Two in a day and the Eightfold Path of Climbing

Yesterday was a great day. what started with just a couple of us heading out climbing ended up with 12 of us having a blast out at the Chicken Cave. People were pushing their limits all over the place with lots of attempts on things at peoples upper limits coming close to sends. Its was great seeing my friends all trying so hard and having such a great time testing their boundaries. And I had a great day too with a swag of onsights up to 5.11's and doing two 5.12's in a day, something I haven't done in a while! I sent 'Lily' a great, steep 5.12b on my 3rd go and making a repeat of the powerful and super steep 'White Tiger' 5.12c. So I felt great! Hopefull it's a sign of things to come this Autumn as I work at getting fitter for my mega project out at Fuli!

Amoungst all the banter at the crag we also came up with the 'Eightfold Path of Climbing', a list of 8 different aspects of climbing that we think you need to at least experience to become a solid all round climber... for those of you not familiar with what the Eightfold Path of Buddhism is that this idea is derived from looks here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path

Here they are in no particular order...

Bouldering
Traditional Climbing
Sport Climbing
Ice Climbing
Alpine Climbing
Aid Climbing
Deep Water Soloing
Big Wall Climbing

This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time and now only have Ice, Alpine and Big Wall left to do as I have done all of the others up to what I consider a reasonable level and hopefully this Winter I will be able to go on an adventure up to see my friends in Yunan Province here in China and tick of the remaining 3 styles.
But thats just my opinion of what makes a good all round climber... whats yours?

Much love!

Scorchin', sweatin', summertime good times

It's about 4am and my friend Carina gets a phone call...

Carina 'Hello?'
'Hey Carina, its JP'
'Hi'
'What are you up to?'
'Sleeping, its late, you?'
'Uh, nothing much, my apartment building is on fire'
'Oh ok, cool.... wait... what?'
'Yeah, on fire, and we cant get out, could you pop round and see whats happening outside?'

Seriously, my friends apartments went up in flames, they were trapped inside and he was a relaxed as can be about it haha. The fire got controlled and no one got hurt or lost much of anything just a few motor scooters in the foyer so it was all good in the end, but man, talk about crazy!

Things have been fun here. It's scorching hot every day (up to 38 degrees celcius) and it really feels like summer. Swimming in the river, eating watermelon at the crag. Thats right, despite the heat alot of climbing is getting done. You sweat alot and your enegry gets sapped by the sun but if you seek the shade you can still get alot done. After the steep powerful sandstone of Australia I felt a little weird on the long enduro limestone but after a few days I am back in the swing of things and have tried a few new routes that have become definite new projects for me to work on. Super psyched!!!

Heres a few pics for y'all...

Changes...

Just thought I would freshen up the look of my blog... hope you like it  :)

Tidbits...

So its morning on a blue sky winter day and I am sitting at my parents beach house, dad is playing blues on the guitar, my sister and mum are making something tasty in the kitchen, my 1 year old nephew that I have just met for the first time is crawling around and I am copying music from my old hard drive that I really miss and I have already been for a run and done yoga on the beach. It's not a bad day as far as things go really :)

Things have been good here in Oz. I have been out climbing loads with my crews both in Canberra and in Sydney and havin' it large all round!

Last week saw me head up to Sydney to hang out with my crew up there. I headed out bouldering with my close mate Chris Webb Parsons who is just back from the US. We hit up Sunnyside where Chris has now done the first ascent of 'One Of A Kind', yet another V14 first ascent to his name, strong boy! My good friend Pete Tosen also made a super solid ascent of 'Combat Wombat' v11 which was bawse!!!

Here's a video of Chris doing a few things both back in the US and here in Oz recently... enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPNinAtQxNk

So yeah, things have been fun, headed to Sydney, climbed more at Nowra and also got one of the tattoos I wanted done by my good friend Matt's little sister Meg. I'll post a pic of that soon :)

For now here's a few pics of some climbing...

