Up North Rocks is a podcast all about climbing in Northern Ontario. Listen to hear from the folks who make Northern Ontario climbing great!
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The climbing scene in northern Ontario is not huge – but what we lack in numbers we more than make up for in commitment, passion, and the massive wealth of rock we hav ...
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Hi Folks! I am very excited to be back! Thanks for joining. On this episode, I set out some of my thoughts and vision for this season of Up North Rocks - no radical changes in the works, but I do want to focus a little more on some of the nuanced conversations that go along with climbing. I am also including a rebroadcast of an interview I did with CBC Thunder Bay about the podcast last fall - a little over a year later, it feels like a good time to share this interview with you all, partly as a reminder to myself about why I started this thing in the first place. So, with that, thanks for joining, enjoy this little teaser, and get stoked for more exciting things to come!
Hi folks! Apologies for the long gap in episodes – its been a wild few months over here. Today’s episode is one that has been on the horizon for a while now – an interview with the guy who keeps the thunder bay climbing scene going, Aric Fishman. I have had a ton of requests from folks wanting to hear from Aric, and his name has come up in almost every single episode of the podcast so far, which says a lot about how much he does for climbing in Thunder Bay. Aric is the owner and head guide of Outdoor Skills and Thrills, Thunder Bay’s only rock and ice guiding service, and is also the author Thunder Bay Climbing: A Guide to Northwestern Ontario’s Best Kept Secret – which as of this spring is in its second edition! If you haven’t gotten your hands on a copy of the book yet, definitely hit up Aric to pick one up – you will not be disappointed. Featuring high quality topos and drone footage and over 300 new routes, this book is a must have for anyone climbing in Northern Ontario. Stay tuned for details on the book launch party in coming up in the next couple of weeks. To get in touch with Aric, find him on Instagram @outdoor_skills or facebook.com/OutdoorSkillsAndThrills or check out his website at outdoorskillsandthrills.com. So with that, sit back, relax and enjoy my conversation with guide and guidebook author, Aric Fishman.
On today’s episode, I had the pleasure to sit down with someone who is well known in the ice and mixed climbing scene in Northern Ontario, Dave Rone. Dave has been making trips to the region since the early 80’s, and in that time has made a huge contribution to the ice and mixed routes in Orient and Kama Bay – as they say, Eric Landmann wrote the book, but Dave Rone put up the routes to fill it. Dave has made many trips to the Rockies, including notable ascents of Cryophobia M8 WI5+, Replicant WI6, Suffer Machine M7 WI5, Sea of Vapours WI6 (with an improvised harness), Real Big Drip M8 WI6, and the very impressive Gimme Shelter WI7. Outside of the Rockies, Dave has climbed in Patagonia, Quebec, Norway and elsewhere in the US. Dave is also a rep for Petzl in the US.Dave was up here this winter for a week of climbing, and also gave a fantastic presentation at ice fest, so I was stoked to be able to connect with him on one of his rest days to record this conversation. We talked about climbing in NWO, gear, partnership, and grades (including the mythical grade of WI7). I’m sure you’ll enjoy it just as much as I did.
Hi friends, Thanks for tuning in today! On this episode, I sit down with someone all of us ice climbers in Northern Ontario owe a big thank you to – Author of Superior Ice, Eric Landmann. Eric started making trips to the region in the late 80’s, and went on to become a central piece of the ice climbing scene around here – meticulously cataloging first ascents and pictures in the 90s and early 2000s and putting together the books that we now prize as THE resource for ice climbers in this neck of the woods. I was quite excited that Eric agreed to be on the show – and especially just in time to put this episode out ahead of the Nipigon Ice Fest! I hope some off you have the chance to listen too this episode on the way to Nipigon. Also – I have an exciting piece of news to share for those who like to climb on tools, and especially those who like to do so even when there is no ice – there is a drytool comp coming up in Southern Ontario this spring! The comp is scheduled for June 3rd at Of Rock and Chalk in Newmarket – check out @drytoolnight on Instagram to stay up to date on details about the comp as they are released. And with that, here's my conversation with Guidebook Author and Ice Climber, Eric Landmann.
Hi folks - welcome back and thanks for listening. I’m very excited to share today’s episode with you – my conversation with world class ice and mixed climber, Sarah Hueniken. Sarah is a graduate of the Outdoor Rec program at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, and has gone on to do amazing things in the climbing community. You’ll hear in the episode that she is very humble, but don’t let that fool you – Sarah has won medals at the Ouray Mixed Comp and Ice Climbing World Cup North American Championships, has completed multiple link ups of hard ice and mixed routes, and is the first North American woman to climb M11, M12, M13 and M14 – just for reference, the hardest mixed route in Northern Ontario is M10, and M14 is akin to somewhere in the 5.14 range. On top of that, Sarah is an advocate for safety and inclusion in the mountains, and is the executive director of Mountain Muskox, a community organization dedicated to supporting survivors of trauma in the mountains. I really enjoyed getting the chance to chat with Sarah, and was left feeling both inspired and humbled – I hope that you feel the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfO9MVLYlrE https://www.mountainmuskox.com/get-involved https://sarahhueniken.com/about/