End of an Era

Well I found out some pretty interesting news today.  Jay is planning on leaving.  For those of you who don't know who Jay is, it is your loss.

Jay has had a huge impact on the Avalon Climbing scene.  He moved here from Ontario a number of years ago and totally fell in love with climbing.  Over the last several years, Jay has managed to work just enough to allow himself to climb full time.  He is the author of some of the hardest routes in Flat Rock and has done tremendous things to improve climbing in Flat Rock and the Avalon.

He has climbed the world over, including Squamish, Mexico, California, Thailand to name a few.  He has also had a big impact on various climber including myself.  He took me under his wing for a week once upon a time.  I learned more in that one week than the previous three years.  Leo has said that climbing with Jay was always intense.  He knew just how to push you into doing your best.

Last year while traveling, Jay discovered surfing.  Just like climbing, he took to it with rapture.  It is his new love.  As he described to me tonight, "surfing in Newfoundland is a suffer-fest".  He has decided to launch a new career in remote access work.  He will be away training for the next month.  The next step will be to start working with a view to move out of the country.  The intent is to go somewhere where the weather and surfing are better.  To quote Jay, he is retiring from climbing.

So we are loosing one of our strongest climbers and one of our most dedicated developers. Good luck and happy travels!