Thursday, May 31, 2007
Slow updates
We at Vertical Rising would like to apologize for the lack of updates to the site over the past few weeks. It's been rather hectic for all of us here in the web team as Joey is having her finals (law), and King and I are still running our assignment marathon. To make matters worse, Monash University's exam period starts next week, so it's going to be difficult to keep the blog updated for the time being. But anyhow, we do hope all you readers would be patient and continue to visit us frequently! Best of luck to those who are having their examinations!
Monday, May 7, 2007
A quickie of the climbing type!
Venue: Camp5
Climbers: Bing, King, Sean
Featured friends: Japanese dude, Kent
We apologize for the late posting and lack of updates, but Monash University loves to kill their students with this 'thing' called 'assignments'. Initially this 'thing' appears completely harmless, but it is for this very reason that it is able to pounce on its victims at the very last minute, when their prey seem completely relaxed.
But anyhow, we still managed to climb last Friday! However I had to leave early to head over to Qba for some Quban beats! King however continued climbing with Sean.
Nonetheless, it was great! (while i was there of course). At first we canceled our climb because i couldn't make it, as I had plans after. But temptation gave in, and before i knew it i was in camp5 with King!
Sometimes temptations give such abundant pleasure!
Since we didn't have much time as i had to leave at 7:15pm, King and I decided to just do some crazy bouldering today. We warmed up with some basic traversing. It was not long before we were playing 'add-on' with our new Japanese friend. Unfortunately we forgot his name, and we were so busy playing that we forgot to take pictures. But hey, here's a self drawn picture that most accurately illustrates us:
Of course it wasn't long before Sir Sean appeared. He seemed to have a particular grin on his face that day. It wasn't hard to figure out why - He had just gotten his rock climbing gear from Singapore! Apparently you can get gear there at a cheaper rate. However, Sean's from Johor (just above Singapore), so he just ran across the border to get em.
Climbers: Bing, King, Sean
Featured friends: Japanese dude, Kent
We apologize for the late posting and lack of updates, but Monash University loves to kill their students with this 'thing' called 'assignments'. Initially this 'thing' appears completely harmless, but it is for this very reason that it is able to pounce on its victims at the very last minute, when their prey seem completely relaxed.
But anyhow, we still managed to climb last Friday! However I had to leave early to head over to Qba for some Quban beats! King however continued climbing with Sean.
Nonetheless, it was great! (while i was there of course). At first we canceled our climb because i couldn't make it, as I had plans after. But temptation gave in, and before i knew it i was in camp5 with King!
Sometimes temptations give such abundant pleasure!
Since we didn't have much time as i had to leave at 7:15pm, King and I decided to just do some crazy bouldering today. We warmed up with some basic traversing. It was not long before we were playing 'add-on' with our new Japanese friend. Unfortunately we forgot his name, and we were so busy playing that we forgot to take pictures. But hey, here's a self drawn picture that most accurately illustrates us:
illustration may differ slightly from reality
Anyway, our Japanese friend had to leave early, so King and I went to climb in the bouldering cave. The bouldering cave at camp5 have some awesome routes and trails that you must try out. We hardly boulder in the cave, so we actually made lotsa cool trails. We experimented with some of the overhangs and did some foot positioning training.
Part of the bouldering cave
Anyway, our Japanese friend had to leave early, so King and I went to climb in the bouldering cave. The bouldering cave at camp5 have some awesome routes and trails that you must try out. We hardly boulder in the cave, so we actually made lotsa cool trails. We experimented with some of the overhangs and did some foot positioning training.
Part of the bouldering cave
King and I trying out some of the overhang routes
Of course it wasn't long before Sir Sean appeared. He seemed to have a particular grin on his face that day. It wasn't hard to figure out why - He had just gotten his rock climbing gear from Singapore! Apparently you can get gear there at a cheaper rate. However, Sean's from Johor (just above Singapore), so he just ran across the border to get em.
Sean's harness and shoes. All the gear can be viewed in detail when the 'profile' section is completed.
Sometimes, if you're lucky, you'd be able to catch a nice shot of the sky from camp5.
Sometimes, if you're lucky, you'd be able to catch a nice shot of the sky from camp5.
Beautiful sky. But hey, whatever makes you happy. It's all relative.
