Cam’s Van

Cam

I first met Cam working at an REI in Rochester, NY. Were chatting about some ski mountaineering I had just been doing when we realized that we shared a close friend, Shep. From the get go Cam struck me as extremely knowledgable and encouraging with climbing, mountaineering, the exploration life. After some time knowing him, I can safely say that he lives up to that reputation.

In the short time that Cam and I both lived in Rochester NY, we became friends and indoor climbing partners. He taught me many small things that newbies tend to glance over when climbing, especially lead climbing which I had just begun. He gave advice for ice climbs, proper mountaineering techniques, you name it and Cam knew it. Our climbs were more infrequent then I would’ve like, we only climbed whenever I could convince him to take a day off from his long term project - The Van.

The Van

In the years before I met him, Cam had devised a plan to gut the inside of an old Van and traverse the country working where he could, but ultimately living the dream that every climber dreams. Freedom on the road. Climbing whenever you could.

He eventually bought a decent astrovan and was nearly completed when we started climbing together. Everything about it he did himself. He wired the extra battery and the interior lights. He built the wood panels. He installed the foot powered sink. This was Cam’s Van, in and out. Making a van this size livable was truly a feat; you have to get creative with saving space and having multi-purpose seats, tables, everything.

An example of Cam’s creativity is well shown with his Jetboil. Instead of installing a whole stove, he plans to heat all his water with a Jetboil that he already had and install a fitting gas line to the bottom of it as it hung by his kitchen table. The ceiling has steel bars across the top with holes large enough to fit caribeaners, oh which Cam has plenty. Along with the Jetboil, a small space heater hangs from the ceiling as well. This is the only part of the van that Cam was unsure about. He planned to move to Colorado, where some nights will be very cold. In his tests of the heater at night in Rochester he admitted the van was much colder than he would like. However, I have faith that by now Cam has come up with some system to alleviate this.

Of all the little things Cam showed me about his van, one struck me as cooler than all the others. This was his rearview mirror. With his setup and no windows blocking what would be his view from the mirror, it was rendered useless functionally. While some would remove the mirror completely, Cam had another idea. On it one will find a painting of a river coursing through forests with a mountainous range in the background. Cam told me that his father had painted this for him, and it seemed to mean a lot to him. I find it rather symbolic, Cam will look to the place where most people see what is behind them, yet Cam will see where he came from.