25 April 2012

Philby walks the Yin

Breaking news........

This Morning approx 1 hour ago, Philby 'little hands' Neville has within a week of his 30th birthday, crushed Path of Yin - 30, at arguably the best crag in the southern hemisphere, certainly in the Grampians, Muline.

This is Phil's first 30 and what a route to debut with. Bouldery fridge to get off the ground, steep sluggy roof reminiscent of french baguettes stuck to a ceiling and a 'Heartbreak High' style finish - sometimes hard to watch.



Although I don't believe ticking a 30 before the age of 30 was a true motivator, I had heard Phil mention it before. I guess with week to go the pressure was on - diamonds need a lot of pressure to be formed right? A midweek ANZAC Day special was in order and I only wish I had braved the inclement weather and driven up there for some photos. Alas, a google search has offered up some of its finest "Path of Yin" shots.




Path of Yin under redlights
Path of 2 fat Twins


Path of Yin Steepness. Blue represents the rope - including lower off
Computer generated image of Phil on his 31st Birthday
As we can see, Phil is aging rather rapidly. Lets all hope that he can continue to climb harder than his age, and even as I predict, get in front. Cause thats the secret to the fountain of youth right, climbing hard??

- Grosey

21 April 2012

Easter Wrap Up

Ah yes, Easter. That good old Christian holiday. Some use it celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Others just get horribly drunk for 4 days. Some of us though, go climbing.

Easter is that time of year on the climbing calendar that sees the hordes appear. Baddie traddie types, group abseilers, boulderers, dirtbaggers, slackliners(!?), families, mates, kiddies, the lot.

For Arapiles especially, it's a pretty chaotic time. Fortunately for me, I am still semi located in Natimuk. No crowded campsites. No clanging of hexes in the morning. Bliss!

This Easter I got to team up with some old partners in crime, Scotty Clarke and Chris Trapnell, along with Joshy and Ash. Along with dropin's by Arnie, Scoots, Timmy Le, Papa Al and The Crowe sisters, (the last few you may not know but are pretty tops in my book!)

Scotty Clarke!
Klop at home with the crew
Climbing wise its was a pretty good trip. Joshy knocked off a couple of sweet 29's (Wagalak and Jetlag) and Trappers and Ash smashed out Have A Good Flight (25) in impressive fashion. Ash took it down on her second day as a warmup, and Trappers clipped the chains 5 minutes before he took off to pack up camp and drive 4 hours back to Melbourne, to catch a flight to Brisbane that evening.

Scotty and I spent a few days on Wagalak. I came within a hold of sending that puppy but tore a hole in my finger.....over rover. Scotty was not far behind either.

Trappers on Spasm in a Chasm (25)
Me about to rip a hole in my pinkie on Wagalak. 
And here it is....
Bigger news though was Easter = GOATFEST!

Chapel Street South Melbourne or Main Street Natimuk?
Goatfest is the annual Natimuk film festival, and this was the first one I got to attend. It was a bit cool too going as a 'local'. With a packed out crowd in the Memorial Hall, curry slops, and a cold beer, we settled in for a night of entertainment. Plenty of great videos, from locals to internationals. Even old mate S. Weill had a video.....


Simons Video

First up it goes without saying that the Nati crew who organises this every year do a fantastic job. I wont start rattling off names because its a huge team effort and on a whole they should be thanked and recognised.

Secondly, I suupose a congratulations is order for Simon, who managed to take out both the Viewers and Judges choice awards. Both bloody awards! As if he didn't need something else to hold over the rest of us! But his video was definitely a crowd favourite, and had a different flavour, lets say, to the rest of the videos. So big up to Simon!


The winner and Scootsy enjoying la cafe
Just faking interest in Simons gloating.
But it is getting exciting at the moment! Josh is about 3 weeks away from his move out west to start a 2 month stint as a country paramedic and I'm plugging away trying to work out how I can re-work uni to allow me more time in Nati. I've been locked down the last 10 days knocking off reports, assignment, and mid semester exams. Josh and I have had a couple of epic training sessions, which for reasons I am yet unsure of, has spurred on some motivation to CONTINUE training on my part. Who'da thunk it!?

The last weeks hideout
So thats about it for the moment. I'm sitting here typing and watching the Slovenia bouldering comp. On a Saturday night. Sad I know..... But next weekend its back out to Nati, get some climbing in, maybe even bolt something :D I'll keep you posted on that one ;)

Not a bad drop....

