Bucket List Tick

It has been a great few months culminating in one of my best redpoints ever. Punks in the Gym, my long-term project, has finally succumbed. I had been caught up in a psychological battle with this route. It took three and a half years after falling off near the top of the route, after both cruxes, to come back and finally link it through to the anchors. All up 5 years since I had first touched the glassy holds.

There were two main factors that made the difference for me allowing the send. The first was getting a fair bit stronger and the second was getting rid of the mental aspect of the route. This trip I turned up with no expectations. I felt I had bad preparation in the weeks leading up to the trip and so I jumped on other routes to try and test my fitness rather than being demoralized on Punks. I worked Lord of the Rings (31) and Slinkin Leopard (28) the morning of the send which was the day after a big day on Lord, Punks and Ethiopia (30). A huge lunch and hours of laying on a rock led to a training lap on Punks, to develop some muscle memory on the crux moves before my next rest period. My arms felt like lead and I had hardly any skin on my tips but I felt happy from trying so many awesome new moves on other routes. The rock felt sticky and before I knew it I was howling having clipped the chains. It was still a shaky send and I almost fell on the slab at the top again but it was enough.

Post send video of Punks in the Gym.

This last two-week break from work has definitely been one of my best in terms of sport climbing with Punks in the Gym (32), a second shot send of Eye of the Tiger (29), quick send of Ethiopia (30) thanks to some key beta from Malcolm Matheson, and the first ascent of The Arkenstone (30) in the Blue Mountains.  There’s no doubt moving to the Blue Mountains and being around other strong motivated climbers has enhanced my progression as a climber. I am excited to train hard and see what I can achieve overseas in the second half of the year.

Jack Masel joined me from Perth and got close to Eye of the Tiger (29) at Muline in the Grampians. Photo by Stuart Simons.

2014, Bring it on!

I just finished an amazing Christmas, New years break in the Blue Mountains packed with good friends, food and climbing. With Rob up from Tassie, Tracey down from Queensland, and Jack and Artur over from Perth the house was packed. Days were spent visiting cafes and a variety of crags. It felt great trying a bunch of new routes without the self-imposed pressure of actually sending anything.

I also got the GoPro out and managed to get some footage of Tracey on a classic 26 in Centennial Glen called Trix Roughly which I edited together only slightly better than my last attempt (see Shogun in my last post).

Tracey on Trix Roughly (26)

Tracey managed to one up me with her video of a cool multipitch out in the Grose Valley we climbed.

 Mission Hotel California

One the final day of the break William Chan who is visiting from Hong Kong offered to take photos of me on Shogun. I redid all the moves quite easily, which was a bit disconcerting as it left me wondering how hard the route really was. Only time will tell.

 Images of Shogun (32) by William Chan

It would seem work is coming to an end and at some time soon I will be able to head overseas and try some major goals climbing full time again. I am really excited about this as I feel I am climbing better than ever. I have also recently officially become a Kailas global athlete. It’s cool to be part of something and get a little recognition for your passion. Free gear is also cool ;)

Time Flies...

I can’t believe another year is almost over! Since my trip to Queensland I mainly focused on a single project in the Blue Mountains. I mentioned a route at Elphinstone, which my housemate bolted, a couple of blog posts ago.  I was inspired by this line due to its small holds and sustained sequence despite the base being a bit of a swamp and the challenge of convincing partners to go to a crag day after day more than 5 minutes from a café! I learnt a lot from the process of projecting this route. A stopper cross to a mono at move 19 of the 24 move crux sequence shut me down for a long time. Slight tweaks to my beta to conserve energy in the approaching moves and the endless repetition of the move itself meant I eventually could stick it from the ground. 40-50 shots after first trying the route I managed to redpoint it doing the first ascent of what felt like my hardest sport route to date. This opened my eyes to the potential of a stubborn focus for redpointing at a higher level. I am not convinced that it is necessarily a good thing though.  Improving through climbing a large volume of routes and training with friends is a lot more fun! Failure is a huge part of projecting with only limited successes in comparison. I also think its easy to dwell on failure because its part of a long process of learning whereas when you finally send a route the success is short lived because you are already thinking of the next inspiring route.  Anyway if you want a challenge and to try a cool route, Shogun (32?) is down at Elphinstone awaiting a second ascent.

I am a sucker for punishment so instead of taking it easy after sending Shogun I decided to head to Arapiles to finish of Punks in the Gym. Probably not my best decision as I was a bit worn out psychologically from projecting.  It rained on me as I tried the route on my first day and the second day the holds felt damp.  After a rest day we had stellar conditions and I managed to do both cruxes getting my foot up on the famous ‘birdbath’ hold but then a lapse in composure saw me off into space again! It absolutely bucketed down the next day and I made a great decision to go have a fun adventure instead.

