Weekend Roundup

Another weekend of more gramps action this time with Chris & the J-man Pipertron. Thwarted on the plans to get on serpentine by ze germans, we headed to millenium. Chris revisited Eat More Lard (31/8b) and made great progress, nailing the crux move a few times, and getting pretty close on the link. A freakin good effort considering the conditions.


Chris mid crux


Just missing it..

I decided to have a play on Breathing Gasoline (8a+/30), and went suprisingly well. Bar one move down low, I climbed comfortably through all the sections and did the crux easily 2nd pull. 2nd burn, I got some really good links. Super keen to get back on it, certainly one of the best hard routes ive been on, with amazing rock, awesome moves and a wicked crux... Its just Stellar! Some pics below courtesy of the J-man.


Moving into the 1st crux


The first crux


Top crux, truely awesome sequence

More to come!

Kalymnos- “climbers paradise”

So it’s been another two months since my last post. This post is in regard to Kalymnos in October, four month ago. Excuse the lateness.

I think I came from the wrong kind of climbing trip to fully appreciate Kalymnos for what it has to offer. You must understand I worked for a year trying to save money for this trip- a trip I initially intended to be six months long. Not long after embarking on the dirtbag, travelling, climber’s lifestyle did I decide to extend my trip to a year. So my six month budgeting was stretched to one year.

Before I left home, Kalymnos was on my list- no doubt about it, I was going. I had heard the climbing is perfect, atmosphere is perfect, food is perfect, beaches perfect- pretty much everything was perfect. I am not a cynical person, but I would like to think realistic. So, this kind of hype made me quite dubious. I didn’t want to expect too much, in fear of disappointment, but at the same time couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear in anticipation, naturally right? Climbing on a Greek island? Sounds perfect in theory.

Well, after one month on this island, my consensus is that it’s not perfect. I was there from the end of October to the end of November- the tail end of peak climber’s season. It felt a little “Hollywood teen horror movie” ish toward the end. For example:

- When I arrived there were people everywhere. All shops, restaurants and bars oozing party vibes. One week after arrival, nine out of 10 shops/restaurants closed. Where did everyone go? And so suddenly? Back to the UK. Direct flights to the UK ended first week of November- might be a likely answer.

- Kalymnos has an airport, but its runway is very badly situated. Kalymnos is also quite renowned for crazy storms and strong gails. So if there is the slightest hint of a storm, or breeze, flights and boats get cancelled. And in result, people miss connecting flights. Stranded on the island until the storm passes.

- I paid in advance to stay at a large apartment block for three weeks. It was a money saving technique- pay cash up front, and you pay less overall. Great concept. However, during my stay I had regular power outages. This meant I couldn’t turn on lights, or cook anything on my electric stovetop. The cause of these outages? Who knows. Island mystery. Since handing over my big wad of cash to a greasy Greek lad in white Adidas trousers, I could never find him again. On my second last night, I entered my room to find an old oil lamp and a note saying, “You may not have power tonight. So sorry. Big problem for all the town”. I thought about asking the only other people staying there about it, but they had disappeared. I was sure they were meant to be there another week? I went for a walk that night, and it was quite obvious lights were on everywhere but in my room. On my last night, the water was also cut. Sorry, but couldn’t clean the bowls I ate muesli in for breakfast, and dinner! Bastardo.

- During these last few frustrating days, Doug was trying to make a phone call back home on a payphone. Who knows why, but the payphones weren’t working. No power. No payphones. Odd.

Majority of locals were friendly. But I got the vibe I wasn’t the shop owners “friend” like they kept calling out as I walked past. “We have good food” shouted from a restaurant owner induced a “laughing out loud” moment because this was the one place I was warned of serving “good food with complimentary gastro”. Very Thailand-esk.

There are small kiosks all around Massouri. My theory is, the weirder the owner, the cheaper the food. If you want normal service- you pay more. Eg. Milk prices
Shop with morbidly obese, filthy, drooling, falls-asleep-while-serving-you-man: 1.10€
Shop with slick haired, super tidy, doesn’t-stop-talking, “buy from me, not big supermarkets, because I support the climbing community” man: 1.20€
Shop with modest greek lady: 1.40€
Supermarket in Pothia: 1€ + 1€ for a bus ticket.

