The video below is self explanatory, but if you can't/don't want to see it, I have sent Separation Anxiety (28) yesterday! I also managed to get all of the moves on Weapon of Choice (27), getting me closer to achieving yet another goal. Big thanks go to Maria, for her patience in coming with me to Coolum despite not being able to climb herself, her encouragement, her cinematography, and her (sometimes abrupt on my end) belays. This vid was shot and edited in a single day- encouraging! I'll write a post later detailing why. Enjoy the vid! This time it's shorter, honest :D
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
2014 Climbing Goals (... or goals to be completed before leaving Australia)
Well, I very well cannot just post things in this blog this year without at least one mention of what I hope to accomplish in 2014 in the climbing department, can I? This is why this short post will explain such aspirations. By doing this, will these be seen at the end of the year with either satisfaction or disappointment? Not only would that be very black-and-white, but it would also suggest that I climb for the goals and not the process, and this is not true for me. So even though I do admit that I aspire to improve my climbing (and I don´t think this is a bad thing, as the challenge of being able to do elaborate, complicated, physically demanding movement is part of what I love about climbing, together with things like the people that you meet, the places that it takes you, the empty-mindedness it induces, and other such usual suspects), I fully expect to feel both satisfied and challenged with whatever outcome I have, as well as enthusiastic for the future, not unlike I am feeling right now. Also, I find that it is good to have concrete goals in order to help motivation in training- like my strategy of always having a climbing trip planned in the not-so-distant future, which has always motivated me to train as hard as I can (although I admit that I enjoy training too). So without further ado, here are my climbing objectives of 2014:
1. Groovy (28/5.13a) - An Australian climbing icon that is the preface of Groove Train (33/5.14b), sometimes called the best sport route in Australia. It being more or less at the upper end of my current level, the reasons to climb this are obvious!
2. Ammagamma stand start (V8) - This one´s pretty ambicious, given that the hardest I´ve done is a single V6, but again, this is one of the nicest boulders in Australia, possibly even the World (at least the V13 version is)! If there is a glimmer of a chance of me getting on this, I will! If I send it, it would be extra sweet...
3. The Nevin Rule (V7) - Another classic Australian boulder, with seemingly sculpted white sandstone into waves of pure beauty, perfect if it wasn´t because of it´s lack of top-out. Seems like it might be in the realm of what´s possible before I leave Australia... We´ll see!
4. Separation Anxiety (28/5.13a) -To get me started on grade 28, I have chosen a route that is short and bouldery. The reason for this is that I believe that if one can do a short bouldery route at a grade then one can probably more easily build endurance for longer ones at the same grade, as the moves will likely be simpler. This one´s in Mount Coolum, is about 6 meters long, and can be split into 2 V5 boulders, making the boulder grade about V7 or 28. I´ve now done all the moves and I do the top boulder very differently to everybody else, but I never go far from the bolts at all... I´m not sure if this still counts as being part of the route? I´m not sure, but the top part seems like a V5 using my beta, we will see what grade I think it deserves when I (hopefully) send it. Watch the vid here (watch it only when HD viewing is available!):
5. A proper front lever - The next level in ab strength and power. If I can hold a proper one for 5 seconds, I will consider this goal complete.
6. Two full one-arm pull-ups - This one is also ambicious! I can only do an almost full one, but can hardly start the second one.
7. Gasoline Rainbow (28/5.13a) - Being 20+ meters long at Mount Coolum and the classic 28 of the crag, this is the resistance testpiece analog to the power testpiece (Separation Anxiety). I have a feeling this will come easier than Separation though!
8. Weapon of Choice (27/5.12d) - A classic at the grade and because I haven´t done any 27´s, this objective is to get familiar with the grade (there aren´t that many 27´s in QLD).
Happy climbing!
1. Groovy (28/5.13a) - An Australian climbing icon that is the preface of Groove Train (33/5.14b), sometimes called the best sport route in Australia. It being more or less at the upper end of my current level, the reasons to climb this are obvious!
2. Ammagamma stand start (V8) - This one´s pretty ambicious, given that the hardest I´ve done is a single V6, but again, this is one of the nicest boulders in Australia, possibly even the World (at least the V13 version is)! If there is a glimmer of a chance of me getting on this, I will! If I send it, it would be extra sweet...
3. The Nevin Rule (V7) - Another classic Australian boulder, with seemingly sculpted white sandstone into waves of pure beauty, perfect if it wasn´t because of it´s lack of top-out. Seems like it might be in the realm of what´s possible before I leave Australia... We´ll see!
4. Separation Anxiety (28/5.13a) -To get me started on grade 28, I have chosen a route that is short and bouldery. The reason for this is that I believe that if one can do a short bouldery route at a grade then one can probably more easily build endurance for longer ones at the same grade, as the moves will likely be simpler. This one´s in Mount Coolum, is about 6 meters long, and can be split into 2 V5 boulders, making the boulder grade about V7 or 28. I´ve now done all the moves and I do the top boulder very differently to everybody else, but I never go far from the bolts at all... I´m not sure if this still counts as being part of the route? I´m not sure, but the top part seems like a V5 using my beta, we will see what grade I think it deserves when I (hopefully) send it. Watch the vid here (watch it only when HD viewing is available!):
5. A proper front lever - The next level in ab strength and power. If I can hold a proper one for 5 seconds, I will consider this goal complete.
6. Two full one-arm pull-ups - This one is also ambicious! I can only do an almost full one, but can hardly start the second one.
7. Gasoline Rainbow (28/5.13a) - Being 20+ meters long at Mount Coolum and the classic 28 of the crag, this is the resistance testpiece analog to the power testpiece (Separation Anxiety). I have a feeling this will come easier than Separation though!
