Dealing with the blues upon my return to Australia after my European sojourn was not easily done. Sub zero temps and crushing new blocs was awesome. Coming back to 35degrees and work was sub optimal. But, after deciding that I would do some routes this year there was only one thing for it, get amongst it and get pumped.
The Grampians, located 3 hours west of Melbourne in the almost desert environ of Western-Victoria is one of the most amazing places to climb anywhere, but if its easy clip ups that youre after, you need to look elsewhere. Most of the sport routes in the Grampians require some serious work or some sort of mixed gear or have an old carrot bolt. Ridiculous, but good training I suppose.
It has been about three years since I have actually attempted to get fit and it has showed. But, the long evenings after work, combined with amazing weather was the perfect tonic. After about six weeks I am starting to see some results, but having just booked a ticket to Squamish in ten weeks, it looks like I have a limited window before bouldering takes over again. Added to that, I have been unable to just climb routes and have done a bunch of blocs in the interim, but more on that next time.
In the last couple of weeks I have knocked off a few classics, including Demon Flower 8a+, the Castlereigh Line 8a and Middle Path 7c+. Demon Flower is amazing, a ten move boulder problem in the middle of a route on one of the best cliffs in Victoria. Absolutely Stunning. The Castlereigh Line may well have been unrepeated since its FA in 1992. It is tough and involves some serious clutch dropping, but is a total line. Awesome.