There's something a bit different about Melbourne climbers. I think it's the commitment required to stay psyched with no decent rock within day trip distance of home. If you want to get good at climbing in that state you have to plan ahead, suck it up for the big drive and get used to camping every weekend. They climb like every dry and warm minute is precious! It was great to catch up with some of my old mates on the weekend at Nowra. Kent literally leapt off the plane when I went to pick him up from the airport - he was foaming at the mouth to get back on Shoalhaven rock. A far cry from the miserable over-worked Kent I met when I first moved to Sydney last year. At his lowest point he refused to go outdoor climbing at all, locking himself up at St Leotards gym every night drooling rants about Thailand. I think it goes to show you need to have a decent work life balance to get enthused! I hadn't seen Kent so happy in years when he arrived in Sydney this time. Jackie Bernardi and Tim Le have also flown in ready for a week of Nowra action. At the Animal Park camp 'Bogong' James and Bec were also in attendance to round out Team Vic 2009. Where are all the Vic hardmen? They must all be injured again as per usual. We had a wicked day busting forearms at Thompsons Point on Sunday. Highlight was probably Mikl's classic Taipanesque testpiece Silly Putty (24) over at Black Betty Wall. It's got some great funky weirdness. I always ponder how a first ascent climber's personal style reflects on the routes they do. Get on it! Tim Le is in tip-top form onsighting everything he touches, something I havn't seen in ages. Seems like his old smoking and new found rave habit hasn't slowed him down at all. Might have given him some endurance? His fingers were once screwed from over-training, but now seems to be able to crush anything within reach. Sunday was a tour day at TJF with the Viccoes. I did the first ascent of Thriller, not the Yosemite boulder problem, but a cool steep arete route in the first gully. Ended up over at Rick's Cafe and The Corner Store with every route being drawed up by the raging enthusiasm off sun deprived Victorians. By the end of Sunday I was ultra wrecked. I just couldn't keep up with the pace of these guys! Special note must go to Mr Hill, that's Graham to his mates. He seems to be a one man brushcutting machine slicing a whirlwind track along the base of TJF. What was once an annoying thrash over hundreds of fallen dead logs is now a delightful sunday stroll. See it to believe it. We should call him Graham Chainsaw Hands.
