The First 70

The First 70 Trailer from Heath Hen Films on Vimeo.

2011

Well its all about to end. Our one and only 2011 is going down, tomorrow, at Midnight, where ever you are. Its been a ruff year for me. A lot has happened, and its a little to dramatic to rehash the past, so lets focus on the present.

I have been in Potrero for 2 days. We climbed a few easy routes, drinking beer and laughing at each other yesterday for failing so badly on easy stuff. I spent the first part of the day, today, retrobolting Central Scrutinizer's first pitch, and hacking away at the rusted bolts to get pry them free. Kika ( Enrique ) helped me a lot and thanks for his patience cause it was a little hard. I added a first bolt that was stolen, but retained the same run outs to the first anchor so that the R rating still stands, with new anchors, chains and 4inch bolts. RARE! Raw. True.

I want to thank Maxim Ropes, Pusher, La Sportiva, Fixe, Hilti and So iLL for their support this year. I could not do all this without you. Bolting is expensive and every penny saved helps. Much LOVE!

I also put my drill to rest today. Its in its case, and not coming out again this trip. I told myself I would bolt until the new year and concentrate on sending for the first part of 2012.

I put up a few new pitches, nothing really worth mentioning. LOL. Here is the list of the years accents, lines and projects.

Many of the names feel a little religious, but please trust me, I am not converting. I just have been bolting alone, most of the time anyway, and Mikey's energy is all around me. I feel him everywhere, all day, with me. Butterflies fly so close to me on the wall, they land on my gear, I watch them, and I think its Mike saying hello, watching over me. Its a very powerful yet erie feeling. All the names on the latest routes, ALL OF THEM, are all in honour of my friend who is now with my dog in heaven, and shall remain there until I join em.

Tears fall from my face right now as I write this, I miss you both sooooo much.

I really wish the best to everyone for 2012, and if you can spare some draws, please send em over, cause I am OUT!

Nous, Les Fous!

5.13- 11 bolts - 25m

Weir, Quebec

FA/FFA Oct 2011

Tanpis pour Toi

5.13+ 9 bolts - 25m

Weir, Quebec

FA April 2011

Aveux, J'ai Deja Baisser dans un Confessionnal.

5.12c 6 Bolts - 10m

Cap des Pere, Quebec

FA/FFA Sept 2011

Angels Walk Among Us ( Angeles Camino con Nosotros )

5.12+ 11 Bolts - 35m

El Salto, Mexico ( Las Animas )

FA/FFA Dec 2011

Silent Killer ( Assasino en Silencio )

5.14? 17 bolts - 40m

Project still underway

El Salto, Mexico ( Las Animas )

FA Dec 2011

The First Step on Your Last Day

5.13a 11 bolts - 35m

El Salto, Mexico ( Las Animas )

FA/FFA Dec 2011

Todo o Nada ( All or Nothing )

5.14? 22 bolts - 50m ( Sub Anchors )

El Salto, Mexico ( Las Animas )

FA Dec 2011

Los Mariposas

5.13a 8 Bolts - 15m

El Salto, Mexico ( Las Animas )

FA/FFA Dec 2011

Murder Weapon

5.14a 8 bolts - 30m ( Extension to Bizzare Contact, 15m )

El Salto, Mexico ( Las Animas )

FA March 2011

Ungabunga X-Mas

5.13c 4 bolts - 40m 9 ( Extension to Ungabunga 10m )

El Salto, Mexico ( Las Animas )

FA/FFA Dec 2011

Track of The Week...for a Christmas without you.

La Boda en Cienega

Pics from the Edge

Joel's best pose and my self after bolting. I wish the drill came with a vacuum!!!

Ting Tings rules!!!!!!!!!!!

Pics From the Trenches

This is what you look like after setting only 5 bolts and 2 hours of work. The clouds and weather where moving in so I came down to avoid any issues.

Video of the week!

Track of the week

Planet WHAT?

I hate the accent, but love the purpose!

Bolting 101: Part ONE, TWO & THREE

Part ONE

Part TWO

Part THREE

Not part four, just my View this morning.

The art of Flight

So you all know I don't do SNOW, but the sequel to That's it, that's all is crazyyyy. + the interent place is closing so I could not upload my Video of Bolting 101. Until next time.

ulric

Tonde!

Sushi?

Ok, not funny. Heres a cool and well-cut trailer.

After 5

WAKE UP

As Good as it Gets...

Correlate that, and intoxicate the flower of power presumed dead all its living days!

This came out of my little buffed head as I conjured the task of writing a new blog entry.

It's been some time since I have written something original for you, and the winding road that is life has empowered me to do so again, tonight, alone but gathered in this place, we all call, the RRG!

I like observing my own behavior. Ok, I like looking in the mirror. Is that wrong? I like my shirts to match ( as much as I can ) and I like my shoes to be clean. I like a clean bed, with warm blankets and fabric softened silk sheets. White covered walls and alabaster toilet seats.