Coming back to climbing, we soon met up with Kent. He's another regular at camp5 and is one heck of a climber. He tries his best to come to camp5 at least twice a week to boulder and climb, and he's really experienced. He taught us a few new techniques which is easy to do if you were the rubber man. He also introduced us to a cool route which would help us practice this technique. Basically, you're required to heel hook your hand holds before grabbing the next one.
clockwise from top left: Kent; King showing the starting position; Red route - supposed to bring left foot up to where the left hand is, then left hand reaches for overhang dark red; Kent finishing the trail.
Coming back to climbing, we soon met up with Kent. He's another regular at camp5 and is one heck of a climber. He tries his best to come to camp5 at least twice a week to boulder and climb, and he's really experienced. He taught us a few new techniques which is easy to do if you were the rubber man. He also introduced us to a cool route which would help us practice this technique. Basically, you're required to heel hook your hand holds before grabbing the next one.
clockwise from top left: Kent; King showing the starting position; Red route - supposed to bring left foot up to where the left hand is, then left hand reaches for overhang dark red; Kent finishing the trail.
Kent later went on to show us the 'UB40' trail (or at least that what i think i heard), which is the longest bouldering trail there. Unfortunately the last part of the trail was taken down, but there's still a good 3/4 left. It starts from behind the pillar above, at leads all the way to the campus training boards.
Kent almost reaching the end of the route.
That was pretty much our Friday climb last week at camp5 yet again! There's always something new to try and something new to experience each time we go there. Next we'd feature a little something from camp5's campus training section in the bouldering cave.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Climbing in England (2) - 03/05/2007
Climbers: Joey
Venue: The Castle, England
Featured friends: Hannah, Yun, Ming
Nothing strikes you more than the realisation that you are going to pay for your excesses the next day. No, I haven't been out drinking myself silly. It has, however, been 3 weeks since my last climb (due to a shoulder injury) and we didn't exactly take it easy tonight!
Tonight, we were at our usual haunt - The Castle, North London. A converted castle which used to be a water pumping station, the castle has a range of bouldering, top roping and lead climbing routes. Overhangs, 30' walls, traversing walls, exercise/ development area, the Castle is mid-sized but perfectly equipped.
Hannah and Yun checking the length of the rope for kinks
After warming up with some traversing and 5c top roping, we were off on our way to test out Hannah and Yun's newly-bought, first length of rope.
We decided to take it easy and start ourselves on a 5+ route. Before long, we were ambitiously trying out 6a routes (pretty unnerving when you haven't got a top rope holding you up!). We were, of course, all squabbling over whose turn it was to climb/belay (lead climbing still being a relative novelty to us!) - this might be a sign that we should invest in another length of rope before this one is in tatters from tug-of-war rather than actual climbing!
(Top) Me on a 5c climb - no comments on the size of my toosh please!; (Bottom) Look at the state of our shoes! Donations, anyone?
Anyhow, due to the sheer number of people at the Castle tonight (or maybe just laziness) we only climbed for 3 hours instead of our usual 4 on a Thursday night. Gawd knows what state I'm going to be in tomorrow, let alone on Saturday morning (our other regular climbing day)!
J xx
Venue: The Castle, England
Featured friends: Hannah, Yun, Ming
Nothing strikes you more than the realisation that you are going to pay for your excesses the next day. No, I haven't been out drinking myself silly. It has, however, been 3 weeks since my last climb (due to a shoulder injury) and we didn't exactly take it easy tonight!
Tonight, we were at our usual haunt - The Castle, North London. A converted castle which used to be a water pumping station, the castle has a range of bouldering, top roping and lead climbing routes. Overhangs, 30' walls, traversing walls, exercise/ development area, the Castle is mid-sized but perfectly equipped.Hannah and Yun checking the length of the rope for kinks
Yun pointing out the route
After warming up with some traversing and 5c top roping, we were off on our way to test out Hannah and Yun's newly-bought, first length of rope.We decided to take it easy and start ourselves on a 5+ route. Before long, we were ambitiously trying out 6a routes (pretty unnerving when you haven't got a top rope holding you up!). We were, of course, all squabbling over whose turn it was to climb/belay (lead climbing still being a relative novelty to us!) - this might be a sign that we should invest in another length of rope before this one is in tatters from tug-of-war rather than actual climbing!
Anyhow, due to the sheer number of people at the Castle tonight (or maybe just laziness) we only climbed for 3 hours instead of our usual 4 on a Thursday night. Gawd knows what state I'm going to be in tomorrow, let alone on Saturday morning (our other regular climbing day)!
