Washed Out!

double champions at Gravical 2012!!!

Back on a high from the SEA Games in November last year, i was off to a decent start to 2012. Felicia and i both managed 1st placing in the Womens and Mens Open Category at Gravical 2012 respectively. With all the routes vetted by quest route setters Tonde Katiyo and Florian Escoffier, you can be pretty sure that there are no loop holes in the routes that were set. Anyone can claim themself to be a route setter but to truly be a good one, an important ability is to be able to envision if or not the route is possible or whether if a particular move can be done. Needless to say, one must be able to climb and test the moves!

Having spent so much time on plastic in the last couple of months, i had to get outdoors and booked myself an air ticket back to Yangshuo in early March. With 2 of my friends(Audrey and PM) coming along and 3 ex students(Charmaine, Eunice and JunXiang) from TPJC, this trip promised to be real fun!

check out the wet streaks on the wall at Lei Pi Shan!! most of the climbs were dripping!

Yangshuo was meant as a short getaway for me and at the same time finish up some outstanding climbs that were left undone. Unfortunately, i came back from the trip feeling as tired as before and above all, got nothing much done. The initial plan was to quickly send the route Thunder within the 1st two days and then get onto either 9 Deep 1 Shallow or Blue Magic (all of which are about 8b/+). You can read more about my experience on Thunder in this previous post here.

Torrential rain prior to our arrival made most climbs really really wet. Some of them were literally dripping with water. We could only climb at Lei Pi Shan on the 1st day due to the weather and Thunder was dripping with water. Even the 1st pitch rated at 7b+ was dripping. Though the weather improved throughout our stay, it was wishful thinking on my part that the entire route will dry quicky and i didn't even have a slight chance of getting onto the climb on this trip. The girls didn't have it any better as Lei Pi Shan is probably one of the worse place to begin your virgin rock trip as most routes are 7A and up.

Guilin mee fen, the usual S$2 breakfast

It was disappointing but as nothing could be done about the weather and the climbs, i ended up at Wine Bottle Crag and The Egg the next 2 days, doing climbs nothing harder than 7b/+. For climbers looking to boulder on a rope, you have to get onto Mr Greenwood, rated 7b!!! (though i reckon it feels more like 7b+). This climb is only about 8-9m but the action is relentless from ground up but more importantly, it climbs well! I remember hopping onto it during my first trip here a couple of years back and the only recollection of the route i have was that the route is HARD and i didn't send it on the day itself back then.

This time around i tried to 'flash' it but to no avail. This route is still a tough nut to crack, even though i believe myself to be much fitter than back then. I send it on my 2nd go though, making it look like a 6C (according to Charmaine) as i knew how best to hold the terrible holds on the face climb.

JunXiang, meanwhile was on a high having just send a 7a nearby and seeing me on this 7b/+, was keen to have a go on it on toprope. Unfortunately he suffered a recurrence of his shoulder subluxation (partial dislocation) even before the 1st bolt and that was the end of his day. He had to take 2 rest days eventually.

rest days spent either at the cafe or just walking/biking around

The next couple of days were spent at White Mountain and Lei Pi Shan where I decided to get onto Blue Magic to work out the moves and gave it my 1st redpoint burn after sufficient rest. The redpoint attempt, though feeble, allowed me to discover better sequences and hidden holds.

the majestic White Mountain, this left section houses most of the 8Bs and 8Cs and a possible 9A

Unlike Thunder, which is almost 35m long and requires at least 14 quickdraws, Blue Magic is only about 9m, requiring about 6 draws. It is super bouldery with a decent rest right in the middle section. Good conditions are definitely important as the 2 main cruxes consist of slopey holds and bad pinches. The 1st crux felt the hardest, consisting of getting into a powerful side pull/undercling position and throwing with your right hand into a decent hold with really bad feet, on almost 40 degree inclination. The 2nd crux though a lot less powerful, requires one to pinch a really bad sloper with the left hand and hit a reasonable crimp with the right on flat terrain with good footholds.