I like my designer jeans, and not wearing underwear in the summer, and getting on my longboard and riding the waves of pavement in Montreal, ipod blaring a recent trance podcast. I like making sure I have a good

bottle of wine during supper, and transit in an Audi.

I like my girlfriends in high-heels and tight jeans. I like watching them walk while I straggle behind and melt.

Then, as if God was my only witness, why am I sleeping in my truck tonight? Why have I eaten the same dish for three straight nights? Ohhhhhhhh man do we love this. My vacations are filled with week long dirty days without showers, freezing nights that see the ice form on the interior of my beat up 4 runner and my days filled with pointless attempts at climbing some piece of rock some 12 year old onsighted yesturday after his fruitloops.

But fuck, do I ever love my life. I would not trade it with anyone else's.

And that, is my days entry.

Sleep tight everyone, for tomorrow is another sandy day at the crag, another rope stretcher attempt, another whipper from the anchors, and another time I will fail at pretty much every attempt. Let it be on the rock, or my pretty neighbour who refuses to acknowledge my over excited exsistance and obnoxious behaviour with whom which I cannot control.

Dreams, oh what dreams may come.

Ulric

Francois Lebeau in Action @ The RRG

Genevieve Demers Photo

My Village! :(

If the World were 100 PEOPLE:

Gender	50 would be female 50 would be male
Age	20 would be 0-14 66 would be 15-64 14 would be 65 and older
Geography	5 would be from North America 9 would be from Latin America & the Caribbean 12 would be from Europe 61 would be from Asia 13 would be from Africa
Religion	31 would be Christian 21 would be Muslim 14 would be Hindu 6 would be Buddhist 12 would believe in other religions 16 would not be religious or identify themselves as being aligned with a particular faith
First Language	17 would speak Chinese 8 would speak Hindustani 8 would speak English 7 would speak Spanish 4 would speak Arabic 4 would speak Russian 3 would speak Bengali 2 would speak Malay-Indonesian 2 would speak French 45 would speak other languages
Overall Literacy	82 would be able to read and write 18 would not
Literacy by Gender	87 males would be able to read and write 13 males would not be able to read and write 77 females would be able to read and write 23 females would not be able to read and write
Education	76 males would have a primary school education 72 females would have a primary school education 66 males would have a secondary school education 63 females would have a secondary school education 1 would have a college education
Urban/Rural	47 would be urban dwellers 53 would be rural dwellers
Drinking Water	83 would have access to safe drinking water 17 would use unimproved water
Food	17 would be undernourished
Infectious Disease	<1% would have HIV/AIDS <1%would have tuberculosis
Poverty	53 would live on less than 2USD per day 50 would live in poverty
Electricity	76 would have electricity 24 would not
Technology	34 would be cell phone subscribers 17 would be active internet users 1 would own a computer

IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100 PEOPLE

In the world today, more than 6 billion people live.
If this world were shrunk to the size of a village of 100 people, what would it look like?

59 would be Asian
14 would be American (North, Central and South)
14 would be African
12 would be European
1 would be from the South Pacific

50 would be women, 50 would be men
30 would be children, 70 would be adults.
70 would be nonwhite, 30 would be white
90 would be heterosexual, 10 would be homosexual

33 would be Christians
21 would be Moslems
15 would be Hindus
6 would be Buddhists
5 would be Animists
6 would believe in other religions
14 would be without any religion or atheist.

15 would speak Chinese, Mandarin
7 English
6 Hindi
6 Spanish
5 Russian
4 Arabic
3 Bengali
3 Portuguese
The other would speak Indonesian, Japanese,
German, French, or some other language.

In such a village with so many sorts of folks, it would be very important to learn to understand people different from yourself and to accept others as they are. Of the 100 people in this village:

20 are underonurished
1 is dying of starvation, while 15 are overweight.
Of the wealth in this village, 6 people own 59% (all of them from the United States), 74 people own 39%, and 20 people share the remaining 2%.
Of the energy of this village, 20 people consume 80%, and 80 people share the remaining 20%.
20 have no clean, safe water to drink.
56 have access to sanitation
15 adults are illiterate.
1 has an university degree.
7 have computers.

In one year, 1 person in the village will die, but in the same year, 2 babies will be born, so that at the year's end the number of villagers will be 101.

If you do not live in fear of death by bombardment, armed attack, landmines, or of rape or kidnapping by armed groups, then you are more fortunate than 20, who do.

If you can speak and act according to your faith and your conscience without harassment, imprisonment, torture or death, then you are more fortunate than 48, who can not.

If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet and spare change somewhere around the house, then you are among the richest 8.

If you can read this message, that means you are probably lucky!


(The statistics were derived from Donella Meadows "State of the Village Report" first published in 1990)

Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusie! or should I say, TAZMANIA

The new additions!!!

The new additions to the Family. Look how cute they all are!