8. Weapon of Choice (27/5.12d) - A classic at the grade and because I haven´t done any 27´s, this objective is to get familiar with the grade (there aren´t that many 27´s in QLD).
Happy climbing!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
First post after a long break...
Well, an apology about not posting as soon as we got back from our vacation is in order, so sorry about that!
Our vacations in Mexico and Colorado were amazing. The following video (almost) sums it up:
Our vacations in Mexico and Colorado were amazing. The following video (almost) sums it up:
Before I tell you about my noteworthy ascents during the trip, you need to understand that before the trip started, I trained hard, but I set one simple goal: to try and get one high quality, hard send (for me that means 5.12a and above), but always limiting myself to three shots maximum.
Secretly, of course, I was super keen to finish up the base of my climbing grade pyramid (this is a strength and mind build-up idea that means, for example, that if one aspires to send, say, grade 27, one needs to have sent eight 24's, four 25's, two 26's and one 27), which for me meant to send 24's and 25's (which in Yosemite Decimal Scale are 5.12a's and 5.12b's), specifically one 24 and one 25 would see me having a total of eight 24's and eight 25's. But this was maybe too much to ask! I tried to convince myself not to get attached to that ambition.
First of all I want to say that I was really psyched about Maria's climbing, given that she seemed to have recovered pretty well from her wrist injury- it hardly hampered her at all this trip. She was back not only climbing, but always leading- commited! Really cool and inspiring!
First of all I want to say that I was really psyched about Maria's climbing, given that she seemed to have recovered pretty well from her wrist injury- it hardly hampered her at all this trip. She was back not only climbing, but always leading- commited! Really cool and inspiring!
Some noteworthy sends for me include:
- Blue Fin 5.12a (second shot), The Surf Bowl, Potrero Chico. This was also the very first route I tried on the trip, and the first one at the grade outside Australia! This, of course, set the tone of the trip, which, happily, went "in crecendo" from that point onward. This taught me that the importance of the first ascent of a trip, like that of the opening kickoff of a ball game, is the size of the psychological boost you can get. Of course, this also meant that the (unnecessary) pressure of sending at least one good and hard climb was lifted. As a matter of fact, in my first shot, despite getting to the top and doing all of the moves, I did not feel confident. It wasn't until Igor tried it and offered words of encouragement that I believed I could do it, so having someone that climbs the same level as you helps put things in perspective a lot. 'Twas a crisp, cloudy day; such was the proximity to the mist and the clouds that as a belayer, as your climber went up, he would be lost in the fog above! A steep, tufa-filled, knee-barry endeavor. Fun!
- Motavation 5.11a (onsight), Mota Wall, Potrero Chico. Within the style of pockety, vertical to slightly overhanging climbing, few, if any routes, have impressed me more. It's the kind of climb that seems to have been set by an expert routesetter, from the quality of the moves that one has to do! One of the nicest climbs I've ever done for sure.
- Bubble Boyz 5.12a (second shot), Mota Wall, Potrero Chico. Positive reinforcement! A completely different style from Blue Fin, as this consisted of a bouldery first half, followed by pumpy pocket sequences. To be honest, one major contributor to getting this route was the setting: amazing views of the Timewave Zero Buttress and the mountains at the back, with cool temps but with sun- this inspired me ("wouldn't it be cool to send this beautiful line in this beautiful place in this beautiful day?").
- Culo de la Negra 5.12a (second shot), Las Animas Wall, El Salto. We were pretty lucky to find a couple of people going to El Salto that day, because we forget our guidebook! They showed us the approach and told us the name and grade of many of the (mostly MEGA CLASSIC looking) climbs. The name means "The black lady's ass", and it is so named because of a feature on the top of the second tufa this line follows. Have a look at the video. You tell me. Anyway it's a beautiful line with a lot of character! They told us this one was a 5.12b, and I believed them, because the climb itself is about 35m long with multiple cruxes (two of which are about V3), but rests in between. At this stage I was getting psychologically confident and decided to go for the send. I think that if I hadn't had the psychological boost of what had gone down so far in the trip, I probably wouldn't have made it my second go, as on the first attempt I fell multiple times and it took me a while to figure out the moves- I really believe that my mind played center stage on the send. I was lucky that I stuck the crux move as I was falling (see if you notice in the video)! It felt amazing, and once more, the setting really helped, as El Salto is probably the prettiest crag I've ever been to.
The (wrong) crux sequence of
El Culo de la Negra 5.12a and...
..me paying the price
- Pangea 5.11d (second shot), The Spires, Potrero Chico. The classic Potrero 5.11d (hard at the grade in my opinion). Also featured in the video. Very last day, and Igor had tried it a couple of times before on a previous day. Pockets and cracks come in all shapes, sizes, and sharpness on this one! Despite having two no-hands rests, this gently overhanging line stands out for its pump factor! Despite having a really good onsight attempt, I couldn't get it first shot. Second go felt as hard, but held on! Probably the best line we did in Potrero. Just like Igor has helped me psychologically on countless occasions, I think this time it really helped him send to see me do it. I like it when that kind of help is reciprocal.
Me at the no-hands kneebar of Pangea 5.11d
- Seres Organicos 5.11c (onsight), El Chonta. THE most fun line I've ever done. Featured in the video. A climbing canvass, in that you can really get creative amidst the stalactites, tufas, and other unique features. This one really opened up my eyes to how wonderful climbing is at El Chonta, and probably the main reason I now call it my favorite crag in the world.
