It is with shattered hearts that we share the news that our beloved Will passed away yesterday. A severe head injury sustained after a fall on a route called Rutabaga, on the Squamish Chief was the cause.
Will lived with a passion and courage that most of us only dream of. He had a prodigious memory and great stories. He was a kind and gentle man with a fantastic sense of humour. The rock was his home, and the climbing community was his family. He faced every ascent with an inspiring spirit.
To all of you who climbed with him, followed his journey, and loved him: thank you for being part of his adventurous life. Your memories of Will are hugely appreciated. At some date this spring, we will organize a celebration of life in Squamish.
With love and profound grief,
His Dad, Mom and Sister
Ten years ago my daily routine consisted of heaving blocks of wood around in the affluent West Vancouver suburbs for a wild-man arborist named Steeno. Afterwards I would exile myself to a dusty corner of the Edge Climbing Center and dangle on the hangboard with a lot of dumbbells strapped to my harness. This unconventional training routine actually worked super well and allowed me to level up to this impeccable chunk of granite in the Bugaboos with @mattsegal .
This entire wall is now a jumbled mass of boulders underneath Snowpatch Spire. A hard pill to swallow given the tooth-and-nail efforts we put in over the course of four summers.
The route is dust but the memories and hard won lessons are still around.
📸 #1: @inespapert while taking her son up The Power of Lard, another absolute jewel of a route that is no longer here.
📸 #2: @taran_ortlieb
Hit me up at [email protected] if you would like to schedule a day of guiding or instruction in western Canada this summer. Hope everyone is getting out and enjoying this beautiful spring. @sonnietrotter 📸
Tomorrow night I’ll be speaking in Vancouver with @willstanhope at the Centennial Theatre at 7pm. We’ll be talking about our 52 hr first free ascent of Mnt Combatant in the Waddington range. If you are in or near Vancouver come and join us 😃🤙
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Photo by @mattmaddaloni
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Link in bio 😃🔥
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Also showing is Papsura
35 mins |
US |
2024
DIRECTOR:
Morgan Shields
LANGUAGE(S): English
Peak of Evil follows professional snowboarders Nick Russell and Jerry Mark from California’s Sierra Nevada to this remote corner of-the world’s greatest mountain range as they harness years of experience in pursuit of the biggest line of their lives.
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Also showing is Tien Shan Dream
26 mins |
Canada |
2024
GENRE(S):
Adventure
,
Canadian
,
Mountain Culture
,
Snowsports
DIRECTORS:
Kai Smart, Morgan Tien
LANGUAGE(S): English
Synopsis
Human-powered. Self-supported. Inspired by legacy.
This film follows a team of international skiers as they embark on a two-week glacier traverse through the Northern Tien Shan mountain range in Kazakhstan. These 4000+ meter peaks host an active scientific community, leveraging the rare environmental conditions for groundbreaking research. Established during the Soviet Union’s occupation of Kazakhstan, the high-altitude research stations here are home to some of the longest-standing glacier and cosmic radiation experiments in the world.
Join the team as they use freeride skiing to delve into the rich culture and community preserved within the Tien Shan. Meet scientists studying the origins of the universe, and climate change. Witness the adrenaline-pumping extreme high-altitude freestyle skiing, the majestic Tien Shan mountains, and the ancient Tuyuk-su Glacier. Through one of the most challenging endeavours each team member has ever attempted, discover what it takes to pull off an expedition of this magnitude.
14 Days
100+ Kilometres of distance
11,000+ Meters of total elevation gain
14 Big mountain lines
5 Unique peaks
2 Tours of high-altitude research stations
3 Interviews with dedicated scientists
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@thevimff #climbing #climb #films #adventure #firstascent
THE MOST EPIC ROCK! in the BC Coast Range! Will Stanhope @willstanhope and Tim Emmett @timemmett get the first free ascent of the south buttress of Mt Combatant, August 2024.
full video here
/watch?v=sr3CHSUu9mM
20 years ago to the year, @canadianmountainguide John Furneaux and I did the first ascent of The Smoke Show at 5.13 A0 with Paul Bride taking photos. The crux pitch was a beak protected thin crack and face that I was able to do all the moves on but fell once on our 16.5 hour push. 4500 feet of rock climbing with zero bolts. John climbed a spectacular 55 meter wide crack at 5.12 shown in the video that Will is climbing. Full circle for me to come back and film the boys sorting out and sending this incredible line.
Will discovered a variation pitch around the crux and with my permission bolted the line to make for a really really fun and but still run-out 5.12+ overhanging pitch. They also put in bolted anchors on the steep pitches upping the fun factor substantially by reducing the large cam rack required. Tim sent the pitch on their send and Will repeated the 55m wide pitch as well!
This resulted in the entire south buttress finally going free (fourth attempt by four different parties).
Congrats boys!
This is the whiskey bottle we left at Madd Camp 20 years earlier in the Waddington range. Will @willstanhope and I enjoyed it during last summers trip to salute the past.
John Furneaux @canadianmountainguide and I had found it and a six pack of beer during our descent in the snow from a party who had just left the Waddington / Combatant col from our first ascent of The Smoke Show in 2005. Paul Bride @paulbridephotography was pretty surprised when we showed up in camp with it after our 16.5 hour blitz.
I replaced the plastic bottle with a stainless steel version, filled it with new whiskey and left it for the next party. Hopefully 20 years more don't go by before new routes are to be climbed on this insane piece of rock right in our backyard.
Went for a walk down memory lane this morning recalling the first free ascent of The Turret in the Adamants BC with the indefatigable Andrew Boyd. Curious if anyone else has been there in the last 15 years? Such an awesome place. Link in my bio describing the experience. Second two photos courtesy of @richwheaterphoto
Kieran Brownie made a great, thought-provoking film about a trip we did to a seldom visited corner of the Coast Range in 2023. He dubbed it ‘The Grooves of Time’. Visit the link in my bio to check it out. @sebapelletti
There are friends, old and new, who you would climb with, and be there for, in fun times and tough times.
Don’t mean to get too touchy-feely on the Instagram but if you know what I mean, you know what I mean.
Rest easy Mike. The times I spent with you were easy but heartfelt at the same time.
Certain people come into our lives with such a positive bright energy that’s impossible to ever forget. Rest easy Mike Gardner. I am going to miss you.
