On March 17th and 18th this season I headed out to Golden BC for my second annual Wrangle the Chute looking for redemption. I Found it! I brought along Bergliot Stoer a rad skier chick I met at the Canadian Championships in 2010 and we made our way slowly over the passes from Kamloops to Golden. After that drive we were ready to kick some but. Wrangle went off this year with 70cms of fresh preserved by Kicking Horse on the closed venue. Competitors were throwing down larger than life cliffs and technical billy goat lines. Never in all my years of competition have I seen crazier skiing. This competition is in a league of its own…

I can’t wait to go back next year and ride the bucking bronco again!

Special Thanks to:
Rossignol
Kicking Horse Resort

VINCE SHULEY PHOTO

What is it that beckons us to the mountains? Is it a line we wish to ski, a skill we wish to learn or improve upon, or is it the outside factors that matter most to us. Recently in the news the deaths of some very dear friends of mine have been made a public debate. The debate revolving around the reasons we do, what we do, as athletes and common adventurers. Are sports with such an inherent risk welcome in today’s pillow top society? Have we become so sheltered that we look at the risks others take and define them as “unreasonable” or “unprofessional”?

It is my purpose and project to promote adventure sports and their future induction into mainstream competition, such as the Freeskiing World Tour’s expansion, and Sport climbing’s induction into the Olympics. These two adventure sports are flourishing because the athletes that compete in them are dedicating their lives to their sports promotion and future, not only for themselves but for today’s youth and tomorrow’s champions. How are they doing this? One word, PROGRESSION.

We make risky decisions every day. To some getting out of bed in the morning is a risk they are not willing to take and to others jumping that cliff, stomping a new trick or sending a new route is only a small step in the progression they will make that day. An article written by a mentor of mine states,

“At issue is the perception athletes at the leading edge of risk are making decisions motivated by bling or profit rather than strictly based on a dispassionate and rational assessment of the situation.

Unspoken in the discussion is that a free-market economy is based upon risks and rewards. What some people find offensive is that this fundamental premise grounded in competition is now being applied to extreme sport and adventure. That rather than climbing a mountain for intrinsic reasons — ‘because it’s there’ — instead athletes are performing outrageous and high-risk stunts because that’s what it takes to win or a sponsor demands it. And there’s nothing wrong with that.” (Heshka, J., & Jackson, J. (n.d.))

But there is something wrong with that! Because under that perception our youth today will be influenced to “get outside” for all the wrong reasons.

So I challenge you as athlete’s, and as recreationalists. Get outside today for the right reasons. Get outside, for progression, to learn a new skill, to teach our youth, and to climb to the top of the nearest mountain; and when you get to the top, bathe in the feeling of personal accomplishment, because no man in a suit with dollar signs in his eyes can give you that.

Heshka, J., & Jackson, J. (n.d.). Sarah Burke: Risk real in extreme sports world. Vancouver Sun | Latest Breaking News | Business | Sports | Canada Daily News. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/Sarah+Burke+Risk+real+extreme+sports+world/6087623/story.html

Best trip yet? I’d say, try topping a heli-accessed, base camp, 7 day, all access pass to the Monashee’s. Special thanks to the guides at Mike Wiegle’s for their contribution to our paradise in the mountains, as well as our fearless leaders, Matt Reynolds, Chris Miller and Simon Robins for letting us get all the fresh tracks and experience the leadership role.

For this trip we drove from Kamloops to Mike Wiegle’s Helicopter Skiing in Blue River BC. We had a guides meeting in the Guide Haus at the MW compound and then headed off down the road to the Heli-Pad. After Loading a full Bell 212, it swung back around after dropping off our gear to pick us up. STOKED!! We spent the next 7 Days in Froth Creek Meadow (as we called it). The following pictures are from my GPS unit. Area’s marked include summits, lakes, skin tracks, Start Zones and End Zones.

Here are a few different views of the terrain in Froth Creek, BC.

