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Rock Odyssey: Simon Carter's new book & slide show


kuu

7-Dec-2011
11:22:37 PM

Saw the show in Sydney tonight (7 December) and it was a great audio/visual presentation.

Simon has put it together in a series of relatively short segments interspersed with brief spoken explanations about the climbing or elaborations on the locations. He certainly doesn't overdo the talking but then his photos largely speak for themselves. Because the presentation in part charts Simon's career I'd seen quite a few of the images before but still enjoyed seeing them again and the background music clips that accompany each segment add nicely to the interest.


Superstu

8-Dec-2011
7:50:21 AM

I thought the show was AWESOME. Loads of stunning images from all around the world. Gosh, Simon and Monique must have hard lives, travelling to all those beautiful exotic locations and climbing and photo phaffing. Most of the pics I hadn't seen before and every one of them is spectacular, and its really good to see them up on the big screen. Madagascar looks like the bomb!! The music, videos and commentary keep the mood high and all up its a great night. I think the highlight is Monique's ascent of Tom e Jerry at Verdon, every move looked damn damn hard and the route just goes on for ever!

I thoroughly recommend folks to see the other shows when it comes to your town, these kind of events don't happen all the time.


tnd

8-Dec-2011
8:58:38 AM

+1 from me, really inspiring show. Worth it see Monique fight her way up that tufa, what an effort!

mikllaw

8-Dec-2011
12:14:02 PM

I loved the first shots of Simon's "most boring job in the world" developing hundreds of shots of DNA gel chromatography or something. No wonder he was shutterfree for many years after.
So many amazing places I've got to get to now! Great show.

onsight

8-Dec-2011
11:47:51 PM

Thanks heaps for the awesome feedback/comments guys!

And thanks to everyone who braved the atrocious weather and traffic and came along and helped make a great night. Wow, a what great turnout and vibe. I'm really blown away by so many great comments and feedback last night, and a lot a messages this morning. I really appreciate everyone's support and enthusiasm. Sydney, you rock!

Thanks again also to the Sydney Rockies for organising the venue, it was excellent.

Access T CliffCare

9-Dec-2011
12:14:37 PM

Can't wait for the Melbourne presentation! Looks like it will be great!

And another great thing - there will be Raffle tickets to purchase for the CliffCare Annual Raffle http://www.chockstone.org/Forum/Forum.asp?Action=DisplayTopic&ForumID=1&MessageID=105595&Replies=7#NewPost on the night. And the Raffle will be drawn also. Please buy a ticket or two or three (pushy, aren't I) This is our only fundraiser for CliffCare and the continuing work is dependant on funding.

cheers,

Tracey

yosemite05

10-Dec-2011
9:19:35 PM

The 4 photo sequence of HB dynoing on Mirage that was in Rock magazine inspired me so many years ago to some day go to Taipan wall, Grampians. Earlier this year I finally made it to the Grampians and jumped on the climb and had several attempts at this dyno without success. I was about to give it one last go when my belayer suggested that I take all the trad gear off my harness. A couple of kilos in total. Minus the gear I gave it all I had and stuck it first go. I didn't tick the climb but I ticked the dyno that I had dreamt about trying for all those years. Next trip I will attempt ticking the route because I know I can do the dyno.

daviesdan

14-Dec-2011
9:14:08 AM

There are so many pictures that have inspired me to climb, but the one that came to mind most is of Stefan Glowacz soloing Kachoong. I was still living in the UK back then, but that one shot, more than any other, cemented in me the desire to travel around the world and climb. After all, it seemed so alien and so exotic to my local limestone in Bristol...

So it was that seven years later (1998) I was finally able to realise that dream, and set off for an Odyssey of my own. I'd saved for a year and had planned to climb in every country I visited. It was my first big trip overseas, and saw me travelling and climbing in South Africa (including an onsight solo of a multi pitch waterfall in the Drakensburg), Malaysia (Batu caves and Tioman), Thailand (two trips to Krabi that changed me so much I keep going back!), Sumatra (an awesome time at Harau, Bukittingi onsighting some fierce crack and face climbs described by the guide as 'easy' but at F6c+/F7a were totally at my limit!) and then finally, after four and a half months travel, I made it to Oz.

Needless to say I bee-lined for Victoria, with only a brief interest in Darwin and Cairns en route, to take in the awesome majesty of Kakadu and the Barrier reef first. Now this is where the adventure truly began, for after a few days at the Grey st backpackers in St Kilda, I joined a young Aussie who was looking for a buddy to travel around the state with for a month in his old Toyota Landcruiser. A perfect opportunity to see Vic and climb I thought, unaware of how soon my life was going to change beyond imagination.

