Vikki Weldon

It’s been a bit hectic in a weird sort of way since I’ve returned from Kentucky. I felt like I was thrown into a tornado after living the serene life of a dirtbag climber. Vancouver felt much more chaotic after living in a tent in the woods for six weeks. Even though I had no commitments and oodles of free time during my ten days back in Vancouver, I felt that good ol’ anxiety building up inside. Crushing crowds of people, swelled to an unusual size due to the cheery season of Christmas (aka melt those credit cards people!) were giving me ulcers at an ever youthful age of 21. Being back to my familiar surroundings gave me an almost disappointed feeling. I always seem to experience this deflation after a major trip. Perhaps it a result of the knowledge that I have re-entered the world of real life, and my fairy tale is over for now.

Mike dreaming of the next trip

At this moment, after reuniting with my family back in Calgary and braving the mall crowds not once, but twice, I am finally settling down and relaxing. Tomorrow is Christmas, and even though I am part of that unfortunate percentage of people who feel like Scrooge in the days leading up to that most joyful day of the year, I am more than excited for a happy day with 5/6ths of my family. Chris, the big brother of us all, is off frolicking amongst the boulders in Hampi with his friends Kevin and Lan from Squamish. Lucky ducks. Also joining us are Stacey’s boyfriend, Phil, and Michael’s friend, John. Full houses are a blast!

Logan reigning over his glorious kingdom: The Couch

After Christmas, the whole crew is taking off to Big White, a ski area near Kelowna, for a few days of tearing up the slopes and boozing it up for New Year’s. From there I will venture back to Vancouver where I’m starting nursing school at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. With three days a week of classes and two days a week of clinical, I’m going to be like a busy bee hopped up on steroids.

As for climbing, I have decided to try out that good ol’ method of improvement again: TRAINING. I haven’t trained seriously since I was a junior competitor, but I feel ready to get back at it. I have some new and ambitious goals for this summer in Squamish, and I’m going to need a whole lot of power and endurance to complete these projects. More so than ever before.

Well, that’s all for now! Good luck with all your future endeavours planet Earth, and try not to strangle your relatives this holiday season!

Soaking the chestnuts before roasting..not as fun as the song makes it out to be

Merry Christmas!!

We made it! My mum and I arrived home on Saturday night, alive and well after approximately 4500km of driving. My mother has proved herself as a real live superhero, which is really cool. We did the drive over 4 days, with half a day spent in and around Moab, Utah.

We arrived in Moab early in the morning, and with the chilly forecast, decided to do a quick hike around the Arches National Park rather than go straight to the Big Bend Boulders. We hiked up to the Delicate Arch, which is astounding, especially since we were the only ones there. It felt good to stretch the legs and breathe in some fresh, silent air.

We had lunch at one of the few open restaurants in Moab, as we found out that a huge portion of the town shuts down in the winter. It’s a cool, trendy looking town though, and I can only imagine that it’s a fantastic place to be in the summer. After lunch, we headed to the Big Bend Boulders. By that time it was getting late and still quite cold (excuses, excuses..) so I opted not to climb, but I still ran around like a chicken with its head chopped off, feeling boulders and staring in awe at some wicked looking lines. I reassured myself that I would be back soon enough as we hopped back in the Gopher.

As we rolled back into Vancouver, I was struck by mixed feelings of sadness and excitement. I was being pulled in two opposite directions, as I wanted so badly to be able to turn the car around and drive straight back to the Red, yet I was eager to return home. Once I got home, it took me 5 minutes to become instantly reattached to my cellphone, 2 minutes to unpack and explode in my room, and 1 minute to pass out on my bed. Not much has changed I suppose.

Me 'n my trusty steed in Moab

Park Avenue, Arches National Park

The Delicate Arch

Mama vs. Rock: Who will win?

My first big roadtrip is now in the past. I had an insane amount of fun, and I really came to appreciate climbing at a higher level than before. My psych is high to train for next summer’s endeavors, and with Vancouver rains and school in January, I’m going to need all the motivation I can get.

“The best climber in the world is the one who’s having the most fun.”

-Alex Lowe

Last Morning in Kentucky.

A Full Moon Filters Through the Fog on my Last Night in Kentucky

Let me just say this. Dorothy and Toto were two lucky SOB’s to have been blown out of Kansas. That state is flat, windy, and brown. Sorry all you Kansians..Kansonians..Kansions?

That’s right, the trip is coming to an end. I left the RRG on the night of December 1st after almost 6 weeks of plain, straight rock climbing. Wanting to make the most of my remaining time there, I climbed 7 out of my last 8 days. Needless to say, by the 7th day I was beating my head uselessly against the rock, but I sure as hell smiled while I did it. My friend, Todd Clark from Alabama, stepped up to the challenge of climbing 4 days on with me. As I had successfully completed my project, Flower Power (5.13b) at the Motherlode, I was keen on trying anything. We ended up going to a different area each day, and I found some amazing gems. For all you Motherloders, Swahili Slang (5.12c) at the Warmup Wall is Stellar (with a capital S). After pulling on steep, pocketed stone for over a month, I was completely out of my element on slab, mantels and technical foot placements. It was brilliant! We also visited the Bob Marley crag and scratched our heads at No Redemption (5.13b), as well as Dogleg (5.12a). It’s been a long time since I’ve had to walk away from a 5.12a. Quite a humbling experience, let me tell you. On my last day, we went to Left Flank, a classic crag that I had not yet visited. Todd and I both worked on the ultra classic Table of Colours (5.13a), a wicked route with a powerful crux. I tried the route 4 times, and eventually had to accept that I was too gassed. It would have been nice to come away with another 5.13, but hey, you can’t always get what you want. In the end, I climbed with amazing people, on quality rock, in a unique part of the world, and for that I am happy.

