Your section reporter was lucky enough to catch Mark between hard-core personal training sessions and his next bolting mission.. so here is a bit more about Mark, your dedicated Librarian and prior Climbing Chair:
How long have you been a member of the Alpine Club and/or Calgary Section and what motivated you to become a member at the time?
– 9 years. The scrambling guidebook mentioned the Alpine Club, so I joined.
What started your connection with the mountain world?
– As a kid in small town Saskatchewan, my parents took me to Banff for vacation a few times. As an adult in Calgary, I realized I was lucky to be healthy and that I should try to make the most of it by recreating in the mountains.
What are your favorite activities in the mountains?
– Staring at rocks, touching rocks, and climbing rocks. In that order.
Have you visited different mountain ranges around the world, where and when?
– The Wasatch Range in 2016 for trad climbing, the Canyon Lands (Indian Creek) in 2017 for trad climbing, and the San Rafael Swell (Joe’s Valley) multiple times in 2015-2017 for bouldering.
What was your longest or hardest, most epic mountain adventure?
– Developing the Fluffy Goat Butt-Face with Tyler Kirland. I spent around 25 days working on that with him.
What would you say is the biggest difference between mountain adventures when you started and now?
– Now I know that I can rock climb in January here… so I ice climb a lot less.
How much do you still get out now? What inspires you to get out?
– I got out rock climbing 80 days last year, and am on a similar pace this year. Gotta climb ‘em all!
Why do you enjoy leading trips for the section?
– I can share specific aspects of climbing with other club members. Such as my “trad-only lead-only” trips, or the “sport projecting (no top-roping)” trips
What’s your favorite meal when staying and cooking in a hut? And when camping?
– Boil-in-a-bag (not dehydrated) Indian food
What is your favorite piece of equipment and/or favorite clothes when going out there?
– Stick clip and yellow pants
Any inspiring mountain related sentence for our readers?
– JFGR. Just F-in Give-eR
0 Comments
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.