). Sugiyama, who finished 9th in this
year's Gripped Canadian Bouldering National, seems to improve exponentially
from week to week and appears to be just getting going. Look for big things
from him in the future. Earlier in the season Yassar ‘Doctor El-Sheik,’
a former young mutant himself, also polished off Hole New World, managing
to squeeze in the send before heading off on a West Coast climbing tour
and then to medical school.
The biggest prize of all, however, Sonnie Trotter's ground-breaking Titan
(5.14a) went unclaimed. But with all the activity this summer and the renewed
interest in hard redpointing, the list of contenders has definitely grown.
Next summer promises to be an interesting one.
Correspondent: Andre Cheuk
BC News
Jordan
Kills Something Beautiful
At Cheakamus, BC hardman Jordan Wright added to his tally of hard
routes by sending Killing Something Beautiful (5.14a). The Down System’s
V10 crux provides the start to this left-trending link-up. After the initial
hard moves it goes on to enchain the cruxes of an additional four 5.12s
and finishes on the Circus Wall’s far right. Shortly after, Wright
threw himself at Captain America (5.14b). The low percentage crux and dissuasive
popcorn footholds repel most suitors. Wright made the third ascent over
three days this year. Finally, Wright made the second ascent of Patience
(5.14a) a route completed by Sonnie Trotter only a week before. The seventy
move route stacks Heat (5.13b) and Gom Jabbar (5.13b).
Correspondent: Andrew Querner
Doyle Sends The Proposal
Years ago, just days after my wife returned from her trip to Fontainebleau
we went for a walk through the Grand Wall boulders in Squamish. Little did
she know that the purpose of this walk would be to ask her to marry me.
The spot I chose to pop the question was in front of the Animal Magnetism
boulder. Later that summer I returned to the same spot with Chris Sharma,
Obe Carrion, and filmmakers Brett and Josh Lowell to show them some of the
area classics. Chris honed in on an improbable looking project. After three
days of work he managed to link together the series of horrible pinches
establishing the new Squamish test piece, The Proposal. For two solid years
this problem evaded ascents from a handful of strong boulderers such as
Britain's Tim Clifford, who suggested a grade of V13, and Canada's own Dan
Gaebel. Dan actually fell from the last holds before he left for last year's
Bouldering Nationals at Rockheads in Toronto. Upon return he found that
a key crystal on one of the pinches had been broken when it was mistakenly
used as a foot hold for another problem. On a cool day earlier this fall,
The Proposal's long-awaited second ascent was realized. Victoria's humble
strong man Tim Doyle sent the problem in what can only be described as robot-static
style.
Correspondent: Jack Fieldhouse
Cheakamus 14c: Hardest Climb in Canada
In Cheakamus Canyon in late September Sonnie Trotter did Captain
America 5.14b/c. Afterwards he added Canada’s hardest route, which
he named Superman and graded 5.14c. He says that it’s "Harder
than Just Do It at Smith," referring to a route which has sometimes
been graded 14b by Climbing magazine, but which Yuji Hirayama, one of the
strongest climbers in the world, was unable to send. Superman starts on
Captain America, blasts left at a 5.12+
traverse to the kneebar at the start of Heat (5.13d), and climbs that route
to the top.
Trotter said "Before I sent the route my mind was going crazy, completely
off the wall, I could not concentrate on anything but Superman. I knew I
was going to send it on my first try that day. I was totally confident,
and it reminded me that climbing hard routes is all a
mental thing. Superman is probably the hardest climb I have done yet. It
is definitely the proudest line, because it climbs the entire length of
the Big Show wall. I have climbed all over and I think Check is as good
as any and better than most. There is a good but very strenous kneebar at
the tenth bolt which prevented the route from getting any harder. The crux
of the climb comes down to the last move. It involves a five-foot sideways
deadpoint to the lip off an inverted finger lock. The move is super-exposed,
and it's a heartbreaker because it takes 84 moves to get there.
"The name derived from many different sources. When I first read about
Captain America and how it was done by an American I was a little set off.
