Bar Harbor!

Just back from an amazing trip to Bar Harbor where we climbed at Precipice cliffs. John Cory, Chris Hennigar, Krissy Lunney, Jennifer Barth, John Bowles, Chris Norfolk, Eric Burley and I all headed down Friday to camp at Clifton and drink our faces off to different degrees. Hangover ridden next morning, we got an alpine start and managed (barely) to keep it in until we got to the cliffs. I have to say that place is amazing. Like a small welsford with better quality rocks and routes, and sooo many crack climbs! Saturday I got on
Old Town 5.7
Gunklandia 5.7 pitch 1-2
Return to Forever 5.9+
Connecticut Cracks 5.11a

This included the Tri-simulclimb of Old Town by Hennigar, Jenn Barth and I. We tied in about five feet apart and climbed in a block. Crazy. I tried to get a quad-simulabseil going at the top, but there were no buyers. Saturday night saw us hit the town, which was pretty cool, but crawling with cops.

After camping out on the side of the road somewhere, we got another alpine start with the help of High octane Gangsta coffee. and headed back to the cliffs. Sunday saw the sending of
Bartelby 5.8
Recollections of Pacifica 5.9-
Wafer Step 5.5
Chicken of the Sea 5.9
Green Mountain Shakedown 5.9+

Back in town, we saw a couple of souped up pickups with hydraulics and dragger bars that would throw out sparks 20 ft behind them! We egged on one guy to give us a show, but the 5-0 were waiting in the bushes and he got nailed and kicked out of town. Brutal! Dinner was then had and we boogied for home late. Great place and I can't wait to get back there soon!
Matthew.

Welsford is back.

The Cochraine lane hiatus is over! Finally climbers are allowed back into (most of) this hallowed NB craig. I finally bit the bullet on Saturday and lead up Pink Panther Direct, which while burley, was not nearly as scary as I had it pegged to be. I do have a thing or two to learn about protecting roofs however.
Minkey was well populated on Saturday by those of us who braved the J Corey hangover to regain the glorious granite, and the peregrine's treated us to quiet the show by turfing a few of the local Vultures who got too close.
Sunday saw bizarre weather and cool climbing conditions. It turns out Its a Way of Life is just as good as it always was, and in the words of Burley "I still have to stop and remember to place pro".
Next week: Bar Harbor or Gumby's Roof? What's it gonna be?
Cheers,
Matthew.
Credits to F. Berube for the picture, until I can upload one of mine.

Gunks 07

Ok, finally back from a long awaited trip to the Gunks in New Paltz, NY. This was my third trip to the craigs, and I'd have to say it was the best yet. Rob, Trace, NoJ Simpson and Jersey Todd and I drove down Saturday, climbed till Thrusday night and left Friday morning. The weather was great save for one evening and morning where we got thundershowered, otherwise we only had to contend with the heat and humidity.
The following lines were climbed by teams I was a part of. *'s are arbitrary:
Rhododendron (5.3)
Betty (5.4)
Horseman (5.5)
Jackie (5.6), Shockley's Roof p1,2&3 (5.6)**, High Exposure p1&2 (5.6)**, Frog's Head p1&2 (5.6-)
Classic p1&2 (5.7)*, Ken's Crack (5.7)***, City Lights p1&2 (5.7)*, Laurel (5.7)*
Son of Easy O p1 (5.8)**,
Directissima p1 (5.9)*, Ant's Line (5.9)***
Retaliation (5.10+)**
Everyone had a great time, and no injurys were incurred. Retaliation was an amazing climb which I want to repeat, and Directissima will certainly see the completion of the top two pitches in my next visit.
Special thanks to Peter and Jason, a couple of locals who showed us all the cool spots and made us feel right at home. Also thanks to the R&S chica for the morale boost and the sweet deal on my nomics. See you all in the fall.

Midnight Rescue!

