Sunday, December 25, 2011

blue mountains, australia so far.........

So here i am on another rest day after shredding my fingers to bits climbing on the rough but awesome blue mountain sandstone!  This is my second long climbing trip here in the bluies and i am loving every second of it! During this first week that i have been here the weather hasn't really been the best may i say, but hey…. who cares! it hasn't stopped us from climbing. Its great over here because no matter what the weather is doing there is always crags to go to and some on to climb with, which is handy because i try to take the least amount of rest days as possible because just as any rest day, you get shit bored! But here i think it is defiantly very worth the odd rest day because it really sucks trying to bare down on those little crimps with taped up fingers….. it just dose not go well!


At the moment i am camping in an awesome location  in the middle of the Aussie bush right on top of the cliffs. I just take a 2 second walk down a little track and there is an awesome lookout point overlooking the valley, with bright orange cliffs on the side and the faint hills in the harison with the Aussie bush in the middle! looks really nice when the sun is in the right spot!


During this week i have been climbing mostly with my good friend Matt Norgrove who lives here and is very strong! It has been really good climbing with him because he knows this place off by hart and he can show me all the really cool lines that i should jump on! We have been climbing lots at the Glen mainly because that is the place to go to when it has been raining but i have also been to Boronia crag which i think is super cool and  have begone to line up a couple of really cool climbs there which i am super psyched to try! I jumped on this really cool climb called Green Eggs And Ham (28/ 7c+/ 5.13a) and i fell of the last move going to a big jug trying to stop my hands from opening up from pump! I was super stocked with this because last year i couldn't reach the first holds and was to week to do the first boulder problem! I was really happy to be able to do the start confidently because there are a lot of climbs that start on this same boulder problem! Cant wait to go back there when the weather isn't so wet!  At the glen there are many super cool climbs! Mat showed me this climb called Levitation (29/8a/5.13b) which i was first really intimidated by because there are some really big moves in the first boulder problem through the roof which looked awesome but hard. Anyway after surprisingly being able to do all the moves pretty quick, i went for the send on my second shot!, and of course i ended up falling off a move at the top that  was totally expected! It turned out to be a pretty  hard move when on the red point, so the next day i came back and spent a little bit of time making sure it wouldn't happen again…… I ended up ticking it a couple of tries later after falling of the hard moves on the first boulder problem on the try before hand!!!  super psyched!!!!!!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Petzl RocTrip China!

This two week climbing trip to the Getu Valley in china was a great experience and a huge eye opener for me. The trip started with a crazy bus ride down a small windy road through a very poor but beautiful part of china. Driving in to the village i was in awe of how much rock i could see on ether side of the road, i just couldn't wait to wake up the next morning and go climbing.



Petzl Rock trip….

The event itself had a really cool atmosphere to it! every one was so friendly and fun to be around. It was really fun at dinner and breakfast time because every one would get around the tables and talk and talk and talk. it was so cool! everyone would just listen to everyones stories.

And the climbing was amazing…… During the first week Petzl had set up a flash contest in order to get everyone to visit as many crags as possible! During these few days i spent my time climbing at The Great Arch, The Buddha Cave and Banyangs Cave. These crags all seemed huge compared to what i am used to here in NZ. All of them consisted of many 30+ meter routes of amazing quality. Every crag during the event was packed full of climbers and photographers from all around the world and with lots of local chinese people with their cameras pointing in every direction. During the event there were also many really cool climbing movies playing on the big screen at night and often many parties which collected a decent crowd every time.

The following week with Five Ten was just as fun. The crowds slowly disappeared but the atmosphere stayed. This next week was really great and it was fantastic fun being apart of the Five Ten team, climbing lots, taking photos and just having a wicked time! During this week i spent most of my time climbing at my favorite crag Banyangs Cave. This is because after a week of climbing at the great arch and the buddha cave, i got a bit tired of slipping and sliding off the dusty slopers and when i found the awesome long crimpy routes at banyangs cave, i just loved it and couldn't stop going there. It was really good climbing with people like Dave Graham, Ethan Pringle and all those guys and i learnt so much from them.

During this trip i climbed some of the nicest and hardest routes that ive done!

>Calf 7c (Flash)
                                                                            
>Free Max 7c (Flash)

>Loco de noodles 7c+ (Flash)

>Going With Buddha 7c+

>Ki Di Buzz 8a

>Treblinka Pour Diego 8b

every route that i did here were top quality and i really enjoyed them!

I had never really done photo shoots before so it was all new for me and a huge learning experience working with the photographer Beau. He's a great guy and did an awesome job. At first I found it a bit weird having a camera always there but after taking manny photos with the locals and the photographers i began to get used to it and i began to enjoy it. it was amazing to see so many photographers super keen to hang on the end of a rope for hours on end waiting for the perfect photo.


Over this two weeks i had a ball of a time meeting all the best climbers in the world and just being a part of such a great team and such a great  event. So thanks to Five Ten and Spelean, can't wait for the next one!

I would also like to say a huge thank you to all my friends and family who helped me get there! i really appreciate it! :)