When I first thought of doing some interviews on my blog, I brainstormed a few people that I thought would be interesting to fire some questions at.  High on the list were Dave Pickford and Tim Emmett, two characters from the land of England.

Dave is an accomplished climber, photographer and currently is the editor of Climb Magazine.  Dave’s interests include Porsches, sea-cliffs, poetry, photography and travel.  He is one of the most interesting guys I’ve ever hung out with.  A couple years back, a group of us were pondering our options in the south of Spain after a savage rainstorm.  We were taking care of a horse named Joseph, who didn’t like us too much, and liked the rain even less than he liked us.  In between drying out Joseph’s horse-coat, Dave introduced us to Georgian chant-music, and often recited poetry.  The chips were clearly down.  But Dave, ever the optimist, said that we should “get some beer, and just have it!”  So we went to the crag, and did just that.

Dave is a forward-thinker, and perpetually interested in a variety of different things.  He will be here this summer and I can’t wait to climb some granite with him.

Below are some questions with the man himself.

When I’m at Indian Creek I get a real kick out of walking the bases of the walls, looking at the cliffs, and looking at the plaques at the base.  Little scratches in the sandstone saying that someone else was here, too.  It gives the place a unique sense of history.  One of my favourite things to do at Indian Creek is trace the base of the walls, glancing up at splitters, and poking around for new stuff.  And behind every plaque there’s a name and a story.

Hayden managed to finish off the 4×4 Wall project, which was amazing to witness.  I had tried the line a bit two springs ago, and while it seemed possible, it was clear that it was very, very hard.  Hayden, blessed with an abundance of strength and height, polished it off quickly.  The day he did it, I was wrestling with the idea of trying to lead a project at the Battle of the Bulge, beside Ruby’s Cafe.

Hard gear climbing is a test of physical and mental strength.  That is obvious, I guess, but I sometimes forget how full-on and scary those experiences can be.  Its been over a year now since I broke my talus in England, and I’ve been pretty gun-shy ever since.  I’ve tried to throw myself back into the fray by trying routes like the Prophet, but my head has always felt a bit shakey.   I’ve tried to force myself back into it, but it takes time.

So I sat down on a rock at the 4×4 wall after watching Hayden dispatch the project and mulled over whether or not I was up for this new pitch.  The crux is a few dicey and insecure moves over to Ruby’s Cafe, with a potentially rough fall onto three equalized knifeblades.  Basically, there was no two-ways about it:  it could be bad if I fell.

But, after watching Hayden send, I started getting really excited to experience the route- and not just sending the route.  I wanted the whole thing:  to feel the sharpness of the rock, the runout, the fear, the feeling of pushing myself.  It had been a long time since I could honestly say that.  I told myself that lots.  But to actually want the experience is completely different than pretending to want it.

So I started to get really excited.  Matt Segal, Hayden, Andy Burr and some other friends generously trudged back up to the Battle of the Bulge to give me another belay.  Friends are so important on these types of missions.  When you’re on the cusp of deciding what to do, a trusted friend at the belay makes all the difference.  Matt and I have swapped belays on loads of heady routes, and we will gladly hike to wherever, at anytime, to help each other out.  And I’ll never forget some of the climbs we’ve swapped belays on like the Cobra Crack and Musta Bin High.  We’ve got alot of history together, and its nice to have a familiar face on belay who knows what I’m going through in my head.

After the sun had set, I laced up and led it.  It was an awesome feeling to be back at it, on something new, and really going for it.  At the mental crux I felt very alert, not too scared, not worrying- just present in the situation.

I named the route, ‘Down in Albion’, which is a Babyshambles Album.  Albion is an ancient name for England.  The name refers to lessons learned from that whole UK experience.

Below are a couple snaps that Andrew Burr took.  Andy Burr is a top-notch photographer and all-around great guy.  Check out www.andrewburr.com

And a shot of Pete Doherty, frontman for Babyshambles, a bit of a hooligan, but a very talented artist nonetheless.

First of all, I’d like to say that I stole this idea from Jonathan Siegreist’s awesome blog:  www.jstarinorbit.com 

I thought I would ask some friends of mine some questions… and see what they had to say.

