Bawl Higher

If you are into highball slabbin this problem is for you. Bawl Higher is an inviting little problem . At first glance there appears to be holds all the way up and doesn't look that hard until you step off the block and onto the face where you encounter a typical Nova Scotia slab. It would not be so intimidating if it just stayed straight up but this little gem weaves back and forth over the starting block making each move more committing. A fall from this one will definitely leave you crying.

Bawl Higher***, 20ft, V5, BL – Located on the backside of this boulder. Start on the block four feet right of the arête. Climb up using small holds to a difficult sequence at the top (there is a jug up there)! Have good spotters and a big set of kahunas!
excerpt from Greg Campbell's unpublished guide book.

Bouldering Nova Scotia - Bawl Higher V5 from Todd Foster on Vimeo.
Music by: Scoop

There is no video in this post today but i though i should share it anyway. I got an email from the French climbing magazine Escalade. Somehow they have stumbled upon the Nova Scotia Bouldering scene and Pull Down Productions. Here is the email i received.

Hello,

Just to announce you that we've talken about your movies and boulder near Halifax.
You can see it here
http://www.escalademag.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=888&It

Well done...Your trailer makes me want to go to boulder in your country!!
Best regards

Philippe Mathieu

My French is quite poor but i still had a good time looking around their site. According to my unofficial translator Eastern Tide: One Season in Nova Scotia and this blog were part of their weekly features. Check out Escalademag.com.

Mr.Freeze

I Was digging through the archives and found this footage of Sean Therien climbing the Mega Boulder. It was getting late, the sun was setting and in typical Therien style he just had to squeeze in one more climb. Can't really blame him, he was just following the mantra of the day.
"Climb every day like it is your last."

Here is the route description from "the underground guide to the land of confusion" (currently out of print).

Mr.Freeze V1** (scary)
First done on a cold, cold day. Sit start adds to the pump, but the crux is actually up high. Be solid!

Mr.Freeze from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Just Jump Chumps!

Today's video is a mix of the unseen archive footage of Show me your guts and a slight re-cut from Eastern Tide: One Season in Nova Scotia of Kleos.

These problems represent a real evolution of bouldering in Nova Scotia. When Show me your guts - V4 was first done i returned back with Ghislain to film it with the Digital 8 at the time it was an original idea for a problem here. If you can't reach the good holds from the ground, just jump chumps! Although it did not spur on a flurry of problems starting with leaps, it did open my mind to what bouldering could be and the unwritten rules around what is a valid start.

Later this problem was worked and sent from a sit start and named Kleos -V11. On a very cold and windy winter afternoon Ghislain and I returned with my PD150 in hand to capture the sequence for Eastern Tide: One Season in Nova Scotia. Before going in with Ghislain i had no idea of how exactly the problem went, what was revealed was a truly inspiring sequence of movements.

Although Show me your guts is not listed in the Bouldering Halifax guide book it is certainly a valid problem for those of us mere mortals who aren't cranking off V11s on a regular basis. I've never done it but it's on my to do list and once i've bagged the jump start maybe i'll be ready for the sit start. I have a lot of unfinished business in Area 51...


Bouldering Nova Scotia - Kleos V11 from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Show Me Your Guts***, 12ft, V3/4 – At the far right corner of the overhanging face, jump to two incuts at the lip and top out. Good luck!
Description from Greg Campbell's unpublished guide.

Megga Man - V6?

Just want to send thanks to everyone who is tuning in. I definitely see an increase in viewers after the Valentines Day Massacre and the Tour de Bloc videos went up. Plastic is cool and i love comps as much as the next guy but the season is upon us, time to get outside.

I'm going to spend the next few weeks on videos from the LOC. I was out in "Bug City" putting up a few routes at a new little crag and got a wicked sun burn and thought for sure that i had seen a BUG. The clock is ticking for the Land of Confusion soon our little blood sucking friends will be out in full force.

Here is a re-cut of Mega Man from Eastern Tide. Just a note for anyone attempting this classic problem, the shaky left hand flake referred to has indeed met it's demise. The hold broke a few years ago, the problem still goes and it's apparently not much harder. Have you got a repeat of it? Any thoughts on the grade?