Scooters- creators of the noise pollution that is killing Kalymnos.
I have never held such large disdain towards motor vehicles until my time on Kalymnos. This island is small, with 80% of crags within walking distance from the majority of accommodation for climbers. I always thought climbers were generally an environmentally conscious crew of peeps. Enjoy the climbing for the scenery. Be out in the fresh air. Get some exercise amongst Mother Nature’s playground. Blah blah. Sure, I am no angel with the amount of miles I cover driving to the Grampians, but where my patience stretches is when I see 20 scooters at the base of the Grande Grotto. Literally 1km from town. A leisurely 10 minute walk along a flat road. And if you have ever walked along a road with 20 scooters hurtling past, you would appreciate my level of hearing damage. I often mistook the approaching noise as the old local bus, but no. Scooter. And if I had a blindfold on, you would think the smell from that scooter were from a Bangkok pile up. Walking around Pothia seemed more dangerous to me than the misconceptions Europeans hold of the wild snakes and poisonous spiders out to get you in Australia.

Beaches- my biggest disappointment
My assumption is Kalymnos beaches are for postcards and summer only. “Pollution free beaches” claims the 35€ guidebook. It’s as though the council ensures the beaches are clean for the masses during summer, and then they go away on holiday and desert the place. As I went for a walk along the beach, I thought to myself, “wow- bins on the beach. That’s great”. Then realised this concept is completely counterproductive seeing as the bins clearly weren’t emptied on a regular basis. There was rubbish everywhere, overflowing out of the bin and into the water.

Kalymnos as a business
I don’t like it when I feel pressured by the people around me to spend money. Yea sure, I understand the whole economic crisis thing. Money makes the world go round stuff. But I have put myself in the “you are exempt from all normal social obligations” category for one year. Eg. I don’t have to pay 5€ a night to camp. I don’t need a new outfit every weekend. I don’t need to spend 50€ to have a good night out. I don’t need make-up. I don’t need to shower every day- only on rest days. I don’t need a hairdresser. I can cut my own hair with my cars side mirror...
So, when I arrived on Kalymnos it was all quite a shock to the system. I was spending 50€ a week in Rodellar. In total. Expenses were food and showers. That’s it. Then! On this island everything costs more. And it all added up quick. Accomodation. Occasional buses. Food from supermarkets. Eating out at restaurants. About 80% of the climbers ate out every night. Bam! 35€ in one day. I could see myself going home sooner than I hoped. I don’t know where the rumour came from, but I was often told it was almost the same price to buy food to cook from the small shops at Masouri, compared to eating out at a restaurant. Maybe it was comparable financially. But those deep fried honey covered dough balls were not helping my muffin tops over my harness.

“Holiday Grading”
I hate this term. I screw my face up to anyone who utters these words. Every time I mentioned Kalymnos, it was bound to be followed by “Oh, you’ll love the holiday grading!” In fact, I hate all debates of ‘soft’ or ‘hard’ for the grade routes. Grades for routes are on a continuum. And are circumstantial for every person and every day. Tall. Short. Crimpy. Slopey. Pumpy. Bouldery. Steep. Slab. Crack. Pockets. Then conditions! Cold. Hot. Humid. Sun. Shade. Rain. What is soft for you, might be hard for me. What is hard for you, might be easy for me. Why do people think it’s cool to say everything is ‘soft’. Does saying things are soft give the impression that you are a better climber? So often I have come across walking contradictions. I see a climber fall, and fall and absolutely struggle up a route, to then hear them claim it is soft. Despite it being several grades below their RP limit. Bizarre.

So, before I even embarked on my first route on this island I expected everything to be ‘soft’. Not a good mindset to be in when on an island where the grading is as inconsistent as the Melbourne train system. I onsighted and flashed my highest grades, but also got shut down on a 6c and 7a, which were damn hard. My theory is the crags have been developed from such a vast range of climbers from all over the world, therefore different styles and standard of grades. This in effect, brings about different difficulty perceptions and large grade discrepancies. So my advice, ignore the grade, just be prepared to get pumped.

