Vikki Weldon

I’m sitting here jittering in my seat, my head exploding with all the things I want to share with all you wonderful people! I have so many things to say, where to START?! Beginnings are always a good place, but I’m going to be a rebel and start in the middle, because the beginning can be summed up in one word: RAIN. So who wants to hear about that? Noooo thankyou. THE MIDDLE: Beginning of July and it’s soooort of beginning to look like summer in Canmore. Mrs. Sunshine is being a bit of a flake and only showing up every so often, more interested in doing her make up in her big cloud house up in the sky. (But don’t worry, when she decides to show up she looks FANTASTIC!). I’ve settled into my amazing job at the Canmore Hospital working as a student nurse, learning a lot and being mentored by some of the most amazing nurses I have ever met. It’s a wicked hospital that I have my mind set on coming back to after I graduate and become a real nurse. Canmore is a town that warm the heart and brings an eternal smile to your face. I have thrived in this gorgeous setting, and have my heart set on making it my home in the near future!

Beautiful Canmore

I’ve also been ROCK CLIMBING. And it’s amazing. I virtually climbed on every single one of my days off work (minus Rainy days, but those seem to fade from memory..), and it was amazing. I love the Rockies. I love limestone. Acephale, one of Canada’s premiere rock climbing destinations, is my own personal Heaven. My love for outdoor climbing was fostered here, and each subsequent visit confirms the fact that I made a very wise choice copying my big brother and sister when they began climbing. I also enjoyed a number of days climbing at Planet X and the Coliseum up on Grotto Mountain. All of these crags can be found in Derek Galloway’s new guidebook, Bow Valley Sport which arrived in early July. It’s an amazing guidebook, full of colour photos and all that jazz! Check it out here.

The Bow Valley's amazing new guidebook. Author: Derek Galloway

Stacey gettin' her speed psych on before busting her ass from Canmore to Calgary. What a trooper

I’ve been really lucky to have amazing friends here in Canmore who share my passion for climbing and smilin’! I’ve been living with my big sister, Stacey, who I love to bits and pieces! She’s doing her final practicum in Canmore for nursing. We’ve worked together for a handful of shifts and had some great bonding experiences that only two sister nurses can have.

I had an amazing month in July. I have to say it was my single most productive month of rock climbing EVER. I was successful in climbing a handful of 513′s, including a bunch of wicked lines at Acephale. Naissance de la Femme (5.13b) is a stellar line at the Lower Wall, with a massive heart breaker deadpoint at the very end. After sending this line, it only got better. After a few days of work, I sent Whale Back (5.13c) at the Upper Wall. This line is such a star. It contained everything from massive heel hook rock overs to a rose move to a wicked slab crux! The day I sent Whale Back, I quickly took my draws down and walked 50 feet up along the wall and stood below a dream. My dream. Since I was 13 years old I have had this single route floating in the back of my mind, waiting until I was ready. I achieved this life long dream this month. In fact, it was only a couple of days ago, and I’m still riding the high!

Joe Kinder on Endless Summer. Photo: Keith Ladzinski

Endless Summer, graded 5.13d, is situated at the far right of the Upper Wall, before the Pavement area begins. It climbs up through the cave that it shares with routes such as Existence Mundane (5.14b) and Bunda de Fora (5.14d). The crux is situated at the beginning of the small roof and continues until you bust over the lip. It’s wicked and powerful. Putting the draws up that day was an epic. I could not complete a single move for the entire bottom section of the climb. My butt was handed to me over and over, and although I was laughing and having fun, a little voice in my mind was sayin’ “Hoooooooly moly, this may not be possible little miss Viks”. Yet each day, I began to link moves. I gathered beta and I worked hard to link sections together. I ended each day breathing hard and feeling an entire body soreness that I love. Soon I had it down to 3 sections. Then down to 2. Each day, as I packed the rope away, my glimmer of hope shone brighter and brighter. Next day. My body had to be fresh to link the moves through the roof and my mind fresher to hold it together though the “mono” (I stuck 2 tips in that sucker!) section at the top. On Sunday morning, my good friend Alex Quiring and I headed to the crag in the early morning. We were at the ditch by 8:00am, an alpine start by sport climbing standards. I had to be back at work for 3pm, which left only a few hours to give the project some burns. We arrived at the crag just after 9am, and immediately felt we were in an alternate universe. The Upper Wall was blasted with sun. Anyone who climbs at Acephale knows that a down jacket and a thermos of hot tea are staples up there, as the sun moves off the wall at around 11am. Al and I were PSYCHED.

