Vikki Weldon

A window of opportunity. That’s exactly what it was. Mother Nature smiled on the boulders of Squamish for a few days this November, and give climbers a gift of zero moisture and cool temps. The exact combination for  perfect sending temperatures.

Last Monday I headed up to the boulders with my friend Mike Foley, a strong Boston local who has transplanted himself to Quest University, just north of Squamish. Foley is featured in this months Dead Point Magazine. Check it out!

The Saturday before I had competed at the annual Seattle Bouldering Challenge at Stone Gardens. I think this is my 3rd time competing in this competition, and like the times before, I had a blast. I felt strong and happy, and was super psyched to be bouncing around between problems with Lizzy Asher in qualifiers. She’s such a fun girl! I had qualified first for finals, which I was pretty psyched about. In finals, I finished all 4  problems, but due to a doozy of a mistake (I may have grabbed an extra hold on problem 2…ahem), I finished second to Audrey Hsu, a little beasty from Seattle. Honestly, I was pissed off with myself for making such a rookie mistake that costed me the win. But when I was driving up to the boulders on Monday, my frustrations lifted and a smile made its way to my face once again.

Bouldering OUTSIDE! In NOVEMBER! In SQUAMISH! Hurrah! I had one objective: No Troublems. Had to take that sucker down. Foley was psyched to do whatever, so I quickly dragged him over to the problem and set to work. Now, bouldering in Squamish in November during a cold snap that leaves you with dry rock has its draw backs; particularly the COLD. It was FREEZING. And windy. When we got out of the car, my crash pad blew half way across the parking lot. But, no complaints here. We were bouldering and psyched. Right away I suprised myself by quickly repeating all the moves that gave me so much trouble earlier this fall. Psyched!

I even made it to the top-out, past the hand jam section. But then..my fingers numbed out, I got scared, and I came down. Now any of you with any experience with this boulder will want to shake my shoulders and go “Vikki! NO ONE falls there!!” And those of you who don’t know this problem will just have to take my word for it: No one falls there. But alas, I am not no one. I am Vikki Weldon. And I fell there. Poop. After that, my muscles felt worked, the cold seeping into my blood and slowing its movement, and I could not recover without cooling down. After a few more solid attempts, I called it a day, which I’m sure Mike was psyched about because he had just spent the last hour and a half freezing his butt off and spotting me. On to the next problem! Mike worked a sick low ball V10 whose name escapes me out in the talus for about an hour before we both gave up due to the cold. The wind was unbelievable and it seemed that all my blood was moving away from its extremeties to save my vital organs (Look at that, a practical application of my pathophysiology knowledge after almost one full year of that course. I DO learn!. The end result: walking was tough.

Anywho, we bailed. I got a tasty beverage at a coffee shop and headed back to Van to coach the kidlets. My body temperature didn’t warm up until I went to bed. Brrrrrr….

Ok, fast forward 2 days. Wedneday. I skipped school (but don’t tell anyone), in order to take advantage of one more day of solid weather before Mrs. Nature snapped out of it and came back with a veangance. Big Willy Stanhope was back in town for a few days between trips, and after a run-in at the gym on Tuesday night, we hooked up for another day at the boulders. The following is most definitely the single best day I have ever had bouldering in Squamish. After a bit of a warm-up, we hoofed it over to No Troublems. I brushed some holds, threw a hand warmer into my chalk bag (key!) threw on my shoes, and hopped on the problem. 1 minutes later, I was belly-bumping my way up the slab to the top. SEND! No Troublems. V9/10. My hardest problem to date. Huzzah!

NEXT: On a roll, and after a quick text message conversation with my boyfriend Ryan, who urged me to head over to my main project of the year, I quickly convinced Will (and my big bro, Chris, who showed up after the send) to head over to Worm World Low. I was feeling elated and happy and was without a care in the world. After setting up the pads just right and taking a bit of time to remember the sequence, I mummy-taped my wrist and set to work. First try, I fell at the usual spot. But felt one major difference. The sloper had texture, and my biceps seemed a wee-bit stronger. After a bit of a rest, I hoped on again and……SEND! Worm World Low. V10. My hardest problem to date. Shazam!

