Is the Honeymoon over??.....

Hey guys, just keeping you updated on what has been cracking in the bluies of late.

Since my previous post, I have not really done a great deal of stuff ! However I have managed quite a lot of training and frothing about all the routes I want to climb.

A nice cold morning out at Narrowneck

It seems quite pleasant in the mountains at the moment, a great temperature for sending and the rain appears to have eased off. I have started working 5 days a week again to try and save some extra cash in hope of getting to the Frankenjura(Germany) in September. It has allowed me to do some more structured training and buy more expensive coffee!

Awesomely cold conditions.

I think I may have mentioned in one of my previous posts that I had been trying a route called Alpha Leather. Such an awesome little climb, nice and close to home and a classic at that. I came pretty close to nailing this route on Anzac day in awesome conditions, in fact it was handed to me on a silver platter, anyways came very close but no cigar. Quite the shame as it is quite conditions dependant and this particular day was incredible. Anyway, on this day I tore open two finger tips on the route, my index finger was a small split and my ring finger was more of a gash. Frustrating, yes! But nothing I hadn't done before. I taped my fingers and trained on them for the remainder of the week and decided one sunny Saturday afternoon that I only needed one shot and it would be done! So, it was off to Blackheath Mitre 10 for some cheap super glue. I was a genious, why had I not thought of this before?? It had worked on routes in the past, but this time my skin was a lot worse. To cut a long story short, the glue didn't help me get up Alpha Leather and I got a gnarley infection on my index finger, this meant I couldnt train properly for a while. To make things worse I think the glue must have reacted to my skin and it still has not fully healed.

What to do when your skin can't handle Blue mountains sandstone?

Nowra

Oh yes! It's that time of year. In fact maybe my season started a little prematurely as I hadn't planned on heading south until July.

I was frustrated and stressed, every time I would pull onto something remotely sharp at home my fingers would just start bleeding again and I needed a break from training at the BBC. It was then as I reached in to the fridge to devour a snack, I looked up and saw “Attack Mode” written on my hit list for 2012(these are the advantages of a fridge front hitlist!!)

Perfect! Big fat underclings, smooth rock and Uuber classic line.

I was instantly on the blower to Gavatron Phillips, and there we were skipping our way down the rungs to Planet Cock(its actually a crag) on a cold friday morning!

Start of Attack Mode

Awesome, butterflys in my tummy and slightly over caffeinated I stood underneath Attack mode(32), the route that had shut me down 13 months ago. Over the summer this route was in the back of my mind flailing about, just thinking about clipping that draw made my biceps melt. I didnt really know what to excpect this time, but one thing was for sure it was on my all time “to do” list. 

We had set a side two days at Nowra and made the decision to climb both days at PC. Last year I had spent a day on Attack Mode playing about and trying the moves. I remember thinking   although I could do all of the moves, I was far away from linking the route to the fixed biner(anchor). In my mind I guess this particular climb always had an ore about it, and a year ago I probably considered it not my style.

So, on Friday we just soaked up the Nowra atmosphere for a while, warmed up briefly and jumped on the Mode. 

To give you a brief run down, the route is probably 8 to 10 metres long, consists of three clips including the anchor and the majority of the route is probably no higher than 3 metres from the ground. The first section involves busting through some powerful undercling moves, and making a bit of a desperate clip. Then climbing a short flake with some hardish moves to the anchor. The first day just involved familiarising myself with the moves, and yes punching through the underclings still felt desperate! I decided rather than throwing myself at the underclings over and over I would try and dial the tail end of the route first. I knew that If I could climb the second half of the route with confidence I would be in a better mindset for the underclings. After watching Chris Webb on smitten  I had found a much easier way of clipping that draw using a deep drop knee. I then successfully linked from that clip to the anchor. By the time I had worked all of these subtleties I was pretty smoked, we made the decision to call it a day and I was hoping I would have the steam to pull it off the next day.

After waking up to a bunch of Kookaburras at 6am the next morning we smashed a coffee at North Nowras local "Nice and Naughty"coffee shop! (So stoked North Nowra finally has coffee shop and I couldn't have named it better myself) 

Once again we warmed up, and I went for a burn up Dude Food(29) a great climb, if I could have 3 wives this route would certainly be one of them! 

