In the latest episode of the Live It Up with ML podcast, Sonnie Trotter talks about his competition-centred youth; pivotal moments; following the fire; his scene in a Twilight movie; and his new book, Uplifted: Evolution of a Climbing Life. Podcast presented by Citizen Watch Canada.
Raised in Ontario, Sonnie Trotter started climbing as a teenager and never looked back. Over the past 25-plus years Sonnie has pioneered some of the hardest routes in Canada and climbed big walls all over the world with other icons of the sport. He’s climbed competitively, professionally, and has also spent months on the road travelling and climbing with his wife and kids. And throughout it all, he never lost that love and that drive that fueled him as a teenager. His new memoir is called Uplifted: Evolution of a Climbing Life, and it is on shelves now.
“This is a refreshing memoir, fast, fun, and joyous, which reflects Sonnie’s lifetime spent on the rock,” said Alex Honnold, author of Alone on the Wall. “He’s always climbed with a certain effortlessness. This book captures that ease and joy in his retellings of adventures around the world.”
A few highlights from Feet Banks’ conversation with Sonnie Trotter
ML: The book opens with a story of you walking away from a climb. Had that ever happened before on a trip, where you weren’t as in the moment or focused on the task at hand as you thought you needed to be?
Sonnie Trotter: What I tried to do is describe really pivotal moments in my life. I think up to that point, that was the first one. Obviously you pull off sometimes because of weather or whatever, but that was the first time where it was an internal thing.
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ML: Do you find that happens more after becoming a parent and you have to start mixing that risk versus responsibility more?
ST: I mean, for me, I would say 100 per cent. I look at climbs that I dreamt about doing and now and I’m like, You know what? I appreciate it from here and I don’t need to be up there right now. And it’s interesting because I think a lot of us still long for that—for that uncertainty to a degree, or that risk and that position. I think for a lot of climbers or skiers or mountain bikers, I think a lot of times it’s not necessarily the move-by-move or turn-by-turn. It’s being somewhere incredible. And I look up at some of the climbs that look incredible to me and I’m like, I’m good. That wave of committing to everything has been subdued a little bit.
I still want to climb. But what I write about in the book is how I’m more attracted now to the things that I can control.
ML: I just spoke with photographer Jody McDonald and she said a similar thing. She said, “I know how I feel if I don’t do it, and I don’t like that feeling, but I don’t know how I feel if I do do it.” And then she would end up dropping into another six years at sea or whatever.
ST: I relate entirely to that sentiment. If I didn’t do something, that fear would start to compound and grow inside me until the fear of doing it exceeded the fear of not doing it. It can be intimidating but I find that I’ve never really regretted those choices ….There are definitely objectives I’m drawn to, but realistically, am I going to have enough time to do everything on my dream list? I’m coming to terms with the fact that there are climbs I’m gonna have to let go. And that’s okay: I can appreciate them from a different place in my life.
Sonnie Trotter’s Uplifted on Tour
May 20, 7:15pm – Climb On, Squamish
May 21, 7:30pm – Patagonia Vancouver
May 22, 6:30pm – Patagonia Calgary
May 26, 7:30pm – Patagonia Toronto
May 29, 6:30pm – Patagonia Victoria
June 3, 7pm – Patagonia Ottawa
June 4, 7pm – Patagonia Halifax
June 10, 7pm – Four Points Books, Golden, BC
This episode of Live It Up with ML podcast is sponsored by Citizen Watch.