From Above

This trip our guides meetings were filled with reiterations of the same concepts over and over again. With no new precip, generally calm winds and sunny cool days we had hero weather and snow. We skied a number of routes which we casually named Gaddi 1,2,3,4… and dedicated our trip to our fallen comrad who was heli-ed out early. We ate like kings and slept like babies having an abundance of food and relatively warm clear nights. Thanks to this trip I now know where Bear Lake and Cub Lake are situated and how to describe the feature between them using snow diagrams. (Thanks Simon)

I would recommend this trip to anyone looking for an abundance of accessible terrain. Though Convoluted, Froth Creek provided a number of excellent pitches and within very close proximity. We toured out via the Froth Peak Col towards Monashee Chalet. What a beautiful Chalet by the way! The logging roads out to the highway we long and generally flat. Great for touring in!

I have included some photo’s taken by a talented photographer named Andrew Valyear.

Scouting our Descent

breaker breaker, 10:4 rubber ducky

Does anyone know the symbol for groupel?

Base camp @ night

5.10 pit climbing

That skin track must have been made by a guide!

The photographer Andrew and I mastering the concept of Genital Framing

For my first Adventure of 2012 I decided to try something new and take on Ice Climbing. From January 6th to the 11th, 15 students from the Adventure Guide Diploma at TRU embarked on a road trip of epic proportions. Here in lies the photo journal of our adventure as well as a video of my first time on ice.

Here is a link to the video of my first time on ice

November 4th some fellow Adventure students and I headed out to the Duffy Lake Road for a much needed pow session. We had perfect weather and used the summer route access to head out to Keith’s hut. We took our skis on and off a lot on the approach but the powder was worth it. Below are a few photo’s from the trip and a video link of our epic adventure.

Here is an edit of the weekend

This fall semester at TRU I was scheduled to take two rock climbing courses focused on trad climbing and guide training. The first week we had non-stop sunshine and perfect weather. The second week we were not so lucky.

The culmination of our two weeks of climbing course in Squamish ended with us having a fun day leading a new route put up this year called Skywalker. Here are some photos from the day.

Photo credit goes to Shaun King our awesome guide and fearless leader. Check him out at www.mountainsense.ca

On Aug 04 I set out on my second attempt at the mountaineers route up the NE Arete on Wedge Mt, the highest summit in the Garibaldi park. The weather that day was cloudy and a cool breeze dominated the afternoon sun. It was perfect conditions for a summit. After 3.5 hrs of sweaty hiking, skis, boots, ice axes and just enough hardware to make us feel like we might never reach the hut. We were greeted by some mountaineering on their way down from a successful attempt at the summit. They wished us luck and continued their descent. The mountaineers route is not easy feat. It requires perfect temperatures and impeccable timing. One of which was not on our side the next morning at 3 am when we rolled out the cabin door and gazed faithfully at the stars in a moment of unwavering confidence and certainty. Our climb to the summit would be a tale of tales, a dominance of epic proportions, a success story that resonated through family and friends as one of many accomplishments on a list of successes that define our awesomeness.

Ya NO!

By 8am we were knee deep (literally) in our mission. So there we are climbing excitedly across a boulder ridden knife edge covered in just enough sloppy snow to make anyone nervous I think to myself for a moment about our plan to reach the summit. Ok, so we only have a rope team of two but we are experienced and we have brought with us the proper pro….but we haven’t tested the viscosity of our friend the sun baked east face so we stop on curiosities request and pop in a picket. As I put my full feminine figure into the picket it pulls out like caramel and my ice axe becomes my unexpected savior.

Now the bells are ringing in my head.
1. Knee deep post holes
2. Cornices dropping like flies
3. Pickets pulling out like caramel

On the plus side we still have an entire glacier to ski down and our yummy lunch to look forward to but I can’t help but hear the laughter of the beating hot sun on my face. How ironic that I spent the entire summer praying if not begging for a day without a cloud in the sky but that it happens to be at the same time I am making a second attempt at my favorite route.

