24 Hours of Balzout

Here's a short story I wrote partly about being a belayer to the stars on my first climb with Raphael Slawinski, when he freed the bolts on Balzout Direct.  It's obviously partly about other things too.

Jon Walsh paid me the compliment of saying it was one of the best pieces of climbing writing he'd read.  It was fun to write.

Eamonn Walsh on the first ascent, a week or two before we climbed it
Photo: Dana Ruddy

The 24 hours of balls-out

I T WAS THE MOST AMAZING 24 HOURS. Is it not what we seek,why we

 come to the Bow Valley? Forget the trophy homes and  the picturesque 

 views. The fast women, the fast climbing — that’s what it’s about. 

By 6 p.m. at the end of the day, I was back on the couch at

the 4th Street Manor, enjoying the debriefing and cocktails. It

had begun the day before at the same hour. The most eligible

bachelorette in Banff was in our living room, drinking red wine.

That she wasn’t single was a minor moral dilemma, as I knew her

boyfriend; but in sex, as in climbing, sometimes one has to throw

caution to the wind.

We stayed up all night, as we had done every night together.

As preparation for the second ascent of Balzout Direct, the sexiest

route in Canmore, it couldn’t be beat. Balls out, that’s the way to

go. Balls out in bed, balls out in climbing, balls out in Banff and

Balzout on EEOR.

That I was going multi-pitch climbing for the first time

with Raphael gave me some performance anxiety, but the compliments

were flowing so fast and furious that that was quickly put

to rest. As Raph is no slowpoke, I refrained from getting inebriated

for the first time with her, which made the night’s activity

even more vigorous and memorable. We did not refrain from

testing the limits of core strength, so crucial for mixed climbing.

Woken at 5:30 a.m. after a few exhausted winks, I was eager to

apply myself to a new challenge.

LEAVING MY BEAUTIFULLY TIRED FRIEND wrapped in warmth,

I made the short walk downtown for a 6 a.m. meeting and

coffee. The climb passed in a blur of sleep deprivation, save the

one pitch. The pitch where Raph hung on like a spider for an

hour, on-sighting for the FFA. With my friend’s going-away party

on that night, I was determined to prove Raph wrong when after

the crux he mentioned that we were sure to finish in the dark.

Big smiles on the top, only 10 hours removed from the comfortable

reality I had been questioning up on the windblown face.

What could be better, what more could I want? The sexiest

woman, the sexiest climb, and a party to go to, all in one day.

What to desire? Only more.

A week later, the blur of drinking, slaying and climbing was

over, as she left the country. Vitality sapped by the all-nighters,

I was left making excuses and telling tales at the base of the sport

crags. That’s the thing with lustful affairs: women come and they

go. The routes, they always remain.

ian welsted

the canadian alpine journal 2006

Here's a link to the original route description:

http://gravsports.com/Ice%20Pages%20Folder/Route%20Descriptions/Balzout_Direct.htm

I climbed the second ascent of Great White Fright a week after these photos appeared online.