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How do you get arms and fingers of steel?


shmalec

10-Dec-2003
12:45:43 PM

Oh good...she's been climbing longer than I have. makes me feel much better. :)
Haven't met your coach/teacher.

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
1:04:09 PM

who do you climb with down there? how long have you been climbing for? nearly everywhere we go with michael, every one knows him. he was offered a job training angus and maddie, but turned it down coz he already had us! we went on a shopping trip recently in melb, went to bogongs, paddy's, mountain designs etc. and it took all day coz every one just stopped to talk to him, but it was good coz we got discounts : ) - shhh, i got an arc'teryx isis harness for about $115 when usually $170 and some new shoes too!


nmonteith

10-Dec-2003
1:22:02 PM

Lisa - the You Yangs isn't the greatest place to learn trad clibming or leading outdoors. The routes are generally short, bolt protected (badly) and quite dangerous. A lot of the rock is not the greatest quality and the trad placments are always less than ideal. Arapiles on the other hand has hundreds of excellent easy climbs which take bomber gear in super quality rock. There is a good reason the You Yangs is a backwater of Australian clibming and Arapiles is world famous. A few hours extra driving is well worth the hassle to learn to lead at Arapiles. Make it a full weekend.

PS - i don't know Micheal either! At Cliffhanger i climb with Timmy, Dave, Nick, Scotty, Vinnie ect...

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
1:27:49 PM

oh, wat bout werribe gorge??? it would be good to learn at araps tho, i see wat u r saying. i havnt climbed at werribe before, araps was good, and i know what you mean about the rock at you yangs.


nmonteith

10-Dec-2003
2:34:53 PM

Werribie is choss as well. Camels Hump has a few easier trad leads (Grey Arete come to mind) with good protection.

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
3:06:45 PM

oh, ok then, i think that i will try to get to araps again these hols. at camels hump, do they have guides that can teach you trad?


nmonteith

10-Dec-2003
3:25:45 PM

The only decent 'guides' who will actually teach you something about climbing (as opposed to people taking you on a tourist climbing trip) will be at Arapiles or maybe the Grampians. Camels Hump defiantly dosn't have a guideing company attached to it!

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
3:34:43 PM

ok then, thanx. i think that im just 'too' keen, lol. i love sports where your muscles kill afterwards and you know that you have acomplished something, i dunno its prolly stupid, i do alot of horse riding too, i educate little shits that try and buck you off and i do jumping/ cross country with the horsies. i also like kayaking, i have won some races but dont really compete much. yea, i will go to gramps maybe or araps...


nmonteith

10-Dec-2003
3:55:51 PM

Be careful Lisa - other sports are a touchy subject 'round here! Kieran might go nuts when you start mentioning horses and kayaking... :-)

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
3:56:21 PM

hehehe, why??


nmonteith

10-Dec-2003
4:06:19 PM

Because we are climbers and are blinkered to a normal life. We try and prentend that nothing else exists - some would call it fanatical. No time for anything else...

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
4:08:22 PM

yea, i get. i love climbing... have you climbed punks in the gym at araps - i wish i could!


Mike

10-Dec-2003
4:20:04 PM

Hey monty, inquiring minds want to know why you haven't gotten up Punks yet. What gives? :-)

Mike (wishing someone would expect it of me).

PS: Lisa you could always join the VCC. There's a Gramps trip this weekend I think. You'd probably need a parent there though.

PPS: Speaking of the next Chockstone Gathering. Neil, if it's to be Camels, maybe start a new thread and suggest a date. Let's see if we have some takers.

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
4:24:17 PM

what does the vcc do? i dont think i could go this weekend... do they teach you everything? punks is grade 32, yea? im a brager!!! michael climbed that, but he isnt serious about climbing anymore, he didnt really compete but i know that he used to win alot when he did, he won vic states champs but didnt go 4 nationals. do you have to be a certain age to join the vcc?


nmonteith

10-Dec-2003
4:25:14 PM

You might want to start a new topic Lisa. This really is just chatting - nothing to do with the Arms and Fingers of Steel topic. No way am i good enough for Punks!

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
4:37:52 PM

yea, i bet u are! i think that if you really wanted to do it then you could, all you have to do is be positive - not negative like you are being! if you never have a go at it then you will never know. i think that i could do it in two or three years, maybe i couldnt but i might be able to. i mean i can do a 22 in just over 6 months of climbing - who says i cant do punks in a few years. i reakon you could do it. michael shows alot of things to do with a mental and emotional state of mind. i remember earlier this year doing the worst training, we were in the boulder caves and we had to do laps around... we wernt allowed to give up until basically our body did, so in otherwords you may think in your mind that this is as far as i can go, it hurts too much etc. but really you can push yourself a bit further until every bit of strenght is pushed out! i was sore for about a week afterwards, i nearly collapsed whilst doing it! i think that i did the most in our group, about 21 laps and then that was it for my body - it taught me a lesson. he gives us talks that really make us think and i think that those talks have made us better climbers aswell! anyway enuf chat, i have to get to work now! cya guyz, nice talkin, i will maybe talk later!


tmarsh

10-Dec-2003
9:26:31 PM

Just in case any of you are wondering just who this mythical Mike Tong is, he is real. Mike was very active in the mid 90s but kinda dropped out of sight for a while. See the Crystal Palace entry in the Selected Gramps guide for a pic of him climbing with Jess Ridder. Aside from being one of the most freakishly strong and talented athletes I have ever met - and not just in climbing either - he is also probably the most humble and self-effacing person I know.

Food for thought, eh?

tim

Lisa c

10-Dec-2003
10:45:45 PM

tim every word you have said is true, i dont know why he stopped, i think its because he teaches and surfs, but he climbs with us sometimes when we have a training session. i remember watching him when i first started climb a 24 - he just flew up it and it was an overhang and he hadnt climbed in a while. he has a certain technique that makes him look like he is just gliding up the wall ( like spiderman - no joke!). i wish i could be like him. do you know when he did punks in the gym. i asked him what his hardest climb was on the weekend and he said probably that one. i would have liked to see him do it! he probably did it with ease!!! where ever we go, people tell us how lucky we are that we have him and that he is a legend and this and that. were you friends with him and did you climb with him?


nmonteith

11-Dec-2003
9:15:18 AM

USE THE OTHER TOPIC!!!


Rich

12-Dec-2003
9:06:44 AM

But i wanna know why neil hasn't done punks too... cmon neil, surely u can do it mate! just believe in yourself ;-)

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