Marc and Elise in Jailhouse Rock CA. (Marc Bourdon Collection ©)
Marc Bourdon has called British Columbia home for over 30 years and is no stranger to technical granite in the Sea to Sky Corridor. Marc recently made the third ascent of Sonnie Trotter’s Nothing in Moderation in Murrin Park. Originally graded 5.13c, the route features very technical slap to an ‘almost dyno’ to a very bad sloper. After a hold broke while Steve Townsend was working the route, the route has become substantially more difficult. Marc recently sent the route and we thought it best to check in with him and see what he had to say.
Congratulations on sending your project. Can you tell us a bit about the route?
Thanks Tim!. It’s a sparsely featured face with a somewhat “slabby” feel, but the wall rears to (near) vertical in the upper half. The climb is mid-5.11 to the first crux, a very bouldery lunge move off a tiny cube-shaped hold, but the redpoint crux is above and consists of a series of big reaches to gnarly crystal edges using extremely poor footholds. Sonnie told me he thought the route was 13d at first, but the day he sent he felt super confident on his feet, which made him think it might be a tad easier. Regardless, it’s not a popular style! The climbing is a bit excruciating actually. My toes often ached afterward and I tore holes in my fingertips.
Sounds like you had some difficulties last year with injury?
I spent about 10 days on it last winter dialing the technical sequences in some very cold conditions. I got close – a few one-hang ascents – but then fell onto a slab while bouldering and tore a ligament in my wrist. By the time my wrist healed the summer heat had set in. I lost motivation.
What did you change this year that allowed you to send?
I think there were a number of factors: I was relatively healthy this winter and was able to train regularly, the weather was excellent allowing for consistent work sessions, and my wife pointed out a subtle change in beta that made the upper crux higher percentage. She’s pretty helpful with that stuff, actually.
Marc on Chain Reaction in Smith Rock, OR. Photo by Rob Price ©
Working such a technical route, your feet must have taken a toll. What shoes seemed to work the best for the route?
I’m sure someone out there has strong enough feet to climb this thing in slippers, but I absolutely needed a tight-fitting edging machine. My shoe of choice was the La Sportiva Katana Lace-up and I burned through at least two pairs in the process.
Working a route for so many sessions must have some ups and downs. What do you do to stay focused and motivated?
I try to be positive about the little steps moving forward. In other words, if I find a subtle change that makes a single move a bit easier, I make sure that constitutes a “successful” session. If your definition of success when working a hard project is major steps forward each day (big links, one-hang ascents) you’ll get discouraged because they won’t happen fast enough. I think it’s important to break the route down into small, manageable pieces and not get too consumed with the final result.
Also, it helps that I enjoy climbing alone on my soloist; anytime I can work a project in this manner it’s easy for me to stick with it. I can go to the route whenever I want and dangle for hours without boring a belayer to death. I find the solo work sessions almost meditative…
Marc looking relaxed in Hawaii. Photo by Marc Bourdon ©
Squamish does not have too many 14’s outside of the boulders and the Chek area. Can you tell us a bit about what influenced your grade choice on this rig?
First of all, my feeling is that any transitional grade always carries with it the weight of moving into a new “realm”. I’ve noticed this in Europe with the jump from 7c+ to 8a. It can often feel disproportionally large, likely because a successful ascent puts you in the “eighth grade”, a new realm. I think the same thing happens in North America, but since our grading scale differs we see these disproportionate gaps at the threshold of 12a, 13a, 14a, et cetera.
For this reason, I think Squamish lacks a good collection of routes in the 13a and 14a grade because people fear the shame associated with a potential downgrade. Personally, I think these routes exist they just don’t have the appropriate grades.
My current thinking is someone has to stick their neck out and say some of these routes are hard for the grade – maybe too hard – but that’s not a popular position to put yourself in because you become vulnerable. People can flippantly downgrade the climbs, thus proving that you’re “weak” and damaging your ego and reputation in the process. Just look at what happened to James Pearson!
So, regarding Nothing in Moderation, I toiled with what grade to suggest, but 20 years of technical granite face climbing combined with my overseas experience and the number of work sessions the route required made me feel like it’s appropriate to suggest an upgrade to 5.14a. It helped that Manboy (Steve Townshend) concurred after breaking a key hold. He did the second ascent last summer.
What’s the bottom line? It shouldn’t be a big deal to suggest a route is 14a (especially nowadays with the top grade being 15c), but it is because of the unnecessary significance we put on these threshold grades.
I got to ask about a few things. The new Vancouver Climbing Guidebook is set to come out soon. Do you have a date for us?
I wish I did, but we still need to get a bit more field data before the final product starts to congeal. For that reason, I can’ be specific, but I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it will be out this season, just later than I’d have hoped. I’m working on the layouts now.
What’s next this year?
Try to stay healthy! When you’re my age, that’s what it all comes down to, unfortunately.
Thanks Marc! We hope you stay healthy too and again, fantastic work on this route!
Marc Bourdon owns Quickdraw Publications and he also loves cats.
Marc on Meconium at Planet X in Canmore, AB. Photo by Derek Galloway ©