In the meantime, all of us were watching this young local, Qiu Er, who was working on Spicy Noodle 8C+. In case you guys are unaware, Spicy Noodle is the first 8C+ put up by Chris Sharma a few years back. I was really impressed as Qiu Er climbs really really well plus we managed to catch him onsighting Single Life, 8A at Lei Pi Shan (the extension is called Lighting) just a few days back. At only 18 years of age, the future generation of China sure looks bright! Watching him on Spicy Noodle had me salivating as the moves looked really good. This is one climb i will check out soon.

fish steamboat at one of the popular restaurants in Yangshuo!

We had a rest day and came back to White Mountain again - it was still drizzling a bit but we can't complain too much. At least it wasn't pouring.

I got straight back onto Blue Magic after some warming up and fell off at the last move! That was surprisingly as i was struggling at the 1st crux due to the humidity and the slopers felt almost next to impossible to crank off from. Plus the rest points in the middle were soaked. I was pretty doubtful the climb will go under such conditions even on my next attempt.

True enough, i flailed all over the 1st crux and fell off. The last go of the day was deja vu, though i felt much better on this attempt, i was still peeling off right at the last move. The weather needs to be drier for this climb to go. Not wanting to leave my draws up on the route in case of bad weather the next day, i unwillingly took off my runners.

Meanwhile, JunXiang having rested sufficiently, was on a roll, sending Yangshuo hotel 7b in a few goes. He would probably have done it on his 2nd try had he not screwed up the start, which required climbers to scramble up a mini roof to the 1st bolt.

Though i woke up feeling pretty crappy the next day, we headed to White Mountain anyway. Thank goodness the decision to take down my draws the previous day was spot on as Blue Magic was soaking wet from rain the previous night. It's not funny having to climb on wet rock to remove runners let alone one that is bouldery. You bet that will be one hell of an experience that no one will forget in a hurry.

a happy JunXiang after sending his 2nd 7B on his 2nd try in as many days

Realizing i was down with a slight fever, i spent most of the day sleeping on the canvas under the crag. In the meantime, Eunice completed a 6b+ while Charmaine managed to redpoint a 6a+ nearby. Both of them could have completed more climbs(and harder ones!) had they pushed themselves.

JunXiang, however was in his world of his own. Having warmed up on a Merry Christmas 6C (onsight), he then proceed to give a good flash attempt on China White 7b. Although he fell off at the top, it was a pretty decent effort. He followed up with the send on his 2nd go after a short rest. For someone who has been climbing for just slightly over a year, his tick list on his first outdoor trip is nothing short of amazing; not forgetting he suffered a recurrence of his shoulder popping.

1. China White 7B, 2nd try
2. Yangshuo Hotel 7B, 4th try
3. Chuck If Ya Want to 7A, 2nd try
4. Empty Jug 6C+, 2nd try
5. Merry Christmas 6C, Onsight

Not too bad a tick list for his 1st rock trip don't you think?

the Yangshuo gang sans Audrey and PM

In my opinion, the routes that he completed were not even pushing him to his limits. Had he been given the luxury of more time to project a route, he might have been able to climb a 7C. Although i enjoy seeing my students do well in competitions, i derive more satisfaction from watching them push themselves while climbing outdoors.

I have had the opportunity to witness many young Singaporeans cranking down really hard on plastic only to fail miserably on outdoor rock. In fact, JX doesn't even boulder as hard as some of his peers in Singapore. What stands him out is that he understands how to climb efficiently but more importantly, he is one of the most disciplined climbers i have ever met.

That day at White Mountain was pretty much our last climbing day. Though we had planned on heading to Lei Pi Shan the next day prior to leaving for GZ, we ended up slacking in the hotel as JX and Eunice fell ill whilst i was still feeling a bit weak from yesterday. The trip back Singapore was dreadful knowing i have plenty of work to clear leading up to Boulderactive 2012.

Time to start planning for Hueco Tanks in Nov/Dec this year!

POST SEA Games Report

The Singapore Sport Climbing Contingent

I have been neglecting my blogging duties since returning about a month ago from the SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia. Its been super busy for the past 2-3 months with me route-setting at the gym, managing the business, coaching my students at TPJC and CCSS plus doing ad-hoc courses at Kinetics. On top of of these, i have had to build up my fitness level for the SEA Games itself. It hasn't been smooth sailing but i am glad everything turned out reasonably well. Plus i shouldn't be complaining as i got a Silver from the bouldering event!

