Training
Training ground is complete
11.03.10 ♥ 0
Training ground is complete
My boy Casey is currently in 2nd place…one run to go…this is where show time begins.
At crankworx . IRS insane. So hot, so many people…riders are throwin down…riders are goin down real hard…gnarly crashes…more to come.
I had heard a lot about Acephale but had never experienced it first hand. This amazing limestone crag, about a 45-minute hike up into the “hills” just past Canmore, Alberta, falls nothing short of world class. As I stood beneath all the routes at the upper wall I was in awe of how fantastic every climb looked.
Of course, with any first time at a crag you want to get on the best routes. From what we were staring at, they all looked like “the best routes”. Thus, we resorted to some of the “locals” (Calgarians who apparently have claimed ownership as it being “our crag”). And thus, the crag banter began.
The atmosphere at a crag has the potential to make or break a good day. What defines a good day? Well, I would think sending, people cranking, good conversation, nice weather, big exciting (clean) falls, someone sharing good food, or perhaps beers at the end of it all. What promotes a bad day? A bad attitude, being a douche bag, gloating over another’s shortcomings, or even spewing opinionated garbage that only fits your personal “do’s and don’ts” of climbing.
“You don’t stick clip the second bolt on this route, that’s cheating!” exclaimed a “local”. “But dude, if you were to blow that second clip, you’d clearly hit your belayer, or worse you’d deck.” “Naaa, you won’t deck, that second clip is piss easy.” “I don’t know man, that move before clipping is pretty hard.” “No it isn’t man, you don’t need to stick clip it at all.” “Well, whatever.” “Well what’s next, stick clipping the third, or fourth, or why don’t you just lace that whole thing up with a stick clip.” “Wow.”
My buddy (call him climber A) and this “local” (we’ll call him cimber B) got into it for a while on what was considered “cheating” when climbing, what was considered “safe”, and so on. After listening to them bat this back and forth I began to formulate my own opinion: Climbing is supposed to be fun, who’s gives a F about stick clipping the first or second bolt. If a climber deems something to be unsafe, then make it safer. If a climber wants to push the limits and take the “ballsy” route, then do so. There’s no right or wrong. Does the climber who didn’t stick clip the second bolt become better for sending the route in that manner? No. Is it cheating to stick clip the second bolt of a route because there’s potential of a ground fall? No. If you’re that concerned about whether someone should stick clip the second bolt of a route for safety and whether that’s right or wrong, perhaps at that time you should try to find the closest form of cold water, proceed to stick your head in it and cool off. Enough said about that.
Next point to address: Climbers will always have a difference of opinions to what routes are good, worth climbing, life changing, or simply not worth giving a second look at. Now, back to Climber “A” and Climber “B” – “Hey man, what routes do you recommend climbing here?” “Oh, dude, stick to ‘these ones’, as the rest are crap” “Huh, really, I heard the lower wall has some pretty good routes.” “No man, those are all terrible!” Climber “C” steps in, “No way man, the lower wall has some fantastic routes” “Naaa, they’re all crap.” Thus my next point…everyone is always going to have his or her own opinion on whether or not a route is good or crap. I’ve learned about this type of situation with movies. When you walk into your local movie rental establishment, more often then not the clerk at hand will have an opinion on just about every movie possible (whether they’ve even seen it or not). But here’s the thing…their taste may differ dramatically then yours. Take Braveheart for instance, I’ve literally heard someone say, “that movie wasn’t all that good”. We’re talking about one of the best movies made of all time. You see, you can’t just bow down to someone else’s opinion…you need to (back to climbing) get on whatever route you feel like and deem it’s worth yourself.
Climbing at Acephale for the first time was an experience and a half. I love going to new crags, getting on new rock and having a blast. For the record, I did get my back side handed to me, but that’s cool…I sort of expected that (as with any new place you go to for the first time). By the second day my fingers were pretty raw but at the same time I practically raced up the trail because I was so psyched to get back on such rad routes. And for the record, the lower and upper wall all have super good routes to climb. The lower wall has a few more moderate climbs (11+’s and mid 12’s) and the upper wall tends to have some harder routes (12+ and up), although there are a couple of 11’s.
