Whistler and Squamish July / August 2011

Thursday 14 July 2011

Arrive in Squamish late morning after 2 days driving from Calgary.  Traffic was terrible past Vancouver from so many roadworks.  I met up with Rachelle in the Chief campground.  She is a Canadian that Logan, Rob and I met while climbing in Yangshuo China a couple of years ago.  It's raining here, and has been for a couple of days, so looks like no climbing today.  Apparently there are a couple of places where you can climb in the rain, so Rachelle said she would message me if she went out.  Meanwhile, I checked out the Visitors' Centre, one of the gear stores, and one of the food markets.  I bought the Squamish Select guidebook instead of the more highly recommended (on websites and forums) Climbers Guide to Squamish, and it seems to be a good option.  It's the most up to date and comprehensive guide available, without detailing every single pitch in the area.  Plus it's quite a small and light book, not like the older but more detailed Climbers Guide.

Rachelle is staying in her van, but isn't paying the $9 a night campground fees.  She guerilla camps down some quiet loggers road and drives into the campground to meet up with partners.  Good idea - I'll do the same!

This is the overview map of the Chief and the main tourist trails to the various summits.

 I took a hike through the Grand Wall boulderfield while it was raining, to get a bearing on everything and to see some of the famous areas and boulders.  On the Grand Wall Trail I spotted this rock carving.  Pretty neat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boulders in the forest; so lush and peaceful!

I wanted to go see the Cacodemon boulder, specifically "Dreamcatcher" 5.14d on the back of it.  This is the first route of this grade I've seen live, not just on a climbing movie.  The slab looks impossible, the rail slopey and insecure, and the final pin scar moves too thin to even hang on!  Amazing line, and an amazing send by Sharma.  there was a Japanese guy on it when I went to check it out, but it looked like he was just dogging it to feel the rock rather than trying any moves.

Dreamcatcher, 5.14d (9a or 35)

 I also hiked up the the backside crags behind the Chief to find "Cobra Crack" (5.14+ steep traditionally protected (no bolts) finger crack.  An awesome line; long, steep and thin!  Possibly the hardest crack free climbed in the world.  I think its seen 7 ascents to date, the latest being by Alex Honnold who was trying it while I was there.

Cobra Crack, starting in the flair and continuing up the thin steep finger crack on the face for 40m!

Its supposed to rain for the rest of the week, so I have decided to drive up to Whistler and snowboard before the Summer season ends up there.  They've had loads of snow over the winter, and it has been slow to melt over the spring, so the Summer season is extended up on the glacier.  Its weird to take the chairlift up the mountain from summer temperatures over green forest and wildlife, until altitude is gained and the snowline is finally reached.

A black bear where once was piste!

 The glacier is actually very busy this time of year, mainly with professional ski jumpers and downhill time trialists training in the off-season, and lots of snowboarding kids riding the parks.  The glacier is pretty small and the lines are very very long, so the time down is far shorter than the time waiting!

A view of the massive airbags the trick jumpers use as safety fall zones

Crankworx was also on in Whistler while I was there, so I spent a couple of days checking that out.  The downhill mountain bikers were riding the skilifts to the top of the bike trails at the same time the summer skiiers were riding up the the glacier!  Wild.  The show was pretty good, with lots of things going on between the downhill Championships.  There were quite a few Aussies riding, as well as other competitors from around the world.  I didn't see any of the good riders eat dirt on the way down, even though they looked like they were riding out of their skins to clock fast times.  The track was wet from all the rain, which made the turns, rough sections and jumps all look quite sketchy.

I arrived back in Squamish to still wet weather, so I decided to try the sport areas where you can climb during rain.  Cheakamus Canyon has loads of areas with a good range of grades and angles to try, and is probably the most popular area during raining periods.  I arrived and walked up the the first wall with a big group of climbers and asked if i could join them.  One woman counted the number of climbers in her group (7; an odd number) before agreeing.  Thanks for the concession!  Now we could climb in pairs and no-one would have to wait.  They turned out to be a friendly lot, and even though I didn't try anything harder than 11a I had a good time.  One of the guys even invited me out to dinner with a small group of them, and let me use his shower!

Tim; the guide and Squamish local with the shower and the generous heart!

I ended up climbing with Tim and a couple of his friends - Cecile and Emily - constantly over my time in Squamish.  The day after I met them, we went to the Smoke Bluffs to get back into the trad leading mindset.  the Bluffs are mostly single pitch trad lines, perfect for group cragging and doing lots and lots of pitches.

Thursday 21 July 2011
I went hiking with Tim, Emily, Cecile and Tim's 10 year old son Zac on a rainy day.  About 10km round trip with 650m of vertical gain, following a river up past a spectacular waterfall and up into a thick forest.

These views never get old, even though they are commonplace here

Climb at Smoke Bluffs a lot over the next few days, as well as a trip or two to Chek.  The best sport wall so far I have seen here is the Circus.  I tried a 12d here that seems like it could go clean for me, but I haven't climbed hard since France so I'm not really at the same level I was months ago.  I got to the top, but the crux took me a few goes to wire.  Still not sure I've found the best beta for it, but its a great little route so I don't mind entering the redpoint process on it.  Its called "Heifer Down".  I did onsight a nice 11c, albeit a little soft, so I haven't lost all gains!