Singapore's only Silver Medal !!!!

One month prior to the event itself, i was actually progressing very well in my build-up for both the bouldering and the leading event but due to an unfortunate incident, i tore something in my middle finger. It was probably due to the lack of a proper warm-up which resulted in the injury. It still hasn't fully recover up till today.

Anyway, you can imagine how disappointed i felt when i had the finger checked and found out that i told something. Took a week off climbing and found that the training effect that i painstakingly achieved from my training sessions was totally GONE. As such, i decided that in order for me not to make a fool out of myself at the Games, i would have to continue training and tread the fine line between not over stressing my finger but at the same time maintaining a high level of fitness.

The interval trainings i did at Kinetics were DEFINITELY helpful in maintaining my fitness. However i took the training to a different level completely when i implement weights into the intervals. Without weights, i could comfortably finish all the Greens and Yellows in the gym with limited rest times between each climb. With an addition of 5kg on the weight vest, everything changes. The training really breaks you BUT it helps in bringing your fitness up a notch as you see yourself progressing with each session. Intervals are excellent because it simulates the conditions in the competitions itself. The rule of specificity is extremely important as many sports trainer will tell you.

As i have mentioned before, i don't usually train specifically for competitions. I prefer climbing and working on routes as this naturally gets you strong. This time around i chose to do otherwise as this is the first and probably the only time Sport climbing is included in the SEA Games. It might not be as big as the World Cups but i think it carries more prestige as Singaporeans can relate to it easier.

The girls with their medals from the Speed Relay

All of the gold medals were swept by the Indonesians except for the Womens Bouldering event which was won by Ina from the Philipines. She was definitely not the strongest or the most powerful female at the event but she definitely was one of the best female climbers in SEA. I guess all of us shouldn't be complaining too much. Afterall, other than the Indonesians who train FULL-TIME, most of us or should i say ALL of us have full time jobs or studies to deal with on top of having to train for the SEA Games.

In addition, you will be surprised to know that the Indonesians receive very good support from their Sports Council and federation. They do not have to worry about the lack of facilities to train on nor was there any lack of monetary support. It sucks when your Chef-de-Mission expects a Gold from Sport Climbing when they themselves don't give us the support. Perhaps he should consider purchasing some Austrians to represent Singapore instead.

It is heart-breaking especially if you have had to travel across the causeway to KL numerous times to train at Camp 5 or Putrajaya - which was what Suzanna and Sue-Ann did, put in so much effort and at the end, falling short at competitions. Then again, i have long learned that competitions are like that. You can be the best climber out there but a foot slip or a bad day can render you last place. That is the nature of comps and one will do well not to take it too seriously. Afterall, competitions are only a very small part of what climbing is all about!

All our Medals!

There were however many takeaways from this SEA Games. We have in our midst a world class Speed climber, Adriel, who managed to achieve a personal best timing that would have placed him in the top 16 speed climbers in the World. Even the Chinese umpire was extremely impressed with his performance and called him a GENIUS when comparing Adriel to the World's No.1 speed climber, Zhong Qixin who took 3-4 years of training to get to where he was.

Anyway i have had too much plastic for the past 3 months and i really need to get outdoors to climb. I can feel the motivation waning already.... Yangshou in March 2012 anyone?

OR Show and American Fork Canyon

The plan was to head up to Salt Lake City for the OR Show a week or so after my return from Italy and i was seriously not looking forward to the 21 hr flight with 2 stopovers. On top of that, i was down with a bad cold and was seriously jet lagged such that i had a miserable time route setting in the gym 3 days prior to my flight up to SLC. Thank goodness i recovered in time and the flight did not turn out to be so bad.

To save money, i had to crash in at Spy's and Tanleng's apartment for the entire trip! On top of visiting the OR show, i wanted to visit some of the local gyms and of course try to squeeze in a few climbing days at their local crags.

