With an amazing week of fantastic speakers and films, The 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival comes to an end this Saturday with a bang. British rock climber Leo Houlding will be closing the curtains this year with a presentation on many of his adventures, including his most recent first ascent on the Mirror Wall in Greenland.

Leo Houlding has long been a pioneer of big wall climbing and hard trad climbing around the world. Most famously known for the first ascent of ‘The Prophet’ in El Cap in Yosemite, CA, Leo is no stranger to adventure, combining big wall climbing and BASE jumping around the world. Squamish Climbing Magazine had a chance to catch up with Leo via Will Stanhope to chat with him about his presentation at the VIMFF finale, his ascent of the prophet, and how things have changed since being a father. Special thanks to Will Stanhope to conducted the interview with Leo Houlding.

Leo Houlding. Photo courtesy of leohoulding.com

The following interview was conducted by Will Stanhope, one of Canada’s hardest trad climbers and an all-around good guy.

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The 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival has crafted a fantastic show this year, with speakers like Kevin Jorgeson, Lynn Hill, and Leo Holding bring in large crowds to Centennial Theatre. The energy and enthusiasm at this years event has been out of this world and as the week progresses, it is slated to only get better. Last year, Squamish Climbing Magazine started our coverage of the festival with Jim Martinello. Jim is a local outdoor enthusiast/photographer and he puts together some pretty wild adventures (must watch video below!).

This year, we thought it would be great to check in with Jim again on his development in the Sea to Sky corridor as well as his balance between adventure and family, and a hairy experience he had in Howe Sound. It is locals like Jim that really make interviews at the magazine special. Interspersed between questions are a mix of shots taken by Jim over the years. Jim, and his band of like-minded adventurists, have brought a real enthusiasm and adventure awareness to the mountains that we have in our own backyard, inspiring us to get out there and experience new endeavours.

Jim Martinello, Trevor Hunt, and Craig Mcgee atop an unnamed peak in the Langtang Valley of Nepal. Photo courtesy of Jim Martinello ©

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This commercial played at the beginning of the Vancouver International Film Festival and it is absolutely brilliant.

Soon to be the media buzz of the world, China seems to be one of the last frontiers in alpine and traditional climbing. Here is a nice look at Szu-ting Yi’s ascent of Eagle Peak East in Sichuan, China.

Part 1

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Here are a few outtakes from Out of the Shadows, a Kelowna bouldering flick.

The 2016 Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival kicked off this weekend with some fantastic speakers and films. With much more to come, Squamish Climbing Magazine had the chance to interview North American climber Lynn Hill who will be speaking on Wednesday, Feb 17th, 2016 at The Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver.

Most famously known for the first free ascent of The Nose in Yosemite Valley California, Lynn Hill is pretty much royalty when it comes to North American climbing history. Following her ascent of The Nose, Lynn went on to climb a number of difficult big walls around the world, including climbs in Kyrgyzstan and Madagascar. Now living in Boulder, CO, Lynn dedicates her time to teaching climbing, sharing her climbing experiences with others, and being a mom. We had a chance to catch up with Lynn and talk about her ascent of The Nose, being a female climber, and her latest project. Here is what she had to say.

Lynn Hill. Photo courtesy of lynnhillclimbing.com ©

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Another little flick from Stu Smith featuring the route Cyclops in Potrero Chico.

Here is the link for the 2016 CEC Canadian Youth Bouldering Nationals feed. The event is already in progress but will last through the morning.

Awesome little video featuring the climbing culture surrounding Heidelburg, Germany.