I lost psych two thirds of my way into the trip. I was running out of routes I was keen on. I wanted something different. I was getting sick of pure endurance routes on tufas after a month in Rodellar and Kalymnos. The process of finding good rests and recovering was getting tedious. All routes in the Grande Grotto were epic endurance journeys. I flashed Aegialis (7c). On the same day, onsighted Priopos (7c). A week later I spent one hour onsighting Fun du Chichunne (8a). This route weaves its way through the steep roof of the Grande Grotto, consisting of several tricky pumpy sequences intermingled with knee bar rests and no hands rests while standing on tufas. Amazingly fun route! On my last climbing day I flashed Zawinal Syndicate (7c), completing a fall free combo in the cave!

Gaia was the complete opposite of anything I have got on this trip. It’s short and hard! Eight bolts long- two of which I skip while trying to redpoint. No rests. Difficult clips. Hard to chalk up. Pure 8b power endurance. Initially I got on to just try the moves and get some power. But after the second session I could do all the moves and decided this would be my project for Kalymnos! If I do it, cool. If not, cool too. But I decided to give it a good go. Good training either way! Day four I did it in one sit. But I soon discovered one sit makes a big difference on a power endurance route. Again, no send in my final days, but one day, I’ll go back and send. I’ll do some bouldering circuit training and achieve what seems utterly impossible at the moment...maybe.

Kalymnos is a very luxurious crag. You stay in a nice apartment as opposed to the dirt. You can shower (in salt water) morning, afternoon and night. If it’s too hot, you can swim in the Mediterranean. You don’t have to cook in the dark at the end of a long day, you can sit and click your fingers in a nice restaurant for reasonable prices. You can walk (or scooter) to a crag and find arrows and signs everywhere. Route names painted in blue below every route. If you’re lucky, you’ll even find the crag name written on the ground. According to the guidebook, every route is world class. “Musical” or three stars are the average standard. If you don’t find anything you fancy, go to the tourism office and they will supply you with free bolts, a drill to create your own masterpiece and instructions. Perfect right? Depends what you are in to.

Dre.
P.S. Bakery in Pothia- best baklava in the world. A must visit! Get the chocolate cake too. If you go frequently enough, you might get a free piece! ;)

The future of the A-team

Just a quick note of congratulations to A-team friend Chris 'Tickles' Ticknor & his lovely wife Alison on the arrvival of their new baby girl Nora. Rumor has it that upon entering the big wide world, the little tike cranked out a few one armers and was heard to ask 'where the blocs at?" Needless to say, i'm sure we can expect big things in the future. :)
 
All the best guys.
 

Allez Allez

Well it’s been a long time since my last update, mostly due to the fact that I spent most of last year on the bench with an assortment of injuries. That said, there has actually been quite a bit happening over the past few months, so I thought a bit of an update may be in order.

Joshy & KP hit Thailand over new year’s chasing sunshine, beach babes, buckets of booze & soft ticks. Joshy had a fairly productive trip and managed to knock over a few classics in between bouts of partying & extreme Tonsai-tummy, the highlight being a buzzer beater ascent of Jai Dum (8b/31) a couple of days before he had to leave. He also managed to knock of a bunch of other classics including Art & Sport, Phet Mak, Sex Power, Elephant and a heap more.



The red duck (KP) was also in fine form, although finding it hard to get motivated early on, he managed to get his shit together and jump on board the send train. Highlights included starting fights with crazy Norwegians’, an ascent of Art & Sport (8a+/30) and the multipitch classic Kitty Porn (7c+/28). The big fella is now hitting the Grampians for the next 4-5 weeks, before heading off to Europe for an extended trip.

It seems I may be finally escaping team injured. My climbing year started well. I had a great 10 day trip to araps with leash, staying with the Mofo's and a hoard of others. The plan was to take it pretty easy and test out the old body, do some mileage and try to start getting back into the game. Leash & I did a bunch of classic trad routes in the 16-21 bracket that I’d never done before. It reminded me how much the mount can bring you back down to Earth when your peakin off your head on something well below your limit.

After a few days I decided to jump on a few harder things. I ended up doing the classic Wackford Squeers (26) and Power Corruption & Lies (27) 2nd shot. At the end of the trip the body was feeling good and I was as psyched as I have ever been.


