To LY:

Focusing

I was climbing in the gym today and this thought came to me -- there's a particular visualisation exercise that I find useful for preparation before vertical competitions -- thought I share it with you guys. This exercise also works well for bouldering competitions if you wanna be really focused upon your climb, that is, as it works for me.

First, calm your breathing. I find this a useful skill, particularly if you find yourself very nervous before a competition. Counting your breaths should do the trick. Practice doing this while you warm up and cool down, and soon I'm sure you'll get the hang of it and be able to call upon this skill even under competition stress.

Secondly, imagine yourself to be made of glass -- completely. It might be difficult or ludicrous if you're not used to something like this; give it a try and release your inhibitions, you'll soon see and feel its benefits. I usually start by concentrating on my breathing, becoming fully aware of my chest movements while I breathe. Slowly, with each inhalation and exhalation, I picture my chest as transparent. My lungs would be next. Finally, I reach my heart. With practice, you might even be able to visualise your head and even entire body to be so.

Thirdly, imagine, as you breathe in -- that you are breathing in not air, but a stream of white energy. If you can, picture that stream entering your nose and travelling down into your lungs and then mixing with your heart. This centre of white energy then becomes your core.

Focusing on this energy, I usually imagine the flow from this centre towards the ends of my limbs. Moving my limbs in both my body and mind, I try to follow each movement. Keeping focus on this dynamic mix, I use this to direct my attention towards gaining control of my body. During competitions, especially vertical comps, conditions can be distracting and very daunting. For example, the fear of falling, the distractions of dicey footholds and barndoor swings during vertical comps. For bouldering, there is the fear of not being able to read routes, the inability to perform and (habitual) fear of making that last throw.

Before you dismiss these words and think I'm fooling around again, I ask of you only one favour. To try this technique and develop a variation suitable for you. Visualisation has been acknowledged to help atheletes in all sports. Although we do so in various ways -- some listen to music, some rely on the crowds' cheers, and some just scream bloody fury (heh) -- the main point is to understand the principles behind it and start practising it early. There are no shortcuts to developing focus and concentration. In fact, some people have even found that it helps them in other areas of their life!

Hope this helps you guys improve.

proposal for blue mountains~!

hey guys n gals~

hmm... in the midst of many plans to go Krabi... a bit diao to bring this up but.... anyone onZ abt going to BLUE MOUNTAINS this hol??





tell me, how can u resist it? =P

kellY

Correction

Tink Adrian left sth out, due to his pure forgetfulness..."i'm sure"

Tarantula...As u all know tarantula is the biggest spider in the world...well it should be stronger n betta then 'spider', though this is yet to be proven...but one thing is certain...TARANTULA is harrier than anyone else...!!!!
Let me introduce to u... Adrian the TARANTULA!!!

Hmm...Seenbra or is it Sinbra? Cause was thinking tt since we have tiger=harimau, we shld have lion=singa to form a complete family of fierce mammals... Sandra is thus renamed as Sindra... (short form of Singa is Sin...), but being inventive and creative..adrian decided to apply his selective hearing yesterday nite n mistook Sindra as Sinbra.

Hence, in conclusion Sandra is renamed to Sinbra... :)

Nicknames

Seenbra.

The one.

The two.

Neh feng.

Harifen.

These are a couple of nicknames produced during the junior team's preparations for Pumpfest. We will cheer the participants using these names. Examples of situations to use these are:

Sandra takes a farnee fall
"Come on Seenbra! (read Sandra = Seenbra) We have seen enough, just flash it! (flash the route muahaha)"

Teck Chew takes a fall
"Eh! 'The One' is falling! Look at him look at him self-proclaimed 'the one' look at him. Habislah teckie..reputasimu akan terus terkecundang. Tiada perempuan akan menabur perhatian kepadamu lagi."

Li Ying flashes
"Whoa! Hot stuff and it seems 'The Two' is doing very well (in comparison to 'The One')."