I cannot say much more other than it was sooo much fun. We climbed 3/4 of the way there, turned around at the crux and skied our way back to happier thoughts and the bottom of Wedge Gl. My friend tells me the next day that for him Wedge was a third times the charm kind of mission and my ego subsides. But as time passes I grow more and more obsessed with my mission.

So in an fit of yearning I must say before I leave you with some pictures of our adventure. I will get you NE Arete. You will be mine, oh yes you will be mine.

WEDGE MT AND THE LAST PITCH OF THE NE ARETE

THE BEGINNING

OUR HOME FOR THE NIGHT

POINTING TO THE SUMMIT

THE WAITING GAME

Mmmmm DINNER

SO CLOSE YET SO FAR

SAD FACE

I JUST SAW A HUMMINGBIRD

LAYING IN THE SUN

LUNCH

ALL SMILES

NEXT TIME

Why do we climb? I began climbing about 2 years ago and only in the past year has my love been exponentially increasing. I climb because fear is a huge aspect in my life. The fear of failure is the only true barrier to success.

Fear rules so many lives, and popular convention holds that climbing is risky business, ‘dangerous stuff’ to be avoided. The view from the inside is neither as simple nor worrisome. Good climbers develop a fine , well-balanced relationship with fear. Instead of allowing it to paralyze when trouble brews, its energy is turned into a positive tool for overcoming dramas high above the ground. This ripples off into many aspects of life. To non-climbers, it can be a paradox that development of such a skill brings an easy calmness, but that it does, and climbers are widely admired for it. (Canadian Rock, Select Climbs of the West, Kevin McLane, 2010)

Climbing has helped me control my inner voices. It has complimented my skiing and has opened doors to routes that before were out of my reach. Here is to the spawn of a new love, and the hope that this relationship lasts a long time.

DIEDRE 5.8 a conquered classic
Onsight
Squamich chief-Apron

The first pitch a run out slab

More run out slab, remember to protect your second even if they are capable of soloing the route in approach shoes!

Getting steeper!

Stoked I am rocking this climb.

Who doesn’t love Squamish slab!

Check out my placements yo!

After the sting, I was pretty stoked on my on-sight lead and the tattooed tree at the top.

Since when did we stop dreaming? When did we grow up and say, ok time to get a real job. What is a real job? Sitting at a desk, starring at the wall wishing you could be in a better place; bringing home the pay check at the end of the day so you can fix the broken tap on your kitchen sink? Boring! I say there is more to life than compensating, more to skiing than weekends and more to a career than just sitting at a desk surrounded by cork board.
Perhaps a different perspective;
I am an adventure student. While you write papers, I write in the rain. While you study biology I look for fun facts on sea cucumbers. When you’re cramming for your final exam, I am riding the waves in a sea kayak in Tofino. Adventure is that little voice inside that tells you to get outside and experience life. That’s what we do at TRU in the Adventure Guide Diploma. We experience firsthand what it takes to be an adventurer. We are leaders of men and women and we live the dream.
This year in my life as an Adventure Student I have been to many places. Most recently I have been to a place beyond the confines of chalk, pencils, and PowerPoint’s. A quiet place, measured only by your ability to dream. Our transporter was Golden Alpine Holidays and they took us to their backcountry getaway; Sunrise lodge. Guess why they call it that? We skied, we toured, we snow caved and we summitted. It was an adventure worth living, in a world worth exploring and as simple as that is there is something about it that seems to quiet your mind.
I climb, I kayak, I ski, and I study and that is my student life. Don’t get me wrong we party hard, but mainly we are busy planning expeditions up Aconcagua or circum navigating the Pacific on a sail boat. We are in a world where the confines of day to day life do not apply. Sure we may be the only students in class during reading week but when you’re halfway through your semester ours is done and we are back to the great outdoors. It’s a world where it doesn’t matter why your here or how you got here or where you’re going. The fact is your here and this is now. This program will stretch your view of what you are capable of. If you’re looking for an adventure, or just an experience there is a place where, in a small desert town, living the dream can become your reality.