2009/03/29 Halifax, NS
_ photo:Aidas Rygelis
Mick Levin on a new slab in Musquodobit Harbour.
The rock climbing season has begun in Halifax. Locals will have some new boulders to establish lines as Todd Foster has discovered the Three Tower area in Musquodobit Harbour. Although limited it contains quality blocs. Bear Cove in Jeddore Harbour will be revisited either by canoe or other marine transportation in the coming months. This concentrated area has eratics that could host some hard lines.
Nate Smith has begun ticking testpieces off his list with Kleos and Resurection (in a day!). NB visitors have made some nice sends as well with ascents of Overdrive by Matt Keays and Florian Muth the later who also climbed Access Denied at Hephalump. Ground Zero has opened their doors and everyone should go check out the new facility. Climb Nova Scotia will hold their AGM on Tuesday April 14 at 6pm at DALPLEX. The AGM is open to CNS members and memberships will be available at the meeting. The Boulderfest organizing committee have already begun preparations and details will be released at the AGM. All I can say is that it will be great!
2009/03/06 Bishop, CA
_ photo:Matt Keays
Local strongman Ben Blakney on his March trip in Bishop. He reported being close to sending this testpiece!
2009/1/28 Bridgetown, NS Chris Eager sent me a video he shot and edited from old footage in Bridgetown. Check it out! Jones not home, FA
2009/01/18 Annapolis Royal, NS 2008/12/03 Musquodobit Harbour, NS I went back to some boulders that Rich and I found last winter off of Myers Rd leading to the back of Admiral Lake. This project is actually right off the logging road halfway to the lake (15min). Very good line and hard! The holds are positive but all facing the same direction making it difficult to stay on them. There should be a few more updates this month as I will be done school and the weather is still relatively good. 2008/11/13 Halifax, NS cost: $40 for non rock court members Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=33787407103&ref=nf) Pulldown's video of Rock Court's regionals in March 2008 (http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=35366357335&h=of5IE) There is also a youth competition on Friday Nov.21 for more details contact the Rock Court at 494-1935. 2008/10/30 Bear Cove, NS Last weekend I received an email from a climber who used to climb in NS but now resides out west. In this email was a description of big boulders that he and his friends had stumble upon a few years back. Along with this was photos and a GPS coordinate for Bear Cove. He told me the best way to approach is by boat in the Jeddore Arm. We learned our lesson by taking the long way hiking 2hrs (one-way) and being forced to fork a river. Once there the boulders were even bigger than we expected from seeing the photos. A lot of the faces though were too blank. There is some killer lines for people have access to a boat. 2008/10/09 Musquodobit Harbour, NS 2008/08/04 L'Argentiere-la-Bessé (FRANCE) 2008/08/04 CCB, NS 2008/08/04 Porter's Lake, NS 2008/07/29 Porter's Lake, NS This evening I went out and checked out some boulders Rich had found this past winter near Porter Lake. My buddy Brian is visiting for the week so we had a blast cleaning new lines and will probably go back. There is some hard lines right of the old dead tree you can see in the above photo. 2008/07/06 Chebucto Head, NS Today was a hot day here so we headed out to Chebucto Head. No bugs, nice breeze, many sailboats, and projects. Yes, many would think that this area is tapped out but I had tried 2 things here 5 yrs ago and they were pretty hard. So I went back today with Rich and we worked on the first which is a sit below a bulge. It starts on 2 small crimps and a right heelhook. You either go up right to a one-finger razor as an intermediate then pop to the bulge lip or you go big from the start to the lip. So we came close but didn't stick this move. We did all the rest which is still tricky to topout. Then the one to the left we tried from the sit and we could only do the first move. As a last effort we tried the stand and it was still super hard! We tried standing from a left hand slopey crimp and a bad sloper for the right. Big move to a right facing seam/rail thing. Hard! Anyway we shredded our tips rather quickly. I think with cooler temps these projects could go. Chebucto Head has a reputation for car break-ins and I'm always worried arriving back at the parking lot to see a car vandalized but today while walking back to the parking I noticed a couple having intercourse on the hood of their car! So watch out!! 2008/07/01 West Pennant, NS Ben and I went out to Owl's House today and it was hot but not too buggy surprisingly. The coast was very foggy outside of Halifax so we headed inland to work on some projects. We finished our session by linking some moves on the crimp nightmare Honey Bear. The crimps are small and sharp and you have to do many moves across a slightly overhanging face to finish up the crux of Last Chance.
