Dirk sending Amok 8A

Although it has been posted on BVBA already, I still want people not to miss it. The news is: Dirk sent his first 8A by doing Amok in Font. A very pure and logical line (it seems). I must say a somehow sensational send. First falling from the top and hurting his ankle. Then getting your head together and sending it 15 minuts later.  Thumbs up for Dirk!

I would be psyched to go out there and give it a try. A very popular boulder by the Dutchman as it has now seen three repeats within a short period. Though, they are not the least climbers as they are named Bart, Wouter and now Dirk. I gues everyone was inpired by the purity of the line and the video that Bart had put on Sloper. Other Dutchmen (aka flatlanders) will follow, I am sure.

Yes, the fellow followers of Hibbum may recall Dirk’s name from one of the earlier posts. It is him, the astonisher.

Signing out.

Some changes in my home gym

Recently, they decided in the gym where I am climbing that the bouldering system will change. All boulders were removed (in shifts) and new ones were set. Not just randomly set, but the color gives a rough indication of the level of difficulty. For example all red boulders should be around 6B. So, I would say that all would differ from 6A-6C. Black is around 6C, so probably most of them will be between 6B-7A. I think that that is a nice system and provides some quick and clear overview what boulder you are about to try. Especially for those who do not climb that much in this gym, it could be easy just to do a circuit (all boulders of one color) which are about the level you can somehow easily climb. Some already now the system as it is also used in Monk.

They put the boulders on a site, which I really fancy because of the clear overviews you get. Casper made the site. There are now 194 boulders set and some more to come. Here you can see how many boulders there are of each difficulty. There is also a registration possibility (which shows the boulders you registered to yourself, but not public). I am sure that some improvements will be made in the near future, but for a start, it is very nice.

Another really good development is that Remco is now ‘in charge’ of the boulders. I call him my boss… J. He is a very good climber and knows what he has to do to create a nice environment to climb! Keep on the good work.

Last but not least: the hard boulders from 7b and up are set with the bicolor holds. That means that even more boulders can be set with these holds. The reason is that on one part of the wall, you can set a boulder with purple/white, black/white, blue/white, green white and red/white. So in theory there can be set 5 times as many boulders with bicolor holds as with regular colored holds. As you may understand, I am psyched to have as much hard boulders as possible (without the number of ‘easy’ boulders being reduced). There are already some 8th graded ones. I would be psyched if some other strong (this does not suggest that I consider myself as a strong climber…) climbers would put in some effort and give me some reference on the grades and style of the boulders. That would be great.

I got the idea to put some movies on this site of some hard ones in the gym. However, I do not have a good camera (only the one on my photo camera).  As I am writing this down I feel that it is pathetic… But what can I do, with no climbing trips ahead in the very near future. I need to do something.

Signing out.

Franz on TV? (Swiss though)

There are two vids from some impressive motivated Swiss bouldering crew, including Alexa and  Franz. I do not know what the video’s are for, but they look like some kind of documentary. Maybe for TV? The first part is also about the Swiss topo bouldering site Bimano.ch. The second part shows Franz attempting Entlinge 8C. The moves look easy while he does them, however (and I can ensure you that) they are hard and condition dependant. Still a nice block. You can work all the moves from the ground and that is a statement. It is a lowball, but steep and powerful moves. If a boulder would be my style I guess it would be this one. However, it would need some time investment and I do not have that possibility. So, it is off my wish list.

Part 1

Part 2

Signing out.

Random stuff

So, that none of the readers of Hibbum misses out anything real important.

-          Some nice 2009 overviews from the climbing narc at http://climbingnarc.com/. First, second, … A bit US oriented, but nice nevertheless.

-          For the Dutch readers: New year greetings from Jens Larssen (By Youri). One word: hilarious.

-          Nice skateboarding movie. Does it remind you of something in a certain climbing movie? Both are very nice though. A cool concept remains a cool concept.  

-          Still want to mention it. 8B+ boulder flash by Ondra. Where does this end? Confessions is a very nice boulder which I tried briefly when I was there. Really cool line and I can imagine that if the style suits you, it is possible to send it fast, even flash. Ondra is very flexible (and has strong fingers, I guess), so the style would suit him. Still a good (extreme) performance. About the grade. 8B+? Could be. Opinions from attempters/ascensionists, already were speaking of the 8B grade. Who will tell. He could not do Mitthrill though (within the time he tried it). Super cool boulder and I always think that it should be graded 8B+ instead of 8B.  But who am I? I only tried it and was unable to send. I probabaly tried much longer than Adam… haha.

