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description from Greg Campbell's unpublished guide.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.

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.

Small Boulders put up a good fight

The Scrappy boulders are the farthest boulders on the main "Land of Confusion" loop trail and aren't the tallest of boulders either. I remember the first day we found them, i could not help but wish that they were flipped more upright. I also remember the enthusiasm for them was a bit low and someone even referred to them as the scraps ( useless, worthless, or ineffective). In Greg Campbell's guide he even refers to them as "The Scraps". Well it would not be long before these little guys put up a good fight revealing several surprisingly tough problems, 19 boulder problems in total and five V6 or harder. These boulders are now known as the "Scrappy Boulders".

Here is a re-cut of the LOC classic "Potted Plant Expert - V6" climbed by Jonathan Graham.

It should be noted that there is a excellent variation to this problem that starts with a sit start at the far left of the traverse and goes straight up. It's a bit easier and a good option for people who aren't big on lowball traverses.

The Potted Plant from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

"When Stars Attack" V7 - Bouldering in the LOC

When filming Eastern Tide: One Season in Nova Scotia I tried to get as many first ascents as possible. At that time there were a lot of FA's going down and I really wanted to capture that energy. When I missed the FA I tried to get the first ascensionist to repeat the problem for the camera.

I was also anxious to get a lot of good sequences in the can. Unfortunately for many of the bouldering developers I would have them repeat the problems several times and film them from different angles until I thought I had the right sequence.

At the time of filming "When Stars Attack" was the hardest problem in the LOC loop, going at a stiff V7. I think to date it has only been repeated by a hand full of climbers. I've tried it several days out and have not been able to do the right hand cross over. I've watched the crux section a bunch and it seems to be all about turning in the right hip (I'm also sure being tall has a bit to do with it as well).

Here is a re-cut of the problem "When Stars Attack". I'm not sure where Zig got the name but it would make a great title for a reality TV series. Who's willing to go head to head with Britney?!


When Stars Attack***, 13ft, V7, SDS – Starts 6ft right of Bop Gun in the obvious fault line. Follow the fault line up and left to the lip. Much harder than it appears. Description from Greg Campbell's unpublished guidebook.
Music by: Tyrad
Song: Struttin'
http://tryad.org/