Ok, before I post my Gunks trip, I had a little outing tonight I thought I should share.
So my brother calls me from a scout camp that he's attending about 30 minutes away and he tells me that he and some fellow scouts decided to rig this crazy incendiary device on a string that would slide down from a tree and ignite the campfire to start this crazy ceremony they were having. In the process, one of the older scouts (20 or so) decides to put on a harness and shimmy up a tree to string up the line. He gets about 20 feet up and freezes, unable to move up or down. He fortunately slings himself to the tree (poorly) and tells my bro the problem. They keep it on the down low until everyone leaves and then he calls me up.
So I have to drive out there in the middle of the night because no-one has anything they can rescue him with. Most un-resourceful scout troop ever. I end up soloing up the tree in my ice gear to rescue the kid, and all ended well. I also got to try out my new axes (hooooooot) and now can't wait for ice season.
Cheers,
Matthew.

Before the Fall

Out last weekend to Welsford before the closeure with Rob, Trace, Mal, Todd and some friends of theirs. I got down to Exfoliated wall where I seldom climb and hit up some of the tough sport routes on the left side. Todd and Trace quickly dispatched Mental Hygene and Fern Gully to warm up, and I was able to follow their good example by putting down The Juggler and Sleeping Beauty. Don, doing an excellent job at photo duty, took some great shots of the climbs, as can be seen at his site http://donricker.smugmug.com/gallery/2947631#P-1-15
Above is me having a crack at The Juggler 5.10a. Also, I'd like to put in a plug for the DMM Revolver, expensive, but awesome.
Gunks next weekend!

Rained out of the White Mountains, NH.

Got CHEWED in New Hampshire last weekend. Lots of cool hiking, but very little climbing. It Rained from start to finish. Team CLIMB FAT lived up to their name with a truely slothful weekend of Shopping and snacking. The only flirting with fitness that occurred was the assault on Tuckerman's Ravine at Mt Washington by Shawn, Denise, Dottie and I. Sub three hours, car to car, topping out just below the bowl. Truely an inspiring spot, I'll have to get back in there in the winter to make the traverse/climb some ice.
Kamouraska tomorrow, Hopefully DK and I will make up for our lackluster weekend in the Whites.
Also, Big shout out to Stef over there in the Gobi, We miss you lots, big guy.

Sweet start to the Season!

The top ten weekends in Welsford list just made some room for a new addition this weekend. DK came up from Hali to rejoin CLIMB FAT team members Rob, Trace and I for a killer weekend.
Saturday saw some sweet climbs up on Mikey, with Dash, 5.8 for style, Salt & Pepper, Warm and Sultry, and Curried Reccolection being led, and Inhuman eraser and Bird of Fire being Topped. Bomber day on warm rock. Got buzzed by the lady Peregrine who was just checking us out. She's beautiful.
Saturday night was cool, but was warmed by good company as a good crew arrived at the base to camp. It's amazing how our little community has changed in the past couple of years, Im not going to be the pup for much longer.
Sunday dawned bright and cool, and after some morning schenaegans Dottie and I hit up the Upper Tier for some sweet leads. Monseur Torpedo, Most Unprecidented and Bombing run (?) got hit first for a stellar morning, with a tribute to trad on Adventure Pedestre after lunch, proving that DK still has what it takes to throw pro. The afternoon culminated in the discovery of the Attic, which I have never been to before, but will soon return to. That wall is amazing, with sustained hard climbing on bomber bolts. Good times were had by all.
New Hampshire next weekend!

M@ Takes Halifax By Storm; Halifax Not Impressed.

So May 4th weekend marked the culmination of many things. Flat Fifth was playing in Halifax, The weather was crap, climbing was sketch here, and Dottie had the weekend off. Sure as shooting I was going.
Blasting down after work and eliminating my small margin of error by missing the Truro turnoff, I arrived at Stayners Warf with only minutes to spare. Fortunately I scored a choice seat, which I defended from all comers. The band played through most of their repitoire, launching with the seminal instrumental "Alfalfa Honey". Aside from this band's general toe-tapping-piano-kick-assitude, the subtle yet highly engageing base and fiddle stole the show, finessed by the gnarled hands of George "I thought she had it" Barkhouse and the confident stylings of Eilidh Campbell respectively.
I must admit that Eilidh is perhaps the thing that pushes this band over the top for me. Skilled, worldly musician aside, She has to be one of the most beautiful artists I've ever seen. Oh, and she's Scottish. That's me down for the count.
Other tunes of note were the resplendent Beatles cover, and Jeff Coates' "Zig Zaggin", which was as always a crowd pleaser. Look forward to good things from this band, and if you get the chance, go check em out.
The rest of the weekend was not to be left out. After the Hali Market (amazing), Attempts were made to find Sorrow's End, which ended in crushing defeat, as the guidebook was useless. Yoga was substituted, which ended only in crushing. (Im a little hooked though).
The day was capped by sushi, hilarious Anti-hero philandering and a horrible movie.
Sunday saw some sweet Steve-o-Reno's for Egg-o-Renos (a Halifax must). And a successful day into The Eagle's nest for climbing. NS is a hole for climbing by the way.
Hugs ended the day, and I was off home to plot my climbing for the next weekend. Other worthy mentions include Courtney Smith, who added even more comic relief, and is truely just one of those people who light up your day. An eyebrow is worth 10,000 words.