A shot from the summer. Photo: Allen from Texas

So there you have it. I sent my two hardest boulder problems in one day in November in Squamish with two fantastic people spotting my freezing cold butt. Thank you Will and Chris. (And thank you Mike for the spots and support on Monday.) What an amazing day. We finished it off with a session on the terrifying Ride the Lightning (V8), which Will took down in the usual Stanhope fashion, and a lap on the fun and also slightly sketchy Loose Change (V7).

After that fantastic day, I went and made a nice fool out of myself by MCing at the annual Reel Rock Tour that took place in Centennial Theatre in North Van. I’m not a crowd person, so my heart was humming into the microphone, but it was fun nonetheless!

And now I cannot wait for the next window of opportunity. I have so much to look forward to!! But for now, it’s back to the gym. This weekend I’m headed to QUEBEC CITY for a Tour de Bloc competition at Delire. A wonderful early Christmas present from my favourite Villeneuves in Calgary have made this trip a possibility. Thanks Simon and Tara! I’m psyched to see my big sis with her shaved head, and to compete out East! Stay tuned for some pictures and words next weekend!

Love!

Soggy Squamish in September. Dang. It was sticky. And it may be again very soon. But this weekend, soggy was the correct word.

Ryan and I headed up yesterday afternoon for a session in the Grand Wall boulders. The humidity hung low in the air and rock felt far from perfect. But the forest was empty, and we were happy to be touching some stone. We picked up our friend, Mike Foley, who is going to school at Quest University, and headed into the boulders.

Ryan and Mike both made fairly quick sends of the impressive and slightly nerve-wracking Physics Hyperbole (V9).

Ryan scrunching it up on Physics Hyperbole V9

Mike Foley cruising Physics Hyperbole V9

We then made our way over to the mammoth Cacodemon boulder and I hopped on No Troublems (V9? V10?) and was able to do all the moves! Progress! Hopefully a few more days of effort and I’ll nab this one.It’s a powerful problem and I feel that each move is at my max right now, but that’s how projects feel at the beginning. Soon enough, the rain began in full strength. Holds became mangy ([main-gee] a new ‘merican word I learned from Foley!), my arms became noodley, and I packed up to watch the boys project Dreamcatcher (5.14d).

Foley making his way to the pin-scar section

New view of the beautiful Dreamcatcher 5.14d

Both made some solid links! All in all, it was a fun day! We rounded it off with a great sushi dinner. Yum

Grand Wall Forest just before the rain

The past few weeks have exhibited both an extreme high and low for climbers; the girls in particular. Angie Payne proved herself as one of, if not the, strongest female boulderer in the world today by completing the Automator (an established V13) at RMNP in Colorado. Angie is on a rampage this season after coming back from a year long hiatus due to an ankle injury. She’s a a champ on the stone and a true inspiration to me.

The climbing world also suffered a severe loss with the death of Belgium climber Chloe Graftiaux  earlier this month. Chloe won the Vail World Cup this year and was  ranked 3rd in the Boulder World Cup series this season. It was an untimely and unfair death and my condolences go out to her family and friends around the world.

I feel that these two events have shown us the highs and lows that the sport of climbing has to offer. We can work hard and achieve what has never been done before, and we can also suffer the consequences of a dangerous sport. Now I know that Angie was bouldering and Chloe was alpine climbing, and both offer different dangers and challenges, but there is a common thread of success and consequence in all forms of climbing.

These two events, as well as my own experience in the past week has ignited a little flame in my soul.

This past Tuesday I headed out to Squamish with my boyfriend Ryan for an evening bouldering session. The goal for Ryan was to complete an absolutely beautiful and asthetic V10 called Hydra in the North Wall boulders (a problem that I cannot do a single move on..sigh), and for me to continue to work on Worm World Low. Ryan made progress on the problem (and sent it quickly on Saturday when we went again. The photos below are from Saturday).

Ryan crushing Hydra V10, The North Walls

Hydra V10

"Sasha l'avion!"

It ended up being dark when we walked into the Grand Wall boulders to World World. As I walked in I was completely devoid of enthusiasm. I’ve been working this problem all summer and am completely stumped at one move every single time. It’s frustrating. Instead of approaching the problem with a clear mind and psyche, I was already anticipating the frustration and failure. I was not appreciating the cool night air or the wonderful person by my side, and the fact that I was engaging in the sport I love most. Nope. It was a grumpy girl brushing the problem and pulling on her shoes that night.