- Mantis 5.12b (onsight), El Chonta. Before coming to El Chonta, I had heard that Mantis really was one of the highlight 5.12b's to try at El Chonta, and before I got on it, Igor and I were working on El Jaguar (5.12d/13a), which seemed like it was going to take possibly many more shots than the established three, so because Mantis looked so cool, I decided that I would really try to send the thing (i.e. redpoint). However, as I always do, I decided I would give this a serious onsight attempt. The line was very long, so I didn't really bother reading it and figured I would just flow through. Fortunately, there were quickdraws already up, which is really quite lucky, because not only was I going to need about 20 of them, but in El Chonta they ALWAYS need to be long slings! I went up, let my body move by itself, and sure enough, my body's rooted engrams (gained through training and climbing experience) through the roof crux just about sufficed for me not to pump out, so unbelievably, I made it to the top first shot! Needless to say, I was walking on clouds at this stage!
- Mala Fama 5.12a (onsight), El Chonta. Last (bolted) climb of the trip. This onsight and Mantis' represent the accumulation of (limestone) climbing confidence this trip. At this stage, my confidence was sky-high to the point it even made me feel light. Having onsighted Mantis, I was sure I could also onsight this one before I got on. I decided to follow the same strategy of letting my body take over. However, because there were no draws up, I had to carry/place them myself. This took a HUGE amount of energy and route-finding, as the abundance of features in the cave camouflages the bolts a lot sometimes! After holding on like a leech to a foot, and pulling some amazing turn-around moves, I managed to get to the (very far away) top. There could not have been a prouder way to end the roped climbing on this trip, as this felt way harder than Mantis for me, it was a true expedition littered with classic moves! By the way, success on these onsights is in no small measure because of the superb bolting at the cave- so props to the setters!
- El Filo de la Escuelita V6 (1000th shot or so), La Escuelita, UNAM. I split from the group for about a week to spend Christmas with my family, so while they went to Quintana Roo, I stayed in Mexico City and Valle de Bravo. I took advantage of the opportunity to take my brother out climbing, especially because he was showing interest of getting into the sport, so I went to one of the token accessible all-levels area in Mexico City: the volcanic rock crags next to the UNAM Stadium. I had seen a video online of this guy doing a V6/7 there that I hadn't seen before, and it peaked my interest to try it, since I had been doing so well and I was going there anyway. So I went to La Escuelita (that's the name of the crag, "The Schoolyard") and did some roped climbing with my brother of some cool stuff I'd already done in previous visits so that he could try them out, but when he rested, I would work the boulder. It seemed really really hard, as I could not even begin to do one of the moves, but thanks to the confidence I built over the trip, I kept at it. Kept believing. We did three visits to La Escuelita, and as luck would have it, I began being able to get close to doing the move on that third day, the one and only day both my parents had seen me climbing (not to mention my close childhood friend Tirso was also there) ever! I got inspired and started having attempts at the whole thing, because, how awesome would it be to send your hardest boulder (and first at the grade and hardest rock climb you've ever done) in front of them? I got on a natural high. Before long, I was sticking the crux move, but falling right after. After a few shots like that, my parents had to go, but I stopped them and told them- "just watch me do this one last time", and deciding once more I would let my body move by itself, all of a sudden I topped out the Xitle volcanic rock and had done the most difficult thing I'd ever done in climbing- right in front of my family (my wife Maria was in my heart, as she always is). This was the last rock climb I did on the Mexico trip. It could not be any better... Check out the boulder here:
Another cool thing about the trip climbing-wise was that we actually got to go to these really cool climbing gyms: Sender One (Los Angeles), Movement (Boulder) and The Spot (also in Boulder, featured in the credits of the video). I've got to say that Sender One has got to be the dream gym of any climber- the size of the bouldering area (which has all styles of climbing including a multi-layered, variable angle wall) alone is bigger than my local climbing gym! And the setting! Oh, the setting... The lead climbing is just as if not more impressive, including grades that go up to 5.14c (when I was there) and about 20m climbing walls of all angles. Well done Chris Sharma! Well done...
The objective of climbing a 28 before the end of 2014 notwithstanding, since we arrived we decided to dedicate our training for BOULDERING!!!
The reason for this is that Chelsea, a friend of ours, got us pretty psyched on the idea of bouldering, so much that we decided to buy tickets to go to Melbourne so we can boulder at the Grampians on the Easter break! The bad news is that right now, Northern Grampians is closed because of the fire damage in late January... Hopefully some areas will re-open by then.
Grampians here we come!
So training has more or less stayed the same except that the focus is on power; we are now bouldering three times a week (once outdoors) and lead climbing once a week (also outdoors), so we're experimenting how well we fare climbing four times a week. Four and a half weeks into the hypertrophy phase, things are looking good! In my gym, I managed to send my first proper V6's and from what I can tell on the fingerboards, my crimp strength has increased, a fact evidenced by my send on the 19th of January of the long-unsent crimpfest sandbag "Shake and Bake" (24) at Brooyar. On a lead climbing note, I also managed to send on the 2nd of February "Cleared for Takeoff" (26) at Mount Coolum in a single day, on my third shot- progress!
Since then, it's been pretty much bouldering, but harder-than-V4 sends are yet to come. Confidence is high, though! Maria's wrist is healing nicely and she's getting stronger! Just today, she sent a (hard) V3 at the gym! Awesome job!
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.
- 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!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Weekend of Week 5
So I'm posting this pretty much out of discipline- 'cause I said I would, so it's gonna be brief (some effort was put into editing the video of last post, so...)!
