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| Chook, looking happy with his creation... |
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| Not so much now though... |
One or two of you may have noted a lack
of posts lately from down under. There really is only one reason for
it, it has been hot, really oppressively, heart breakingly, stinking,
blood hot. In the last month there have been 2 days under 30 and they
weren't far off either. So, any fitness that I had gained from my
route climbing in December and early Jan has disappeared and I am now
master of the mid grade. It has been too hot to even get excited to
try hard. Sweating your way up routes in a brief window before
exhaustion or disinterest sinks in is really the only answer. Instead
I have been focusing my efforts on a wicked new pursuit, tree
jumping... So, Lake Fyan's, which is about 15 mins from my place is
the venue and it works like this. Grab a kayak, paddle out to the
deeper water, lash the kayaks, swim across to your chosen tree, find
a route up and then jump from as high as you dare. Pehaps throw in a
backflip for good measure. Sweeeeet. It has been a great addition to
the list of activities and has other benefits. There is a great beach
there that you can drive on to and have a BBQ post swim and lounge
around in deck chairs sipping on a cold beer. All in all it has been
a pretty fun summer, but it has felt like it has been hard work to
get anything substantial done. Anyways, I guess you guys aren't that
psyched for reading about my non-climbing related activities, so
here's a run down.
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| Adding the bolts... |
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| And the send... |
I have been trying two routes a bit,
but have had no luck. I have wanted to do, 'Who's a naughty boy?', 32
for a long time, but it is my anti-style really with the crux coming
right at the end and being a continuous 10 move boulder. I can pull
on and do the moves without too much effort, but doing the 29 route
beforehand just saps that little edge that you need for it. I have
come really close on a bunch of occasions, but have oozed off the
final moves, very frustrating, but not entirely unexpected in these
conditions. I have also had a play on United Nations which is an
awesome wall that shades up nicely in the afternoon, so is perfect
for an evening session, post work. This one is a different prospect,
just a hard boulder that I haven't managed to do yet. It has a pretty
hard mono move into a two finger undercling and is sick. It's
probably 31/32, but not sure. Some visiting Frankendura local pathed
it, but for mono mortals it is quite hard and has only had two
repeats, so we shall see. I'll perservere with both, but am really
just looking forward to the colder weather now and some serious
bouldering. My flirtation with a cord is almost at an end.
I have been spending a bit of time at
Arapiles, where the gullies offer some nice cooler microclimates of
their own and you can chase the shade through multiple venues for the
day. For those who don't know, Arapiles is one of the best trad
climbing crags in the world, but is not entirely without some hard
and techo sport routes as well. Luckily enough, I was gifted a
project by one of my friends last week. A short four move boulder
leads to easier climbing up higher. Perfect for a boulderer like
myself. He'd already drilled the holes in it, all I had to do was
throw two expansions in and pop the hangers on and go for it. The
result, was an easier than expected, but still fun little 28, Mormon
Poultry and is a good little addition to Doggers Gully. Anyways, last
night was quite cool and low temps are forecast for the weekend, so
hopefully there'll be some more action to report after the weekend.
