Some pics...

Hi all :)

So I have a been a little lazy on the photo front of late, but I do have the excuse of not having an internet connection at home, but I just have to make the effort to bring stuff in to work for you all!

Here are a few random pics that I edited in Lightroom today, I started using it a few days ago and am really liking it... so yeah, here are a few random pics of mine that I like... enjoy!

Richo in the snow at North Black last weekend




Statue in my backyard

Macro of a plant in the Grampians

Richo on an unnamed V7 at The Hill, North Black



Danny on 'Zacs Arete', V8, The Campground, North Black

The Carillon on Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra at night


Steph and her cat Mooie



Russell and Joel in the car heading to the Grampians

Richo on 'Riding Shotgun' V6, Andersons, Grampians

Sunset at Taipan Wall, Grampians

Christina on 'Flash Gordon' V8, The Kindergarten, Grampians

So...

So its been a little while, lots has been going on and I just haven't got around to posting much, something I need to rectify!

Last weekend I didn't get out climbing at all, I just took a weekend to relax and take it easy which was nice, but the other guys got out and sent a bunch of hard stuff at North Black which was great to hear.

This weekend just gone we spent both days at North Black again (seems to be the norm lately!). Weather was crisp and saturday there was snow everywhere, which was pretty but as it melted all the higher crags that were covered in snow all got wet. I spent a little time on the sit start to Snoop Doggy Dog and nailed the first move but it might be a while before I have what it takes to put the whole thing together... will be a hard problem I think... maybe 7C+?
Saturday arvo we went to The Hill where Russell nailed the unnamed v9 on the steep wall there... awesome stuff, he absolutely cruised it! Danny and I did well on it too but not well enough to send... soon though!

Sunday we headed back to The Hill to try it again but didn't do so well. Rich sent the great little v8 round the back of the steep wall there which was awesome though!
I scrubbed up another hard project that keeps going left up the arete from that v8... every move is well 'ard... its going to be another really hard line when it goes.. So many projects to work!

The big news at the moment is that vandals have completely destroyed the problems on the steep wall at The Hill at North Black... some young motorbike riders destroyed all the lines with crowbars and hammers leaving the big undercling flake half gone and dangerously loose. We will attempt to glue what is left to avoid it falling on someone, but please spread the word about the damage to prevent anyone getting hurt by it. Also please reports any and all vandals to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. These thoughtless individuals have ruined beyond repair some of the most popular problems at the area in one fell swoop, we don't want this sort of thing happening again so keep your eyes open for signs of damage at other areas.

I will get some new photo's up soon when I have the chance.

Until then, have fun all :-)

Snow and Sending

This weekend saw what was possibly the biggest crew ever at North Black, about 20 people turned up to boulder at the Campground on saturday morning, there were people everywhere, the majority of which were all down from Sydney, etc!


And with a big crew came big sends, Danny and Richo finally both nabbed ascents of the ultra classic 'Zac's Arete' v8. It was awesome to see them both send this after all the hard work they have put in on it! As well as them Paul Meharg and Doug both got up this one, making it possibly the most times its been sent in a day!


Paul also made quick work of 'Socks' v6 and an unnamed v7 at the Campground. Brendan also nabbed 'Socks' for his first v6, great work man!


After all the excitement at the Campground we headed to Dog Rock where we had to walk through snow to get to the crag, a rarity in Australia!

Paul, Joel and Danny worked on 'Snoop Doggy Dog' v8, getting really close, while I worked on a low sit start into the same problem that will probably add a grade or two and a proper sit start to it.

All in all a great weekend was had. Sunday the weather was a bit bad so we rested for the day. Keen as mustard for this coming weekend as we are heading back up to Sydney, should be a blast.

Here is a pic from me and a few from Russell after that, enjoy!

Danny on 'Snoop Doggy Dog'

Paul on 'Little Bow Wow'

Me on 'Snoop Doggy Dog'

Danny on 'Snoop Doggy Dog'

Rusty's pics

Just another quick one, here is a link to my friend's Flickr page. His name is Russell Horton and he is pretty good behind a lens, have a geez at some of his pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29250395@N05/

Enjoy!

New problems at Crumbly

Hi all,

Just a quick one, the two new problems put up at Crumbly in Sydney on saturday by Chris Webb Parsons are called 'Logical Progression' and 'Progressive Agression', both weighing in at 8B/v13.

