Jason Kruk - blog: August 2012

I'm really bad at it. This is my attempt at staying semi-current in one massive blog update. Folks who want to connect should log on to my Facebook page as that seems to be the easiest method for me to stay connected with everyone... oh boy.

Okay, let's go:

Cheyne Lempe self portrait w/ the Fitz Roy skyline.

If you haven't checked out the latest Alpinist, you aught to. There is a great shot of my buddy Cheyne on the cover. HK found him fresh off the bus in El Chalten, his first time outside the United States, and brought him over to our pad. He didn't have a tent, so he took my well-used MEC tent I had stashed down there for several seasons. Soon after, he and our buddy Scott would do a rad new 50-pitch link up on the Fitz. HK and Rolo and a bunch of other dudes wrote some great pieces in the mag about stuff we all got up to this year in the range. I think Gwen Cameron (not a dude) wrote the intro to the Patagonia section, which I really liked, as I've always wanted to be a sailor... You'll have to read it...

If you can find it, I always recommend a flip through the annual Canadian Alpine Journal. It's always a good recap about some of the stuff a few canucks get up to in the mountains each season. Sean Isaac did another great job churning out the newest edition, thanks bud! Tony Touch wrote a really great feature about our traverse of Waddington last year (my film project associated with the trip isn't over, it just changed directions...). My buddy Tommy (not a canuck) wrote a great article about a fantastic new line he did on one of my favourite peaks, Mt. Louis. Also, you can read my feature on page 6, too ;)

Moving on:

With new buddies Daniel and Aron in LA.

The comedy television show Tosh.0 had been asking me for over a year to do a gag with them. This past spring I finally went down to LA to shoot something for them. I had never seen the show or heard of the host, Daniel Tosh, before. I watched a couple of episodes and saw some of his standup comedy and realized it's a pretty quality show and he is a real talent. I became a fan, for sure.

Watch our gag here:

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/tosh0/season-4/tosh0-ep-419-highlights/clip727598#clip727598

Daniel was a total brother the entire time, really nice and funny, of course. It was a real treat to have a top secret cameo appearance by Aron Ralston - I had read his book as a kid and wondered what he was actually like in person... I mean, it's easy to make fun of a dude who was so into the jam bands like the String Cheese Incident. Turns out he's just a regular climber/skier dude like the rest of us, and a real prince of a guy. Besides, even I went through a pretty dedicated Phish phase.... ;)

Here's a real climbing vid we made the other week:

"THIS WAY" Episode1 - Squamish - Genius Loci from ARC'TERYX on Vimeo.

The director Alex Lavigne is a real artist and the cable cam brothers Matt Maddaloni and Dave Pearson are killing it! Hamish Fraser is an inspiration for the rest of us, a guy at the top of his sport in his prime who remains so well-adjusted, humble, and ridiculously nice. I really appreciate his contribution to the story, beyond establishing such a brilliant route in the first place! I reckon the film will drum up some traffic on a shockingly under-appreciated route... that was the goal.

A 'colorado-style' ascent of the Naked Edge with Casey and Jesse. Jesse Huey photo.

Mid-summer, my friends got married in Colorado. The stress-levels of a Squamish summer are always low, it becomes a very difficult place to leave. However, I escaped the Squamish heat to the even hotter Colorado heat for a much needed attitude adjustment near the end of July.

Running up the first Flatiron with some original 206 MOGs, Huey, Dylan Johnson, and Chad Kellog. That was a HOT lap!

Stoked on 5:00am dawn patrol in Eldo.

Gosh, folks in Boulder-town, Colorado are so freaking hyperactive that it was a joy following them around the mountains, trails, crags, and cocktail hours for a week and a half. Huge thanks to my homie Jesse Huey for insisting that I stay and get on the program with him! I met a ton of super cool new friends and it really stoked the crowd for the remainder of the Squamish season.