THE WEBSITE
Alex Gerrits (Dr)
alex@drtopo.com
I started climbing in 1994. After learning the ropes in Quebec, my first real trip was Hueco Tanks in 1996. After that, I became obsessed with checking out new areas. At 18 years old I spent 6 months hitch-hiking from crag to crag in France. Me and Sebastien lived on 5$ a day. We hate couscous every day and slept at the base of the crags. The life of the climbing bum suited me well and the next year I upgraded to a van and spent another 6 months traveling through the States. From then on I would spend an average of 6 months per year on the road. In 2001, after going back to University for a few weeks, I started DrTopo and spend the first 10 months on the road, doing mostly topos. In the fall 2002, I bought my first video camera and the rest is history.
Antoine Grant (Moïse)
admin@drtopo.com
Antoine first joined DrTopo in 2002, when he went on the road for a few months with Alex. The famous postcards where born from that first collaboration. Antoine shot many pictures and his work were featured in our first few slideshows like the famous one for Black Mountain. A year or so after DrTopo got redesign in Flash for its second look, Antoine started looking for another design that would get rid of some problems with Flash. After many designs and countless hours on his computer, Antoine came up with the current look of Drtopo.
Antoine Seguin (Canardo Fragilo)
canardo514@gmail.com
Canardo started climbing in 1996. That might make him the "newest to climbing" in the whole crew. Still Canardo didn't let that late start stop him and he quickly became one the strongest boulderer in the province. He established many of the hard problems in Val-David. His involvement with DrTopo started as a climber in our movie but it wasn't long before he became a big part of Drtopo. His keen eye for style and his sense of criticism are now used in most project. In 2004, he travelled with Alex to France to sample the bouldering and the videos that came out from that collaboration are some of our best Antoine also started making his own movies in 2005 and in 2006 Fragilo was the main man behind the "Urban Installment".
Jean-Mathieu Nichols (La Serviette)
jm@drtopo.com
A frequent figure in our movies, it's always nice to watch La Serviette style through hard problems and then beach-whale his way on the mantle. JM is a frequent collaborator on DrTopo, wether it's as a cameraman, as a movie editor, as a researcher or as an unkillable sherpa. Lately, he's been the man behind the "news" section. After years at university, he just got a brand new title: Maître (Master) Serviette.
Jean-Marc de la Plante (DLP)
dlp@drtopo.com
Beside owning Allez Up, the best gym in Montreal, Jean-Marc is a really gifted musician. He can play the guitar, the bass, the keyboard, the ukulele and he's always learning something new. His music is appearing more and more in our movies and you can be sure you'll hear more of his stuff on our DVDs. He's the main sound technician, and no track goes out without the DLP's touch.
Mathieu Elie (La Mouette)
Once in a while, you'll see Matt in our videos, sporting his famous dreads or his trademark humongous beanie. If he's not goofing around backstage, he'll be showing his powerful style on some hard problems. Matt is not a fan of rest days and climb pretty much every day, until his elbows can't take it anymore. La Mouette is great at beat-boxing and his beat is now almost an essential in all our tracks.
Sebastien Laforte (LA4DA)
Sebastien started climbing in Belgium while he was living there for 3 years. When he moved back to Quebec City in 1995 he quickly impressed the locals with his skills. At 15 he climbed Sado-Digitale (13c) the hardest route at that time in Quebec City. It wasn't long before Sebastien dominated the competition circuit and that his endurance became legendary. At 20, Sebastien hung his shoes and turn his energy toward surfing. Still from time to time, he ties back on a rope and his endurance is still impressive off the couch. LA4DA is good guitar player and singer. When he's in the zone, he is a venerable master on the turn tables.