As I worked the powerful sloper moves on the bottom of the problem, I felt my right wrist was weak. Usually I tape my wrist for these moves to help support it, but alas, no tape in my bag that day. I managed to do the crux move from a lower down move (I won’t slay you with details on the problem), something I had not managed to do before. Instead of feeling excited with the progression, I was indifferent. The next moment, I was trying the same move and felt an intense pain in my wrist. Busted. I could barely open my hand and could not hold on to any holds. The day was over and I immediately fell into a depressive state.

I’m no stranger to injuries. Just this spring I injured my shoulder and am still recovering from that. As a youth climber I suffered serious finger injuries, and I still feel the lingering effects from those as well. It sucks. Simple as that. Injuries are a pain in the ass. Yet they also come with the sport.

The next few days I was overcome with regret. My wrist ached constantly and all I wanted to do was go back out and climb. It’s funny how you don’t appreciate something until you’ve lost it (cliche alert!). I went back out to Squamish this past Saturday to watch Ryan kill it on The Hydra and to watch him session a crazy hard testpiece called The Squaminator (V12), also in the North Walls. Awesome to watch people crank, not so awesome to be sitting with your ass on the ground and your shoes in the car.

But the next day. A sliver of hope! I taped my wrist up like a mummy and tentatively climbed a few moderates. Not completely pain free, but definitely not as bad as I thought. After not even a week on the ground I felt rejuvinated. It was so good to just climb. I was with amazing people (Thomasina Pidgeon as well as her little girl, Cedar) who inspire me and make me happy. It was fun. Plain and simple fun. The way it should be.

Thomasina hanging out at Paradise Valley

Cedar brushing holds just like her mama!

Rock Lady Boulder, Paradise Valley

Crushing at the Rock Lady Boulder, Paradise Valley

So I just wanted to share with you all the lesson I have learned and hope to keep learning. Appreciate the ability to be able to do what we love. Push yourself to new heights and keep in mind the consequences our endeavours can have. Angie Payne and Thomasina Pidgeon are my heroes. Chloe Graftiaux was a soul lost to us too early. Climbing takes you to heaven and hell and back again. Enjoy the beauty, push yourselves, be healthy and be aware.

This past weekend I spent both days under the shadow of the Chief in Squamish. I haven’t bouldered in Squamish for a few months, and to be honest, I hadn’t been that psyched to spend that much time there this summer. I was tired of the same old problems and areas. But this weekend, I headed out with a group of psyched climbers, keen on finding some different boulders. With the help of the new Squamish Bouldering guidebook authored by Marc Bourdon, which contains tons of new problems, we had an amazing weekend!

I tried a ton of new problems, and rediscovered my love of the Squamish boulders.

I also began to work on a beautiful and often climbed V10 at the Grand Wall Boulders called Worm World Low. I have done the stand start, which is a soft V9, and had dabbled on the low start a few times last summer. I have never put a huge effort into a boulder problem. I most often focus on sport routes in the summer. Last summer I put my heart and soul into Division Bell, up at Chek. Yet this summer, I’ve been bouldering alot and I think it would be amazing to try something hard and to put a lot of effort into it. Worm World Low is perfect, because all the hard moves are made with your left arm, which saves my still recovering right shoulder. So I’ve made it my goal to try Worm World Low and just see what happens.
Also, lately the girls have been KILLING IT in the boulder fields. Thomasina Pidgeon recently climbed The Summoning Sit, a sick V12 at the Murrin boulders near Squamish. Angie Payne just sent No More Greener Grasses, a stiff V12 at Mount Evans. Alex Puccio also recently sent Centaur, V12, and flashed a V10 called Fireball. It’s just amazing to see such power and strength come from these dedicated climbers, and I know they are all capable of pushing the boundaries of female bouldering. I’m inspired and psyched and I want to climb as hard as them. One step at a time!

Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Ryan working Stalling Tim, V10

Jamie running a lap on Killing Me Softly, V6

Enjoying Prime Time Sit, V5, at the Murrin boulders

Ryan Chilling with the Chief

FREE RANGE TURKEY_dispatch #7 from camp4 collective on Vimeo.

Finally, I recently came across this short video clip of Yuji Hirayama, one of the most impressive rock climbers in the world. I say impressive, because not only is he a talented and intelligent climber, with the capability to onsight 5.14 routes, he is also one of the most positive and happiest people. This video showcases this attitude and I was so inspired by Yuji’s philosophy. So check it out, feel the psych, and go climb some rock!