Maxim Ropes athlete Alex Honnald

Maxim Ropes athlete Jonathan Siegrist

Boreal athlete Dani Andrada

The blade

The Kintara

The Krypto

Oct 16 2011

Tonight, after much reflection and a long wet weekend up north, bolting new routes alone, I have realised that its not time to give up. We must fight for what we want. For love, for truth, for action, for whatever we wish. Your determination is only valid if you drive it to the extreme. It will set you free and can and should be the only thing you should worry about.

I will never give up. I believe and I want the best for what is life and its path.

The future is blank, and is set in NO STONE.

Good night, tonight. Kiss your children, even if they sleep and they might wake.

Hold on to whoever is beside you, and never let go. Listen, speak, and custom your life for them. If they do the same for you, how can it fail?

Good night. xxx :)

This is the Coal Lobbying Industry latest Video. WTF?

How do people who's job is to Pollute have the fucking right to put this as an add on TV? Is there no law who says that lying on TV is illegal?
Is anyone from our Governing body going to stop this from crossing the border and numbing our minds too? I am officially scared for my future and the future of my planet!

Sooooooooooooo funny! So fucking good.

Arnaud 8b trad on Limestone

Gotta give it to Arnaud. Always at the helm of whatever is being done. On limestone dude. far out. Nice.

FUCK IT

I have felt the lasting impressions of few. My dad has this effect, as does some past figures from my past who I look up too and cherish the memories. But none of them have had an impact like Mike has. Even before his passing, Mike had great positive influence on me, and I on him, I would hope :)

I have an immense sadden feeling that I will not have the chance to say good-bye to my friend in the proper way. I will go along with any decisions the family takes, and I urge everyone to do the same. But, it would bring me, and, I think, a lot of Mikes' friends great closure and great happiness to see him off

together. In any case. I still feel mike with me. I almost lost it at a bar last night, thinking about him. FUCK.

Mike's mom wrote me this message. I am not sure if its right or wrong to post it, but Mike was always about, FUCK IT and DO IT ANYWAY.

So, FUCK IT.

Elizabeth Bohorquez

• Ulric...for some reason I didn't get your last message. We would have been delighted to have you visit, but there was no way we would have been able to get Mike's things from the Fisculia. To this moment, we do not have them. We are hoping that the Embassy will have them soon. Just two minutes ago I sent the request for the Fisculia ( police ) to release his body to the local funeral home. Now, all the arrangements have to be made about shipping Mike back here & whatever has to happen here before any cremation can take place. The reason for his death was heart failure & pulmonary edema from exerting at such a height 10,000 feet above sea level....without taking time for his body to adjust. This is such a sad loss.
  
  Anyway, I don't know when we will be able to schedule the cremation, nor have we discussed as a family if we will keep this private. However, we will have a memorial service for Mike & we will hold it in that beautiful place I posted on Mike's FB page.
  
  Meanwhile, if you would like to write a message to Mike that will be cremated with him, I know he would like that. Send it to me & it will be placed with his body before cremation. I know he loved you as a brother.
  
  Also...if you can....spread the word about the letters for Mike. I'll need them as soon as possible. I will be in touch with you & I thank you for everything. eliz Mike's Mom

For Marin and Jai

"Among the last leaves that fall, inherent in their wake, we leave traces that surpass all and surprise many.

We travel a distance unknown, but cater to the living with close ties and are soon to be reunited in a far off land of immeasurable enchantment.

We all dance our last dance alone, but we all hold hands together, forever." Ulric Rousseau

The access Fund

Get off your asses, sit at your desk, open your check books and write a check ( 100% tax deductible * ) to The Access Fund. Should I find out you did not, I will make a house call, fo real son!

Tax Deductible means that at the end of the year, if you gave 1000$ in donations, instead of giving it to the Gov. you all most likely hate, its given back to you as credit as 1000$ you do not have to pay. i.e.; you can give 1000$ to The Access Fund, or to the Government, your call. Real simple.

Random post out of total and obliterated boredom.

These are just some random pics. My nephew Nathan, he's almost 14 months, some dumb pics and goes to show how bored I am at the Rifle public library waiting for the Spew Party to roll into town.

Rifle 2011 and the 2011 OR summer show

I thought it would be a cool thing to keep a journal of my trip to Rifle, and why not just keep it public and super gritty. Here goes.

Day 1. ( Sunday, July 31 2011 )

After a very uneventful 3 days of driving from Montreal I finally arrived to warm smiles from Peewee, Nadine and Helene in Rifle. I stepped out of the car and was still feeling the road vibrations when Nadine Coursed me to try climb at least one route.

"It will shake things out of you, relax you"

So i jumped on the hardest 11 I have ever been on. We all laughed and had a good chuckle as I barley made the anchors.

The crew left for there prospective projects and I was left shooting shit with Lynn, Mary and a host of long lost friends.

I drove up the canyon to find Jai and Marin and the small crew I will be spending the next 2 months with. I parked, ate some food, drank a beer and passed out, still dressed.

