Big White.

Hey there kids!

Well just got back from four days of snowboarding at Big White.

We left early Friday and drove the five hours to the mountain. The roads along the way were either slushy or covered in ice and snow. So it was a tense drive most of the way up. I spent a good portion white knuckle driving and telling Janelle to be quiet so we didn't drive off the road. It was fun to feel the traction control kick in and drift around corners at 120 km's and hour. But we made it.

When we arrived it was puking snow. Which was a very good thing. I believe the day before we left they only had two runs open. By the time we got there they had received 40 cm's of snow in 24 hours. Saturday morning I forced Janelle up for the first runs of the day. It was a powder day so I wanted to get some runs in before it got all tracked out. By the end of the day they had opened 32 runs and it snowed all day! Awesome.

I broke in my new board literally! By the last run of the day I had snapped my binding off, but it was an easy fix. So the next day it called for sunny weather and cold temps. And they weren't lying. -15 and windy at the top! Which changed the whole mountain. It went from a powder paradise to hard packed groom everything freezing hellhole! Ok that's a bit harsh but it wasn't as awesome as the day before. And the cold was a bit much.

Still got lots of runs in and had a fun time riding by myself. Janelle ditched me for the bunny hill. She wanted to work on her turns and steal free lessons from unsuspecting ski school instructors.

That night we went out for dinner and drinks. But we ended up being kick out of the local pub because it was a white on white party and my skin pigmentation didn't fit in! Or at least that's what I thought she said. White's only. That and they were only serving Molson Canadian Beer. Fuck, I'd rather drink water from L.A.

The next morning it was all me again snowboarding by myself while Janelle spent the morning shopping and drinking warm drinks. Not a bad idea seeing as it was -20 at the top of the mountain, windy and hard as a rock. I took about five runs and called it a day. I thought my face was going to freeze off. I got whipped by my lift ticket. Hit me right in the nose. Hell I thought it had cut the thing in half it hurt so much, though the ski patrol refused to heli me off the top of the mountain. Jerks!

So now I'm back in sunny and warm Vancouver... wait a minute! It's freezing here too. Well, I'll just jack the heat in the condo and watch Bay Watch reruns and daydream I'm in some sunny paradise.

Chow!

Thinking about Ones Self and Their Place in the World.

So today I was sitting around watching Comedians on Youtube and I got to thinking about my place in the world. I asked myself am I important to society? Sure I consume as good as the next guy, i.e., Iphone, Audi, and every new gadget under the sun. Hell I'm writing this on my Mac Book Pro, but am I do anything for the betterment of the world.?

I make movies. Or I work on Movies. It brings enjoyment into the world. Or at least some movies. Not the ones I work on. There are a hundred percent crap. Sorry!

So as I sit here with one too many Long Island Ice Teas in me I ask the world and myself what can I bring to this world that hasn't been seen before?

I'm at a loss.

But I can say I haven't quit. I think back to the 90's and a song about wearing Sun Screen (Songs pretty terrible). That's me or will be. Forty and don't know what to do with my life. But at least I'll be interesting.

Yesterday it was announced that Einstein's theory of Relativity was proven correct! 103 years later. Talk about leaving a lasting effect on the world.

Now I know I'll never prove great theorems. Or invent or cure.

But I ask myself Can I find a place in this world?

Can I?

Window in a storm!

Friday November 14th will go down as one of the nicest climbing days in a long time. I will remember it well. I had Squamish all to myself. Literally! No one around. I was shocked!

I tried to convince a few people to go up. Most either didn't believe or had to work. So I was left climbing by myself. I was super psyched to go try my project but alas an important crimp was wet. I tried to dry it with my t-shirt and a ton of chalk.... but it was seeping. Numerous of tries, but no joy. That and one scary fall off of the crimp that spat me off and away from the pads into a hole of rock and nastiness. But I lived! Or they Live! Ala Roddy Roddy Piper! Good John Carpenter movie.

So as it sits I'm watching the weather waiting for another awesome window because even though my project was wet, lots of other problems weren't. After two hours of battling a wet hold I decided to do a circuit of classics. 50 points later I had a rad day.

Well next week looks promising. Hope it works out! And maybe with a little luck I'll get another crack at my endless project!

Cheers!

Old Climbing Video

Squamish Bouldering 2001 from Matt Lucas on Vimeo.

Just an old Video that I edited with Janelle's parents mac in 2001. Quality... Or not. Some funny glitches and weird pops but pretty good clarity. Hope you all enjoy. Oh it's long so I hope you went to the bathroom before you started it!

No Leavenworth!

Bubbles and I had planned on going down to Leavenworth this long weekend. But the weather decided to totally fuck us. (Can I say that on this do people get offended by such a word? Well fuck if I care!... Just kidding.)

So now I'm stuck in rainy Vancouver with no climbing aside from the gym. Talk about lame.

I missed a small window on Wednesday. I had to drive Janelle to the airport and see her off. My friends in Squamish rubbed in the fact I missed that day. So now I'm sitting here wondering if I'll see another climbing day outside in Squamish this year. Outlook... bleak!

