Saturday 19 November 2011

Tapas party at BK and Lori’s.  One of the contestants came up with this awesome dish, and it didn't even win!  Battered and fried eggplant heart, with sun-dried tomato, cheese and other stuff (what IS that?)

Awesome!

 

 

 

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Climb at the Pit.  Flash “Don’t Feed the Agave” (5.11c).  Techy route with a very high first bolt that gives the climber plenty of time to ponder the location of the sharp agave plant growing below.  Bad day to forget the slick-clip!

Friday 25 November 2011

Climb at the Asylum with Patty, Chris, Patrick and Tyler.  Rock is chossy compared to RRG, but I guess I’m spoiled!  Do a few routes, including a flash of a very tricky 5.11c.  Have to take a rest on the rope at the crux of an 11a that is very traddy and burly for the grade, which is disappointing.

Saturday 26 November 2011

Climb at the Pit.  Clean ascent of “Purple Shark” (5.12a); good to know that I can still get up this route even with the injury.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Get ready to go to Telluride.

Monday 28 November 2011

Drive to Telluride.  New state - Colorado!

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Snowboard at Telluride.  The resort we stayed at was amazing, and amazing we got such a great deal!  $450 each to stay 3 nights and ride 3 days.  We found out that a lift ticket ofr 1 day is $100, and a room in this hotel at peak is $800 a night!

Telluride Lumiere

Not enough snow!

Unfortunately there just wasn't enough snow to make it a really great few days.  Only 1 lift was open, which accessed only 2 runs.  The steep run wasn't much fun with no powder to push around, so we mainly rode the easier long run.  I used the lesser angle to practice riding switch, turning from either side, doing 360s and trying a few jumps and jump-turns.  Needless to say I spent a bit of time on my arse!  But I improved, ready for some more challenging stuff!  But when?

Thursday 1 December 2011

Snowboard.  Drive back to Flagstaff in terrible conditions.  Snow reduces visibility so driving is dangerous and draining.  Why couldn't all this snow have landed the first night we arrived!  Oh well, perhaps Arizona Snowbowl (in Flagstaff) will open in time for me to get a run in.

Friday 2 December 2011

Post ad on Craig list.com to sell the van.  Its snowing right now and more is forecast for the weekend, so it looks like I will have trouble selling the van.

Saturday 3 December 2011

Organise stuff to sell and pack bags for the flights home.  Flying with different airlines means that I have to deal with different excess baggage rules.  Could be an expensive trip home!

Sunday 4 December 2011

Put van in the Fry’s parking lot with FOR SALE signs on it.  High visibility from route 66.  Not sure if I can keep it there overnight.  Hope it doesn’t get towed!

Monday 5 December 2011

Christmas shopping.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Sort stuff to sell and stuff to donate.  Take photos of the snowboard and gear to sell.  Print flyers to put up around town.

Climb at gym in town.  Weird to get back on plastic; leading indoors feel way scarier than outdoors now.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Transfer title of van into Patty’s name.  Put up flyers around town for the van, snowboard and crash pad.  Hopefully this stuff will sell soon, but if not maybe my friends in Flagstaff can put it to good use.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Finish Christmas shopping.  So much stuff to take home!  At least I can drop off a few small things in France.  Climb at the gym again.  Looking forward to a rest for the finger, but already I'm keen for real rock.  I'll have to be smart about rehab when i get home, because I'll want to get back on the 'classic quarry routes' after so long away!  Haha

Friday 9 December 2011

Snowboard at Arizona Snowbowl.  Conditions are not good, as expected with such low snowfall and no base, but its better than nothing to me!  I won't be able to ride again for quite a while.  A few more scratches to further de-value the board.

Saturday 10 - Sunday 11 December 2011

2.30am catch shuttle to Phoenix.  8.20am flight to LA.  3.15pm flight to Manchester via Frankfurt.  Stay in a 35 pound B&B in Manchester.  Nice and cosy!

Monday 12 December 2011

Fly to Lyon via Zurich.  Bus from Lyon to Grenoble arrives 1am Tuesday.  See Alexis and Laura with Clay as they come to pick me up.  Good to see family again!

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Lunch with Soe, Alexis, Laura, Clay, Katya and some of Katya’s work colleagues.  Play the Bohnanza card game with Laura and Alexis.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Spend day with Clay, Katya, Valentina. Soe, Alexis and Laura.