J xx
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Climbing in England (1)
Climbers: Joey
Venue: Symonds Yat, England
Featured friends: Hannah, Yun, Ming
So I've finally been granted access to posting in this blog - big day for me, but I still had to think of what to write for my first post! Bing asked me to write about climbing in England, but climbing indoors is probably much for muchness whichever country you're in, isn't it? After much deliberation, I've decided to go for my first outdoor climbing experience - just to be a bit different ;)
Last September, my friends, Hannah, Yun, Ming, and I went to Symonds Yat in the Wye Valley, Gloucestershire (West of England). It was a wet, rainy day, and being a limestone area (slippery at the best of times; worse when it's wet!), it probably wasn't the best introduction to outdoor climbing (girls, if you treasure your nails and are afraid of getting muddy and dirty, this is definitely not for you)! Still, we consoled ourselves with the thought that if we could climb there, we could climb anywhere.
The area is very large and features a great variety in rock features (quite a lot of nice jugs!) and routes across the different grades. Set amongst beautiful surroundings (you can even hear the River Wye rushing by) it's very popular with middle grade climbers. The routes range from VDiff (4a) to the occasional E6 (beyond the scale!).
Being hardcore(!), our guide started us off on a Severe (French 5c) climb in a crag on the Kipper Crack, which we each climbed up and absailed back down a couple of times, before moving on to a VS (French 6a) climb. You'd think this was ambitious for our first time, but I can't stress enough how different outdoor climbing is from indoors. Anyone, no matter how tall/short, can potentially do any climb. Forget 'following the colours' - outdoors, you grab anything within your reach!
(Clockwise from top left) 1.Getting ready for the first climb; 2.Where's my next hold?!? Bring the colours back! :( ; 3.Yun looking all calm and relaxed despite the strain the rest of us are feeling; 4.Reaching the top - see the relief on my face?!? (Bing says I look dorky in my helmet, but be nice or I won't post again!)
We spent the whole day there and by the end of it, you'd never seen a muddier, more bruised or tired bunch of people in your life - but it was definitely worth it! Unfortunately, we went before we learnt how to lead climb, so we were forced to resort to top roping (by tying very long ropes off on trees at the top of the crag).
This Summer, I'll be climbing in the High Pyrenees (Spanish range of mountains). It's a granite area and having now learnt to lead climb, I can't wait to try it out for real! I hope I live to tell the tale!
J xx
Venue: Symonds Yat, England
Featured friends: Hannah, Yun, Ming
So I've finally been granted access to posting in this blog - big day for me, but I still had to think of what to write for my first post! Bing asked me to write about climbing in England, but climbing indoors is probably much for muchness whichever country you're in, isn't it? After much deliberation, I've decided to go for my first outdoor climbing experience - just to be a bit different ;)
Last September, my friends, Hannah, Yun, Ming, and I went to Symonds Yat in the Wye Valley, Gloucestershire (West of England). It was a wet, rainy day, and being a limestone area (slippery at the best of times; worse when it's wet!), it probably wasn't the best introduction to outdoor climbing (girls, if you treasure your nails and are afraid of getting muddy and dirty, this is definitely not for you)! Still, we consoled ourselves with the thought that if we could climb there, we could climb anywhere.
The area is very large and features a great variety in rock features (quite a lot of nice jugs!) and routes across the different grades. Set amongst beautiful surroundings (you can even hear the River Wye rushing by) it's very popular with middle grade climbers. The routes range from VDiff (4a) to the occasional E6 (beyond the scale!).
Being hardcore(!), our guide started us off on a Severe (French 5c) climb in a crag on the Kipper Crack, which we each climbed up and absailed back down a couple of times, before moving on to a VS (French 6a) climb. You'd think this was ambitious for our first time, but I can't stress enough how different outdoor climbing is from indoors. Anyone, no matter how tall/short, can potentially do any climb. Forget 'following the colours' - outdoors, you grab anything within your reach!
We spent the whole day there and by the end of it, you'd never seen a muddier, more bruised or tired bunch of people in your life - but it was definitely worth it! Unfortunately, we went before we learnt how to lead climb, so we were forced to resort to top roping (by tying very long ropes off on trees at the top of the crag).
This Summer, I'll be climbing in the High Pyrenees (Spanish range of mountains). It's a granite area and having now learnt to lead climb, I can't wait to try it out for real! I hope I live to tell the tale!
J xx
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