I had only been to Tasmania once before and that was when I was 16 and had a guide-bookless epic in snow and white out conditions trying to find any route on Mt. Wellington, that would take the handful of bolt plates I had, just so I could say I had climbed there. This time I checked the weather and had some amazing days catching up with friends and enjoying some quality routes. The 5 star Totem Pole out on Cape Huay was incredible, a must for the Australian climbing experience ticklist, and After Midnight (24) on Mt. Wellington surely ranks up there with it.  

All photos of Simon Young and I on the Totem Pole by Robert vanHaeften. Sorry we didn't get any of you Rob!

I am back working in Perth now getting ready for some Christmas shenanigans in the Blue Mountains and the seeds of some remote big wall adventures have been planted in my mind. Can’t wait for 2014!

Winter Escape

I’ve been told that to become a true Blue Mountains local you need to spend a certain amount of winters there. I’m not sure how many but it’s a fair few. Renting a room in the coldest house in Blackheath I think I am going to have to delay becoming a true local and escape a few winters to warmer climes. I’ve done well this winter escaping to China, Perth for work, and most recently Queensland.  I only had a short time off work so the trip was just a week and I managed to convince Sophie Prior from the crazier side of Toon Town to join me.  Apart from climbing Sophie keeps herself busy by baking tasty chocolate brownies and giving Shiatsu massages. The perfect travel companion!

I had arrived at Coolum the day after a NSW bouldering competition and a short nights sleep so I was wrecked.  My excitement from finally making it to the crag and meeting JJ Obrien again gave me a bit of energy though and I set about dispatching the mid grade classics. There are a lot although a flash of Wholly Calamity (26) was definitely the highlight of the first day and a monstrous fight! I think Sophie may have been a bit shocked with how different the climbing is to the Blue Mountains but got stuck into working out the moves on Chevy Motor (24), which she managed to dispatch the following day. Ever since I had seen photos of it I had wanted to try a route called Evil Wears No Pants (30). On our second day JJ gave me great beta, which allowed me to work the moves out quickly. I was tiring very fast though so an easier day was in order.

Contemplating the final crux on Evil Wears No Pants (30) Photo: JJ Obrien.

Looking through the guidebook I saw a photo of a cool long route at an area called Mt Tinbeerwah. It turned out this was right next to JJ’s house where we were staying and the first route JJ had ever bolted. It was called The Ricoh Destruction Test (23M1) and I thought it would be a nice rest day objective. It turned out I probably needed a serious lie on the couch all day type rest day but the fun we had on this route was worth it. JJ rapped in and got some amazing shots of Sophie.

Sophie following pitch 3 of Ricoh Destruction Test. JJ captures the moment.

Styling it on an awesome sunshine coast day.

How good is this shot! Cheers JJ. Sophie on fire on the last pitch of The Ricoh Destruction Test. 

Fun day out :)

In the next two days at Mt. Coolum Sophie and I jumped on more classics and I continued to try Evil Wears No Pants but I was way too tired.  Sophie headed back home and I tried to charge up for yet another day on at another new crag. I met Neil Monteith in the car park at the base of Mt Tibrogargan. He had been bolting some new lines in the summit caves and was keen to try and send them. We simul-climbed a 4 or 5 pitch grade 17 in our approach shoes (Neil in Dunlop Volleys!), which was reasonably exciting and found ourselves at the summit caves.

I was too tired to try anything hard even though some classic grade 30’s really appealed to me there. Neil sent his first route, a bouldery grade 24, although couldn’t quite link the moves on his second route. Considering he was going to be back for another year I was psyched when he said it was ok for me to do the FA. Knowing the effort and money that goes into bolting I really appreciated this.  I still struggled and only just got it on my second go. High Definition (25) was born (named by Neil). JJ had arrived while we were both working it and took some great shots.

Neil charging up for the crux snatch. High Definition (25). Photo: JJ Obrien.

Cave 5 on Mt Tibrogargan with the mountains shadow over the fields. Photo: JJ Obrien.

After 7 days on rest was going to have to wait. Lee Cujes had invited me to a new crag he is developing and there was no way I could say no. I drove straight from Mt. Tibrogargan to the new area and met a cool crew of psyched climbers.  The first day I climbed a few of the classic easier routes and then passed out on my rope bag for the afternoon.  Luckily a crazy night with the crew in the local pub and Lee’s coffee machine managed to charge me up for my final and 9^th day on in which I sent my equal hardest route of the trip (28) and onsighted my hardest route of the trip (27). The new area is cool with steep climbing on incut crimps. With a bit more development it’s going to be a great weekend destination.

Epoxy Doxy (28). Lee has found a gem in this route! Photo: Lee Cujes.

A big thank you to JJ for the great shots and being an incredible host during the week. He is seriously one of the nicest guys in the Australian climbing scene.  Also to Lee who it was great to finally have a climb with, Neil for a great day out and a FA, and of course Sophie especially for the Shiatsu massages!