Late night clean-ups do have rewards! Found an old super wide macro extender lying around. X.42 mounts on 58mm, just right for the new 28mm. , result . . . a super wide angle complete with spherical deformation on the edges for the right amount of effect ! I've been contemplating on getting the Canon EF-S 10-22mm. Looks like that might not be necessary for a while. I'll be taking this baby for a spin and hopefully get it really fired up on the Ambongdolan Boulders in a few days, 3 days and counting !
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Ballin'
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Alex Espina ballin' on "The Messenger" - Project |
The last trip to the crags have again reminded me of the next steps I need to do to break through those self-imposed blocks. There are still some projects left undone. One spectacular line that I'm looking at is this one we've dubbed "The Messenger" project.
Looking at it from this vantage point, on the screen of my laptop, it doesn't look so high at all and from the last visit to the area, I felt the holds not so heinous at all. The crimps felt better and pulling on them felt lighter. The conditions aren't right as of yet. The rock is continually wet and one crash pad doesn't seem to help my mind get out the bend.
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| Fats Niones on the stretch on "Bed Weather" |
The following day, I've taken the trip to the gym and started pulling down on crimps. Continued crimping intervals and finally a crimpy problem to help boost the good feel.
I've also made a pact with a Xtian Guerrero to work this line. It may take a few months, probably 2, before the conditions turn for the better. That's a lot of time to boost the crimping confidence. This also serves as a shout out to those owning a crashpad to help our cause. As of the moment, we've one crashpad waiting. The landing under that boulder got dug out by the recent rising of the river. A couple of more pads should help us brave up for the ascent.
Well, that's a rough. It will be a while before I can post anything more in the endeavor. Few trips here and there to get my head out of the obsession for a while.
Callin' out the boys to jump into the wagon. It's an open project and everyone is invited. Send the message, send "The Messenger" before it sends you.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
"Bed Weather"
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| Fatima Niones figuring how to get out of "Bed Weather" |
Finally a report from the frontlines . . . Whilst today was a bit of a short session, we've managed to pull off a fine morning at the boulders, more like at one boulder, at Wawa, Montalban. The cool temps of the early January morning allowed us to comfortably hike up river and scout for unfound lines. It's amazing to discover Wawa's select few still has more to offer. I've once thought that we've wringed dry the bouldering possibilities of the area, yet again we found ourselves enjoying bouldering on a new line. The changing landscape of the riverbed due to the rising and falling of the water level changes topography on a yearly basis. It's sweet to discover new surprises.
We arrived at Aling Norma's Eatery just past 7 in the morning. First thing of note were the drastic changes. A newly built multi-purpose hall now fronts the store and it is now banked left and right with new "sari-sari" stores. We almost felt alien if weren't for Aling Norma's same familiar demeanor. Her canteen may have changed much in terms of layout but the menu and the atmosphere of the place is still laced with the same homey familiarity that goes back more than a decade.
Bed Weather", the new addition to the boulder list at Wawa can be found near the river bank about halfway distance to "Redemption" Area from the parking lot. It's under the huge rubber tree that looks like wrapping it's roots over the boulder. It's an eight move problem with very nice sequence, not necessarily evil, but just enough to get you started. Unfortunately that was all we got to do . . . start the day. Our "one problem a day" was enough though to send us on our way in welcoming the incoming "Dragon" year of 2012. Firey as it may sound though, our attempts in prolonging our spree was doused by rain just 2 hours into our efforts.
We waited out the drizzle that turned into slightly more than just a drizzle for about an hour before making a run for it to Aling Norma's. Coffee and an extended breakfast soon ensued. Fats came home for the holidays from the UK, Alex "Paw" was eager for bouldering, and I was excited to try out the new 28 f1.8 and do some outdoor action myself, everyone was psyched! We didn't thought we'd be spending our time staring at the rain hoping for it to stop. All is well though, at least we all got to spend some quality time laughing and talking about things useless.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Throwback . . . to the Future
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| "Tidal Wave", Tonsai, Karbi |
There is nothing like a proper throwback to slingshot into the future ! The thought played too much in my head and I decided it's too yesterday's style too fully commit into. But there is this photo I took with my newly acquired 28 f1.8. The photo is a photo is of me climbing on a route in Tonsai, Krabi. "Tidal Wave" was too much of a classic not to try. Maybe it's even that old photo I saw of Francois Legrand on the same route that led me to believe it was a must.