Thursday 28 July 2011

Climb at Smoke Bluffs - 'The Smoke Bluff Connection' ("Mosquito" 5.8, "Phlegmish Dance" 5.8, "Jabberwocky" 5.10b, "Wonderland" 5.9) with Cecile.  Great 4 pitch line with all pitches 5 star.  I had done "Wonderland" a few days before with Tim's new girlfriend Emily, but the other 3 routes were new to me.

Cecile; my (married) climbing semi-regular partner

Climb 'Snake' 5.9 on the Apron with Cecile the next day.  We had planned to climb 'Calculus Crack' 5.8, but we missed the start and got on the wrong route by mistake.  But Snake is a great route in its own right, with some very cool climbing up the slabs and corners of the Apron.  There are a couple of pitches about halfway up with some dicy moves well above gear, but all in all the climbing is pretty easy and well protected.  Tried out the new 'Tradmaster' shoes, which were great on the slab but hurt especially on the heel.  If they stretch as much as other La Sportiva shoes I own, then I'm sure they'll be fine.

I'm spending a lot of time at Tim's house, sleeping in the van outside but coming in for meals, internet, showers, laundry, TV, and so on.  One night I came in after a day's climbing to find a bunch of his friends there palying a drinking game.  rain called for tomorrow, so no need to get an early night!  The game was "13"; each player counts off in turn around the table from 1 to 13. Any person who counts out of turn or missed their number has to drink.  Sounds easy, but after a few...  So when 13 comes around, that person has to make up a rule for the following rounds, and attributes a number to it.  For example, one rule that came up was the when the counting came to 9, the direction reversed.  Simple, but who-ever said 8 had to remember that they had to say 10 after the next person said 9.  This first simple rule caught out the only girl at the table every time for a couple of rounds, so it promised to be a long night.  Other rules included saying a silly word (eg "Bria"; the name of the house dog), standing up, turning around in the chair so the player couldn't see the ground for a round, drinking someone else's drink, fist pumping the player to your left, and so on; all in place of a certain number.  So by the end we had 12 different actions and words to remember, and the goal was to get right through the final round to 13 without messing up.  By the time the 7 of us achieved that, we were all well on the way to a long sleep in and a hurt head.

Had a BBQ with some locals down at Brohm Lake.  These crazy Squamites swim there in the calendar summer, so long as its sunny.  Even if the temperature is still in the teens and the water is sub-10!  Needless to say I didn't take off my jacket and jump in.

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Climb 'The Ultimate Everything' with Alissa, by incorporating most of the 'Ultimate Everything Linkup' (minus the first 2 pitches of 'Bottom Line'; and we did 'Over the Rainbow' on the Apron instead of the more popular 'Dedrie').  17 pitches in total, which made for quite a long day.  We took one pack to share, some food, and about 1L of water each.  Carrying a heavy pack as the follower is not fun, but at least you don't have to lead with a pack.  1L wasn't enough water for such a long day, but we made it through ok.  The worst part is the long hike down from the summit, then having to walk the whole base of the Chief from the campground where to tourist trail starts, all the way back the Apron carpark where we started!

The view from the Apron of the logging operation

Looking up at the Grand Wall.  The massive right-facing corner is the Split Pillar

Alissa on Memorial Ledge; the popular bridging route linking the Apron with the Ultimate Everything above

A view higher up the route, still looking out over the Howe Sound

Summit!

Thursday 4 August 2011

Climb on the Grand Wall base with Kazu.  Turns out he is the very same Japanese climber I saw on Dreamcatcher way back when!  Two pitch 'Slot Machine' 5.8, 'A Pitch in Time' 5.10b hand and fist crack (twice), 'Rainy Day Dream Away' 5.10d finger crack, and 'Exasperator' 5.10c finger crack normally done in one long 50m pitch instead of 2 pitches.  hardest technical day I've had so far on gear here in Squamish, and really what I shoud be doing most days if I hope to be in good training for Yosemite next month.  "Exasperator" was a very tough long route, and made me sick and tired of finger cracks with shit feet.  Too bad that is the bread and butter of Squamish climbing!  There is a very stout 11c of the same nature in the Smoke Bluffs, called "Crime fo the Century", that is a test piece here.  I've tried it a couple of times, and done it clean on toprope, but its just not the style I want to climb any more.  Maybe I really am just a latte sport climber after all.

Friday 5 August 2011

Climb at Smoke Bluffs with Cecile and Kazu.  Onsight 'Supervalue' 5.10c, which was scary and stiff for 10c I thought.  It didn't help that the first 2 bolts of the upper section were very rusty; I placed some very dodgy trad gear to try and back up the bolts!  The next 2 bolts were in better shape, and I found the crux not too bad.  This is probably because I could switch to Sport Climbing Mode and just do the technical climbing without having to stress about gear!  Changing cracks on the upper slab I found much more strenuous, as the gear was kind of hard to place well and the climbing was very insecure.  We also did 'Centre Street' 5.10c, which was yet another finger crack with shit feet, as well as a nice 5.9 crack that eased the mental fatigue.  But I also onsighted (thank God I didn't fall!) a sparsely bolted 5.9 arete.  Arete climbing can be very insecure and balancy, and there was only 3 bolts on the whole route.

