marc_leclerc

I avoid both for the most part. Both are unhealthy and I can have fun without fucking up my body. Plus, if I'm going to send 5.13 trad I will ned every physical advantage I can get

wow... thats funny. "He climbed Everest... but hes gay!"

Only Sargeant Pepper... Air Care felt intense on the first day. But after SP it felt easy, you see all things are relative like that

The Tool Shed Wall at Baker has two bolted lines. Gorrila Bar, M8 to the right and Anhialator (sp?) M7+, or WI6 if the pillar forms.

wasn't in, and wast wet at all... so not likely to form up this year unless there is a change in water flow. The ice blobs on 'Side Street' are there though and rather tantalizing.

his favorite climbing area is Yosemite for its cracks...he loves cracks above all else...nasty little habit, it is... He should try the first pitch of East Face of Monkey face.... or the whole thing

I wich I could hand jam Sixty-Nine in Squamish.... but I can't even hand jam Zombie Roof....

Trip: Lillooet Ice - - Sargeant Pepper and Marble Canyon Date: 1/5/2010 Trip Report: After breaking his heel in an enormous fall on Yak Peak in July, Don was finally feeling up for some climbing. He drove up on Friday morning, picked me up and we headed to Baker to climb Pan Dome Falls. There was a group TR'ing it so I lead up a steep WI4 to the right of the normal start. The is was so good and the placements were super bomber! I finished the pitch on the right side and traversed to the belay tree and brought Don up. His heel didn't give him any trouble and he styled the pitch, quickly and easily up the whole thing. We rapped down and by the time were were at the base we were completely soaked from the heavy snow. So we just went back to car rather than try the mixed routes at the 'Tool Shed Wall'. Friday night was spent hanging out at my place with Tamara and watching T.V and so. We woke up early on Saturday morning and drove up to Marble Canyon to check things out. Deeping Wall was wet, we have both climbed Icy B.C (many times for Don of course!) so we hiked up to the third tier and I tried to lead Air Care but the ice at the base of the steep part was very chandeliered and aereated to I backed off and set a TR at the top of Hit and Run (the mixed extension to Air Care) Don climbed Air Care then I TR'd Air Care and continued up Hit and Run. The overhanging M6 drytooling was super fun and was an amazing rock finish to an amazing ice route. Afterwards we chatted with the Nat Geo film crew (we knew a couple of the guys) who were going to be filming then took off to Lillooet for Pizza and the Motel. On Sunday we drove up the Duffey to check out 'Sargeant Pepper, wich Dru nad company had tried a wek earler. A couple hours of walking from the Carlsberg parking spot got us to the base of the route wich looked small and sort of easy. We soloed up the initial WI2 flow to the base of the collumn and I grabbed the rack and headed up. It wasn't easy, not even close. The ice was extremely aereated and chandeleired and I would climb up a few sketchy moves then try and get a screw in... then climb down and shake out then go up and try to figure something out, maybe get some gear in if at all possible and repeat. Finally I talked my self up the thing after a hard technical move involing rocking up on a high left foot, locking off really hard on my right tool, clearing some icicles then getting the first 'stick' of the pitch in a small chunk of good ice in the back. The short pitch took me two hours to lead. Don followed, commented on the technical climbing then led the outstanding third pitch. Pitch 3 didn't look like much from my belay but actually had 15 meters of near vertical stemming up a shollow groove with superb ice! Two long rappels got us back to our packs and we hiked out to the truck and food! On Sunday we were back at Marble Canyon to clean some loose rock we had found at the top of Hit and Run, we coordinated it with the film crew guys so that it was all safe then I knocked huge death blocks down the route. Super fun!!! I was feeling manlier after my lead the day before I went back up to redeem myself and lead Air Care despite the chandeliered ice. I made it up the ice, wich involves really cool stemming and climbing steep ice in a tight chimmney corner, I even placed a screw from a hand jam between rock and ice. I brought some rock gear to try to lead Hit and Run so I placed a bomber screw in the top of the ice and started up the overhanging rock above. I got to the crux and tried to figure out how to place the gearbut I was all tied up in my leashes, unable to match and reach high enough to place pro in the crack. I struggled for a while then fell off onto the ice screw below, wich was kinda fun because I always get told never to fall on ice screws... but I knw this one was as good as it gets and the ice below was very steep so it wasn't scary.... I will return when I get my new Fusions. Don TR'd the route again, wich was fun for the second time as the route is so incredibly good! We could have climbed another route but we wanted to watch John Furneaux lead Fender Bender, a sick WI6 for the movie they were making so he hung out and took pics. Then we drove back home and I passed out after seeing Tamara for a while. Overall a great trip and probably my two most technical leads on ice ever! Downton Creek Road Carlsberg, looked crappy. Didn't climb it. Don approaches Sargeant Pepper. Easy approach ice The crux pillar... How I felt when I was done with the lead... happy. Don leading P3 wich is way better than it looks! Don rappeling at the end of the day... Marble Canyon Don TR's Air ACre.. I fell from the overhung rock above. Furneaux on Fender Bender... SICK!!! Gear Notes: screws and rock gear if you manage to place it before falling off.... Approach Notes: easy

