A fresh start

Having collected my thoughts, I have decided that the best way to map my progress forward (and to get me to stick to it) is to put it down on paper. Firstly I am an ambitious person (always have been and am aware that this is sometimes detrimental to my performance). I am also stubborn, and am easily inclined to keep hammering away at something until I achieve great success (If you need proof read this article). However great success (must be read with a Borat accent) is motivating, and last year’s ascent of Boogie Nights was a personal watershed. It was also a journey where I learnt much about my mettle and had to fight back from injury to achieve something that in the back of my mind at times doubted I could even do. Yet I stubbornly kept on trying…

Pic: Me on Boogie Nights, Topside. Pic by Tristan Firman

This year after 2 months of dedicated training I now find myself in some of the better shape of my climbing life and would like to use this springboard to achieve bigger and better things. I still however need rock time (and finger skin) to complete my conditioning. Only one more month completes my 3 month training plan and hopefully starts a memorable year of cranking! In the typical Streaky my goal this year is even bigger and more outrageous than last year’s, but hell it has worked for me in the past so why not again.

So what is it? After last year’s experience I have decided that I want to have multiple focuses rather than one specific problem. Given that climbing for me is also a social pursuit – hiding under a steep boulder which no-one else wants to try isn’t always the most fun way to spend your time even if it leads to great success and ultimate reward. Therefore I have set myself the broader goal of an 8B and another 2 8A+s. Top of the 8B pile is Black Shadow. I am yet to try it but it is a stunning and inspiring line (and supposedly a little soft also helps). As for 8A+s, well there are a few I am currently working on. Entropy is top of the list, and although There and back by Emile Esterhuizen is not the most inspiring, I fell off the last move last year (a common Streaky trait) and therefore would like to complete it. Others that I still need to try are Dark Harvest and Black Hawk Down and depending on my time in Rocklands, Nutsa could also feature.


Pic: JuzH on Black Shadow, Rocklands