Pushing the Limits

Pushing the Limits
Review by Jon Popowich
Appeared in Gripped magazine, October/November

It is rare that a book comes along which both celebrates and makes history but Pushing the Limits is such a book. This 440 page coffee table format tome is sure to become the definitive volume on Canadian climbing history. It is a beautiful, ambitious volume with an appropriate title.

Pushing the Limits is a richly-woven tapestry of stories, photographs, places, myths, and most importantly, the people who have pushed the envelope or somehow influenced the direction of Canadian climbing at home and abroad.

The book covers the Coast Mountains, the North, the Columbia Mountains, the Rockies, and the East. Chic was sincere in his desire to provide a balanced, cross-country perspective, and he has largely succeeded, due to an extensive amount of primary research. He conducted 90 interviews across the country, spending three months on the West Coast, and two in Eastern Canada. When I discussed the book with him, Chic said his cross-country research was analogous to "how when Dvorak composed he used to collect bohemian folksongs raw, in the field."

In spite of the vastness of his topic, Chic provides a wealth of detail in a manner that entertains and does not bog down the reader. He tells many stories like Claude Berubé's adventures on Cap Trinité with wooden pegs and a Canadian Tire hammock or about Gardner and Locke's historic six-and-a-half day Lake Louise traverse. Those with knowledge of Squamish and Yosemite big wall history will delight at the inclusion of a photograph and profile of the legendary Daryl Hatten. The provision of numerous biographical profiles is of particular value. In the complex structure of a book such as this, Chic has wisely included biographical sidebars, to explain the key players. The quality and quantity of photographs is alone worth the price of the book alone.

Are there any improvements that could be made? It is difficult to say in a book of this scope, because we'd need a few years to verify all of Chic's research! Certainly, there will be those who argue about how he decided which climbers and achievements merited discussion. Personally, I welcomed the attention given to many unsung heroes of Canadian climbing. Chic also admitted to me that the final chapter was the most difficult in some respects, because there are so many subtleties within the present-day climbing community. It is appropriate, that the book's final chapter is still in flux; it is history in the making, and only time will tell which are the truly significant events.

In the foreword, Chic says, "I have done my very best to produce a work that we will all be proud of. One that will be read and reread for generations to come." And he has; Chic has done more than simply write a book, he collected our history. Pushing the Limits is a tremendous achievement. It is sure to change the way Canadian climbers perceive themselves and the way in which they are perceived by the entire world. Buy this book, and enjoy the fantastic journey that begins with the turning of the first page.