1. First Ascents! As always, my drive to climb new problems and routes defines much of my climbing life. There's something about doing a first ascent that excites me in ways that repeating an existing problem cannot. I've never been certain about what drives me to hunt through the canyons, forests, and mountains of the world looking for unclimbed lines, but I think that the impetus arises from the fact that - to me - an unknown challenge is infinitely better than a known one. To climb a rock face, and to know that the difficulty, sequence, and technical challenges are completely unknown, is a such a rewarding experience for me.
This year I had over 30 FAs in Alberta, BC, and Montana. I didn't FA anything particularly hard (I believe the hardest lines were Archimedes Principle (V5) at the Boulderfields and South America Low (V5 or 6) at Homestake Pass, Montana), but I did get the FA of four amazing highballs - some of the best highballs I've ever done. They include Evil Eye (V1, about 25 feet) at the Boulderfields), Chalky Boy (V0+, 25 feet) and Shirtless Bear Fighter (V3, likely close to 20 feet and really (!) steep), both near Boulder, Montana, and Montana Roulette (V0+, 23ish feet), Whiskey Gulch, Montana. I'm always grateful to find new things to climb!
Of course, all of the exciting first ascents aren't mine! I had a large handful of Frank Slide FAs this year (including the very fun Tick Tock (V4)), but my efforts pale beside the efforts of Frank Slide stalwart Josh Byslma, who has continued to mine the Slide for hard problems. By my count, Josh has FAed about 90% of the hard problems in the Slide, making him (without a doubt!) the most important developer of hard bouldering in the province. I wish he'd finally finish the Sunny Corner project, though, so Alberta could have it's first V14 (no, I don't think it's V13... ;) ).
2. Not so much hard climbing (unfortunately). This year, while I was heavily engaged in exploring new areas and doing FAs, I didn't get any projects wrapped up (at all). I did (briefly) work a couple of very hard projects (including Chaos Amidst the Serenity (V10) at the Boulderfields), but in reality I didn't put any work into anything hard. I did a couple of hardish lines (Holiday at Costco (V7) at Dierkes Lake, and Mountain King Right (V7) at the Boulderfields), but I did them both pretty fast. In retrospect, I could have tried harder on hard things. Hopefully, next year I'll buckle down and get some projects done! I did onsight a couple of hard things (including Left of Green Room (V6)), which was nice. Interestingly, even though I've dropped a V-grade off my redpoint over the last 15 years (I'm actually excited that it's only been one grade!), I've actually gained in terms of my onsight :). 'Old man magic', indeed!
3. New Areas! Three (or four) of them! The only thing that excites me more than finding a brilliant new problem is the prospect of finding an entirely new area. To find a new area - of the magnitude and quality of Leavenworth or The Channel or the Grand Wall Boulders - is a lifetime goal of mine, but a goal that seemingly becomes less likely as the climbers of the world search every nook and cranny of the mountains. This year, my endless hours of exploring the world on Google Earth finally bore some fruit, as I identified a handful of areas that looked as though they might provide good climbing. After exploring them in the real world, I was happy to find that some of them actually held a lot of good climbing. There are two areas in Montana that look really fun; (1) a granite area that Brayden and I hiked through that we called 'Little Foot' (referring to another nearby area (much bigger, but with poor rock) that we called 'Big Foot'), that looks like it holds a decent number of problems (hundreds?), and (2) 'Devil's Kitchen', a really big area (potentially several thousand problems on quite solid pink-and-grey granite) that I explored, where the rock features numerous small chicken heads (I'm still not sure how I feel about rock covered with small knobs, but they look fun to climb on!). (3) I also checked out another potential area in BC, a great-looking area with schist rock (which, while solid, is unfortunately quite soft), which has a huge concentration of steep faces (but also faces substantial access issues), and (4) a new sport-climbing area in the Crowsnest Pass (dubbed Beggar's Canyon, in part because when trying to climb the crumbling and rotten rock of the Southern Rockies 'beggars can't be choosers'), which has surprisingly good rock (for the Pass, anyways) and room for about 50 sport routes. Lots to keep me busy in 2020!
4. Montana! Our closest American neighbor continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. I visited the Big Sky state for three trips this year, and always found new and exciting things to climb. Much of Montana is very geologically and geomorphologically different from Alberta, so even though it is only a (relatively) short drive away (4H to Helena, 5H to Butte), the climbing areas feel very different. Much of the bouldering in Montana is granitic, and often consist of exposed and eroded batholith rock (like the Buttermilks, as opposed to talus slope boulder fields, which are generally the case in Canada), so the climbing has a very different feel. Homestake Pass, Whiskey Gulch, and Chalky Boy are starting to feel like home areas to me, and I'm excited to keep exploring!
5. Object Climbing, and life as a Head Setter. I've been the head setter at Coulee Climbing for about 18 months, and it's been a fantastic experience. Coulee Climbing is a great gym, and the setting crew is a solid and fun group to work with. Even more importantly, Randy Prete (the manager and co-owner of the gym) is great to work with; Randy's professionalism and geniality make my life a lot more pleasant!
