Local writers/climbers featured in August issue of Gripped

[squamish climber]

I came back from holiday so that explains why I only now picked up the latest issue of Gripped. If you haven’t yet, I urge you to pick up a copy, it’s surprisingly good, featuring strong writing on a mix of climbing disciplines and lifestyles.


I counted four writers from here who contributed excellent pieces. There is of course Sonnie Trotter’s backpage column - Climbing Life. Anybody who has read his blog, knows Sonnie’s writing mirrors his climbing -- it’s thoughtful, precise and modest to the point you see yourself in his words.

But there’s also a feature in there from someone who you would think would be the last person to put pen to paper for the masses. We’re talking Robin Barley here, the limelight- shy, local legend is a darn good story teller. Robin admitted to me at SMF this year that he’s a luddite, so he probably won’t see this, if anyone runs into him pass along my kudos for an excellent read. Robin writes a wittingly funny piece that’s gently sardonic (in the British tradition) about leaving his back porch to rescue Glenn from a free-solo fall on the Ultimate Everything -- with the intentional purpose of avoiding calling upon the local SAR and their “dreadful infernal combustion engines”. After roasting the SAR Robin shows he still has a soft spot for them “should I be hypothermic on the hill, I wouldn’t mind a bit of donor body heat from rescue lovelies Michelle and Nadine, with their natty red waistcoats, full of intriguing pockets. But I suppose the red crosses are (a) warning against any philandering here.”

Although not Squamish related there’s a cool feature in the issue by Alex Honnold’s mom. Also entertaining is American climber Josh Warton’s article about getting schooled in the Rockies. And while he’s probably better known back east, there’s a nice profile of Jean Pierre Ouellet, who apparently was/is in Squamish putting time on Cobra Crack.

The rest of the magazine is practically all Squamish including Jeremy Frimmer’s farewell (for now) to Squamish and what it taught him about developing routes the rest of us can enjoy and giving back to the climbing community. The First Rule of Dig Club is an enjoyable read and sheds light on a welcome trend of opening up new ground for beginner and intermediate climbers. Thanks Jeremy, and good luck in Winnipeg, come back and visit us soon.

Finally, I wrote two items in this issue, a profile of Marc-Andre Leclerc and a piece on Smoke Bluffs Park. Sitting down for a beer with Marc-Andre I was impressed -- for a guy entering his third decade he sure has a lot of wisdom about life, climbing and respecting the people who came before you.

I had a lot of fun writing the feature on Smoke Bluffs Park. Here’s a shout out to Todd Gerhart and his daughter Sienna -- your smiles in the photo capture everything I was trying to write about, great climbs and great memories are made all the time in the Bluffs.

And to Brian the “Mayor of Smoke Bluffs Park” thanks for your leadership and tireless efforts to create a lasting legacy for Squamish and the climbing community. We need to go climbing again sometime.

I would be interested in people’s thoughts on the issue and the Squamish content.

[Lurch]

Hey Dave, really sorry I didn't reply to this earlier. I haven't had a chance to read the whole mag because I haven't been able to find it on the shelves, which probably means everyone else has picked them all up!

I did however get a chance to Jeremy Frimer's article First Rule Of Dig Club on the Gripped site. http://gripped.com/2012/08/sections/art ... -dig-club/

It was a very well written article. I myself understand the necessity of cleaning to create and maintain routes. As Kevin Mclane says, "The trees are winning".

The reasons for the heavier tree coverage of today are almost certainly related to the natural cycle of forest fires, some catastrophic, once every 50-150 years. At the present time, a forest regeneration era is now underway around the Chief, but in today's public policy environment of fire-suppression, the natural cycle is disturbed and we can expect the trees to win and the open rock ambiance will lose.

Kevin Mclane 2005 The Climbers Guide to Squamish

Obviously we aren't going to let Squamish burn so the Chief can be cleaned again, but if you understand the logic then you see why cutting down a few trees and cleaning some dirt and moss off the cliff, isn't really harming the ecosystem but rather returning it to it's natural state.

We can speculate that the Chief a century ago was a vast expanse of open sunny granite with fast water run-off and a frozen ice-palace in the winter

Kevin Mclane 2005 The Climbers Guide to Squamish

[squamish climber]

Thanks Mike, I also heard it was hard to find a copy of Gripped in Squamish. Hopefully the climbing shops have got more in.

I agree it's hard to deny the rock in Squamish is getting greener and thicker. I think you also have to add the milder and wetter climate from Climate Change as another reason for all the foliage. Has anybody come across any science on this?

If this trend is here to stay it may mean climbers are going to have to be better stewards at cleaning and maintaining the rock resource.

[Axilla]

Really good issue. I enjoyed both of your articles Dave. Nicely done.

[natsdad]

Finally got around to reading this new issue. Congrats to all who contributed. Many chuckles from Robin's ode to climbing friendships (er, rescues?). I liked all the local interest articles. Good job, Dave and others.

Steve

[A-Rat]

I just finished reading this issue. Great job too all those who contributed!
I even ended up in the background of one of your shots in the Smoke Bluff article.