No just heavy snow and wind... very wet. I led the collumn 15 meters right of the original start then up the regular route to finish, busy day up there today but nice ice despite the weather.

Cool man, first time out? Ice climbers our age seem to be a rare find around here. But with all this ice practice you will soon be the alpine ropegun among all the older harmen! Pics are a bit big though, but some Mod might be able to fix that up.

I got my mom a garbage can

I remember this past summer I was leading a nice hand crack in the alpine and I started to put a cam in I randomly got wild Elvis Leg!!! I wasnt scared whatsoever.. or tired.... but my leg refused to stop shaking and I was like 'wtf' and my partner noticed too and thought it was hilarious. Just picture it, two dudes on a big alpine cliff and one is laughing because his leg is freaking out on him and they are talking about whyat the hell is going on..... sweet TR btw, shaking, crying and sketching is what ice is all about...

Well there is a hard (12-?) move getting past the pin right at the bottom then the rest of the overhang is only 5.11 and it has a couple nice rests. The hardest part is probably the fingerlocks pulling the lip, but once you hit a really good lock and graba jug out left you just sorta stand up. The groove above barely accepts fingertips and is very balancy, probablt the 'technical crux' of the route. Once you near the end of the groove you can get a good knee bar and grab a jug. A couple moves in a hand/fist crack leads to two big moves and a mantle, then you are all done. There are no real 'stopper' moves (other than the lip being powerful and that move at the start being a bit hard) it really is just a sustained battle and you have to hit many moves in a row just right for it to feel good! It's an awsome climb!

The Big Sleep looks awesome! WOW!

oh, I did my first 'serious' solos.. wich was cool. Up to 5.11a wich was a big deal for me as well as some r and X rated leads and aid leads to A3..... basically I dealt with a lot of fear/mental control issues!

this is still real, not totally over yet. Why be so harsh and abrupt about it? I don't know what happened, and cobra is more or less right... but there is no need to put it that harshly IMO... bad things can happen especially on a mountain that gets so much traffic. Just like car crashes happen to good drivers, if that makes sense....

Me on the last pitch.. awesome! Kryptonite! Looked so fun but we were scared of naturally triggered ice fall Superheroes Cirque! Lots of hard climbs really close together! our variation is the red line! around the pillar wich consisted of pretty much impossible ice.

I am one of the 8% to answer no! Sad story, but nobody could ever 'force' me to take a beacon, I would just take one if someone gave it to me then asked me to take it politely

Well, I got out to Bridal Falls area today. I tried the impressive pillar to the right of White Wedding but it was too hard to solo so I climbed Never a Bride instead. It's in WI4 shape if you take the lower curtain (I did its rad!!!) directly, WI3+ if you avoid it to either side. The upper curtains are lower angle but technical cauiflower climbing around water holes, be delicate.... hopefully everything doesn't collapse in the next couple days!