Pre Hike Psych!

It's SUNNY!

Look Guys! I rodeo clipped the first draw and no backclip! Wow!

Warming up in the sun felt fantastic. With the crag to ourselves, we bathed in the sunshine as I prepped for my first burn of the day. I was feeling a little slow, a little stiff, and was keen on a warm up burn. Yet something wonderful happened as I grabbed that first crimp at the bottom of the route. My mind was clear, I was still chuckling over a joke shared earlier, and the rock felt good. I did not float up this route. No. I worked hard. I yelled a bit, I breathed hard and I tried my darndest. But it went. As I pulled over the lip, the sun hit my back and I breathed and smiled at the rest. I took my time and felt strong pulling to the chains. As soon as the rope snapped in, I let out a whoop! I sat back in my harness and felt the best high a climber can feel. I sent my dream route on my 5th day of attempts, in the sunshine, with a great friend, in my own personal heaven. Yahoooooooooooooo!

The Send! Photo courtesy of my belayer/photographer AQ!

At the Top!!!!

Happy would be an Understatement

But wait, the fun doesn’t stop there! Yesterday, Al and I set out on our second day of fun in the sun. Or so we thought.. We were psyched to get on a sport multi-pitch by the name of Sisyphus Summits. The route takes a prime line up the North-East face of Ha Ling Peak, a striking mountain on the edge of Canmore.

Sisyphus Summits (5.10d). 21 pitches. Photo: www.banffrock.ca

We had decided on an early start, but waking up felt tough and we bumbled around for a while before we headed out.

Organizing..or something like that

Too kool for skool

Rosy Cheeks and Eager Smiles

We left the car at 9:30am and arrived at the base of the route just under an hour later. To our dismay, a party of 2 was just leaving the second pitch. After some discussion, we decided to give them an extra birth of half an hour, hoping that would give us enough space to not have any issue. WRONG. As we reached the first set of anchors, we saw that they had not even left the third belay station. They were struggling. Worse, the sun we had so hoped to stay with us began to leave the cliff. We were left in the shade with a core-chilling wind that would stay with us all day. For the next 3 hours, we shivered at each belay station, waiting for the first party to climb. After only 4 pitches, we began to seriously contemplate bailing. At this rate, we would be climbing in the dark. What made matters worse is the following conversation, after which we promptly gave this party the nickname Team Douchebag or (TDB for short)

Al calling up to the belayer “Hey! Do you guys mind if we pass you?”

A pause. TDB “Ya”

Did we hear him right? Al “You do mind?”

“Ya!” Douchebag.

Check out Video #1

But shortly after, things turned around. To our joyous surprise, TDB decided to bail! Psyched! After exchanging some pleasantries as we passed them (Turns out they were pretty nice guys, yet after much deliberation I have concluded they still deserve their nickname), Al and I were PSYCHED!

Yahoooooo Moutain Dew!! We finally get to climb!

After that, it was smooth sailing. We doubled up on pitches, which made for a speedy and fun ascent, with awesome rock (expect for the death pitch #13. 2 bolts in 26 metres through complete choss). The only downside was the cold that shook up to the core. It wasn’t a wintery cold. My fingers were fine, my feet has blood in them. But my core was frozen. My shoulders are sore from shivering. It wasn’t until we ate dinner that night did my chill abate. After a total of 9 hours, Al and I reached the top, incredibly psyched and all smiles. The best feeling was the moment I peeked my head over the lip and sunshine blasted my face. I will never take sunshine for granted ever again!

