From all of us at Altitude Sports
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December 24, 2009Happy Holidays
December 11, 2009Dave’s Holiday Wish List
Working for Altitude-Sports has its perks. Since I've started here, I've been exposed to a whole new world of clothing, gear, and equipment. I get to try out different coats, gloves, sleeping bags, and backpacks. I get to fondle coyote fur all day without having to buy a Canada Goose jacket (or get bitten)!
a coyote eating my christmas dinner
Although I have to admit, the most amazing thing I've discovered since my arrival has got to be the discovery of Merino wool. I tell you, there's nothing like having one of those sheep close to your naked skin.
But I digress...
The problem is, however, that working here is a double-edged sword. I may have become knowledgeable about, and even fallen in love with tons of brands and products, but this has left me wanting to equip myself with more and more. And I'm not about to stop paying rent just so I can completely drape myself in Merino wool. So my brain had an idea.
November 18, 2009Catherine`s first bouldering competition
Catherine`s first bouldering competition
Sunday I went to my first climbing competition at Horizon Roc in Montreal. And boy did it go well! It also happened to be my birthday. The day started at 9am with the registration, and a little gift bag filled with stickers and an ice pack (not very exciting). They had blocked off part of the gym where they had put up all new bouldering problems (for those who do not speak climbers language: bouldering is when you don't need a rope because you only go up about 2 meters and thick mattresses are installed at the base of the boulder). There were about 80 participants, and women were definitely in the minority.
So I put on the new T-shirt they gave me, and found my two girl friends amongst the crowd. We had from 10am to 3pm to climb as many problems as we could. Our total score was going to be tallied up at the end of the day. We got more points for climbing the problems on our first try, and of coruse the harder problems were worth more as well. I have to admit, I was scared to get started, not knowing what strategy to take. I didn't want to tire myself out on too many easy ones, or waste too much time trying to finish harder ones...In the end, I think I ended up climbing about 20 or so problems, some of which I attempted many times.
It was really fun to work on hard problems with lots of people, watching how they tried it, motivaing each other to push ourselves to our limit. The pressure was definitely on, in a friendly enough way. It was so much fun to have such a wide choice of new problems to work on, and such a motivated gang of climbers that were just loving it! There was lots of socializing, because you needed to give your body a little rest in between climbs. The energy was great, and the DJ helped to create an atmosphere that pushed you to perform...
I am really glad i participated in such a great event. Winning first place was a bonus I was definitely not expecting. They had several door prizes, and I was also lucky enough to get my first crash pad!!! I can't think of a better way I could have spent my birthday, other than doing the sport I love with great friends, surpassing myself, and winning awesome prizes :)
Needless to say, I will be going to more..
Sunday I went to my first climbing competition, at Horizon Roc in Montreal. And boy did it go well! It also happened to be my birthday. The day started at 9am with the registration, and a little gift bag filled with stickers and an ice pack (not very exciting). They had blocked off part of the gym where they had put up some all-new bouldering problems (for those who do not speak climbers' language: bouldering is when you don't need a rope because you only go up about 2 meters and thick mattresses are installed at the base of the boulder). There were about 80 participants, and women were definitely in the minority.
So I put on the new T-shirt they gave me, and found my two girlfriends amongst the crowd. We had from 10am to 3pm to climb as many problems as we could. Our total score was going to be tallied up at the end of the day. We got more points for climbing the problems on our first try, and of course the harder problems were worth more as well. I have to admit, I was scared to get started, not knowing what strategy to take. I didn't want to tire myself out on too many easy ones, or waste too much time trying to finish harder ones...In the end, I think I ended up climbing about 20 or so problems, some of which I attempted many times. Read more about Catherine`s first bouldering competition
November 06, 2009Portrait of Alex Lapointe in Montreal
ALEXANDRE LAPOINTE, Axel.
Musician.
YOUR FAVOURITE SPOT IN MONTRÉAL
Café Olympico on St-Viateur and Waverly. My first coffee there…was like my first love.
October 20, 2009Avalanche!
Wow! I haven't seen such an intense video in a long time. I almost feel bad posting it. But I figure it serves as a good safety reminder as well as a good rebuttal to that most dangerous (and fun) of questions: "What's the worst that can happen?" For busy people, they talk for about a minute before dropping-in.
Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.
August 14, 2009Portrait of Laura Smith in Montreal
Laura has a pretty colourful personality
LAURA SMITH, my friends call me Laur, my sister calls me Elle, Phil calls me Lemon.
Human Resource Director.
YOUR SPOT IN MONTREAL
King George Park in Westmount. Most people know it as Murray Hill. Read on about Laura Smith
August 04, 2009Portrait of Germain Altitude in Montreal
A step-by-step guide to Germain
GERMAIN GAUTHIER, Germ.
Manager at La Boutique The North Face par Altitude, student of Laura Smith's.
YOUR SPOT IN MONTREAL
The Mount Royal because its stairs and paths feel secretive.
July 23, 2009Ride
My calves ache and my quads shake, but my smile shines like a thousand LED headlamps. It is certainly true that without pain you cannot have pleasure; however, this afternoon I learned once again that having both simultaneously can be a more fervent experience. Let me, like I so often do, set the stage for you:
Alongside his wheeled, aluminum steed stands a man (trying desperately to remain a boy- that’s me), helmet in hand, modest calves coyly poking out from his cycling shoes. A nervous smile escapes his lips. Next to said man/boy is the owner of a great local bike store (Tremblant’s Cycles et Sports), and all-round pleasant fellow who had graciously accepted to take me for a “relaxed” ride around the nearby trails. A beautiful sheep dog, barely bigger than her owner’s cast iron legs, waits for the proverbial bell to signal the start of what I believe to be an epic ride with a fierce, but relaxed, pace. What have I gotten myself into?
Mark should have neither watched nor listened to this video before leaving Read more about the Ride
July 20, 2009Ghost
Up until last night I would have said that The Sixth Sense was a fantastic movie. Great concept, good actors (yes, I know Bruce Willis was in it), so on and so forth. Tangentially, I would have argued that sleeping in an old farm house in the country, listening to nothing but the bed bugs singing, not a porch light in sight, was wondrous too. Then I went to bed.
Not into pillow fights
Skip ahead about four hours. I’m curled up in my Superman onezy, sucking my thumb in the manliest way possible when all of a sudden I bolt upright frozen in fear. Burned into my retinas was a woman. No, she wasn’t wearing lingerie or in/around a pillow fight. She was more of the dead variety. Perhaps once she had participated in frisky fights involving pillows, but not recently in my opinion. Her piercing eyes froze my shaking frame in place. Although not present when I awoke, I knew, like a cold sore, she was laying in wait for an inopportune moment to spring forth. Read more Ghost
July 16, 2009Portrait of Magalie Altitude in Montreal
Photographer : Vanessa F
MAGALIE BERNARD, Maggie, Magalette, Margarine, Magalerie, Bern, Mike.
Multi-talented Director of Customer Service for Altitude-sports.com
YOUR SPOT IN MONTREAL
The Mr Pinchot bakery on the bike path, corner Marie-Anne and Brébeuf. In particular because the half-loaf that they make is just the right size for one person, and thus it doesn’t have time to dry out.
Previous Articles
- January 15, 2010 A thought for Haïti in Events
- January 14, 2010 Cooking with Myrite from tastylife.org: Mug O’ Soup in Food
- January 13, 2010 The End of the Road – Part I – Intro in Travel
- January 04, 2010 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour 2009-2010 in Events
