VVV - Viral Vixen Video

Yes, it's been super quiet here at the Upskill blog. I actually never posted in 2014. Is that bad?

On a positive note, I have been doing heaps of climbing. The 2013 and 2014 seasons are some of the most fun climbing I've had in the SE Queensland region, ever. You know I love new routing. For those two years, all my energy outside work was funneled into developing three major new cliffs in the Urbenville region of northern NSW: Vesuvius, Spot X and Crossroads. 

Between the three crags, we established 71 routes. 20+ of these were over 40m in length. It was epic.

All this action is a mere two hour drive from Brisbane. I put lots of k's on the car. But so, so worth it. All info for all three crags is now available on theCrag.com, and the season is just starting. If you live in Brisbane, 2015 could be your Urbenville year. It's the Catalunya of Queensland.

I capped off both prolific seasons with a hard first ascent. The second of these was Vixen 32. I was really pleased to vision, and then eventually climb this extremely overhanging, blank looking wall. The movement on it is super good - one of the most fun routes I've done. Erik filmed on it using his ingenious RopeClimber camera, and EpicTV ended up picking up the video. 200,000+ views later, and lots of people have now seen Spot X, even if they'll never climb there. Watch the vid.

Video: Frederick Peak

Townsville, located in North Queensland strikes fear into the hearts of hipsters and the trendy southern yuppie, but it holds a special place in my heart as I began my climbing career in Townsville while at University.

The most well-known crag Mount Stuart occupied most of my time, and though Frederick Peak was visible to the north west of the city, gates and 4WD access kept it out of my cross-hairs. Another 10 years, and these minor inconveniences have been overcome, and a new generation of climbers have been blessed with a greenfields playground for establishing new routes in almost every style.

It's true, the remote location and slightly tricky access will ensure this crag never be crowded, but for the climbers of the region, Frederick Peak is a major drawcard. Based on number of routes, uniqueness and quality, it's probably Australia's most significant new crag "discovery" in the last 10 years.

I've been back a couple of times (read about the first here), hosted by the Three Monkeys, who are a triple-barbed missile of bad heavy-metal music and new routing enthusiasm. On both trips I was able to put up some great routes, and repeat some great routes too.

On the last trip, we also teamed up with the indomitable Gareth Llewellin who was keen to use his new camera to capture some pics and video. The video he put together was an introduction to the area, and contains a rather lengthy and somewhat embarrassing monologue by me. This was featured in Vertical Life magazine issue 4. Scroll down for the video, and grab issue #4 of Vertical Life while you're at it. Good stuff, and free. How do they do it?

Download PDF of issue 4

Profiled on the Vertical Life site
Me repeating Monty's terrific 'White Gold' extension 27, Frederick Peak (c) Gareth Llewellin

Climbing in Townsville - Winter 2012 from Gareth Llewellin on Vimeo.

And if that's got you Frederick-frothing, check out the guidebook:

Download PDF

Video: Climb Perpendicular

New video from our Easter roadtrip to Point Perpendicular, Australia's best known sandstone seacliff. Something different in this video was our use of a flying drone to capture a unique perspective on these amazing cliffs. Enjoy.


Climb Perpendicular from Upskill Climbing on Vimeo.

Mere Mortal's Guide to Beasting the Beastmaker 45° Slopers

The Beastmaker 2000 is a wooden hangboard produced by a couple of lads in the UK and is now available worldwide. It's good. I've posted about it before. My board was in the first shipment to hit Australia back in 2009.

Anyway let's get down to business. You're reading this because you are a mere mortal like me and the Beastmaker slopers feel impossible to hang.

Beastmaker 2000 has three sloper angles: 20°, 35° and 45°.

Beastmaker 2000 grip layout

I naturally favour an open-hand grip and avoid crimps (opposite of most people) so when I got my board I could immediately do a couple of chinups on the 35° slopers. Some people I coach who are good climbers struggle to even hang these. Don't worry if this is you.

