With bolts in tow, Andrew and I headed back to the West Country with visions of a few (more moderate) lines. While climbing Batteries Not Included, we had eyed the clean slabs to the right of Liquid Corner and knew this would offer good, easier sport climbing.
These were desperate times and all we had was time. We gathered together the cash from the new bolt fund and visited every outlet we could find to hunt down hardware. I even remember a day when we considered using low integrity chrome plated bolts to develop ‘Solar Panel’. Thank goodness sense won over.
Life was stressful and there were no guarantees of anything at this time. We both knew one thing: We had no money for bolts, but we had lots of time, and needed an outlet. Andrew started a Go Fund Me on a whim…and it shot off like lightning. This was really the grass roots support which lit up development in the Nordegg area.
As the spring of 2023 arrives, I can’t help but reminisce. Three years ago this spring, the world felt like a very different place. It was the beginning of ‘the pandemic’ and we were all unsure about…everything. After two weeks of lockdown, all the climbers in the world began to lose their sanity a bit. That is when Andrew Abel reached out to me and asked if I was interested in sneaking out to Nordegg for a bit of development and top rope ice and mixed climbing.
