[unclesomebody]

Thanks to UKB'ers for all the comments. Glad my rants are enjoyable.

For what it's worth, the formatting is going a bit funny on this thread but you can just head to my blog to see it laid out properly. Content is the same though. 

[Nibile]

Vectors and diagrams.
100% Keith.
Great!

[Zods Beard]

Nice pants.

[comPiler]

Ammagamma – Session 2
5 May 2013, 8:12 am

After the appalling state of affairs during session 1 I didn’t want to go back to Ammagamma any time soon. I knew what had to be done: I needed to learn to climb again and get strong. I needed to do them both and I needed to do them very, very quickly.

Fortunately each day of climbing allowed me to make rapid progress. The guns were there, they were just siezed up. Every day I would feel a bit better on the rock and once the weather flipped on Day 10 I began to remember what friction and slopers should feel like. I was starting to do V9′s in a couple of tries and I’d done a couple of V11′s so on day 21 I made the second pilgrimage up to Ammagamma.

I arrived up there only to find I didn’t have a brush. What a punter. The 50 minute walk back to the car wasn’t an option so I just did what I could and thwacked the holds with my t-shirt. It didn’t really work. The lack of brush was perhaps a reflection of my mental state. I was missing vital ingredients of success. I spent the whole session trying the jump move until I was too tired to have meaningful goes at which point I switched to the other start moves. The very first moves felt awkward and difficult, I felt like a saggy sack of spuds, not a condom full of walnuts. Trying the move my hand was touching the hold but my bum was way too far out. In fact, I think my feet were touching the ground before my hand touched the hold. I was barely tickling the hold. More drowning than waving.



The foot was faster than the hand

Mentally the session was useless. I didn’t make any physical or mental breakthroughs. I didn’t find any crucial beta, I just thrashed myself on the move without making any forward or upward progress. I left disappointed and a little confused. Was I still not climbing well? Did I still not have the required power? Or was my mental approach still wrong? I had many questions and no answers. Day 21 represented a good chunk of our trip so to feel so far away from success after so long wasn’t great.

Source: Unclesomebody

[comPiler]

Ammagamma – Session 3
6 May 2013, 8:23 am

The move. It was day 28 of our trip. We’d headed up to the far flung crag of Cave Club to do the classic v10 Cave Club. An awesome problem on really good rock which I’d managed to despatch relatively quickly. I was keen to ride the wave of success and so we cruised down to Ammagamma.



The really great problem of Cave Club

My only goal for the session was to do the move. If I could do the move then all the other pieces of the puzzle would fall into place. I told myself that so many times that I really did believe it. The link wouldn’t be a problem if I could just do the move. To do the move just once would provide the mental and physical breakthrough that I needed.

It was during session 3 that I began to discover some bits of micro beta that enabled me to get closer and closer to the move. Physically I was in better shape and mentally I was in full analytical mode. As the classic school problem taught me “control is nothing without power” but only when you remember that “power is nothing without control”. Power and analysis are two sides of the required coin.

1. Left Foot Position – Whilst trying the move I realised that the position of my left foot was of crucial importance. My left foot wasn’t on a hold, it simply floated in space, pressed against the steep rock. But it’s starting position had a huge impact on the trajectory my body would take. Initially it was almost directly under me, quite close to my right toe, but as I moved it ever further leftwards I began to move closer and closer to the hold. In the end I realised that I needed to consciously move my left foot all the way to the arete, just so it put my hips and chest into the correct position for doing the move. Keeping my hips open made a big difference, enabled me to stay more front on, and that allowed me to get my entire body higher.

2. Taping my left ring and index fingers – The left hand pocket off which you jump isn’t exactly comfortable. I hate sharp holds and the edges of the pocket are kind of sharp. Without tape it actually hurt to pull on the 3 finger stack due to the pressure on the second joint of my index and ring fingers. With tape the pain went away and this meant I could try that little bit harder.

3. Breathing – Emily asked me if I was breathing out during the move. I wasn’t. She suggested that I make a conscious effort to exhale during the move. This, she said, would keep me stronger through the move. I had very little to lose and it did sort of make sense, so I gave it a shot. It made a big difference! I’d like to do a bit of research into the science, or perhaps someone can help me with that, but it’s a fact that if you exhale sharply your core tightens and that really helped me with the move.