In your quest for the 45° chinup, you'll need to get comfortable on the 35°'s. 

Before doing anything

• Warm up thoroughly. If I go to my board now and try to hit the slopers I will immediately fall off. They'll feel impossible. It is vital to warm up these grips. Do some bouldering. Use easier grips like the 20° sloper. Spend 20 minutes or so building up the squeeze you're going to need.
  

Cheating

• Nestling your fingers into the ridges, using your thumb, or any other kind of malarky to provide assistance is only cheating yourself. I also find that it doesn't help with progression on the slopers. Follow my guide below instead.
  
  

Grip on the 45°s

A word on grip

• I always thought maximising the amount of skin on the wood was the key to success. However, as soon as I begun work on the 45°s, I realised that the best grip was two pads only as shown above.

Stage 1

• 5 chinups on the 20° sloper. Should be easy for most climbers.

Stage 2 - Beasting the 35°'s

• Deadhang the 35° slopers. If you're struggling, put one hand on the 20° and the other on the 35°. Hang this for as long as you can, then switch. You'll notice a tendency to barndoor as you do this because the grip on the 20° is much stronger than the grip on the 35°. Control this!
• Once deadhangs are no problem, start chinups. You will find it is hardest to control the down part of the motion. Make sure you have a mat under your board as you could fall hard on your tailbone.
• Work up to about 5 very controlled chinups (in a row). Once you're at this point you're ready for Stage 3.

Stage 3 - The Dreaded 45°s!

• You're not going to be able to deadhang the 45°s straight away. So we are going to share grips. One hand on a 35°, the other on the 45°. Deadhang, and twirl off gracefully (you'll see what I mean). Now swap. You're building up the squeeze power on the 45°s.
• Mixed-grip chinups. One hand on a 35°, the other on the 45°. Chinup (and down) cleanly. Swap.
• Multiple mixed-grip chinups. One hand on a 35°, the other on the 45°. Chinup (and down) cleanly TWICE. You're now on the cusp, hang in there. Once you can do THREE of these it's time. Get the video camera.
• Chinup the 45°s. You'll most likely slip off on the way back down. Keep at it and nail your first clean 45° chinup! FEEL THE POWER! Now update your Facebook status.

How often? How long?

• Let motivation be your guide. One or two sessions a week, with your other climbing and training should do it. From the point when I could do a handful of clean chinups on the 35°s, I was 10 sessions away from my first 45° chinup (doing 1-2 sessions a week). I was doing a fairly standard hangboard session (crimps, pockets etc.) with slopers thrown in at the end. Your mileage may vary. Let me know if this works for you.

Board/skin prep

• Get a big soft brush for brushing slopers between each attempt. Like a dustbin brush. Really helps.
• Chalk up, wipe off any excess, then breathe hot warm air onto your fingers.

Humidity

• In a stark opposite to regular rock climbing, humidity makes a HUGE difference - it's good! If it is cold and dry you are going to struggle your arse off. I did my first 45 chinup in pouring rain, 100% humidity and high temperature. I was training regularly and keeping notes, and this humidity manifested in ridiculous personal bests on the board.

Different boards

• I am assured that well-loved boards (UK Climbing Works) are waaaay easier to use the slopers on. Oils exuding from people's skin seep into the wood and affect friction. By all accounts, The Works' board is sticky.
• As you can imagine, 1° makes a big freakin difference. If you or someone else has installed the board on a surface that isn't exactly plumb, you're going to be in trouble, either in a good or bad way. Use an angle-finder to measure your slopers and ensure they're spot on.

If you have any other great sloper tips or frictional insights, please share in the comments.

Video: Upskill Kaly 2.0

This video is a memoir of our final Kalymnos climbing camp of 2011. Enjoy!

Video: Upskill Kalymnos Climbing Camp 2011 #1

The camp is done and this right here is the video. You gotta have a video. Sit back and enjoy.

