Jack Fieldhouse

Climbing has been an infatuation for me ever since I climbed my first route at age 15. I was lucky enough to be raised in Squamish, B.C. Which has been named “Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada” and is home to some of Canada’s best climbing. I enjoy many different types of climbing (sport, trad. and bouldering). But I get my biggest kicks from finding, scrubbing, and establishing new problems and routes.

Squamish has a rainforest climate, so the unclimbed granite is often completely enshrouded in a curtain of moss. This makes new-routing labor-intensive and exciting. You never know what you’re going to get, and that’s part of the appeal to me. It’s like being given a gift – shaking it to see if it’s what you were hoping for and then getting to unwrap it and play over and over again. If you haven’t climbed in Squamish, you should make a trip up here. It’s an amazing place.

I’m a father of two, a husband, a Grade 1 teacher, and a coach. It’s quite a balancing act at times, but I’m thrilled with the life I’ve chosen. I fit climbing into my busy schedule whenever possible. Giving back to the sport is something I always try to do. And I try to help out as much as possible with climbers’ access initiatives. I love helping with trail building/maintenance and other positive activities that allow me to get my hands dirty.

I feel fortunate that my wife, Shannon, is also a teacher and a climber. It’s great to share our holiday time on climbing trips and other adventures with our family. We have our summers off, and during this time, we enjoy showing others around our climbing playground. It’s great to hang with our friends who come back to climb each summer when the temps get too high down south. We love the opportunity it gives us to meet up and climb with friends we’ve made from all over. I also feel fortunate to have a great group of friends locally who share our love of climbing and our enthusiasm for the outdoors.

My other interests include whitewater kayaking, skateboarding, AT skiing, and mountain biking. I also really enjoy helping out with tweaking designs and product testing for companies in the outdoor industry. And I would like to thank the following companies for all the support they’ve given me over the years: Flashed, Unparallel, and Boulder Denim.