Day 2. ( Monday, August 1st 2011 )

I woke up early, as usual, after almost 12 hours of sleep. The drive had tired me out and trashed my blood flow. We hit the project wall a few minutes before noon, and I got spanked on pretty much everything. I also tried Euro Trash ( 13-) and everyone and there mother watched as the paddle hit my ass, at the second bolt.:) I had a really good time.

Day 3 ( Tuesday, August 2nd 2011 )

Gita shows up and we agree to climb together for the next little while. I agree that the best thing would be to project her projects and that way we can get the most out of our time and not waste it going from wall to wall every day. We agreed to stay on the same momentum, rest days, ect. Like 2 peas in a pod. I love it. My ass is getting whipped all day today, 11, 12, 13, all of them are throwing me every which way from every possible angle. But I do start to project a 13b, "Squeel the Steal". My first try was a disaster. Gita reminds me that Rifle is not about onsight, but about finding your rhythm on the route, and moves that feel right. I reflect on this and work the route, and it goes a lot better the second try, figuring out even the crux and past it. Awesome.

This is starting to feel a lot easier, and a lot more fun.

Day 4 ( Wednesday OFF )

Day 5 ( Thursday, August 4th 2011 )

We do new warm ups. The first 11b gets me fully worked. I feel a little ashamed. I climb the second, 11a, but I have a lot of fun on it. I spot a line out right of the wall, 12a and I decide to give it a try, onsight ( Side note. I use Onsight in the purest of terms )

I arrive at the anchors without a hint of problems. Felt great. Felt even better on the prof today. Still figuring out little problems, but Chad gives me a knee bar hint and totally changes the difficulty for me ( another side bar, I need to get kneepads ASAP ). This route is going down soon. Will be awesome to send something in rifle this quick. Even though I haven't climbed since April last and I am little over my custom weight, it nice to see that the little talent I do have is carrying me very far these days LOL. Chad and I agree to put up the draws on The 8th Day when I return from the OR. I am sooooooooooo psyched.

Day 6 ( Friday, August 5th 2011 )

I leave Rifle for SLC and the OR. I wanted to climb

today before leaving but the thunderstorms last night drowned all hopes of anything before 11am. I have a rental car waiting for me in Grand Junction at noon, and I will drive the 4 hours to SLC, at 100mph, with the ac and safety of Alamo rent-a-car. LOL Speak from SLC in a few.

OR Trade Show Day 7-8

Ahhh what a great feeling to be under white lights and A/C all day roaming the corridors of power and players to be.

A little surprise was making it so far south on the trade show floor that I bumped into the marketing manager for Yakima, who was so interested in the way we live, that he donated a roof box to the cause ( me ) and so, hopefully if it fits in the rental car, I will be pimping out my trashy 4 runner with a brand new Yakima 2011 gear box. I'll put up some pics of the installation when I get back to rifle. Thanks Yakima :)

Now all I have is a couple meetings, this morning, and then load up all the free swag and maybe head to ParkCity to see seth and his gf's best friend who happens to loveeeeeeeeeeee climbers... No really, just want to bump into Redford and shake his hand.

Back to reality and fun and my next blog will be from rifle.

Cheerio/

August 10th 2011

Oh my fucking lord. What a crazy 72 hours. I have no pics so I will try and make this as interesting as possible. I also said I was gonna stay truthful and gritty, so this might offend some people, it actually might get me fired from some companies I rep for, but what the hell, here goes.

I will start from the beginning. I drove from Rifle to Grand Junction. I had reserved a rental car for the deserted drive on hwy 6 to SLC. My truck runs good, but I didn't want to risk it. When I arrive at Alamo rent-a-crap, surprise surprise, my reservation was not honoured and they charged me 271$ for 3 days of car rental. I suggest you all stay away from that one.

As I parked my truck, I heard a grinding noise. And as I put in park, I could already imagine my return to another unexpected expense after the OR.

I drove to SLC, dirty from climbing that morning and arrived at the OR just in time for happy hour.I checked in at roll call under Revolution and headed for a couple beers with the boys at the So iLL and Pusher booths, joining me was the Japan distributors for Cordless and soon I was off into John Stacks truck and we hit Kyoto, the best Sushi in SLC.

After much Sake, too much food and a 200$ bill, we where off to meet up with Clark from Cordless and Gus from Gripped at this grimy hole in the wall on State Street, the Republican. Please, avoid at all costs.

Shot one, shot two, Jack Daniel's and Jamison, beer, shot three, John Stack vomits all over the pool table, barley making it to the bathroom. We get kicked out.

John and I roll ( walk ) to the Teva Party, front side of the convention center, only to get refused cause of capacity issues and the fact that we had no OR passes on our person. No problem I told John and his boys. I walked in and got accosted by the bouncer.

"I am the east coast Teva rep, these are my boys, we ARE going in". He apologized and we where offered drink vouchers for their mistake.