I am also keen to start posting a bit more news from around the country as more people are starting to read my blog so if you have any new about anything climbing related just drop me a line at: dunkcranks@hotmail.com, pics are always welcome too :-)

This weekend were off to North Black again, hopefully to send some more great lines that we have on our wish lists!

Watch this space!

Duncan

Squidney

On the weekend I headed off to Sydney to get away for a few days and visit some friends that I dont get to see enough.

Saturday we went to Crumbly where a huge crew all met up for a great day. I sent 'Anorexic' v5 pretty quickly after having been shut down by it last time I was here, then made great progress on the great 'Black Magic' v8. Will definitely be back there soon to clean that one up!

Chris was in his usual strong form and quickly dispatched two new v13/8B first ascents naming one 'Logical Progression' and leaving the other unnamed for now, will give you all a heads up when it gets named. Both are clasic hard lines with a high and commiting finish. Great stuff man :-)

This weekend some of the guys from up Sydney / Wollongong way will be trekking down to get on some nice granite treats, should be another killer weekend, can't wait!

Here are some pics from my weekend...

Chris Webb Parsons on 'Logical Progression' v13/8B

I stopped at a rest area on the highway to have a nap on my way home and met this little fella, he was way too cute to pass up a photo or two of him

A few pics...

Here are a couple of my pics from North Black the other weekend as promised :-)

Enjoy! (Feedback welcome as always!)

Danny on 'Zac's Arete' v8, The Campground

Richo on an unnamed v3, The Hill

Richo on an unnamed v7, The Hill

Flash!

Well I am as late posting this week as ever, haha. The weekend is nearly here and I'm just posting about last weekend!
But with reason, I have had plenty on my plate, moving house, etc, etc so I have an excuse :-)

Last saturday saw us head out to North Black in perfect conditions to tear up some granite treats and test out Russell's new remote flash for his camera.

I managed to get up a few things including a v8 and v9 at The Hill (although the 9 is more like v7 in my opinion), as well as 'G-Force' v8 and a v7 at The Asteroid. So I was chuffed with my day!
Everyone else did really well and made great progress on the classic 'Zac's Arete' v8. We are heading back there this saturday so they all can hopefully send it!

Here are some pics from Russell using his new remote flash, I got some good ones too and will post them soon :-)

Enjoy!

Me on 'Zac's Arete'

Danny on 'Zac's Arete'

Me on 'G-Force' v8, The Asteroid

The Grampians

So were back. Two weeks away went waaaay to quick!

We headed off to the Grampians in Victoria on saturday the 5th July keen as mustard for boulder our asses off for two weeks, which we did for the most part despite being held back from enjoying alot of the areas due to it raining almost the whole time we were there... lucky there are a few caves, etc that keep fairly dry!

We spent our time in the luxury of the My Zero Log Cabins nearby which is a far cry better than camping, especially in the rain!

As a bonus we ran into some old friends of mine, Paul Meharg and Christina Bedard who were in the area for the same period as us, as well as another guy, Seong Jae, who was on his own so our little crew, which had grown to 10 people, had a blast on the blocs and shared plenty of beers and laughs.

See the post below for some pics of the trip :-)

On the bouldering front everyone did great, (here comes the spray haha) most notably Joel sending 'Flash Gordon' v8, 'Spanking the Monkey Bars' v8 (more like v9), 'Rave Heart' v8, 'The Nevin Rule' v7, 'Russian Bull' v7 and 'Cardigan Street Massacre' v7 amoungst many other great sends.
Paul managed 'Ogre Thumb' v9, 'Ammagamma stand start' v8 and last shot on his last day made a super impressive send of 'Cave Man' v10.
Chistina sent an old nemesis, 'Krusti' v9 as well as 'Cardigan Street Massacre' v7 and a flash of 'Russian Bull' v7 (Seong Jae also flashed this one, so impressive)
The rest of us managed to boulder pretty well with eveyone sending 'Russian Bull' v7, and Danny and Ross getting 'Waiting in the Air' v7 for Ross's first two v7's, awesome stuff!
Personally I got up 'The Nevin Rule' v7 and 'Russian Bull' v7 but for the rest of the trip spent my time coming depressingly close to 'Flash Gordon', 'Ammagamma stand start' and 'Krusti' but to no avail... ah well, next time!
Myself, Joel and Russell all also made a flash ascent of 'Dirty Dancing Direct' v8, but we had great beta from some friendly passing kiwi's and it didn't feel hard so not sure if it's all that hard, but it was fun!

