Over the past few years, Squamish has faced a large growth in population as those living in the greater Vancouver discover its beauty. Along with an influx of people comes both recreational and industrial growth in the area. Although none of the current proposals directly affect climbing in the region (although the LNG plant would surely be an eye-sore from the top of the Chief), we think it is important for the climbing community to stay informed on these issues. Here are two stories that recently caught our attention.
Changes to Squamish Mountain Festival This Year
For the past nine years, The Squamish Mountain Festival has been a staple of the Squamish summer experience. Filled with speakers, clinics, and films, the festival continues to offer a place for climbers to gather and celebrate.
This year, the festival has gone through some substantial changes, including a change to the name and venue of the festival. When these changes were initially discovered, there was some concern about the changes on social media prior to the launch of the event website. Squamish Climbing Magazine thought that it would be best to go right to the source to find out about some of the decision making behind these changes. Justin Sweeny, the event manager for the Arc’teryx Climbing Academy, was kind enough to answer our questions and here is what he had to say.
Posted in Recent News
Boulder for Nepal Competition Fundraiser
Here is a press release from Joseph Wong, president of the Vancouver Rock Climbers Group and Climb and Conquer Project.
Hello our dear climbing family! Let’s use our climbing power and commodarie to support the Nepal earthquake relief!
*Canadian govt. will match donations till May 25. Hive will give discounted admission $10 (vs. $18.50) to all non-Hive members! *If you don’t want to compete, you are welcome to bring a donation receipt to get the discounted admission.
What’s Happening?
Climbing Competition May 15 Friday
– 7pm Competition starts
*Make sure you come earlier like 6pm to complete your sign in, gym orientation and fall assessment and warm up.
– 9pm Announce Results and Super Final for Summiters Category.
Posted in Recent News
Storyteller Series by La Sportiva
A four part series from La Sportiva featuring four different professional athletes and their take on climbing.
Posted in Recent News
Rockfall Rattle with Jeremy Blumel
Nothing like reading your local columnist Jeremy Blumel to start Sunday morning right. As a father, a kindergarten teacher, and a dedicated climber, Jeremy juggles it all while giving us the good every two weeks. Here is his latest from last week.
Jeremy on the big show. Photo courtesy of Jamie Finlayson.
Late in the morning of Sunday, April 19, an enormous piece of the Stawamus Chief fell off and crashed into the forest below. A column of dust shot into the air and moved downwind through Valleycliffe.
Posted in Recent News
Training with Eric Horst by Trainingbeta.com
Recently, we stumbled onto the site trainingbeta.com and came across a great podcast featuring Eric Horst. Eric Horst has been a training guru in the climbing community for many years and is most famous for his book ‘How to Climb 5.12’.
In this podcast, Horst talks about training and his experience with his 11 year old boys as they experience the world of rock climbing. Highly Recommended and worth a listen.
To produce something of this nature always takes time so be sure to go to the website trainingbeta.com and check out whats else they have to offer. Please also check out Eric’s website here.
Eric Horst and his family. Photo: Eric Horst
Posted in Training
Interview with Andrew Coffey on the ‘Hive North Shore’
There has been a lot of interest in the almost ready ‘Hive North Shore’. Three years ago, the Hive team opened their first location in Vancouver and now their new flagship facility is almost ready. Located in North Vancouver on Dollarton Hwy next to the Arc’teryx headquarters, the new Hive location offers almost double the wall space as well as a full work out facility and yoga room. We thought we would check in with ‘King Worker Bee’ Andrew Coffey to see what is in store for the new location.
Andrew Coffey atop his newest project. Photo courtesy of Andrew Coffey ©
Posted in Articles, Interviews, Recent News
The Power of Goodbye
Check out this really slick little video of a classic old Klem Loskot problem. So cool!
Posted in Videos
Interview with Christian Core on ‘Moving to Squamish’
A few of months ago, when trying to get photos of Adam Ondra, we unexpectedly found out that Christian Core was moving to Squamish. At this time, I contacted Christian immediately to see if we could do an interview with him. Christian was very generous and agreed to an interview right away.
For those who have never heard of Christian Core, he is a well accomplished climber from Italy and well-known around the world. Best known for completing the world’s first potential v16, Gioia, in his home town of Varazze, Christian has accomplished a lot in his 25 years of climbing. Christian is the only Italian climber to place first in a Bouldering World Cup (1999 and 2002) and stood on the World Cup podium 12 times during his career. He won the World Championship in 2003, placed first in the European Championship in 2002, and won the Din Rock Masters in 2006. He is one of the biggest developers in his local area of the Rifugio Barbara, in Varazze and Triora, and has made a huge impact on that community.
Christian, Stella and the girls. Photo courtesy of Christian Core ©
Christian and his family, including his wife Stella and his twin girls, are moving to Squamish at the end of this month and Christian will be working at The Hive North Shore. We were very excited to interview Christian and welcome his family into the Squamish community. Here is what he had to say.
Posted in Articles, Interviews, Recent News