Valentina Maria Boladeras Iracheta

Thursday 15 December 2011

Soe, Alexis and Laura leave.  Boulder indoors (“A Blok” gym) with Julien Pishot.  Dinner and night out with his friends:  Christophe, Julien and Camille.  Wonderful night at bars and Christophe’s apartment.  Watched “The Art of Flight” (snowboard movie; amazing!) and drank the beast Scotch ever - “Lagavulin” 16 year old single malt scotch whiskey.  EUR90 Duty Free.  Hope I can find it at one of the many airports I'll travel through on my way back!

Friday 16 December 2011

Christmas shopping with Clay.  Buy tree for the apartment.  Spend time with Clay and Katya, and of course with Valentina!  She is such a cute little baby!

Saturday 17 December 2011

Climb at “Espace Vertical” gym with Julien Catalan.  Do some long lead routes including some steep ones.  The grades here feel way harder than the conversion chart suggests, but I guess the fact that its gym climbing also adds to the feeling of difficulty.  Met up with Julien’s brother Stephan and his partner Sonia at the gym.  The last time I met them was at Oliver’s place in the mountains, after an afternoon’s climbing.

Dinner with the Juliens, and Clay and Katya, at the Mylan apartment.  Chamois made a cheese fondu with garlic, white wine and mushrooms, which is supposed to be a traditional local recipe.  Very decadent!

Sunday 18 December 2011

Hike up to the top of Chamrousse mountain following the piste runs, using showshoes and hiking poles with a snowboard slung through the shoulder straps of my backpack.  Julien C had skis with skins to hike up with.  We went from the resort at about 1650m, all the way to about 2250m, which took us a couple of hours.  The ride down took only minutes!  Not really worth the effort in my opinion, at least for a rider of my limited ability, because by the time I got to the top my legs were so sore and tired I found it hard to control the board.  Plus conditions were bad so visibility was limited, so the run wasn’t very fun.  But there was loads of fresh powder and I haven’t ridden fresh pow since Mammoth lakes back in May.  So can’t complain!  Plus the day was free, whereas lift tickets there are around 35 euro.  One lady even told me to get a split board as she zoomed down past us!  It was hard to appreciate the hike when we could see riders coming down around us, and taking the lifts back up above us; as Chamois said, it is better to hike where there is no-one else around to take away the sense of isolation.

Monday 19 December 2011

Begin the long journey home.  Bus to the Gare to catch another bus to the airport, then a couple of flights (through Zurich) to Manchester.  Stay the night there again, then onto Perth via Frankfurt and Singapore.  Then a train to Kalgoorlie and a 6 hour drive to the station!  All in all 4 days’ travel to make it home in time for Christmas.

The night in Manchester was pretty uneventful - went back to the same restaurant for a nice feed of ribs.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Spent the morning on the internet and reorganising the bags so I’m not over by too much on the weight limit.  Bit of a scare when it was time to go to the airport - Frank (the B&B proprietor) was nowhere to be found!  There was loud music playing from his private room but he didn’t answer to my insistent knocking.  I thought the old guy had carked it in there!  But his car wasn’t in the driveway so he must be out having his coronary somewhere else.  The neighbour came over to say Frank rang, and had run out of petrol.  He’d be along in time to take me to the airport she said.  2 hours before departure he arrived sheepishly and drove me to the departure terminal.  I had time to collect my extra bag (at a cost of 40 quid) and make it to the check-in counter in time to hear the bad news.

I was told that my flight to Frankfurt was cancelled, I was allocated a different set of flights through Paris with a different airline to meet up with my QANTAS Singapore to Perth leg, had to pay 86 pounds for the extra checked bag, had to check my hand luggage as a third bag (no charge) because there was an airport security staff strike on in the French airports; I barely made my connection in Paris because they only gave me an hour to transfer, and I had a long night ahead of me on the plane to Singapore.

Wednesday 21 December 2011

I endured a 12 hour flight from Paris to Singapore sitting next to a schoolboy rugby team from Australia, didn't have in-flight entertainment because they couldn't fix my screen, and missed my connection in Singapore because they only gave me an hour to make it (but the flight was late), and they told me to pick up my boarding pass in Singapore, so by the time I got it they wouldn't let me on the plane!  So Air France have booked me a flight on Singapore Airlines which gets me into Perth tomorrow morning, but not with enough time to spare to get on the train to Kalgoorlie from East Perth.  So I lose that $86 and have to book a flight from Perth to Kalgoorlie that can get me there in time for Dad to collect me so we can get back to the station in time for Christmas!  Another lazy $200-odd but at least I get back in time.  Whew!

