Here are the highlights of 2015 Portland Boulder Rally.

Nice little video on climbing in the European Alps.

We are pleased to announce that Danny Martin made an ascent of The Method (v12) on Sunday afternoon in Squamish, BC. Danny had been working the rig on and off since the summer and cashed in on some of the great weather we have been having. Congratulations

Here is a video of the ascent.

On Saturday evening, Tour De Bloc kicked off its 13th season in Vancouver at The Hive.

Qualifications during the day were packed with competitors from all categories and the atmosphere was jovial but competitive. No big upsets during the day, with most of the men and women competitors who were expected to make it in the final round performing well. Near misses included Ayesha Khan on the women’s side and JJ Mah and Kaleb Thomas on the men’s side. The biggest surprise of the day came from Jani Zoraj, a 13 year old female competitor who recently moved to Vancouver from Croatia. Unfortunately Jani was unable to compete in the open category because of her age but based on her points total in qualification she would have placed 1st going into the Women’s open finals!

Celeste Wall looking on amongst an eager crowd. Photo by Shane Murdoch ©

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Fantastic event last night at The Hive Vancouver as they hosted the first stop of Tour De Bloc 13. We will have a full write up of the event on Monday, but for those who are just looking for results, here they are!

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After making short work of Vince Pinch (V12), Jamie Finlayson has done the low start which clocks in at V13. This is Jamie’s second problem at this grade having sent Terminator (V13) earlier this year. Jamie commented that the problem seemed to suit him really well and didn’t feel much harder from the lower start. Not bad for a guy with a two week old baby at home. Way to go Jamie.

Jamie on Vince Pinch, – Photo courtesy of Jamie Finlayson ©

Also in the boulders, Hans Christian Montenegro recently completed his project Sur le Toit (V12). This problem climbs the popular Encore une Fois (V11) to the lip and then exits right via a difficult mantel.

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With Tour De Bloc this weekend in both Vancouver and Montreal, we thought it would be a great idea to interview Simon Parton, who placed first last October during Tour De Bloc 12 at The Hive in Vancouver.

Simon Parton has always been a dark horse in the west coast climbing scene. He started climbing in 1999 only later to join the famous ‘Edge Team’ in 2001. In his early days, Simon was the Junior Lead National Champion in 2006 and went on to compete in three Youth World Championships.

Simon Parton on Velco Low (v13). Photo by Ayesha Khan ©

After aging out of the ‘Edge Team’, Simon started to train on his own making quick gains year after year. Finding his way to the boulders, Simon was one of the few young climbers at the time to persist in the technical style of Squamish bouldering, making a number of difficult sends including the third ascent of Velco Low (v13). With both his technical ability and mutant crimp strength, Simon went on to send two classic Fred Nicole test-pieces, Terre de Sienne (v14) in Hueco Tanks and, most recent, Amandla (v14) in Rocklands, both second try.

Now, as the Head Routesetter for The Edge Climbing Centre and for a number of Sport Climbing BC events, Simon has found his way behind the scenes in the competition community of BC. With so much experience over the years, from a junior competitor to being one of the top boulderers in the country, we thought it would be interesting to see what he had to say on the upcoming Tour De Bloc and the progress of his own climbing.

Simon Parton. Photo by Ken Chow ©

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Tour De Bloc starts this weekend in both Vancouver and Montreal.

Tour De Bloc 13 will start its west coast tour on Saturday, October 24th at The Hive Vancouver. The competition will start 8am for competitors and doors will open for finals at 6pm where spectators are welcome to join in on the festivities. This event is surely not to be missed!

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Another year is about to begin for the Grand Wall Bouldering Co-op.

This weekend, October 23-25th, 2015, the co-op will hold their annual hold swap and clean up. The festivities will begin Friday evening and last until your hands have turned into prunes and the last nut is tightened. The co-op runs on volunteers and they are asking everyone who uses the gym to stop in and help out. Other notes include: Bring ladders, drills, and elbow grease.

The Annual General Meeting for the Grand Wall Bouldering Co-op will also take place this weekend on Saturday October 23, 2015. Come down to the Ruddy Duck for the GWBC AGM and membership drive party. AGM runs 8:30-9pm then it’s party time including DJ’s, slideshows, games, and prizes.

Memberships for the co-op will be available soon. The results of the survey last month indicated that there is enough interest to keep the co-op going for another year so co-op will continue to provide the vertical experience.