i've been spending a fair bit of my time back in newfoundland in the one place that i've missed the most. flatrock. with the new guidebook that was recently published, i have been on a mission to tick as many of the climbs as possible before i head off once again. having not climbed at flatrock in six years, it's like visiting a whole new crag. yet one that is eerily familiar.
i've been crashing at various locales while staying in st. john's. leo's couch. joe's downtown apartment while house sitting for him and denise while they were on a trip to halifax. my sister's friend's parent's house out in paradise. and most recently in flatrock at jay wall's blue shack. jay has been telling me about this place since he started renting it a year ago. though he's had to deal with a bit of frustration from his scattered pack rat of a landlord, he says it is the most "at home" he's ever felt. and i can see why. a huge window opens up from the main room onto a beautiful view of flatrock bay and the beamer beyond. the morning sun sends it's first rays right into the house at it breaks over the atlantic. whales breech sporadically as they feed up and down the bay. being fairly isolated and with no tv, it is an ideal escape from the city. and a great base for climbing in flatrock, a mere two minute drive away.
i've also been getting a bit of work lately, thanks to jay, who hooked mne up with a job doing rigging at mile one stadium for a backstreet boys concert. with my comfort in dealing with working with equipment at heights, and due to a lack of qualified riggers in town, i was able to get a few shifts setting anchors for the lighting truss points in the rafters. being a very specialized task, the pay is a sweet 25 bucks an hour. and although the work is very physically demanding, requiring hauling heavy chains and anchors hand over hand up thirty meters into the rafters, it is quite fun to be suspended up there, running around to the demands of a foreman on the ground. there is pressure to be fast and to be safe. handling heavy and clumsy pins and braces, we are under extreme pressure not to drop anything. a slight slip with a piece of steel could seriously injure or kill one of the many ground crew working below. being climbers though, we have had ample opportunities to work under very similar circumstances. handling equipment at great heights while being careful not to drop anything on people below. so far i've enjoyed the work. and the money ain't too bad either. i'm about to head in for another shift to tear down all the anchors we set up a few days ago. starting at 10pm after the concert finishes, it promises to be a late night.