So this is the end of the line.   I have to say updating this blog quickly became an ordeal; reading it you can see it was right about the first few weeks that I was over it!  When I started doing things over there and had a regular set of friends to climb with I couldn’t be bothered writing it all down.  Any time I had spare, writing was the last thing on my mind.  Much of the blog is note entries of pretty boring sounding events, written without any patience or flair.  I threw a few good entries in every now and again, when I had the time and inclination to sit down and write.  Much of the problem was that I left it too long and had to catch up on a month or more of events, which when formatting and pictures was included seemed too much of a task.  I should have copied other people’s blogs in their punchy brevity, instead of writing down a list of events.  But at least I have a record of what happened, and I can draw conclusions from it all in times to come; hell even make shit up to make it sound more interesting!  That’s the benefit of not going into much detail - I can fill in the blanks later.  Haha

Red River Gorge, Kentucky

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Start drive to RRG.  27 hours of monotonous driving to look forward to!  Arizona, New Mexico and Texas today.


Thursday 20 October 2011

Drive.  Arkansas, Tennesee.  The FLAT sweeping farmland ensures you forget the desert vistas of Arizona and New Mexico.  I consider taking photos, but really, there's not much exciting material!

Friday 21 October 2011

Kentucky.  Set up camp in the Miguel’s carpark.  Seeing as we have two vans and we won't need to drive anywhere when Chris is here with his truck, we set up a tarp between the vans to cover the cooking area and the van doors.

Saturday 22 October 2011

Gallery crag.  Onsight “De Vinci’s Left Ear” (5.10b), flash “Happy Trails” (5.10d), flash “A Brief History of Climb” (5.10c), flash “Johnny Be Good” (5.11a).  Good start to the trip.  Nothing like some mindless clip-ups to cure the Yosemite hangover!  The bolting here in general is conducive to stress-free enjoyment of movement over rock, without having to worry about being weighed down with pounds of gear and looking at scary run-outs.

Sunday 23 October 2011

Crossroads crag.  Onsight “Love Potion Number 9” (5.9), then toprope “Hippy Speed Ball” 5.12a with a hang at the crux.  Finger is still not at all good, so I’m being very careful not to stress it.  Staying off hard routes, and only top roping moderate routes to make sure I don’t do something stupid to my finger.  Luckily the rock here lends itself to comfortable climbing, especially at the lower grades.

Iron banding in the sandstone makes for some interesting holds

Monday 24 October 2011

Funk Rock City crag.  Flash “Funkadelic” (5.10b), flash “Manic Impression” (5.10a), flash “Eye of the Needle” (5.11b).  The Red is known for its ladder-like steep jug hauls, but there are plenty of intriguing routes that require more contemplation and use of deft footwork.  "Eye of the Needle" is an arete climb with a foot-long hole through the thinnest part of the route.

Tuesday 25 October 2011


5.12 wall and Military wall.  Onsight “Sunshine” (5.9+), onsight “Moonbeam” (5.9), flash “In the Light” (5.10c), onsight “Stay Left” (5.10a), toprope flash “Fuzzy Undercling” (5.11b).  Some of these routes are fine to lead even though I can't climb properly with this injured finger, because the angle and the steepness often allows for relaxed pulling and careful management of the finger.  Most times I'm able to remove the suspect doigt from the hold and just use the other 4, and other times I can use the left hand to do most of the hard pulling and the right can be saved for balance.

Many options for ascention

The iron provides solid holds among the sandstone

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Chocolate Factory crag.  Onsight “Oopma” (5.10a), flash “Loompa” (5.10b), onsight “Glass Elevator” (5.10d), dog “Wobbler” (5.11d), toprope flash “One Side Makes You Taller” (5.11a).  Routes such as "Wobbler" are the type of route that I should avoid if I want to protect my finger from more injury.  These such routes are crimpy face climbs similar to those found at Red Rocks, and require hard crimping on small holds.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Solarium and Arsenal crags.  Onsight “Sacrilege” (5.10d), flash “Bathtub Mary” (5.11a), onsight “Air Ride Equipped” (5.11a).  The latter route is the type that I can climb without fear of further injury. The climb is very steep, but the holds are all huge and round enough to allow me to keep the injured finger protected.