I’ll start it off with my good buddy Hayden Kennedy.  Hayden, at age 22, has amassed a gigantic ticklist of hard sport climbs, alpine routes and everything in between.  Son of legendary hardman Michael Kennedy, Hayden is a climbing omnivore, and will devore whatever sort of rock is put in front of him.

But, beyond the superior climbing skills he possesses, Hayden is a light-hearted jokester who makes me laugh all the time. He’s also one of the few people even lankier than me- but, I may add, I have him beat by five on chest-hair count, which I’m very happy about. For the last week we’ve been noodling around on a few different projects at Indian Creek.  New-wave undone climbs, and old testpieces…  it doesn’t really matter.  Every day we’ve had a blast, and climbed till dark, gotten covered in sand and drank many 3.2 percent Utah beers.

So, without, further ado, here’s a little interview with a young man that’s been dubbed “The Future.”  Hayden pulled no punches in his answers, so I’d like to warn the viewers that this blog post is probably PG-13.

You put up a route in Rifle called ‘Waiting for 21.’  Elaborate on what that means.

HK: When I put that route up I was 17 years old and hanging out in Rifle all the time, where drinking beer and climbing are a match made in heaven. I was underage and didn’t have a fake ID, so it was hard when all of my friends would go to the bars, forcing me to drink alone. This is a hard time in every young man’s life: when you can die in war but you can’t enjoy a beer…the Land of The Free!

(Matt Segal question) When bivying in the mountains, how close is ‘too close’?

HK: I have found that when climbing in the mountains, it’s not gay if you are in a first-light tent, on the side of a scary mountain, and in a two man snuggle bag. Its all about keeping warm and psyched when the times get really rough. With that said, it’s very important to make sure that you beat your partner up afterwards to make everything ok.

What’s next on the chopping block?

HK: I am going chop Matt Segal’s hair and I am going to fill the Cobra Crack in with cement.

You’ve been detained by the Argentine Police for giving Cerro Torre the chop.  First of all, I’d to say “Respect.”  In my books, that makes you pretty tough.  What happened in jail, and do you want to talk about it?

HK: Alot of things happened in jail.  But mostly we just drank tea with the police officer and watched ‘The Dark Knight.’  I am going to get a tattoo about the experience, like Tupac.

Thanks buddy.  I hope we can climb these projects soon.

Fred doesn’t really like having his picture taken.  He is of the old-school generation:  more of a doer than a talker.  I scrambled beside him to snap a few shots and he said, “Put the camera away!”

We went up to a cliff in the smoke bluffs called ‘lumberland’.  Not neccesarily a dead-easy approach, but Fred aced it with the help of his hiking poles.  We put up a couple topropes and, with a bit of grit and determination, Fred climbed them.  By then, it was time to retire back to Paul’s house for a beer. 

Next year, Fred will turn 90.  Thanks, Fred: for the winter day on the rocks, the inspiration, and the laughs.

A couple years ago.  Paul McSorley, Jonny Simms, Fred and I.

One of the problems with being 89 years old?  Thin skin.  Luckily, there was a nurse at the scene to apply some tape. 

Rock climbing has never been easy. Fred proves that sometimes you have to squint and bear down:

Usually I’m pretty loathe to cobble together a blatantly commercial blog post… BUT- this jacket is too good not to write about.

Since I got this piece early summer it has accompanied me on just about every adventure I’ve been on.

In a place like Yosemite, temperatures can range from blazing, foot-cooker hot to teeth-chattering cold really quickly.  Sometimes its easy to forget that you are indeed in the Sierras.  Yosemite is one of the places where the day can start with baltic temps pre-dawn, then, as soon as the sun hits the rock, it can get shirt-peeler hot.  Its nice to have a puffy that can compress down to nothing in the pack, but also provide instant warmth when you need it.  At 375 grams, this thing weighs basically nothing.