The Final Pitch

Waaaaa SUNSHINE!!!!!

Video #2

Look over there!!

Looong way down

All Smiles

End of the Day!

After a beautiful hike down in the sun, scoping out new cliffs on the way, and an amazing dinner at the Grizzly Paw in the company of our good friend, Canmore’s sweetheart Zak McGurk, I crawled into bed, completely tuckered to the core.

I love my life.

(And the goofiness that goes with it!)

Goof

It’s Sunday night, and I’m sitting cross legged on my bed, starting at my school schedule for tomorrow. August 23rd, back to school. As much as I love BCIT and the nursing program, I am feeling a lump of resentment in my belly. The song  horribly sung by Adam Sandler in the movie Billy Madison comes to mind…”Back to schoooool, back to schoooool, to prove to daddy that I’m not a fooooool”. Blah. It’s still warm and sunny out darnit. I want to rock climb, roll in the dirt and jump in some lakes.

The past two months have been busy. Too busy to write a blog post apparently. Here’s the quick recap: Half-way through the summer I realized I wasn’t making any money and quickly snagged a job as a nanny for two blonde-haired blue-eyed wonderful little monsters and spent the rest of the summer as a kid. We made cookies, went swimming and played in countless water parks. I love being a kid. I grudgingly finished up my summer courses, putting in a little less effort than I should have, but passed with some sort of colours (wink) and squeezed out every bit of enjoyment I could from the two and a half week holiday I had off from school.

Somewhere in the middle of that my mum came out to the coast and we set out for a three day kayaking tour just off of Vancouver island. It was a beautiful trip. We camped in Pirate Cove and ate lunch at Blueberry Point. Sounds like a children’s story book. Told you I love being a kid.

Momma Weldon showing off her pipes in the front there

Of course there were the countless days I squeezed in at Squamish. While I continued to work with the kiddies I resorted to driving up for quite a few night bouldering sessions. The best moment was out in the North Wall boulders with a few of the team kids, Sean and Ryder, as well as my good friends Gary Foster and Jamie Chong. We head up to try a V7 highball called Styx that Jamie had done a few weeks earlier. It was a new and crazy feeling to be pulling hard moves up high with only a spot of light from my headlamp in front of me and the encouragement of my friends pushing me up from the darkness below.

I’ve also been putting in quite a bit of effort on my boulder project, Worm World Low. A new friend, Allen from Texas, got a fun shot of me working the finishing moves. It still feels quite hard and far away, but as the weather cools and I continue to work it, I hope it goes down soon.

WWL, V10 (Work in Progress)

I’ve also been coaching once a week at the Edge for kiddies with a passion to keep up with the plastic crushing in the summer. One day we crammed 5 people into my little Gopher and headed out to Chek. The four teammates included Ryder, Sean, Alannah and Ayesha. Four psyched individuals with a newfound passion for climbing outside the gym. It was great to see them crush, and refreshing to climb with such joyful and fresh spirits.

E-Crew taking over the Crag

Ayesha "Weesher" Khan crushing stone to make pebbles on Timber Queen

"Yeah no big deal, just stopping to smile for ze picture" Alannah Yip on Timber Queen, 5.12c