Mega Man - V6 from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Tour De Bloc - Atlantic Regionals

Saturday March 29 brought the Tour De Bloc to town for the Atlantic Regionals. Participants came from all around Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ottawa and as far away as Alberta to put on a show.


Tour de Bloc - Atlantic Regionals from Todd Foster on Vimeo.


Music from ccMixter
Be Cool
Producer: plurgid
Rap/Vocals: FORENSIC
Be Cool (Club Mix): J.Lang
beekoo: Lasswell

Jack's Arete

I am Jack's Raging Bile Duct.
I am Jack's Cold Sweat.
I am Jack's Complete Lack of Surprise.
...I am Jack's Arete.

Anyone Remember Fight Club? Jack was the name of the dude who lived in Tyler and the Narrator's house before they became squatters and formed Fight Club. This movie left it's impression on the crew of original Nova Scotia bouldering developers. Several areas and problems are named from references in the movie.

Jack's Arete is a tough V4 on the house boulder. It's a classic LOC slopey arete and a must do, but beware this little gem has sent many a hard man packing.

"This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time."

JACKs Arete***, 15ft, V4 – Climbs the arête starting on shallow flakes and eventually onto a very sloppy ledge on the face near the top. Fantastic and rarely done successfully.
description from Greg Campbell's unpublished guide.




Bouldering Nova Scotia - Jack's Arete from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Porcupine Fortress - A fun day trip

The Porcupine Fortress area is small, but dense. It sports some of the biggest freestanding boulders I have seen in Nova Scotia and the rock is heavily featured. In most cases the landings are not bad, although there are some exceptions. The area offers potential for V0 to V13 problems, with everything in between. Since it is on Crown land, camping is an option. The one drawback is the distance from Halifax (45 minutes).
Description from Teth Cleveland's Site

I had initially planned to include Porcupine Fortress in Eastern Tide. We made two trips down to film some of the better boulder problems and had gotten some good footage, unfortunately i had a mishap with one of the tapes and it got totally munched up in my deck. I even attempted to take the DVCam tape apart to fix it with no success.

It was early in the spring, the swamps were thawed and the bugs were just starting to come out so i never got back to make up for the lost tape and so the porcupine fortress footage remained in the archive.

Watching the footage again reminded me of how fun this little bouldering area around Hubbards can be. This area sees little traffic so i'm sure the project i left undone is still waiting...

Here is the first installment from Porcupine Fortress.
Problems in order of appearance: Quill V-0, Quiver V4, Confidence V-4


Porcupine Fortress from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Music By:Misfilter "Like an Angel"
http://misfilterband.com/

Diamonds

We began Developing the bouldering area know as the Land of Confusion during the winter of 1998/99. Major development continued for several years, mostly in the winter. It was during those early years that i bough a Digital Hi8 camera and attempted to capture as much of that development as i could.

At that time the professional cameras were just too heavy and expensive to be draggin into the scrub of the LOC. Once the advent of the MiniDV came along i virtually abandoned the Hi8. The quality just would not stand up next to the new DV format. Because tape itself was relatively cheap i never reused a tape. Also with small format tapes the oxide would not always hold up on multiple passes and i never wanted to take the chance of missing a moment due to tape issues. Much of the early footage never made the cut in Eastern Tide and sat in boxes until recently.

Anyone who has done any amount of development in the inland areas around Nova Scotia (that's only a hand full of people) knows that the holds are not to be trusted on new problems. This was especially true in the LOC. I can't remember how many little flakes broke off of new problems leaving them devoid of any "holds".

The footage quality is not good and this was really before i has started shooting seriously but it's still an interesting look at what we had to deal with when developing the LOC. Dirty, wet, crumbly holds, waist high brush, bad hair and even worse fashion.

For your enjoyment an early first ascent (FA) by Lance Thruster of a problem in "The Strip".
Diamonds - V2


Diamonds from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Visage Coupe - V7

I believe roughly translated it means slash face. This is the hardest boulder problem at Chebucto Foot but certainly not the most dangerous. It's amazing that this problem is ever doable. The black rock is a stark contrast to the orange granite at this seaside spot and is like that because of the frequency that the waves hit it.
If i recall the landing is a bit slippery there. When watching the video you will notice that the spotters have disappeared in the wides shot. Did the ocean take them away? I'm sworn to secrecy.



Visage Coupe - V7 from Todd Foster on Vimeo.