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On Anzac Day, my friend Lisa and I set off on a short 5-day trip to the Grampians. Our mission was to complete our projects at Hollow Mountain Cave, Cave Man (V9) for me and Extreme Cool (V8/9) for Lisa. Last year, I fell five moves from the finish of this 20-move problem (I’m climbing the former Cave Girl version), and it’s been on my mind ever since.

So, on a cold and wet morning, we arrived at Melbourne Airport, picked up our hire car and set off in the driving rain. Four hours (a few wrong turns and one terrible coffee stop at Beaufort) later, we were greeted with sunshine and pleasant temps as we entered Grampians National Park. We headed straight to the Hollow Mountain car park, up to Loopeys for a quick warm up, and then down to business in the cave.

Starting moves on Cave Man V9.

The first session was dedicated to remembering my beta and making sure I can do all of the moves, especially the section where I came off last year. As I began inspecting the line, it seemed like something was amiss, something was not quite as I remembered it, then it hit me, one of my crucial holds near the start had broken off! I had to change my beta for the beginning, which forced me to climb it like a tall person. Instead of doing smaller moves (on equally small holds) to the pocket, I had to do a big move straight to it from the weird horn under cling thingy, essentially cutting out a move, but making it slightly harder. From there, the rest of the climbing was straight forward. After a promising few hours, I was excited to come back the next day and try it from the beginning.

Cafe @ Mt.Zero Olives.
Our favourite hangout.

Well, the following day didn’t quite go according to plan. We woke to overcast skies and rain. We hunkered down at the Mt. Zero Olive cafe (they make excellent coffee by the way) with other climbers, waiting for the weather to clear. Unfortunately, it didn’t and it was a forced rest day for us.

Thank goodness the sun decided to show its face on day three. Time to rock and roll! We got up to the cave fresh from a rest day, tried a few moves on the project to warm up, and it was all systems go. The first few attempts were pretty pathetic, but encouraging. A few more tries later and I was moving through the problem fluidly, right up until the end of the flake line, where beta amnesia set in and I promptly fell off. By mid-afternoon, we were joined by a big group of guys also keen to work Cave Man. Everyone was psyched. I was now consistently falling off going from the flake line to the incut slot before the jug. With the others shouting encouragement, I tried to push through the stopper move again and again without success. By late afternoon, it was time to call it a day. I was tired and my skin was sore.

Busting through the moves on the flake line.

With only two days left, we made the decision to have another rest day, in the hope that it will give us the edge on the final day. The last day came around all too quickly, and with only five hours left of bouldering, it was all or nothing. It was game on. Physically, I felt alright, but mentally, doubts were starting to creep in. My chances of success diminished with every fall on the same move. The last few shots got steadily worse, until it reached a point where I couldn’t even hold the beginning sequences together. It was a very clear sign that it was time to go home. It wasn’t meant to be…...not on this trip anyway.

In hindsight, while I went home disappointed, I did not leave disheartened. We had a fun few days in the Grampians enjoying the scenery, good food and coffee, and great bouldering. I can’t wait to come back in spring and do it all over again, hopefully, with good news to report.

I’m now back in Sydney training to get fitter and enjoying the local blocs.

Sheila

Getting Me Bogan On

After months of anticipation I've finally moved to the sticks, albeit temporarily (next 3 months are definent). The last couple of weeks have a been a blur; working, partying, enjoying my favourite eating haunts, packing and a couple of runs to Natimuk and back. Unfortunantly, as a result I haven't been training in the last 2 weeks. Not to worry, this should mean I feel refreshed after a couple of nights of good sleep. Fingers are feeling goodish, and psyche is high.

Getting into town - few hours before dayshift (TIRED)

 This isn't a climbing holiday, I'll still be working full-time as a Paramedic in Horsham. The life of a country ambo is certainly different to the one I am familiar with. Instead of being flogged senseless and spending at least half a shift waiting for a bed at hospital (ramping), we have spent the majority of time at branch or doing personal errands in town. It will take me a little while to feel less uneasy about how much down time there is. I'm assured that when the time comes we will be busy and have some serious work. I'm looking forward to the challenge. Over the past two days, I've been getting my bogan on getting me ute up to scratch with new ball joints and raising the new suspension (which I installed with the help of my mate J. Power last week). Now all I need is some more flannies.