Ning Feng climbs
"Neh Feng! We can see your nehneh! So strong that it looks like your firm jaw-line and defined back muscles!"

Harifen
Hoho back in Malaysia, we call tiger, harimau. Uh since Mei Fen is fierce, we will sub "Fen" into harimau. Thus this gives us harifen. Roar. Roar. Roar. Roar. Roar. Roar. Roar. Roar.

Back to my tutorials! The rest of junior team, your turns will come muahahas.

Campus

Echoing Junwei's words, seeing the comm this year reminded me of Lips, Rx and Eli in our first year of Boulder. Dunno how to climb, dunno how to judge routes, only know how to distribute singlets and print results. It was really more of a chore for me than something that I whole-heartedly wanted to be involved in honestly.



But I guess without that first Boulder I wouldn't be here today. No one knows this but for the past two years, everytime I get off bus 16 at Parkmall, my heart starts to beat faster and I can almost smell the excitement from way over there and I actually always run towards the competition site instead of walking at my usual leisurely pace. That's how much heart I have innit now :)



This year's Boulder is extra special because so many of the senior girls are graduating already. We'll have less time to gossip and go for long runs and of course, climb. But seeing the older girls like Serena and Rachel and Kelly come together to set routes and try routes and support old-timers at the comp, I took heart in just knowing that 5, 10, 15 years down the road, Boulder will still be THE place for old friends to come together to sweat, scream, and spend sleepless days and nights together. (Now all I have to do is find a boyfriend who doesn't have a birthday that falls on any of the 3 days and I'm all set! haha ok I'm kidding don't tell him!!!)



I wish I could download the snapshots taken in mind and post them up here so that you could see what i saw during those three days, because what I saw was pretty damn good. and at the end of the day, the only thing that mattered for me was having all you guys around.



(at this point I would add pictures of the team and the entire event for added aww effect but I don't have a digicam so team manager for next year can put that on your list for my present next year ok! haha and yes thanks for the present this year it was a pity i didn't have my pink singlet to match it with!)


Love you guys!!



~mei~

joys of competition

cannot tahan, got to blog agn about my first open comp, paiseh!!

We all started out as novice/intermediate climbers and during that time, I usually felt like quite a strong contendor for finals or medals. Flashing routes was the priority cos every attempt counted towards your ranking. Now in open, at my standard, it's totally different.

The routes are unflashable (sometimes even uncompletable as a project) to me as they are meant for climbers much stronger than I am. Yet I am feeling an even greater joy. The atmosphere during competition is really great as it is usually the highlight of the day. It's also really fun experiencing such hard routes cos the element of challange is greater than ever. It makes me want to climb harder and grow into a gr8 climber too like all those amzing ppl we saw...zaki, ron, jay, yam, hafizs etc..

Yucks

Unbelievably disgusting. He is one of the most senior climbers in the team and...there you go. Yucks. This photo is conveniently nicked from www.nusclimb.com. Do go there to nick more photos when it is ready. wuahaha.

Check out on how he is defying gravity the correct way with the words spreading across his chest in an acceptable manner...unlike..unlike our KL kia wuahaha..more wuahahahas :)

our fierce intermediate MEN!!!

check out their expression... esp our singha yap...

The Aftermath

Jus want 2 pen my thoughts here.....

Woke up 4hrs ago. Bet others did so too. Had lunch and met Yap(&SM),who's on his way 2 interview. Basically slacked e whole day.

Read many emails & blogposts. Really appreciate the many thanks directed to e Comm. But team and Comm are like pair of chopsticks, so i'm really thankful myself for e much larger & enthusiastic team we ve tis yr.

Thanks for e hard work, effort, late nights/overnights, isolation wall-play, corny and some lewd jokes. Its really great to be working with all of you.

