Rollin to the Rockies

             After a protracted stint of the work I jumped into a car named Guillone, with Jason Ammerlaan and Tony McLane. Destination: Cowboy country.  First stop Jasper, Alberta to check out the fabled quartzite walls of the Tonquin.

                                                           Bivi at the stables

                                           Bivi in the rain/snow after walking 25km

The 25km hike was nice enough with small bouts of snow but we made it to the base of the Ramparts with daylight to spare. 

 It was as though the mountains were trying to tell us something;  rain all night and snow to 2300m. We turned around and hiked back out 25 more km to the comfort of Guillone.

 We drove down the road to the promised land of Lake Louise where sun and solid rock befriended us once again.

Next Stop Mt. Louis, the horn o' plenty

We chose a route on the north side of the bohemoth, inspired by this very photo.  The itinerary was clear...

                                                               A comfortable Bivi

 After approaching at the crack of noon and making a nice bivi overlooking 40 mile creek, we got down to the business of getting amongst.







 The stone was good overall and the climbing not extreme, with good protection almost throughout

                       Testing holds on new ground in the Rockies is still de riggeur


 As if to make us pay our dues, we got hammered by no less than three rain pulses, the first of which delivered lightning strikes within one Mississippi of our position and gave us all a reason to find religion.

 Jason starting up another beauty pitch just after the first rains.

                           Tony, a man who does not get too stressed about a little lightning

It was Tony's birthday so we promised him the crux...
He gave it a good effort but had to hang a couple times...solid 5.11.  I recon if he didn't bring the hammer, pitons, and the #4&#5 Camalot I told him would be essential, he could have sent.




 Our route finished by squeezing into the Medieval Alley feature from the north, thus joining the Tim Auger classic Homage to the Spider.

 
Topping out was a real joy.  The fact that we did not get fried like mosquitos in a Memphis zapper was really a bonus.



   Descending was a joy as well, thanks to the hard working Rockies guides who equipped the egress for single rope raps.

Next Stop Rogers' Pass where we could only gaze on this Quartzite obelisk of justice

To the bluffs of Begbie with Nate MacDonald who showed off his rope access skills by making steep abseils

Steep and wild that's how they like it in Rev...

Thanks for a great trip lads!

Cham: Part Deux

For my final few days in the zone I let out for the hills with Justin Sweeny intent on getting up a summi or two.  The weather was marginal and as we made our way to the Envers hut it was a miracle we found the way

                       
                                        Justin at the routefinding crux of the approach

                      L' Envers des Aiguilles is an incredible secteur if you like big pointy rocks

                                                      The views are ok too

                                          Spot the climber on the Tour Rouge!

We attacked the Aiguille de La République at 3am and by 9:30 were 2/3rds of the way up

The higher we got, the more snow covered the rocks

This made our feet cold...

Positions = Mega!

     But the weather went southbound

                            We managed a few more brisk pitches

 

Sometimes you just gotta say no...

                                And go back the way you came...

 20 abseils later we reached cappuccino country but with wooden toes and frozen fingers, I couldn't help think this was all just a little sauvage.  Climbing this peak felt more like a Patagonian burlfest than a relaxed jaunt into the 'pine that you'd expect from this region.

Back in town it was properly festive, one guy I met at Elevation 1904 described it as the best corner on Earth.  I thought about it for a second, scanning my rolodex of fun places and then nodded in agreeance.

      Thank you Chamonix!

                                                                     A la prochaine!

Cham: Part Un

Ah Chamonix.... this place more than any other is the global crucible of Alpine Justice.  People have climbed in the mountains here for centuries.  Initially, it was for the glory of the local despot, eventually people realized it would be popular for ze laydees, but mostly the naissance of Alpinism came about because a farmer needed to cross an icy slope to rescue his forlorn sheep.

                                Here is some of the equipment the cleverest farmers used


I love France...

                Perhaps the single greatest reason why Frenchmen are better than the rest of us

                                                Maybe also this....



I've come here for the Arc'teryx Alpine Academy, a long weekend buffet of mountain skills clinics, presentations and fun.  It's been a pleasure to instruct some of these clinics with other sportspersons and some of Chamonix's finest guides.

This guy is a Swiss Rockstar, his name is Pesche and I really like him.  He claims to be in the Encore phase of his climbing career, that's a modest way of telling me he still warms up on my projects.  The tattoo on his arm says it all.  A real prince of a man.

Working with French Guides is fun!  If you can't enjoy a Gauloise and a helmet-free day of guiding you're not in France.

                                                     This chap had a bit of a moment!

                            His cam pried out no less than a metric tonne of the Brevent's finest stone.

                                                   Fortunately there was a bolt in the rock.....!

       Being of Eastern European origin he was basically unscathed and not at all bothered

                                                      In France safety is paramount

       Surprisingly, less than a half hour after I took this photo, one of these guys broke his leg trying to jib the guardrail at the Brevent lookout platform.

In general, France's laid back attitude towards risk is healthy, even these young children are encouraged to climb.  It's as normal a trip to the Boulangerie.

I took a break from the festivities to visit one of my great inspirations in Art and in climbing: Andy Parkin.  If you haven't heard of him I think he prefers is that way but that's just part of why he's a maestro.

I gifted this sculpture to Andy and though he was only moderately moved, he graciously showed me around his incredible Gallery.

                                              Andy with his work "Net Free Salmon"

        Back to work with Marc-Andre and Brette; neither of these guys really needs a spotter

One day, the Academy took us to the Mer de Glace  the fixed iron rungs and ladders on the approach were very civilized.

             I was so moved by the civility of it all that halfway down the ladders I pulled off my rucksack to grab my camera and snap a shot of the action.  As I did this, my ice axe loosened itself and clinked down the next step whizzing within a bees dick of no less than 30 people.  What a douche move I thought, but as I made my way down the offending échelle no one seemed to have noticed.  I collected my tool in the moraine below, bowed my head in shame and trotted over to the glacier to join the masses.

East Coast Roadie

It's been a whirlwind week.  I flew to the US to shuttle my parents' car up to Toronto from the dismal state of Florida, where they spend their winters.

Lots of signs in FLA, so many that it's a wonder  breathing isn't regulated.  But let's not forget that these signs contribute to the economy and as the former Governor Jeb Bush would tell you: "Freedom isn't Free"

Jeremy Collins image

I heard the news about Dean and though I've only tied in with him once, I was touched by the loss of this prophetic tribesman.  Dean understood the paradox of freedom in America...

I first met Dean in Rio Blanco campground a few hours after he shot this photo.  His 6 hour solo jihad up the Supercanaleta  on Cerro Fitzroy was mindblowing for a rookie like me and stood as proof of Chouinard's idiom that the walls of Yosemite were just a practice area for the greater ranges.

After only 16 hours behind the wheel, I put the flatlands and the box stores behind me, finding authentic signage in the great state of West Virginia.

Fayetteville is a charming town, teeming with Americana, far from the watered down strip malls of Florida

This sign was a sight for sore eyes...

Jessa Goebel and Pat Goodman graciously hosted me for a night and showed me around some superb cliffs at the world class New River Gorge.

                                                          Mike on a bullet 5.12

                          The stone is as good a Lake Louise and more abundant than Skaha

Lewis at the wheel warming up on a techy 11c.  Oh yeah, in the West that translates to about 12a.  It's been more than a decade since I've had to hang on a 5.10 that wasn't iced up or slime ridden but sure as shit, I took a schoolin' at the New.

I'll be back to this place...