The stars have aligned for the 2^nd Annual Squamish Mountain Fest. The weather fates are on our side and moderate temperatures have been forecast for the coming weekend - combined it means the climbing conditions could not be better, i.e. they've dried out!
The kick off, with "Oh Canada Night", went down with the venerable opening of the taps thanks to the Howe Sound Brewing Company who were on hand to help refresh body and soul. Thirsty climbers flocked to the sold out show featuring Squamish's own Matt Maddaloni, and Sonnie Trotter.

 The opening reel was "Cliff Notes", a North Van grass roots movie about crazy kids hucking from the cliff tops in North Vancouver's Lynn Creek Gorges in the hot summer months.  Made your palms sweaty watching these daredevils launch into these tiny pools from the rocky cliffs above.

The Second film was from local film maker Bryan Smith and featured Matt Maddaloni in a short film about a creative method for fall protection on a Squamish bouldering test piece called "Young Blood". Matt sets up a big trapeze like net at the base of this climb to catch his potential falls on this taxing short climb.

Matt then took over after the film with an inspirational talk on fitting it all in, with his famed link ups in both Squamish on the Chief and in the Bugaboos in the interior of BC. This portrayed Matt's exploits, which are part marathon in nature and part expedition climbing, in his efforts to link several long routes together in a day.

Sonnie was up next with a very funny travelogue and depiction of the dirt bag climber lifestyle. His travels all over North America, Asia, and Northern Africa were shown through this funny and inspiring multimedia show.

This was a great start to the festival and I can't wait to check out the Steep Shot Photo Comp tonight at the Brew Pub.