Saturday 6 August 2011

Climb 'Grand Wall' with Kazu.  Start with 'Apron Strings', into 'Mercy Me', then traverse into 'Grand Wall'.  Alex Honnold was free soloing it the same time we climbed it, and there were 4 other teams on it ahead of us (including a team hauling a massive haul bag and portaledge - obviously training for Yosemite).  Kazu started off from the ground, so he was in line to do the first pitch of 'Mercy Me' - 40m of 5.7 with only 3 bolts!  Glad I didn't lead that, even though the climbing was easy and not insecure.  I led the next pitch which was almost as run out, but at least it was a long way off the ledge so I had nothing to hit had I fallen.  I linked the next, traversing pitch into the 2nd pitch of 'Mercy Me', which was wet, bolted sparingly, and long enough to use most of my 55m rope.  This got me to the base of the 'Split Pillar' pitch of 'Grand Wall', which is supposed to be the best pitch of the route.  Kazu lad it, as we swung pitches the whole way up, and I found the 10c climbing physically hard with the laybacking for 40m.  Of course I realised after that I could and should have jambed the hand and fist size sections of the crack, but on toperope I just charged unthinking to the belay.  Next came 'The Sword' (crux) pitch which was my lead.  Kazu had convinced me to leave my set of nuts behind because we were already taking his double set of cams, and he never climbs with nuts.  Stupid of me to listen to him; you can always use and most likely need nuts somewhere in 12 pitches of climbing!  One of the teams ahead of us said that the "sword' pitch required lots of small nuts because of the nature of the crack; incipient with many small pods too small and generally too flared for cams.  There was a fixed nut about a third of the way up the pitch, so I was very happy to clip that.  My next piece was a green cam in a flared pod, and I could tell it was no good.  It was the last piece I placed before the crux so I should have tried harder to place a good piece there or nearby, but it was a very pumpy section so I just clipped the cam and went.  I fell off the crux moves, blew the cam of the way down, and ended up back level with the belay hanging from the fixed nut.  Probably about a 10m fall.  I looked across at Katzu and let him know it was the nut that held me.  That's the last time I leave nuts behind!  I finished the pitch no problems, and the rest of the route went ok except for being held up by the parties in front of us.

Sunday 7 August 2011

Climb at Area 44 with Cecile, Carla and Will.  Met the developers of the crag and discussed the grade of the latest route to be freed, which Will and I tried.  The first ascentionist thought it was 5.11d or thereabouts, and although I went off route near the top I thought the crux was somewhere around mid-11.  I thought the bolting was ok except for the top, where a really balancy move that could be better protected (slab below to land on in a fall).  Maybe I misjudged the danger of the potentional fall, so I kept the bolting criticism to myself.  I just said the line was fun and that they did a great job developing the area.  I'm sure they appreciate thanks for all teh hard work they put in.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Climb at Chek with Cecile.  Try a really hard 12c but bailed off it because it is just too hard to even figure out the moves.  Am I getting weaker?  I have to be careful not to burn out.  I'm doing lots of trad climbing so I feel the need to balance thus with sport climbing, but then I feel like I haven't been doing enough hard climbing to even maintain my best level, plus I'm not taking any falls so my leading head is probably not staying in the right frame either.

Thursday 11 August 2011

Climb at Chek with Cecile, Tim and Emily.  Onsighted a 12a and flashed an 11c, as well as some easier routes.  Maybe my onsight level is still there or thereabouts?  Had a harder time on a 12c extension to a cool 10b route - couldn't even do the moves at the crux!  I thought I should be able to at least do a 12c, even if it is very bouldery, but I guess I have to accept that if I don't train to climb 12c I can't just climb a 12c sport route after weeks of only climbing long 5.9 trad.

Friday 12 August 2011

Climb at Lower Malamute with Alissa.  Tried a 5.11a finger crack that felt really stiff for the grade; I couldn't do it clean and ended up falling a few time on it.  A bit over the hard finger cracks to be honest.  Not really enjoying them so much, and missing sport climbing!  Should go somewhere other than Squamish then!  Also onsighted a corner finger crack 5.10, which involved a lot of stemming to progress up and a lot of butt friction to rest!

Monday 15 August 2011

Climb at Chek with sisters Zoe and Elise.  I met Zoe in Canmore before I went to france.  Finally send "Rug Munchers" 5.11d; 3rd go in total.  Pumpy but great climbing.  Do a few other easier routes, then climb the crag classic 5.12a "The Incredible Journey" 2nd shot.  Slightly contrived near the top, because you could climb around the arete to the left onto 5.5 slab, still be in reach of the bolt line and avoid the best moves of the route, but if you stay to the intended line it climbs amazingly well.  26m long, so it feels like it will never end.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Climb "Angles Crest" 5.10c with Tim.  Long day - something like 9 hours including the walk down.  Angles Crest is a fantastic wandering journey all the way from the ground to the top of the 2nd peak.  The best part was the wild and hardly protect-able 5.5 Spine Traverse.  Climb a slab and off-width crack to the spine, then walk along its shoulder-width length to another slab and eventually to belay and rappel.  Very cool!