Me on Wackford Squeers (26)


After getting back from the mount I started training again, bouldering and running laps at the hanger. I had a few days in Sydney bouldering at a few of the gyms up there and was starting to feel as strong as I ever had. About 3 weeks back, Chris and I headed to the gramps and had a great weekend despite the 35 degree temps. We checked out the Tower, which is a really nice spot. Great rock which is remarkably similar to Taipan, and shade all day. Chris and I both did See the Light (22) and Terror of the Sea (25) before jumping on Super Mario Brothers Direct (27). A very bouldering start leads to awesome pumping on big jugs. Unfortunately we both pitched off just before the victory jugs , but we will certainly be back for the send, of what I think is one of the best 27’s in the Grampians.

Last weekend Chris & I headed away again, this time hitting Araps on Saturday so Chris could jump back on Lord of the Rings (31). He had an awesome burn, getting through to a new highpoint and making some good links, I have no doubt he will send it soon. I strolled over to Mysteries wall and flashed the absolutely fantastic Blue Eyed & Blonde (24), which must rank as one of my favourite 24’s anywhere. I also sent a very cool bouldery route to its right called Historic Events (26) 3rd shot. All in all a very fun day. The following day we headed to millennium so I could jump back on my long-time project, Nomads Sains & Indians (29). My intention was just to have a refresher on it to see where I was at fitness wise, but after warming up by putting the draws on; I sent it packing 1st shot of the day... Needless to say I was pretty psyched! I capped of my weekend by doing the nails ard’ Velocity of Time (26) putting the draws on. It was a great weekend for me, not just because I sent a few routes, but to finally feel like I’m starting to be able to climb to my potential without injury is a great feeling.


Nomads!!! :)


Looking forward to hitting Taipan and Muline over the next few weeks! Cant wait!This rad shot by Vera Warmbrumm has me psyched for muline!

Near Death Experience.

I forgot about a story. It’s a sensitive topic for me. But it’s a story in which I would like to think could save lives! Or could at least get a few laughs.

From my experience I have realised all Europeans are terrified of the snakes, spiders, sharks and crocodiles in Australia. If a survey were conducted, I believe Tourism Australia would find this is a major misconception and factor for why people don’t visit- they just don’t want to die. They have this image in their head that spiders will crawl all over their bed. Crocodiles will roll them around their bath tub. Sharks are lurking around the beach shores ready to swallow them whole. Snakes are bursting out of toilets ready to bite them in the arse.

So, what about the warnings for Australians travelling to Europe?

I was camping in Spain, Rodellar at the massive carpark for vans/motorhomes. This area is great to sleep at, but can get very busy. One night, I needed to use the ladies room. There is a vast area to find privacy; you just have to be careful where you go. It’s not a forest. There are random walls designating pathways in all directions. It’s unlikely, but someone might walk past. Then there are prickly shrubs. I don’t know why, but 90% of shrubs in Europe have thorns. So, with a few factors to consider I went for a walk. I wore my dimming headtorch and marched into a random direction away from the carpark. I jumped a few walls and walked around a few trees and bushes. Then a few more. Then, as I started to head back to where I thought was the carpark, I realised I was kind of lost. I knew the general direction of the carpark but to get there, there was a ramp. I kept coming across a prickly vine covered wall. So as far as the best route- no idea. I don’t have the best sense of direction at the best of times, but all the wall jumping and shrubbery, and most of all, darkness, left me feeling pretty foolish. The wearing of thongs and shorts weren’t helping.

Being lost was fine- eventually I knew I would make it back. A few scratches here and there didn’t bother me at all. But! When I started to hear GRUNTS! From more than one direction. And SCRUFFLING of HOOVES on NEARBY GRASS! That’s when my heart stopped. It was a typical ‘fight or flight’ response. I stood so still. My heart pounding out of my chest. Whole body shaking. Mind racing. Thinking, “which direction should you run!? How the hell are you going to climb a prickly vine covered wall in HAVIANAS! You are going to die in Spain. By a wild boar. Find a weapon!” So I found two rocks- smaller than a football. Pretty lame huh!? My idea was, if they started to charge, I would smack it right in between its eyes- knock it out! Run to safety and live to tell the tale.