-          Anja is posting some vids from her roadtrip. Nice sent of Carnage!

-          About me? Not too interesting. As in autumn I was at a certain moment feeling fit and better than ever. Due to certain circumstances (very pleasant ones in the long run), I did not manage to get out and test my shape on real rock. I still so not have any plans on getting outside and my level of training has reached a certain minimum (Sorry, Sven and Chiel for not joining you these weeks!). Goals? Yes, goals are still set though. Who is Sep without goals? Would be nice to climb some real hard stuff on rock soon. The preparation will start within short notice, I am sure.  

Signing out.

New ‘lager’ in Ticino

Very positive news came to me. I already heard beginning 2009 that there was an initiative like this, but now it is already opening. At the 19^th of December 2009, a Hostel (‘lager’) will be opened in the Swiss village of Cresciano (are the Village People around?). For boulderes by boulderers. It will be called “1001 Bloc”. Rumors are present that they will have a shuttle express to the bouldering area of Cresciano. That would be great for avoiding any troubles with the locals of all the people driving up there. Sometimes, it can be so crowded up there.

I also hope that the Hostel will make an end to all the illegal camping at the ‘parking space’ of Cresciano and that the Hostel will be a good alternative for that. Better: I hope that it will be a supercool place where people will love to come and hang out with each other!

But now the great news : at the opening a band will be present. Not just a band, but ‘Al-berto & the Fried bikinis’. A shame that I will miss that! The name is already very promising for a spectacular show.

I have not seen anything from it yet nor do I know the conditions or fees for staying, but wish them good luck with the opening and hopefully the hostel will be a success.

The address (could not find the road on Google maps, but as cresciano is not too big, I will not be very far from the area…):

1001 BLOC Sagl

Via In Prò da Cà

CH-6705 Cresciano

Signing out.

Shirt R.I.P.

Recently, my climbing partner (sounds a bit gay though, which I am not, but – by the way – I fully respect. Gay is more a style than anything else…) Sven, informed me that his team shirt was gone. While working his shirt was ripped apart by some heavy machines. Yes, you need some heavy machines to rip the team shirt apart. The team is still alive though. Climbing less than ever on real rock.

Here is a video of the old days, where the shirt was still leading to extraordinary performances. Please watch the text on the shirt (do not know whether it is readable)! Off course the vid with Sven – the man – Verhoeven!

Only one left… (shirt)

Sven used to be the Dyno master, these days he can also climb well. Really well. His fingers get stronger by the day and his improvement  over the last year is astonishing. Keep on going! 

Signing out.

FA Le Pillier

No not the first ascent, but a female ascent of Le Pillier in Chironico which is graded Fb 8A. Anja did it and she is back on track. After becoming a mother, it is always hard to tell how woman get on top of this impact. Anja is doing fine and appears to be super strong again. Personally, I love the boulder she did. Le Pillier is a stunning line, with some cool holds on it. I especially like the slopy edge from which you have to do the final move to the good hold on top. Congrats to Anja! Curious what LeStef has been up to. 

In addition the following notes:

-          Cool movie of Frank having some (statement or he is just switching shirts often on the same day) attempts on a boulder Caroline in the Rocklands which weighs in around 7c+-ish, I guess. I must say, it looks like he got close in a certain try and then drifted away. The same boulder is shown on this video with some other cool lines in the Rocklands, SA.

-          So now and then I am amazed to read or see that a less known climber (to me) has done a really hard barely repeated testpiece. This time it is a French climber Anatole Bosio. He has done the PuntX which is graded 9a (before maybe 9a+) and has been tried by some really strong climbers. Here is a movie of him doing it. It amazes me, because it appears that the gap between some strong climbers and the ultra strong will known names is probably not very big. Perseverance of the strong folks can bridge that gap so now and then. That is at least how I see it and the way I try my best to send something hard also. Good effort of Anatole anyway.