Pete Tosen sending 'Combat Wombat' V11 at Sunnyside, Sydney

Chris Webb Parsons on the finish of 'One Of A Kind' V14 at Sunnyside, Sydney

The sun rising over the highway on the way to Nowra

Frosty morning fields on the way to Nowra


Greg on the fantastic 'Axis Of Evil' 24 at Occupied Territories, Nowra

Peace my friends... dodge the unstoked :)

Back in Oz!

So I am having a little holiday back in Australia. Relaxing with friends and family here in Canberra, going climbing and having a blast. I will write up a full story about my time here but for now here are some pics of things here.

Enjoy :)

Greg on 'Trigger Nigger' 25 at PC, Nowra

Rich on 'Trigger Nigger' 25 at PC, Nowra

Our broken down car... bu hao!

Richo on 'A Very Nice Piece Of Cake' 25 at Thompsons Point, Nowra

Strip shows, caravan park style

SINGAPORE WINS!!!

So yesterday was an epic, epic day with the race, the skydivers, the gala dinner, a performance by Dianna Ross, parties, parties, more parties and some covert James Bond escapades... all just amazingly good times!

But the big news is that SINGAPORE WON THE RACE!!! So psyched to see the home town Team win such a fun event!!! Props to you guys for rocking so hard :)

I will post more pics soon but for now here is a video on you tube that our good fried David put together. Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_lqUcXlTw

A few pics from here in Singapore

Media frenzy!!!

So the media here in Singapore is loving what were doing here at Marina Bay Sands and everything is set to be huge tomorrow! Today is a full dress rehersal of the race so were all pretty psyched!

Here are some media links for news about the events lead up plus a video from 'Singapore Tonight'

Psyched!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100622-0000110/Race-to-the-SkyPark-,,,-from-the-outside

Channel NewsAsia
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=Marina%20Bay%20Sands&id=1064670

Razor TV
http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main

My paper:
http://www.mypaper.sg/ (click on e reader on 2nd page with photo of Matt!)

Asia one
http://www.asiaone.com/static/multimedia/gallery/100622_mbsclimb/

Yahoo Sg
http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/06/21/stunning-visual-treat-at-mbs-skypark/

Pics of Marina Bay Sands!!!

Here are some pics guys! This is the EPIC hotel we are racing up for it's grand opening... cant wait!!!
As a side note my flight from Guilin to Hong Kong was delayed for ages so I missed my connecting flight to Singapore so now I am stuck in Hong Kong Airport for the night surfing the internet, playing my guitar and wishing I was in my comfy bed in Singapore... argh!!! Oh well, I will be there tomorrow!

Marina Bay Sands Singapore - Opening Celebration!!!

So there I am sitting in a village in rural China minding my own business when my good friend Matt drops me an email... "Duncan, would you like to come race up a massive hotel via a 100m glass layback then party with a whole heap of amzing climbers from around the world...?"... Ummmm, let me check my schedule Matt haha! Thus was my addition to the Commonwealth Team for the Marina Bay Sands - World Championship Climb to the Sands SkyPark!!! I will be competing in a team with Mayan Smith-Gobat, an amazingly talented female climber from New Zealand and the larrakin himself, Tim Emmett from the UK. It's going to be absolutely amazing fun! Can't wait for my flight to Singapore tomorrow!!!
It is being filmed by ESPN (see the trailer on youtube in the links below) and will be a massive media show so I will let you all know when the documentary they are doing about it is out :)

More news and pics of the shenanigans as it unfolds!!!

Check out the links below...

Climb website
http://www.alterego.co.il/

Facebook link (Photos)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210442&id=564288744

ESPN Trailer
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1495239103633&comments

Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtOKNpmIkZM

Yangshuo Update...

