1960–2014

Hugh Lenny died

of a self-inf licted shotgun wound on Aug. 14, 2014. He was 54 years old and still climbing strong, especially compared to many of his peers, who were shocked by this tragedy.

Aug. 23, 2014 was Hugh Lenny’s Memorial. It was humbling to see how many people there were, and how many came from so far to say farewell to this long-time steward of the Okanagan sport-climbing jewel we know as the Skaha Bluffs. Chatting with friends I had not seen in ages, I realized I had forgotten about many of the accomplishments Hugh had made climbing prior to becoming the local ambassador we all knew at Skaha. The celebration of Hugh’s life had much to cover. There were well-crafted speeches delivered by Hugh’s friends and family as we all struggled to deal with this sudden and surprising loss.

Achievements as Hugh matured included an ascent of the Salathe Wall and an early solo ascent of the Shield – both on El Capitan (the latter taking nine days). He made the first ascent of the 21- pitch sport route Sisyphus Summits on Ha-Ling Peak with his wife Genevieve and Roger Chayer in 1994. Long sport routes like this were considered revolutionary at the time in Canada, but this sport-equipped route was not so popular with many of the more ground-up-minded local crowd.

Although Hugh did start his climbing career with big walls and plugging gear, most of us equate Hugh with sport climbing – particularly at Skaha. Hugh developed routes in the Penticton area for more than two decades and was well-known as the Ambassador of Skaha. He was always willing to go out with you even if he was not climbing that day – just to make sure that you had a great day in the place he loved so much. It was a well-known fact that Hugh preferred to climb in Skaha over such well-known areas as Red River Gorge, Kalymnos and, without a doubt, any other Canadian crag.

Hugh’s ideas were not often popular and could sometimes result in provoking people the wrong way. This was never intentional. Hugh simply thought differently than most, and was seeking his way through life the way we all do, evaluating different ideas, practices and philosophies. Hugh believed that revolutionar y thinking required an evaluation of ideas other than commonly accepted thought and practice. Unfortunately, this mindset and bias against the research and f indings of others may have contributed to some of Hugh’s struggles.

Although we will always remember Hugh for the person he was and the legacy (including two beautiful daughters) that he left behind. I think we as Hugh’s friends were hoping to enjoy many more years with Hugh. It would’ve been great to have seen what those years could have held. As I drive through the southern Okanagan and this beautiful area that Hugh called home, I realize my visits here will forever be different from this point forward, despite the beauty of the region.

Although Hugh Lenney is gone, his vision of Skaha as a world-class climbing area need not be forgotten. I’m simply going to miss climbing with the big-footed guy who held my rope so many times with an obsolete belay device, of fer ing the suppor t to succeed on my route of choice – whichever unicorn or windmill I was chasing that year.–