Dun worry abt event singlets, as Kevin has plans to print them. Would be fantastic if we could get 10 singlets each. But understand that this event does not come free. And our marketing gal-Jasmine almost single handly looked for sponsors. Futhermore, from what i noe, this event is still in the red. Even if one person ask for 1 extra singlet, its like opening a floodgate. This is jus one point, and I'm not in the very bad of moods to list down everything. Jus hope that we all have a common understanding that the Comm will do all to ensure Maximum benefits for team members, but some things are out of our hands.

Back to a more joyous note, i wanna congratulate all winners. In fact its all of us, cos the team won inter-tertiary!!! Lookin back at the videos of me climbing, i felt that i really needed a kick in e ass. I hope others dun think so, cos seriously, i was hoping to work e crowd in addition to boosting my confidence. So thanks to those that clapped, cheered and laughed at me. I believe Alvin played a large part in my success. I dun noe if he noes this, but i think he's one great climbing partner(sorry elisa!), other than Dbola. And thanks to all the route setters - e routes were g8 and i really enjoyed them.

Ok a bit too long liao. Zhuaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

charlene




falling!




chio bu?

Boulderactive

Too shag wit my project research...gonna drop by a minute to say a few words...

What i learned from boulderactive...
1) It helps to get enuf sleep b4 comp...approx 8 Hours...
2) Learnin to be in Zen mode wit a snap of a finger...*sounds dubious but hahaha...if u think u r in zen then u r in zen*
3) DON'T drink alcoholic beverages b4 comp...makes u more confident n u can perform wit a clearer mind *tried n tested...lolz*
4) And lastly...tpjc gals may be cute...but i still think tjc gals are cuter...hahahahahahaha...

~cheers~

Boulderactive was Gr8!

Hi guys, really happy seeing the team helping out so much during boulderactive even though we were all tired to the bone. It's super encouraging seeing everyone sitting/standing around the event site and cheering for each other! Many hands make light work and the senior team should remember having a much harder time last yr when all the juniors werent around *phew

And of cos congrats to our two super-performers Ningfeng(still single with firm jawline and defined back muscles) and Zhengxin (super zhuai on the wall) for making our day seeing nus climbers clinch top prize.

Hope everyone had fun..I sure did cos
1) F1 team was quite fun(clambering all ard the wall)
2) Route setting was the bomb when you see the commotion and excitement your route creates and finally,
3) route testing is shiok when u get to try routes that you will otherwise never get to experience.

;==================================
PS: ROCKMASTER intermediate men champion was ours, BOULDER intermediate men champion was ours will PUMPFEST intermediate men champion be ours too? JIAYOU to Caleb, Ningfeng, Teckchew, DJ Looi, Yap and Weimin --> do work hard and make it a tradition...lol

And welcome, our new addition to Men's Open, Zhengxin! Finally, NUS has a big grp of open competitiors.

WArning: DanGer!

The volume on Wall 1 is fuc$%g(censored) rough. Beware of skin getting left behind on the wall (me and ks are recent casualties)- wear long pants!

BOULDERACTIVE 2006: Defy Gravity

Hey guys!

Boulder is finally here. I've really excited about the comp and especially so since this year is my first in contributing to the competition routes. Hahaha... BEWARE! What's more is that this year's event T-shirts and set-up is even cooler than other competitions we've seen this year!

Anyways, the preparations will be starting real soon from Tuesday onwards. So we'll need all the help we can get over the next few days: tiles and matts need to be down at the site on Wednesday. More logistics will also be shifted on Thursday afternoon -- tables, power cables, chairs, paper, clipboards... All of these stuff will go to the creation of 3 solid days of competition to remember.

Do come down to the gym to help if you can k? You can give Adrian or me a buzz, and we'll letcha know how you can help.

Route-setters ALERT! We've got the schedule ready and will be contacting you really soon on the details. Bring it on!



JKLM

hi dudes

After boulderactive, there'll be soemething even more meaningful.. Getting into shape for krabi!!

This is what Rich Simpson does to get ready for a climbing trip.

Lots of volume..lots of endurance routes..lots of running

Boulderactive 24-26 Mar

Hi guys, remember to prepare urself for boulderactive..

