August 10, 2010 – Night of Lies – Don’t Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Great Story

Night of Lies – Don’t let the truth get in the way of a great story

By Brandon Pullan

Night of Lies (NOL) is an annual grass roots event celebrating the art of rowdy story telling by anyone about anything. The show takes place in Canmore, and over the last ten years has grown into a must-see event for local and visiting climbers.

Wade Graham, the visionary behind NOL thinks that, “Great climbers don’t necessarily make great story tellers and vice versa but if you get someone who is great at both, they can put on one hell of a show.” Graham continues, “We have always had the motto ‘Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.’ We are not here to critique the adventure but more to be entertained by the adventurer. I don’t preview the shows. I give the presenter full permission to present however they feel fit as long as they keep it to about 10 minutes and entertain us.”

Graham believes “NOL is for people who are sick of the standard slideshow. We have removed the stuffiness and gone back to a grass roots style. We drink a lot of beer. If you are looking for an entertaining evening of adventurous stories from the old guys and the new girls, a tribute show to a fallen comrade or want to just shoot the breeze with a bunch of dirtbag climbers, than this evening is a must attend.”

Wade recounts the most touching show he has seen. “Remy was a local Canmore guide who had a stroke a couple of years back. To this day Remy has severe physical challenges, but he put together a multi media show of his life. As the video played, I looked out into the audience and saw more grown men crying that I have ever seen in my life. To say that Remy’s story of tragedy and triumph moved an entire room would be an understatement. It was a magical moment without a doubt.”

Climbers are encouraged to attend the Night of Lies as proceeds from the event support worthy causes like  Tabvar, CASA, John Lauchlan Award, Friends of Bugaboo and most recently the Stony Adventure Group Experience. More details here.