A week of wet and unstable weather did nothing to deter the enthusiasm of audiences and speakers at the Squamish Mountain Festival on July 13th – 21st , presented by ARC'TERYX, which wrapped up 10 days of presentations, films, competitions and clinics on Saturday July 21st. The festival, which was organized by Ivan Hughes, and John Irvine of ARC'TERYX Equipment, was a huge success. We had all kinds of sold-out nights and very enthusiastic crowds every night. The festival also managed to raise more than $10,000 — all of its proceeds — to support the Squamish Access Society (SAS) and Climbers Access Society of B.C. Also accomplished were an amazing amount of work and maintenance on local trails to, and around, crags in both the Smoke Bluffs and the Apron area of the Squamish Chief.

Many thanks go out to the sponsors of the event. Their support of the festival made the festival a huge success and has laid out a legacy of support for the two local groups that work hard for the climbing community in this area. Thanks to Key Sponsor, the Mountain Equipment Co-op who provided financial and product assistance along with a great supply of volunteer power lead by volunteer coordinator Camillia Brinkman. Lastly and most importantly, huge thanks to other sponsors; Black Diamond, Flashed, Howe Sound Inn and Brewing Company, Gripped Magazine, Climbing Magazine, Urban Climber Magazine, The Squamish Chief Newspapaer. Mountain Life Magazine, KVOS TV, The Squamish Adventure Centre, La Sportiva, Maxim Ropes, Five Ten, Prana, Valhalla Pure Outfitters, and Adidas Eyewear. The festival would not have happened without your valuable support!!

There was something for everyone and every component of the festival brought out both the regulars, and newcomers. Opening night, which sold out, had Perry Beckham portray the highlights and early accomplishments of the small, dedicated, and ambitious, dirt bag climbing community, which prospered during the 70s and 80s. Perry showed the dramatic changes between climbers and climbing culture, then, and now. Ron Kauk then took over and captivated the audience with his slides, and a movie, that depicted his Zen like philosophies on climbing life, and revealed the smooth, effortless climbing style, that has made him a legend.

On Saturday July 14th the Elks Club put on a pancake breakfast. The smell of sausages, eggs, and maple syrup brought people out of the woodworks early in the a.m. to check out the sponsor trade fair and get ready for the clinics put on that day. The Clinics, put on by celebrated local guides and athletes, departed for the smoke bluffs. The keen Flashed Boulder comp participants tried to hone their skills for the comp being held, next day, Sunday. As the sun started to descend over the Howe Sound, climbers made their way back from a fun day out, and joined Prana for the free Yoga session's put on in front of the Squamish Adventure Centre. That night Josune Bereziartu and Ines Papert were on hand from Europe to present at the Eagle Eye Theatre. Both women represent the best of the best in world climbing. They have both pioneered new standards in their perspective focuses, and both gave amazing slide shows about their globetrotting climber's lives and accomplishments.

Clinics, pancakes and the trade fair were again the staples on Sunday but the main event was the Flashed Dyno Comp. Walson Tai from Flashed had his colleagues build a perfect bouldering/dyno comp wall for the event. Tunes rocking in the background and the vibe of a buzzing nightclub inspired boulderers to fling themselves as high as they could for the coveted Dyno comp bragging rights. A Guinness World Dyno Record was the goal of the event. Visiting Swiss climber, Lavinia, crushed the current women's record of 1.9m by springing well over her height and latching the 2.1m mark. That's 6 foot 9! The men's event did not have a broken world record however one of the competitors did manage to tear the finishing hold off the wall in hopes of stopping the competition. After some repairs by Walson and his team the men were back at it, and in typical Swiss perfection, Lavinia's cohort clinched the win with a solid 2.4m leap.

The clinics were almost sold out. "I was surprised how many clinics we actually sold," said Hughes, pointing to the weather. "I think that fact came down to the caliber of the guides that we had doing the clinics. Ines Papert, she did a clinic on bouldering. Scott Milton did one, and Sean Isaac. And then the locals like: Chris Geisler, Matt Maddaloni, Brian Gould, Chris Lawrence, Roger Sarrasin...the local rock jocks" were all on hand sharing their secrets. There was a wide variety of films shown over the entire week. A diverse selection of themes featuring everything from Paragliding, base jumping, snowboarding and of course all facets of climbing. Congratulations and thanks to all whom sent in a film. There were so many great films and deciding on the winners was a very tough job.