I was going to say "you too could have a body like mine" but that wouldn't necessarily be true, or even desirable (if you were female, for example).
26.11.10
Why am I wearing these shorts?
Because I can, of course.
I was going to say "you too could have a body like mine" but that wouldn't necessarily be true, or even desirable (if you were female, for example).
I was going to say "you too could have a body like mine" but that wouldn't necessarily be true, or even desirable (if you were female, for example).
Close...
But no cigar.
Today Clinton and I hauled our asses out to Oorlogs. It was awesome. The wall was in blinding sunlight until 1 pm, which meant we were trying to redpoint our routes with our eyes closed. Not the best tactical decision.
Climbing with Clinton was as inspiring as ever. On one go he botched a foot placement low down. I would have given up at that point, had it been me. Clinton is almost entirely unlike that. He thrashed and fought, never once thinking about saying take and almost redointed the route.
Sitting at the base of lines between redpoint attempts, and looking up the wall made me realise that there are two astoundingly good lines. It's a pity that there are only two of them on the wall.
At the end of the day it turned out that we shall both have to go back. I had 3 redpoint attempts and got close but no cigar. It was more or less the same for Clinton on his route. I had a 4th go on tope rope but by then everything hurt - wrists and finger joints especially.
Sunday it's Oudtshoorn for a change of venue. I hope to come back in good shape to give my line a really good try in the week after that.
Today Clinton and I hauled our asses out to Oorlogs. It was awesome. The wall was in blinding sunlight until 1 pm, which meant we were trying to redpoint our routes with our eyes closed. Not the best tactical decision.
Climbing with Clinton was as inspiring as ever. On one go he botched a foot placement low down. I would have given up at that point, had it been me. Clinton is almost entirely unlike that. He thrashed and fought, never once thinking about saying take and almost redointed the route.
Sitting at the base of lines between redpoint attempts, and looking up the wall made me realise that there are two astoundingly good lines. It's a pity that there are only two of them on the wall.
At the end of the day it turned out that we shall both have to go back. I had 3 redpoint attempts and got close but no cigar. It was more or less the same for Clinton on his route. I had a 4th go on tope rope but by then everything hurt - wrists and finger joints especially.
Sunday it's Oudtshoorn for a change of venue. I hope to come back in good shape to give my line a really good try in the week after that.
25.11.10
Snoffee Cob
Some months back I decided that I should start drinking coffee, because the caffeine would help me keep my weight down. Now then, I don't like doing things by half measures and I didn't use half measures to spoon coffee into my mug. I used full measures and several of them. Furthermore, if one is going to do this sort of thing, there is no point in diluting the punishment, so I took my coffee black and without sugar. Clearly.
I worked on the principle that a small volume of an incredibly concentrated disgusting bitter drink with a superior amount of caffeine would be better than larger volumes of an insipid disgusting bitter drink. I realise that there are not enough commas in that but it's late, I am frickin tired and still trying to get to the punch line.
I soon became a coffee snob and traded Jacobs Verwohnaroma (whatever) for the world's best Ethiopian coffee, kindly supplied to me directly by an Ethiopian colleague.
Now, as an aside, consider training on a campus board. It's concentrated training, right? It could make you very strong (which might, or might not, help), right? Now, what else do we know about training on a campus board? It should be done only by climbers with a significant base of strength, and even then, judiciously. What happens if you don't follow that advice? You break.
It has now occurred to me that I drank coffee as if it were training on a campus board. Wait, that's wrong. It should read "...I drank coffee as if I were training on a campus board". But in doing so I forgot that I had spent the last 49 years drinking nothing stronger than mango juice (no ice). I haven't developed a PTFE stomach lining. So what happened? I broke. This week I spent an agonising 24 hours wracked with stomach cramps following a particularly arduous bout of dieting followed by hard core coffee drinking.
I worked on the principle that a small volume of an incredibly concentrated disgusting bitter drink with a superior amount of caffeine would be better than larger volumes of an insipid disgusting bitter drink. I realise that there are not enough commas in that but it's late, I am frickin tired and still trying to get to the punch line.
I soon became a coffee snob and traded Jacobs Verwohnaroma (whatever) for the world's best Ethiopian coffee, kindly supplied to me directly by an Ethiopian colleague.
Now, as an aside, consider training on a campus board. It's concentrated training, right? It could make you very strong (which might, or might not, help), right? Now, what else do we know about training on a campus board? It should be done only by climbers with a significant base of strength, and even then, judiciously. What happens if you don't follow that advice? You break.
It has now occurred to me that I drank coffee as if it were training on a campus board. Wait, that's wrong. It should read "...I drank coffee as if I were training on a campus board". But in doing so I forgot that I had spent the last 49 years drinking nothing stronger than mango juice (no ice). I haven't developed a PTFE stomach lining. So what happened? I broke. This week I spent an agonising 24 hours wracked with stomach cramps following a particularly arduous bout of dieting followed by hard core coffee drinking.
1.11.10
When it all goes wrong...
Great route, great song, terrible climber. Temperature was minus 17 trillion, I hadn't warmed up properly and attempted to redpoint my route.
You can see the result at:
http://www.vimeo.com/16402468
Credits for the vid are on the site.
You can see the result at:
http://www.vimeo.com/16402468
Credits for the vid are on the site.
Hey, Jupiter
If you like watching your TV when it is not tuned to a station then you might enjoy this ultra-compressed video of Hey Jupiter. I know I didn't.
The uncompressed version is awesome, I promise.
http://www.vimeo.com/16312229
The uncompressed version is awesome, I promise.
http://www.vimeo.com/16312229
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