What impressed me most about the Atom LT was the fact that it actually climbs really well.  I’m 6″1 and pretty lanky, and size large was perfect for me.  This jacket isn’t bulky- so, when you’re trying to eyeball microscopic footholds between your legs, it doesn’t get in the way.  On shady days on the Prophet this fall, I wore this thing continually on pretty hard terrain… and forget I had it on.

Sunset sessions on the A1 beauty pitch… with occasional blasts from Horsetail Falls in the background.  Sonnie Trotter shot.

My buddy Dr. Pang rocking his jacket on the Volcanic Tablelands, Bishop CA.  With Sweet Katie Lambert.  Ben Ditto photo.

Also works well for meeting Chinese dogs.  Matt Segal photo.

The Prophet trip was incomparable.  In the end, I didn’t quite send the A1 beauty, which was a bummer.  But, with all worthy things in life, sometimes they don’t go down easy.  So, I’ll be back.  Maybe next fall.  Watching Sonnie send the A1 at sunset was maybe the most inspiring thing I’ve ever witnessed.  In the end, he fell exactly once on the entire final push.  Not bad, buddy, not bad…

Sonnie just wrote something for Gripped about the whole experience which turned out real well.  Stay tuned for that.  Also, Sonnie cobbled together a pretty funny little video of some ledge time on the Prophet:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IItjQw0n1Kc

Sorry to all the british folk out there for the terrible british accents.  Basically, it made us less scared to talk British on that rig: less like scaredy-cat Canadians, and more like tough-as-nails Brits like Jason Pickles and Leo Houlding.    But as you can see, we had loads of fun up there, even in the midst of make-or-break redpoint turmoil.

After the whirlwind of travel I hung out in North Vancouver for holiday season, which was a blast.  I haven’t been home for Christmas in a few years, so it was good to hang tough with the family and friends.

December seaside granite with Janine at Lighthouse Park.

Now I’m in Bishop CA.  The sun is shining, and it seems like winter hasn’t really hit yet here in California.  I made a quick stop in Bend Oregon to visit some friends.

Brooke Sandahl: climbing pioneer, surfer, gear-innovator, and all around cool guy.  Ben Moon photo

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Volcanoes on fire.  Sunset from Brooke’s house.

I’m here in Bishop for about ten days.  Then, Alex Honnold, Andy Burr and I will be heading down to El Gran Trono Blanco to fool around on some Mexican granite.  I’ve been in there once before, four years ago with Paul McSorley. Below are some shots from that mission.

Cantina in Tecate. Dos Tequilas por favor.

Roadside Virgin Mary.  Ruta 3.

Traditional Aussie Schoolboy t-shirt as a hat combo in the hot Mexi-sun.

Stoked on top of dome with Paul.

Dykes.

Federales.  Whatever you say, boss.

Sonnie and I are still fooling around on the Prophet. Trotter is leading the charge. I think it’s really interesting to look at how the very best trad climbers operate on the sharp end. I would put Sonnie in a really small group of people I’ve climbed with that are truly built for hard, scary rock climbing. Skill plays a huge part. Strength plays a huge part. But an innate positivity is the biggest factor, I think. When the house of cards begins to collapse for me, I start losing the optimistic edge, and everything seems to spiral towards negativity. If one foothold breaks, I start thinking all the footholds are going to break. It might stem from the accident this spring, feeling a little more rattled than usual. But it could also be that this route is just damn-hard and scary, standard setting in boldness. Sonnie maintains a consistent ‘Sunny-side-up’ disposition. He might back down for a day or a week, but he never gives up.

I’ve learned alot from watching him. I’d also put Alex Honnold in that small club of guys that I’m not stressed out belaying on 5.13R. I am attentive, but not worried for them. I guess it comes down to total faith that they’ll make good decisions.

Giving up is like a warm blanket. So tempting to give in, call it a day, admit defeat. Put it off for another day, another trip… Far more difficult to step into the fray again, to push a little farther. So, tomorrow I think we’ll try again from the ground. Then take a day off and try the route in a two day push. I absolutely have to fly out on Nov 17. I’ve already pushed back a trip to China by ten days.

Even if this line doesn’t go down this trip, I will certainly be back.