2008/04/20 Musquodobit Harbour , NS 2008/04/06 Musquodobit Harbour, NS 2008/03/21 Halifax, NS 2008/03/05 Fredericton, NB 2008/02/18 Fredericton, NB 2008/02/17 W.Pennant, NS 2008/01/30 Quebec, QC 2008/01/12 Halifax, NS 2007/10/30 Fredericton, NB 2007/10/17 Fredericton, NB 2007/10/13 Aviles, Spain 2007/09/24 Aviles, Spain Final ranking at bouldering World Cup / Aviles, Spain WOMEN 2007/09/15 RMNP, Colorado 2007/07/04 Dover Island, NS 2007/06/20 Dover Island, NS 2007/06/15 Teva Games, Colorado TEVA GAMES - Results Pro Bouldering Men Women 2007/05/20 Canadian Bouldering Nationals, Coyotes, Ottawa, ON 2007/05/01 Hull, Austria 2007/04/25 Ottawa, ON 2007/04/24 Dover Island, NS 2007/04/03 Halifax, NS 2007/03/12 Fredericton, NB 2007/02/17 Owl's House, NS 2007/01/09 Maple Ridge, NS 2007/01/02 Lake Echo, NS
_ photos:G.Losier
The first youth comp in the valley was held at the Annapolis Royal high school climbing gym. The event saw climbers of age 5 to 15 and was sponsored by Climb Nova Scotia and Annapolis County's Club 400. Everyone left with at least 2 prizes and some with cash money! Big thanks to Derick Smith and volunteers for organizing the event. 
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2008/12/18 Halifax, NS
_ photo:Ground Zero
Here is a photo of the new Ground Zero climbing gym under construction. It shouldn't be too long now until it reopens. To put it in perspective the top of the bouldering is 16' high!
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_ photos:G.Losier
Ben Smith on the baseline project.
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Tour de Bloc Season 6 is already under way and the first comp in the maritimes will be at the Rock Court on November 22. Here are some details:
Registration 9-10am
Qualifiers 10am-1pm
Food & results 1-2pm
ISO (men&women) opens 3:30pm
ISO closes 4:00pm
Finals (men&women) 5-6pm
Awards and raffle 6:30pm
Who will make it to the podium???
Cash prizes for top 3 in men & women's OPEN
Medals for top Beginners and Experienced
plus door prizes
Live webcast (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tdb-rock-court---nov.2208)
This year the finals will run the men's and women's at the same time!
Routesetters: Aidas Rygelis, Ghislain Losier
Surprise guest climbers!!
$30 for members
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_ photos:G.Losier
Rich Lapaix at the hike's crux during the 2 hour journey to Bear Cove.
_ photo:G.Losier
Rich Lapaix working on Smirley (v10) before the FA. This is on a big brand new boulder just off the road!
_ photo:Planetgrimpe.com
Sean McColl is currently in Europe for 4 months to compete in a multitude of world class events. This past weekend Sean finished 2nd place at the "Tout a Bloc" (TAB), an international bouldering Open held in L'Argentiere-la-Bessé. Here is a link to a french interview with Sean at TAB.
_ photo:G.Losier
Jeremy (MC) Benjamin climbing by the ocean at CCB.
_ photo:zigtv
Ghislain Losier working on a new line
_ photo:G.Losier
Brian Garrison sending the FA of a new line near Porter Lake.
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_ photos:G.Losier
Rich Lapaix working on the "caught on tape" project at Chebucto Head.
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_ photos:G.Losier
Ben Smith working on Honey Bear (v12) at Owl's House during non-optimal conditions!
_ photo: S.Therien
Ben Smith during the FA of Toss Box (v8) at Skull Rock in late March.
_ photo: zigtv
Scott Richardson on Knobs of Bishop (v7) at Skull Rock area in Musquodobit Harbour. There was no snow in the woods plus it was 10deg. Celsius.
Tour de Bloc Regional competition Saturday March 29th
The event starts at 9 am. Call for details (494-1935).
OPEN Competition fee is $40 NonMember $30 Member
Beginner & Experienced $20 M & $25 NM *
- CNS is sponsoring the junior division which means that junior climbers can climb for 1/2 the entry fee!
- After party at Propeller brewery. 10pm -12am, 15$
- Schedule during the day is 9:30am-1:30pm qualifiers, 3pm
women finals start, men's start at 5pm. Finals competitors must be in
ISO 30 min prior to the start of finals.
- Qualifiers take place in Rock Court and Fieldhouse wall. Finals are in Rock Court.
- Live feed of comp on internet ( http://ustream.tv/channel/tdbrc )
- many prizes from the Tour's sponsors including a crash pad!!
- We just received some new holds from Friction specifically for the regionals.
- promo video here: http://zigtv.ca/PROMO.mov
- Live MC by zigtv!
* If you pay beginner or experienced fee- you are not eligible for big
prizes or finals.
Hope to see you there!
Eva Pepin-Helie, winner of women's open, on finals #1.
Holly Reid, 2nd in open, on the technical finals #3. 
_ photos:Ann Butler
Ghislain Losier (left) and Jeff Hum (right) broadcasting the finals live on the internet. Watch for it again during the regionals coming up on March 29th at the Rock Court (DALPEX).
Full results and more on Tour de Bloc's website.
_ poster: zigtv
_ photo: zigtv
Ben Smith has climbed the 2nd ascent of Grizzly at Owl's House in West Pennant.
_ photo:Holly Reid
John Bowles, from Fredericton, climbing during the OPEN Finals at last weekend's Tour de Bloc comp at Roc Gym in Quebec city. John grabbed his 2nd win of the season. Go to Tour de Bloc for complete results and more on this season!
