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.
It’s interesting writing this on the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris. My thoughts go out to the people of France. Today is about the motivations to come to Squamish, permanently, from other countries and how the lure of accessible rock is a ridiculously First World reason to move. We should take the time to meet and befriend fellow Squamish citizens; our increasingly diverse community can only benefit us all with a stronger social fabric and a greater world view.
Christian Core, his wife Stella and their twin daughters Anja and Lara are a perfect example. Hailing from Savona, Italy, the young family made the move this summer and just closed the deal on a house of their own. A climber from the age of 12, Core was a member of Italy’s police force in their athletic division, an officer whose sole job was to train and stay fit for climbing. He’s been in the Italian Bouldering Cup and was Italian champion six times, was the European champion, twice won World Cup bouldering events and has been World Cup bouldering champion. He’s also won the Extreme Games in California and has countless cutting-edge ascents in Italy and beyond.
Most notably, Core was the first to climb the boulder problem Gioia in Varazze and propose the groundbreaking grade of V16. It’s safe to say he is one of Italy’s strongest and most famous rock climbers. Stella, his wife, was an owner of a large climbing store in Finale, one of Italy’s largest and oldest climbing destinations. She, too, is a force on the boulders. Stella has been climbing since the age of five, has been Italian national champion and twice finished third in the bouldering world cup. And she was one of the first females in the world to climb V12.
To read the full article, please visit The Squamish Chief website here.