(side bar, I do no rep for Teva, in any way, shape or form, nor do I know anyone from that company ). LOL

After bouncing to the The Spazmatics, THE best live 80's band I have ever seen, we scarfed some pizza and I passed out on John's couch.

--------------------------------------------------------

Ok. Yes, I censored a part. The part which I threw beer all over the crowd, twice, and got my head wrung by some ugly ass 6'6'' ass, cause I guess I was smaller and in range of picking on. After his offer to " pound my head in", I gently laid into his ear, and whispered " You can hit me, but if you do, my lawyer will make sure you work for me, for the rest of your life". How easy it is to avoid confrontation when you know what to say. Its all very fun to watch someone not do what he wishes to sooooo badly. Lesson learned douche. The pen is mightier than the sword.

For the record, everyone was throwing drinks, we were all wet from sweat and beer. hummmmmmm

(Side bar, as it happens, his booth was right next to Pusher's, as I noticed the morning after )LOL

-------------------------------------------------------

I woke up the next morning ( I forgot your name, but it was cool waking up beside you, call me ) and got a ride to my car where, again to my dismay, had forgotten to pay the parking lot fee. 25$ down the drain, again.

The day went without complication, less a little hungover.

The hit Star of India with the Cordless banner after the OR closed. John Glassberg, Carlo Traversi joined us for a couple rounds. We had an awesome supper and finished it off watching Clark fall asleep on his couch. We went to another party, unknown, and I went to bed early for my last day of meeting.

Sunday, the last day of the OR. Met up with Paulie and his dad from Higher Ground at the Pusher booth, spoke with a undisclosed rope company ;), crossed path with Sam and his crew from Valhalla in Nelson B.C. and had about another 10 or so meetings.

Ok, here is where it gets a little gritty.

Around 2 pm, I packed the rental car full of swag ( list below ) and headed to Park City ( home of The Sundance Film Festival ) to see Seth.

--------------------------------------------------

A special thanks to Vince from Yakima for the great hookup and bomber RocketBox for the truck. Thanks guys, you rock. Side bar. I tried Thule first and the guys laughed in my face when I told them I use it to live out of, Thule said, and I quote,"maybe you should find better work".

-------------------------------------------------

I arrived to a sunny day on the mountains above SLC and met up with Seth and his Beautiful gf and had some food and drinks ( after 11am is ok, really ) and then left his gf for her hockey game and hit main street. Crowds from all over the world merged and crossed onto main street in a lively atmosphere reminiscent of any festival in the world. We stopped and started with easy drinks, moved from the bar due to server issues and went on to meet up with Seth's buddy, Tony, also a dirtbag in his own right. Tony and I continued our festive drinking well into the wee hours, cougars in tow, and after getting 86'd from the last bar, we walked up main street towards tony's apt. Roughly 3am. Many garbage cans fell, some small property damage and I woke up to the sight of a bar stool in my possession after eating edemame's from a dog bowl on the floor and puking all over tony's 87 Sentra's hood at about 4. His gf woke me at 5;30am and I began the 400 mile journey back to Grand Junction so I would not have to pay a late fee on the rental car. I got to GJ totally warped from the ride and remembered I had to check my trucks grinding noise.

Booyah. A new rear wheel bearing and a 370$ surprise on my visa. I have to thank bill and the whole staff at zarlingos automotive for being so cool and honest. Any climber in the Rifle area should hit them up for mechanical issues. I drove the last 100 miles to rifle and arrived just in time to watch Jai send Pump-o-rama in my face.

I slept a quiet night by the river bank, in my now tuned truck, and dreams of limestone and hotties kept me in silence for 13h.

All in all. It was cool to see everyone, a blast to party with no inhibitions, and a riot to see what all that can happen in 72h. I think I might go back next year. Now, I will stay in Rifle until Sept 15th before returning to work. I hate my life :)

Oh and before I forget, Fixe is making Aliens again. Available in about 6 weeks. PZ

Ok here is an interesting count down.

OR costs for the 2011 summer show:

Rental car 270$

Car repair 370$

Kyoto 200$

Various bar tabs 300$

Gas 210$

Liquor Store 100$

OR swag from the 2011 summer show:

10.2 70m from BW (NOTTTTTTTTTTTTT)

I was actually supposed to get a rope from David Long at Bluewater, after he offered that I pick one, ( I repped for them for 3 years, busted my ass and actually spent 3000$ in 2 weeks pushing the product and opening new accounts on a 6000km run on the west coast last november in -40c temps ) and that he would ship it out to me in Rifle. I sent him an email the Tuesday after the OR...

D. I would really like a 10.2 DD 70 in dark blue. Can you send it USPS general delivery to Rifle, Colorado?

Here is dan's address at So iLL for the draws.

Dan@soillholds.com

Ulric

Blog http://ulricrousseau.blogspot.com/

Sent via my BlackBerry baby!