Finally, this little summer recap ends with my little trip of the summer. I left for Cow-town on August 13th for a week long trip home to visit family, friends and the ol’ faithful Canadian Rockies. After a summer of bouldering in Squamish, I was keen on a week of limestone sport routes. Yeah yeah, I’m no hard core trad crusher like Will Stanhope or Hazel Findley (who are two wicked strong peeps by the way). I love to boulder and I love sport and I wish to love trad. It’ll happen one day, I swear.
Anywho, back in Cow-town, I managed to get 5 solid days of straight climbing in.
DAY 1: Out to Planet X with brother, Mike, and sister, Stacey, as well as an Alabama friend, Todd Clark, who I met last year in the Red. We had a bit of a ringer the night before at the Drake, the local pub in Canmore, so we were all light and dehydrated. This seemed to help Stacey, who crushed her project, Shooting Packer, a super fun 5.13b. I on the other hand was suffering a tad from the altitude change. Lack of water and lack of air makes Vikki one useless rock climber. It was fun nonetheless.
DAY 2: Back to Calgary to celebrate the end of an era. The Calgary Climbing Centre (CCC) was having one last hurrah for the A-frame bouldering cave. I bounced around and cruised on the walls that I was raised on for one final night before they were torn down the next day. The replacement is a massive free standing boulder. Upon leaving on Friday, they already had the metal frame up and were texturing and t-nutting the panels. Keep tuned Calgary climbers. Check out the CCC webpage for more details to come.

We also went to the river to skip stones. A big thing to do in Calgary, skipping stones..

Honing some prostar stone skipping skills at the Bow River in Calgs

Todd's a Juggler, don'tcha know

Day 3: Acephale. What a wonderful place. A nice 45 min-1 hr. hike puts you up to my most favourite place on earth. It was a brilliant day, with many old friends and loads of strong beasties. I managed to squeak in a send of a newer route called Ice Box (5.12d/13a?) which is on the far right side of the Upper Wall. It’s a super technical and powerful route. Tons of fun! We had some funky weather that day as well. Throughout the day, fog billowed down from the tops of the cliffs as if someone had placed a dry ice machine above the cliffline. We ended up in our own little cloud bubble, which was surreal, yet also frustrating as the surrounding moisture found its home on the rock. As the end of the day arrived, I felt my heart strings tugging as I realized another year would pass before I would be able to visit this crag again.

Luke Muller and my dog Logan rocking some sick top-knots

Day 4: TALL STOREY! Woah, what’s that? A multi-pitch? No way. Oh wait, it’s fully bolted. Ok, phew, not quite at my trad days yet folks. Stacey and I geared up (16 quick draws yo!) for a freshly bolted 8 pitch 5.11c classic up in Echo Canyon (Grotto Mountain) on Wednesday. Our older brother, Chris, had done the route a few weeks before and raved about it. It was my first multi-pitch where I wasn’t with someone who was hugely experienced. It was a beautiful day, on fantastic rock, pulling rad moves up high in the air. Can’t say more than that. It’s a great feeling when you can share such a unique love  for a sport with your siblings.

Day 5: Last day on. Back to Planet X. I was exhausted from the day before (A 9 hour day from car to car), but was psyched to get one more day in on rock before I had to leave the following day. Yet before I knew it, I had fallen asleep on the smooth river stones after my warm up, which had felt terrible. Apparently I was ready for a day of cheering on good friends from the ground. But apparently my buddies were not so stoked on that idea, and I was awoken by my little bro, Mike, who was clapping at me (yeah, clapping, I know right) to get a belay and shortly after encouraged to get on Shooting Packer (the route Stacey had sent earlier in the week). I suprised myself immensely when I made it to the chains. I love suprising sends. They’re so much more fun than the expected ones.

So there you have it. Five days of pure fun. My last morning in Canmore, I woke up with smoke in my nose and in the air. Apparently when BC has over 400 fires raging in the province, Alberta gets a whiff of the smoke now and then. It was disappointing not being able to say goodbye to my favourite mountains as they hid behind a veil of smoke. But never fear Rockies, I’ll be back to give ya a hug.

Anywho, that’s my blog update. Unforunately I took no pictures of climbing on this trip. I was too busy having fun doing it instead. But enjoy a few other randoms I managed to take.

Peace out boys and girls.

Where'd all the mountains go? Thanks BC for all the smoke!

Logan stopping to smell the flowers

Water droplet on the pretty petals

Me 'n ma dawg enjoying the smokey summer breeze