Anyways, that episode in my climbing "career" is more than a decade old. I really started climbing fairly late by most standards. In 1998 I joined my first Nationals. I was barely four months into climbing and I immediately wanted to make it into every finals to make up for the years that I hesitated to take up climbing.
2012. Changes. Though the climbing DNA is now hard wired into my system, I've been finding myself fulfilling a different role. For sure there was a moment's hesitation before jumping into this new role, but something told me I shouldn't. Hesitation is an enemy. What I can attribute starting late in climbing to lack of "Facebook" back then should not be the same reason why I shouldn't jump on a coaching role for today's younger climbers. It's about being brave mostly. While the role presents ups and down, there is always new rewards. To taste those rewards I've learned to brave the unknown once again but in a different sort way. What I'm learning the hard way . . . there is no wrong or right . . . there is only courage and like I said it's about being brave.
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| Chito Loyzaga, Ina Flores, Me & Peping Cojuanco during the PSC Awardings |
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
BOOM !!!
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| 8a? at Banyang Cave, Getu Valley, China |
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| SEA Games 2011, Palembang, Indonesia |
And so it begins ! Let's just see how this goes ! Maybe some photos of the recent trips to refresh where I am right now. 2011. SEA Games and then the Getu RocTrip before that. Moving forward and then back, I'll try and recall how I got to this chair and decided to to write about things that I revolve around on. Climbing maybe the meat of everything in here but it may evolve into something else.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Get to Getu!
Get to Getu!
The warm sunlight blazed through the untinted window of the taxi’s backseat. The brewing of unfamiliar exciting days ahead laced my brain with a full spectrum of tastes. It’s always like this at the start of a trip, half anxious, half excited and a stomach that almost always seem empty and grumbling even on a full breakfast.
I’m late arriving at the airport, Aldwin had been waiting for more than an hour and the check-in counter had a queue that lasted half the time it took me to get to the airport. Checking in seemed forever at the old NAIA but we made it before the boarding time printed on our passes but only to find out, however, that our plane arrived an hour late. We were later seated at the last row where seats can not be reclined. It then began to seem that all choices we could make for this trip were being sucked away from us. Complaining seemed futile and it all became a bit worse when the rear toilets began to reek through the cabin.
Our plane landed safely at 4:00pm in Guangzhou. We we’re happily greeted by an 8 hour layover in between connecting flights. There wasn’t any decent wifi. Our circumstance left us eating fries, drinking coffee, and walking almost endless circles around the airport mall, looking at overpriced consumer products begging for attention from the weak willed and easily hypnotized into a Jedi mind trick sort.
I handed the hotel reservation form to a taxi driver and he quickly understood the Chinese translation which I hoped we’re correct. A few minutes later our taxi dropped us off in the cold, unfamiliar streets of Guiyang City in front of Homytel. English doesn’t work in this city. All directions and communications are handled with Chinese characters printed on paper. At the reception counter, I handed our reservation form looking forward to a nice warm room for the rest of the night before heading out again to Getu Valley. We later found ourselves chatting with the concierge in front of a computer terminal and conversing via Google translate. It was funny at first but soon turned a little bit grim as we later found out that the room I reserved timed out late that afternoon. It was then around 1:00am and we’re still cold toed and back hunched from the heavy day. Warming up to what I started to believe would be the common trend for this trip I found myself absorbed in the moment. After another hour we found ourselves at an adjacent hotel, more Google translate and paying a little bit more than what we planned but at least we had a few hours of warmth before heading out again to the unknown.
Day 2 – Welcome to Getu Valley
The day moved along slowly. The shuttle got full whilst we we’re unsuspectingly enjoying lunch and then some. The main shuttle left early. We got informed by English speaking volunteers from Guiyang University that there would be another shuttle but we’d have to split in two groups. The mini-van would only take three people at a time plus luggage. Me and Aldwin we’re 2nd in line. Sig, Isa and Sean left earlier. When the shuttle came for us it was already 3:00pm. They took us to a hotel for us to wait until more climbers would arrive. The wait was long. We had time to mope around the city a little more and finish “Cowboys and Aliens” on my computer until it was already 7:00pm. Instant spicy noodles for sale at the hotel lobby saved our hungry stomachs. The ensuing darkness seemed to tighten up the room to feel like a small coffin. Finally, a rapping at the door. As we opened up, 2 volunteers greeted with a “the bus is ready to go.” The news filled the room with new light and air rushed to our lungs as if we’d come up from deep water. The bus to Getu Valley got going. Only one more climber joined our trip, the rest, staff and volunteers. Said Belhaj from Sweden joined us on our last leg. Isa, Sig and Sean were able to hop on the earlier bus early that afternoon.
