Anri's Last Days and Week 2

It was a week filled with fun, but at the same time, pretty sentimental. Anri is a good friend of mine. She is, in fact, my first climbing partner. If I remember correctly, I started climbing just before the Brisbane floods of early 2011. I had returned from Mexico early to get ahead on work in my PhD, and Maria was still going to stayin Boston for another two months. I quickly got bored and when I went to the supermarket I saw the advert for the climbing gym, and I thought "why not?". I told my office buddy Adam to come check it out and I got really hooked on that first toproping session, and even though I actually struggled on yellows (easiest climbs in the gym, probably easier than climbing ladders) and got super-scared of heights (anything past 2 m) I knew that this was an activity I really wanted to continue doing. Adam obviously didn't think it was that great, 'cause he never went back. Me, on the other hand, I got back from the gym, scoped good offers on climbing gear on the net, and skyped Maria that night, telling her to outright order her harness, chalk bag, chalk and shoes, as "there' no way you won't love it", plus I'd already ordered mine, a pair of Mad Rock Con-Tacts (or was it Con-Flicts?) and an inadequate CAMP USA skinny mountaineering harness (I think it was the Alp 95). But at this point I felt that there was really no need to climb outdoors, as I figured indoors was fun enough! Unfortunately for a lot of people and other beings, the Brisbane floods hit the West End kinda hard, and among the affected was the climbing gym which closed for a period close to three weeks (I wanted to climb bad!). I was also out of power for 8 days, but I was compensated with unique days of pretty much swimming in the streets and walking along Melbourne Street with water at about waist height, not to mention people kayaking through the lower streets of the West End, a few of which I helped out and it was a lot of fun. When the gym finally opened after the floods I was confronted with another problem: I had this gear to climb with, but nobody to do it with. I had to shake off my natural introvertedness and start talking to people out of the blue- which I discovered was easier in this environment because of all the cheering that goes on (something I found to be really nice)- and discovered that people can be really nice. I met a couple of people that I know to this day those first days, but mostly I had to boulder, which was really hard and I found sit-starts annoying because mostly I couldn't even lift off the ground. So I would wear my harness while bouldering to signal other people like me that I was ready to ditch that lame activity and go toproping. One of the friendliest people I met this way was Anri, who had taken a friend to the gym that day (I think it might've been her first time there) and I guess felt pity for me and asked me if I wanted to join them, to which I said yes. At the time, I didn't want to take any rest days, so I blasted something like a streak of 14 climbing days in a row, by the end of which I was peeling off jugs, and I would boulder unless she turned up, so she officially became my first climbing partner. She was also the one that suggested to me to enroll in the intermediate climbing class that the gym offered (I remember that my first reaction was to say that I wasn't at intermediate level), which turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice ever! I got to meet Barry this way, nowadays a very good friend of mine that actually came to Mexico for mine and Maria's wedding. I also massively improved and got some technique guidance and encouragement (mostly from the climbers I met). Anri was also there in my first lead climb at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, and was very present in my life in general since. Every time we needed help, she was always there. We were lucky enough to have her around the house on her last week here, her "semana de fiesta", and we had a nice farewell dinner and she had a few big nights out. Anri is nothing if not generous and thoughtful, from the first time she felt sorry for me and invited me to climb with her to numerous car-related help she gave to us. She is leaving the Sunshine State for arguably the gloomiest place on Earth, to take up a job there. Right now she's in Sydney, and flies to the other part of the Globe tomorrow. I'm sure I'm not the only one that will miss that hasty, vibrant, sometimes-care-free-but-sometimes-really-neurotic, funny, compassionate, good-listening, frantic-clipping and above all good friend. A lot.

