Will Stanhope Remembers Climber and Alpinist Marc André Leclerc

[Music] I wanted to ask you a little bit about uh you know Mark Andre um you know I kind of got got the sense that you guys you know were friends and I know that you had done some adventures together but can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Mark Andre yeah so I met him when he was he might have been 15 or something definitely like a young like over stoer he was kind of like a golden retriever he was like just like oh uh effervescent and excited and uh you know you pepper me like backto back questions about everything um oh I was just such a sweet young guy with the eyes wide open and so excited and uh I just yeah I just really adored his company he was he was such to a bright light yeah I would imagine that when you first met him even when he was like 15 or 16 like you said that you must have seen some sort of you know some sort of vibe in him yeah it's funny like uh I had some gear at my at my at my parents place and Mark Andre was going to borrow a portaledge I can't even really remember or something and uh uh he he met my mom mom to to transfer the gear or whatever and uh my mom was like oh that that guy's eyes were like on fire like it's like he was Unforgettable like type of energy what was it like to kind of watch his trajectory like both just like like as a human being but also as a climber yeah I I have some regrets that honestly that I I didn't tell him to pump the brakes a bit because I knew intu at the time that that's that hardcore style of back-to-back trips and hard alpinism probably wasn't uh what's the word just um sustainable maybe or whatever but like will G it put it the best it's like it's like you you can't tell a a mountain lion to be a you know a house cat or I'm paraphrasing but that's basically what he said right it's like the kid's going to do what he's going to do but in yeah just it's just that backto back hardcore stuff all the time it's just and and even you was super smart super dialed Beyond talented but it's a sustainable activity and I do have regrets that I wasn't like hey dude like just just like take a beat once in a while I mean you know if I'm just asking you bluntly I mean how do you think he would have reacted to you you know if you if you would have said that I mean do you think that he would have could you have had like a meaningful conversation with him you think about it potentially and I just regret that I never did yeah but uh yeah I I think but he he was a careful climber he he was very uh incredibly uh intuitive and uh Could you um could you talk a little bit about some some like important memories that you have that you shared with Mark Andre uh we did this trip to uh Sarah maraposa in the turbo Valley with Paul murle and Matt van bean I think in 2014 and um this is really remote part of Northern Patagonia and um yeah Mark was the man of the hour on that trip and and final pitch kind of like he tagged up the iron and did some funky Aid climbing and then yeah we all hiked out and we rafted out this Lake and then um we were back at camp and uh I just remember the next day Mark uh he like got up early we're all totally shot as you are after these Alpine things and he just like hiked back into the Circ just to appreciate the place one last time and uh that always stuck with me was like he uh just just to uh just to see the face and just appreciate it yeah did you guys did you guys do a I think that that trip you're talking about I think there's a there's a film about that right yeah yeah yeah it's called The Lost Valley is a film right yeah I I think I watched that a couple years ago but it's just a guy that could uh could stop and smell the flowers and just appreciate this wild remote place and just yeah just to take it all in with eyes wide open yeah yeah it seems like he's kind of one of those people that that comes around that that doesn't come around too often you know he just seems like I don't know I mean it's like I feel like we all we all have one or two people that we've come across in our in our lives no matter where we live we're like there's nobody like that person and and I kind of kind of get the sense that maybe that was how it was with Mark Andre like there's nobody like him really yeah not a coffee cat you know it's just and it just funny things like you know he he text me like oh we should we should climb this building in Vancouver just like it's kind of like an offbeat off-the-wall type of Personality that I just I I miss the spirit I miss the Stoke I miss miss the vision you know like I think people kind of fall in a lot of Realms especially around here it's like there's a CAG dour everybody goes there and he's just like he look place with fresh eyes and uh even this afternoon I'm going to go check out an old Mark Andre project and [Music]

Channel: The Firn Line

Views: 9,227

Keywords: Canadian rock climber and adventurer Will Stanhope Remembers Climber and Alpinist Marc André Leclerc, Will Stanhope Remembers Climber and Alpinist Marc André Leclerc, The Firn Line, Marc Andre Leclerc, Marc Andre Leclerc death, Marc Andre Leclerc ice climbing, Marc Andre Leclerc free solo, Marc Andre Leclerc climbing, Will Stanhope, Will Stanhope climber, Will Stanhope Cobra Crack, Will Stanhope rock climbing, mountaineering, climbing, climber, rock climbing, ice climbing

Id: 1qD4Y1sRryU

Length: 6min 34sec (394 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 19 2024