Hot Toddy/Ryan LeBlanc @ Charlotte St.

Hey All! So in a spat of good luck, I won a pair of tickets to see local band Hot Toddy from CBC yesterday, incidentally just about the first time I've ever won anything by chance. After dragging an accomplace into the last minute event (beggars can't be choosers) I was suprised by an intro curtesy of Ryan LeBlanc, who gave a solid proformance on his Butt box/guitar/banjo/harp SIMULTANIOUS method. Having never heard of this guy before, I have to say I was pretty blown away.
Hot Toddy came on second, and covered a lot of their classics in a long set. All the common fare for this band was discussed, and the usual shenanegans abounded. The secret to playing the harp apparently, is to "suck through the two hole". This advice had been shamelessly dispensed to elementary childeren earlier in the day, most of whom apparently "got it". Thom almost had to leave the stage in embarrassment.
Anyway, Class Act all the way. This was a thuroughly enjoyable evening, with highlights being their Shiack number (name anyone?) and the oncore acoustic "Woodpile". Fantastic group folks, check em out: http://www.hottoddytrio.com

PS, sorry about the picture quality, Still getting the hang of the camera

Oh, it's good to be busy.

All right! Thats more like it. Busy weekend in Freddy. Indie show at the Capital on Saturday night was a good time, props to fellow facebook addict for the invite. Turns out people still get as crazy at the Tannery as they did two weeks ago. Saw a suprising ammount of people that I hadn't seen in years, and suprise suprise; a bunch of them are getting married. I tell ya, it's a plague on society. But Kudos kids, and all the best.
So after sweet evening I racked up and headed out to the rock for the first time. It was terrible. Water water everywhere, and not a dry route to be found. Trace and I headed up to Sunnyside and put down two routes that were only slightly damp, but other than that it was a nice walk. Feels good to be out again, but lots of work needs to be done if Im hitting the gunks in two weeks.
Pray for sun folks!
Also, safe returns for Stef, as he heads off to the orient for another stint in the Gobe. Safe trip dude, We'll save some almondine for ya!

This is my angry face...

Ok, Pretty steamed. 15 cms of snow tomorrow. Snow and rain Saturday. Snow and hail next week. WTF???? I clearly worked up some hate crime worthy karma lately. Dunno what it was, but to whomever is listening, Im sorry. Really. I will redouble my efforts in living a pure lifestyle. I'll finish my degree soon. Promise.
Just send over some good weather. I have promises to keep here.
Ahhhhgggg.
On another subject, anyone have any road bike advice for me? I was bitten badly by the road biking bug last year and Im ready to commit what's left of my knees to the sport. Those Cannondale synapse alloy 2's look aweful pretty.
Also, what's with this facebook.com thing? I create an account and a week later I log in like 5 times a day. Wicked addictive. Y'all should try it. It's the only way I'll remember the names of everyone new that I meet, and my friend's birthdays.
Cheers.

That thing thats going around.

