Switzerland 2012

It has been eons since I last posted an article on my blog. I am right now in the midst of my maiden trip to Ticino, Switzerland for bouldering. However, allow me to go through briefly what happened between my last post and prior to this trip.

The IFSC World Youth Championships took place in Sentosa towards the end of August, shortly after the Asian Youth Championships in Iran. It was an excellent opportunity for our youths to see how they fare when they are up against the very best in the world within their respective age groups. Gabriel, Adriel and I continued on as the Team Manager, Speed Coach and Lead/ Boulder Coach respectively for this competition. 

The Lead Wall at World Youth in Singapore

I did my best in trying to provide feedback on their individual performances and what they can do to improve, even though I have zero knowledge of some of our youth's capabilities. The team was BIG, due to the fact that we were allowed to send in more athletes than other countries for being the host country. This number will however be shrunk in the coming months to enable a more focused approach to the competitions facing our National Youth Team in 2013. Some of our youths will need to understand that it takes commitment, dedication and a lot of discipline to improve. Consistency is the key to success. Relying on last minute training a couple of weeks prior to any competition is not going to help, at least for most people.

The Singapore Youth Team!

 

Based on the level of performance by our youths at the competition, we concluded that only a handful have the potential to squeeze into the senior team by 2015 for the SEA Games.

There were a couple of bouldering competitions prior to this trip but I didn't want to push my luck and take part in them as I was still recovering from a pulled pulley while doing a dyno start during the last route at Pumpfest. Besides, with all the work and meetings piling up, I was losing motivation to climb and get fit ,let alone compete. Thank goodness the injury recovered just in time and gave me no problems until now. Finger injuries take the LONGEST to heal.

Before diving straight into Switzerland, I would like to say a big Thank You to The North Face Singapore for kindly providing me some important apparel that has been keeping me nice and warm in the 8 degree weather at Ticino.

Quality gear from The North Face

The Summit Series® Men's Warm Merino Crew is the baselayer I have been wearing when I am out on the rocks. According to wikipedia, the Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool as they are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep. As such, it is commonly used in high-end performance athletic wear. 

THE baselayer to wear when it gets cold

 

Blended with FlashDry technology, this baselayer enhances sweat removal and helps in regulating temperature, thereby keeping me warm and dry. I usually wear this below any T-shirt when temperatures drops below 10 degrees celsius.

The other piece of equipment which has been keeping really warm is the all important Summit Series® Men's Super Diez Jacket. A down jacket is the most important item all climbers cannot do without when it's cold. I have previously reviewed the Nuptse Jacket and how the down feathers inside the jacket function help to regulate heat within out body. You can read it here.

The North Face Diez Jacket - 900 Fill!

The Super Diez jacket as compared to the Nuptse is a basically a giant step forward. It is made with the highest level of down available at 900-fill as compared to the 700-fill Nuptse. At 395grams, it weighs superlight and is almost half the weight of the Nuptse which itself weighs a decent 690grams. It is also extremely resilient especially when you brush yourself against rocks whilst trekking to the crag as the lightweight filling is combined with Pertex® 10 denier nylon ripstop exterior. I was initially skeptical about this jacket in keeping me warm as it looked and felt extremely lightweighted and my worries were unnecessary. The jacket can also be stowed into its own pocket and when stowed, it basically takes up 2/3 the size of a 1-litre Nalgene bottle!

A brief overview of the bouldering area in Ticino created by Les Warnock and Alex Savage

Before I continue about what has been happening, here's a little information about the bouldering here in Switzerland. Ticino is the epi-centre of bouldering and is located at the southern portion of Switzerland. Here, you can find many boulders littered in areas like Magic Wood, Cresciano, Chironico, Brione etc. Cresciano, Chironico and Brione is supposed to be in season now as it is lower in altitude as compared to Magic Wood. When I mean in season, I meant that the temps are between 6-12 degrees, excellent sending conditions due to superb friction. Some of the hardest boulders in the world are located in Cresciano and Chironico alone. Dreamtime (previously 8c, now 8b+ after a hold broke), The Story of 2 Worlds 8c, Confessions 8b/+, Big Paw 8c and From Dirt Grows Flowers 8C etc. are all located in these 2 areas alone. There are also plenty of easier classic climbs for beginners thus providing an excellent range for all climbers on Swiss Gneiss (granite).

Mega Up-size Nutella anyone?

 

Yam and I are currently into our 2^nd week here in Switzerland and the weather has been CRAP for this entire 2^nd week. It has been raining everyday and most, if not ALL climbers have bailed from this region. It was totally different during the 1^st week when we got here though. The weather was great with the occasional sun(which apparently is NOT common at this time of the year!). 

All my gear for this trip

Our first 5 days days were spent at Cresciano – Chironico – Rest Day – Brione – Chironico. It was a major effort trying to find some of the problems we had our eyes on within these areas primarily because the explanation in the topo wasn't descriptive enough. My legs were still aching from the hiking even after the rest day on our 3^rd day there. The SNAP crashpad we had wasn't helping also as it separates easily in the middle and is extremely heavy. Did I mention both Yam and I were carrying 2 crash pads each and had to pay 150 Euros per person just to put it on the same flight as us on the day of our departure! And THAT was only 1 way. We are now thinking of shipping it back to Singapore by sea when we leave for home on our last day to save on another 150 Euros.

Anyway back to the climbing, I have managed to have a decent 4 climbing days, sending Frank's Wild Years 8a+, Marlyn Monroe 8a, Teamwork 8a, Confessions of a Crap Artist 7c+/8a and Fake Pampelmouse 7c+/8a and many easier climbs. Most of the climbs mentioned were sent within 2-3 goes. I also had a couple of goes on Dr Pinch and Freak Brothers both graded about 7c+/8a. These 2 climbs felt really hard. Maybe it was the tiredness setting in as it was the 2^nd day on but regardless, all the above climbs were nothing short of excellent in terms of quality of the rock and movement.

Yam warming up on an unknown 6a/+

 Alex gave us good beta on Marlyn Monroe and Teamwork, allowing me to make quick work on both problems. We met her and Katherina at Brione, along with Jack from Denmark and Miguel from Spain when they were working on Fake Pampelmouse with us. Alex made short work of the climb, sending it within 3-4 goes. Katherina sent Kit Dynamite and TeamWork, both 8a, within an hour of each other prior to leaving for home the next day! These girls sure are STRONG! Here's a little video by Alex Savage on some climbs in Ticino.

Swanky Swizzy from Savage Films on Vimeo.

Anyway we have yet to explore the rest of these 3 major areas but I am keen to check out and climb a couple of the easier classics before hopping onto anything harder than 8a+/V12. Don't forsee any reason in spending my entire trip on a single project when there so many classics lurking around the corner. Even though I did try out a couple of moves on Boogalagga 8b, which is the stand start to Big Paw 8C, I would like to check out Confessions 8b/+ and The Dagger 8b/+ before deciding which project to hop onto. Have yet to locate these 2 boulders at the Cresciano area.

There is another alternative start to Boogalagga which begins from the right and links up at the mid section rated at 8a. It begins with a heinous mono with the right hand which resulted in Yam straining his finger. The extend of the injury is not yet known until he actually tries climbing again as it has been raining.

As of now, we have had 5 days of constant raining, which means 5 days of rest and the weather forecast for next week is supposed to be sunny! In the meantime, I have been working on piecing some of the videos together and hope to upload it when i get back to Singapore. In the meantime, we are hopping the sun comes out soon and dry the boulders!