We arrived in Getu 1:00am. We got booked in the local school dormitory. We dumped our stuff on the bunks and shared the room with climbers from Hong Kong. We made our way to the adjacent canteen, ate instant noodles again and clinked a couple of Tsingtao’s before hitting the sack. Happy birthday to me and welcome to Getu Valley!
Day 1 - The long wait…
The warm sunlight blazed through the untinted window of the taxi’s backseat. The brewing of unfamiliar exciting days ahead laced my brain with a full spectrum of tastes. It’s always like this at the start of a trip, half anxious, half excited and a stomach that almost always seem empty and grumbling even on a full breakfast.
I’m late arriving at the airport, Aldwin had been waiting for more than an hour and the check-in counter had a queue that lasted half the time it took me to get to the airport. Checking in seemed forever at the old NAIA but we made it before the boarding time printed on our passes but only to find out, however, that our plane arrived an hour late. We were later seated at the last row where seats can not be reclined. It then began to seem that all choices we could make for this trip were being sucked away from us. Complaining seemed futile and it all became a bit worse when the rear toilets began to reek through the cabin. 
Our plane landed safely at 4:00pm in Guangzhou. We we’re happily greeted by an 8 hour layover in between connecting flights. There wasn’t any decent wifi. Our circumstance left us eating fries, drinking coffee, and walking almost endless circles around the airport mall, looking at overpriced consumer products begging for attention from the weak willed and easily hypnotized into a Jedi mind trick sort.
Guiyang finally at 11:40pm. The plane tickets said a “with meals” flight and so we didn’t down too many fries before leaving Guangzhou. Our late arrival to the 5 degree cold city had us famished. The quick comfort of a late closing KFC at the arrival hall saved us from a freezing, empty stomached, lost in translation kind of night.
I handed the hotel reservation form to a taxi driver and he quickly understood the Chinese translation which I hoped we’re correct. A few minutes later our taxi dropped us off in the cold, unfamiliar streets of Guiyang City in front of Homytel. English doesn’t work in this city. All directions and communications are handled with Chinese characters printed on paper. At the reception counter, I handed our reservation form looking forward to a nice warm room for the rest of the night before heading out again to Getu Valley. We later found ourselves chatting with the concierge in front of a computer terminal and conversing via Google translate. It was funny at first but soon turned a little bit grim as we later found out that the room I reserved timed out late that afternoon. It was then around 1:00am and we’re still cold toed and back hunched from the heavy day. Warming up to what I started to believe would be the common trend for this trip I found myself absorbed in the moment. After another hour we found ourselves at an adjacent hotel, more Google translate and paying a little bit more than what we planned but at least we had a few hours of warmth before heading out again to the unknown.
Day 2 – Welcome to Getu Valley
The bright, cool, crisp morning felt refreshing. Though we still felt being lost in translation in the city, the colors around us seemed to pop out and give a more comforting vibe. The day started with a “Chinese style sort-of-Starbucks” walk through breakfast. Just point. No speak. This, this…thumbs up and pay. A smile almost always starts a day right. We sipped what tasted like oats and milk and chomped down on a couple of steamed bread buns as we made our way to a bank where we changed for more RMB’s. The first order of the day was to get as much comfort padding as we could. More RMB’s seemed to equal at least not getting hungry on the run.
We decided to get lost for a while around the city as we had time to spare before heading to the bus station. My phone rang about past 10am. Sig was on the other end and informed us he was already at the Guiyang airport where a Petzl shuttle transport would be taking climbers to Getu Valley. We happily welcomed the news and headed back to the airport. Finally with two other pinoyclimbers, Sig and Isa, we enjoyed conversing over lunch. We also got to meet Sean Villanueva, a soft spoken, climber from Belgium.