Both Spy and Tanleng are currently living right beside the University of Utah in SLC, focusing hard on trying to attain their PHD within the next couple of years whilst at the same time earn some money teaching and of course climb till their arms drop. Looking at how often they get to go outdoors (at least 2-3 times a week), i'll say it beats getting couped up in Singapore anytime.

They will complain about getting stuck in the gym when the snow literally dumps on them for at least 6-8 months every year, but hey, i won't mind getting stuck in those good gyms getting myself sick strong for the season outdoors! Afterall, there are TONNES of rock in Utah. Within a 3 hr drive, there's Little Cottonwood Canyon, American Fork Canyon, Logan Canyon, Joe's Valley, Maple Canyon etc.........

I was their best man during their wedding back in 2007 (i hope i got the year right!). Spy and i were also known as the JD brothers, after being the first 2 Singaporeans to send Jai dum. This was a bench mark 8b climb in Krabi but having both done a couple more 8bs elsewhere since then, we think that it might be a little bit on the soft side. Anyway here's a picture of us at American Fork Canyon!

Team Singapore @ American Fork Canyon!

Though i was way more keen on bouldering, it was summer and probably a million degrees at Joe's Valley. As such the only crag i managed to visit was American Fork Canyon, which is about an hr's drive from their apartment.

For the uninitiated, AF is a place where many Americans such as Boone Speed and Scott Franklin have left their mark here. JC Hunter also recently did the FA of a potential 5.14b, Fantasy Island here. At first glance, the rock is chossy and honestly looks like CRAP. The wall itself at El Diablo and Hell Cave is about 10m in height so basically its bouldering on a rope. BUT most of the routes climb well and i throughly enjoyed myself even with the limited amount of time spent there.

Though i am always apprehensive about getting onto harder climbs on short trips, i hopped onto Dead Souls 5.13d/14a and did a quick 2 day ascent of this beautiful line. This was by far the least amount of time i have spent on a climb of that grade and i was initially sceptically about the difficulty of the route. Tanleng reassured me that nobody downgrades the climbs in American Fork and to just accept it as it is. Plus with the type of climbing done in Singapore (mostly bouldering), i have come to realise that i excel better in short and bouldery routes. Here is a video of a SLC local, Amy Cockerham on the route.

http://www.momentumvm2.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:dead-souls-amy-cockerham&catid=13:video&Itemid=3

Tanleng managed to get a video of me attempting another 5.13d/14a, Cop Killer, falling off at the crux. Though most of the moves are relatively easier as compared to Dead Souls, it houses a single move, rated at V9 that felt almost impossible in the conditions of SLC's summer afternoon. According to Spy, this was also the move that stopped a certain Ethan Pringle from flashing everything in American Fork when he was here! (other than I Scream, a 14C). This climb will have to wait till my next visit though in the meantime, Spy is really close to sending this line!

Cop Killer 5.13d/14a from Jay Koh on Vimeo.

I also had the opportunity to visit and climb in a couple of gyms, two of which was The Front @ Odgen and @ SLC. Both were bouldering centric and had tonnes of routes that were properly documented and marked out. Great place to train and get strong.

Bouldering at The Front @ Ogden


Check out the height of the bouldering walls!

Visiting Momentum climbing gym was also on the list, though it would have been better if i had enough time to get some climbing done there. Anyway i must admit they probably have one of the best, if not the best route management system i have ever seen. Plus, they have TONNES and TONNES of routes for all abilities. Check out some of the pictures here!

16m - 18m high walls!


Route under Review!

Tonnes of routes....

Anyway BIG UP to Tanleng on sending her first 8a, Girl Power at Logan Canyon! For sure you are cranking much harder after the nasty incident earlier this year!

ARCO World Championships 2011

The IFSC World Championships took place last month from 15th - 24th of July at Arco, Trentino, Italy and i was lucky to be part of the spectacular event that the organizers had taken pains to put up. The World Championships is a separate event from the annual Climbing World Cup Circuit and takes place once every 2 years. ALL the top climbers from every part of the world will descend upon the selected venue to battle it out and be crowned the World Champion in the Lead, Boulder and Speed categories.