Good use of the Table legs

Aside from trying out the work side of the coin, I'm up here to climb a little bit more regularly than I have over the last couple of years. Midweek days off in Melbourne are great for drinking coffee and eating awesome food, but not for climbing. Hopefully there are enough Goats left in Nati to get out with, failing that off to the Gramps to boulder. I have a load of existing, abandoned and new routes to check out and play on. Psyched. The weather is aweseome, crisp mornings with clear blue skies. Can't wait until the weekend so I can climb at my local.


So my plan for the few months is this. Work, Train and Climb on Real rock. If I can get out more than 1 day a week (plan on 3 at least) then I will already be bettering my average over the last few years. Really should start getting some stuff done.

Peak hour

 - Grosey

Sota Trade Show in Canberra

Over the last few weeks the hard working crew at Expedition Equipment having been busy preparing for SOTA, the outdoor industries trade show, to display their products to prospective retailers from around the country. I was lucky enough to be in Canberra over the weekend and was able to spend a few hours on the stand with them.

The show was HUGE, far bigger than I expected but what I noticed was a distinct lack of climbing gear. As I looked around the hall I saw endless amounts of head torches, socks, camping equipment and rain proof jacket, but does anyone still care about climbing?

The Expedition Equipment crew not just displayed climbing gear, their stand absolutely rocked! Sure they had some camping goodies like the awesome Exped Downmats and tents, but they had loads of the best climbing gear from Red Chili, Wild Country, Moon, Grivel, Sterling, DMM, BeastMaker and Prana!!


They even had Chris Rowlands out from DMM U.K at the show to give an insight into quality engineering and manufacturing that DMM do.

Thats what I love about being part of this team, it's more than shoes and a chalk bag. Sure it doesn't hurt getting to use and represent some of the best brands and products out there. Great to see the guys at Expedition Equipment live, breathe and loves climbing just like I do!

Cheers  Andy


for more pictures of the show http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.333530203387642.77223.110056602401671&type=3

Countdown

Before

After

'Tis almost the season people. The nights have grown longer, the mornings brisker and the conditions are approaching optimum. I feel that in the next week or two it will be time to call the season officially open. For a change I am a little torn. I have wholeheartedly enjoyed the route renaissance that has been happening out west. The tying in, fear and falls have been fantastic this year. Not to mention ticking off some bangin lines down south, including Demon Flower and Wild Orchid (Both 30). Feeling a genuine ability to recover on reasonable holds has been a dramatic change and has enhanced my enjoyment of the entire experience no end. So, a big thanks to all those peeps with whom I have passed the last few months, it's been real, but it is time for me to bid you adieu and return to my natural habitat for another season, The Blocs... So, until those nights shorten, the mornings begin a slow simmer and conditions approach sub-optimum, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight. You know where to find me!

One Month Down......

.....and only, well lets not talk about how many to go, but it sounds really good when you say, One month down!! It's the first land mark in what is going to be a long recovery, and so far so good.

One Month Down and shoulder is looking good! Well not much of a tan and you don't want to see the skinny arm that is now attached to it, but a couple of neat scares to help me look cool



I said in my last post that I couldn't be happier with how things had gone with my surgery, and i'm happy to say that things with the rehab are still going along nicely. The support that i've had from my physio Rob has been great, going well beyond the call of duty to make sure I have the best chance possible of regaining a full range of motion. Today he got 148 degrees of movement out of my shoulder, which is awesome and weeks ahead of the norm. This won't help me get back on the cliff any earlier but is a really good sign for the joints mobility so i'm stoked!

Andy

Thy season beginneth

Just like Punxsutawny Phil, the Sydney groundhog has been a little shy about declaring summer to be over for the year. but the odd cool dry day has brought the boulderers out of hibernation. 