1) Watch more videos, get yourself psyched
2) Don't boulder or do conditioning too hard next week as the time to push yourself is over - the next time is in the competition itself.
3) Do however climb light at least once or twice next week before the competition

just to mention an old tradition.. when u graduate, must buy new tiles for the gym!

We'll get many new tiles when the next batch (which is almost half the team) graduates :)

Nostalgic

Just feeling nostalgic about my vertical competitions. I've got something with vertical climbing rather than bouldering as most of my memories are forged from climbing events, not bouldering. Let me share them! (no you do not have a choice in this)

Rockamania 2003
My first competition and my first vertical competition. Still new to climbing. I fell at the 3m mark, ie even before I reach the 'paneled' structure of Temasek's Poly wall. I was wearing the club's shoes then and I fell because I did not know what a sit-in was so I just lunged for the tile, falling off in the process.

Rock On 2003
One of the few lucky year ones who got selected to try out in Rock On. I fell early, about the 9th panel because I did not have the strength to pull a move. Inefficient movements too. The rock-on shirt sucks as they gave me a size M shirt, too small. They actually ran outta size L shirts, thus resorting to gimme such shit. A consolation was that I began to learn level two after Rock On. I've been climbing for almost a year now.

Get High 2003 (i think..)
Joined it despite discouragement from teacher-in-charge. The whole club was gung-ho about it as we thought no one was joining thus increasing our chances to win. Obviously, we were wrong. Fell because I was not mentally prepared to compete. Join for fun only wat.

French School Invitational Climbing Marathon 2004
A mad competition as it was held during valentine's day argh. We got a tsunami-ed boulder problem and two climbing problems. I fell in the 1st climbing route as I was afraid of making an unconventional move that requires gaston-ing and smearing on a flat surface, skipping a sloppy side pull in the process. Shall be daring to skip tiles in the future. Fell in the second route as I was spending too much time caressing the wall for its features. Gotto use features to go up mar..I feel at the 6th panel.

Rock On 2004
Really wanted to do well in this competition. Ended up 4th in novice finals. Missed the 3rd placing as I did not think of matching hand at a pink jug, rather I chose to attempt crossing hand. Shacked wat..so my mind was in disarray. Tried and fell. My best competition as it was my last time competing under TJC.

Rock On 2006


Fell at the 5th panel. My first open cat competition. Wore a polo tee to climb, another first time. The organizers could not churn out the event shirt on time. Fell because I slipped out and did not step on the bolt on the wooden panel as I did not know can step there. Looked gay during the fall as I was holding on to the rope.

Rockamania 2006
We'll see how.

selling

Petzl Sama harness going for $110 - quoted price(by SAFRA) is $150 although i think u can get it cheaper at $130+ at Allsports.

Of power and much more power

I had heard folktales on how Mr. Yam Choon Hian climbed
Strong and conquering foreign walls, averaging 8As, doing 8Bs for projects
NUS alumni happily married and happily being a father
And he is going to Thailand soon to finish up Jai Dum 8B in Krabi over a weekend (not sure how to spell..it is called 'black lungs' in Thai language)

Finally I saw his climbing style during Rock On
He has so much power and it seems nothing can deter that power
He does not have a formal coach in his undergraduate years
Kiat says he trained like there was no tomorrow
I feel that his power brought him up to that height while he was doing the route

I had never been an advocate in strength, climbing wise
Thus justifying my apparent relaxed attitude in training for power
Could it be that technique can bring you only so far for novice climbs
And power will form the dizzying heights where your climbing career will advance
With the technique forming the base of all those mad house energy
If you are strong as Yam, you can boulder sick problems
And again utilizing that power to climb hard core routes
I noticed that some local good climbers are not that accomplished in bouldering
Seems that climbing and bouldering are two seperate subsets all together
But Yam proved that to be wrong

The hardest part of being in a fork road is to decide which path to take
To be unnerving strong like Yam or good in climbing like Jups and Philip
Both climbing styles are (oh so) different
And there is open house at NUS later damn

Elation

Hahahaha...felt very happy todae...not because i fell early in the vertical comp...
I finally finished the 6B in CA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well i'm sure to some of u, u will be thinkin tt it's so easy or it's nth to be proud of...but for me it's entirely diff...
I tried tt route countless times in vain...n it became increasingly frustrating especially so when i always drop at tile 17...
But today i almost did the route without much struggles...well maybe cause i also didn't spend much energy duting the competition...
Regardless of tt, i'm quite satisfied tt i completed the 6B.
YEah!