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Climb "Star Chek" 5.9 with Cecile.  I climbed the 3 pitches in bare feet to see how it would go.  Fun, but not so good on slab.

Climbed at Rouges Gallery in the afternoon.  Did some easy lines then onsighted a 5.11c called “Ancient Heart” - really cool route.  There is a 12a next to it that I would like to try also, if I do end up staying through the weekend.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Climb "Rock On" 5.10a with Cecile.  6 pitches with only two pitches of 5.10 climbing.  I somehow managed to hurt my collarbone performing some weird mantle move on the top of the first 10a pitch, so I convinced Cecile to try leading the next 10a pitch.  She did very well, and even took her first gear fall.  She had climbed a ways above the belay before placing her first piece, then a fair bit further before placing the next - a micro cam.  I didn’t think it looked that good of a piece, and the next one she placed another few moves later was an over-cammed small cam.  As this was right before the crux I convinced her to back it up.  Falling from there onto these 2 small cams would probably ripped them and sent her crashing to the belay ledge, so luckily she got in a good bigger cam before she fell.  Her leg caught the micro cam on the way down and it came out easily, and the other small cam wasn’t tested in the fall so we’ll never know if it would have held or not.  To Cecile’s credit she climbed straight back up, figured out a better sequence for the crux and climbed to the anchors.  I seconded that pitch, grimacing through the discomfort and trying not to climb with my left arm above my head, and led out through the final pitch of 5.6 to the top.  We rapped to Broadway Ledge then did the 4 raps to the South Gully exit trail.

Calgary Stampede

I flew back into Canada from France early July, just in time for the Calgary Stampede.  I felt naked without a cowboy hat - I was almost the only person there out of the thousands who didn't have one!  The best part of the Stampede for me was the team camp-drafting (cutting), where 3 riders had to isolate 3 cows from a mob of 30 (all identified with numbers on their backs) and muster them into a holding yard.  They had to do it in under a minute, and they weren't allowed to get any other cows mixed up in the ones they had to pen.  In fact only one cow that was not in their number was allowed past the halfway line of the arena, and if any more got past then the team failed.  In one of the better runs I saw, one wrong cow got through, and at one point they nearly let more go by, but in the end they managed to get the 3 they needed to the yard and they got rid of the wrong numbered cow just before penning up their 3.   This team took 56 seconds, and the team that won did it in about 35 seconds I think.  They were very good, but there is an element of luck involved.  The team that won were a family team - grandfather, daughter and granddaughter.

The sheepdog trials were also interesting to watch, although there is definitely a lot of luck involved there!  It was the world championships, but most contenders were from Alberta and nearby provinces.  The bloke who won was from Saskatchewan, and a couple of BC locals came second and third.  There were some Americans and maybe an Australian in the 15 finalists.  Basically the handler had to stand in a marked circle and issue instructions from there until the sheep crossed a designated line in the arena, then they could open the gate for the sheep.  Once they did this they couldn't let go of the rope to help the dog pen the sheep.  This is to ensure the dog is the one who succeeds of fails in the penning, so no handler should have a physical advantage over another.  However these rules don't entirely take the dog handler's stock handling abilities out of the equation.  The people with good stock sense knew how to behave in close quarters with the sheep, so as not to make them react adversely, and obviously the faster fitter people could get the gate open earlier and close it faster once the sheep were penned.  There was a woman who was quite overweight and she was very slow manipulating the gate.  Added to that and she isn't a stock woman at all.  She was just in the crowd one year at the Stampede and decided she could train a dog to do that even though she didn't work sheep.  She was very good with her dog, but she didn't have the same sheep experience as the other competitors.  Technically, the person isn't permitted to handle the sheep, so if at the gate the sheep try to get past the person they are not allowed to physically block with contact.  The handler holds a long rope from the gate so they can use that a bit, and they carry a crook and can wave that at the sheep, but I don't think they are allowed to use the rope or crook to actually trip up the sheep.  Nevertheless, the guy who won was fit and fast, and was as physical as permitted with the crook and rope in blocking the sheep.  And he was fast closing the gate once the sheep were in!

So the course the dog had to guide the sheep through involved rounding some barrels, channeling through a narrow chute, and circling the handler before coming into the gate.  There was a time of 4 minutes allotted and 3 sheep to handle.  Much depended on the temperament of the sheep, because the dog wasn't permitted to bite the sheep.  One contender was very unfortunate because their 3 sheep included one really stubborn ewe who wouldn't go through the chute.  She would charge the dog and the dog wasn't allowed to assert itself over the sheep.  As soon as the dog backed off the ewe knew it had won, so it was all over for that competitor.

