Athlete • Speaker • Guide 
Athlete • Speaker • Guide Date: 3rd November 2006
I really enjoy being involved with the Banff Film Festival every year, it’s a great collection of talented and creative people in an environment still small enough that you run into many old friends in the halls, good fun. I really like the films as well, it always fires me up to see what people have been up to–it’s a creative kick in the ass, people do truly amazing things. Last night I saw Andy Kirkpatrick and Leo Houlding do their shows also, two very different presentations but both engaging. Andy managed to diss most of the climbers I know or have heard of in about an hour, almost as impressive as his ability to suffer endlessly while alpine climbing. Best line: “My sleeping bag was now like two used condoms with a single feather stuck in the middle.” Maybe you had to be there.
The ice season is going off up here, continued cold temperatures have produced a half-dozen decent routes to get swinging on–even Cascade is coming in, it’s now officially and irrevocably ice season here, yeah!
Training:
Yesterday I managed a short run, then today snuck in a fast gym workout. The Banff Festival is pretty full-on (also doing the film maker’s seminar), but I snagged 45 minutes and got it on. With such limited time (only 30 minutes after warming up and doing my goofy stick exercises for supination and pronation) I decided to go basic and did five rounds of 10 L-Sit pullups alternated with five handstand pushups and quad exercises (I’ve got knee problems too but they get better with quad work), done as fast as I could with no resting allowed. It was a full-on battle, stuck in some of my shoulder exercises for the last five minutes too. I walked into the gym feeling tired and stiff, walked out happier. It’s sometimes hard to find time to train, but it’s almost always totally worth it. My workout wasn’t anywhere near “perfect,” but I’m sure it was better than not training. The elbow didn’t hurt in a “bad” way; in fact, it seems to be improving a bit, the stick exercises felt better…
Posted in: Blog
WG,
you must realize I was pulling your chain? Training – we both know it ‘ain’t happening with me. I decided 5 months ago to become an ARMCHAIR climber. This way I can yap about everything climbing and never actually have to climb. I could rest on my LAURELS, but pretty hard to rest on WILTED greens.
The fact of “bad” in relation to the elbow – good thing your not obsessed … does it feel better after beer, scotch, wine?
Did Andy diss Blanchard?
Garage is in action – game on mofo … Just think, i’ve been climbing with Simond product for the past few years – just imagine what could happen with REAL tools? Yep, the chair would be even bigger, badder and yappier …
I’ve found single-malt Scotch extremely helpful with any sort of pain, mental or physical.
You might be able to quit climbing for a while JD, but you’re a lifer, you’ll be back, it’s like an incurable disease in remission.
Andy missed dissing Blanchard, but if he had known Bubba better I’m sure he would have gotten a dig in.
Sorry JD we never met when I was in Calgary. I put up the holds in the Vision when I blew thru there on my way back to the prairies 2 WE ago. You can do some decent laps there now. But the gym in Saskatoon is still beter for drytooling (and mentally this is as dry as it gets, here).
Hope you get better Will, I have time off until early December, so I will be around next WE and for the ice-fest.
Have you tried “drugs” ie ibuprofen or stronger? there is diclofenac gel around now too (wasn’t available in CAN, but in Europe for >10y) it helps nicely.
cheers
christian
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