Climbing is fun. It’s so fun. I fell off the last hold of my project today…and this was not the first time, however this time i just started laughing. No swearing, no hissy fits, just straight up laughing. It was good.
Our crew from Goat Style Bike Festival (I think there’s a couple people missing, but still a cool photo). THanks Red Bull for the POP.
Photo by Nic Genovese
Every year myself, along side an amazing crew, put on one of the biggest mountain bike events in North America. It’s a slopestyle formatted bike event that draws riders from all over the world. Every year this event seems to get bigger and bigger. Naturally, this year, history repeated itself…again. Our event, Goat Style Bike Jam, is now affiliated with the World Mountain Bike Association (which is a series of events spread across the world that are based on a points system) which effectively confirms Goat Style as an elite event in the mountain biking world.
Goat Style is built in 5 days. Of course, it takes a year of planning, but the actual venue is contstructed in 5- 13hr consecutive days. It’s very intense, it’s always way too hot, but it’s fun, a different kind of fun, but really fun. Our “build” week creates community. Yes, it’s a really hard week–building, shoveling, walking up and down a hill 6 bazillion times, hammering, sweating, chainsawing, etc. It’s on ya from start to finish…but the end result is always rewarding.
This year ended up being a little different. We built things bigger, our rider capacity (how many riders were competing) was exceeded, there was a deeper attendance of spectators, more sponsors, more vendors, rider ability was heightened, everything had jumped a notch. This is a good thing. It was super overwhelming but our crew handled it confidently.
On the Saturday of the event things were going really good. The wind was picking up but there wasn’t much concern to go along with that. Around 3:30pm one of our crew received a phone call from his dad, who was further up the lake (in Creston, BC) and said there was a huge storm brewing up there. Now, typically when there’s a storm up the lake it usually sweeps around the town of Creston without much concern. So, we carried on. The black clouds that were once “just up the lake” began creeping towards Creston. Before we knew it the storm had reached Creston. The wind was blowing intensely…tents started to chatter. The level of concern went from “whatever” to “oh crap”.
Suddenly the Red Bull Arch collapsed, a 20x20 big white tent blew 5ft from it’s original position, people scattered to address the beginning of mayhem. Next, everyone in sight began screaming. I let go of the big white tent that wanted to fly away, looking up the hill I then watched a 20ft high x 10ft wide x 25ft long scafolding structure get lifted off the ground and thrown like a kite. Only 5 minutes before there were people on and around that structure. Racing as fast as i could I made my way up the hill. The wind was blowing violently. The rubble of scafolding was 15ft high. Scrambling to dig through the mess, searching to see if anyone was under it.
As i sat on the hill in shock of what just happened, in shock that no one had been hurt, tents blowing through the air, steal structures crashing to the ground, thousands running around in panic mode, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Our event was running smoothly…and then pandemonium…just like that. I couldn’t move. I had nothing to say.
There had been a lot of talk about Goat Style moving away from Creston. There had even been offers for a new venue. But after watching our crew piece back together the Goat Style course, leaving it in a condition that riders liked even more then the first look, it was confirmed that Goat Style needs to stay where it is. It was inspiring to see certain crew step up in amongst the chaos and take control. What was shattered, restoration and courage stood tall.
I’ve been home for four days now and still feel weird about Goat Style 2010. It ended up being very successful, which is rad. But there’s still something about the screaming, the sound of the screaching metal crashing to the ground, about the crew that i worked with, the “family” that persevered through the mayhem. I’m sure my head will be back to normal in no time…but it’s still weird.
On a completely different note, I took 11 days off of climbing which also felt weird. But it seems as though my body needed that as my first day back on I felt stronger than i have ever before. Last night i came really close to a project i’m working on. This route, last year i couldn’t touch the crux moves. This year, i’m breezing through them without a ton of trouble. That’s cool. Training works!
I’ve attached a link to the video from the event i’m involved with.
More to come.