The chute

Also some buggys were on show:

 I was interested in seeing the actual rodeo itself, with the bucking broncos and the bull riding, but I couldn't do everything in one day so I chose the above events instead.  I could have stayed another day and paid to see the rodeo, but I decided to leave Alberta and climb instead in Squamish.

France Continued June/July

New gear!  70m 9.5mm Edelweiss bi-colour rope and a new pair of Testa Rossas.  Best sport shoes I've had!  A little cheaper in France than in the US, both the shoes and the rope.  May make me a little heavy on the flight back to Canada, but I was well under on the way over so should be ok.

I climbed at a small crag near Olivier's house, with him, Clay, Julien Catalon, Julien's brother Stephan and his girlfriend, and a friend of Olivier's called Marie.  Olivier is another close French friend of Clay's.  We left at 5.30pm after everyone finished work, so we didn't have much time to climb.  I think we did about 3 routes each, and nothing hard, although Clay did get up a heady 6a which had a tricky crux.  It made me struggle a bit as well!  Afterwards we all went back to Olivier's for a BBQ, which was a veritable feast; melon and Corsican saucisson, tomato and mozzarella salad, two different types of sausage, chicken, beers, red wine, and Muscat.  We all talked into the night, and Olivier showed us photos from a recent catamaran trip he and some of the others took.  Its evenings like these that make a trip special; with new friendly people, animated discussion, good food and good vocal chord lubrication, and a wonderful setting!

Finally got up a via ferrata after hearing all about it from Clay for years.  Turns out its a well-protected jaunt up a ladder, more or less!  Well, there is a little more to it than that, and it was fun even though it wasn't 'real climbing'.  Apparently the system was invented in WW1 for getting troops with no mountain climbing experience across the Alps, and it became a popular easy alternative to rock climbing, to access places like the Bastille in Grenoble via the cliffs. A rope traverse and a suspended bridge (like from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) compliments the steel rungs set in the cliff face, and the line tracks around the cliff from the river up to the Bastille.  Good fun to do once, but I'd rather technical rock.

DJ Nick's bucks party was held up in the mountains above the city, so a bunch of us hiked up with the surprised and clueless Nick in tow.  He'd been drinking heavily after work with a couple of mates, so the hike really took it out of him (literally).  Everyone had planned to camp up there, play guitar, have a BBQ and sink piss, but Clay and I headed down early in order to collect Steve from the train station.  He'd arranged to fly in from London for a few days' climbing.  It was great to see Steve again, but unfortunately we didn't get around to climbing anything really good when he was there.  Logan came back for a few days (his partner for an Alpine trip had bailed) so we all sport climbed together.  Late nights and later mornings, as well as an addiction to a new card game Clay acquired, meant that there was never enough daylight for a proper climbing adventure.  I'm really a latte sport climber now anyway; multi-pitch adventures may be Steve's bag but they are not really mine right now.  Steve and I did get up a 5 pitch sport route, but the man wasn't feeling the best and the day was a bit hot for slab.  After Logan and I took Steve to the train station so he could fly back to London, we cruised out to Comboire to try some hard sport routes.  I managed to onsight a soft cruxy 7b, but after that I was unable to make progress on anything harder.  The routes here are hard, and I've lost some form over the wedding trip!

France

So the time-honoured spectacle of the wedding dance!  Only I didn't know the steps, but luckily I didn't really need to.  Clay had that all sorted, including acting as tour guide for us all!  It was like watching a foreign film  with no sub-titles, and they weren't necessary because the actors knew how to portray emotion and drama and comedy, and that special familiarity strangers quickly attain when someone in the group really knows how to connect everyone.  Clay and Katya are two of those people, connecting the Australian Boladeras cast with the Mexican ensemble, and both with the French contingent.  Oh, and there were Kiwis, Swedes, Austrians, Canadians, Italians and Spaniards...  Sometimes there was hasty translation from English to French to Italian, and Mexican to French to English, and English to Scott-French and Scott-Spanish to something someone could hope to understand and interpret for everyone else!  It was a marvelous occasion the wedding, a true testament to the quality of character of the hosts and participants.

The ceremony itself was a brief affair, and a well oiled procession of processes deftly handled by the city's beaurocracy.  We were alotted half an hour to dispense with the formalities, then the whole party were quickly ushered out so the next marital union could take place in the town hall.  But no matter the wind at our backs blowing from the Hotel de Ville, Clay and Katya made sure to greet each and every attendant of the ceremony and pose for photos on the steps.

 Clay and Katya at the Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) getting matrimonially amalgamated

 Mum (white top with back turned), Pish (blue shirt) and Kiwi Jeff (brown jacket)

After that most of us followed the bride and groom across the busy Jean Pain Boulevard Saturday traffic to the gardens where the 'official' photos were to be taken.  Luckily the mari et femme have a couple of friends who just so happen to be quite handy with a lens, so no expensive photographer was needed.

