matt segal

The epic is over! I finally sent the Cobra Crack, so psyched! It went down on Tuesday, my last day in Squamish… talk about cutting it close… It was perfect, all the locks felt really good and before I knew it I was holding the finishing jug. Will hiked up to belay and it meant a lot to me to have him up there. I feel like I owe it to a lot of peeps especially for either hiking up the brutal hill to belay me or just give me moral support and confidence.

It was so crazy when it was all over I couldn’t believe I did it. The climb had become such a mind fuck for me… from it feeling to hard to endless rain. I watched the summer pass me by as I banged my head against this perfect climb. It wasn’t until the day before I sent that I finally accepted the fact that I may not be successful, and I think it was because of this shift in attitude that I was able to send.

In my studies at university I spent a lot of time studying Buddhism and there is a saying that one most “abandon all hope of fruition.” This sounds so simple, but in fact one of the hardest things for me. Often I find myself thinking about the future and what it’s going to feel like to accomplish my goals. In the end those thoughts just hinder progression and any way it never feels like you think it will, sometimes better and sometimes worse. This one felt much better then I’d ever thought it would.

So when it was all said and done I had a celebratory beer with Will and Hazel then was off to Boulder. I ended up doing the drive from Squamish to the Boulder theater for the Sharp End world premier in 24 hours… now that’s some endurance driving skills…

There are no photos of me on the Cobra and there won’t be any. I never got around to it… oh well it happens… All I have is a shot that was taken immediately after I did it.

On another note props to the people crushing stone, Alex Honold just got the first free solo ascent of half dome in Yosemite and Chris Sharma just sent his epic long project at Mt. Clark, to amazing climbing feats I can barely comprehend. Way to crush guys!

Celebrating with the people! Hazel, Will and I have a beer behind the liqueur store. Squampton style!