11.04.10

Ok. So I have been excessively lazy when it comes to blogging lately. Sorry about that! But it is for a few reasons. Firstly because I have been so rediculously busy here in Yangshuo with work, climbing and everything else and secondly because now that I have settled into a place it sort of feels like I would just be writing about the same old stuff over and over. I thought about it though and while it may seem a bit 'same-y' to me it is all new and exciting to all of you so it's high time I got off my ass and posted something!
So how's life in Yangshuo..? It's really turning out to be an amazing experience. Living in the midst of a new culture permenantly is such an exciting experience. Getting to know another culture well is amazing and learning a new language in a place where I am using what I know on a daily basis is just so rewarding. My Mandarin Chinese is getting better every day and I am now at a point where I can talk a little bit about a few different subjects and understand alot of basic conversation. I am putting in the effort of learning as much as I can so that I can finally say that I speak another language properly... I'm really excited about it.
Climbing is going great too. I am climbing at least a few times each week and feeling really solid on stuff up to about 512d (or 7c, or 27, or whatever grades you speak in) and I have some harder stuff in store too, including my epic project at Fuli. So I have mentioned before that I really wanted to bolt a really long super pitch project... well I did it. Its about 65 metres of non stop action... 30 metres of really steep angles and roof climbing out a massive cave followed by 35 metres of overhanging face climbing.. its EPIC! The super steep bottom half is about 5.13a followed by the face which is about 5.12b so altogether maybe 5.13c? Who knows, whatever it is it will be my hardest climb for sure, but I can do it! I nearly sent the bottom half last week so it will go soon and it will be time to try linking it all together... Cant wait!!!
And work... well work is very challenging. I work really hard and do loooong hours but it's worth it for the mental challenge it is providing. On top of my project management roles I now also manage our bar, the 'Lizard Lounge'. So it's all go, but it's great none the less!

Here are a few pics of some stuff I get up to around Yangshuo... enjoy!

Chinese New Year Fireworks

Mike & Mick in front of one of my photos at the Lizard Lounge

Xiao Ming, Duke and Liang Meng getting the Lizard Lounge ready to open

The China Climb gang having dinner at the Riverside Retreat... nice view hey?

Eddie and little Max at Wine Bottle crag

Eva, one of my favourite portraits I have taken here

Tony, the ruler of Fuli

Bodo, our Fuli mascot

Andy slacklining at Fuli

Lanterns at the park during Chinese New Year

Mike and some nice girls cruising the Li Jiang on a bamboo boat... all in a days work ;)

11.02.10

Yanshuo. I'm back for a second time and its just as good as the first time round. It's lost none of
it's appeal to me... in fact the appeal is even higher than the first time round. The first time I
was here it was a new country, a new adventure, a new language, a new culture but this time all
those things were known factors and it sort of makes me see more of the place than the first time round. Also being here to work for a well known guiding company opens more doors and opportunities than being here last time as a climber tourist.

To give you an idea of my life here and what I have in store for the next year or more I will tell
you some of the things I have gotten up to since I arrived...

I arrived and was promptly moved into the China Climb (my employers) apartments, a 6 storey
converted hotel where most of the staff live. We live here and get cooked for by our chef every day. I was introduced to the staff that are here at the moment and basically hung around for a few days doing not much, just the hum drum stuff like bank accounts and phones, etc. Then I was put to work.

At the moment we arent guiding much as it is the middle of winter and there isnt much on till March but we are building a camp at a place called Fuli so I have had to join in on a few days digging trenches and moving bamboo building materials but aside from that my job is to develop the adventure sports around the camp. So I have to bolt new climbing areas, explore and develop the cave systems there, bolt and set up a rope swing, a tyrolean traverse, a huuuuuge zip line and to top it off build China's first ever Via Ferrata system across the karst towers there... lots of work to do but damn, I love my job! A few of the guys here have dubbed my job title "Minister of Fun" hahaha, but thats pretty much right... setting up adventure activities for a living? Hell yeah it's fun!

Aside from that I have been out kayaking and tubing (despite the cold we have had a few hot days to get in the river) and of course climbing quite a few days.The crew I work with are a really fun and eclectic mix of folk from around the world as well as all the great Chinese staff too. We have a bar called the Lizard Lounge which is basically our lounge room with free beer and a big screen with a Nintendo Wii so we have plenty of nights of crazyness which is always good :)
I have also been working on getting into the stock photo market and have set myself up with several stock photo agencies so I am working away at that with my new toys (new flashes, reflectors, etc) and on top of that am learning to speak Mandarin Chinese which is actually going alot better than I thought it would! I can speak a little already and I'm pretty psyched to actually get the chance to learn another language properly (beyond my basic French, Nepali, Spanish and Hindi).