Sorry to the finalists...i won't be able to make it down tml morning so here n now i wish u all the best. Climb hard n enjoy yourself!!
Tt's all for now...
Signing off...

P/S: Mental strength is EXTREMELY important! :)

Moving On Up

I experienced my first Men's Open vertical competition at Rock On, and I'm really glad to say that I had the priviledge of sharing it with all of you guys -- Adrian, Zhengxin and, of course, my brother (chong chu jiang hu). In fact, I picked up a few lessons on the wall today; thought I'd share them with you:

1. Route-reading can be incredibly simple. For me, I follow a standard similar to the points Zhengxin wrote in the previous entry -- rest points, clip points and positions, and the various cruxes and possible solutions. 5 mins is just about enough for stuff like that.
2. Mens Open isn't that scary. For real! The routes are always interesting and can vary in style and format from time to time. The qualifier route was said to have been designed for a quick ascent, and resting excessively would burn your energy out instead. I guess with more experience, I would be able to tell between routes that are more endurance biased vs routes that are better sped thru.
3. Mens Open is a professional category. Its conduct is simple, and strict. They are not going to change much over time, but the judge(s) can be quite picky about the various O/B marker. Of course, if you have a style of climbing that clashes largely with social norms (like me, with my exclamation on the wall today that earned me a yellow card), be aware that you might just cross certain social conventions unknowingly.

Welcome to the fold! I may not be good enough now... but I'm sure I'll get there one day. See you at the top!

For this Saturday and Sunday -- Good Luck!

General:
Ø Most focus on the outcome of the comp. Some worry about falling off even before hitting the wall. Some worry about other competitors being better than them, or worry about others being in the ‘wrong’ category. The truth is, those that focus on the process of getting to the top will most likely make it to the top

Pre-competition:
Ø Scout out the wall, before isolation. (Eg for chalk marks)
Ø Familiarize with the brand of the holds.
Ø Anticipate the conditions of the environment, e.g. heat, rain, crowd noise, smell of the air, fear, stress, etc.
Ø Comfort: get and bring anything that u need to be comfortable during isolation.

Observation:
Ø Give entire route a quick glance to make sure u know where it’s going.
Ø Read the route from bottom to top. You can’t go where your eyes have not seen. (Bring a bino if needed)
Ø Similarly, u can’t go where your mind have not went; picture yourself going from handhold to handhold, foothold to foothold. Exaggerate your hand and feet movements for better memory.
Ø Time yourself for the observation. Dun read too long or too quick.
Ø Spot clip-in positions, where you can rest well too.
Ø Predict hard sections and try to recognize familiar sequences.
Ø Spot rest points.
Ø Try recognizing familiar holds.
Ø Estimate distances between holds by gauging them using hands and panels
Ø Memorize the route. (Or draw them out)
Ø Focus and Concentrate. Don’t get distracted.

Isolation:
Ø Schedule warm up in view of order of climb.
Ø Manage the stress. Can be naps, games, listening to music, staring into blank space, yoga, staring at gals, etc. Find out what works for u.
Ø Calm down and remember to hydrate yourself.
Ø Do something to take your mind off the comp 1st, then as your turn approaches, think about the comp. Psyche yourself!!! Feel yourself climbin…feel the tiles…the heat of the day…smell of e chalk…hear e crowd cheering….u concentrating on the climb……
Ø Have pre-climb rituals.(for eg, mine’s going to the toilet, then putting shoes the slow and firm way, shaking out, chalking fingers then blowing on it, closing my eyes for a while, a deep breath…..in that particular sequence for all comps.)


