Training? Hmmm.... Whats that?

A lot of strange things have been happening around the small town of Mount Maunganui lately. Firstly, after a few months of a slight lack of motivation and dedication to our training in the gym, a bunch of us decided to relocate our training to a more suitable destination, Wiz Finerons backyard. This was ideal for 2 reasons. 1: About 3/4 of Team Rockhouse were completely and utterly over the on-goings at the Rockhouse gym, and 2: Wizs place has great food, a spa pool, and plenty of climbing movies to choose from. So up goes a 45 degree boulder wall, plenty of holds and after a mission of carrying a "free" couch from the side of the road two whole blocks back to Wizs, we were set to go! The key to my training was to boulder hard for a good couple of hours, then take 3 steps backwards into the spa pool, and with my hands above my head so as to not get them soft and soggy, relax for the next couple. All in all, a good 4 hours of training.

Next thing I knew, I found myself sitting between friends on our couch in the backyard, arms crossed, expressionless looks on our faces, watching a bunch of adults take our wall away bit by bit. Our pride and glory was gone, sold to someone else, and we were left with nothing but an old couch and a huge mudbath for a back lawn. After 4 months of watching each other improve dramatically from our training sessions on this wall, we all felt abit lost about what to do now.

With two friends off to live it up in Texas on a 3 month bouldering trip, the rest of us we left with no where to go and lacking a little motivation on the training front. This was until a very strange man turned up on our doorstep, told us to get in the car, and took us a on a little bit of a trip. Ten minutes later, we found ourselves looking at something that might just make our summer training that little bit better. Tucked away in a storage unit, complete with 3 different angled walls and plenty of holds, was a bouldering facility! Thanks to a bunch of decent and motivated people (Liam Dickson and Co), we were invited to join what is now called "The Tendon Yard." Complete with a fridge full of drinks, plenty of chalk, hangboard and campus board, we finally had somewhere we could make the most of our training when we couldnt be outdoors!

 

So my summer is looking a lot more enjoyable! I have been relentlessly attempting to send Built To Last (30) and am getting closer each day, and with somewhere decent to train it may just go sooner rather than later. (You can read more about the process of Built to Last in the newest edition of The Climber - issue 82). I have also sought out a few more projects to keep me going over the next month or so, so my mind games dont start creeping up on me for trying the same climb for too long.

Me on Built to Last

With lack of time lately, and extremely hot weather, a good day out climbing for me at the moment is a trip to Froggatt after work, with only a few hours of daylight left, to soak up the sending conditions! One such day, I left for Froggatt for my first outdoor trip in awhile, and ticked my project Dr Evil (28) second pop of the evening! So training seems to be going well!

I am hoping to get out climbing a lot more over the summer and just keep having fun and trying to make the most of the weather (even if it means bailing for a swim in the middle of the day to stop the heat stroke coming)!!!

The plan is to get strong and in shape for the Blue Mountains which I am hoping to spend a lot of time at in a few months time!!!

Mount Arapiles 2012

After weeks of itching to get out of school and go climbing, I finally found myself sitting on a plane between two friends, who by the time we took off were possibly already regretting the seating arrangements.Our destination: Mount Arapiles, Australia. One plane ride later, consisting of me bouncing up and down making sure my friends on either side had througroughly read through the "in an emergency" sheet, and postively annoying them with my endless discussions of nothing in particular, I found myself driven into silence as my friends Wiz and Irmak decided the best idea was to put in their headphones and turn the other way. After almost a day of taxis, trains, buses and shuttles, we finally arrived at "the Pines" campground which would be our home for the next few weeks, and I was immediatly drawn to the spectacular orange walls of Mount Arapiles. Luckily, we meet the right people at the right time, inherited an awesome tarp set up complete with lazy boy chair and plenty of left over food and settled in.



Our Home at the Pines

The first thing anyone warned us about before we left was that it was the wet season this time of year over at Arapiles, and us being the keen climbers that we are, decided they were being stupid and went anyway. The weather was not in our favour at all and caused us to spend a lot more time in Horsham Library than we would have liked. But when we got to climb, it was amazing. This was the first time I had ever been around trad climbers and trad routes, so it was all a bit of a revelation to me, and a bit threatening. We did a few trad climbs in the early days of our stay, and obviously with any trad climb, there were endless amounts of cracks! Again, I had never cracked climbed before, and found it both mentally and physically challenging, as I just wasnt used to it. So after a few days of having a go at some cracks, we began to seek out the few sport climbing routes. I was still struggling with climbing though, everything was so different, the style completely new to me. But after finding a few good sport routes, I began to feel comfortable.

 

Me on Ergonomics (26)  Photo: Irmak Thompson



I then discovered a wall just up from the campgroud, called the Flight Deck. This wall was completely different from the rest of the climbing in Arapiles which consisted of cracks, slopery holds and lots of smearing. This wall was completely vertical and full of sharp, crystally crimps. I was in heaven, even through the agonising pain of reluctantly crimping down hard after a few attempts on the climbs. We got pointed in the direction of a grade 25 called Have a Good flight, and I managed to do it on my second go. With about a week to go, and still not feeling the satisfaction of having climbed enough, I gave the direct start to Have A Good Flight a go, graded 27. With 3 days to go, I sent it, acheiving my goal of climbing a 27 in Arapiles.

 

Bouldering on a rainy day

 

 

So after nearly 3 weeks of braving the weather, eating luxurious meals all consisting of food out of the bin (also including my sneaky snacks of chocolate biscuits I just couldnt resist), climbing in a way I have never done before, learning a whole lot of new things including how best to ignore Wizs snoring in the night and sharing the campground with a great bunch of people and kangaroos, I found myself back on the plane between my two friends, and as they already knew the instructions on the "in the emergency" sheet, I had nothing left to do but sit and think about where my next adventure would take me!

 

The Crew