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_ photos:G.Losier
Ben Smith making a rare ascent of the tricky problem Nouveau Itch up at the Nouveau Riche Area during a night session this past week. No snow at the LOC.
If the weather can cooperate for a few more days I'll post photos of boulders recently found by Rich in the Porter's Lake area! They will host a few hard testpieces.
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_ photos: Steve Adamson
Thibault Varin was the only one to stick this sloper and top out during the finals' last boulder. John Bowles flashed the first 3 boulders to grab 1st place.
Last Saturday at UNB was the 1st local TDB comp of the season. Climbers from Nova Scotia, NB, and Quebec made the trip to enjoy some fun problems and watch two exciting finals. It the women's open local Holly Reid took first and local favorite John Bowles took first. Close behind was the strong Thibault Varin from Quebec. Nationals have been set for next year's May long weekend in Edmonton. For more details and photos, results and more visit Tour de Bloc Season 5 website.
Climb and party at Tour de Bloc's Season 5 opener comp next weekend at UNB in Fredericton, NB.
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_photos: Andrew Post
Here are some photos from last month's world cup event in Spain which was attended by 4 Canadians (clockwise from top left: Sean McColl, John Bowles, Clarrie Lam, and Dustin Curtis).
_ photo: IFSC _
The scene during the bouldering event.
Four climbers represented Canada in the recent bouldering & lead World Cup which was held in Spain last week. Hats off to those climbers for their time, money, and effort in travelling to Europe for a week and representing Canada. John informed me that the people were thrilled to have Canadians in the event.
MEN
25. Sean McColl (BC)
69. John Bowles (NB)
82. Dustin Curtis (ON)
63. Clarrie Lam (BC)
_ photo: Steve Woods_
Canadian Sean McColl repeated Daniel Woods' testpiece link-up Aslan (v14) up in RMNP.
ATTENTION REGARDING ACCESS TO DOVER ISLAND!
PLEASE READ BELOW:
"Due to recent instances I have been asked to inform the climbing community, do not bring your dogs to Dover Island any more. No exceptions.
Thank you for your co-operation."
Conan Baker
Climb Nova Scotia
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Boulderfest is this weekend. Shown above is Claudia Béland killing White Trash (v8) with some pretty fly technique.
_ photo: Steve Woods
A quick word about Sean McColl competing at the recent Teva Games in Colorado.
June 2, 2007
1- Daniel Woods
2- Paul Robinson
3- Rob D'Anastasio
4- Charles Fryberger
5- Sean McColl
1- Alex Puccio
2- Paige Claassen
3- Angie Payne
4- Laura Griffiths
5- Natasha Barnes
_ photo: Francois Lebeau
Zig during finals on problem #3.
Go to the Tour de Bloc's website for the complete lowdown including full results, photos, video, national team.
_ photos: Rafal Andronowski _
John Bowles of New Brunswick has returned to Europe this spring to compete in the bouldering World Cups. Last year's comps really opened his eyes to the style and level of competition found at the world cup and trained very hard during the winter for this year's series. His first showing was this past weekend in Hull, Austria where he finished 21st!! 21st at the world cup!! That is great news.
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Nathan Smith and Adam Benjamin sending One Scoop (v8) on Dover.
Boulderfest tickets go on sale tomorrow morning for CNS members and next week for non-members. Check out climbnovascotia.ca for details and to purchase tickets. The cap is 70 people.
_ photos: Rafal Andronowski _
Dustin Curtis sending problem #4 and securing 1st place during the Open finals.
Tour de Bloc Regionals at Rock Court was held last Saturday and was attended by some of eastern Canada's strongest climbers. Dustin Curtis and Elizabeth Maltais, both from the Ottawa region, won 1st place in the Open category. Check out Rafal's site for more great photos.
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_ photos: zigtv
Thibault Varin on problem #4 during the Open finals. Thibault was one of many from Quebec to make the 6 hour trek to Fredericton to compete in the last local TDB comp before the Atlantic regionals on March 31st at the Rock Court in Halifax, NS. For all the details contact the Rock Court at (902) 494-1935. UNB put on another great comp and handed out over $1000 in cash and prizes!
Men's Open
1. John Bowles
2. Thibault Varin
3. Daniel Gingras
4. Matt Keays
5. Steve Begin
6. Ian Whittikar
7. Craig Lingley
8. Noah Dewar
9. Jonathan Therrien
Women's Open
1. Eva Pepin-Helie
2. Kim Weaver
3. Michelle Leblanc
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_ photos: zigtv
Ghislain on a new arete project at Owl's House in West Pennant. Snow is down to a minimum with a few icey patches. Days are getting longer and we were out today till 6pm.
_ photo: D.Smith
Sarah on the first ascent of Baby on Board. Not bad for being 6 months pregnant!
_ photo: zigtv
Ben on the 2nd ascent of Old Age (v7) deep in the woods of Lake Echo.