Knowing that an American claimed Canada’s hardest made me want to climb
that route so badly and see how hard it really was. When I did it, I was
like: ‘That's it?’ I was really intrigued by climbing its extension.
The name sticks with it's super hero theme and we all know Superman is the
superhero of all superheroes (the man can fly), and the route is the route
of all routes. Superman is also Canadian and I have a tattoo of his symbol.
Finally, after lowering from the chains I noticed that the line of the rope
forms a super enormous but perfect S."
Free Solo On Alaska
Highway
Steve Seats Goes Ropeless on One of North America's
Great Routes
Alaska Highway, a Squamish classic rising up the North Walls, is a 5.11c
sandbag and the second overhanging pitch is so notorious for its brute power
that it is sometimes referred to as The Vomit Pitch. Recently a climber
passed out just as he clipped into the anchors and his partner waited 20
minutes before he regained consciousness. Not only did Seats do the first
solo of this heinous route, he did it twice in the same week.
> How did the idea of soloing Alaska Highway come about? I first
thought of that one in early February in Moab, Utah. Ironically I was in
town for the funeral of a good friend who had just died soloing. I wrote
it off as just another self-destructive impulse, but still, the idea stuck.
> You have done a lot of miles as a solo climber but why Alaska Highway?
In June I found myself back in Squamish; another dead friend and a relationship
meltdown made it seem like the only option. Although I hadn't climbed much
the previous months I was burning to do Northern Lights. Since the first
time I did it with Ben De Menech I've considered it to be the best free
climb on earth.
> You had previously done the route with Ben but how many ascents
had you made before you soloed it? Maybe seven or eight in all. Due
to weather, work and a lack of willing partners it was weeks before I got
on the route after returning. I'd been soloing quite a bit in the Smoke
Bluffs, completed some harder cragging stuff but still, walking up the North
Walls trail I was fully expecting to take some whippers. I'd been burning
to do Northern Lights (that’s Alaska Highway followed by The Calling).
I did the route twice more in the following weeks and led the whole route
once. I found myself playing eliminator on the second pitch just to make
it more fun.
A week later I used Alaska Highway as the approach to Gone Surfing and I
had to force myself to put in pro. I might have placed seven or eight pieces
in total, most after the cruxes just to control pendulums for my partner.
> When did you decide on the first free solo? That night the desire
came back. I tried to ignore it but a few days later I found myself partnerless.I
love to solo but was getting bored with the Bluffs and the Apron so I decided
to go do Angel’s Crest. I’m not sure what I was thinking but the
next thing I knew I was at the base of Alaska Highway. I asked myself if
this was where I really wanted to be and the answer was yes. Then I asked
myself if I could get myself to Astro Ledge without falling. ‘Yes!’
I answered, ‘what the fuck! Go!’
> While soloing, how was your psyche? The first pitch is always
a struggle. My usual reaction is: "Wow, am I going to be able to pull
this off?" It went smoothly. The second starts with a steep undercling
to a mantel then a good rest, the belay is hanging, so I punched it through
to the rest. ‘I guess I’m committed now,’ I thought. Then
the groove to the mantels, then another rest. This part is the crux for
most, it's long and physical and this is the style of climbing I find I'm
best at. It went too quickly. It got to the point that I was not climbing
the route the way it was pitched out, more climbing rest to rest. While
resting in the middle of pitch three, I decided my next rest would be in
the chimney near the top of pitch four just before the sketchy face moves.
When I got there I had time for a smoke break and de-pump. Topping out on
Astro Ledge, top of pitch six, was the scariest part due to some 5.8 face,
and I'm an awful face climber. The walk down was weird, hyper-focussed but
dream-like.That feeling lasted for days.
Correspondent: Dave Humphreys
Calendar
Canmore
Ice Festival:
February 22-24, 2002 Canmore, Alberta
contact (403) 678.1636.
GAGA: Montreal Climbers' Nights Sponsored by
Wild Things
January 28, 2002
JP Villemaire will give a talk and
show slides of European Ice Festivals on January 28. The location is yet
to be decided, but these will be monthly events sponsored by Wild Things.
For more information call Philippe Lachance (450) 770.3904.