Anri at her goodbye dinner :(

In terms of training, this week went way better than last! Back to 9 secs in the small crimp, and "graduated" to 2.5 kg added weight and graduated to 5 kg added weight on the two finger pockets and pinches- not a lot of progress on the slopers, though. I could, however, on my second gym session, pull off clean one-arm pull-ups from the ground (arm at about 135 degrees open) with both arms! Front lever getting a little closer too. Bouldering? Well, I still couldn't do any V5's, but I did flash a V4... And got some moves on problems I hadn't gotten before. I also found a way of breathing that psyches me up and gets me filled with adrenaline, a method I used while trying another V5 dyno problem which will feel amazing once I get it! Cardio was also really good, as I finally pulled off 10 straight minutes at max intensity on the treadmill (12 km/h at 5% incline), so next time I'll up the speed of the max intensity! On Sunday, Igor and I did a baseline fitness test by running 3 kms on track, which he did on a blazing fast 11:12, while I did mine in 14:26. I guess my goal for Mexico will be to improve that to 14 flat. Flexibility is as good as ever- splits on both sides! Fingers are feeling nice and strong too, definitely feeling less tweaky. Opposition training- pfff- that feels harder than ever, even more so after eating cod pasta. I think for next week I'll add a vid instead of a parragraph like this one, as that should make the blog more entertaining. Like this one of this boulder problem I did last year, but with music and just a little better in general:

Sunday's outdoor climbing would be Anri's last in this chapter of her life, and Mount Ngungun was the choice. It was also Igor's return to climbing after being 5 weeks out due to tendon injury. Maria, Jin, Kimberley and even Jeremy decided to come too! This time we skipped Andromeda and went straight to Flat Battery Wall, close to the Owl Pillar, where Igor and Anri both lead some really sandbagged 14 called "Where's Marty?" (or something). Jeremy then toproped it being top-belayed by Anri (who was closely supervised by Igor in turn...). Kimberley wasn't climbing that day because of her never-ending flu, and belayed Jin on the Owl Pillar's Dawn Raid (19), but the climb is still elluding him... While Anri got on Midnight Makeout (22) I went into the Ravine to get burnt on Idaho Sunshine again, and while it was pretty gratifying to move a lot more smoothly than last week, Igor was more than a bit disappointed because of the lack of big falls of which there was an overabundance last week. I managed to get a tiny bit further, to the point where I dog to where my face is in front of the last bolt before the anchors, but have not found a clipping hold yet- bouldery as all hells that last bit, slapping compression with heel-hooks and all, I have a feeling that this is going to be the second coming of Vampire Master (my first 24, which took me a countless number of attempts and many months to send), complete with an awkward belay stance on slippery dustland. At least Maria wasn't on the receiving end of the falls I took- because of her wrist injury (still on, yes) she was on camera duty all day (all of the shots here are hers) at the mouth of the ravine. I then belayed Igor on the first half of Acid (22), which he quickly sussed out with minimal rests on the second bolt- a pretty good thing considering he hadn't climbed in 5 weeks and gotten a pretty intense run that morning! Because Anri wasn't feeling her climb, she decided to have a go at Acid, and even though she got the crux at the beginning, her headspace wasn't too good and after a slight panic attack, she came down. I then had a second go at IS, this time, I got past the first three cruxes clean from the ground, and dogged the next two cruxes with not too much effort. Sussing out the last crux is still in progress, though... So I had to backjump the whole thing (hello, 7 m falls!). All in all, a bit of progress. Even when I do dog the whole thing it really seems moronically pumpy, true power endurance style; one boulder problem after another with no real rests ANYWHERE. Jeremy had a go at Acid too, but the climb had him doing the dust dance every time he fell at the beginning... Igor then proceeded to send Acid pretty smoothly, complete with backjump clean. A pretty good end to a great day out.

Why not?

Igor sending Acid (22)

All that backjumping...

Jin on Dawn Raid (19)

Anri on Midnight Makeout (22)

Kimberley belaying Jin

Cruxin' on Idaho Sunshine (28)

Jeremy trying Acid (22)

 
After climbing, we did our usual thing of going to Quan Thanh in West End to have, this time for good, Anri's farewell dinner, a nostalgic but enjoyable night out after which we said our farewells, wished her safe travels, and thus, she rode to the sunset, er, pitch dark night.

Check out them EVIL EYES!