Slowly I got closer and closer to the move. The progress was measured by how I was landing on the pads. I went from smacking my ass into the ground to landing on my knees, to landing on my feet! This was a huge improvement and the different bits of micro beta were making a genuinely measurable impact. As I kept trying I found that I was dabbing my feet a lot, my heels would clip the edge of the pad or hit the ground at exactly the same time my hand hit the hold. I needed to pick them up more, get higher into the move. But then Emily came through with another bit of micro beta!

4. Moving the pad – Emily offered to move the pad further back, so the arc that my feet were taking would miss the edge and hopefully enable me to hold the swing.

5. Right foot position – I’d been experimenting with different right foot positions as you can either put your toe on a straight down flat hold and jump, or have it in much more of a hook position. The hook foot position is about 10cm long and the further up you have it the more of a hook it becomes. I found that the middle hook position worked best as it allowed me to both pull and push at the same time. The ramification of this was a higher body, a slightly longer delay before my foot cut loose, and reduced the likelihood of a dab. I used my right foot to pull me rightwards and then push me upwards.

I still felt like I just needed to do the move. Do the move! Just do the move! I was so close to doing it, with Emily even suggesting that maybe I should just start trying it from the start so that when I did do the move I would actually be on my way to the top. But that didn’t feel right. I needed to actually do the move. I needed to let my body feel it, as if that’s all it would take for me to be able to unlock it’s secret and do it on tap.

Slowly all the micro beta began to add up to something meaningful. I caught the hold. I didn’t dab. My feet swung backwards as they had many times, and then they stopped. I was in mid air. But then I felt myself swinging back towards the rock and all of a sudden my feet had found their way to the foothold. I’d done the move!!!



Hand on hold, foot not yet cutloose!

It was a huge moment. Ammagamma had fallen. Now I had done all the moves. The spell was broken. Mentally this was a game changer. Having done the move I suddenly believed myself that everything would fall into place. Having done all the moves I knew I would be able to do Ammagamma. It was just a matter of time. I immediately started trying the problem from the start, but only 3 tries later I realised how exhausted I was. I’d used everything I had to do the move and subsequently I just crashed.

With the mental barrier destroyed I knew I just had to return and keep trying it from the start. There are 2 or 3 set up moves (depending on if you count changes in hand position) before the jump and I remembered what Simon Weill had said about knowing that when he got through the jump move he knew he was going to the top (and he did). I told myself the same. Just get through the jump move from the start and you’ll find yourself stood on top. Session 4 would bring that… I was sure.

Source: Unclesomebody

[Jaspersharpe]

Fantastic stuff.

[Fiend]

Yeah who says bouldering doesn't make good reading, I love this geeky stuff 

[Kingy]

What a cliffhanger! can't wait for no. 5 

[SA Chris]

Yeah who says bouldering doesn't make good reading, I love this geeky stuff 

+1 The minutiae matters.

[comPiler]

Ammagamma – Session 4
7 May 2013, 8:48 am

Day 30. I’d taken a single rest day and then it was straight back to the citadel. Conditions were amazing. The car showed 4c at 7.30am. This was the coldest it had been. Fate was finally dealing me a break.

Trekking back up I still wasn’t sure if I could do it. I’d done all the moves. I told myself that this was a good effort for a guy who’d spent the last 18 months as a suit. But it wasn’t enough. I needed to do it. Warming up at trackside my lats siezed up. It hurt to raise my arms above my head – no doubt the aftermath of the massive press move on Cave Club.

Once up at the citadel I realised just how good conditions were. It was cold, probably the coldest of the whole trip. The wind was blowing. I was slightly chilly even in a hoody. I set about trying it from the start and clearly my body had begun to let my mind deceive it. The jump move was no longer a 1% (or less) move. I made it through the jump move more than once, which was amazing, but also a huge disappointment. Simon’s words rang in my head.



Old beta with a higher toehook – falling here was really painful

After falling twice at the move to the high pocket Emily forced me to reconsider my beta. I should not be falling there. She was right. I was climbing through the hard bit and falling on the easy bit. That’s not how it should be. Luckily I had a secret weapon, something that had lived in a box under the bed for many years. A brand new pair of V10′s. Why 5.10 stopped making this shoe I’ll never know (perhaps some sales data would help?!?) but I found them to be the best shoes I’d ever worn. This last pair of box fresh V10′s had been saved for a day like today. With the sticky rubber on the toe I tried a new lower toe hook. It wasn’t as big but it allowed me to keep my hips lower and subsequently made the move more secure. It was a dubious trade off; a worse toe hook but a better body position. My current beta wasn’t working so I switched.