-TheBigAl


02 April 2012

Goings on.

OK guys its been a month since my last update, and well, that's because not a huge amount has happened other then Uni. For the first few weeks of classes I hunkered down in Melbourne getting to grips with a return to the learned life. Chemistry is the game, and even for someone like me who likes it, it can feel like quite a drain.

I've been making the trip back and forth between Nati and M-town for the last couple of weeks, luckily accompanied by fellow westie (Horsham born) Chris Abernethy for the trips most weeks. So far the travel is going well, with 3-4 days a week in Nati just keeping the raging country bumpkin inside of me at bay......just......

The weather is finally coming good, ie; getting colder. Projects are already starting to back up. I had a couple of goes on Joshs' as yet unrepeated Substance D (29) at Little Hands, turning his wild, crux dyno chuck into a three move techo-fest. Haven't been back as yet, but will soon to hopefully knock that one off. Destined to be a classic! Arnie and Matt Adams were there also, and along with Josh, the crag looked and sounded like an add for Red Chili! Josh made great progress on his Afro Warrior project, having a Real Thing flashback "That's a personal best" moment. Simon chucked a great little tanty when he fell off the crux of Steal on Steal (28), repeatedly. Matt complained he was pumped in ALL his arms. I was mad fun of because of my retarded attempt at climbing on the warm-up and the shitty rubber on my Scarpas.....just another day at the office/crag.

The next day Joshy and I headed up to the Gallery with the masses. He was keen to get back on Le Petit Mort (29) while I was just keen to get a bit pumped! Mission accomplished. I had a crack at Shadow Death (28) which is a rad link-up of Chasing the Shadow into the end of Le Petit Mort. I managed to climb to the point where Shadow breaks left and Death continues on before hitting the wall. So another route to add to the list of close ones.

I went back to a route I tried with Arnie last year called The Overtaker (29) at Araps with Abernethy, and after a couple of days he managed to smash out the send, while I came frustratingly close, falling at the end of the crux, then going to the top, before giving up with bruised tips. The list just gets longer.

Crux lock on The Overtaker. (Photo: Alysaa Bond)
End of the crux section of The Overtaker. (Photo: Alyssa Bond)
Chris and I also had a few shots each on Groovy (28) a couple of weeks back, both coming very close to funking our way up the route. Happy to say I finally got a win and knocked it off this weekend passed, as did Chris. This was a pretty special route for me because it was one I'd underlined in my guidebook for a good 10 years ago. I've spent very little time on Taipan over my life of climbing, but Groovy was always one that stuck in my mind as a must do, and it was a very pleasing moment clipping the chains on it. Although I did make things a wee bit exciting having a bit of a un-planned slip and cut loose moment looking at the anchors!

PhD student Ashlee-Trevor-Bendy-Hendy huffed her way up the classic Invisible Fist (26) that day too, while Josh just ran laps on routes like The Invisible Fist and Tyranny. 

News of others in the Melbourne climbing scene comes across the desk here at the A-Team HQ from time to time too. The silent Daddy Daytrippers crusher club of Sam Morely and Scott Clarke have been proving that having a kid is no excuse to getting weak. We hear that Sam knocked off So You Think You Can Dance (V11) and Academia (31) during day trips snuck in between fatherly duties, with partner in crime Scotty nabbing Tyranny (29) and Fabios Route (29), as well as Gripmaster (V10) in similar style. 

Nick Sutter finally put his Little Hands Cave project to rest producing Strontium Dogs (31).

And as you saw below, Philby smashed out Koala (29) under the noses of the rest of us. Sneaky pal!

So what else has been happening???? Ive been back out at the lake fishing over the weekend, but to no avail. Although I think I would hesitate at eating any trout of the lake, considering the sea of algae still present! Gareth is back from WA and now a full time, unemployed climber. Great to have someone else around to talk to now.

I'm back in Melbourne for a few days of school then back out west way Wednesday night. Picking up Scoots from the airport and delivering him to Arnies Acres in Moyston. 

Easter is upon us, and so is a couple of very hot days from the looks of the weather report. So once they pass (with study being the most likely alternative to climbing) its back out there with everyone enjoying the best climbing west of Horsham!!

More to report after easter!

Having a crack at The Eye of the Tiger, 4 days after an epic 5 day music festival.
Not very wise.....
An evening of fishing at Nati Lake with Mars and Brendan.

-TheBigAl