Later in the evening we all went up to the beautiful Chez Le Pèr'Gras, a restaurant above the Bastille with a wonderful view over the whole valley, and attended the reception.  Clay and Katya put in a great effort organising the food and drinks, DJ Nick was roped into supplying the beats, the incomparable vocal talents of Amandine silenced the crowd, Kiwi Jeff brought his guitar, and not a few of us brought each other and I'll say all the gathered guests to tears at speech time.  The two Juliens spoke wonderfully in French, Spanish and English about both Clay and Katya, and the Boladeras girls bravely said some Spanish pieces in their speeches.  Notably absent where the two fathers, who were sorely missed but respectfully and joyfully included in the celebrations through words and images.  Mum had a slide show accompany her speech, and Dad sent a letter to me with a few words he wished me to say on his behalf.  Luckily I read the letter over a few times beforehand, as I felt I needed to make some legible notes in the margins so I wouldn't stumble over his hieroglyphical handwriting at crunch time!  And then there was the emotion of watching Clay's reaction as I read his absent father's words to him.  No there was not a dry eye in the room!  But happily Clay and Katya will be over to Mexico soon enough to see Katya's Dad at home, and home to Wonganoo to see our own father before too long.


Apart from having lots of quality time with my brother and his new wife (and mother of his pending child), and with my own mother and sister, I most of all enjoyed the time I spent climbing and talking with Julien 'Pish' Pichot and Julien 'Chamoise' Catalan.  these are two of Clay's most wonderful friends, and true Frenchmen.  Pish is a great student of fine food and fine wine, and has a voracious appetite for learning (especially all the 'bad' English words).  The time we spent together at Ombleze has formed one of my most treasured memories from this trip so far.  Chamoise is the most sensitive and emotionally mature gentleman I've had the pleasure of meeting.  A conscientious host and expert guide, and the perfect whit to loosen up with a few wines!  They will both miss Clay when he moves back to Australia, and he will miss them doubly I'm sure.

Mon Frere

 Mum, me, Clay, Kelly, and cousin Shane

Ombleze

Pish washing out the spilled red wine from all his camping gear!

 The incomparable Chamoise

The remainder of the time that Kelly and Mum had in France was spent touring around the city and the mountains, as well as a little bit of climbing at the local crags.  Mum consumed all things French with an appetite long suppressed by decades of rural enchainment and the burdens of financial responsibility, and I could tell this little trip abroad will no longer be enough to sate her wanderlust.

France

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Fly to France.  Weather is ordinary in Calgary so I forget about spending the morning wandering around the city and just stay in the airport until my flight leaves.  Connect through Frankfurt with only a 2 hour layover, so most of the time is on the plane. 

Thursday 9 June 2011

Arrive Lyon 10am.  Catch shuttle to Grenoble and meet Clay at the bus station (gare).  Have lunch at a nice restaurant with him and a work colleague, who doesn't speak a word of English, then we go back to his work site and I help him install a lift.  It's a very fine-tuned process with exacting standards, and interesting work.  Move some furniture around in preparation for the arrival of the family members for the wedding.  We need three air mattresses at the new apartment, which will house all the Australians (Clay, Kelly, Mum and cousin Shane), and the Mexicans will stay at the old apartment (Katya, her mother Esther, her sister Soe, and Soe's Italian boyfriend Jean-Franco.  Clay's new apartment has some wonderful views of the mountains, and much more space than the old apartment.  Nearby is a huge Carrefour shopping centre and a couple of good patisseries / boulangeries, as well as a small park.  I think it will be a good location for raising the baby.

Friday 10 June 2011

Drive to Paris with Clay and Katya to pick up Mum, Kelly and Esther (Katya's mum) from Charles De Gaulle airport tomorrow.  Arrive in Paris late evening, and check in to the Ibis hotel at the airport.  Have dinner there also.  The train station is right down stairs from the hotel, and we can take the inter-terminal train to terminal 2 to collect Mum and to terminal 3 to collect Esther.  Much easier than driving to each terminal and trying to park.

Saturday 11 June 2011

Go to one terminal to pick up Mum.  Clay wasn't expecting Kel to come, so he was pleasantly surprised when she arrived with Mum.  Have to go to another terminal to get Katya's mum.  Take a bus to the Arch de Triumphe and have lunch in a cosy restaraunt.  Drive back to Grenoble and settle in; the Mexicans in Katya's old apartment and the Australians in the new apartment.

Sunday 12 June 2011

Big brunch at the old apartment.  Clay's Spanish is quite good so he's able to talk to Esther reasonably well, with a little help from Katya now and then, and Kelly knows a bit of the language also.  Climb with the 2 Julians and another friend Olivier.  The climbing here is just as I rememeber it; polished and hard!  Hopefully we cqan check out some different areas for climbing while we're here.

Monday 13 June 2011

Shopping for a suit for Clay, and a France SIM for me.  Katya, Mum and kelly also bought new clothes and shoes.  Played a great new card game called "Bohnanza" (originally a German game) that everyone back home will love.  I'll have to try and get a set.

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Shane arrived from London for the wedding.  We took Mum up to Chartruse to see the mountains and monastary museum.  Katya's sister Soe and her boyfriend Jean-Franco arrived late in the night from Barcelona.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Climb at Le Coup de Sabre area in the Vercors.  Onsight 'Surprise Sur Prises' 7a.  Really interesting limestone formation, with lots of flat ledges and sloping features.  The rock here tends to be layered in sloping beds, so the ledges aren't horizontal.  This makes for interesting upward progression because you are fighting the slope and the subsequent barn-door that threatens seemingly at every step.