New beta – the change in body position is obvious – falling here again was a low blow

It’s always difficult to make the call to switch beta when you’re already so close to a problem and each go reduces the available power in the tank, but I really did believe it was better beta for me. I made it through the move again, put in the new lower toe hook, and went for it. I fell again. By this point I KNEW the problem was there for the taking. I’d made it through the jump move 4 times (one time my heel slipped on a lower move) and yet I’d failed to capitalise on it. Session 3 was all about overcoming the mental hurdle . Session 4 was the physical hurdle. Having made it through the start 4 times I was now certain I could climb Ammagamma. It was just a matter of time and goes.

But our trip in the Grampians was drawing to a close. Our flights to NZ were booked. I started to think a lot about perseverance, about climbing being the most selfish of pursuits, and what sacrifice really meant. I started to question if I could really leave the Grampians having come this close to Ammagamma. Here I was on my honeymoon and I was 100% focused on a boulder problem. I told Emily that I didn’t think I could leave without climbing Ammagamma. I told her I’d change my flight to NZ so that I could stay in the Grampians another week to keep on trying. What was I really saying? She told me that I just needed 1 good go, that I was going to do it this session.

How could I reconcile my own selfish pursuit with the fact that I was here with my wife? I didn’t know if I really would stay. I’d said it to gauge a reaction… but just saying it had made me ask bigger and deeper questions.

With sore skin, blood blisters on 3 tips from slapping the hold so hard, and lats that were exploding in pain I decided that I had some tries left. I had to have something in the tank. I had to get this thing done. I tried again, and again, going too far into the pain zone. But I knew I just needed that one go. Eventually my body gave up and I had to quit. It became too painful to try, yet it seemed too painful not to try. With great difficulty I called it. I was done.

Now I had thrashed my skin and my body felt very sore. I had 48 hours before we were supposed to be leaving the grampians. Would my skin even heal enough for me to have another session after 1 rest day? I checked the weather forecast and it was set to get warmer again. This day had been the coolest. Fate had tried to help me but I hadn’t converted. The high in 2 days was set to be 28C again. I had no choice. I would have to trek back up super early on Friday morning and just hope for the best.

Source: Unclesomebody

[slackline]

Doylo has a crystal ball

[comPiler]

Ammagamma – Session 5
8 May 2013, 2:52 am

My last climbing day in the Gramps. At 6.30am, way before sunrise, it was already 11c. My skin was very sore, the blood blisters and bruising on my right hand pinky, middle, and index all too sore to touch.

On the drive to the crag I went into hardcore PMA mode. We listened to Queen’s breakthrough and under pressure, followed by R Kelly’s masterpiece; the world’s greatest. If ever there was a time to take PMA to another level it was this.



Words can’t really do justice to this feeling



 

Emily looking so thankful not to have to hike up again and me clearly in shock

Source: Unclesomebody

[slackline]

Post wasn't sucked in properly (some of the HTML -> BBCode translation around the first image screwed things up)    Congratulations and nice write-up Keith....

Ammagamma – Session 5
8 May 2013, 2:52 am

My last climbing day in the Gramps. At 6.30am, way before sunrise, it was already 11c. My skin was very sore, the blood blisters and bruising on my right hand pinky, middle, and index all too sore to touch.

On the drive to the crag I went into hardcore PMA mode. We listened to Queen’s breakthrough and under pressure, followed by R Kelly’s masterpiece; the world’s greatest. If ever there was a time to take PMA to another level it was this.

 

I am not going to be a star. I am going to be a legend.

We walked up to Trackside as dawn brought in the day. I was going through all the possible scenario’s in my head. How would I deal with failure? What would I tell people? How would I be affected by it? How would it affect my mental state? And my future climbing? But what if I did do it? What a story! What would I write on my blog? Would I tweet something? I started crafting my letter to the medal shop; the success story of going from no climbing to 8B was just magnificent. How was I going to tell my wife that I couldn’t continue on our honeymoon because of a boulder problem? I kept flip flopping between success and failure scenarios.

Warming up my skin felt sore, but my muscles felt good. I kept the warmup at Trackside brief and pushed on the citadel. As we got closer all my win/lose scenario planning seemed to fade away. It was replaced with nervous excitement. I was feeling mega amped. I knew it was on, it really could happen. The dream could become a reality… it really could! Although it was already quite warm when we arrived at the bloc a strong wind was blowing. The wind of change? Of success?! Of failure? What was the wind bringing?

