A brief interview with
Sonnie Trotter
PCA Boulder Brawl @ The Spot Gym
December, 2002

FRB: Why don't you tell us a little about who you are?

Sonnie: Well, my name is Sonnie Trotter and I was born in Toronto, or Newmarket Ontario. Grew up there, and once I started climbing at 16, I just started traveling as much as I could. At 18 I made a trip to Rifle and climbed pretty well and that's when I decided I'm going to pursue climbing instead of going to school.

FRB: So was there one event that got you into climbing?

Sonnie: It was more outdoor climbing, I never really got psyched on comps. I quit competition climbing after, maybe two years. This is my first competition in three years. So, I'm a little nervous to say the least, but my background is definitely outdoor climbing on rock, sport climbing mostly. Lately in the last couple of years, I've been getting into bouldering. So you know, I just thought I'd come out, have a good time, and do my best, just see what happens.

FRB: Are you concentrating on bouldering,
          or concentrating on competing?

Sonnie: Well, in the last little while, I'd say the last three months , I've been really inspired by the PCA. So, I've been bouldering a lot. I haven't climbed on a rope since early September, and just been bouldering. I think it's transferring over well, I'm starting to develop a flow, and getting stronger. I'm excited to do the PCA, I'm definitely transferring over to that.

FRB: Did you have to go through
          this round of qualifying?

Sonnie: I did, yea.

FRB: So, you've already climbed?

Sonnie: Yes I did. I was the fourth one out.

FRB: How'd you do?

Sonnie: I did all of them. I flashed the first three, and did the fourth one on my second try.

FRB: Number four looks grim?

Sonnie: It's really not that bad. You just have to read it. A lot of the climbers in here are gym climbers, and I have an outdoor background. So, I threw up a heel hook and it just worked for me.

FRB: I haven't seen many people flashing or
          even second or third try sending
          these problems?

Sonnie: Yea, they're hard, you know. It's gonna be a lot of fun. I think there's a lot of people who are just really excited and want to give it their best. Just come out having a good time. My philosophy in this event is to just come out, do your absolute best and let the chips fall where they may. Once you've done your best, you have no control anyway, so just have a good time, keep smiling, and you know, keep trying, it a steady progression.

FRB: Are you based out of Boulder?
          Where are you living now?

Sonnie: I don't really live anywhere, I just travel around a lot. I have a van set up. But lately I've been here for the last three weeks. A friend of mine gave me a job so I could stay in Boulder, which is expensive! So I got a job pounding nails, digging holes. I'm gonna have to go home for Christmas and then hopefully a road trip to Bishop, in February.

FRB: What are you going to send out there?

Sonnie: I got a lot of things on my list, I can't wait to go try. I just want to go and do my best, there's a lot of hard problems there and I just want to sample them, you know see what v12, v13 really feels like. I've got a large base of tens but I want to go and like push the limits of bouldering. I've got some big projects in terms of sport routes as well, for the spring, in April, Smith rocks, and the VRG. Yea, looking forward to the upcoming season.

FRB: Do you like climbing in Eldorado canyon?

Sonnie: I haven't been to Eldo. I've been up through Clear creek canyon, been bouldering at Flagstaff, Carter lake, Horsetooth Reservoir, and Poudre Canyon. Friends of mine here at the Spot are trying to inspire me to go up to Eldo and do some of the multi-trad stuff. Which I'm really excited about, Genesis, things like that, classic trad routes. They're really inspiring and I can't wait to come back and test them out, but the bouldering is where I'm at right now and I'm just psyched to go and have fun with my friends.

FRB: I'm sure you're all sponsored up, can you
          tell us a little about your sponsors?

Sonnie: Yea, actually, my sponsors have been really good to me. A really great company from Vancouver, called Blur support my clothing, and BlueWater ropes and climbing gear. 5-10 shoes, and Flashed bouldering pads and chalk. So, that's my base right now, just riding with those guys, love working with them. Yea they're helping me out.

FRB: I'll wrap it up, and let you go back to watching
          the competition.
          Thanks for the Interview Sonnie.

Sonnie: My pleasure.

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