Two weeks ago, Sonnie Trotter sent Estado Critico (9a) on a trip to Spain with his family. With a finger injury before the trip, he was unsure of what the trip would look like in terms of climbing. At the end of their trip, Sonnie and his family returned to Cornudella and he sent a climb he had tried 16 years earlier, named L-ments (8b+). We had a chance to chat with Sonnie just after he sent Estado Critico. Here is what he had to say.
Sonnie and his family en route. Photo: Sonnie Trotter ©
For those heading out today, a large piece of rock has fallen off The Chief near Angel’s Crest and the police are clearing out the North Wall area. If you are heading up, the North Walls is now closed. A few people who were bouldering at The Farm said that the scar on The Chief is visible and there is a lot of dust from the the rock debris.
UPDATE
Emergency crews had the Mamquam service road blocked off all day without finding anyone who was injured by the fall. A few climbers around the problem The Tugger in the Sheriff’s Badge area reported feeling some small rocks falling but nothing major in that area.
The amount rock that fell was estimated at 1000 cubic meters and left a large brown scar at the top of the wall. Routes that may be affected include Alaskan Highway, which was directly below the fall and a route put up in the last year or two by Matt Matt Maddaloni named ‘Chilkoot Pass’ that has now lost one or two of its pitches.
CBC article on rock fall can be found here.
Paul Cordy and Eric Hughes posing with the rock that fell off The Chief. Photo: Matt Maddaloni ©
All the orange rock in this picture is apparently gone except for the roof. Photo: Matt Maddaloni ©
Most of the rock above the climber here fell off. Photo: Matt Maddaloni ©
Picture by Matt Maddaloni today showing Alaskan Highway in red and Chilkoot Pass in blue. Photo: Matt Maddaloni ©
Special thanks to Matt Maddaloni for the photos.
Today, I came across an interesting article by cruxcrush.com regarding the recent crowdfunding effort by Alex Puccio. It is well known that professional climbing athletes make far less money than in other sports. This ‘lack of funding’ has recently led to a number of athletes (not just Alex Puccio) trying to raise money through crowdfunding on the internet. Is it right to ask for money from your peers as a professional athlete?
The CBC and other news sources are reporting a large fire at Nexus beach. Some people are reporting that plumes of smoke are hitting residential areas.
Squamish Terminals on fire at Nexen Beach -CBC
Massive fire burning at Squamish terminal -Buzzfeed
UPDATE: Here is the latest article from CBC regarding the fire. The air quality this morning is still causing concern.
Originally posted by UKClimbing, this is a podcast featuring Ben Moon.
May have missed this, may have not. Worth a watch!
Here is an article by Bill Ramsey for evening sends. I always love to hear people whop are pushing their individual limit well into their 50’s!
‘Age brings wisdom, insight and mastery. That’s a pleasing fairy tale used to sell Viagra, luxury cars and Dos Equis.
Age may bring some benefits, but it also brings weakness, pain, injuries, distractions—a general diminishment of all things associated with athletic performance. All semi-serious amateur climbers wonder why he or she should try hard at something so silly—to suffer and sacrifice and take risks when there is no monetary compensation, virtually no notoriety and certainly no guarantee of any real success. But when you reach that so-called certain age, this question becomes even more pressing as the point of it all becomes yet harder to see, even with the now-required reading glasses. For the growing population of child climbers, the word for the day seems to be “PSYCHED!”
For me, at age 54, the words that come to mind are more like “Ouch!” “Damn!” and “Take!”’
For the full article, please go to eveningsends.com
A few months back, we heard that Steve Townsend had a goal this past summer to complete all the 5.13’s in Squamish. For those who don’t know Steve Townsend, he is one of those climbers who throws everything he’s got at a goal, climbing or otherwise. Knowing Steve and his work ethic, we knew this was very possible. Although not exactly what Steve set out to do, we thought it best to check in with Steve about his progress and his plans for this year.
Here is what he had to say.
Steve Townsend doing what he loves. Photo courtesy of Steve Townsend ©
We checked in with Marco Lefebvre to see what has been going on in the Fraser Valley over the past week. Here is what he had to say.
‘Mike Crapo did a first ascent of a problem called Trepanning (V6) at The Stacks. The problem starts with a roof to prow offwidth and ends with a press out mantle on a steep, featureless slab. One of the best offwidth problems I’ve been on in The Valley. I then added an extension to his problem, Trepanning Ext. V7, that climbs Trepanning and transitions into the right side lip to finish with a pumpy 30+ ft uphill traverse with a press out finish.’
Peter Winter / Leavenworth WA / Grand Wall Boulders / 25 V4 Circuit / Home Campus Board
Hope BC / Jeremy Smith / Scrub your Face / Godman Creek / Ring Workouts / Wiretap