Last weekend we headed to Page's Pinnacle, over at the Gold Coast hinterland. Page's is a really beautiful crag, located right at Springbrook National Park, famous for its lakes, waterfalls, and glow-worms. Page's Pinnacle is a shark's fin of rock at the top of a big bushy hill with great views of lakes and other big hills, and the long, kind-of-gruelling approach keeps the I-don't-climb-for-anything-other-than-climbing/gradehunting/not-the-whole-experience/etc climber away, which makes for a really special social ambience (so far for me at least!). It was Maria, Kimberley, Igor, DRyan and myself. The people that go to Page's strike me as the kind that just give it absolutely all they got and also the kind that really "feel" your effort when climbing and encourage you with heartfelt cheering! At the same time, they're really laid back and keep things honest and funny, so a really comfortable environment to just hang around, even with the horse flies buzzing and that sweat-filled hour-long approach!
This outing was a special one, as Maria got to toprope a 17 and an 18 cleanly, which marks some progress in her wrist's recovery, and Kimberley also lead that 18 (onsighted it), which means she's getting some lead-climbing confidence back. DRyan was just crazy! He arrived the day before to Australia after spending roughly two months away in Europe visiting his partner and her family in France (I'm actually surprised he wasn't out of shape after all those French dinners!), and decided it was a good idea that in order to beat jet lag, he would go out climbing that day! Igor and I decided we were going to focus on practicing multi-pitching, so we did two 2-pitchers; the first's second pitch was terrifying to say the least, as there was a lot of loose rock and I hadn't brought a helmet with me, so belaying Igor was scary, and seconding after him even more so! The second mutli-pitch went better than the first, mistake-ridden one. I thought the line was pretty good apart from the fact that once more, there was a lot of loose/hollow rock (about 75% of the good holds), and we cleaned up our act a lil' bit more. Another thing that stood out was that I got my first 23 (5.11d) flash/onsight! I decided to try Yule Tide and after a first cruxy section, it was just pumpy climbing to the top! To be honest, I felt it was a mid-22 (especially after last week's onslaught on Mr. Middle Man, you sandbag, you!), but people there and on thecrag.com seem to think it's legit, so I'll take it! I also managed to flash Bombay Rock (22 or 5.11b/c), a real beauty of a line! I must add that now that I am eating more protein I have gone down almost 1 kg and have been cranking a little better... But perhaps it's too soon to tell!
After a great day out, we headed back to Brisbane to get our fix of Kookaburra Party Pizza, which was glorious to say the very least! We caught up with Jin, who ditched us that day to go do a multi-pitch with some douche. Laaame Jin!
Last weekend we headed to Page's Pinnacle, over at the Gold Coast hinterland. Page's is a really beautiful crag, located right at Springbrook National Park, famous for its lakes, waterfalls, and glow-worms. Page's Pinnacle is a shark's fin of rock at the top of a big bushy hill with great views of lakes and other big hills, and the long, kind-of-gruelling approach keeps the I-don't-climb-for-anything-other-than-climbing/gradehunting/not-the-whole-experience/etc climber away, which makes for a really special social ambience (so far for me at least!). It was Maria, Kimberley, Igor, DRyan and myself. The people that go to Page's strike me as the kind that just give it absolutely all they got and also the kind that really "feel" your effort when climbing and encourage you with heartfelt cheering! At the same time, they're really laid back and keep things honest and funny, so a really comfortable environment to just hang around, even with the horse flies buzzing and that sweat-filled hour-long approach!
Some from a while back!
Anri falling from Strip Clubs (22)
This outing was a special one, as Maria got to toprope a 17 and an 18 cleanly, which marks some progress in her wrist's recovery, and Kimberley also lead that 18 (onsighted it), which means she's getting some lead-climbing confidence back. DRyan was just crazy! He arrived the day before to Australia after spending roughly two months away in Europe visiting his partner and her family in France (I'm actually surprised he wasn't out of shape after all those French dinners!), and decided it was a good idea that in order to beat jet lag, he would go out climbing that day! Igor and I decided we were going to focus on practicing multi-pitching, so we did two 2-pitchers; the first's second pitch was terrifying to say the least, as there was a lot of loose rock and I hadn't brought a helmet with me, so belaying Igor was scary, and seconding after him even more so! The second mutli-pitch went better than the first, mistake-ridden one. I thought the line was pretty good apart from the fact that once more, there was a lot of loose/hollow rock (about 75% of the good holds), and we cleaned up our act a lil' bit more. Another thing that stood out was that I got my first 23 (5.11d) flash/onsight! I decided to try Yule Tide and after a first cruxy section, it was just pumpy climbing to the top! To be honest, I felt it was a mid-22 (especially after last week's onslaught on Mr. Middle Man, you sandbag, you!), but people there and on thecrag.com seem to think it's legit, so I'll take it! I also managed to flash Bombay Rock (22 or 5.11b/c), a real beauty of a line! I must add that now that I am eating more protein I have gone down almost 1 kg and have been cranking a little better... But perhaps it's too soon to tell!
After a great day out, we headed back to Brisbane to get our fix of Kookaburra Party Pizza, which was glorious to say the very least! We caught up with Jin, who ditched us that day to go do a multi-pitch with some douche. Laaame Jin!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Weeks 4 and 5 (minus the weekend of week 5), AKA deterioration...