Thursday 16 June 2011

Drive around Grenoble and visit some more tourist sights.  Old church etc.  Lunch out with everyone.  Practice speaking French by ordering coffees and asking for a knife, etc.  I'm not really remembering much French that Clay is teaching me, but there are a few phrases and words I can manage to get out on accasion.

Canada

Monday 23 May 2011

Climb at the Pit with Patty, Mike and Matt Laessig.  Send "Excalibur" 5.12c first go, so 5 shots or so over 2 days.  Loving the slyle of climbing at the Pit, but it will be good to get to other areas and improve at different styles.  I don't want to become a climber who can only perform on a certain rock type, and who gets freaked out on others.

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Plan to leave for Canada today, but synching the iphone to itunes on my laptop for the first time has created problems.  I seem to be locked completely out of the phone (reset to factory settings after backing data up and installing new update.), and AT&T are no help.  Seems like I need to get the phone unlocked (jailbreak) from its Australian factory restrictions again so it will work with a US SIM.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Spend the beautiful day playing frisbee golf with a bunch of the Flagstaff locals and lounging by the pool at the country club.  What a great lifestyle!  I've never been good at the whole "walk in and pretend you belong  even though you don't have a membership" thing, so I just kept my head down and followed the others in.  We never got bothered, and an evening spent by the pool was perfect.

Thursday 26 May 2011

Continue to try to fix phone problems.  Eventually get a T-Mobile prepaid phone until I can get the iphone unlocked.  Ditch AT&T prepaid SIM.  I'll try to get the iphone unlocked in Salt Lake City (only city big enough on my way North to have a service who unlock iphones) on my way to Canada.

Friday 27 to Monday 30 May 2011

Leave Flagstaff for Canada.  Drive over 4 days, through northern Arizona, Utah, the east end of Ohio, Montana, and then up into Alberta Canada.  Got iphone unlocked in Mormon town Salt Lake City.  The locals I spoke to didn't have much to say in favour of the more hardcore LDS proponents!  After the desert of Arizona and Utah, Ohio and Montana were mainly farming with a bit of forest and mountain thrown in.

Red Canyon Utah

 Border crossing

 view of the Rockys

Lots of little oil wells peppering the landscape of northern Montana.  I had a few visa issues (on the US side) entering Canada but, once through, it was reset the GPS to metric and drive baby drive.  Its not far from the border to Calgary, and my friends like close to the city.  Catch up with Rich and Giselle at their wonderful house in Cochrane Alberta.  Only 40 mins outside of Calgary and a nice little town.

Thursday 2 June 2011

Head over to Canmore to check out the climbing scene.  Went to the Canadian Alpine Club and asked about local climbing, and at a local gear shop.  Posted notices and got a couple of names.  Went to the bouldering gym and had a session by myself, but it was pretty quiet.

Friday 3 June 2011

Supposed to climb with a French guy who had a notice posted around town looking for climbing partners, but he bailed.  So looks like another day sitting around watching it rain!  I'll just go down to Canmore tomorrow anyway, and if he bails again I'll just look at the crags for partners.  How hard can it be in such a popular area?

Saturday 4 June 2011

Climb at Grassi Lakes near Canmore Alberta, with Edmonton crew Wallace, Sheelah, Zoe, Dan and Anthony.  The Frenchy bailed again, but luckily I found some friendly people to climb with.  Try to onsight a 12a, but fell on last hard move.  Found the limestone climbing there a bit harder than down in the States.  Camped in Banff National Park at Two Jacks campground with the Edmonton crew.  Banff and surrounds is so amazingly beautiful!

Sunday 5 June 2011

Climb at "Back of the Lake" area near Lake Louise in the Banff National Park, with the Edmonton crew.

The quartzite rock here seems to suit my style pretty well.  Onsight a 12a, and get very close to onsighting a 12b.  Climb a cool but hard and scary 12c ("Dynomite") with 3 falls.  Hard 2nd clip that would put you on the ground if you blew it with rope out.  I fell higher up, and a tight belay put me into a roof lip and caused some nasty shin pain.  I guess good climber-belayer dynamics are formed over time!

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Cook San Choy Bow for Giselle and Rich.  Last night in Cochrane before flying over to France.  Unfortunately the wedding coincides with Logan and Rob's trip to Ceuse, and it looks like I won't be able to participate in both.  I would have loved to see Ceuse, but it may have to be a different trip.

May catchup post

Some more shots of the Mammoth Lakes hot springs:

 Friday 6 May 2011

Snowboard with Martin and Neva. They gave us free passes, which saves us $90 for the day.  I've only been on the mountain less than a handful of times, but I'm getting better.  It helps that both Neva and Martin are instructors!  They took me on a narrow run down the mountain which forced me to control my turns a lot more than on the wide runs I've been going down.  A steep drop to the left and a mountain on the right forced me to get good fast!  After that run I tried to concentrate on standing upright to save my back and get more control, and focus down the slope instead of looking at the end of my board.  By the last run I was tired and sore, but doing shallower turns in between the slashing sweeps that slowed my descent.

