Adam Reeve one of the Directors of the OAC

On a cold January afternoon, you don’t need a lot of reasons to go to the gym and pull on plastic, other than the fact that it is cold and January. However, this past weekend Climbers Rock in Burlington gave local climbers two very good reasons to get out of the cold. Climbers Rock played host to the Ontario Access Coalition holding an information meeting for all climbers concerned about their favorite crags. Adam Reeve, a Director on the OAC, highlighted the past year’s success with the positive discussions surrounding halfway log dump bouldering, the challenges with trying to re-open access to closed climbing areas like Rockwood, and an assortment of other access news in between. It was impressive to see this group of individuals from a community who affectionately describes themselves as dirtbags display a thorough understanding of issues threatening our local areas and put forward such professional advocacy of the Ontario climbing community. It was a well attended event that a couple of years ago would have garnered about as much attention as a trad rack at a bouldering comp. With more locations being threatened, and climbers being blamed for impact we don’t always create, it was inspiring to see this small group trying to prevent our local crag requiring an overnight trip to get to. If you enjoy feeling of limestone tearing at your fingers (and really who doesn’t) this is an association worth supporting and paying attention to.

For the second half of the evening, the formalities of a meeting disappeared, and the room was soon packed with frostbitten climbers in desperate need of what every local is missing this time of year….motivation. That motivation was doled out on a massive 6 foot screen in the latest climbing movie from Arc’Teryx called The Continuum Project. The movie follows various professional climbers from around the world on free solo ice climbs in Norway, multi pitch sketchy trad lines in Zion, bitterly cold alpine routes in the Himalayas (making everyone feel like a wimp when complaining about our winters), and finally some classic bolted lines from our very own Lions Head. Pro climbers Emily Harrington, Lauren Lee, and Sam Elias  were filmed on some of the classic lines including Everything is Illuminated, Windy City, Couer de Lion, Cold Hard Beach, The Victim, Maxi Piesta, Flying Squirrel and Nimbus. All three were raving about the friendly locals, the quality of the rock, the conspicuous lack of climbers, and the fact the Lions Head is much more than just a sport crag. Lauren Lee compared the cliff to the Verdon Gorge in France by the fact you have to rappel in and then climb back out (high praise for an Ontario crag). Greg Williamson (One of Lion Head’s few true locals) makes a guest appearance climbing in typical rope solo fashion and explaining what makes Lions Head special and different from every other Ontario crag. From the audible sounds of agreement and silhouetted heads bobbing as the film drew to a close it was obvious that more than just a few palms were sweaty, and motivations were rekindled.

Beta ambasador and OAC Director Bonnie DeBruijn and Luigi Montilla

A packed house eagerly awaiting the start of the the Continuum Project

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