Good year... onsighted my first 11+ gear routes. Sent multiple 5.12's and almost sent 12c on gear, wich was cool for me. Also did my first alpine FA's and my first 5.11 in the alpine.... good year!

In B.C Canada... between Hope and Lytton.

Trip: Fraser Canyon - Superheroes Cirque - Where is Ultrawoman? (FA: Mixed Variation) Date: 12/13/2009 Trip Report: Matt Kidd came out and picked me up at 8:45 AM and we drove up the canyon to the Sailor Bar/Superheroes Cirque climbs. We took a look at Kryptonite, as the direct finish is youching down, but it wasn't that cold and some chunks were falling from high above. Not wanting to get crushed by a falling cutain of ice we took a look at the Riddler. Matt lead halfway up the WI5 pillar but it was really wet and drippy and we were getting soaked so we traversed into an alcove, brought me up to have a look, then I also wimped out of the shower-like pillar. We bailed and walked over to 'Ultrawoman' wich looked aright, so we walked to the base and soloed two pitches (WI2, WI3-) to the base of the crux pillar. The pillar was extremely aerated and insubstantial and after digging halfway through it and not finding a single bit of good ice I decided to try a mixed variation to the right. I climbed a few meters of very thin WI3 to a ledge where I slung a tree out right for pro, then cut back left up a runnel than got steeper and more 'mixed' the further I went. Some fun drytool and chimney moves took me into an alcove in the chimney below a chockstone/roof system with a few loose blocks. A few meters of strenous and very serious/unprotected M6 climbing around the overhang and a short traverse left got me to a belay tree. Matt followed the pitch and we packed up the ropes and continued up the main gully. The next pitch was up a frozen log (honestly!) wich was followed by a fun bit of WI3+ (tricker than it looked) and a final wall of WI3 into the forest above. We unpacked the ropes and made 3 rappels then dowclimbed a bit of easy ice back to the base. It was a pretty good time out and the Mixed vairiation might be somewhat protectable with a few pins and medium cams/stoppers. I had 3 peices in the whole pitch and the last one (protecting the M6 crux) was a crappy slung flake, but rope drag pulled the sling off anyways. The name for a our mixed variation is: 'The Chuck Norris Roundhouse Smash'. Matt getting soacked on 'The Riddler'.. Mr. Freeze is the scary thing to the right. Sailor Bar Gulley conditions. Matt in the fun, runnel section of 'The Chuck Norris Roundhouse Smash' variation. Matt in the crux steep section of 'The Chuck Norris Roundhouse Smash' variation. Matt soloing in the upper section of 'Where is Ultrawoman. More pics when I get them from Matt... Gear Notes: Becasue we soloed everything but the mixed pitch we didn't use a single screw. Pretty funny eh! Approach Notes: Really Easy.. if you get lost you fail.

nice hat marc! it looks warm... It truly is.... without it I would be nothing.

I added the pics from Day two!

Trip: Squamish B.C - Marc Vs. The Challenger - Round 1 Date: 12/8/2009 Trip Report: I was in Squamish for the last couple days, climbing with a whole crew of awesome people. It was a totally awesome time hanging out with lots of cool people. I was up there to try 'Flight of the Challenger' an amazing line of 5.12c trad sickness at the Pet Wall in Murrin Park. I'ts definitely one of the coolest lines I have ever been on, sustained, varied and aesthetic. I got heartbreakingly close to sending, I pulled every crux and was just finishing up when I assumed it was in the bag and stopped focusing, thats all it took to send me on a 20 foot winger onto a friends bootied 'blue TCU'. I guess it's not over till it's over and you have to stay focused right until you clip the chains on this kind of stuff. But anyhows, I thought you guys might like the pics. Day 1: photos by Scott Pick Day 2 Photos: Neal Kindree