Well, because it is so late to be posting about week 4, I decided I might as well merge weeks 4 and 5 together (even though week 5 is not up yet, as today is Friday- I will make a post of the weekend of week 5 later). Another reason to merge them is that in terms of training, nothing much happened in these two weeks. I guess the highlights would be that I achieved a 12 second hang on the crimp grip, the fact that because my climbing gym started renovations to include a lead climbing arch (about time!), they had to restrict access to the bouldering because of which I had no choice but to do something else, and a couple of other realizations, which I will talk about later. On those 3 (or was it 4?) days where I didn't have a bouldering wall, I did the following:
1. went toproping with Maria (she went to the physio and she can officially climb slowly and progressively to her level again!)- never toproping in the gym again, it just makes me angry because of the really low quality routes,
2. went to the city of Brisbane's local crag, Kangaroo Point, with Paul after fingerboarding in the gym- some might think it is pretty fortunate to have a crag 5 minutes away by car, and these people would be right in a way, but the disadvantage here is that because it's a former quarry, the fact that it gets so much traffic and the sun hits these walls pretty much all day, and the routes have very high first bolts and/or are poorly bolted makes this crag a rather unattractive option for most. Here we first tried the start of a crimpy route, Bufo Marinus (25), and since it was slippery and I had just done a fingerboard session, it felt like it was going to take a while, so we moved on and I re-sent a route I did about a year and a half ago that Paul was trying (and sent, well done Paul!), Bouncy Castle (23), and tried quite unsuccessfully and onsight of Chip-a-Holdway (22), which not only did I not onsight, but I also couldn't even dog to the top because of headspace issues- I wasn't trying my best and was constantly blaming the slippery quality of the rock (which, to be fair, is significant, but not significant enough to be a valid factor). Paul then got to the top to retrieve the quickdraws! In the next training session, after fingerboarding,
3. we (Jin, Paul, Igor, Jason, Alyssa, Jeremy and Kimberley) went to our other sort-of-local lead climbing gym, "The Rock", where I was unpleasantly surprised that I couldn't do the start of a route I could previously do when tired, so I tried another cool grade 26 route which I dogged a couple of times, and Igor showed us that his endurance training has paid off well, as he sent back-to-back a steep 15 m route (grade 23), and two steep 13 m routes (grade 20)! And,
4. spent last Monday (Labor day in Australia) in Brooyar (the day after I went to get my fingerboard fix), a sandstone series of crags about 2.5 hours north of Brisbane. We went with Andrew, with whom we hadn't really gone climbing since about a year ago when we went to Thailand! It was great to spend a weekend with him camping and climbing and catching up. He has this foot injury since a year ago, and because he hasn't properly treated it, it may have become a chronic problem... It was sweltering hot in Brooyar, and because most of the crags face the sun most of the time, it was very, very exhausting. As per usual this time a year, there was the token infestation of insects, and this year it was an infestation of small black beetles! Super lovely to have those guys getting like, EVERYWHERE. With regards to climbing, Maria got to toprope about 4 climbs in 2 days, including a 40 meter one, which must have been a very welcome change after a couple of months of not going outdoors! Andrew did the same, his approach to climbing needing to be limited because of his foot. Me, on day 1 I got on a couple of (according to thecrag.com) sandbagged routes: Dreaming of the Blueys (25) and Lithgow Layback (24, but thecrag.com says 25). In DOTB, the crux was at the bottom, and it seemed like it was the most significant crux, so it was a hard boulder problem that consisted in a campus throw from a one pad edge to full lock off on my right arm and full extension on my left to catch a decent edge, but it felt outrageous for me! After a few tries and being scorched by the sun, I decided to come down and try LL instead. There, similar to DOTB, the crux is at the bottom. This consists of getting both your hands on a slopey but decent rail, raising and extending the right foot at head height to full extension, and pushing up while locking the left hand off to reach a good gaston, on which you layback to match. This was the crux, and I got it first go. The problem was that I was pretty confused as to where to go next. The first bolt suggested that I had to charge up this holdless feature somehow to get to easier ground, but there was an alternative to the right, significantly easier, where you go over a roof by grabbing a jug on the top and using a cool toe-hook on the gaston, but because this alternative seemed pretty dirty, I half-assed it and didn't really try hard. After a while of really trying the direct method and finding it even harder than DOTB and feeling really heat-exhausted, I decided to come down (I later read on thecrag.com that (a) DOTB is much much harder than 25 and (b) the right variant over the roof of LL is indeed the right path- lesson learned: if unsure of the route, check thecrag.com!). On day 2, after being humbled by those two climbs, I decided to try an easier route that I had tried a couple of years ago that had defeated me completely at the time: Mr. Middle Man (23), a boulder problem start followed by a small roof followed by dirty grade 15 climbing. It was good to see that I worked the start with relative ease (not on my first shot, mind you), as it's always great to come back to things you previously couldn't do and then do them. The problem with this climb is that all of the (good) holds face vertically, so there are little to no footholds, which made for interesting oppositions and drop knees- followed by a throw to a jug where a wild kicking cut-loose goes on. After that, you clip the second bolt and have the option of resting on a good knee-scum (or bad knee-bar, whatever you wish to call it) before the last hard throw to a good edge, after which it's pretty much over. At least I got that on the weekend! Oh, that and the onsight of my softest 22 ever, Prima Donna, a really nice line that has a jump-start!