Ok, so there's this bug thats going around, and a great number of friends of mine seem to be catching it these days. I guess it's an age thing so it kind of ties in with my Alive at 25 post a couple of days ago, but it still seems to provoke a sense of amazement. Marriage. Woooooooooo.
Now Im not about to set off on a diatribe regarding the evils or benefits of this sacred institution, but I guess I do have a little to get off my chest. I remember a trip to Ottawa that I went on almost ten years ago where I met a very dear friend of mine. She and I stayed up all night talking on the trainride there, and ended up spending the next week more or less always hanging out. We had very similar thoughts (read: mild distaste) for the institution of marriage, and in that peculiar mid teen way built our fortress against it to some degree. I went on in the oncoming years with a feeling of kinship both for her, and many of my other friends who were all safely held by the bulwark of reluctance. Reluctance to let our youth and freedom (for this is what the unwed embodied for me at the time) be bowed and shackeled by the chains of committment. Till death do us part.
Then my friend got married.
Thuroughly deflated, I was forced to re-examine my views on the subject, but for about two years after that event I instead felt slightly quashed by feelings of inadequacy, doubt, and though I am now lothe to admit it; betrayal.
OK, so maybe a little diatribe.
Now, slightly wiser for my rambling thoughts, Im finally over my adolescent raging. I've come to accept my friend, and indeed all my friend's happiness in marriage, something I before thought was squashed with the ending of the honeymoon.
I found out today that another of my old friends has departed the lists of bachelorhood, and this time I couldn't help but smile as I read their letter. Time goes on, Friends get married. Hopefully we all stay happy. That's the dream anyway.

WTF?!?

Ok, seriously. I know that this is NB and you should always be prepared for "different" weather, but this is getting a little nuts. 15 cms and its still snowing. It's April 6th! crazy. So much for getting in shape for climbing.
Well looks like the spring rec season is off to a funky start. Biking is good but reallllly messy. Welsford and Sunnyside have seen a couple days of rock climbing this season, but I have yet to make an appearance. The UNB Rock and Ice climbing trip to the Gunks in NY is rapidly coming up; last weekend of April. Any reccomendations on routes or anyone with a spare guidebook kicking around, feel free to drop me a line.
Finally got Kanga all fixed up. Never say a car is an investment. After having a hood latch mechanism fail and smash the windshield, an exhaust breach, headlight malfunction, cylender valve shrapnel perforating the head gasket, she's finally back on the road. I still love that car, but she's got a lot of character. Stay tuned for more shenanegans.
Happy Easter everybody!

Alive at 25!

Holy crap.
One week until a quarter century. It just sorta dawned on me.
Now Im not complaining. I've got a good life, am plenty young, and am in good health. It just seems like 25 is supposed to be some kinda milestone. I don't really feel that way about it, as it's just another day like the birthdays of the last ten years or so. Course ten years ago I was only 15, so that makes me feel young. But in ten years I'll be 35, an age I've set for myself as one by which I will have a bit of the mystery of my future "sorted out". So that makes me feel a little more mature. Hmph. Lots to think about I guess. Makes me feel like writing a book. Kind of like riding the Montreal Metro.
Ah hell, Happy aging everybody! it's just another day, and the potential for each is just amazing.

On a slightly different note, it's almost eerie the number of people I become friends with that have birthdays on or next to mine.

Also, Props and credit to Fred Beckey, pictured above and still climbing hard at 83. I hope Im half as vigorous at his age.

Tintamarre 2007

Just got back from a whirlwind tradeshow at the Tintamarre 2007. Translating like "to make Noise", the Tintamarre was a tourism expo between Que and NB. Held at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal (cool spot, but it's always sad when the concept of tomorrow becomes the reality of yesterday....it needs a facelift) the expo was big and loud. I helped out an artist friend of mine with his booth and explored the city in my spare time. High points being way cool acadians, and their hospitality, Merci Annie!
Also, MEC is now becoming a drug addiction. The store in that city is unassailibly cool.

Long time passing

Ok, So long time between posts. Currently procrastinating, so I'll try to get current. It's mid March, the ice season has karked it for the year. Parlee might have some, but Im not going to drive down there to drown. So, looks like the rock it is! Gunks trip planned for late in April. Got a score to settle with Nose Dive. In the mean time, enjoy the Cave Fever pics. My brother Al, along with Rob and Trace and their friend Marc, All wound up at WW last month after ice fest, with a view to kill this particular prize route. It was a lot more intense at the base than it looked from afar, but after taking half an hour and a few burns on the three stooges, I was able to man up enough to send. Amazing route, and tops to my crew for the stellar support.
Enjoy.

Opening Post, Gaspe Ice 2006

Just got back from Ice climbing in the Gaspe in the last days of 2006. Based out of the St. Anne du Mont area, Climbers Stef, Jamie, Tracy, Dave and I braved the St. Laurent weather to get some good early season sticks.