DISTURBAN: portraits of 5 outstanding climbers
December 14, 2020 / By nicolas
Antoine Séguin
General Manager at Allez Up, Antoine is the godfather of the bouldering scene in Quebec. He is, according to his climbing partners, a veritable encyclopedia. The Montrealer began bouldering in 1997, at a time when this discipline was not at all common. “There aren’t many people who were doing it, he says. Usually people warmed up bouldering before they started climbing. We’d have fun turning the holds upside down and then we’d play on it all day.”Even if he is one of the great manitous of Allez Up, Antoine doesn’t hide from it: what he prefers is to go and play in the Laurentians. “I especially like climbing outside, more than inside.” In 2006, Antoine had in fact led a film project, Disturban Behaviour, where he and his friends were climbing urban structures… a discipline that is now called “urban bouldering”, which we have explained in this article.View this post on Instagram
Marc-Antoine Vigneault
Marc-Antoine Vigneault is a climber, but he also coaches at Allez Up in the Pointe-Saint-Charles area of Montreal. “There’s no one more hype than Marco, he’s always cranked up, said Antoine. He likes explosive and dynamic movements. His enthusiasm is contagious, if you’re going to climb with Marco, you’re sure to get hyped.” Marc-Antoine confirms… “I’m a very passionate climber, I climb a lot with my heart, I invest myself a lot, so when I try projects, I often have strong emotions. I can be very angry or very happy and I bring it out a lot.”In his case, it was the aspect of freedom that led him to perfect his skills in this discipline. A freestyle skier, he was lured to a climbing center by friends… and he fell in love. “When I discovered climbing, I did a mix of lead and bouldering. Some friends told me: you’ll see, you’ll like it, because bouldering is like trying tricks on skis. I really got hooked… bouldering is so much more condensed in terms of movements that you can do more complex stuff than on a route and push your limit even more.”View this post on Instagram
Bea Evans
Bea started climbing in Toronto when she was only 8 years old. Today, she is on the National Bouldering Team and is a routesetter at Allez Up. Basically, she creates new puzzles for people going out bouldering. When she attended the World Junior Championships in Russia when she was 16, her eye was drawn to bouldering competition. “I felt the bouldering competition seemed more complicated and inspiring. When I came back I decided that I wanted to be on the national bouldering team. By the end of the year I was the Canadian junior champion.” At the age of 18, Bea moved to Montreal where she began training with the Allez Up team. She earned a spot on the Canadian team and competed internationally in China, Italy and the United States. Unlike the two previous climbers, Bea prefers indoor bouldering to outdoor bouldering.“I’d rather do bouldering indoors than outdoors, but I’d rather do track outdoors. It’s just that bouldering outside is really rough, it hurts.”View this post on Instagram
Zoé Beauchemin
Like Bea, Zoe has also represented Canada at international competitions. Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, she is a member of the National bouldering team and Allez Up Montreal team. Juggling her studies in marketing at Concordia University with her athletic career, the gifted climber began competing internationally in 2017, but didn’t begin climbing until 2014. It took only three years for her to make it to the 2017 World Junior Boulder Championships in Austria. Her energy is contagious to her climbing partners. “Zoé is very, very motivated, says Marc-Antoine about her. No matter what the situation is, she manages to get her hair up to try things.”“Zoé is always smiling, adds Antoine. She’s technical, she’s super good with small holds.” A coach for young people, the climber already aspires to share her passion with others and show them the keys to the sport.View this post on Instagram
Jay Jeong
South Korean-born and McGill University graduate in environmental sciences, Jay Jeong seems to succeed at everything he does, especially when it comes to climbing. “Jay is calm, he’s always up for it and he always takes up the challenges that are presented to him, says Antoine. He has a very measured approach.”“He’s very focused, he gets into his zone when he climbs, adds Marc-Antoine on his climbing partner. He practically meditates before he tries it and I think that helps him. He is very serene in his climbing. I’ve never seen him angry.” Also an instructor at Allez Up, Jay is as comfortable on an outdoor boulder as he is in an indoor center.View this post on Instagram
If you haven’t already, check out these five athletes in action on JACKALOPE.tv And to always be up to date, subscribe to our Instagram and Facebook accounts! If you want more, you will soon get what you want in a new episode that reveals some of the hidden treasures of the Laurentians.View this post on Instagram