...and I never got an answer. I sent him a txt thanking him for the amazing rope I never received after his kind words at the OR show, sarcastically. Apparently, even after failing to thank me for forwarding orders even after they fired me, and trying to hook them up with So iLL for draws and sewing contracts, they still appreciate nothing at all, not even the god damn decency to confirm receipt of orders I forward to them. I guess if they can't even take the time to confirm an email or say thank you, its says a lot about their commitment on how the ropes are made and the way the business is run over there, huh. Fuck that, all future orders will go to Maxim or Sterling. Support the companies that care, not seem too for image purposes.

80m 9.2 from Sterling

Yakima Rocket Box

Ivan Greene's Adidas Athlete Shoulder Bag ( thanks bro )

Chalk from So iLL

Spot, Sack, Roll Model and t's from Pusher

T's from Maxim Ropes, Pusher, So iLL, and Prana

Jeans from Prana

Kick ass First aid kit from Coleman

Climbing shoes from Boreal

Hat from Paulie @ Higher Ground

Free Magazines from Rock & Ice, Gripped, Climbing and Urban Climber

August 13 2011 Day Count unknown and who cares.

Andrew's B day party was a little off the hook, dancing to 90's rock and enjoying the good company of Jeff Achey, who can grill like a man, I can tell you. Great Burgers Jeff.

My work on squeal continues. Progress is positive. The negative, my partner is badly hurt from the knee-bar chasing. Her underfoot is badly bruised and could possibly have a hairline fracture. I will stay on her to keep healing, and meanwhile will climb quantity to get my endurance up for the mega project in Sept in Montreal.

My aim is towards The 8th Day and The 7 PM Show is making way. Next week I will drop the hammer on these and hit them hard with everything I have. My patience in wearing thin, I want to climb hard again. My brain wants but the body does not follow, yet!

Marin and Jai have decided to stay another month. I am so happy. That couple is soooooooo funny.

Ok I am off to find a camera at the pawn shop, cause waiting on other peoples pics is getting annoying.

Weekend off. Swimming and relaxing by the river.

August 17th 2011

This is a journal entry I wrote off the cuff sitting yesterday morning watching my world and its activity. Enjoy.

I watch Bill ( Ramsey ) and Chris ( Bailey ) discuss duct tape. And it hits me. The simple things in life are the ones worth watching out for. ( yeah yeah, cliche, fuck off ) Something as simple as Duct Tape, from a climbers perspective, opens doors of reality as if it where the key to the city of Gotham. Steeped in mystery, romance, that only the characters of the story can understand. Bill and Chris prepare their day, as I peep on in to their lives, unprovoked, as if I was a zoo keeper, from my crash-pad. Undisturbed, Bill glances at me, as they understand that in my world, I Am.

The mornings sun gives us wings, well most of us, except Jai and Marin who still sleep. Gita makes porridge, with blueberries and slices of banana; unimaginable flavour. I devour it whole. I think of Mike as Bill sips his coffee in the same manner he did. He stretches and meditates on todays forthcoming projects, absorbed in his headphones, he looks up, left and right. Chris is watching me watch him and it gives me chills. How graceful she is. Subtle, yet alluring and present.

With all our routines, all so different, we all strive for the same goal. Our own. We strike to egotistically yet we are all one. We feed from the same water, but consume it all very differently. Some sip, some gulp, some drip as if it were tears on the tongue as the last drop from a leather pouch in the Sahara dessert.

We are all alchemists in our own way. We depend on each other, support one another, to achieve our own selfless goals.

Stimulating...

August 28th 2011

Its a sad day when the crew dissipates into the fog. Marin and Jai have to leave suddenly for family related reasons, and its making us all feel very sad. Other then the spring, I have spent almost a year with them both, and its sad to see this energy vanish into thin air. This momentum come full circle and banish our values and inherent truths into oblivion.

My departure date has been set for sept 9th. I feel a little uneasy to leave Gita alone, but I must return someday to my obligations and my own reality and mortality.

Jai and Marin just walked into the study room of the library in which I am sitting and said there goodbyes. jai vows to go to China, again, but I feel doubt in his voice. We shall see. Right now, I am just hoping things stay grounded and Marin can find closure in this horrible little world we call life.

I have nothing left to say for the moment.

August 31th 2011

Last day of August and the beginning of the end for this little trip. My return to Mtl is eminent. I have only a few more days to wrap up my projects, but I feel stronger and lighter than ever and will succeed. Without a doubt.

I am also a little distraught over my truck. After 4 new tires, Ti-rod Ends and some small other repairs, I am now in for an Oil Pressure Switch that is leaking and my rear breakline is spewing out hydro fluid. This is just annoying as I am a little out of money. I think this will ease my return date closer than expected.

I wish I had a camera.

After a 6 hour wait for a piece and some grease on my elbows, I will try to find a quiet spot to escape the scorching heat and hopefully wash, as its been 10 days since my last shower. FUBAR!

Check it.

September 3rd 2011

Ahhhhhhhhh the joys of working for the craziest company in the world.