Kalymnos 2011 - Trip Report 1 (Orientation)

Our team flew in this morning for the first of two Upskill Climbing Camps here in Kalymnos, Greece. Kalymnos is simply the best location on the planet to coach a varied group of keen sportclimbers. This is our fourth camp to date and we love introducing people to the classics here.

Here's a quick intro video from day one.

WE'RE GOIN' BACK TO KALY!

Video Trailer: The Don

Film coming soon of Duncan Steel's five year quest to establish the hardest route he possibly can. Here's the trailer :)

This is just a bit of fun, don't take it too seriously :)

Video: Tom O'Halloran repeats The Singularity 32/8b+

While yesterday may have seemed like any other ordinary Tuesday, it wasn't. It was a special day. It was the day Tom O'Halloran snagged the first repeat of my 2009 route, The Singularity. This route at my local crag took me 18 days and 67 attempts and I really poured my life into it for several months. It certainly has special meaning for me and is still the hardest route I have ever done.

The route suited Tom perfectly given his strength in crimpy bouldering. The video doesn't really do justice to how terrible the holds are through the crux. Tom fired the route off on his sixth day of attempts and 17th try overall but on the send, it didn't even look like he was trying. It was satisfying to be the one holding the rope for the send, and a fluke to have remembered to set the camera up on a tripod to capture the genuine send footage.

Given he's onsighted 30's/8a+'s and now climbed 32/8b+ without apparent difficulty, I know he's just getting started. Big things are on the horizon. Have fun in Rocklands Tom, and enjoy the video.

The importance of remembering sequences in climbing

On our coaching camps we talk a lot about visualisation, the importance of remembering sequences and what should be running going through your mind as you climb your route (your internal dialogue). If you are one of those climbers who only climbs intuitively "I'll just figure it out as I go along" you are sabotaging your true potential. Seriously!

This video of our man Joey Kinder is a great insight into the level of detail required when you are memorising your sequences.

Here are some visualisation and memorisation tips:

1. Sit at the bottom of the route, close your eyes and climb the route in your mind. If you get to a bit you can't remember, open your eyes, look up, get it sorted and start over.
2. If it helps you, give specific holds names i.e. "the brick" or "the contact lens".
3. Imagine vividly how each hold will feel on your skin.
4. Like Joe, visualise how each finger will sit on each hold, particularly if it's a subtle or tricky grip.
5. Don't just concentrate on hand sequences. On difficult routes you must also know 100% what you are doing with your feet and what your body positions are. This represents heaps of data and might be very hard to memorise, but you simply have to do it. Start with the hands, but begin to expand your mental program to foot movements and body positions to make the sequence more and more detailed and realistic.
6. Get your climbing partner to quiz you. Mime to them the entire sequence, talking it through as you go. Moving your arms and feet is very helpful.
7. Sometimes there will be a section, or a subtlety you will continue to forget on route. Come up with a trigger phrase like "Stand tall" or "Pull in right hand" or simply (as is often the case) "Breathe!" and have your belayer yell this at you at the appropriate time. When you are running through the route in your mind, think about that section, and say the trigger phrase to yourself. Do that multiple times. Really embed it deeply. You'll find you'll begin to remember the section very well.
8. If you are a visual person, compile a route map. This is a sheet of paper where you draw the route, the holds, mark L hand and R hand, draw little arrows, mark clipping holds etc. If you can do this accurately for the entire route, you are well on your way to having a good sequence locked in your memory. Now let's hope your sequence is the most efficient one :)

My climbing partners and I have previously noted that on our hardest sends we have to be like a climbing robot. The program is set and it is all a matter of executing perfectly. There should be no decisions made on route - none! The program is written. Simply execute.

Happy projecting!