I taped up my fingers and then pulled on and did the move to the high pocket with my new beta a couple of times. Then I sat down for a go from the start. Everything faded away. No pressure. No success/failure scenarios. No trip extensions. Just a laser like focus on the first move; get 3 finger stack straight into that pocket. Boom. Then the second move. Move feet. Keep tight. Get undercut. Ok. Move 3. Rotate 3 finger pocket so index finger is hooking the corner of the pocket hard. Breath in several short breaths. Move left leg out towards the arete. Exhale sharply, jump, slap… feel weightless as my feet cut and I swing. Slow motion. I swing, glide outwards and then in. On the in swing my right foot goes straight onto the foothold, my engrams remembering the dynamics perfectly. Move 4. Heelhook in. Move up to pocket. Move 5. Move feet, put toe hook in accurately. Remember to breath in, fill my lungs. Move 6. Slap for high pocket. Exhale sharply. Nothing but a focus on getting my 3 fingers into the hole. They go straight in, but my feet cut, my toe hook has slipped out. I swing, no, glide outwards. This time my hand has purchase already. I’m still on. My hand is glued in. Feet back on and push to the top. Complete autopilot for the remaining moves. Rock over, get hip around lip. I’m on top.

All my scenario planning is laid to waste. An animalistic cry emerges from my lungs. The feeling of elation is unlike any other. Standing there, the dream is reality. I’m stood on top of Ammagamma.



Words can’t really do justice to this feeling



 

Emily looking so thankful not to have to hike up again and me clearly in shock

Source: Unclesomebody

[Nibile]

 
Wish I were there.

[andybfreeman]

Awesome series of posts and a brilliant bit of climbing - cheers for the write up Keith 

[iain]

Great stuff

[Richie Crouch]

What an incredible looking problem and a nice comeback/success story!

[rodma]

Yaaaassssssssss!!!      

[JackAus]

Fuck yeah! Nice one!

Also, thanks for the beta... :D

[Falling Down]

Brilliant 

[comPiler]

New Zealand – Wanaka
4 June 2013, 8:12 am

After driving from Christchurch to Wanaka I was getting a little worried that NZ may not actually have any climbing. We’d driven past some chossy hillsides and some excellent looking boulders that were unfortunately created for a miniscule sub species of humans that no longer exist. If they did exist they would be having a great time as we saw a lot of very cool looking 3ft high boulders. Fortunately, just north of Wanaka we found the crags. Impressively, the climbing is almost all concentrated around the hospital flats area which makes it easy to navigate.

 

Our terrible camper van at Hospital Flats

The rock quality is massively varied, from utter choss to “I’d probably solo this”. Luckily it’s almost all bolted so there’s little to worry about. Apart from the moment I clipped a double bolt anchor on a chossy bit of rock that appeared to be attached to the main cliff only by mud. The rock is schist and some random we met tried to make a joke along the lines of “you take one letter out and what do you have?”. Well, I guess you’d have schit. Take two letters out and you’d be even closer to the mark.

I’m being too harsh. There is some good rock and there are some good routes which I had fun climbing. It was interesting to be on a rope again. Being in some sort of bouldering shape meant I could get through purely on power and by the time the pump did set in (usually ~7m) I could just make a dash for the chains. Most of the routes in Wanaka are short, some featuring as few as 3 bolts. Amongst the choss there are some genuinely good routes, one of which is Slip Through The Cracks, 27. A technical 7c on smallish dusty holds, leading to a great balancy slab/wall section before lunging for a jug and then the chains.

More amenable and still fun is Pocket Edition, 23. It climbs a short overhanging wall on pockets before rocking round the lip and clipping the chains. Again, this is a short route which will probably make it feel very easy for boulderers. Emily climbed it easily on her first redpoint after getting eggy with me for describing every single hold as a “total jug” when some of them were only “large”.

The most eye catching piece of rock in Hospital Flats is the tombstone, a free standing block that rises up out of the ground like a giant tombstone. On it’s front corner is a great looking arete which disappoints only because it’s too short and slightly too easy!



Emily getting started on the Tombstone arete, 18

Behind the tombstone lays another (almost) free standing boulder which has a rather cool overhanging face on one side. Engage, 29, takes the only line up the face following a series of slopes, pinches, undercuts, and pockets on swirly schist. With only 3 bolts it’s a true boulderers route, and in true boulderer style I fell one move from the chain when I decided to abandon my planned sequence and aim for what I thought was a jug. It was a jug (albeit sideways) but it put me in such an awkward position that I went from thinking “this is so easy” to a full double leg and arm shake in a matter of seconds. Once I stuck to a more sensible sequence on smaller holds (!) I managed to clip the chains without too much fuss.





The crux sequence of Engage, 29

Whilst the climbing in Wanaka wasn’t amazing, the setting was awesome. NZ is, generally, a spectacular country and so the backdrop to most crags is ridiculous. Lakes, mountains, and everything in between. It’s spectacular and in some ways it elevates the climbing. I had a great time climbing in Wanaka, reminding me that you don’t need world class climbing to have fun.



[Apologies if the pictures are way too dark or way too light. There's something wrong with my laptop screen and so I'm editing them in the dark - pun intended]

Source: Unclesomebody

[comPiler]

New Zealand – Jardines
5 June 2013, 8:49 am

I’d seen some pictures online of a bouldering area near Queenstown that looked quite cool and after a bit of research I discovered it was the Jardines. Less than 15 minutes from Queenstown, on private land, there are a collection of schist boulders. There are no boulders before or after them and it’s slightly bizarre that these collection of good sized blocks exist. Something like a rare gift to the boulderers of Queenstown.

A very selected topo can be found online at Powerband, but there are plenty of other problems up there. I’d say there are around 40 problems, from v1 to v12. Upon first inspection I was really impressed. The rock is really unique for a bouldering venue and the situation is pretty incredible. The field in which the boulders sit rolls down into a lake and then rises into mountains on the other side of the valley [photo above]. The rock itself has vertical bands of schist which is also quite rare and it looks really cool. I was pretty excited to be honest as I like climbing things that look cool. After a few warmups it was time to seek out some problems from the guide.

First up was The Hit, a remarkably eliminate V8 which I think I might have done incorrectly (but which I’m equally sure made it harder). I wouldn’t normally thrash myself on an eliminate but it had some great holds and the crux move was a wonderful blend of power and control. It took me around 10-12 tries to stick the crux first move and campus my way to glory. It doesn’t normally take me so many tries to do a V8 which is why I think what I did is probably a bit harder. Then again it’s only a 1 move V8, so perhaps it is! The project sit start had some appeal but it was just too eliminate for me to fathom, even with detailed beta from ex-local strongman Sam Mangai.



How I pulled on The Hit, V8?

Higher up the hillside sits another impressive boulder. Wading through the head high fern, one line on the boulder stood out as we got ever closer: the striking arête of Possum, V8. It’s high enough to be “interesting” and the last move is a throw to what looked like a jug. My first go was an awkward series of incorrect foot placements but my second saw me latch the top jug and top out. It’s a great line and being the vain glory hunter that I am I repeated it next go for the camera. Hopefully the footage will make it look as good as it is. It’s always nice to do moves where you reach up with the RH from only a LH and LF hold, the RF only cutting a shape in the air to balance you through the move. I really like moves like that. For some reason they are really satisfying.



Last move of The Possum, V8

Following the wave boulder in a clockwise fashion the next arête is home to a V9 called Locked in the Basement. It’s verging on lowball [Ed: ok, it's actually lowball!] but has some really nice holds and I thought it was worth doing. I had a flash go but fell off due to an inaccurate heel placement, but felt confident enough that I’d do it next go to set up the camera for the send. Perhaps that was a bad omen because several attempts later I was still planted on the pad. The crux was supposed to be the firs move but that was easy. What felt hard was getting my heel on after the first move and now my skin was feeling thrashed. What was once a good grippy sloper now felt like a time bomb. If I didn’t get my heel on within 3 seconds I just slid off the hold. I had a now or never go and nailed the heelhook to pull my way to the top of the boulder. It’s only a small problem but the moves definitely make it worthwhile.



Locked in the lowball basement, v9

There are several other problems of unknown name and grade which certainly looked worthwhile. I didn’t know at the time but there is a v12 on the wave boulder (to the right of The Possum) which was climbed by Sam Mangai. It may be a small area but I really like the Jardines. If you’re in Queenstown then it’s a must visit venue, and pretty much all roads on the south island pass through Queenstown! Queenstown can certainly lay claim to some decent bouldering and the similarly decent Fergburger. Both are must visits.



 

Source: Unclesomebody

[Probes]

I dont read many blogs but this is wicked, the Ammagamma blogs are brilliant, gripping micro beta 

Jardines boulders though... are they really schist?   

[Pitcairn]

 i did my geology phd fieldwork around queenstown and can confidently say it is schist 

[Pitcairn]

I love Jardines too.  Super nice rock quality, nice lines, nice ambience.  I camped at Frankton just up the road so it was great for morning and evening sessions.  Looking forward to reading the Castle Hill report..