Arco is the center of climbing and mountaineering in Italy and is extremely famous for the RockMaster event that is held every year. Participation for this event, however, is by INVITATION only, thus only the creame de la creame of Sport Climbing will get to attend this prestigious event. This year though, it is held in conjunction with the World Championships, thus i jumped at the opportunity to represent Singapore in this event.

I managed to get on my flight and got to Arco the day before the qualifying round for bouldering and checked into the same hotel room as Hafzanizam from Malaysia and Miel Pahati from the Philippines. Rooms cost a premium at this time of the year due to the summer holidays thus i was not too surprise with this arrangement by IFSC.

View from the top of our hotel room

Like all official sporting events, there was an opening ceremony which all athletes had to attend. All countries and climbers were introduced and 'paraded' through the little town of Arco, along with the mascot-a fox, which ended at the climbing stadium some distance away. All in all, there were more than 100+ countries participating in the entire event with a similar number in each individual event itself.

View from the road en route to the climbing stadium

My flag bearer - Thomas from Italy!

Miel and his representative!

The bouldering event was the 1st category to be held and boy were the routes HARD. This was my first time in a field of world class athletes as i have not had the opportunity to take part in any bouldering events in the IFSC World Cup Circuit. Though i knew that the routes were going to be hard, i honestly wasn't expecting it to be THAT hard. Other than Hsukuru Hori from Japan, the rest of the Asians were topping out a maximum of 1 route out of 5. Everyone were getting their asses handed to them on a plate. For me, it was a difficulty getting off the ground for many of the routes and i managed to obtain only 1 bonus out of the 5 routes with zero top outs. 1 BONUS !!!! When was the last time i got 1 bonus in ANY bouldering competition in Singapore ?!?!?!?

In retrospect, the easiest route was probably a V9 with the rest being in the V10-12/13 range. Handholds were SMALL, FAR and BAD with more than 60% being screwed-ons. Seldom will you find crimps as most people can crimp reasonably well. In place of crimps, slopers the size of a 50 cent coin will be on most of the volumes, with some being slightly bigger for you to 'crimp' on. Even the footholds on most of the hardest routes in Kinetics are better than the handholds on these routes. There is also no need to sling a chalk bag around your waist as it is unlikely that you have the time or strength to release 1 hand to chalk-up.

Miel and Zam managed only slightly better, with 2 bonus each. Anyway the general consensus on the ground from most participants was that the qualifying routes were WAY too hard. This coming even from the Austrian climbers. Zam also mentioned that during the Imst WC earlier this year, he had managed to top-out 2-3 routes during the qualifying round.

The Semi-final boulders for the Men's Category

One thing is for sure though, bouldering in the World Cup is truly the realm of the impossible dynos, the smallest crimps and improbably body positioning. It is hard to comprehend how STRONG the top climbers are until you see them flashing routes when you can't even get off the 1st move or holding onto handholds which you won't even consider using for your feet in your local gym.

Videos for all categories can be viewed here.

the 18m 'high' wall

The lead category took place a couple of days later with the qualifying being 2 routes flashed format. With the routes being graded at about 8a+/b (similar difficulty for the women's category), only a handful of climbers managed to top both with Julian Ramon being one of them. This 1.54m tall 'beast' looked extremely comfortable and solid on ALL his climbs, right up to the last day. My result was pretty decent, climbing up to at least the halfway mark on both routes, considering the last time i was on the tying end of the rope was at the SEACF Circuit in Putrajaya. A fellow climber from SA describes it best about the handholds for the Leading Category: "Its funny how the holds are serious not so bad that you can't climb on them but at the same time not fantastic thus resting and recovering is practically impossible."

A trip to Arco is definitely not completed without visiting the local crag - Massone. This world renowned location is easily accessible by car with the hike being less than 5 minutes from the parking lot itself. Due to the proximity of the various sections and range of climbs(from 6s to 9a), many routes are polished beyond belief. It is however, not uncommon to see people cranking down hard and fellow World Cup participants throwing themselves on the test pieces here.