After a summer of trying to distract myself with surfing (let's just say I'm not a natural) it's nice to get back on to the blocs. A brief trip to Arnie's Acres and the Gramps was a great way to get the pistons firing on some fine-grained Victorian sandstone. As the man himself relays below, some classy first ascents were dug out from underneath the lichen near Wallaby rocks, along with some repeats of the quality steepness at the Cave of Man Hands (see topo in Vertical Life edition 1), the most notable of which was Dos Manos: an almost hroizontal 15-ish move gem with a gaston crux.

Around Sydney town I have been easing into things with ticks of a few obscure problems around the 8-9 mark including a sneaky ascent of this unnamed 9 at Jessicas between attempts on the slightly harder problem to it's right.

In other happenings, after much trigonometry and deliberation I have built a new board. It is nigh on 4m high complete with 6:1 pulley system to change the angle and can be set between 36 and 65 degrees. It is steadily being populated with hand-crafted desperately slippery holds including a collection of bespoke grips created and kindly donated by the folks at Beastmaker.

The new board

New holds in progress

All that's left to do now is put in a ridiculous number of hours of training on this thing then tick all my projects. 

  

La Cuerda

Underclinging through the 8th dimension

Well Easter has come and gone and it's back to the grindstone this week, but what a fabulous break it was. Scootsy came to visit for a week and the old partnership was back to its best in no time. Random calculations, epic table tennis matches and a spot of drinking seemed to be the norm for the trip. Oh, and I almost forgot, a little bouldering thrown in for good measure. We visited a few new areas, including Bundaleer and a place called Wallaby Rocks. Both good in their own way, but neither enough to sustain a proper Weill style assault, that is, returning week after week until all of the good lines are done. We did manage to eek out some lovely first ascents, especially the horizontal fridge slapping gem, Kick Ass, named in honour of the film that we had watched the night before. Classic, by the way. I added a sweet problem up a classic feature at Bundaleer, Underclinging through the eighth dimension, V10ish, starts with a pair of low undercuts and involves a couple of powerful slaps with the left hand before catching a wild tag with the right hand off a smeary footer. Good line, sandy crag, probably not a must visit.

Kick Ass

We had a day at the newly famous Cave of Man Hands where Scoots managed the second ascent of Dos Manos. A good effort by the number crunching desk jockey I must admit. I was worried that he was going to find some easy way to do all of my problems, but thankfully there was to be no ruining of Sound of One Man Hand Clapping. The cut loose move kept the lad honest, especially after he proclaimed that he had it sorted...

Scootsy on a new V7 at Wallaby Rocks

We managed a visit to Nati on Easter Saturday in time to catch Goatfest. I had entered a video that I had shot and edited on a whim. I had no real expectations, which was lucky, because we ended up not being able to get in, instead passing most of the fest in the pub, getting gently pickled. A message alerted us to the fact that the films were done and it was time to head back to catch up with some friends, but as we entered they were announcing the winners. I was absolutely shocked to hear my name called out, Dead Heat had taken out the Judges award and the Audience award. Next thing I knew I was up on stage receiving an award and being asked to make a speech. Now, all who know me, know that I love to be the centre of attention and having two hundred people hanging on every word I say is like nirvana for me. Unfortunately, the days climbing and a dozen beers put paid to any Ricky Gervais style acceptance speech. I was almost speechless and have been kicking myself ever since. What if I said...


So, anyway, I got to do a heap of bouldering but also continued on with some corded work as well. I had two days down south to finish up my break and managed to actually tick a couple of things. I did Demon Flower at Muline, 30, and almost did Wild Orchid, also 30 on the same day, falling on the last move, but this will definitely go down next visit. I also did Chasing the Shadow at the Gallery, 27. Not a super hard route, but one that I had tried earlier this season, failing on the final section. Clearly my fitness is improving, as I was able to shake out where I fell previously. I was unaccountably chuffed with this send, but safe to say, climbing on a rope has been loads of fun, not something I have done much of in the last few years.