Saturday 7 May 2011

Boulder at the Sads.  I didn't take to it as well as I did to the Happys, although the rock is more like that area than the Buttermilks.

A couple of shots from the 'Iron Man Traverse' (V4) at the Buttermilks

 'Evilution' super-highball on the Grandpa Peabody boulder

Sunday 8 May 2011

Climb at Dilithium Crystal crag at the Inner Crag of Owen's River Gorge.  "Lieutenant Uhura" 5.11c o/s (very cool long pumper!), "Photon Torpedo" 5.11b o/s.  Try to onsight "Enterprise" - a very sweet little roof 5.12b - but fall off after the lip moves.  Not much time to rest before another try, as it's time to hike out and head home, so I fall off again at the same spot.  Would be great to get back down to this awesome area before we leave.

Monday 9 May 2011

Snowboard - last day!  Got confidence now to go through the trees on my way down the slope.  Only hit one!  Most of the run down the snow is banked up against the trees, so I'm able to slow down and turn sharp, unlike the main runs which are groomed to an even gradient.  Dodging obstacles adds something to the experience.  I'm sure I'd get bored running the same easier wide pistes, so to change things up there are the steeper Double Black Diamond runs or there are the trees.  I'll take the easier tree runs thanks!

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Climb at Dilithium Crystal again.  Send "Enterprise" with no trouble this time.

 Although the previously-unexplored headwall was a little spicy!

Try neighbouring 12d "Not For Sale" and get all moves no trouble first time.  Pumpy roof to a long gaston move to lip, with hard and tensiony core moves needed to get across.  Have one more shot before we have to leave, but fall off on gaston move.  Feels easy for 12d even though I couldn't send.  No time this trip to get back on it.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Drive from Mammoth Lakes to Las Vegas with Vren as a passenger.  He's a climbing guide working in Mammoth Lakes, Bishop and Las Vegas.  Camp above Las Vegas on the Blue Diamond mountain. 

Thursday 12 May 2011

Drive from Las Vegas to Kingman.  Find out that diff. has leaked all oil out.  Call AAA and get towed to repair shop.  $800 to replace rear axel assembly - housing is cracked.  Stay at Motel 6 overnight.  Hopefully this is the last big expense I have to deal with on the van, but I doubt it.  Thanks the risk with buying a 5 year old car I guess.

Friday 13 May 2011

Pick up van from garage and drive to Flagstaff.  No more problems on the way back.

Saturday 14 May 2011

Climb at the Pit.  Jumped on "No Joke" again but didn't do very well.  Considering giving up on it, as I only have a few days left in Flagstaff.

Monday 16 May 2011

Climb at the Pit.  Flash "Sister of Mercy" 5.12c (Ewbanks grade 26) - easy face to hard little roof; juggy deep undercling 2 finger pocket to a high half-pad 2 finger sharp crimp over lip, hard move to small sharp crimp, big move to small sharp crimp, match, high foot, pull up and get feet above lip, then easy to top.  Short crux that would be hard to onsight, but with pre-inspection from a neighbouring route I saw that it would be ok, so long as I moved fast.  Not sure if soft for the grade, but definitely not sustained.  "God Walks Among Us" 5.12b 2nd shot.  Awesome bouldery short route with very cool moves.  Sustained for the whole route.  This wall is all very cool.  Many short hard routes to try, and all so accessible!

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Climb at the pit.  Another 3 goes on "No Joke" 5.13a/b.  First shot was the best; linked from the ground all the way to the rest, but couldn't get through the high crux.  Was advised some better beta for that crux by a local, but I couldn't get to the rest the next 2 times.  Cleaned the route.  There are a couple other 13a's that I may have more success on that I should try before I leave.

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Modify stick clip, modify Nalgene, buy foam to make bed for van.  Snowing and cold today (In late May!), so can't go outside.  Can't climb at the Pit for the next couple of days, and Monday I leave for Canada, so no time left to send "No Joke".  Felt closer last time, but I think it would still take more days than I have left to send it.

Friday 20 May 2011

Climb at the Pit.  Send "Fresh Squeezed" 5.13a 2nd shot!  Very short bouldery route (4 clips including chains) with a hard low crux and sustained boulder finish.  Tried a 12c called "Excalibur", but I'm low on power after doing the 13.  Couldn't send after 5 shots of trying.  The people I'm staying with in Flagstaff threw me a going away party, and many of the locals I've met and climbed with came to wish me well.  Great party!

Sunday 22 May 2011

Mike came home from fighting a fire in New Mexico.  Went to a new bouldering area which BK, Sweeney and Matt Hoak found and cut a track to.  Cleaned and tried a bunch of new lines.  Played Croquet with Dustin, Julie, Christine, Megan, Mike and Patty in the park.  Tomorrow looks like I'll get one more day of climbing in at the Pit with Mike and Patty, then do some shopping for the trip North.