Yesterday when I went to the gym to do my last fingerboarding training session I discovered that not bouldering for about 5 sessions diminished my power and recruitment! I went to the gym after a long day at work excited about finally sending the red V5 I keep talking about, only to not even reach the same highpoint I had achieved before... Even though I realize that getting frustrated and disappointed given I tried my best is not going to make me stronger, better, or more focused, it's hard to stay motivated when you train so much and not only do I not improve, but I have actually gotten worse (measurably so, as I return to the same exercises/climbs as a baseline)... So naturally, I was pretty frustrated about this anticlimactic ending of my hypertrophy phase (fingerboards), and I communicated this to Maria, who wisely pointed out what could very well be my problem: even though I am leaving different muscle/tendon groups more than enough time to recover, opposition training is not being neglected, cardio and flexibility isn't either, and motiviation is high, she thought I was neglecting one very crucial aspect: she observed that my protein intake may have been insufficient. After getting on an online body fat calculator that also gives you a few other data according to certain body measurements (I don't know how trustworthy it is, but here's the link: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html), I found that I need about 85-105 grams of protein per day, of which I was consuming around 50! Is it possible that this deterioration was due to a protein deficiency? I think it's very likely. Because I am allergic to soy, I am allergic to the vast majority of protein shake powders, and this is the reason why I don't take said supplements (unlike Maria, for example). So we found a feasable alternative which we got today (actually tastes good!) made out of egg whites, and here it is:
Having pointed that out, I have to say that this was what we found that was at hand here in Brisbane, although back in January this year when we went to Boulder, CO, we found not only the richest in protein, best tasting shake that is soy-free, but it is also just the best protein shake EVER (MIX1 from Boulder, CO)! Sadly, though, people are retarded and this company has gone bankrupt... I was really stupid not to buy a lot of these when we were there, but we figured we could always order them and we took a bunch of junk food back home instead- DUH!!! To think that those beauties were for sale right there, in the fridges of the Spot bouldering gym for under 1.15 USD...
So anyway, hopefully this hiccup in my climbing is due to that shortage of protein, an issue that is now being addressed.
So 5 weeks of training are up! After this period of time, the highlights are:
- 12 s. on the crimp,
- 3 s. on the 45 deg. sloper,
- 8 s. on the one arm hang on a two pad edge,
- 8 s. on the pinches with 5 kg. of added weight,
- 6 s. on the two-finger pockets with 5 kg. of added weight,
- being able to touch the ground in splits attempts on both sides (still need to have a perfectly "straight line" with my legs),
- being able to pull once on a one-arm pull-up with both left and right arms,
- V4 boulder flash (both best flash and best boulder in these few weeks...),
- sending up to grade 23 sport climbing,
- jogging 45 minutes, with a peak of 10 minutes at 12.5 km/h at 5.5% incline.
Hopefully the next phase, maximum recruitment (4 weeks of campus boarding) holds more promise... It's been a month for me at age 30, and it sure does feel like it! At this stage, faith is all I got!
Now I leave you with this vid I should've posted ages ago!
1. went toproping with Maria (she went to the physio and she can officially climb slowly and progressively to her level again!)- never toproping in the gym again, it just makes me angry because of the really low quality routes,
2. went to the city of Brisbane's local crag, Kangaroo Point, with Paul after fingerboarding in the gym- some might think it is pretty fortunate to have a crag 5 minutes away by car, and these people would be right in a way, but the disadvantage here is that because it's a former quarry, the fact that it gets so much traffic and the sun hits these walls pretty much all day, and the routes have very high first bolts and/or are poorly bolted makes this crag a rather unattractive option for most. Here we first tried the start of a crimpy route, Bufo Marinus (25), and since it was slippery and I had just done a fingerboard session, it felt like it was going to take a while, so we moved on and I re-sent a route I did about a year and a half ago that Paul was trying (and sent, well done Paul!), Bouncy Castle (23), and tried quite unsuccessfully and onsight of Chip-a-Holdway (22), which not only did I not onsight, but I also couldn't even dog to the top because of headspace issues- I wasn't trying my best and was constantly blaming the slippery quality of the rock (which, to be fair, is significant, but not significant enough to be a valid factor). Paul then got to the top to retrieve the quickdraws! In the next training session, after fingerboarding,
Paul pulling some moves at Mexico City's KP
equivalent: La Escuelita at UNAM (much better than KP).
Miguel pulling the crux of "El Techito" (21 or 5.10d).
Webb slacklining.
4. spent last Monday (Labor day in Australia) in Brooyar (the day after I went to get my fingerboard fix), a sandstone series of crags about 2.5 hours north of Brisbane. We went with Andrew, with whom we hadn't really gone climbing since about a year ago when we went to Thailand! It was great to spend a weekend with him camping and climbing and catching up. He has this foot injury since a year ago, and because he hasn't properly treated it, it may have become a chronic problem... It was sweltering hot in Brooyar, and because most of the crags face the sun most of the time, it was very, very exhausting. As per usual this time a year, there was the token infestation of insects, and this year it was an infestation of small black beetles! Super lovely to have those guys getting like, EVERYWHERE. With regards to climbing, Maria got to toprope about 4 climbs in 2 days, including a 40 meter one, which must have been a very welcome change after a couple of months of not going outdoors! Andrew did the same, his approach to climbing needing to be limited because of his foot. Me, on day 1 I got on a couple of (according to thecrag.com) sandbagged routes: Dreaming of the Blueys (25) and Lithgow Layback (24, but thecrag.com says 25). In DOTB, the crux was at the bottom, and it seemed like it was the most significant crux, so it was a hard boulder problem that consisted in a campus throw from a one pad edge to full lock off on my right arm and full extension on my left to catch a decent edge, but it felt outrageous for me! After a few tries and being scorched by the sun, I decided to come down and try LL instead. There, similar to DOTB, the crux is at the bottom. This consists of getting both your hands on a slopey but decent rail, raising and extending the right foot at head height to full extension, and pushing up while locking the left hand off to reach a good gaston, on which you layback to match. This was the crux, and I got it first go. The problem was that I was pretty confused as to where to go next. The first bolt suggested that I had to charge up this holdless feature somehow to get to easier ground, but there was an alternative to the right, significantly easier, where you go over a roof by grabbing a jug on the top and using a cool toe-hook on the gaston, but because this alternative seemed pretty dirty, I half-assed it and didn't really try hard. After a while of really trying the direct method and finding it even harder than DOTB and feeling really heat-exhausted, I decided to come down (I later read on thecrag.com that (a) DOTB is much much harder than 25 and (b) the right variant over the roof of LL is indeed the right path- lesson learned: if unsure of the route, check thecrag.com!). On day 2, after being humbled by those two climbs, I decided to try an easier route that I had tried a couple of years ago that had defeated me completely at the time: Mr. Middle Man (23), a boulder problem start followed by a small roof followed by dirty grade 15 climbing. It was good to see that I worked the start with relative ease (not on my first shot, mind you), as it's always great to come back to things you previously couldn't do and then do them. The problem with this climb is that all of the (good) holds face vertically, so there are little to no footholds, which made for interesting oppositions and drop knees- followed by a throw to a jug where a wild kicking cut-loose goes on. After that, you clip the second bolt and have the option of resting on a good knee-scum (or bad knee-bar, whatever you wish to call it) before the last hard throw to a good edge, after which it's pretty much over. At least I got that on the weekend! Oh, that and the onsight of my softest 22 ever, Prima Donna, a really nice line that has a jump-start!