So thats it's folks. Im here in Yangshuo, things are great, I'm loving life and psyched on spending
the next 12 - 18 months here while I am saving up for our epic Americas tour starting mid next year (check www.landoficetolandoffire.com if your not sure what that is yet...)...

Good times!!!

Our street

Our bar

My office

These pics below are for someone in particular... she know's who she is haha... much love babe

Back in the Yang!!!

So kids, I am finally back here in Yansghuo to live, work and climb for a year or so... got back a bit less than a week ago after a week orso in Guangzhou with my friends down there... lots is oing on so I will post a proper story about things soon :)

A year in the life...

08.01.10

A year in the life...

So, it has now been a year since I left the shores of Australia bound for fun and adventure in lands unknown so of course I feel somewhat obliged to reflect on what has been one of the most amazing years of my life and see what has made it such a great experience.
My journey saw me leave Australia and head straight for the brilliant white sand beaches of Thailand, then off to Vietnam to the breathtaking Ha Long Bay, then to Hong Kong and on to the endless karst towers of China's sublime Yangshuo, then I experienced the majesty of the Himalaya's in Nepal, then London in England for a touch of western civilisation, Glasgow in Scotland to see family and the rolling green country side, then to the pristine alps of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, on to the vinyards, alps and amazing forests of France, back to London then of course on to the chaos and contrast of India.
Each and every place I have been has had its ups and downs of course, with being robbed twice and injuring my shoulder being the worst of the downs. But there have been too many ups for anything to really keep me down. I have seen new cultures, seen amazing civilizations both old and new and seen the most beautiful landscapes. I have even kept my brain active with doing my TESOL Accreditation, becoming an Level 1 accredited Thai Massage Therapist, reading dozens and dozens of amazing books, learning how to play guitar alot better, improving my spoken French and learning reasonable amounts of Spanish, Nepali and Hindi and a little bit of Mandarin, Thai and Vietnamese.
But in the end the thing that has made this year what it has been is the people. From the locals to the tourists, the backpackers, climbers, guides, bar staff, chefs, guest house owners, porters, drivers, chai wallas, boat captains and everyone else I have met... but most importantly all the people I have spent considerable time with (there are many and you all know who you are)... the people I have climbed with, shared rooms with, endured trains, boats, rickshaws, buses and planes with... my friends. My year would not have been anywhere near as fulfilling without each and every one of you. My unending thanks and love to you all.
But of course what about the climbing? Well it has been a hard year for me on the climbing front with seemingly endless injuries from cutting my foot open to a minor A2 pulley problem to tearing my shoulder to an infection in my arm... but in between them I have had a blast on the rock.
I have climbed over 400 routes and boulder problems this year on granite, limestone and sandstone, seen climbing mecca's like Fontainebleau, Hampi, Yangshuo, the Swiss Alps, the Verdon Gorge and many more crags in between, gone sports climbing, deep water soloing, bouldering and trad climbing, single pitch, multi pitch and everything in between, bolted new routes and developed new boulder problems.
Have I climbed harder than I have in previous years? No. Am I a better climber because of this year? By a long shot, yes. I have learned alot about climbing this year including how to be patient with injuries and how to enjoy climbing even more than I already did.
So overall this year has been amazing for sooooo many reasons and it's hard to really express just how amazing, but it has without a doubt been one of the best and with my flight to China leaving India in 5 days time for me to move to Yangshuo to live and work as a adventure sports guide I am hoping it is going to be the first of many!
I miss all of you at home and I will see you all someday soon enough, until then Happy New Year and all my love :)


Here are a few more Hampi pics...

Yuli out at Cosmic Cave for Kevin's bday party

A trail of headlights winding their way to Cosmic Cave with the lights of Hampi behind

'This is Spartaaaaaa!!!!' - Vincent... Matt's hero and all round amazing caveman type guy

Tara climbing near the Rishmuk Plateau

Nic bouldering near the Rishmuk Plateau

Addi sending 'The Shield' 6C (or 'School Pen')

Nic sending 'The Shield'