Thursday, April 28, 2011

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.

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