Because I'm lacking pics from the weekend, here's
and oldie from Easter 2012, where Anri demonstrates
her "liberal" belay technique on Barry, who is well
past the first bolt!
A shot of Barry at the aesthetic Point Pure buttress
at Brooyar State Forest.
Aaand just in case Andrew (or Pe) shows up here!
Yesterday when I went to the gym to do my last fingerboarding training session I discovered that not bouldering for about 5 sessions diminished my power and recruitment! I went to the gym after a long day at work excited about finally sending the red V5 I keep talking about, only to not even reach the same highpoint I had achieved before... Even though I realize that getting frustrated and disappointed given I tried my best is not going to make me stronger, better, or more focused, it's hard to stay motivated when you train so much and not only do I not improve, but I have actually gotten worse (measurably so, as I return to the same exercises/climbs as a baseline)... So naturally, I was pretty frustrated about this anticlimactic ending of my hypertrophy phase (fingerboards), and I communicated this to Maria, who wisely pointed out what could very well be my problem: even though I am leaving different muscle/tendon groups more than enough time to recover, opposition training is not being neglected, cardio and flexibility isn't either, and motiviation is high, she thought I was neglecting one very crucial aspect: she observed that my protein intake may have been insufficient. After getting on an online body fat calculator that also gives you a few other data according to certain body measurements (I don't know how trustworthy it is, but here's the link: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html), I found that I need about 85-105 grams of protein per day, of which I was consuming around 50! Is it possible that this deterioration was due to a protein deficiency? I think it's very likely. Because I am allergic to soy, I am allergic to the vast majority of protein shake powders, and this is the reason why I don't take said supplements (unlike Maria, for example). So we found a feasable alternative which we got today (actually tastes good!) made out of egg whites, and here it is:
I know, I know...
Having pointed that out, I have to say that this was what we found that was at hand here in Brisbane, although back in January this year when we went to Boulder, CO, we found not only the richest in protein, best tasting shake that is soy-free, but it is also just the best protein shake EVER (MIX1 from Boulder, CO)! Sadly, though, people are retarded and this company has gone bankrupt... I was really stupid not to buy a lot of these when we were there, but we figured we could always order them and we took a bunch of junk food back home instead- DUH!!! To think that those beauties were for sale right there, in the fridges of the Spot bouldering gym for under 1.15 USD...
So anyway, hopefully this hiccup in my climbing is due to that shortage of protein, an issue that is now being addressed.
So 5 weeks of training are up! After this period of time, the highlights are:
- 12 s. on the crimp,
- 3 s. on the 45 deg. sloper,
- 8 s. on the one arm hang on a two pad edge,
- 8 s. on the pinches with 5 kg. of added weight,
- 6 s. on the two-finger pockets with 5 kg. of added weight,
- being able to touch the ground in splits attempts on both sides (still need to have a perfectly "straight line" with my legs),
- being able to pull once on a one-arm pull-up with both left and right arms,
- V4 boulder flash (both best flash and best boulder in these few weeks...),
- sending up to grade 23 sport climbing,
- jogging 45 minutes, with a peak of 10 minutes at 12.5 km/h at 5.5% incline.
Hopefully the next phase, maximum recruitment (4 weeks of campus boarding) holds more promise... It's been a month for me at age 30, and it sure does feel like it! At this stage, faith is all I got!
My beautiful wife Maria! This author's source
of inspiration. Also, since there's snow in the pic,
I'll take the opportunity to brag about the fact that
we now have ski passes for CO! Woo!
Now I leave you with this vid I should've posted ages ago!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Week 3
Sorry about the delay, it is now close to the end of week 4 in my training program, yet only now am I entering what came down in week 3!