When I left Lago Linda’s that night, there were 6 people left at the campground. It was an odd feeling to glance at the empty cooking shelter that was chock full of people and laughter just weeks ago. I said goodbye to my friends, Todd, Tim, Ali and Kevin (as they had their eyes glued to UFC while cracking jokes about the connotations of the term “rear naked choke”) and hopped into the Gopher to head to Louisville, KY.

Now, why, may you ask, did I head to Louisville? What could I possibly be doing there? Picking up none other than the World’s Best Mum, Laurie Weldon!! My mother (did I mention that she’s rad, spectacular, and all other things cool?) decided to fly all the way to Kentucky to make the cross country drive back home with me. Now this may be some maniacal scheme to trap me in a car in order to spend time with me, but hey, who am I to complain? I love spending time with my Mum, because she is cool (as aforementioned) and a blast to hang out with. Plus she brought cookies.

That first night we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Jeffersonville, Indiana. It was odd sleeping in a bed. What was even more odd was that I missed my tent dearly. And the oddest of all; this lady had hundreds of nut cracker soldiers. ‘Tis the season to be nutty I suppose.

Funky town that Jeffersonville, Indiana

Old Bridge Inn Bed and Breakfast, Jeffersonville Indiana

Currently we are in Grand Junction, Colorado. We have been driving for two straight days. Today we drove through Kansas. It was horrible. We’ve already gone through this. Tomorrow we’re going to hit up Moab, Utah for the day. My friend Nick told me about a small but quality bouldering area called Big Bend that I’m eager to check out. Yet a frigid forecast of 32F (around 0C) is in the works, so we’ll see how hardcore I am.

Kansas: This is why people once thought the world was flat

Mama Weldon taking a break from driving for a happy snap

Peace out ya’ll!

Zak giving it on the stellar Last of the Bohicans (5.13d), Madness Cave

Picture this: last day at the Red, a project undone, one headlamp, and an empty amphitheater of rock swallowed by the blackness of night. Rad.

This is how my friend, Zak McGurk, experienced his last day in Kentucky. It was American Thanksgiving, and Zak and I headed back to the Motherlode one last time, in order for him to attempt to send his project, Last of the Bohicans. This amazing 5.13d is the extension to the classic 100 foot long BOHICA (5.13b) in the Madness Cave. (fun fact of the day: BOHICA stands for Bend Over Here It Comes Again. Love it). Zak had done the route with one fall on a previous day, and was eager to complete it before heading back to the Great White North (that’s Canadia for all you southern folks). It started out as a gorgeous sunny day, and we were giddy and gushing over our great luck with the weather. Yet as soon as we warmed up and headed over to the Madness Cave, the sky instantly darkened with clouds and the air turned frigid. Nice one.

Zak’s first attempt on the route was proud and he fell after overshooting the shallow pocket on the crux section. As he rested, I attempted to flash the classic Snooker (5.13a) on the GMC Wall. I felt strong, yet fell immediately before the gigantic rest (of course). When I got down, Zak was not yet ready to go, so we booked it back to the car to warm up, as the wind was seeping into every crack and seam in our clothing. On his second burn he once again failed to latch the pocket and came down frustrated yet not deterred. I hopped back on Snooker and managed to send it second go, which I was thoroughly psyched about.

As the sun set behind the hills, the Madness Cave began to turn into a wall of black. Luckily, Zak managed to borrow a headlamp and he set back up the route for a third time. As I stood at the bottom of the route in the dusk of the day, I could barely make out anything but the silhouette of Zak’s body cruising up the first 100 feet of the route. As he headed towards the crux, I yelled and screamed at him, pushing him with all the mental strength I had to stick that pocket. In the darkness of night I saw him throw for it, latch on to it..and after a full stop when I thought he had it, he came screaming off into the black. I expected a huge wobbler to erupt from Zak, but no, instead I heard this “Man, that was the most amazing thing ever! You really need to try climbing up here with a headlamp. It’s unreal!” I was shocked and amazed, and truly inspired. To have that attitude, to be able to fall on your last burn of the trip, on a route where you are oh so close to the chains, is truly incredible. That is pure love for the sport right there.

As I started to pack away the rope, Zak is still gushing. After about a 10 second pause in which he stares up at the wall, he turns to me and said “Can I try it once more?” Hell yeah! The sun has fully disappeared for the night, and  all I can see is his illuminated torso as he heads up the route one last time. Completely gassed, he fell once more at the pocket, and once again came down with a shit eating grin on his face. “Guess that just means you’ll have to come back next year eh?”

“Oh for sure”

Perfect Setting for a Horror Show

Alex Puccio reaching new heights on Tuna Town (5.12d), Undertow Wall

Todd Clark finding crimp after heinous crimp on Paradise Lost (5.13b), Purgatory

'Terrorist Hunting Permit' Gotta love 'merica!