Joey getting his bling on at the annual Rifle clean-up. © L Cujes 2010

Promo video: Kalymnos Climbing Camp - October 2011

In October 2011, you have the opportunity to join the Upskill Climbing Team in climber paradise Kalymnos in Greece for our 4th Kalymnos Climbing Camp where you'll not only have a brilliant climbing holiday, but walk away a better climber.

This will be our 7th Climbing Camp, and our 4th held in Kalymnos.

Find pricing and more information on our Kalymnos 2011 Climbing Camp page. Be sure to check out the previous camp videos for the flavour. And if you think this might be for you don't delay - email us today: upskillclimbing@gmail.com

Video review: Andrea Boldrini climbing shoes in Australia

So I'm pretty psyched.  I put the order in back in February and finally the shipment is here from France.  One very large box of Andrea Boldrini climbing shoes for Upskill Climbing Gear.  Andrea Boldrini shoes are crafted in France and are not well known outside Europe.  In Europe however, they are very high-end, well-regarded shoes.  Their hallmark is incredible performance with incredible comfort.

We're stocking five of what I reckon are the best models they make and below is our review of the top of the line laceup, the Apache Talisman FCS. FCS stands for "Full Contact Sole".  This unusual innovation wraps the rubber from the sole up onto the rand without the traditional hard edge which can deform off micro edges.  More rubber surface area = more stick.  Another Boldrini first which you'll see in the video is their asymmetric lacing system which Boldrini first developed 10 years ago.

Duncan and I are both wearing the Talisman's now, and Duncan has also grabbed a pair of the Evo's which are an amazingly well-fitting velcro boot.  My impression is that the fit is perfect for my foot shape, the materials make them very comfortable and there is zero dead space in the heel.  Killer.  They're also reasonably soft which, for me, encourages a playful, intuitive style.

Video: The Apprentice

Our latest film sees young Queensland climber Matt Schimke well outside his comfort zone on the power endurance testpiece Beautiful Thing (28/7c+) at The Pulpit. Matt has only been climbing since 2008 but rapidly progressed through the grades culminating in his 2010 ascent of Evil Wears No Pants (30/8a+) at Mount Coolum. Still in school, with a mad obsession for climbing and no car has seen Matt's efforts concentrated at Mt Coolum, his local crag. The local style is super steep and chock full of kneebars and other tricks. All his hardest sends have been at Mt Coolum. This has been the first time he's ventured onto a hard project a long way from the comfort of his 'local'. The angle is new, the style is new. Grades don't matter now. It's just you against your weaknesses. And the fiercest battleground is in the mind. Enjoy. 

Video: Save Coolum: Lee Cujes Speaks

We are about to lose one of our premiere sport crags Mt Coolum due to Government bungling. Please watch the video and I'll explain in person:



We need everyone to write one email. That's all! 
It must be sent before April 4 2011

(edit: deadline now past, thanks everyone who responded, we'll keep you posted on the progress).

HOW TO WRITE YOUR EMAIL

To: parkplans@derm.qld.gov.au
Re: Response to Draft Mount Coolum National Park Management Plan 2011

Attention: The Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability

Dear Madam

[perhaps introduce yourself, say where you're from and give some short background to your interest in Mt Coolum or climbing in general]

I am writing to respond to the Draft Mount Coolum National Park Management Plan 2011.

[Now here comes your writing. There is just the one action we need to concentrate on:

Action A28: Declare cliff-based activities a special activity under the Nature Conservation (Protected Area Management) Regulation 2006 in the area shown in Appendix A, Map2.

The key points to discuss:

Point 1 (good), you agree/support/think awesome/ the idea of managing the park for its unique/cool/awesome/magic conservation values. You absolutely support the development of climbing as a sustainable activity and would chastise/beat-up/persuade fellow climbers who did otherwise. 