Training continued as usual, with the highlight of my gym training being holding on to the small crimp for 9 seconds, with consistent 6-7 second hangs, and also the fact that I managed to pull off one of those dreaded moves that we consider "impossible for me" (and these moves differ from person to person obviously), on a V5 boulder in my gym. Without going into much detail (hopefully I'll post a video later with the send) I was trying repeatedly to do it in a different way to most people, but my way wasn't getting anywhere either... It was getting to the point where my mind was convinced that I would not be able to do the problem in the near future, no matter how hard I tried. Then, something changed in my mind. I decided to try this problem the way most people do it, but this time, I would have to try my absolute hardest, and very importantly, with great enthusiasm. I personally find enthusiasm to be really essential in any pursuit in life that we really care about. This may sound a little obvious to many, but I often see people that, even though they care about what they're doing, repress the feeling. Perhaps these people were educated to control or repress certain feelings, such as anger and frustration, which is OK to a certain point I think. But is it OK to extend this repression to other feelings, such as enthusiasm or joy? For me, it's not. I find that in this particular case, enthusiasm brings me back to the moment, to the fact that I enjoy climbing and its movement, and not only does that give me an extra bit of explosivity (essential especially in bouldering), but also gives me a sense of trepidation, a good sort of eager giddiness, like the one that one feels when/just before achieving something they didn't think was possible or was unlikely. It was this enthusiasm that made me forget that this move was "not my style". It made me forget all those failed attempts and the predisposition of not getting the move. Ultimately, it allowed me to latch the hold and take it all the way to the top (starting at that move, not at the beginning, though!). I felt very very psyched about this little accomplishment, not because it is meaningful to do a boulder problem in some gym, but because it reminded me that not only do unlikely events become possible in one's life if one tries, but also we get to enjoy life more by being enthusiastic even if we don't achieve our goals (provided the path to this goal is what's the source of the enthusiasm, not the goal itself). So that was good. It felt great! I came out of the last gym session in week 3 feeling like I would send that problem the next session, but unlucky for me, this construction started in my gym of this new lead climbing area which lead to me not being able to access the problem in all of week 4...
The weekend was, as usual, quite fun. Socially at least! Barry, one of my first climbing friends re-incorporated himself to the outdoor climbing scene once more, after a 3-month absence due to renovations that he and his girlfriend Lauren did for a house he owns. Due to his long time in climbing, experience kicked in and he wasn't in bad shape considering the long absence, onsighting 16, 18, 18, 18, and a 19, including the 18 and 19 at Owl Pillar. Jin kept on trying that dreaded 19 at Owl Pillar. Our friend Steph caught up with us with some random friend of hers and she climbed for a little bit too, as she lead the 18 at Owl Pillar, which is unusual for her. Once more, after spending time in Andromeda Wall at Mt. Ngungun doing a couple of climbs I hadn't done before (some 16 and an 18) we headed to the project where I had one not-great burn at Idaho Sunshine. My headspace is not good. I didn't commit enough. I didn't move with confidence. I didn't reach a highpoint at all. I need to relax, enjoy, and breathe easy. Need to let go of expectations and let the enthusiasm take over.
Here's another (pretty sh*t) video of my training and attempt at Idaho Sunshine (keep it private guys!):
Training continued as usual, with the highlight of my gym training being holding on to the small crimp for 9 seconds, with consistent 6-7 second hangs, and also the fact that I managed to pull off one of those dreaded moves that we consider "impossible for me" (and these moves differ from person to person obviously), on a V5 boulder in my gym. Without going into much detail (hopefully I'll post a video later with the send) I was trying repeatedly to do it in a different way to most people, but my way wasn't getting anywhere either... It was getting to the point where my mind was convinced that I would not be able to do the problem in the near future, no matter how hard I tried. Then, something changed in my mind. I decided to try this problem the way most people do it, but this time, I would have to try my absolute hardest, and very importantly, with great enthusiasm. I personally find enthusiasm to be really essential in any pursuit in life that we really care about. This may sound a little obvious to many, but I often see people that, even though they care about what they're doing, repress the feeling. Perhaps these people were educated to control or repress certain feelings, such as anger and frustration, which is OK to a certain point I think. But is it OK to extend this repression to other feelings, such as enthusiasm or joy? For me, it's not. I find that in this particular case, enthusiasm brings me back to the moment, to the fact that I enjoy climbing and its movement, and not only does that give me an extra bit of explosivity (essential especially in bouldering), but also gives me a sense of trepidation, a good sort of eager giddiness, like the one that one feels when/just before achieving something they didn't think was possible or was unlikely. It was this enthusiasm that made me forget that this move was "not my style". It made me forget all those failed attempts and the predisposition of not getting the move. Ultimately, it allowed me to latch the hold and take it all the way to the top (starting at that move, not at the beginning, though!). I felt very very psyched about this little accomplishment, not because it is meaningful to do a boulder problem in some gym, but because it reminded me that not only do unlikely events become possible in one's life if one tries, but also we get to enjoy life more by being enthusiastic even if we don't achieve our goals (provided the path to this goal is what's the source of the enthusiasm, not the goal itself). So that was good. It felt great! I came out of the last gym session in week 3 feeling like I would send that problem the next session, but unlucky for me, this construction started in my gym of this new lead climbing area which lead to me not being able to access the problem in all of week 4...
Check it out! I got a fan! Sort of...
The weekend was, as usual, quite fun. Socially at least! Barry, one of my first climbing friends re-incorporated himself to the outdoor climbing scene once more, after a 3-month absence due to renovations that he and his girlfriend Lauren did for a house he owns. Due to his long time in climbing, experience kicked in and he wasn't in bad shape considering the long absence, onsighting 16, 18, 18, 18, and a 19, including the 18 and 19 at Owl Pillar. Jin kept on trying that dreaded 19 at Owl Pillar. Our friend Steph caught up with us with some random friend of hers and she climbed for a little bit too, as she lead the 18 at Owl Pillar, which is unusual for her. Once more, after spending time in Andromeda Wall at Mt. Ngungun doing a couple of climbs I hadn't done before (some 16 and an 18) we headed to the project where I had one not-great burn at Idaho Sunshine. My headspace is not good. I didn't commit enough. I didn't move with confidence. I didn't reach a highpoint at all. I need to relax, enjoy, and breathe easy. Need to let go of expectations and let the enthusiasm take over.
Here's another (pretty sh*t) video of my training and attempt at Idaho Sunshine (keep it private guys!):
See you next time!
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