Climb the Squamish Chief at 50?

August 2009 my 13 year old daughter, Chantel and I took a top roping rock course in Squamish, BC. I have climbed with her for many years in a gym but never on real rock. During the course she climbed extremely well and with high praise from Tim our course instructor. I suggested to Tim that I would like to someday climb the Squamish chief (as it is called by the locals), Tim said I “was ready now” and he would go up as partners. ...Of course I said when?

On the morning of Sept 6th , I met Tim at a small café in Squamish, BC. We planned to climb the classic alpinist route called Angel’s Crest. I had always aspired to climb this giant but felt I was too old for the task. Now 4 months before my 50th birthday I was looking straight up this solid granite wall. The Squamish chief is second to El Captain in Yosemite in the USA as the in highest granite wall in the world.

Angel Crest climb has 14 pitches, is known as the one of the 3 difficult routes and is rated as a 5.10c. This I was going to take every bit on physical energy and mental focus. In 9 hours we climbed, with cold hands, bleeding knees and with a my heart in my throut for an OMG fall on the 13th pitch we made it to the top of the giant. In short an amazing adventure.

Thanks to Tim for leading and coaching. In life it is the journey that is important, not the summit. But I tell tyou he summit sure feels great!

The House Party of 2009

This summer, a friend of mine offered to host a small party and add a fund-raising component for the Prostate Center of Vancouver. Little did I know how fun and huge this event would be. This friend had just completed a six year project - he had a high school sized gymnasium built in his back yard with full movie theater, stage, lighting system, and surround-sound system. He hired a top-of-the-line event planner and invited 260 people, including all the climbers and three bands (of which one was my band, Head over Heels)

The party took place on Saturday, October 17th and I'm sure everyone who attended will agree, it was a magic night. The room was absolutely beautiful with bistro tables, couches, and amazing lighting. The food and beverages flowed endlessly. The main band, Soulstream, absolutely packed the dance floor. Dr. Martin Gleave, of the Prostate Center gave a short address to the guests and there was a Vancouver General Hospital Foundation table to provide more info to so it was a great combo of celebration and awareness raising. Click here to listen to one of the songs we played.

Flora Flight Fest

Training, fund-raisin', more training, more fund-raisin'. Getting more gear, training... that pretty much describes my life and those of the team these days. Fortunately, its all pretty fun and exciting.
This Thanksgiving weekend, I needed to catch up on my exercise after a couple of weeks of feeling blah, so I asked Brad H to join me for a hiken'fly up Flora Ridge above Chilliwack Lake. We had a camera and an Iphone and started out with great intentions of photo-documenting the day. However, once we launched our wings, that was all forgotten (for me) in the glorious experience of the flight. Still, I managed to stitch a little something of the experience. Click and Enjoy