We are pleased to announce Alex Quiring has sent his first 5.14a, Mal de Isla in Chulilla, Spain. Alex came very close a few days ago, falling at the last move and then taking a few days rest to regain his strength. Alex and Kate have been travelling in Spain for the past three months and are coming to the end of their trip.

Alex on Mal De Isla (5.14a). Photo courtesy of Emily Harrington ©

Alex also recently completed his hardest onsight to date, Planeta Namek (8a) and Kate (Johnson) did her very first 5.13a and 13b, La Diva (8a; Terradets) and El Diablo Viste de Prana (7c+;Chulilla).

For those who don’t know Alex, he is originally from Calgary and moved to Vancouver a few years ago. Recently, he has been developing the Tunnel Point crag that will be released in the new Vancouver rock climbing guidebook. During the summer Alex put up six routes grade 513a and up. I am sure he has a Golden Scrub Brush Award in his future!

Well done Alex. Super exciting.

Cool video featuring Lost Arrow Spire.

Fantastic clip featuring Dani Andrada and Edu Marin on their ascents of Chilam Bilam (5.15b) in Spain.

After a month of trying the hard work of Dani Andrada and Edu Marín finally paid off : In November they were able to send Chilam Balam 9a+/b, a 85 meters long route through a big roof with 235 moves along tufas . The line is considered one of the best lines in the world.

With: Francisco Marín “Novato”, Joe Kinder, Pablo Scorza.
Directed by David Lopez “Campe”

For those who missed it, here is another well written article by Jeremy Blumel last week in The Squamish Chief welcoming Christian (Core) and Stella’s family to Squamish.

Photo courtesy of Christian Core ©

When you meet people new to Squamish in the climbing community, you immediately assume they moved here because they had picked up on how incredible it is here.

Maybe they looked at the New York Times’ list of top 52 places in the world including Squamish and dropped everything to come and be part of this great wave. This is a pretty First World motivation, considering our rental rate, our housing market and our access to jobs.

Sometimes, the push to move comes from outside someone’s own situation, a move made from a composite of frustration and hope.

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We are pleased to announce that Will Stanhope completed The Broom (v10) today after a short two days of work. Big Will just got back from Yosemite and is settling into Sea to Sky country pretty easily. Congratulations Will!

The Broom (v10) was originally put up by Andrew Boyd and has seen very few ascents since that time.

Will Stanhope on The Broom (v10). Photo courtesy of Jamie Finlayson ©

Special thanks to Jamie Finlayson who has been providing us with a ton of pictures these days. He has been out everyday, either climbing or enjoying other people climbing. Hats off!

Nice Gimme Kraft video featuring Shauna Coxsey and Alex Megos.

Nice little video from Vice on what climbers eat.

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The Hive North Shore will play host to a bouldering competition this coming weekend, Saturday, December 5th, 2015, that is sanctioned by both Sport Climbing BC and the CEC National Series.

With a $1700 cash purse for Open competitors, a number of climbers both local and out of town will be giving their best.

Registration for this competition closes 11:59pm on December 1. Registration can be completed at the SCBC website.

For the tentative schedule and format details, please see below:

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We are super pleased to announce that Kelly Franz put Black Hole (left exit; v11) to bed today! Kelly has been trying this problem for the last two years and has probably tried it over 150 times. On Friday, Kelly came agonizingly close, falling on the cross over move at the end. Today, he sent it before 2pm. Congratulations Kelly!

Kelly on Black Hole. Photo courtesy of Jamie Finlayson ©

In front of a crowd of 170+, the Tour De Bloc took place at the Calgary Climbing Centre last night. With a strong contingent of Alberta climbers, the stage was set, with Eric Sethna as the favoured frontrunner on the Men’s side and a tough field with now clear frontrunner on the Women’s side.

Competitors at CCC. Photo courtesy of Calgary Climbing Centre ©

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