You won't see cookie cutter pad companies have their gear go through such rigorous tests, NO NO NO......

Mike and the following rest of whatever.

I think sometimes, life makes us wonder why the fucking hell we even breath.

After everything his family has gone through, Mike is still at the mercy of capitalism, a system he tried so hard to fight all his life.

The Columbian Government is asking for money to release his body, and its an ballistic sum.

Although I am not a huge fan of funds and the such, I will urge you to help in anyway you can, even if it pro-bono work as a lawyer.

Go to this webpage to get all the info and make a donation online.

Mike, I am sorry. I wish I could do more for you. I feel very useless at this point.

I will climb tomorrow, for you.

Ciao my brother.

July 27th

Aborted of all indiscretions, I will say this,"Not all that is lost is found, but all who are found, where once lost." You can quote me.

I think every one of us, at one time, wonders. Should I have taken that yellow light, that last drink, tied in, took a left turn instead of a right. Well, the great thing about everything, is that it is all your fault. And yes, thats a good thing, because if you turned the key, then you can un-turn it whenever you want.

Lets dig deep into the past 24 hours.

I jumped onto my longboard just as the sun set across the river of Montreal. It shone bright, dark orange and the humidity was still very invasive. I kicked down slope towards a friends' house. Chat chat and a few laughs and I was off back home. But back home, is actually, uphill for 2 miles. I opted instead, for the 3 rd time in one year, to take the subway. Swerving in and out of foot traffic I was accosted by the men in blue and given a 100$ ticket, and banished from the tram for 24h. I kicked my little board down main street, where, now covered in darkness my city was, a truck hits me full on on my board. I escaped without a hint of a scratch, just a few lousy words exchanged and I carried on with Temper Trap in the headphones.

I arrived to a blinking cell with a few msgs, one that my passport, which i have been waiting for for weeks because of security checks( ??? ) was now ready and that a great artist and star showing qualities was passed. I was behind the news it seemed, but Amy Winehouse had passed.

This is all to say that tonight is my last night in the city. I will buck my heels and pack the truck for an unknown destination, maybe a flight, but at least, it will be freedom and smiles, not tickets and crashes.

speak soon.

:)

Photo Shoot 2009

Pat Bagley shot me on this .14a 3 years ago. Some of the highlights.

The end of the affair

Thursday was a very troubling day. Opening a fed-ex package. Sent overnight from Squamish. After its long journey from Columbia. Sent from my good friend Alain Denis. Finding Mike's chalk-bag inside a pale white, ruffed up envelope.

Over the past few weeks, I have been cleaning up. Making space in my life, and selling off all useless things. My apt will be vacated in a few days, and I will go. Where, its not quite clear yet. Rifle, Aussie, Morocco. Who knows. Least of all me.

Mike's chalk-bag was a godsend. I will climb with it from now on. Clark at Pusher had given it to him after the OR in 2009, and he picked it out himself. It somehow ties me to this web of family, history and resource of life that is undisturbed, even after his passing.

The past few weeks have been very hard. History of life keeps haunting me, and although I know that driving a distance will never put any actual space between my issues and the solutions, it will give me a buffering space to be able to think, climb and reflect on the past few years decisions.

And Mike's chalk-bag, although metaphorical, will likely serve as a grail on my journey.

Let it be said, let it be done. Actions speak louder than words, even when they are the wrong ones.

Ulric

I had to put this up. Jason's new board is making waves. Available soon at So iLL...

Greenpeace

I was sitting at my desk in my apt, on the phone a few minutes ago, a few minutes before 9pm, eastern time. My conversation was broken, slightly, by the sound of footsteps up my stairs. With my front door wide open for the fresh evening breeze to circulate, I accosted a Greenpeace door door "salesman", if you wish. I invited him in, as I rarely do to anyone, and I signed on for 12$ a month donations.

I encourage everyone to do the same.

And stop eating tuna god dam-it.

CLICK<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The Zanskar Odyssey Part 5

From Abbey Smiths' and Caroline Treadways' Website

Last fall Colorado climbers Abbey Smith, Jason Kehl, Pete Takeda and Mick Follari journeyed to the Indian Himalayas in search of adventure, a fresh perspective, and the most aesthetic boulders in the world's greatest mountain range.
With only 10 days remaining the team has to get serious in order to complete their final projects. This is their last chance to send before leaving their bouldering utopia behind.
This is Ten! is the final episode of the Zanskar Odyssey web series. Be sure to keep an eye out for the full length film featuring more climbing footage and a closer look into the inspiration behind the trip.

I miss you MIKE

June 10th 2011

I spent this precious day, thinking a lot about the last few years. I spent it while working with Sly, one of canada's top crack climbers and one of my closets friends.

The day dreams kept popping up, about the past, about what was wrong and about what was to be set right, about fault, about blame, and most important, how to try and make it right.

I started my day, like any other. I left home a little past 5 am and went to the gym for a 30 min run at 12km/h on a 5% incline and hit the bar for a couple of sets.