The day moved along slowly. The shuttle got full whilst we we’re unsuspectingly enjoying lunch and then some. The main shuttle left early. We got informed by English speaking volunteers from Guiyang University that there would be another shuttle but we’d have to split in two groups. The mini-van would only take three people at a time plus luggage. Me and Aldwin we’re 2nd in line. Sig, Isa and Sean left earlier. When the shuttle came for us it was already 3:00pm. They took us to a hotel for us to wait until more climbers would arrive. The wait was long. We had time to mope around the city a little more and finish “Cowboys and Aliens” on my computer until it was already 7:00pm. Instant spicy noodles for sale at the hotel lobby saved our hungry stomachs. The ensuing darkness seemed to tighten up the room to feel like a small coffin. Finally, a rapping at the door. As we opened up, 2 volunteers greeted with a “the bus is ready to go.” The news filled the room with new light and air rushed to our lungs as if we’d come up from deep water. The bus to Getu Valley got going. Only one more climber joined our trip, the rest, staff and volunteers. Said Belhaj from Sweden joined us on our last leg. Isa, Sig and Sean were able to hop on the earlier bus early that afternoon.
We arrived in Getu 1:00am. We got booked in the local school dormitory. We dumped our stuff on the bunks and shared the room with climbers from Hong Kong. We made our way to the adjacent canteen, ate instant noodles again and clinked a couple of Tsingtao’s before hitting the sack. Happy birthday to me and welcome to Getu Valley!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Without a Sound
Without a Sound
This silent, quiet, Saturday makes me reflect on, what I think, largely the first half of my lifetime. Things have definitely run the rough road. I’m now slightly deranged but still functioning well enough to get by this wild world.
The only distinct sound I hear comes from this wind chime I bought over from my climbing trip to Japan, October of 2002. It was the year I landed the highest podium finish in the Philippine National Climbing Championships. It was a sweet year for my climbing. That memory though is a distant past. It almost feels like unimportant but somehow, thinking deeply, it was something that has helped me move on as a climber. This year, 2011, again brings with it a new challenge. Slightly 9 years after stepping onto the podium, I am now given the opportunity to take my climbing towards as slightly different direction. My awareness is once again awakened to a new start. Climbing for me is a very personal quest. For me at least, I’ve always been fascinated by how much satisfaction I get everytime I’m outdoors, climbing with nature, and pushing myself to my limit, trying to take myself to a place where the force of nature and my own heartbeat are the only ones existing. Now, however, I am given a new view on climbing. Teaching climbing or at least sharing climbing passion with others has been a residual effect of spending time with others in and outside the gym. The repercussions of actions and mental imposition bore no weight and responsibility. Last May 2011, this non-responsible approach became different. I’m now coach of the 1stPhilippine Climbing Team for the Sea Games. Now, words I say and formulas I have in mind no longer are personal. Sharing thoughts on performance now have to be weighed several times over before getting my suddenly pragmatic personal approval before sharing them to the team.
On one hand, the responsibility is a bit of a load on the back, on the other, it somehow balances my approach to my own personal climbing. I’m challenged by the fact that I’m training the younger and the stronger. It places me in the midst of a lot of energy. I’m also pushed to my limit trying to keep up and also trying to pace the team. I am teaching and at the same time learning as we go on.
I’m not entirely sure of the path this leads to. This road has opened up for me many times before but to fully tread on it has always been jittery. The pattern repeats itself. I’m the eldest of 4 siblings, in high school I led the Marist Photography Club, in college I led the MIT-Mountaineering Club, I even started a short stint as Sensei for the Ateneo Aikido Club. Now once again, I’m faced with a decision. How far am I going to take this? It sure does open a lot of doors and the possibilities seem endless. I don’t know the answer. One thing is for certain though. Climbing has forged me into mostly what I am today. A huge percentage of my life has been devoted to climbing more than any other activity I’ve delved into. I can’t even wait for the day when I can say I’ve been climbing for more than half my lifetime. So maybe the decision will come easy, or maybe even harder. But the fact is, I love climbing and sharing it with others gives me great pleasure. The coaching responsibility is really heartfelt. To make individual members of the team fully realize their potential and to see them breaking out of their old limits is already a reward in itself. The finality of such a decision may take me away from competitive climbing. But maybe it is rightfully so. It will be a step indeed. How to stride will be the next challenge. Who knows what happens next?
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