We started off at Hanging rocks, and then made our way to Wilson's Prom via Ben Cairn and Tarra Bulga park ( where we managed to roll the car at one point to avoid an echidna, but thankfully were able to use the tow cable to sort ourselves out!). By the time we got to the prom, that picture of Glowacz was burning in my mind, and I was keen to get to the Raps soon, however, a chance encounter with a girl by a camp fire one evening changed everything.

By the time we did finally make it to the amazing Arapilies, via the Grampians, I had changed, something inside me was different, I found it hard to focus, and climbing was no longer my obsession. Although I did manage to climb some 18s and 19s, and loved an early morning on sight solo of the Bard, I never stayed long enough to realise my dream and climb Kachoong. I was love sick, and hightailed it back to Melbourne.

Even a planned trip to Castle Hill and Arthur's Pass in New Zealand couldn't distract me, and six months later, much to the surprise of my long suffering family, I arrived back in the UK with a new bride, to whom I was married for ten years, and to whom I owe eternal thanks for my two beautiful daughters.

Since then I have found myself living on both hemispheres, and I am still a passionate climber whenever I get the chance, as are my girls (now aged 9 & 12). Although the marriage sadly didn't last, and I have still never climbed Kachoong (but still dream of it occasionally), if it wasn't for that picture, I may never have come to Oz, or met a guy in a backpackers who took me to see the real Victoria, or gone to the Prom at that exact weekend, or met the lady I would marry, or even had my children; and that, without a doubt, has been, and still is, the greatest adventure of my life.


cruze

14-Dec-2011
9:18:45 AM

On 14/12/2011 daviesdan wrote:
Post of the week! What a great story.

onsight

14-Dec-2011
4:39:33 PM

Great story Dan, thanks for sharing that! I'm a softy for any story that has a bit of romance in it...

Canberra show tonight! Looking forward to that. Many thanks to the ANU Mountaineering Club for helping organise it!

onsight

17-Dec-2011
10:48:50 PM

Thanks to everyone who came to the Canberra show. What a great turn out!

Melbourne show Tuesday night... really looking forward to that. Looks like a good venue. Great news, entry will now be free! Thank you to the Victorian Climbing Club for helping organise and supporting the event; friken fantastic! What's more, Cliffcare now has about $5000 in prises that they are raffling off and will draw the prizes on the night. Hope to see some of you there.

Many thanks also to everyone who entered the little competition right here in this very thread and shared a photo story with us all. I'm going to reread the stories again and announce a winner shortly, hopefully tomorrow...


benhev

20-Dec-2011
12:34:21 PM

< bump > Tonight!

1000 £ Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
7.30pm for 8pm show start

onsight

20-Dec-2011
3:56:37 PM

Yep, tonight! I'm at the venue setting up... should be good.

Entry is free!

onsight

20-Dec-2011
4:37:09 PM

Many thanks to everyone who wrote a photo story for the competition.

And the winner is....

(drum roll please...)

Tommo! For his awesome adventure story. And being a day late for work! Sweet. You win a copy of the new book.

But it was a close thing so I'm going give runner-up prizes of a 2012 calendar each to:
Miguel75, Usefull and daviesdan.

Thanks for being players guys! Shoot me a PM or email with your address and we'll get those out to you, or say gidday if you're at show tonight. Cheers!


Gavo

20-Dec-2011
10:36:09 PM

awesome show tonight Simon, thanks for putting that on. Glad I went. Cheers!


shortman

20-Dec-2011
11:31:12 PM

On 20/12/2011 Gavo wrote:
>awesome show tonight Simon, thanks for putting that on. Glad I went. Cheers!

X2

Be warned, don't take money to the show! ;)

Thanks Simon!

bones

21-Dec-2011
10:52:26 AM

Thanks Simon, enjoyed the Melbourne show last night.

quick question - climbing at Tsaranoro, was it more smearing or edging?

Thanks


Miguel75

21-Dec-2011
11:20:58 AM

'twas a great evening last night, thanks for taking time to chat and share your stories Simon. And thanks for the calendar too.

Big thanks to Andy for helping get everything organized.

gfdonc

21-Dec-2011
12:17:57 PM

Yes thanks from this end too. And we 'bought up'.

Where can we find more information about climbing in Madagascar?


Desk monkey

21-Dec-2011
10:06:50 PM

It was a great show last night. We had a few trials and tribulations getting everything organised and working around some PC issues but in the end it all worked great.

Big thanks to Simon for making the road trip down to Melbourne.

Andy D aka Desk Monkey

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