Object Climbing Inc. (which has the setting contract for Coulee Climbing, and also produces a number of climbing products) continues to grow. Object has several new products coming out in the new year, which will be exciting! So far, I haven't made a huge marketing push, but with holds coming out in the next few months that'll change. With a little luck, there will be Object Holds in a gym near you in the next several months; I've started shaping and mold-making, so once I have an inventory of 200-300 holds, I'll start marketing in a more serious fashion. I'm hoping to make an impact on the western Canadian market, which is currently served by only a few manufacturers. You can check out the Object Climbing website HERE.
I'm really happy how the Object Bouldering Brush turned out, and I'm looking forward to getting into the development of several new products in the new year!
6. The 2019 Bouldering World Cup Series. In my opinion, the 2019 Bouldering World Cup season was by far the best one so far. As a setter, it is fascinating to watch setting (and thus climbing) styles change as the sport matures. Prior to this year, the setting has been a little hit-or-miss, but the consistency of quality and the variety of styles employed made the 2019 Bouldering World Cup a treat to watch. As a head setter, the World Cup events also hold a wealth of information about what other setters are doing around the world. Very fun!
Adam Ondra in the final at the Meiringen World Cup, and the hand jam that changed World Cup bouldering forever! Thanks to all the setters and climbers for a VERY entertaining year! ...and here's hoping that there's a hand jam in the Olympics! ;)
7. The 2019 Tour de Frank. This year Alberta's greatest outdoor bouldering festival reached new heights. With over 150 participants, and a long list of fantastic sponsors, the TdF continues to grow every year. It is personally gratifying to see an event that I've nurtured over the years evolve into a bona fide bouldering festival. We've got big plans in 2020 for the TdF; hopefully they come to fruition! You can read about the 2019 event in detail HERE. Congrats to the winners of the 2019 TdF, Andrew Funk (Men's Open) and Kaylee Tse (Women's Open)!
8. SABA. 2019 also ushered in a new era of bouldering in Frank Slide - an era in which the climbing community now liaises directly with the land managers at the Frank Slide Historic Site. It's a long overdue move (especially with respect to the liability issues that surround the Tour de Frank), and necessitated the creation of an advocacy group whose mandate is to facilitate access to the bouldering areas of Southern Alberta and South-eastern BC. While this organization - the Southern Alberta Bouldering Society (SABA) - was originally conceived by me, it was driven forward as a legal entity by the efforts of Adam Zelmer. So huge thanks to everyone who contributed to SABA this year and became members! If you're interested in supporting SABA, or just want to learn more, check out the website HERE.
9. Training. This fall, Brayden B. and I have been working to create a training bible for Coulee Climbing. In the course of this development, I've been training (actually!) in a sustained way for the first time in my life. I've trained before, but mostly in a 'hours spent on the wall' way; this time I'm also training in a 'weighted dead hangs / campusing / repeaters / etc.' fashion. Time will tell if it pays off, but so far my hands feel a lot stronger. It's also made me realize that my biggest weakness is pulling power (which is both good and bad, I guess). So all the training brings me to number 10 on my list...
One of the problems the Object Climbing setting team put up for the ACA-sanctioned bouldering comp held at Coulee Climbing this fall. Huge thanks to Randy and all the people at Coulee Climbing for all the great work they're doing for climbing in Lethbridge!
10. New goals! Despite my chronic over-eating during the holidays, I've been giving a lot of thought to where things are headed in the new year. I've just turned 49 (my 50th year on the planet), and so it's time I turned up the intensity a bit! I'd love to climb one (or more... ;) ) double-digit problems this year, but I'm excited to see what I can accomplish. I'm hopefully headed to Roy, New Mexico in March, where I'm hoping to get on Mochuelo (V9), and back in Frank Slide I'm hoping to get on a few old projects and finish them off, including Dragon Fire (V9), Checkmate (V8), the Hojer Project (V8ish), and Ikigai (originally graded V6 by Mark D, in reality is more like a V8). I've got a project at the Boulderfields as well (Kaiju, will be V8ish or maybe V9), so I'm hoping to get back there as well!
Mark on his new line, Checkmate (V8, or so he says). It was an old project of mine (eventually FAed by Mark), and I'm hoping to get back on it this year!
But as much as I am looking forward to climbing some hard projects, I'm really looking forward to another year of exploring the world, looking for new things to climb, swimming in lakes, walking through the sagebrush and pine trees, and not getting eaten by bears or cougars. So here's to another year of adventures! See you out there!
But as much as I am looking forward to climbing some hard projects, I'm really looking forward to another year of exploring the world, looking for new things to climb, swimming in lakes, walking through the sagebrush and pine trees, and not getting eaten by bears or cougars. So here's to another year of adventures! See you out there!
