Tuesday, November 19, 2013

I've been bad... No posts in a long time!

It is now 20th of November and haven't posted anything since week 5... There's been a few things going on, but I'll keep it short:

- The following two weeks after I stopped writing I finally started my campus (maximum recruitment) phase. This, as always, resulted in huge gains. I can now campus ladder up to touching the last rung of the medium size rungs, which is a lot more than I could do on my last campus phase. Previously, I could do a rare maximum of touching the third rung. This training in turn reflected itself on my bouldering, since I could finally send that V5 that had elluded me. This pretty much opened up the floodgates and started bouldering V5 again, with a couple of V4 flashes.

- We went to Page's Pinnacle a few times in all this time period, where I finally got serious and sent Green Room (25), and started working on another project, Meter Maids (26), which I was close to sending on my second try, so I was thinking it was going to be about a 25, but after another session of failing on it I realized that linking all the moves (a highlight of 2 big moves) was indeed about a V5 boulder, and therefore a 26. Still in progress...

- After the second week of campusing, Igor invited Jin and myself to Adelaide, and we went down to South Australia and had a lot of fun. Here's the trip vid (DON'T FORGET TO SET IT TO HD 1080p):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG4LQJDgheY

- After coming back from Adelaide, my climbing gym pretty much closed down (closed down training facilities and much of the boulders), so I felt compelled to suspend my membership there and do an impromptu start at my power endurance phase, which I did by going to another climbing gym, The Rock, and doing lead climbing on quality set routes in Walltopia walls. This is where I'm at right now. I try to just project things that I can do in a few sessions, although I've been doing things between grades 22-26, with the exception of a monster red climb, which is about grade 29 and even though I've done all the moves (thank you, bouldering!) the link seems near impossible for me at the moment... I got a lot of satisfaction last week, because on Maria's birthday I got to do the "first ascent" of a grade 26(ish) climb at the Rock.

Me on the FA of a gym climb! Thanks for the shot Tony!

- A huge big highlight was Maria's 28th birthday on November 14th. Thanks to my friend Josie, we got free passes to Sea World and went up close and personal with the dolphins and their trainers, which was an amazing experience and we really envied the trainer's jobs! We then went to The Rock and had a lot of fun- Maria, despite recovering from a wrist injury from the bouldering comp earlier this year, has been onsighting "hards" (grade 18-21) in the gym. Looks like Trina (our friend and Maria's physio) has been giving her good advice. It's really too bad that she works in the evening and can't come to this gym that often... Anyways, I also took her to Sakura (a Japanese restaurant whose owner is the very talented chef and also a former sumo wrestler), which was a surprise for her because the original restaurant had closed, and I looked this guy up in case he had opened another one, and sure enough, located at this obscure location (Runcorn, QLD) there it was, and sure enough again, the meal was great! Last Saturday we also had a little get-together for Maria's and Webb's birthdays at my friend Steph's house, where we brought some panuchos (tradicional Yucatec dish) and had some good times.

Maria and I on her birthday reunion.

So right now, it's only 15 days until MEXICO! 10 for Maria. I can't wait!

6 comments:

  1. Esta bueno el video, que lastime que nunca escale en SA.

    Porque cambias de nombre de la 'productora' con cada video? Creo que deberías quedarte con cholo escuincle productions, hasta tiene un buen logo :)

    Por cierto, aun no han ido a Arapiles? tienen que ir algun dia, por mucho, es el mejor lugar donde he escalado en Australia y posiblemente el mejor en general.
    Creo que a ti te gustaria mucho grampians, que no esta tan lejos de Arapiles y vale la pena hacer los dos en el mismo viaje.

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    1. Si, pues estuvo divertido el viaje :) La productora la cambie porque a pesar de que Ugly Xolo Productions me cotizaba a buen precio, su calidad deja que desear, asi que decidi gastar un poquito mas con Is this thing on? Productions. Todavia no a Arapiles. Preferiria ir a las Grampians como tu dices, se ven muy padres tanto para escalar como boulderear! La verdad es que en cuanto a calidad de crag se refiere, no soy muy selectivo- a mi simplemente me encanta escalar- mientras no se rompan los agarres (y aun asi me divierto en lugares como Ninderry), estoy feliz :D

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    2. Es que no es solo calidad, pero diversion. En Arapiles hay tantas rutas para escoger, de todos los grados, sobre todo grados faciles que puedes estar escalando por dias y semanas en rutas super divertidas sin que si quiera te empopeyes. Ah y los agarres no se rompen. Inclusive tiene muchas rutas dificiles y clasicas. El clasino es importante por que sea un clasico, mas bien es clasico porque mucha gente lo ha escalado porque lo consideraron divertido :)
      Un buen proyecto para ti podria ser Punks in The Gym, al menos los 3-4 primeros bolts seguro los haces aunque sea dogging. De los siguientes no podria decirte.

      Si vas a Grampian, te queda tan cerca Arapiles, que seria un crimen no ir, aunque yo lo planearia al reves.

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  2. Donde es The Rock I walltopia? No habia escuchado de esos, son nuevos.
    Que tal Pinnacles, tampoco habia escuchado de esa area. Es una nueva? Recuerdo haber escuchado rumores de una area dentro de propiedad privada que estaban recien equipando. Sera esa misma?

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    1. The Rock esta hasta Browns Plains, en Logan. Se hace como 30 mins desde nuestro depa. Es un gimnasio que esta chiquito, pero de rutas de muy alta calidad. Ya no puedo escalar en Urban Climb, es una monserga chafa. Ojala que traigan gente nueva que ponga escaladas aqui!

      Pages esta increible! No esta en propiedad privada, sino en Springbrook National Park (Gold Coast Hinterland)- es relativamente nueva, tendra cuando mucho 10 anyos. Tiene la mayor densidad de rutas de 5 estrellas que he visto- en un espacio horizontal de 30 metros hay como 15 escaladas de 5 estrellas todas :)

      Creo que el area que tu estas pensando es el "Pulpit", que tambien esta en direccion a la Gold Coast y esta en propiedad privada. Es alli donde estan las escaladas mas dificiles del estado. Por su peculiar situacion (donde nada mas ciertas personas de "elite" tienen permiso ir a escalar alli), a pesar de que me han invitado, no quiero ir hasta que pueda ir quien sea. No estoy de acuerdo con escalar en un lugar donde no todos pueden escalar (seria como escalar en un gimnasio, donde tus escaladas no cuentan).

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    2. Aaah creo que si fue a The Rock. No creo que haya muchos gyms en Logan. El que fui esta al fondo de una cancha de basket. No esta tan mal y las rutas si son de mejor calidad. Tienen tambien un gimnasio en Fortitude Valley.

      Wow, Pages suena chido, como es que no fuimos antes?

      > seria como escalar en un gimnasio, donde tus escaladas no cuentan
      A que te refieres con que no cuentan? Aun asi es divertido no? Privado o no si cuentan no?
      Aunque no me gusta mucho eso de que solo algunos pueden ir... nose el motivo por el cual hacerlo `elitista`. Digo esta en propiedad privada, pero en teoria cualquiera podria negociar el mismo tipo de pemisos...

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