I stood there, transfixed. Listening to the grunts. Then I decided I had to move. I had to get out of there. I was so close to breaking down and yelling out. Maybe Doug would realise I had been gone an unusually long time and come to the rescue? But the humiliation! So I was on a mission. Find car! I walked and walked with those two rocks for what felt like forever. I was too scared to turn around towards the grunting but not really sure if I was going in the right direction. I have no concept of how long I was gone for, but eventually I found that damned carpark.

I walked up to the Kangoo and crawled in to lie down. I found Doug playing Quiz games on my ipod. My hero. After some calming down- realising I wasn’t going to die in Spain by a wild boar, I proceeded to tell Doug my tale. I couldn’t help but notice the smirk he was trying to hide on his face. It’s stupid I know. And you can all point and laugh at my craziness! But I have several sources confirming the presence of wild bores there. Whether you are special enough to get lost or not, that’s another issue all together. Just don’t let it be you. You’ve been warned.

Dre.
P.S. I am currently in Poland. Waiting for my third flight I've booked and paid for to get out of this country. Fingers crossed everybody!

Half empty or Half full?

It is the first week of the year, and I feel obliged to attempt to fulfil my duties as the Captainette of Crush to complete a summary of the last three months. I have let a lot of time pass, and the difficult process of telling the story of my travels has had the snowball effect. My laziness has been largely exacerbated by the negative celcius temperatures I have been enduring living in my car. So please, show mercy.

I find myself trying to gather my thoughts on all that has happened since the last blog entry, and have been completely overwhelmed because as you may have noticed by my last entry- I don’t do ‘brief overview’ very well. But, I think this time, I have to try and compress my last three months, as much as it pains me, for the benefit of any sucker readers.

According to my withering two years out of university brain- I ended my last thesis at Ceuse, typing away in a hotel in Zurich with Mum-Hah. After ten days of eating, sleeping, reading, sightseeing and photo-snapping, I got a train back to my car in France. From there, I was on a mission to get to sunny Spain.
As Doug and I were driving towards the France/Spain border in the Alps, it was going dark, hilly and too much for our little Kangoo. Kangoo’s engine got too hot so in result we pulled over and slept among the Alps and woke to priceless views in the morning. Very “Mastercard Ad”-esk. As we started driving, it was gloomy, rainy, misty and damn cold. But Doug remained high spirited- “it’s always sunny in Spain!” he proclaimed. And as we entered the tunnel with our windscreen wipers on, and saw the “Espana” sign on the other side, straight ahead was a blue sky and shining sun! A few kms further I attempted to get a breakfast tan.

Further down the road we crossed a bridge, and I pointed and laughed in amazement. A man in uniform was standing on the bridge we had just crossed, holding a very large automatic weapon! Not much further down the road, we came to a halt by 10 police cars. After some translation problems, we were asked “where go you?” As calmly as I could with a gun a metre away from me I quavered a “Rodellar- escalar?” The police man then searched the car for possible Bask refugees we were trying to smuggle in among the sleeping bags. After failing to find anything but dirty clothes, we were waved on to escalar at Rodellar!

Rodellar is a climbing paradise- a valley of limestone caves and cliffs about an hour from Huesca. After walking around on the first day, I decided I needed a month there. I found myself standing under routes, back to the wall, looking at routes that ventured out as far horizontally as they did vertically. “Wake up abs!” was to be a common statement I would proclaim in the proceding month. After consulting some local friends and given tips from friends back home, I had a little ticklist.

Acravita (8a) was one of the first routes I wanted to ‘project’ in Las Ventanas. It’s about 45 deg overhanging and involves skipping a clip during the crux; which is a power endurance sequence finalised with a dyno. This is then topped out with some small crimpy holds that veer left, away from the anchor to the right. On the first day I got shut down, I couldn’t do all the moves. I felt so weak, sitting at every bolt. However, somehow, second go on the second day, it all came together. Woohoo.

What’s next? I had a few projects going at the same time during my month in Rodellar. My tactics were dependent on weather, time, how tired I felt, how inspired I was and belay options. In hindsight, I don’t advise this approach.