Point 2 (bad!), the way in which special activities are managed using permits, insurance and compulsory peak body membership is "at odds with how the climbing community works" / "just plain sucks" / "will be ignored" / "will cause conflict with the rangers" / "will set climbing back twenty years" / "will impede the progress of our young sports climbing athletes" /"is at odds with the declared aim of promoting nature-based recreation" / "is at odds with the Premiers Q2 Vision by placing barriers to outdoor recreation" / "discriminates against climbers as valid stake holders in the outdoor recreation community" / "a bureaucratically lazy way of dealing with the management issues" / "set to fail"]

[Feel free to elaborate as you like, but this simple two part message is the key]

Yours Faithfully

[Your name]

Enjoying the social scene, enjoying nature. This is what climbing life is all about.
Pic is of me trying Evel Kenevil 29.

Video: Tom O'Halloran repeats Schadenfreude (31)

Yesterday, Tom O'Halloran made the first repeat of my route from 2008 Shadenfreude (31/8b) at The Pulpit. I was lucky enough to film Tom's climbing on the day. This was a route that took me 17 days to establish, and Tom repeated it on only his second day! There's a reason he's #2 in Australia. It was awesome to behold.

On his first day of trying the route, Tom discovered a new sequence in the middle of the 13 move bouldering crux which is certainly much better than my original way. It eliminates a low percentage stab to a tiny pocket which was a section which repeatedly stopped me when I was trying it. It's amazing the tunnel vision you can get on sequences without outside input from other climbers.

Tom, who has previously onsighted grade 30 routes affirmed that even with the more solid sequence, Schadenfreude felt harder than Point Break (30/31) which he'd recently climbed in the Blue Mountains. He's now super keen to repeat the other hard routes at the cliff (things like One Hit To The Body (30), Below The Belt (31) and The Singularity (32) will no doubt be on the list).

The Upskill camera will be rolling. Psyche is high!


Play it here, or (better) open it up BIG on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes.

Video: Keller Rinaudo - China Climb 5.14b

A couple of days ago I was at White Mountain in Yangshuo, China. Apart from it being a great climbing day for me with a personal quickest 8a+/30 ascent (Gin & Tonic 2nd go), I had the opportunity to shoot and film some climbers on their projects. One of these climbers was Keller Rinaudo (USA) and he had been working China Climb 8c/33. This fantastic route was originally equipped by Australian Logan Barber (nice work dude!) and was first climbed by Yangshuo local Abond. Here's a short film we knocked together. Note that Keller's piece to camera was one take with no preparation. Someone give this guy a job on TV! :)



Play it here, or (better) open it up BIG on Vimeo.

Here's some behind the scenes stills from the shoot...

"Damn, you Aussies are resourceful!" -- Ethan Pringle
My bosun's chair for the shoot: 3 pieces of bamboo held together with finger tape.

Beginning the big jugging mission to get in position

In position! Lights camera action!

Me and Keller - a job well done!

Many thanks to Keller, Ethan Pringle and John O'Brien.

Video: Upskill Climbing Camp 2010 - Rodellar

Play it here, or (better) open it up BIG on Vimeo.

Video: Upskill Climbing Camp #2 - Kalymnos 2010

Not to be confused with the video from the first group a couple of weeks ago, this is all new material, all new actors, and is based on a true story.

More Cheese Please! Upskill Climbing Camp #2 - Kalymnos 2010 from Upskill Climbing on Vimeo.

Join our second group of the year on their tour of duty in Kalymnos, Greece. To sign up for the next one, or to peep more Upskillery, visit www.upskillclimbing.com

Video: Upskill Climbing Camp 2010 - Kalymnos

Upskill have gone High Definition! So feel free to load it up full screen and enjoy.

Upskill Climbing Camp - Kalymnos 2010 from Upskill Climbing on Vimeo.

Vietnam 2009: Trip Video - VietBLAM!

If a picture tells 1,000 words then this video should tell about half a million.

Upskill Climbing VietBLAM 2009 (Climbing in Vietnam) from Upskill Climbing on Vimeo.

Keywords: vietnam climbing, slopony, vietnam dws, deep water soloing, dws