Bancroft Ice

I’ve made the best of the Monday past by hangin out with Phil and Sherry in Bancroft, ice climbing. We left Pembroke at 8:00am and arrived at 10ish after some exploring and direction asking. At the crag there were two guys from Toronto climbing. One of them works at MEC and the only piece of gear that he owned was his harness. They were taking MEC stuff for a test rip, I was pretty jealous. Our group top roped a WI3 route and Phil had his first lead on ice along with my first second. I really like setting ice screws and just climbing on the stuff for that matter. We’re planning to go back next weekend for some more fun and probably my first lead on ice as well.

The Potrero

This winter I embarked on a trip to El Potrero Chico, outside of Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. I was gone from December 11^th 2009 to January 10^th 2010, for a total of 29 days. Along with me on the trip was my climbing partner Drew Lineham. We headed to Mexico for the warm sun and 600+ sport routes up to 23 pitches long within a ten-minute walk from the campsite. To get there we took the bus from Pembroke to Burlington VT, flew to San Antonio TX, and then bussed to Monterrey NL. I visited Monterrey one day besides traveling through to see a bit of culture. The highlights for me were arriving in Mexico, climbing Snot Girls 5.10d 7 pitches, and climbing Satori 5.10c 7 pitches. For the duration of the trip Drew and I camped at La Posada campground. It had a group kitchen and a restaurant. We were partaking in sport-based tourism as well as cultural tourism. This is because we were rock climbing and having a great time as well as being in a new and interesting culture. The purpose of our travel was to step into the unknown and gain valuable rock climbing experience. All of the younger people at Posadas, Abe Traven, and the Chon’s crew made a positive impact on my experiences and me. Yes I would go back. I would drive down next time so I can easily move to other areas within Mexico. The vehicle would also allow me to self-sustained with full camp gear.

Satori from Thomas Harding on Vimeo.