I jumped on Attack Mode again and holy shit it felt hard today, any thoughts I had of red pointing the route on this day had just gone out the window. Smashed on the underclings once again, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to climb the route today, but there had to be something I was missing. I tried every body position, different feet and screaming as hard a I could until after about 30mins the penny had dropped. Muscle memory engaged and I was linking the underclings. Once again after I had worked the route for nearly an hour I was too boxed to link it.
It was back home to Blackheath and I was already considering making another day trip,  I was a little bummed, but at the same time quite excited.
The following Tuesday I decided to make the long haul from Blackheath, climb for 4 hours and then head home again. It doesn't sound too bad, but 6 hours of driving in a day is pretty taxing(for me anyway).
I'm not sure who was more shocked Gav or myself, but my first attempt was surprisingly good. Without thinking too much about the task at hand, I pulled on to the route, linked through the underclings, made the two clips and fell on the second last move.
I was frustrated that I didn't send the route but certain It would happen next shot. Well, so I thought. As it turns out the first attempt of the day was by far the best, my following attempts I struggled to get through the underclings and drove home empty handed once again.
On the fourth day I fell twice with the anchor staring me in the face. After a couple of hours rest, a Tuna snack and half a bag of jelly beans I decided to give it one more lash and happily sent Attack Mode. I must say it was a nice feeling driving home having climbed this route. Happy Days.

I remember as a young boy sitting on my bedroom floor in front of  pedestal fan watching the blade spin in fascination. I would watch it for days over the summer and wonder how fast the blade was actually spinning. My small fingers could fit in between the wire caging around the blades, I was always overly curious. Could I pull my finger in and out fast enough with out getting cut??? Mum knew what I was up to and despite her warning one day I built up the courage to have a crack and you wouldn't believe it! Blood everywhere, crying young boy with a sore finger.
What the hell does this have to do with my Blog???
Well, a few days after Attack Mode totally frothing, Evan and I headed down to the ole local Centennial Glen. Lovely coolish morning, awesome Autumn conditions and on a high it was time to try out Better than Life(32). We'd fondled on this before and played on the moves in horrid conditions but I was always particularly worried about the small tweaky two finger pockets. Although the wall is not steep at all, there are a couple of moves that made my fingers feel ultra tweaky. On routes I have tried in the past if something doesn't feel right or the potential for injuring myself is there i'll normally lay off it until I feel ready for it. Not this day! The first attempt was good, sorting out the moves quite quickly and realising that the climb shouldn't be too much of a task was a good feeling. The crux consists of moving between a few crimpy two finger pockets and bearing down quite hard to a bad edge. Most of the moves are done with a good left heel position then once the crux is complete its a cruise to the top.
So, only one thing left to do and that was to stop hesitating and start giving this crux some curry. Before the second attempt my finger felt a little sore and maybe a tad tweaked, it was hard to tell because my hands were a little cold and suppose I was just in denial. Like the boy who 16 years ago shoved his finger into the fan, I wanted a lash.

Mooching under the Main Wall with a sore finger

Without going into too much detail, feeling strong on the moves and really wanting to climb Better than Life I tried the crux again. Heel on, take the left hand pocket, bone down hard, flag to the coin slot with my right, tuck my hips in and move to the edge.....(CRACK)! Ouch.... no climbing for me for a while. I was pretty certain that this did not happen to Saxon Johns in the Comin at ya Hyper Video.  Bit of a pulley rupture to say the least.
A big thanks to Evan for sacrificing his lunch container for my finger, luckily there was an icy waterfall around the corner to take refuge in!
Hehehe, learn from my mistake and if you feel tweaky lay off and go climb one of the hundreds of other routes around. As I type, its probably been about 10 days since I hurt my finger and I think with lots of Icing it is healing pretty well, but it is still a mega setback for my training and climbing coming into the best conditions of the year. Hopefully climbing will be on the menu again soon.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and sorry if I carried on a bit more than usual but to be honest until I can train I am BORED! Rock On!
Norry:-)