The fun begins.....

Hey guys just a quick blog update on what I have been up to lately, hopefully this post will be a little more exciting then my previous couple.

The Underworld

So, if you haven't been following my blog, I have gone a little quiet on the sendage side of things over the summer and have spent a fair amount of my time training. The summer was very wet in the Blue Mountains, which although can get a little depressing turned out to be a good thing for me because it forced me into an 8 week training routine. Over this time I tried not to think too much about climbing outside and focus on what was stopping me from doing the routes I wanted to do. The first 4 weeks were great, 2 hang board sessions a week, 4 boulder sessions and maybe go outside one or two arvos a week to maintain my route fitness. This was tops until my fingers started to hurt, and then it became a joke, every session I had a new finger niggle. I laid off the hang board for a couple of weeks and bouldered on slopers until I felt I could at least crimp again. It got super frustrating occasionally when the sun would peer through the clouds. Usually on a Saturday I would run into half a dozen friends at the coffee shop psyched because the sun was out. "Where are you climbing today Norry??" I would be envious of their  psych and jealous that they were getting out. I would  reply "i am training at the BBC today". then they would look at me as if I had two heads.

My Mechanical Animals simulator @ the Bowlo

Coin slot crack.....oh the pain!

Anyways, I first tried a route called Mechanical Animals(33) back in July last year. I will not forget this day in a hurry. I had spent the last two years climbing all of the routes around it and every time I would get to the Tripe rest I would stare at the crux holds below me. At the time I found the Tripe(30) crux hard enough, let alone linking a V11 boulder problem into it! Basically I threw myself at the crux for 3 days, before realising and admitting to myself that at this point in time I was not strong enough to climb this route. Individually I could stick the moves, however linking the boulder problem together was a different story. I found the crux to be quite intense on my right shoulder, for this reason I was quite hesitant to give the route some real curry. I decided to give it away and went back to the old default setting. "oh well this route just isn't my style, I'll just push it away under the mat and forget about it".

At this time I was about to head to China and it was coming into summer so I guess I almost forgot about it all together. I guess I felt demoralised by this route I didn't want to except the fact that I was going to have to step up to climb it. Hehe it probably sounds funny to somebody that doesn't climb but this ate away at me and every time somebody would mention Boronia Pt I would cringe.
  On New Years day I wrote out a bit of a hit list for 2012 with Mechanical Animals being at the top, followed by a dozen or so classics that I really want to do. I also started a training log and decided that this summer was going to be the turning point. I returned to the route almost 2 months later with stronger fingers and a better mindset. I could climb the route in overlapping sections. It was another two months of rain, more rain, bad skin and psychological epics before I clipped the chains of what is my hardest route to date. It seems so strange, something that I had thought about and obsessed over for nearly 8 months was all over in a matter of a few minutes. Such an awesome line! So psyched to have had the chance to climb it.

Hashish(32) The Underworld        Photo: Aurel Gelot

A few days later I was feeling good and my knee was feeling better after a long break(from heel toes). While I was on a high I thought it would be cool to try and keep the ball rolling. Hehehe this doesn't happen often but when it does its great. It was unfinished business for me at the Underworld! I instantly fell in love with this climb from the moment I first set eyes on it, 25 metres of steep/ roof climbing, I injured my knee badly on the route in December and to be quite honest I did not think it would heal for a long time. As it turns out my knee was fine(at least on the route), It just needed a couple of months rest from heel toes:-\. I think I have gotten a bit stronger since the last time I tried the route, the moves felt a lot easier and the route flowed nicely. Hashish(32) basically links the crux's of two awesome routes together via some additional(radical) roof moves. I know it is a big call but I would have to say it is the best or at least in the top 3 best routes I have ever climbed. The final crux is a unique boulder sequence that more or less puts the icing on the cake, I won't give away anymore you'll have to get on it and see! It was a great feeling to come back stronger and send this route, especially after it kicked my arse 3 months ago. A big thanks to Aurel for snapping some cool shots:-)

Thankyou for taking the time to read my blog, hopefully i'll have some more good news soon. I'm looking forward to spending the next month at Diamond Falls and getting down to Victoria at some stage.
My flatmate Allie Pepper is currently in Nepal, where she is about to climb Manaslu and Lhotse in the same season. If she is successful she will be the only Australian woman to climb  two 8000 metre mountains back to back. check out here web page www.alliepepper.com it's a great read.GO ALLIE!