Kilter Climbing Grips and SCM
Squamish Climbing Magazine is pleased to announce our newest advertising partnership with Kilter Climbing Grips. Kilter is owned and operated by three longtime climbers–Ian Powell, Jackie Hueftle and Stephanie Lazewski. All three have been climbing for most of their lives and are passionate about climbing holds.
Kilter Grips are produced by Aragon Elastomers, the foremost climbing grip production facility in North America, located in Louisville, Colorado. This means they come in the material and colors you know and trust from brands like Teknik and e-Grips.
Kilter has just begun moving into Canada and they want you to have some Kilter on your walls! With that in mind, we are pleased to announce that for the first two months with Squamish Climbing Magazine, Kilter grips is offering a 20% discount off the retail price of all holds to our readership. If making an order with Kilter, please use the promotional code “SCM2015” to receive your discount
Interview with Adam Ondra
To start the month of February, we had the special privilege of interviewing Adam Ondra in anticipation of his upcoming trip to Canada. Adam’s first stop will be at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) on Monday, February 16th, followed by Adam coaching at the IFSC World Cup Camp at The Boulders in Central Saanich, BC, from February 20-22nd. Squamish Climbing Magazine thought this would be a great opportunity to check in with Adam and see how things are going this year. Adam is an absolute legend, with first ascents of some of the toughest routes and boulders in world. Here is what he had to say.
Hi Adam, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How are things going?
Things are going just great! The start of 2015 was a bit hectic for sure as I had some exams to do at university but they are finally all done and I have a nice one month of holiday ahead. I took three weeks of rest during Christmas time, did some snowboarding and cross-country skiing, and started train again around January 2nd. It is always hard to get into the real business of climbing after a long rest but I am starting to feel a quite strong again.
2015 Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF)
Our coverage of the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival starts today and we are so very excited that this event is taking place again this year. What an opportunity to hear from those in our community taking on the risk and reward of adventure.
Stay tuned to Squamish Climbing Magazine for more!
Sachi Amma and Kraft
A number of climbing news sites are reporting that Sachi Amma made a recent ascent of Fight of Flight (9b) this week. Here is a video of him training with the Gimme Kraft team.
SCBC Provincial Bouldering Competition Wrap-up
Over the past weekend, The Edge Climbing Centre played host to the 2015 Provincial Bouldering Competition sanctioned and organized by Sport Climbing BC. The action took place over two days, with qualifiers taking place on Saturday and finals on Sunday. This year was the first time the event used IFSC formatting for both the Open qualifiers and finals, with competitors having to try four boulder problems with four minutes for each problem.
Men’s finalists having a look at the problems. Photo courtesy of Ken Chow ©.
Editor’s Note ‘Partners’
My first time up the Grand Wall was with a guy named Cory Mcfarlane, from Winnipeg, MB. Cory and I had met a few days earlier and we decided we wanted to go all the way up the wall, from the start of Apron Strings to the last four pitches of the Black Dyke off the Bellygood Ledge. It would be my first time up the Grand Wall and the biggest multi-pitch I had ever done. I didn’t know Cory too well but for some reason I trusted him. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about. Needless to say, the experience was brilliant and terrifying all at the same time. When we got down from the wall eight hours later, Cory and I thanked each other for the fantastic day and parted ways. We both had places to go.
Recently. I heard a great story of two climbing partners around a campfire during Christmas. The two climbers had travelled to Yosemite to complete The Nose. They had organized the trip, packed all their gear, and were excited for their adventure. After two nights on the wall, one of the partners started to feel sick to his stomach. With all the tell-a-tale signs of a stomach bug (read: diahrea), the two partners decided to continue on their quest. Pitch after pitch, the poop tube continued to fill up until the one partner had resorted to using a plastic bag to take care his fecal matter.
After leading a long pitch to a good ledge, the sick partner decided to organize his belongings so they were easier to manage. While organizing his gear on the ledge, he accidentally knocked the plastic bag of shit off the ledge. Like a magnet to metal, the bag tumbled down the wall right into the face of his friend belaying. With shit all over his face, the friend used the little water he had left to clean up and followed up the pitch. The two partners continued up the wall, most likely in silence. For better or worse, these two partners were now bonded forever in their experience.
As climbing partners, we choose to experience some of most thrilling moments of our lives together. Sometimes, we are close childhood friends who grew up together, and other times, we just met each other that day. No matter what the circumstance, we bond ourselves to these people, locked in the memories of struggle and the joy of accomplishment. If I have learned anything from Tommy and Kevin over the past few weeks or the guys from Wideboys, Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker, it is that partners matter. Whether you are in the forest trying to figure out a few moves on a boulder or high up on the wall, climbing is about the experiences you share with the people around you.
I recently bumped into Cory in Red Rock this winter. Seeing him in the campground, I parked the van, got out, and embraced him like a long lost brother. We chatted about the usual stuff. At the end of the week we again parted ways, knowing that next time when we see each other the conversation will pick up right where it left off.
Squamish Climbing Magazine has an exciting month planned and we can’t wait to share it with you. We continue to try to build our readership so, if you can, let your friends know where to find us and like our facebook page here to follow.
Local News
This past Saturday another strong local climber scored a big send. None other than man behind Squamish Climbing Magazine himself, Tim Schaufele took down an old nemises of his, The Reckoning Stand (V10) in the North Walls. Way to go Tim!
Here’s a video from the guys at The RV Project featuring The Reckoning Stand as well as couple other classic Squamish boulders:
SCBC Provincial Bouldering Competition Final Results
The SCBC Provincial Bouldering Competition was held tonight at The Edge Climbing Centre in North Vancouver, BC. Here are the final results for the night. Check back with Squamish Climbing Magazine for a review of the event.
Men’s Open Final
1. Eric Sethna
2. Alex Fritz
3. Jesse Taplin
4. Marc Eveleigh
5. Dan Archambault
6. Andrew Funk
7. Samuel Wolff
8. Tristan Gosselin
9. Gavin Johnson
Women’s Open Final
1. Hung Ying (Chris) Lee
2. Shannon Russell
3. Thomasina Pidgeon
4. Tiffany Melius
5. Rebecca Frangos
6. Maria Celkova
7. Alyssa Weber
8. Mika Hosoi
9. Alison Stewart-Patterson
Special thanks to all those who made this event happen. These type of events take a lot of planning and energy from the community and Squamish Climbing Magazine wants to recognize everyone’s efforts. It was also great to see that a number of competitors came out from Alberta and Washington, including competitors from the Calgary Climbing Centre, the Rock Jungle in Edmonton, and Vertical World in Seattle.
Stay tuned to Squamish Climbing Magazine for a wrap up of this event.
The Secret Lives of Children with Israel Cruces
Israel Cruces has long been a prolific developer of boulders in the Sea to Sky Corridor. Here is his first for 2015 and I am pretty sure it will not be his last. As with most of Israel’s boulders, he keeps a tight lid on where they are so if you want to find them, you may just have to ask him yourself. This one can be found at the end of the North Walls near the Swamp Thing boulder.
