Climbing is dangerous....

This sunday, we got painfully reminded that climbing is a sport with risk. We had headed out to Mt. Nemo, successfully down climbed the decent gully, and set up our gear in front of a 5.9 route. Marc then went up leading the climb, pretty confident. The first bolt was clipped well, he went up to the second bolt, and just one move ahead he slipped - all we could hear was a big bang, and Marc turning upside down, falling on Amy and hitting his helmet on the rock. It was surely shocking. The helmet had cut into the skin of the fore head, there was blood dripping. He had hit is head pretty hard, and got a concussion. Luckily, the party next to us had a first aider....We didn't even bring band aids. Well, instead of climbing, we spent the afternoon waiting in the hospital, luckily all four laughing and joking again.

In reflection, what went wrong? It's hard to tell. One good thing, we all wore helmets, and I am sure to never climb without one. Was there a foot mistake involved that the foot got caught in the rope and made him flip? The rope was running straight in between the legs of the climber, maybe it would have been better on the side? Was there too much rope given out? It's hard to say, given that he was just below the 2nd bolt, which was quite high up, with distance and rope stretch it would be a ground fall any ways. Did we choose the wrong belaying spot? We chose a spot which was about 2 feet away from the wall, as directly below the wall, it was uneven, covered with blocks of rock. It might have been better to be closer for the first 2-3 bolts, as the rope runs closer to the wall, there's generally less rope given out, and thus a tangling of the foot could have been avoided. Was the climber too relaxed and over confident? Should we have started with an easier route (albeit on gear)?

The whole thing makes me reflect. It's hard to find a balance between being over cautious and fearful to overly confident. We have to be aware that our sport is dangerous but it should not block or heads and drain away our power for the climb. There are definitely two points I want to mention: 1) always climb with a helmet, even on sport climbs, when everything seems safe and easy. 2) A first aid course, and carrying a first aid kit with you. The kit is on my next shopping list to Mec, and now I will be looking for dates for the course.

yellow + red = orange?

It didn't quite work out: there was no Germany:Netherlands final as the Germans got beaten by the Spanish. Up till then, they had really played well. It was fun to watch the England and Argentina games, lots of goals, and entertaining offensive football. Too bad indeed, but at least we got an entertaining game for the third place against Uruguay. The final was - once again - boring, too much kickboxing and too many fouls, and going into extra time that wasn't really worth watching. Fitting to the match, it started raining after the regular time. We found a cool spot to watch the game, School Cafe, where thousands of dutch supporters gathered in the cafe, in a beer tent and on the streets like we did. And drunken dutch fans were screaming 'stroopwaffel' as support...I had almost given up that there are dutch in this city as I could only see yellow and red on the streetcars while getting to Liberty Village.

It's over...no more soccer on TV for the next two years. What are we doing with all the free time? Well, my boss will not be too unhappy that it's done, as the majority of the games were during working hours. Alternatively to working, I should pick up a good book again.

Pride Toronto

Sunday was the big Gay Pride in Toronto. The weather was perfect, sunshine and hot. The Pride was long, we 'only' stayed for 2h, but it went on going for at least another one. It's a little different here than in Europe, less of a party and more of a demonstration. There were lots of people on foot, from all the political parties and Toronto mayor candidates to religious groups. A big group of Jews was protesting, Jewish and gay, and another big group protesting against Isreali Apartheid and Free Speech. I don't like that they are misusing the pride for their political reasons. It's supposed to be a demonstration for gay rights, and simply a party to celebrate all queerness. What does it matter, if you are Jewish, Christian or belong to a certain political wing...

There were only a few trucks with loud techno music, I expected more. It was not so much of a dance party but more watching, taking pictures and cheering a bit. I like it more in Europe, where there are lots of well designed trucks, almost like carnival, and lot of people dancing in the street. Amsterdam was surely the most amazing pride I have been to.

The Beaches

The friday after Canada Day, I took a day off. First to watch the Dutch win over Brazil, such an exciting game. I wished I would have been back in Groningen....It must have been an amazing party! In the afternoon, Clemence and I strolled along the Beaches. It feels a little like the Sea, the lake is so big that you can't see the other side, it just misses the smell of salty water. The water was still icy cold, good for the blood circulation....

To finish the nice day off, Mark and Julie made a nice BBQ in their garden. Grilled sweet potatoes are great, to be remembered :)

Bouldering Niagara Glen

Summer in Toronto, and we got out to boulder in The Niagara Glen. The gorge is carved by the Niagara river leaving lots of featured boulders in a 'wild' forest, a great setting, a little cooler, and shady. The river is still quite wild after the falls, we could hear the scream of tourists in jetboats when they went down the rapids...A great setting for a beautiful day!

The boulders were difficult, no colours to guide you where the next handhold or foot placement is. On our way down towards the river, we stopped at several boulders. Some impressions: