Just one more month till I leave for Railey Beach, on a much anticipated climbing trip. Situated in Krabi, the area is famous for it’s limestone karst cliffs. Perfect for us rock climbers!
After meeting the rest of the crew over there, I will spend much of my time soaking up the sun and scrambling up cliff faces. It won’t be easy, but someone has to do it…
;)
I am still astonished when I read about top Olympians taking drugs to enhance their performance. Are they that desperate to get a medal? Why don’t they just take a baseball bat to the knees of their opponents and be done with it?
What really erks me is when these “athletes” win, they seem so proud of themselves for taking out the title. How can someone be proud about cheating?
I have an idea! How about the Olympic Committee create another Olympics. One called the “Drug Affected Olympics”. At these games, athletes would be allowed to take any performance enhancement or recreational drugs they wish. At the end of the day, it would be the result that really mattered. The motto for these Olympics could be “Win at any cost and feel good doing it!”.
Imagine athletes lining up at the starter blocks for the 100m sprint. On the “Get ready” signal, they would all have a line. The starter’s gun would go off and before you know it, the race would be over! World records broken at every race! Everyone would be happy, win or lose, because they would all be puffing away on huge reefers at the finish line! The winners would be truly proud. They would have won fair and square…
DA Olympics for 2012! Bring it on!
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Spent another weekend at the Grampians. It rained quite a bit again, but we managed to set up some top ropes on the Back Wall in Summer Day Valley. I wanted to clean a few climbs that gave me a bit of trouble last time. One climb that gave everyone problems was Tootsie Direct (22). There is only the one move, but it is not a straight forward affair. It involved smearing off a tiny not so positive crimper, then crossing over to another crimper. After quite a few attempts, I managed to make the move, then eventually cleaned it.
Some other climbs on that wall included Tootsie Indirect (19), Overkill (17) and 666 (17). We were lucky the skies only made threatening gestures, but did not rain. It was an easy going day. We were just happy that we got some climbs in.
On the way back, we decided to stop over in Ararat at the Blue Duck Hotel (yes, it sounds gay, but no, it ain’t), to have a nice steak. The place is a very unassuming pub, complete with a few locals who could be mistaken as fixtures if you didn’t look closely enough. The walls were plastered with photos from district footy triumphs, as well as what passes for local humour.
We got there too early for dinner, so huddled near the fire place to warm up. After having a couple of beers and a game of pool, we adjourned to the dining room to make our orders. Everyone ordered the eye fillet, because that was all K and I talked about on the trip there.
Although not cheap, the eye fillets were big, thick and juicy. Served on a blue stone brick heated to 400°C, it was up to the diner to cook their steak the way they liked it. I had it medium rare, with a hollandaise sauce. *drool* Definitely the place to drop in for a good steak if you are anywhere near Ararat!
After the awesome steak, we made our way back to Melbourne, as the weather closed in and it started pissing down outside. Another great weekend, all in the spirit of training for Railay at years end! Woohoo!
Spent last weekend up in the Grampians doing a bit of climbing. It had been a while since I climbed there last. A friend, K, had hired a house in Halls Gap for the weekend, so it was the most comfortable and luxurious climbing trip I’ve had to date. If only the weather had held out a bit longer.
Saturday was a great day, with perfect conditions for climbing. We spent the whole day at Wall of Fools.
Sunday, was spent at Bundaleer. M was seconding the first pitch of a pretty straightforward climb, with K leading. They were both sitting on top of the ledge, contemplating the next section, when the weather decided to turn ugly. It started raining and the wind picked up. From where they were sitting underneath a huge roof (an overhanging slab of rock 40-50m above them), they hardly felt the change in weather. The only indication of foul weather was when they looked down the valley, which was misted up with rain and wind. K decided to try to go on a little bit further. She did a hairy traverse to the next section of the climb which was a little more exposed. This was when she realised it would be too wet and windy continue. The air had chilled somewhat as well, so she was beginning to get hypothermia, since she didn’t have warm gear on.
She decided to wrap herself up in some rope to keep warm, while the cavalry, T, clambered up to the rescue. T set up an anchor around a boulder, from which they all abseiled off. I’d say the girls had a pretty good rush from the experience. Shaken but not stirred!
We spent the rest of the day underneath a huge cavern, in front of a roaring fire. A great way to finish off a great weekend!
…Yeah, I’m still here. My muse has temporarily left me lately. But since I’m writing something, I guess I could mention the fact that over the weekend I went to Mt Buller for some more boarding action.
Apart from the snow, there was also plenty of rain. That made for slushy snow. Let’s just say, by the end of the day I was soaked through.
However, it turned out to be a pretty good day, despite the dampness. I will try to make it up there again this weekend. Hopefully there will be a huge dump on Friday night, followed by sunny skies on Saturday… 
Headed up to Mt Hotham over the weekend for a bit of snowboarding. It had been cold and raining in Melbourne all week. They said it was the coldest month on record for Victoria in nine years.
We left on Friday arvo and got to the resort around midnight. 12.37am to be exact. It was a five hour trip and near the start of the trip we had bets on arrival time. The one with the closest time does not have to run around in the snow in their jocks. Somehow I got the exact time. They all wimped out anyway. Wusses!
It was my second time on a snowboard, but I was determined to make the most of it. The skies were cloud free, there was a light breeze and the snow was powdery. Perfect!
So, for two days I tried learning how to carve. All I ended up learning was what pain really meant. By the end of it, I was glad nothing was broken, except maybe my pride. Still feeling the pain till today.
Would I do it again? Is the Pope Catholic?
Made my way to Mt Arapiles again over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend for a bit of climbing. The last time I went up there was during the Easter break. The weather was warmer back then.
Now, it’s somewhat cooler with night temperatures dropping to about 2°C. Kind of chilly if you don’t pack a down sleeping bag and jacket.
The good thing about camping this time of the year is the lack of fire restrictions, so it was nice just to sit in front of a roaring bonfire at the end of the day.
However, waking up mornings was no mean feat. Outside the tent, you could see mist rolling through the campsite. By about 9am, after breakfast, the mist would have cleared and we make our way to the climbs we have planned for that day. It’s always a good hike, just to warm up.
Although the nights and early mornings were freezing, the days were usually clear, with blue skies. It was ideal conditions for climbing - not too hot or cold, with the rock face feeling just right on the finger tips.
This trip saw me attempting Kachoong (21), Blue Hawaii (21) √, In Lemon Butter (22) and Dramp (21), amongst some others. I was quite happy with my efforts this time round. Let’s just say, by the time I got home, I felt like someone had taken a meat mallet to my body. Pain!
Can’t wait to do it all again next time!
Images: Mt Arapiles, Natimuk
Easter long weekend is usually a good time to get away from the city. Since I have spent many weekends on the coast recently, I decided to trek inland with some friends to Mount Arapiles instead. If you are a keen climber you would have probably heard of it.
Mount Arapiles has more than 2000 climbing routes (mostly trad) and is one of the best known climbing areas in Australia.
The trip from Melbourne took 4 hours. We didn’t get underway till pretty late, so it was 1am by the time we got to the campsite.
Setting up camp in the dark is always fun. It’s quite funny sometimes to find yourself camped in the middle of a busy track the next day.
When morning comes, everyone wakes up to the sound of magpies and kookaburras.
There were roughly 15 people in our group and normally we get together for breakfast to discuss our plans for the day.
On the first day, we started out doing some single pitch climbs. My mate did the leading, while I was tasked with gear removal.
On this trip my goal was to learn how to place gear effectively. Gear removal is a good way to learn this.
Over the course of the weekend, as part of a group of two or three, I did some climbs which took three or four pitches to complete. These longer climbs (about 120m high) usually took most of the day, so by the end of the climb, we were happy to kick back at camp and have a beer or three.
Dinner time was a good time for everyone to tell their climbing stories for the day. Mixed with beer, the tales were quite entertaining.
Of all the climbs I attempted, I’d have to say Arachnus (9∗∗∗) and The Watchtower Crack (16∗∗∗) impressed me the most. The combination of height and exposure did it for me.
It’s hard to describe the sense of exhilaration as I made my way up the cliff face.
Instinct made me want to finish the climb quickly. However, another part of me wanted to slow down so I could take it all in…
…the rock face, the swirling wind, the spectacular scenery stretching away far below me, the adrenalin - what a rush!
It’s a sad day for cricket when Australia’s international umpire, Darrell Hair, tries to secretly extract $660,000 from cricket authorities for his “quiet” retirement. This all came about after Pakistan was accused of ball tampering.
Ball tampering is a funny subject. As a kid, I always wondered why bowlers used to always rub the ball near their crotch just before bowling. Obviously, now we all know it’s to give the ball that extra swing.
In the rule book, Law 42.3 (b) basically states that a player may not “alter the condition of the ball, except by polishing (no artificial substances)”. A bit vague and contradictory? Maybe.
However, at the end of the day, the umpire has the final say. Right or wrong, what’s said, goes. If anything, this little episode highlights an area of the game that probably needs a bit of clarification.
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Well, Australia went as far as she could in the World Cup, which is a lot further than many thought. The way the match ended however, was a little bit disappointing. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that in soccer, the referee can influence the game quite a lot, which shouldn’t be the case IMHO.
Nevermind, now I can cheer for my next favourite - the other green and gold team. Go Brazil! 
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