The kids are back to school after 16 days of a very nice Christmas break. Between a lot of visits from family and friends we went skiing to Norquay 7 times and played a lot of hockey. Nevertheless, this kind of exercise, combined with the usual oral pleasures of Christmas, did not help transforming me into a stronger climber.
Yesterday I got the bill presented under the unforgiving overhangs of the 'Hoar cave' in Haffner Creek. Ever since Isaac Newton invented the gravity, the extra pounds on my belly seem to increase the pull from the ground.
At least I got to watch and belay a more disciplined Raphael S. cruising all the lines as if the gravity switch was turned off during his multiple laps.
I'm definitely a bit unsure about the vision of this kind of sport - bolted rock climbing with ice tools and crampons and no ice - but it sure makes for a burly work out...
better than surfing with a surfboard without water, that's for sure.
Above and below- Raph on the classic Cave Man; once the hardest 'mixed" route in the world, now the scene of several burns in a row for the horizontally gifted.
Above is Raph catching the swing on 'Fire Roasted'.
The picture above is me on the crux of 'Fire Roasted', taken by a professional photographer named Wictor Skupinski. He dragged a big external flash light with a huge battery in there to lighten up the dark cave. He puts a lot of effort into his shots and it certainly shows. I particularly like the wide angle approach in the majority of his climbing work I've seen so far. You can see him below on his way to the cave with the flash light strapped outside a pack full of camera equipment.
i remember those days in the hoar cave and many others ... still miss that place - jd
ReplyDeleteDude, the place is still there, we can go relive our misspent youth. A bit like our hair, a few holds may have disappeared, but also not unlike us (!?) the place is still loads of fun.
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