Rotten Dreads – An Extra Foods Memorial

Two places in Nelson have a special place in my heart – or, more accurately, my stomach. First there’s the Kootenay Co-op grocery store where you’ll find healthy dreadlocked hippies crammed into tiny aisles filled with chaste consumables and $5 carrots.

And then there was the former Extra Foods store, a vast warehouse where you’d find hippies with rotten dreads purchasing $1 cans of carrots with day-glo yellow labels.

“Rotten dreads,” you say? “Isn’t that a bit harsh!” Well, hear me out. When I first moved to Nelson eight years ago, I went to Extra Foods and stood in line behind a guy with 16-inch-long dirty blond dreadlocks spraying out from underneath his knitted Rasta toque. I didn’t really pay much attention to him or his hair until he grabbed his grocery bag and as he turned to leave, one tendril of dread literally fell off his head and onto the check-out’s conveyor belt.

Amazingly, the hippie didn’t even notice part of his head had just fallen off. He just ambled out the door while the sales clerk and I stood there in disgust. Eventually, she took a piece of paper towel, picked up the dread and looked at me for a second, almost as if she was pleading for advice or, worse, wanting to know if I was interested in keeping it. Finally she dumped it into the garbage can.

Then she disinfected the shit out of that conveyor belt.

Today I watched as the old Extra Foods building was demolished, making way for the  Nelson Commons and the new home of the Kootenay Food Co-op. Part of me mourns the loss of Extra Foods but, like a scraggly, unwashed chunk of hair, I believe the time has come to sweep it aside and make way for more wholesome groceries.

Yellow Sling Wall Rock Guide Updates

For further descriptions about climbs at the Kinnaird Bluffs area in the community of Castlegar in south-central British Columbia, Canada, refer to page 27 of the West Kootenay Rock Guide.

Access: See page 35 of the West Kootenay Rock Guide for a description on how to reach the Yellow Sling Wall and Red Rocks Wall from the Kinnaird parking area. This wall is an excellent early/late season one but tends to be a solar oven in the height of the summer. It offers everything from 5.4 trad to 5.12+ sport and the four pack of Extended Vacation, Yellow Sling, Glory Hole and Bakers Day Off are definite must-dos. However, note that the last two are 28m long and you’ll need 14 quickdraws for Glory Hole.

As with all climbing at Kinnaird, please be respectful of the nearby neighbours – these walls act like natural amphitheaters and every word you utter can be heard with surprising clarity by nearby residents. Also, do not cut through anyone’s yard or property to access the crags.

Yellow Sling Wall Rock Guide Updates: This is the eight in a regular series showcasing the new rock climbing routes in the West Kootenay Region of south-central British Columbia. For written descriptions of these and other routes, download the West Kootenay Rock Guide updates.

This overview of Kinnaird Bluffs shows Yellow Sling Wall and Red Rocks wall in relation to the seven other walls at this area.

Review of the High Trail Evotec Skins

Nova Sport AG, the Switzerland-based parent company of the High Trai brand, was founded in 2005 by Yvonne Rochat and since then has tried to perfect climbing skin technology. For years it offered the Classic, which is a glue-based, 100 percent mohair skin, but now the company has ventured into the “glueless” market with its Evotec skins, which are 65% mohair and 35% nylon. There are other companies that have been attempting to perfect the “glueless” skin but just like the traditional ski skin market there have been some growing pains along the way. The challenge is coming up with an adhesive formula that works in all kinds of conditions, from -30°C to +5°C and in light and dry snow or soaking wet slush. Not an easy feat but High Trail claims to have created a silicone-based adhesive coating that it says “has remarkable performance characteristics that are ground-breaking when compared to conventional adhesive skins.” In this review, we put to test the company’s claims about the Evotec skins.

To read the full review, log on to Backcountry Skiing Canada.

Review of the Mountain Hardwear Compressor Jacket & Pants

There have been very few moments in my lifetime when I wished I had a pair of down pants. The exceptions have been skiing at Mont Tremblant in Quebec during a -30°C spell and snowshoeing in Manitoba in -40°C weather. I suppose if I was scaling Everest or mushing dogs in the Yukon then I’d purchase a pair but usually a good set of thermal long john’s and a shell will see me through most backcountry excursions. A down jacket on the other hand is a part of my daily wardrobe in the winter months and for a lot of the shoulder season too. I’ll wear one belaying, skiing, hiking, climbing in the alpine, walking around town and, inevitably I’ll stuff one in my backpack for a mt. bike or fat bike ride as well, just in case. Needless to say I was excited to try out the Mountain Hardwear Super Compressor Hooded Jacket, with it’s Thermal Q Elite insulation that the company says is “designed to mimic the structure of down to create the highest warmth-to-weight ratio available in synthetic insulation.” (In other words it’s supposed to be as warm as down but will retain its loft and perform well in damp conditions.) As for the company’s insulated Compressor Pant that were also sent to review, well, let’s just say I wasn’t as keen to try them out. But, wow, was I ever surprised.

To read the full review, log on to Backcountry Skiing Canada.