Canadian Catherine Vaillancourt Sends Rocklands V12
Quebec-based Catherine Vaillancourt has sent A Tea With Elmarie V12 in Rocklands, South Africa.
In doing so, she has become one of only a few Canadian women who has climbed the grade and potentially only the second.
The first was Thomasina Pidgeon, who was also the first Canadian woman to boulder V10 and V11. Nearly a decade ago, Pidgeon climbed Butter Pumper and Rumble in the Jungle, both V12.
In an interview with Gripped, she said, “Grades are so irrelevant. Some problems are easier if you’re short and others are easier if you’re taller. Every climb is different. I think grading should be on a sliding scale.”
Read the full article called Thomasina Pidgeon on V12, Squamish and Motherhood.
Vaillancourt sent her first V11 last fall with a climb of In the Middle of the Ass.
In a 2015 interview, Vaillancourt said, “I think climbing got me hooked because it never gets old. Every problem or route is different and the puzzle can sometimes be very hard to solve.
“I love sport climbing and bouldering equally, but in different ways. Sport climbing allows me to conquer my fear of failure and forces me to focus on the task at hand. Time is suspended for the few minutes it takes to get to the anchor. I like to get into the “zone”, where the only thing that matters is the next hold.
“There’s no time to think about anything else. Bouldering is more of a physical battle that requires a whole lot of perseverance – which, I must admit, I sometimes lack. Luckily, I have an amazing boyfriend who is always there to remind how important it is to believe in ourselves.”
Watch the video below by Vaillancourt and her partner Olivier Turgeon from their 2017 trip.
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