Chris on a typically crimpy face route

Friday 28 October 2011

Inner Sanctum Crag.  Onsight “Netizen Hacktivist” (5.9+), onsight “Bad Company” (5.10a), onsight “Naughty Neighbour” (5.10d).  We could go to a new crag every single day the whole time we are here, there are so many different places to climb.  It is true that much of the rock is very similar so the routes in each area climb very much the same, but each area has its own style.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Drive-By crag and Bob Marley crag.  Onsight “Make A Wish“ (5.10b), flash “Breakfast Burrito” (5.10d), flash “Fire and Brimstone” (5.10d), flash “Beta-Vul Pipeline” (5.12a).  "Beta-Vul" is the kind of route one thinks of when mentioning the Red; short, very very steep, and with big holds.  The crux involves some small but sharp pockets, but seeing someone else climb it informed me of the moves and allowed me to go through the crux quickly and protect the injured finger.  Even still, 5.12a seems to be the grade here where you have to pull hard enough on small enough holds to risk the finger, so I'd better be careful around this grade.

Sunday 30 October 2011

Chocolate Factory crag.  Onsight “Sugar Rush” (5.10a).  Check out Motherlode crag - awesome!  Curved amphitheater of uniform steepness and impressive blankness.  Nothing under 5.12.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Left Flank crag.  Onsight “Mr Bungle” (5.8+), onsight “Fast Food Christians” (5.10a), onsight “Face Up to That Crack” (5.8-), onsight “To Defy the Laws of Tradition” (5.10a), flash “Aquaduck Pocket” (5.11a), dog “Wild, Yet Tasty” (5.12a).  This .12a was very flashable, but I was worried about my injured finger on the sharp 2 finger pockets.  Great route though.  The pockets are small but sharp, and widely spaced.  Many harder routes here are similar in style to this route, and are just the style I enjoy.  Too bad!  Maybe next time I can get on some of these routes.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Phantasia crag.  Onsight “Creature Feature” (5.9), onsight “Overlord” (5.10b), onsight “Lord of the Flies” (5.8), onsight “Pogue Ethics” (5.9+), onsight “Creep Show” (5.10d), onsight “Count Floyd Show” (5.11b).  Nothing to do every day but climb great routes and eat Miguel's pizza!

Thursday 3 November 2011

Bourbon Trail.  Only went to Four Roses and Wild Turkey out of the 6 distilleries on the Trail.  Very similar experience to going on a winery tour.  I have to say, straight bourbon is not my drink of choice!  Luckily there are those on the tour with me who aren't opposed to extra rations.

Massive yeast tub - nasty smells!

Saturday 5 November 2011

Back to Inner Sanctum crag.  Onsight “Karmic Retribution” (5.10d).  Indy Wall crag.  Onsight “Annie the Annihilator” (5.10c), onsight “Makin’ Bacon” (5.10d).

Sunday 6 November 2011

Bob Marley crag.  Onsight “Toker” (5.11a), flash “Crosley” (5.11c), flash “Dogleg” (5.12a) awesome and super-reachy, and hard for the grade if you are short.  Any shorter than me and it would be quite difficult.  I was at maximum reach, and dynoing would be awkward on some moves.  One mandatory move a few clips up requires a dyno from twin underclings.  Very awkward, but rewarding when the rail is snatched on the fly.

"Dogleg".  Wide blank sections between good rails

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Drive By crag.  Onsight “Yada Yada Yada” (5.11b).  Dog up “Head & Shoulders” (5.11d) - climbs like a trad route, with powerful lay-backing defining the upper third of the route.  Found it difficult to get a rest, so I got too pumped to move past the last bolt.  Even after resting and scoping out the moves to the anchors I found it very difficult to complete the moves and clip the chains.  Maybe I should have tried harder to find a knee bar rest before or at the crux.

Onsighted the crag classic “Check Your Grip” (5.12a), as well as “Spirit Fingers” (5.11c).

