On May 11th, I took a trip into Vancouver to see if I could navigate my way through the downtown metropolis and to the bus station, where my buddy Joseph would be arriving promptly at 5:00 pm. Previous knowledge of the cities layout, matched with an uncanny sense of direction assured that there would be no issues in arriving on time for my appointment. It didn't matter that I still hadn't borrowed a car by 3:30 pm, because I was still rolling out of the driveway by 3:50, thanks to a stressful yet successful episode of procrastination. By 4:00, I was several kilometers down the 'sea to sky' highway, and well ahead of schedule.


Two and a half hours later, I pulled into the bus station. It's been 2 years since I mastered the cityscape from the driver seat, and it would appear that in my absence, the direction of every road has been changed. Quite odd, indeed! I just don't understand how anybody could organize, much less, complete a project of this magnitude in such a short amount of time, but stranger things have happened. My internal navigator was on vacation with his family, and his relief called in with quite the nasty cough, otherwise there would've been several alarms going off to inform me that east will not take me west. The traffic I forgot to account for made it possible for me to safely tap into the worldwide web for directions via my cell phone, but the metro police were quick to inform me that cell phones have recently been pronounced illegal while on the road, even while calmly waiting your turn to drive through the traffic light you've been sitting at for 3 cycles, now.

These are not excuses as to why I was late, more a list of factors that led to an executive decision being made, changing my expected arrival time from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, making me 30 minutes ahead of schedule, therefore keeping my flawless record, unblemished.

The rest of the week has been equally adventurous. Unexpected dips into the river proved that glacier runoff is just to cold to enjoy, as well as furthered the studies on the effects of electronics when introduced with water. The results, yet again, concluded unfavorable for the electronics. Final thought: I need to invest in a waterproof cellphone.

Another one of the many weekly projects was to arbor some of the higher limbs on one of the trees behind the house so my neighbor, whom also happens to be my landlord, could finally watch the hockey games in HD, like they were meant to be watched. The thought of putting on spikes and climbing higher up in a tree than I ever would on a boulder didn't exactly exite me, and the 2 stroke Stihl MS 170 chainsaw that would have to follow me up the soft cedar made the otherwise frightening situation just plain petrifying, but half off of rent and a case of beer was enough for me to don a harness and rope, and proceed to amputate the signal intrusive appendages.

Item 295 on 'life's to do list'- Top a tree in the wind. Check.

The week hasn't been all work and no play though. With 15 hours of sunlight a day, there's always an opportunity to get outside and do something you enjoy. Here's some more classic boulder problems from Squamish.






















Paul on Tims Sloper Problem















Brad on Anubis






















Joseph on It's About Time


(Thanks to Joseph for the shot of me on the tree)