Update on the Easter Break

Whats to come from Evolv in 2011.

The break has been a good one and well deserved by all. I managed to do quite a bit of travelling during the Easter break and sent a few things and almost sent a few more. Unfortunately, I did not manage to send anything too hard, but never the less chains were still clipped. Lately, as I have mentioned in previous entries I have been keen on the boulders. This Easter break has definitely rekindled my passion for routes. The is no other place like Nowra, the climbing brilliant, holds and friction excellent, can climb multiple days on and you still have skin to burn. How could this not get me keen for routes. Ok, firstly the Easter break started with a trip to the Blue Mountains. This was a quick day trip from Sydney as I still had an assignment to get finished before I had a few days booked in Nowra. We arrived at Katoomba to be at peace with the clouds. It was raining, cold and pretty miserable really, however with nothing else to do except eat scones and drink coffee we (my wife Tighan and I) thought we should check it out anyway and see if things would be dry. We walked in and warmed up on the classic "Jaws" at Wave Wall. Things seemed pretty grim, but I thought I would have a go on "Touch and Go" 28 as I have been bouldering a bit and thought conditions on the crucial pinch should be ok if it was not wet. To my surprise I did it whilst putting the draws on. It felt super easy, I did manage to be pumped directly after the crux though, boulderers huh. After that the day was getting worse so we started to head back down the mountain, I did not want a huge day as I would be in Nowra soon. Two days later I was in Nowra. I dont get to Nowra often these days, this should change soon though once I finish my degree and don't have assignments to do. We ended up at P.C as Rosies and Lott33 was wet wet wet. I wanted to do "Big, Thick and Powerful" 28 however in the new guide 29. This is one of the only routes at the crag I have not done yet so I was eager to do it. I put the draws on and managed to do it easily 3rd go. It should have been 2nd go but my hand got caught in the rope. I rested for the remainder of the day as I was eager to do some bouldering, on arrival in the afternoon though, it was still wet. We did still try without much success. The next day I tried a route called "Crenchure Boulevard" 31 at South Central. This is a burly route which involves many powerful under clings, monos and incut crimps with tiny footers. For such a burl fest route, it is also very technical. I had been on this route before without thinking I could do it. After becoming familiar with it though, I managed to do it a few times with only one fall, so indeed I am keen to send it this season. As my good friend Jim was working a route at P.C and we ended up there a bit, I figured it would be a good idea for me to do something I had not done yet. I wont say what the route is yet, but its a link up and is quite hard. It will be 30 when done but I am also sure if I can get back to it when I am fresh and its dry, it should go down. Although it was a disappointment to not send anything too hard, I am eager to train and work on what I need to in order to do these routes. I have one more day which I will be bouldering in Sydney then once again its back to the books and training centre until June. I will upload a few photos once home. Cheers.

Easter break

The Easter holidays are not too far away now, all the essays and reading will all of a sudden come to a holt. Its has been a busy start to the year, I have been training a lot. In fact, I don't think I have trained like this in years. That combined with work and uni has made me hardly have any spare time. I did get an infected finger which kept me from training as hard as I wanted to for a week or two, I am not really sure how I got it. I set a few super difficult problems at the gym up here in an attempt to increase my finger strength. These problems used some of the smallest holds I could find. I had my first session on them and the next morning I woke up and my finger was pulsating. You could not even touch it, I could not pick up a milk bottle or anything. I was concerned and did not want to stop training so I went off to the Doc. After 2 courses of Anti-biotics it seems to be clearing up. Still a little sore but manageable. I did however keep training, so I don't really think it affected my strength. I have organised to go to Nowra for 4 or 5 days just after the Easter break. I am pretty keen on bouldering at the moment so I will be doing that as well as some routes when I am not near the bouldering. For the last few years I have only been able to get to Nowra a couple of times a year, so I am super excited to get back down there and not have to think about literacy and metalanguage. I hope my training will pay off, only time will tell.

Here is a pic of a storm about to come down on Newcastle, not at all relevant but a good shot.

Working on a vid

Just a quick update. I have booked a trip with a good friend to Nowra just after the Easter break. I have a few ideas in mind on what I want to achieve and am working hard so I can have a good chance at getting them done. I did get down to Sydney on the weekend and managed to send L'Homme Obu which is V11. Some do mention they believe it is V10 but who knows. I did not find it too bad, although I did have quite a few shots on it. I kept falling hitting the final jug, I think becasue I was doing it statically and not just throwing. Probably thinking too much about it. Anyway I managed to send it easily once I was in the right head space. I got the send on vid which has inspired me to do a litle more filming. I will hope to repeat a few local (ish) Sydney blocks and take the camera to Nowra. I would like to think I will finish the vid a bit after Easter just before going back to uni. I hope this will pan out well. My uni degree is coming to a slow end and I am still thinking on where I want to go once finished. I would love to share the experience with someone so if there is anyone keen to go overseas and boulder, let me know. Until then, its back to uni work and training.