Underground 9a, roof climbing that goes on forever
(this is only 1/3 of the entire route)

We were busy climbing on one of the sectors when Yuji, Obi and Akito showed up (Obi-san dropped by a couple of months ago to route set for the NUS-TNF boulderactive). Looks like we were not the only people who were eager to crank on rock after the competition. Routes here were mostly long, 25m-30m ranging from gentle overhanging walls to severely inclined ones.

Yuji Hirayama, me and Masatoshi Sugita aka Obi - Team The North Face

Although we did not get onto anything hard, i had a couple of good days, with onsights of up to 7Cs. It was really nice to be able to go outdoors and explore as i ain't traveling halfway around the world to climb 2 weeks solely on plastic.

Buffet consisting of bread, cheese, wine, cured meat, meat and more meat!

More food!!

South East Asia Climbing Federation(SEACF) Circuit

The Advanced Lead wall - MASSIVE!

Headed up to KL over the last weekend of May for the SEACF Circuit(Msia Leg) which was held in conjunction with the IFSC route setting and judging course. It has been quite a while since i got into a harness as i was pretty busy with work at Kinetics and coaching my students. As such, the main goal of the trip was not to malu myself and catch up on sleep!

We traveled up as a huge Singapore contingent consisting of about 30+ climbers and had a good time on the routes which were set by Kim Dong Hyun and his team of Route Setters. Big Ups to them for the amazing work they did there.

The walls at Putrajaya Challange Park are seriously massive and anyone can get a good workout there. The only problem that most people will encounter is the heat and humidity as the place is non air-conditioned.

There was a total of 3 rounds for the Lead category - qualifying, semi and finals. Pretty awesome considering the fact that usually the Lead Competitions in Singapore consists of 2 rounds.

Although the qualifying route was pretty easy(7b), i got pumped and almost did not make it to the final hold. The semi finals was to be held on the same day itself and i nearly got DQ for not clipping. Had to down-climbed the route, and almost fell off as it sapped a lot of energy. To my surprise, i qualified for the finals in first placing due to my timing - which should not be the case as Leading is not about speed! (anyway a couple of Indonesians fell off at the same hold as i did)

The 'beginner' Lead wall

The final round was held the next day. Both Andrew and Hazlee who also qualified for the finals climbed before me. I managed to squeeze out a first placing by making 1 additional move so all in all everything didn't turn out as bad as i had expected.

I have come to realise that i do not perform well under stress and it is at my most relaxed state that i can think rationally and climb to the best of my capabilities. Not expecting a good performance probably helped a great deal as i had minimal climbing done prior to the competition. I only had two 1-hour session of climbing whereby i repeated all the Yellow taped routes(with minimal rest time between each route) at Kinetics Climbing. That was all the climbing i did for 2 weeks prior to this event. Plus knowing that the routes were long and i lacked endurance forced me to climb faster than usual to make up for the pathetic endurance i had. Will be uploading the rest of the videos soon. Enjoy!

The Singapore Team

Qualifying Round from Jay Koh on Vimeo.

Semi Finals from Jay Koh on Vimeo.

Kinetics Climbing is born!

It has been a crazy month for me helping to design and build from scratch a bouldering centric facility. I can tell you that it is seriously NO JOKE building climbing walls. Although it has been a slow and arduous process, my team and i have learned a lot of things by trial and error along the way and i truly believe the design and construction of our future climbing walls can only get better.

Now that i have gone through the entire process, i truly appreciate those who are in the same industry, slogging their asses off to build decent climbing surfaces for people to climb on and enjoy themselves. Big Ups to all of them!

Meanwhile, click on the company logo above to view pictures of the building process on the website under the SnapShots tab. We have also been receiving rave reviews for the layout and design of the website since it was launched about 2-3 weeks ago. We must be doing something right when our pages are being copied right down to the finest detail. We are truly flattered.

There will be a lot of things coming up for me in the next few months so stay tuned.

Petzl Rock Trip September 2011

Just turned down the invitation to head up to China this coming September for the annual Petzl Rock Trip(all expensese paid) due to work commitments. Sigh..........

Anyway here's a nice video of the 2007 Petzl rock trip at the Red River Gorge in USA. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpOtCc-wvDY