-          Yes, I have ordered the movie from Keith, Between the trees! Very excited and curious how it will be. But I get more and more motivated to climb in Font again. Maybe only until the moment I actually climb there and again notice that the style does not suit me well and that it is always freaking hard. Also because the classics can be so hard. As Tyler Landmann has stated after his rampage in Font earlier this year: ‘Mind you, some of the hardest problems I did are in the 7th grade’. That is how it is. But, I am still psyched to head over there and do some bouldering.

-          As stated by me earlier, I was hoping on a Rock-vember. Unfortunately, this appears to remain an idea. An idea or an illusion?

Signing out.

Dreamtime – parallel

Today, I read that the big flake in the middle of Dreamtime, Cresciano has been ripped off. I did not surprise me, but it did not leave me unaffected. I did not surprise me, because it always looked like it would come off. Not a very stable hold/flake.

Why was I affected by it? Not because I was close to sending and it is now impossible (or at least harder). I have tried Dreamtime occasionally, but concluded that it would not suit my style very well. Not well enough to send a boulder at the top of my ability. Maybe if I would have more time, but not like I am living and approaching bouldering as I do.

Why the? Dreamtime is the boulder which – for me – made bouldering in Ticino famous. And it was there on the right time. The time when I started bouldering.

First some more hiroty: I started alpine climbing in mid 90’s. Then switched to route climbing, mainly because I wanted to prepare for alpine climbing also at home in the Netherlands where there are no mountains. So, the gym was the only option. The last two years in high school I was very motivated, but could only climb for maximum two times per week as there was no public gym in my hometown. The wall where we climbed was located in a gymnastic area, and was only limited accessible for climbers. That was somehow very frustrating, but my parents decided to give me a small wall. My father and me built a small (exactly 1.22m x 2.44m) vertical wall in my room. Vertical, no overhang, just a wall and some holds. I trained there almost every day making circles. alone, with some music in the background from my stereo. I can remember that I made sessions of 45 minutes of constant endurance climbing on my wall. 45 minutes on a wall which is 1.22mX2.44m? That is something I find very hard to believe these days. I must have been so motivated.

Then I went to University. There they had a wall at the campus where you could almost climb anytime. There was no bouldering there, just routes. It was a relief. In addition, Bjoeks was opened and I slowly switched from the campus wall to Bjoeks. It was very delightful to have the possibility to climb all the time and have so much routes you can do. Although, there was a nice steep bouldering wall in Bjoeks, I was mainly still focusing on route climbing and alpine climbing.

I finished University in January 2001, just some months after Dreamtime has been put up and was big news in all climbing media. I went to Amsterdam because of Tess and I was lucky enough to find a job there. I had climbed some 8^th graded routes and thought that this would be the highest possible thing to reach for me. Also, because I started working fulltime in a stressful environment, I was unsure whether I could still improve or keep the level I had gained. Because I did not want to commit myself to anyone, being dependant/obliged to anyone and because I did not know anyone to climb with, I decided to boulder. No routes, just bouldering. Until then I only knew Font for climbing, but Dreamtime and some articles about bouldering in Ticino made me curious how other area’s would be.

So, at the time Dreamtime made Ticino famous for bouldering, I committed myself to bouldering. Ironically enough, now that Dreamtime is broken, I have a kind of similar feeling for my climbing. Dreamtime may be possible, but will be harder. It will be possible for me to go out and climb, but it will be  harder. This calendar year I have maybe had 10 days of outdoor climbing. That is a low point. It appears to be even harder to go climbing outdoors again and also to get ready for climbing outdoors again. I have a son/family, I get more and more responsibilities at work, etc. All elements which do not contribute to making go climbing easier.

That is possibly the reason I was affected by Bjorns post about Dreamtime.

Signing out.

Fastest score ever

No, this time no post about climbing and the hardest boulder in the least time. It is about football, which I in general do not especially like (except when the Dutch team is playing). But I found this video very funny (what for?) and thought I share it with you:

Signing out.

Artistic attempts

Can not hold this from yuo. You either like it or you do not. See for yourself.

http://vimeo.com/7082256

In addition, the rage of Tyler Landmann through Font has been filmed and edited by Keith Bradbury. I have not seen the movie myself (yet), but for those who like Font, I would encourage them to buy the movie!

http://www.unclesomebody.com/blog/?page_id=342

Signing out.