But Janelle and I did book a four day getaway to Big White! Which I'm pretty psyched about let me tell you. I hope they have tons of powder and great conditions. I mean if we can't climb because of the weather might as well get good snow out of the deal. That and I got a new snowboard this year and kit.

So today I worked out by myself. Talk about hard. I'm freaking lazy when it comes to that sort of stuff... or pretty much anything. So I had to dig really deep and find my inner beast. I thought of Ronnie Coleman and him doing 400 pound flies. Makes my 100 not seem so bad. I managed to finish my workout with minimal tears and only one nap.

Right now I'm on stand by. I'm like a Chuck Norris doll just break the glass when there's a global crisis and it's go time for him. Same for me... Just with dry climbing and free food!

Peace!

Couple of Weeks and Still No Success

Hey Kids!

I've been trying my project for the last month and still no success! Talk about annoying. I've fallen 6 times now past the crux and it's sucking my psych. I must say that the temps in Squamish were some of the best I've had all year. Yesterday was painfully close but it was a high stress day. Surprisingly the tension in the forest could have been cut with a knife. I won't go into details but it was by far the strangest day possibly ever. Fist fights, screaming and Brent buying a van that you can actually drive.

It looks like the rain has come. Super sad I love the cold dry conditions. I guess I'm going to have to head back into the gym. This year I plan to really train. So watch out campus board your about to get your stress limit tested. How many times has it had 220 pounds trying to tear it from the wall. I set a goal last year but lost track of it early. This coming new year is going to be different. Double digits this year!... (hotdogs in one sitting)

What's New.

Well it's been a while since I last posted. Almost so long that probably no one checks this anymore.

Well after New Zealand I got back to Vancouver for 7 days and flew to Germany with Janelle for a month.

Janelle had a work conference in Berlin that I tagged along to. While she spent the days learning all about Trademarks I hung out in the city. Pretty cool place if I do say so myself. After 7 days of German beer and plenty of awesome sights Janelle's conference came to an end and we set out to sight see the rest of Europe... or so it felt at times.

We next stopped in Venice, Italy. Which if you haven't been too, I might put it on my pass list. It's beautiful don't get me wrong. But crowded, smelly and freaking expensive. We spent two days there and thousands of dollars. Or so it felt like. Stupid Euro. St. Mark's is very nice but walking in a huge line-up through the whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

But we escaped and headed to Rome which I really liked. We didn't stay in a hotel this time. Janelle found a super nice apartment a block away from the Colosseum which we spent four nights in. It was bigger (with living room and kitchen) and cheaper then the two nights in Venice. In Rome we saw everything. I mean everything. I didn't need to see the Pope changing but for a couple extra bucks you can do anything. I'd list off all the places but it's been months now and I know I went to Vatican and Colosseum and pretty much every where in between.

Next up we flew to the south of France. Nice, which sadly was pouring with rain. No topless beaches! So instead we rented a car and drove to Annott. I heard there was awesome Sandstone bouldering there. Of course it was raining there too. So one night in a hotel and we were off the next day to Cannes. I was hoping to pitch a movie deal... Instead I went to watch Indian Jones. I won't leave a review here. But... Aliens? Seriously?

We saw the sights and did the classic tourist stuff. I got drunk and complained that no one spoke English. But what's traveling without a black eye and good ass kicking from the locals.

Next up we jumped on a train to Marseilles where we spent two days trying to figure out what to do in a French Rivera town where the weather is crap and you don't eat seafood. But we had a good time and drank our fair share of wine. Or at least I did. Not my fault she's a slow drinker. She didn't grow up up north.

So Next Up, Fountainbleu! Where everyone who knows me knows I freaking love that place!
The best bouldering in the whole world in my humble opinion. We booked a gite for two weeks and rented another car for the same time as well. All we needed was good weather and I was sure I'd be ripping it up in no time. The weather pulled through too bad my arms didn't. New Zealand had left a lasting effect on me. Bicep tendinitis! Damn it. Now if anyone out there has ever had this they know it freaking sucks. Feels like your arms are dying. But I struggled through for the next two weeks mostly climbing slabs and old classics I'd done 6 years earlier. But on our rest days we traveled into Paris to sight see and hang out. Good times. I really like Paris. Though driving in it is another thing all together. Janelle can't navigate to save her life. But we had fun.

So now I'm back in Canada. Three months of physio and tons of training. I'm slowly trying to get in some form of shape.

I have one huge project right now that I've been working on quite a lot lately. I fell four times passed the crux last day. So I'm starting to feel like it might actually go. Hopefully by next week at this time if the weather turns I might have a psyched post for everyone to read.

Chow.

New Zealand Bouldering Video

Play by Play

Hey there one and all!
So I thought I'd give you guys a run down of what's been shaking down here in the NZ.

So I've been in Castle Hill New Zealand about 45 days now. Climbing two days on one day off.
When I first got here I was amazed with the amount of rock I could see. It surrounds you as you sit in the center of the Castle Hill Valley. What I didn't know having never climbed on limestone before is that it doesn't make for a lot of holds. So there maybe 15000 boulders. But 90% of them are blank or short little mantles. But and this is a big but there all is a whole lot of world class problems as well. There just not as close to one another as one would hope for.

