OLIVIER TURGEON

"When I started climbing in 2006 at the age 26, I was really into snowboarding, everything I did was oriented towards it. At that time, I didn’t think I could find another sport that would fulfil my life better than riding my board."

In the summer of 2008, everything changed when Olivier and a friend spent 5 weeks in Squamish. Years have passed and his passion for climbing has only increased. While Olivier haven’t stopped snowboarding, hi life is now completely climbing oriented. You may find him at the base of a long multi-pitch with a full trad rack for an adventure, hangdogging while trying a new project, pulling on plastic, carrying one (or two, or three) crashpads and a huge chalk bag ready to spend the day with some friends bouldering, or even wondering in the woods all by himself just for the fun of it. He may be found defeated by the rock but always psyched.

Everyone has their own approach to climbing. Olivier's is pretty simple:

"If climbing is all about trying to move on the rock, then I think trying hard is the only way to improve and improving is rewarding whatever the difficulty of the climb. This can explain why it sometimes feels more satisfying to try hard on a project I probably won’t get this season than to climb ten easier classics in a day."

Nevertheless, he does climb for many other good reasons. Olivier enjoys bouldering, especially for the puzzling aspect of the sport. He is often amazed by how a problem can go from impossible to done when you find “THE” sequence that suits you. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. 

Speaking of details, you can follow Olivier and his girlfriend Catherine Vaillancourt at goneclimbing.wordpress.com.