Moonshadow

A big thanks to Simon Carter for snapping a few shots recently(and also thanks to Monique for the belay). Here are a couple of pics on Moonshadow(33) @ Centennial Glen. Check out Simons Web page www.onsight.com.au or click the link to the right.

Larger Than Life

So it would appear that this week I have altered my training schedule just a little. I managed to sneak out in between thunderstorms and do a bit of climbing at the Glen with a friend Jonas. Not sure if this was wise but, I really enjoyed it! Despite the wet humid conditions, we had fun and hopefully it helped maintain a bit of route fitness. I have been obsessed with my fingerboard sessions lately, so much to the point I have been waking up in the middle of the night with aching fingers. So I thought that laying off the training for a week wouldn't hurt. I have been having an early morning boulder for a couple of hours than hitting the crag after 4pm. I tried a route called Larger than Life(31) and Jonas nailed Brutal and Wrong Movements(27) quite quickly, so the pressure was on for me to send this route. Larger than Life is an incredible line, I remember almost 3 years ago when I first visited the glen, standing underneath this route in amazement. It basically climbs a 40 metre traverse and finishes out 2 roofs. This style of climbing is pretty rare in the mountains, the only accept ion being the Amphitheatre at Diamond Falls. The first 2 days I tried the route, a lot of the important holds were quite damp and some were even wet. Fortunately when I returned on the third day(i'm not quite sure how) the holds were slightly better, making it sendable. Even though the final jug is a monstrous hoofer, I nearly came off clipping the anchor due to the huge amount of rope drag and the rock was slick and damp. Luckily I held on! Such an awesome route, just remember to pack long slings and roller biners(unlike me):-)

Day Dreamer

 A nice day at fort rock, Blackheath.

This definitely is not my most exciting post I have ever submitted, but to be entirely honest I haven't really done anything worth blogging about. So I'll keep it short and sweet! Since Christmas I have been trying to be a little more disciplined and actually try and do some slightly more "structured" training. Prior to New Year I was spending a bit of time at the Underworld with Benjamin, keen for an awesome line called Hashish(32). It Basically links the crux of two awesome routes into one, via a really cool roof traverse. Pumpy with a technical crux. I was pretty psyched until I injured my knee trying a little too hard on one of the moves, this is not good considering the route has 5 heel toe moves leading up to the crux. In the end there was no question about it, any heel toe position was excruciating. Unfortunately I wont be climbing this route for a while. Quite frustrating, but it will heal and hopefully by then I will be strong enough to climb the route with ease.
This little set back also gave me the opportunity to get back to a route called Mechanical Animals(33) at Boronia Pt. No heel toes in this sucker, so I didn't have any excuses! Despite conditions being rather average, I think I managed some pretty good progress on this line. It took me probably 3 days of work before I could do the crux sequence, and then I overlapped the route on a couple of occasions. It went from feeling totally impossible to very doable, in a short period which is exciting. Since then we have had 3 weeks of crazy weather, pretty well rain on most days.

Rogue Echidna joining the action at Boronia 

Anyway for the past 3 or 4 weeks I have just been training quite a lot at the BBC, and hang boarding at home. It has worked out rather well, because it allows me to work more and train harder. I think a solid block of training over summer is not a bad thing, especially when the conditions are terrible. I really enjoy running at the moment especially in the mountains(when its not raining). I did a lot of cross country running as a kid and then gave it away for probably 8 years. I seem to have forgotten how good running makes me feel, its awesome.

Unfortunately Larger than life is larger than my quickdraw collection!

This time of year is once again very frustrating. Do I persevere with the bad conditions and risk not getting anywhere on a project....or just cut my loses and train solid for the remainder of summer. I made the mistake last year of throwing myself at routes that were at my limit in 99% humidity and although it was fun, I think a lot of it was a big waste of time and could have been better spent training. I keep on dreaming of rocking up to the cliff on a beautiful cold autumn day with a new level of strength. Crushing that crux that demoralised me last season and sending that project in 3 shots instead of 3 months. I think it is probably this thought alone that drives me to train harder. I Can't wait to climb these routes!!

 Jammin with Danny & Ben at Waragil

That pretty briefly sums up the past month. I look forward to posting some slightly more exciting blogs very soon. This year is going to be awesome! Thanks for reading my blog :-)