In 2014, Killian Fischhuber, one of the world’s top competition climbers decided to retire from the competition circuit and focus on outdoor climbing. Killian and his partner, Anna Stohr, visited Squamish last summer only to see more rain that rock climbing. Nonetheless, we decided to check in with Killian on his impression of Squamish and what it meant for him to leave competition climbing. Our interview with Killian was conducted around the first IFSC Bouldering competition of the season. Here is what he had to say.

Photo courtesy of Redbull©

First off thanks for talking to us. How are you doing?

I’m fine, thanks! I enjoy the summer…

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Tom Bolger has always been an inspiring character in the world of climbing.

Following his injury and subsequent recovery, Tom Bolger talks about his chosen lifestyle, evolved entirely around his love for climbing in his home of Margalef, Spain

Ground Up climbing centre in Squamish is hiring!

The sequel to Destination Fontainebleau. Release date 30th July, 2015.

Here is the latest on access around the Goldbar area in Washington State.

As many of you know, the land on which most of the bouldering in Gold Bar sits used to be owned by a Washington timber company named Manke Lumber Company. Manke logged the “Clearcut” area (now more like the “Jungle”) in 2000 or 2001, and allowed climbing on its property below Zeke’s Wall due to the fact that the hillside needs some 40-50 years before it can be harvested again.

Because the Washington State Department of Natural Resources owned the land under the first mile or so of the road up the hill, however, vehicle access to the Manke parcel became collateral damage when DNR closed access to the entire Reiter Foothills area in 2010. It is through Manke’s grace that WCC members were briefly granted vehicular access to the area in 2011 as “permittees” of Manke’s that were thus afforded the benefits of Manke’s easement over the DNR land; this access was revoked in May 2012 when Manke succumbed to pressure from DNR to end what was perceived as favoritism toward our user group over others, including ORV users. Under Manke’s ownership, pedestrian access to Gold Bar was stable, but not secure. The company could have posted the area and revoked climbing access at any point, logged other areas of the parcel, or even sold it to a developer, with no need to justify its decisions.

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Here is Jeremy Blumel’s thoughts on the latest filming in the Stawamus Chief. Be sure to check out his bi-monthly column at The Chief website.

The issues and perpetrators multiplied with every climber contacted or person who spoke. They increased and divided like cells of a cancerous mass, growing and spreading.

BC Parks’ mandate, as noted on its website, is “to protect representative and special natural places within the province’s Protected Areas System for world-class conservation, outdoor recreation, education…”. Inherent in this mandate is the requirement to maintain a balance between BC Parks’ goals for protecting natural environments and outdoor recreation.

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Here are the final results for the IFSC Lead World Cup in Briancon. Congratulations to our Canadian competitors. This group will have two weeks off until they compete again in Imst, Austria.

Men’s Lead FINAL

1. SUPPER Gautier FRA
2. NAKANO Minoru JPN
3. SCHUBERT Jakob AUT
4. FAKIRIANOV Dmitrii RUS
5. MCCOLL Sean CAN
6. GHISOLFI Stefano ITA
7. ONDRA Adam CZE
8. DESGRANGES Romain FRA

23. JONASMCRAE Elan CAN
65. BILODEAU Francis CAN
71 MURDOCH Kyle CAN

Women’s Lead FINAL

1. KIM Jain KOR
2. PILZ Jessica AUT
3. VERHOEVEN Anak BEL
4. BECERRA Mathilde FRA
5. OTA Risa JPN
6. FAKHRITDINOVA Dinara RUS
7. MILLER Delaney USA
8. MARKOVIC Mina SLO

The IFSC World Cup has started already in Briancon, France this weekend. Our Canadian athletes continue to make a push for the cup, including Sean McColl, Elan Jonas-McCrae, Kyle Murdoch, and Francis Bilodeau.

The competitors have completed qualifications today. Both Sean McColl (6th) and Elan Jonas-McCrae (20) have made Semi-finals which will take place tomorrow. Francis Bilodeau placed 65th and Kyle Murdoch placed 71st.

Here are the feeds for tomorrows action. Good luck everyone!