The truck packed and ready, I went from call to call, home to home, and I spent it in a daze of what was to be today.

With Mike's recent death, a lot has come into focus for me. It has affected me harder and stronger than I would have expected.

I was never the nostalgic type. I like the moment and the past is the past. But for some reason, I came to understand that without understanding the past, the future is a very gloomy place.

Time spent reflecting has given me hope for the future, and maybe a life I would have had should I have been more in-tune with the present, that is now, my affected tragic past.

yeah.

New Obed Guidebook out

I got a txt from a little lady down in kentucky who happened to get her hands on the new OBED guidebook and caught a glimpes of some quebecer climbing some rock in a picture. I called Jim Thornburg and turns out a couple pics of me are in the guide book. How sweet.

You can check out the guidebook at all fine retailers and here at Greengrass Publishing.

Cheers boys and girls.

One week

I will never get to see my friend again.

I will never here him yell at me, louder than 11, even though I am wearing headphones.

I will never again see him smile after his sends, or drink redbull.

Never again can I talk about climbing with my friend, or girls, or climbing girls.

Never can I ask him to belay me.

I will never smell his god awful hippie smell, ever again.

Nor will I ever be able to laugh at his dirty socks, long-johns or mister muffler Mountain Hardware pants, that he loved so much.

Never will we crash in the same tent in Chonta, cause the pussy that I am, I am afraid of sleeping alone.

We will never sit, cutting up vegetables together, not talking, just listening to the deep empty of life pushing at our backs.

I will never understand again, because Mike is not there to make sense of it for me.

I will never climb the same again, because mike will be there watching me, every time.

I will miss his stickclip, cause I refuse to own one.

I will miss his hair, getting caught in the grigri, time and time again.

I will miss him hitting on girls, when you know its all for show.

I will never believe again, because the truth was always laid out by him.

It will be hard to breath again, because Mike was the life blood of my life.

It will be harder to keep secrets, cause now I really have no one to tell them too.

I will have trouble hearing lies, cause Mike will be there to guide me towards the truth.

I will miss my friend.

I will miss him very much.

I will.

I will...

The Music Could Never be to Loud

Mike Bohorquez 11/23/1966 - 5/22/2011

It never occurred to me that I would one day have to write an obituary. Then, on the morning of May 25th, the clock coming close to 6am, my ears heard the worse words come through the cellular connection of my mobile phone. My best friend; confidante, my shinning star amongst all wrong and wild things on this earth, was gone.

Mike Bohorquez was born in Newfoundland, Canada, on November 23^rd, 1966. He studied at private schools and universities across the Americas and toured with the Grateful Dead, until climbing came to play a rampart part in turning him into the outgoing and amazing person he never failed to be. His body was found in a hotel room in Bogota, Columbia, on May 22th 2011.

Mike lived his life at the utmost pase. He drove his Harley, or 56 panhead hardtail, as he repeatedly corrected me, all over the Colorado highways. When asked about where he lived, he always replied, ‘’from here, for now. ‘’ His mailing address was stamped on his Metolius haul bags, which

he used to travel, and to climb the walls of El Cap, to which, if he had a home, it would be. He spoke of his life as if it had no beginning and no end. He spoke with purity and laughter and spent his days trying his best.

What I remember the most about Mike was his girly screams falling from the anchors of his current projects and his headphones gushing out loud metal music camouflaged in his blonde dreads, which he would never cut. We would sit on the main street in the village of Cienega, waiting for the sun to hit us every morning, he with his coffee, imported and the most expensive money could buy. He took great pleasure in brewing his cups in the morning, and if anyone had a routine, that was his.

No amount of free gear was good enough for Mike, and in the past few years he had convinced Evolv, Bluewater and Metolius to put him on their grassroots team. This, above all else, gave Mike a motivation and drive to excel at his sport.

He spent his life living, and, for the most part, making sure we all remembered to do so as well. He was always looking out for his friends. He was always there. Mike always reminded me, that if I ever needed anyone taken out, hacked to pieces and made to disappear, he would do it. Mike loved his weapons, and was always close to his knives. He spoke about his guns as Shakespeare would about love. Never a day would go buy should we not hear something about him shooting off rounds in the dessert of Colorado.

We parted ways a few days into March of 2011, he went south and I, north. Plans to go to china in Oct. We both went our way, towards what we gravitate too. Mike had plans to travel for an undetermined amount of time. Our next meeting will now have to wait, just a little bit longer.

Here I am now, sitting on the floor of my apt, writing this for you. I have lost many friends over the past few years, but you are the one who will be sorely missed. I hope you Watch over me, us, with great wide eyes. May we make you proud. Maybe you take my dog for walks, where you both are, and may you never forget, that we will never stop remembering you, in our daily chores, activities and lives. You surround us, and bring us the strength and knowledge to forge on ahead, even though sometimes, we no not where we go.

In loving memeory of Mike Bohorquez