During the Climb:
(Do not think of these during the climb but remind yourself during isolation)
Ø Don’t over grip.
Ø Keep arms straight when resting.
Ø Keep breathing consciously and loudly. Lots of climbers tend to hold their breath when it comes to strenuous part of the route. Your body needs oxygen for reliving lactic fatigue and recovery!
Ø Avoid tunnel vision. Be aware of surroundings….in other words, look around; resist locking off with one hand and “wiping” the wall with the other in search of holds.
Ø Don’t think so much once out on the climb. Be confident and remember procrastination will only bring you down.
Ø Lingering waste endurance. Climb at your normal pace, but remain cautious.
Ø Alternate shaking your arms raised and arms down for a bit more recovery, every bit of it counts for your on-sight.
Ø Don't forget to clip in, trailing leg muz not go over unclip runner (not too sure abt this rule)

Conclusion:
That’s a huge chunk of information to digest, but I hope it helps. Everyone climbs differently, so what works for me may not work for you.


Adapted from THE JOURNEYMAN PROJECT.

side step or same hand same leg

Recently, I've been doing some boulder problems when sidestepping is impossible and the only way to execute the move is to do a same hand same leg (SHSL) movement.

So that got me thinking - when is it that I should side step and when is it that I should just go frontal with SHSL. Afterall, it'd be good to recognise the circumstances so you don't have to use trial and error during competitions (not enough time and energy!)

After thinking for a while I realised 3 conditions

1) When the foothold is too high
2) When the foothold is too far to one side. (eg going for a far right tile with right hand and the foothold v far left)
3) When is it a cut loose movement and sidestepping will create too much barndoor effect.


Haha v bo liaoz? This is how I spend my free time.

;============================================
I was also thinking about Endurance vs Power

I think that they are the antithesis of one other... ie you train power, you lose endurance. You train endurance, you lose power. Is it true? V sad if it is true..

Recently all i've been concentrating on thus far was finger and campus board. My power did go up so I thought the 6C endurance routes alrdy completed last time would be no kick right? Did some last min endurance this week and realised that - No I was absolutely wrong!

Dun think my technique deproved so it must be the endurance right???

Mind Games

Rock On
Onsight
Game on
That's right

For these few days
Keep spirits raised,
And trust within our hearts.

May mind winds still
While limbs we build
A form of light and glass.

Idle moments
For hours golden
We wait our turn to start

Eyes up
Chalked up
Our time at last.

One move
One beat,
One goal to keep.

One breath
One chance,
Cease each move within your reach.

Long rope
Long fall
Till the end of it all

One hope
One thought
This chance is all we've got.


JKLM

The day after tmrw

The tiles are coming down next Friday for Boulderactive!

Here are Alvin's top 5 things to do in the gym before then

1) Link the 100 move 3X 6Cs
2) Red point Hanlin's new 7A on the Sun Moon wall
3) Red point KS' old 7A on the Sun Moon wall
4) Complete Jups' and Wilson's 50 Move '7B' (a bit impossible for most of us..haiz)
5) Complete all uncompleted Boulder projects

;==================================================
BTW, Dun PRAY PRAY! i got 10/12 possibility of becoming an Open finalist this rock on!! Adrian, you also!!!! Cos heard from jups tt there are only 12 competitiors in Men's Open...BWAAAHAHHAHAHA

*all together* BWAahahahhaaHAHAHA

overtrained!

fingers raw like uncooked eggs..ouch!

Btw I think adrian is the only one who believes his equipment are alive and can talk to each other. If my pair of V10s were alive, he's in pain now cos he had a training accident and had to be stitched up in hospital.

v10s: That alvin, think he is v smart and downsize me until he has to expend so much energy just to put me on. I'm a slipper i'm supposed to be easy to wear hello? Now he has tugged on me so bad till I split and the tear widens every trg, argh and im only 1 mth old.