My main goal of Rodellar was to do Kings of Metal. Some have been so bold as to claim it’s the best sport route in the world. It is graded 8a+, about 35m long in length, and gets steeper as you get higher, maybe? So much so, that after lowering off, I needed a tea break to walk back to the base of the cliff. The first half is very three dimensional, following a combination of tufas. It gets a separate grade of 7c+ and ends at a bomber knee bar, which is essentially a no hands rest below a small roof. The second half of the route involves large moves on holds that aren’t that small, but just far apart. And steep. This route took me 10 goes over five climbing days. It doesn’t sound like much on reflection, but during the process it felt epic. This route is very hard and physical for me. I could only go up it twice a day, and initially I woke up sore the day after. I was tempted to give up after the first two days, but then decided- if I do just this one route this month, I would be happy. I fell very close to the top twice on the third and fourth day. Then on the fifth, came uncomfortably close to falling again, but fought my way through the pump that I am still recovering from today. The combination of ‘allez allez, venga! Come on! A muerte!” cheering from all around Ventanas, and the dread of having to climb this route again, kept me fighting.

So remember when I said I would be happy if I only did Kings of Metal? Well I lied. I tried a few more routes concurrently and following. Two main routes stand out- Gracias Fina and Espirit Rebelle.

I tried Gracias fina from my second week all the way through to my last day. It is an 8a at Pince Sans Rire, not quite as steep as Las Ventanas, but still steep and pumpy. I lost count of how many attempts I had over how many days. I have come to the conclusion that I didn’t take this route seriously enough. I came really close on my second day, so then decided I didn’t need to be ultra fresh to do this route. I left it for days where I was too tired to try Kings of Metal or my new project, Espirit Rebelle. Alas, in hindsight, I needed to be fresh. The closest I came was one hot, humid evening, third go, where I pushed through the crux, made it to the saviour undercut jug before the easy to the top bit. As I set off, my footer blew, my undercut jugs were deemed useless and I took a massive whipper from skipping clips.

Espirit Rebelle broke my heart. It is a (concensus is, soft) 8b in Las Ventanas. It follows tufas all the way through the cave, to finish up an easier cornery section to the top. It’s fun and really powerful for me. The moves are big and it’s damn steep. Initially, I tried it as a ‘training route’ because Doug was projecting it. I thought I would just get some power up and see if I could do the moves. Anyway, I could do the moves. On the third day I linked through the crux, and was doing the final moves to the no hands rest when I blew it. Damn. Then the rain came. And it brought friends. Damn again. So much rain! I was meant to leave Rodellar in two days. So I rested the next day, and walked up on my final climbing day to find it soaking wet, and dripping from at least every third hold. I had a teary, like an immature child.

As a consolation prize, I thought I could do Gracias Fina after doing El Delfin. I tried El Delfin (7c+) in my first week but at the end of the day. So on this final doom day, I went up El Delfin twice, and couldn’t work through the boulder crux at the end. Oh well. I went off to Gracias Fina, and couldn’t even do the crux. The heart wasn’t there; I had it set on Esprit Rebelle. I felt cheated and disappointed. I got so angry, and so sad, and cursed at myself a lot. My time at Rodellar felt utterly wasted. So much energy spent on routes I never completed, but should have. A cup half empty feeling. And yet, maybe it’s not so bad? In this one month I climbed my hardest route ever, a grade I could have never comprehended ever doing. I climbed some of the world’s best sport routes and onsighted some classics. I acquired some really good kneebar techniques and fitness. I met some beautifully friendly people. Was reunited with friends from Ceuse. Laughed till my stomach hurt around massive risotto cook ups. I got to watch world class climbers all around me every day, making me realise I am just a kid in a playground, still on the bottom rungs of the ladder, struggling my way to the top of a massive roller coaster ride.

The next day I woke up in my Kangoo to pouring rain. I ran to the refuge, ordered a cappuccino and a freshly baked chocolate croissant. I then sat in contentment while everyone around me ummed and ahhed over where to go, while I myself knew I would be in Kalymnos in 48 hours. Doug drove the car away from Rodellar while I sat in the passenger seat awfully close to hurling from car sickness. Thanks Rodellar!

