Guo Qing Kuai Le!!!

Happy National Day!
Well, its not National Day today but as its the end of Golden Week here in China after National Day on the 1st of October I thought I should post about the recent goings on here.
So for those who dont know, National Day in China is a big deal. Everyone has the week after it of which is known as Golden Week so popular tourist destinations such as our very own Yangshuo get packed to busting with tourists. Town hs been jammed to overflowing every night, traffic is at a standstill half the time and the hotels are full. Crazyness reigns! But its good fun and its only for a week... lord if this place was like this all the year I would lose my mind haha.
In two days I am off to Guizhuo Province to do two things. First is to compete in a climbing festival and competition. Second is to go bolting new routes in some amazing big caves there with a team of strong climbers from Europe. There is a point to the bolting trip but I'm not sure I can advertise what it is publicly yet so I'll keep you posted.
After the Guizhuo trip we have the Yangshuo Climbing Festival (29-31 Oct) at which I am route setter for the bouldering competition. Then after that on about the 5th Nov I am off the Vietnam to go bolting some new crags in Ha Long Bay with my good mate Slo at Slo Pony Adventures as well as hopefully getting in some more Deep Water Soloing.
Lifes full of exciting prospects isn't it!

Heres a few pics from Guo Qing (National Day) and Golden Week...



West Street, packed to overflowing



Me standing on a busy street

My good friend Yu from Japan goofing around



Tasty Things On Sticks!!! Chinese barbeque, love it!



The girls of Bar 98, my favourite bar... Ton Ton, Yuki and Aimee



Yuki




Aimee



Michelle... this girl has soooo much attitude haha, love it



Liam - fire twirling extraordinaire!



Liam again

More Luo Cheng Climbing Festival Pics!!!

Here's a few more Luo Cheng pics courtesy of Liana and Gary, thanks guys!

Like the Police escort? They were with us at all times, crazy



This is the point my final night started going pear shaped, after MC'ing the Bouldering Finals...



And this is where it ended haha... Thanks for carrying me home guys!

Luo Cheng!!! EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am back in Yangshuo fresh from our epic trip to the Luo Cheng Climbing and Cultural Festival. First a little background if you didn't know. A few months back I was asked to come down and scout the area around Luo Cheng for the potential for a climbing festival. The area is replete with caves, walls and arches of amazing limestone so it was a done deal. I sepnt a few weeks there with my friends Eva and Marcelo then Marcelo took a team back while I was in Oz to bolt the amazing arch of the Moon Hill there.

Last week saw a few bus loads of Chinese and foreign climbers head of to what we knew was going to be a crazy trip. Little did we know just how crazy!

We piled onto buses here in Yangshuo and 5 hours later arrived at our hotel in Luo Cheng all done up and awaiting our arrival. There we banquet dinners every night, Friendship Tree plantings, and an Opening Ceremony that left us all speachless. We arrived in the main square of town to about 15000 locals cramming in to see the show. An enourmous stage had been set up and a cultural show for 3 hours that was mind blowing. Absolutely amazing! Capped off by 30 foot images of Marcelo and myself bolting routes there! Haha, soooo crazy to see!

The climbing comp itself was devided into 2 parts. A toprope comp held on newly bolted routes in Moon Hill and a bouldering comp on an artificial was put up in the main square of town. The climbing went well and everyone had a blast but the bouldering was the real showcase. I was asked to route set for the bouldering comp and with the help of my good friends Andrew, Edd, Panda and Lao Su we managed to set for the entire comp in full sun in 40 degree heat in about 8 hours. Then it was time for the show! 20 women and 50 men from around the world stepped up to the plate and showed us what they are made of!!! I was MC for the event with help from a few Chinese cats as although I speak a little Chinese its not good enough to MC to the 3000+ strong crowd of locals that cam to watch! It was amazing! I had such a great time and the competitors loved it and the locals were stunned... it could not have gone better!

Here is a handful of pics from camera which unfortunately ran out of battery and I left my charger at home. I will have more pics including some pics from the comps from my friends soon, until then, enjoy!!!

The first bus load ready to leave Yansghuo

Bus ride shenanigans

Arriving at the hotel in Luo Cheng

Edd

Who loves Luo Cheng?

Andrew

Dirty Dane... love that moustache haha

A small part of the enourmous crowd at the opening ceremony

And the show begins!!!

Yes, thats a 30 foot tall screen showing a video of me bolting haha

Nothing in China is complete without fireworks!



Me next to the tallest man in the world at the Friendship Tree planting... Im standing up hill and he is standing in a hole... he's pretty darn tall haha



Gettin' it done!

So despite the heat still Yansghuo has been fan-freakin-tastic lately! Lots and lots of days at the crags, lots of great people, lots of great times and LOTS of sending!

I have been feeling better and better and have sent a heap  of 5.12's including 'Moonwalker' 5.12d at Moon Hill and onsighting a few 5.12a's. I have also tried a few 12'd's and 13a's that I think I can do relatively quickly so I have plenty of projects to keep me busy leading into Autumn. Getting fitter for my mega project out at Fuli! Heck yes!!!

Heres a few pics courtesy of my good friend Brian. All 3 shots are of me on the AMAZING 'Over The Moon' 5.12c at Moon Hill. 30+ metres of overhanging, stalactite riding, jug hauling fun!

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