Vikki Weldon

Ryan and I returned from Bishop, CA yesterday morning, exhausted but refreshed. Vancouver is a beautiful city and I love it to bits, but the winter rains definitely take their toll on the souls. A week of pebble wrestling in the sun drenched desert lifted my spirits and brought a smile to my face.

February is a fantastic month. For us Canadians it means Reading Week, a break from exams and studying. With the 2010 Winter Olympics being in Vancouver this year, students were given an additional week off. So it was no surprise that when we rolled in Bishop, The Pit was chock full of those maple syrup addicted Canucks. Among my favourite polar bear loving friends: Jamie Chong, Sean McColl, Laura C-H, Josh and Luke Muller (only got to see these wacky bros for a day due to an unforunate ankle roller off of Saigon Direct), Alex Quiring and girlfriend Megan, Dan Gainer, my wacky little bro Mike Weldon, Will Stanhope, Jeremy Blumel, Mandoline Masse-Clark, and the list goes on! Needless to say it was an amazing week.

I came to Bishop with little expectations for myself. My shoulder has felt tweaked for a few weeks, and so I wasn’t ready to push myself at the harder classics that Bishop has to offer. Yet I was able to send a few classics that I was proud of, including the most beautiful V8 I have ever been privileged to climb: Checkerboard.

Highballs intrigue me, they make my heart go boom, and I am ever impressed by the immense mental strength it takes to climb them. My first boulder at Bishop was the Grandma Peabody. Not a difficult feat, but nonetheless it was an incredible experience.

So there you go. Checkerboard, Grandma Peabody. Do ‘em, love ‘em, climb some more of ‘em!

Olson hiking out of the outer Buttermilks

Will taking a morning stroll with wise old Grandma Peabody

"Holy atomic pile Batman! It's Iron MAN!"

Josh Muller flaunts his flapper minutes before a proud send of Evilution to the Lip V10

Mike givin' the Weldon Grrr on Get Carter V7

Laura cruising a hueco-esque traverse

King of the Boulder

Jedi Mind Tricks is dwarfed by the immense Californian landscape. Photo Credit: Ryan Olson

Little Laura munchin on a Bun. Yum Yum Yum

MDub chilling at the Pollen Grains

Big Will Stanhope working The Mandala

Ryan Olson moments before a heartbreaker on The Buttermilker V12. He makes the proud send on the last day of the trip!

Sean working out the massive moves on the impressive Spectre

The Edge crew wiped and chilly after a solid day of Buttermilking

Mr. Chong shows the young guns what's up on Suspended in Silence

Bishop, California. A place to experience, to learn, to be inspired. Below are the words of two boys who, struck by the powerful nature of the area, put pen to paper and expressed themselves.

Ponder these words and think about their meanings. I know that I still am..

The Notorious MG

Thump, Thump,

Sitting in Spellbinders

Spells of Love

Ell Ooo Vee Eee

All Around Me

So Many Handsome Men

So Much Confusion

Confusion of Love With My Coffee

Coffee Confusion Caffeine

Paragraphs of Love with Endless Semicolons

Lil Mikey Welly

Tablecloth with two directions

filthy floaties in mine eyes

a thousand years of decay under my feet

and ten thousand more in my mind

hairy ponchos cover my bottom and my skin still shivers

one million time again I say

“When does it stop?”

Never again will a thousand years of decay

crumble under these wandering feet

It’s THURSDAY. That means tomorrow is Friday and one week from Friday I am on a two week break from school. You know what that means?

BISHOP!

But there still is one week of studying and tests to endure before the first grand adventure of the year, so to keep the psych up here’s a pretty cool video that my friend Jamie Chong put together of some fantastic bouldering in Leavenworth, WA.

Keep the peace!

Leavenworth Bouldering from Jamie Chong on Vimeo.