After a day city touring around Barcelona and drinking hot chocolates, I slowly made my way to the so called ‘climbers paradise’- Kalymnos. I got a lot to say about that little island so I will begin my next entry there. I got a feeling I’ve failed at “compressing”, but if I “categorise” maybe that will do?

Till next time...
Dre.

Wrap Up

Bloody hell! Where did the last couple of months go? Our lack of crushing has not been without good reasons.

So what has been happening.........in a nut shell please?

After Melbourne's crazy heatwave in early spring, the A-Team took a break from training, and started doing normal people stuff, like going out, drinking, spending money on shit we don't need. Around the same time I also had my final exams for Uni, so it was a good time to take some time off. Since then my housemates and I have been evicted from Rathdowne Street.....of course a munty eviction party was in order. The Armageddon on Rathdowne party was the highlight of the spring carnival season. Following this, Al and I both found ourselves very distracted with girls, myself not venturing out of the house for 2 weeks.....needless to say, climbing was the last thing on my mind. Recently due to losing a battle in court, worthy of Napoleon himself, well actually it was only an hour and I didn't really get sweaty or anything, I've since taken a job with an outdoor retailer. My role (only 1 month contract) was to set up a new Kathmandu store on Chapel St, followers of our blog my remember this street is to me what good writing is too teenage vampire swoon flicks, incompatible. Drop in, its great, no air conditioning, and a cupboard full of faulty products returned, and only after 10 days of open trade.

Well ok, so here's something about climbing......Al is still taking a break and Phil is fully injured again. Man, if Phil wasn't so hairy I'd wrap him in cotton wool.....oh wait, actually he's shaved his chest just the other day. Looking hot mate! Myself, well I'm actually off to Thailand on Friday night.

Thailand - the one climbing/vacation destination I'd thought I'd never visit. Couple of reasons; I don't consider myself a "tourist" in fact I hate them.....yes this made talking to Kathmandu customers an exercise in tollerance, something I have very little off for idiots. Secondly, Thailand seems to be a place where everyone goes climbing. What I mean by that is, people who climb who aren't climbers (I refer to such people not with distain but merely observation - like if I was to go surfing I wouldn't call myself a surfer -kinda thing yeah?) seem to have climbed there. Then there is a bunch of people in their own sub category - those who thing Thai fisherman pants are cool, and where them to the gym....fuck off, they look stupid, mainly cause you ain't Thai or a fisherman. The rock is limestone, and due to the humidity and the traffic (human of course) it is polished. This sounds awfully similar to a place I wish I hadn't spent much time, El Chorro in southern Spain. Not only were the grades soggy, but the place was full of English Geezer wannabes. Both El Chorro and Thailand are what I've considered 'Climbing Holiday' destinations as opposed to a climbing destination.

That said, before you all jump up and down and say, ' you are an idiot, how can you comment on a place you haven't been to?' or 'fisherman pants are cool', I'll say you're right, except the douchebag with the pants comment. Regardless of the reasons I've never gone over, I'm actually really excited about going to a "holiday climbing" spot for 3 and a half weeks. I need a holiday. I haven't been away since my Castle Hill trip in '07, with good reasons...mainly accident last year and no money. So I'm heading over with Kent "KP" Patterson, and a couple of girls Alex and Rachel from the Munt crew. Of the group I'm the only one who wasn't been there, and as of today, Wednesday I'm pretty psyched. I have spoken to mates (Philby, Patty Turner, and Timmy Le) and have got an idea of routes I wanna try. Apart from the climbing I'm just psyched on getting outta melbourne, and lounging around on the beach (this is a new concept to me - tourism shit). Anyway should be good, and i'll let you know how it goes.

Ok guys, so 2009 has been good for some, and not for others. Some projects were ticked, others still wait. Douchebags were named and shamed, internet slaging wars were fought through chockstone, facebook and some dating site I wont' mention....there were no winners. So merry Christmas, that is if you celebrate it, and Have a great New Year. 2010 will be a great year for Victorian climbing, can feel it in me bones!

Peace out guys!

- Grosey