Separated by 5,114 km, but united by climbing, on 10 October 2020, Nick and Daniel each sent their hardest routes to date. Nick's ascent of Globetrotters (5.13b) at Horne Lake, BCFollowing our incredible 2016 road trip, my climbing life suffered a serious impediment: grad school. In 2017, I began a 2-year stint where climbing played second fiddle to academia. From April to August 2018, I took my longest ever break from climbing. It was my first fieldwork season and I had to establish the bedrock of my MSc thesis. For 132 straight days, I toiled through laboratory and field experiments. I emerged in the fall with a phantasmagoria of data but appalling climbing fitness. I then attempted to resume my customary climbing routine, but grad school continued to exact its toll; my gym sessions were sporadic and perfunctory, my actions were aimless, and my vision was gauzy.
Clarity returned after defending my thesis in September 2019. I really wanted to get strong. To progress in climbing, I always knew I would need to live close to a crag stacked with hard routes so that I could devote myself to a long-term project. Horne Lake on Vancouver Island fits the bill perfectly. Serendipitously, that October, I was introduced to Marcel A., a local climber with rare motivation who needed a partner. Marcel and I climbed together several days that autumn. Witnessing his determination while projecting some of the area's hardest lines impelled me to surpass my own expectations and quickly send a few 5.12s.
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