Luckily, the kind and lovely lady, eli stitched me up with needle and black thread with her gentle hand. They say scars make a man so I guess i'm one now.

After training conversations

An After Training Conversation between Adrian's shoes: La-Sportiva's Cobra and Five Ten's Anasazi

As with normal conversations, this except is ridiculously vulgar. After all, they are Adrian's shoes :)








Cobra : Dammit Anasazi, you stink! It has only been 5 months and you stink!
Anasazi : Studdup Cobra. You are just jealous that you are not used lately!
Cobra : That's no-
Anasazi : Nehnehneh I got you nehnehneh Cobra is jealous bwahahahaha
Cobra : My rubber's just worn out..it got smoother that's why..
Anasazi : Nownow..you should be happy that Adrian picked you as his 1st shoe
Cobra : Yeah..but he picked me because I complimented his orange chalkbag!
Anasazi : Man, Adrian has good colour coordination..he's the best!
Cobra : Yeah but you still stink! You are stinking the damn room! Argh~~
Anasazi : Hiak..*sniffs at his armpits* gosh I really do stink! *walks to window*
Cobra : No matter how much you air yourself, the stench stays dude
Anasazi : I wonder y I stink so bad..issit becoz I'm a velcro & you are a slipper?
Cobra : Not sure..I know is that I used to hug Adrian's feet tightly when he climbs-
Anasazi : And thus not giving any space for moisture to accumulate?
Cobra : Yes! That is so-
Anasazi : What kind of stooopid theory is that??!!
Cobra : Anyway I feel Adrian's going to buy another new shoe!
Anasazi : Gosh that hensem guy is taking climbing seriously..
Cobra : Yeah..I think he wants a La Sportiva's Venom. He says it is good for tile tipping..
Anasazi : Omg! We are getting another hensem shoe as a bruder!
Cobra : Shh! Adrian is coming! Quick play dead!
Anasazi : Oh shuddup..
Cobra : Dammit you are-

Adrian : All the best for the competitions and remaining mid-terms!

Climb On!

For those I won't see till Rock On, all the best for this weekend's event!

Meantime, keep those muscles warmed ... get enough rest before your comp (remember rockmaster?) and give it all you got on the walls on Sat (and Sun)!

We'll all be there to cheer you on!

My turn next weekend *stress* ... Haha ...

some thoughts

Hihi, been talking to zx recently of our improvement specifically and also the juniors and here are just some of my thoughts formed at the end of the day.

1. The best way for long term improvement is to do more routes. Routes routes routes...This is especially important for Novice climbers to lay down their foundation. Also would be very good to do more vertical climbing.

2. Short term improvement is achieved fastest by strength gains, ie fingerboard, weighted trg etc. But it is as mentioned, short term. Must be done regularly and not just when trigger happy.

3.Plan and write down a strength programme which works for you and stick to it. eg. ZX likes to do lock-offs cos his lock-offs are his 'weakpoints' (of cos, weakpoints are relative). I like to do campus board and fingerboard cos my finger strength is low.

3. Trg partners motivate each other positively (or also negatively). So of course find a positive trg partner lar!

4. Set short term goals (ie achievable within one or 2 months) and of cos, achieve them :)

5. Set Long term goals (ie to be as strong as that senior or that dino)

6. Enjoy climbing at all times. If you feel sick of it, sit back and take a breather.. Maybe you need to rethink your personal goals in climbing? Mine is to travel around and climb as much rock with as many people as possible (with 2 big trips in mind). It's also my reason for trg so hard right now.

I also find competitions quite exciting and motivating- (enjoy your time in novice and intermediate Categories!)

SMU Wall

Their wall's almost done. Bouldering gym looks very unique. Check it out. Hope to be there soon!


Wall Structure in Sports Hall


Panels in Sports Hall


Wall almost done! Looks quite high from here leh....


Bouldering Gym


Bouldering Gym


Bouldering Gym