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.
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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
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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.
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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".
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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
Jeans from Prana
Kick ass First aid kit from Coleman
Climbing shoes from Boreal
Hat from Paulie @ Higher Ground
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