Now we are all home, feeling strong and ready to crush some granite as well as get up to both Sydney and Nowra for some bloccing (and maybe some party nights...? haha)... I have a hit list ready to get into from this weekend... Will be sure to keep you all updated!

Watch this space! :-)

Grampians pics

Well here you go, a few of my pics from our trip, enjoy :-)

Ross on 'The White Destiny' v5, Andersons

Richo on 'A Horse is a Horse' v4, The Kindergarten

Russell on 'The Nevin Rule' v7, The Kindergarten

Me on 'Krusti' v9, Hollow Mountain Cave

Danny on an unnamed v3, Andersons

Ross on 'Rave Heart' v8, Hollow Mountain Cave

Seong Jae on 'Amniotic World' v9, Hollow Mountain Cave

Christina on 'Flash Gordon' v8, The Kindergarten

Paul on 'Cave Man' v10, Hollow Mountain Cave

Joel on 'Waiting in the Air' v7, The Snake Pit

And what trip to the Grampians is complete without the obligatory shot of Taipan Wall...

Lots of love from the man behind the lens :-)

One last hoorah

So it is the last weekend before we head to the Grampians next saturday, and it was a great way to finish up before heading south.

Saturday saw us up at Cantaloupe Hill again where things went down left, right and centre, mainly from Ben haha

Ian sent 'Vendetta' v7 and I got up 'Stopping All Stations' v8/9 finally. Ben managed to do 'Vendetta' first shot after trying it before and then flash 'Stopping All Stations'... very impressive.

Then we went up the hill further where he sent 'Blood Makes Noise' v7 and 'Scream' v8... A mightily impressive day by any standards!

I took the big fall after missing the highball dyno finish of 'Scream' about 6 times... I'll have to go back for it another day.

Sunday Russell and I headed up to Castle Hill for a play around. We did a few nice east things and played on a great, hard project we found. Will have to go up and work on it some more... it was well 'ard!

Now its only 6 sleeps till we go on holiday! Woooooo Hoooooo!

Enjoy the pics :-)

Ben on 'Vendetta'

Ian on 'Vendetta'

Richo on 'Blood Makes Noise'

Ben on 'Phone Sex' v8

Russell on the project at Castle Hill

Russell on a nice Castle Hill moderate

The view up on Castle Hill

And finally... Ross Irwin, hot or what?

A few pics...

Here are a few pics I took with my new camera on the weekend... I certainly dont have the full hang of it yet but I'm getting there. If you have any tips on taking better pics I am all ears, just leave a comment :-)

Russell contemplating 'Snake Bite' v4, Red Rocks

Russell on 'Snake Bite' v4, Red Rocks

Russell on 'Smoothie' v6, Red Rocks

Russell on 'Smoothie' v6, Red Rocks

Ben on 'Snake Bite' v4, Red Rocks

Ben on 'Smooth Predator' v6, Red Rocks

Ben on 'Smoothie' v6, Red Rocks

Ben on the awesome 'Sisyphus' v2, North Black


Richo on 'Wrestling' v6, North Black

Red Rocks and North Black

Well hello my little puddings of delight, how are we?

This weekend saw us head to Red Rocks on saturday which was a blast, except for Ross forgot his shoes so had to boulder barefoot haha... poor guy, we felt sorry for him but you have to laugh :-)

We all did some great problems and I put up two new problems, both about v6, called 'Smooth Predator' (a right hand exit variant of 'Smoothie' v6) and 'Interrobang', a right hand version of an existing v5 near the river that climbs the raddest slopers I have ever used... like bang!

Sunday saw the whole crew trek out to North Black. First stop was Frost Hollow where we warmed up and then Ross made short work of 'Wrestling', a tough and powerful v6 that Russell also made a solid ascent of.

After that we went to Dog Rock where I managed to send 'Snoop Doggy Dog' v8 on my 3rd shot, then Ben followed soon after. I was well stoked! We all then went and did a great v6 called 'Press Play', a classic problem, classic :-)

Well, we have one more weekend before we are heading to the Grampians for two weeks, cant wait, should be a blast, we are all keen as mustard, bring it on!!!

Here are few pics from Russell from this weekend, enjoy!

Me on the first ascent of 'Smooth Predator'

Ben on the classic 'Snake Bite' v4

Me on 'Snake Bite'