This weekend The Boulders climbing gym, located in Saanich, BC, will play host to The Triple Header. The Triple Header is a sanctioned Sport Climbing BC event that will host competitors in all three disciplines: Bouldering, Difficulty, and Speed. As with any competition, a lot of work goes into the event behind the scenes. Squamish Climbing Magazine thought it might be cool to shift the lens and get the perspective of someone on the inside of it. Paul Ledet is the Head Judge for the event this weekend. Paul has also been a high school teacher in the Saanich district for 22 years. Here is what he had to say.

Paul Ledet (right) at Vail World Cup with Johannes Altner (left).

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Jason Holowach is one of Canada’s best indoor climbers. Jason has been competing on the comp scene since 2002 where he took everyone by surprise with his technique and strength. In 2006, he took first place on the podium during the Canadian Bouldering Championships and was the second Canadian to ever reach a semi-finals in the World Cup series of Bouldering. Jason is the owner of Grip It climbing gym in Saskatoon, SK. Last week at The Hive, he came second place only by one attempt on problem #4 after a fantastic performance in Finals. Squamish Climbing Magazine tried to catch up with Jason before the Tour De Bloc contest this weekend in Edmonton, AB.

Photo courtesy of Ken Chow

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More often and not, when you are out and about in the local climbing hotspots, you see one or two (or ten!) people wearing Climb and Conquer T-shirts. I had no idea what was behind these t-shirts until I did a little research of my own. Climb and Conquer Society Canada is a registered charity, run entirely by volunteers located in Vancouver, BC. They support youth (age 4-18) from disadvantaged backgrounds to build healthy self-esteem, relationships and leadership skills through rock climbing and caring mentorships. Currently, they service the Greater Vancouver area. The person behind this great idea is Joseph Wong and I thought it would be a great idea to catch up with him and give you the insight on what is going on.

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For those of you who follow international competition climbing, Sean McColl needs no introduction. Sean is a professional rock climber from North Vancouver, BC with deep roots to the North Shore climbing scene. Over the past few years, Sean’s focus has been on competition climbing, as Sean lives and trains in Chambery, France for most of the year. Sean may be best known for his ascent of Dreamcatcher, where rumour has it that Sean did the route a second time for the camera, but Sean continues to push himself outside, with ascents of Meadowlark Leon Sit (v14), Top Sirloin (v14), and Too Many Martinis (v14) this year as well as onsighting his first 5.14a. During the recent 2014 World Cup season, Sean ended up on the podium eight times and ended the season 2nd overall. Squamish Climbing Magazine had a chance to catch up with Sean before he takes a well deserved break from his training regime.

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Marc-Andrew Leclerc is a rock climber who lives in Squamish, BC. Known for his first ascents in the Fraser Valley and his spot on slab climbing skills, Squamish Climbing Magazine had a chance to catch up with him before he left on his second trip to Patagonia.

SO MARC, Where are yo headed for your next adventure?

I’m headed down to Argentina in early December. I’m going to spend some time alone in the North of the country, in the province of Mendoza, to see how I react to altitude, then  I will head south, passing through Bariloche on the way to Southern Patagonia and the Fitz Roy area. I’m pretty psyched to climb in the Torres again particularly.

Over the past few years, you have made a push into alpine climbing. What made you want to expand you climbing repetiore?

Well, I actually started scrambling and peak bagging when I was about 11 years old, around the same time I was into indoor and competitive climbing. I got into rock climbing outside and bouldering later on when I was about 14 because I needed to learn the skills to climb more technical mountains. I’ve pretty much always climbed in the alpine to some degree, but took a break when I moved to Squamish and basically only rock climbed and partied for a while. I got back into the mountains pretty hard again in the summer of 2013, I just needed to have wild adventures again and hanging around town wasn’t cutting it.

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