Wednesday 9 November 2011

The Zoo crag.  Onsight “One Brick Shy” (5.10c), onsight “Geezers Go Sport” (5.11b), flash “Monkey in the Middle” (5.11a), onsight “Hippocrite” (5.12a) - very cool short bouldery route with big moves and pretty good holds (similar to “Dogleg”). 

"Hippocrite"; and to the right is "Scar Tissue"

Tried a great steep 12a next to Hippocrite, but the first hold was wet so I slipped off it and took a swinging ground fall on the pre-clipped first bolt.  Ouch!  I managed to climb it to the crux at the anchors no problem after that, but the last move to the clipping jugs spat me off.  Surprisingly the same move beat me again on the redpoint shot, and I was too tired and dispirited to try it again.  I’ve grown accustomed to onsighting 12a routes, so its humbling to fail on one.  This route - “Scar Tissue” - is a juggy jaunt up to good pockets below the chains, and its surprising to fall off such good holds after not getting very pumped on the route.  I think the move is just a little awkward and throwy, so if you aren’t aggressive enough on the move its hard to make the distance on the throw.

Flashed “Cannonball” (5.11b) to finish up for the day at this cool but strangely deserted crag.

Thursday 10 November 2011

Ice skating, plus movie - “The Big Year”.  We have been resting every few days and just doing shopping and laundry, or sitting around camp, so to go and do an activity like the Bourbon Trail and the ice skating was good for a change.  Although I have to say the movie wasn't a really easy one to get into or enjoy.

Friday 11 November 2011

Playground crag.  Onsight “Jungle Gym” (5.10b), onsight “Monkey Bars” (5.10a), flash “Steal the Bacon” (5.11a), flash “Red Rover” (5.11b), flash “Capture the Flag” (5.11b).

Volunteer Wall.  Flash “Donor” (5.11b), flash “Johnny on Roofies” (5.11a), onsight “Same Way” (5.11b), flash “Tong Shing” (5.10d), flash “Normalised Bramapoithecus” (5.10d).

Saturday 12 November 2011

Bob Marley crag.  Mike sent his 3 day project “Kaleidoscope” (5.13c) after a total of 6 tries - a long time for him to send the grade.  This route was FAed by Monique Forrester some years ago, and takes a striking line up a long overhanging arete.

I onsighted a very cool face/slab route called “Mas Choss” (5.11c), and a steep jug haul called “Horn” (5.11d).  "Mas Choss" had a tricky move at the start, and a couple of dicey sections higher up, but overall it was a fun interesting line with a couple of healthy runouts over the last 2 bolts.

Sunday 13 November 2011

Volunteer Wall.  Flash “First Time” (5.8+), onsight “Helping Hands” (5.10d) - best 5.10 ever! - onsight “Nice to Know You” (5.10b), onsight “Family Tradition” (5.10b), onsight “Darwin Loves You” (5.9+).  "Helping Hands" had very balancey climbing that I haven't been doing a lot of since coming to the Red, mainly because I've been avoiding it to protect the finger.

Bronaugh Wall.  Dog “Little Teapot” (5.12a) - short and stout!, flash “Jingus” (5.11b), onsight “Two Women Alone” (5.11a), onsight “Like a Turtle” (5.11b).  There are only three 5.12a routes and one 5.11d route this whole month in the Red that I haven't onsighted or flashed, mainly because I haven't tried anything that looked or was reported to be fingery and difficult for the grade.  But of those 4 routes, "Little Teapot" was by far the easiest and the one I should not have fallen off.  The route was so short I should have been able to read it better from the ground, but I chose to try the hard moves direct to the chains rather than follow the chalk out right.  Turns out the moves right were very easy, and the crux was actually below me when I fell.  I suppose pride got the better of me and I thought I could pull through the harder moves in the very cool looking direct line, but the finger crack was too hard for me to stay in.  I fell and did the moves via the easy but circular jug route.

Shady Grove.  Onsight “Girls Gone Wild…WHOO!” (5.10d).  Last route of the trip to Kentucky, and I feel it!  This 10d felt like an 11, even though the holds were jugs and the route wasn't that steep.  I guess all the climbing has caught up to me and its time for a rest.  3 days driving back across the country should give me that rest.

Monday 14 November 2011

Drive back to Arizona.  Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Drive back to Arizona.  Oklahoma, Texas.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Drive back to Arizona.  New Mexico, Arizona.