I landed here and my good buddy Pete picked me up at the airport and we drove the hour and half drive to the boulders. As we rolled into Spittle Hill the sun was setting and I was psyched! It's so beautiful it's crazy. It's like Lord of the Rings! But it was also to dark to go walk around so I had to save it for the next day.

The next day we headed into Spittle Hill the closest of all the areas. And got straight to work. What I learned right away that the rings and dips I'd been doing for the last 4 months didn't help with the slick feet. The wind or just the number of people climbing here has made for some scary polished feet. So no amount of upper body strength is going to help when you press up into a slab. But I managed a couple problems.
So the next day we picked up Tim.

I'm getting kicked off the computer right so I'll finish this later needless to say I am awesome and I climbed all my projects and had a wonderful time.

Another Blog!

What's up people! Or Person! You know who know who you are. So Another week another cold. Damnit! So We went down to the Hulk Hogan climbing area, Kind of cool but not enough to keep all the little Hulksters happy. We only spent one day there. Then back to Castle Hill.

I have been away now for a month. And only three weeks left. I'm having a good time though I don't know how I'll describe this place when I get back. Cool looking but the problems aren't that aesthetic. That and rumors of 15000 problems are way over exaggerated. I mean if you count every rock as a problem then maybe. But I'm guessing in the main area there is only 400 problems.

Flock Hill is very cool and the place with the best looking lines. Though it is an hour up hill hike everyday.

I'm climbing cool stuff. And hope top do a project or two before I go.

No Pictures today stupid internet. Sorry Next time.


Later.

New Zealand Pic's and Update.

Howdy All! Or my mom as she's the only one who looks at this.

So I've been in New Zealand about ten days now. Down in the South Island about an hour and half outside of Christchurch. In a place called Castle Hill.

I've been hanging out with a couple friends.

Pete and Tim.

We've been bouldering alot since we've got here. And let me tell you, the style here is hard. Mantles, Pockets, Sleek feet, and tall problems. So all and all it makes for a lot of fun with a couple of tears in between.

Well one of the funny things about Castle Hill is that it has mountain Parrots. Called Kai's. Smart little buggers. They work in teams and eat just about anything. Just ask Pete who got his thermarest eaten. So we learned fast not to leave food in our tents or say just outside our van.

Tim, Pete and myself bought a 1989 Toyota van. Quite the gem! But it runs good and if all works out well we can sell it when we leave and get back all our money... Yeah right! But it's a plan. The insurance here is so cheap. 12 dollars a month. Nice! But gas cost 1.84 a liter. so that's not cheap.
But Brad is showing up today and we'll make him pay for gas until he leaves. Or throws a fit and we agree to split it four ways.

Well I'm off to buy a bagel and maybe get a drink catch you all in a couple days.

Wedding Pictures

A Ride in the park.






A power house of a best man.

Australia Weddings

So a quick 15 hour flight and I'm down under. One strip search, and my friends picked me up and straight to a suit fitting and refit. Apparently everyone in Australia are Tyrannosauruses Rex's.

Short arm freaks!

After some quick fixes I was off to the rehearsal. A few dodged bullets and one angry ex. I've made out with only a seven year coma. Then out for pints and eats. Few! The next morning I got up super early and went surfing. Though I forgot sun screen on my legs. So third degree burns on my legs. And a evening of crying.

Garrett, Graham, Gerritt and myself all found ourselves some drinks and spent the evening trying to kill Garrett. Having Garrett jump off a forty cliff in the pitch dark where the ocean underneath was full of sea urchins.

Good times.

Another day and another wedding! Good times free drinks! Maybe too many drinks. I made the best man speech. Then the true best man made a better speech. So in the end it all worked out for the best.

Well tomorrow I head to New Zealand for the bouldering part of my trip.

Updating soon.

Leaving tomorrow!

I'm out of here! See ya rainy crappy weather. Hello dry New Zealand.
So I have a quick stop in Australia. I have some best man duties to preform. A couple speeches, A couple drinks, and hopefully a ton of laughs. My good buddy Garrett is jumping of that metaphorical cliff called marriage. I'm pretty psyched for this wedding. Garrett is totally insane and has all the grooms men wearing brown suits and there's word of a pirate ship. That and folks down-under love a party. So hopefully I don't fall completely out of shape. Well hopefully next post I'll have some pictures from the wedding or I'll be in Christchurch and have some bouldering pics. Instead I'll post a picture of Patrick Swayze.

One Month to go!

Count down is in full affect. So I've been training like a headless chicken! Running, rings, pushups, situps and tons of climbing. I'm a little worried about Castle Hills style of climbing. Tons of mantles. Which everyone knows (who climbs with me anyways) that I'm terrible at mantles. So hence the rings and pushups. Hopefully I can bang one or two off in two months. I'll start posting more the closer I get to take off. And then as much as I can while I'm down there.