Back in Yangshuo

When we get back from Getu and are in Yangshuo again, the first thing we do is eat Western food in  one of our favorate restaurants and get-togethers Kelly's. Kelly's is a little restaurant that serves Western food and Chinese food, without MSG, which is very rare in China! The owner Kelly is a very nice lady that knows all the climbers by name and speaks good English. Almost every morning climbers have breakfast and meet each other there. On rainy days everybody hangs out there. We are happy to be back and see some of our friends.

Then we go climbing again! It starts to rain a lot in Yangshuo, and the temperature is dropping now. But the good crags are sheltered from the rain, and lower temperatures mean more friction! :-)
So armed with warm clothes and rain boots we head to the crags again.

Me and Marcel have some unfinished business at Lei Pi Shan, one of the hardest cliffs in Yangshuo. The first time we came there, Marcel convinced me to go into this 7A, called "Crash and Burn". It is a slightly overhanging route, with crimps and pinchers and with multiple cruxes along the way. Every time I try it, the hardest part seems to move up. The final crux is to climb past the last quickdraw on a pincher and a little undercling with bad footholds and move on to a jug in order to clip it. Because I find it impossible not to grab the quickdraw as I climb over it we decide it's a good idea to remove the quickdraw so I can't grab it!
Although I never thought it was possible, on the last day on the last try, using this new beta i sent the route.
I also sent Pickpocket, which is my second 7A!

                                               Sandra on Face Route, a 6B+ in White Mountain.

Marcel on Riverside

 Marcel sents "One Love" a very hard 7C+ on the same day, so we can leave China with a content feeling. But we will definitely be back!

Getu

We are walking on the main road of Getu. Looking around it appears to be a commercial from the communist party. Farmers, working hard look at you smiling as you pass by. The sun is shining on the rice fields and everybody is having a good time. Women are working while carrying a baby on their back, and very old people with enormous loads on their back are walking around with a content smile on their faces.
We have arrived in Getu, the place where the 2011 Petzl Rock trip took place. It is supposedly a new climbers mecca, and we are very excited to be here.
The main attraction of Getu is it's big arch, a monumental cave that goes straight through a mountain, and after settling in, that's where we want to climb first.
The walk up is hard, the steps are steep, and I feel exhausted when I come up. When I look around I am really amazed. I feel like there must be dinosaurs living here! It has to be one of the most incredible places I have ever seen. The arch is 70 meters wide and 120 meter high. They say that one day, someone flew an airplane through it!
As we walk through the arch, I can feel raindrops falling on me. There are clouds inside and it's raining inside!!! It is really an amazing place….
When we start to climb in the Arch we notice how everything feels a little dirty. It looks truly amazing but the climbing is maybe not what we expected of it.
Sandra tries Sushisson 6b+, and after that Dragon Bolt 6c. The last route is very technical, but I manage to come to the top. Marcel climbs Capucine 7b on sight, and Dunman 7a+. The last route is really bizarre shaped underclings, and the steps are mainly friction. It is very typical for Getu.
In the following days we climb at various places, but our favourites are Banyang Cave, where Sandra climbs her first Chinese 6c, and Marcel red points and almost onsights several 7c's. Another favourite is Oliver's Crag and Wayangs Cave and of course Fish Crag, where I took this amazing picture of Marcel below. I also loved Rastaman Crag, where I onsighted my first 6c+!!! :-))) My goal of the trip, to climb 7a, is coming closer!
We finally stay in Getu for 2,5 weeks. We love it very much. The climbing is great and the people are really nice. In the beginning we are with about 30 climbers in the village because it is national week, a holiday for all the Chinese. But after that week we are only there with 9 other climbers. We eat together every day, the same Chinese dishes in the same restaurant, and after 2 weeks we are craving for different food. We look forward to going back to Yangshuo and eat burgers, pizza and meat!

First impression of Yangshuo, China

We are now in Yangshuo, a city near Guilin, South China.. Yangshuo is a fairly large town, much bigger then we expected. And we don't notice much of the communism. There is an abundance of shops and traders here, the prices are free, and you have to negotiate everything. Everywhere people are persuading you to come inside and have a drink. Capitalisme rules here, I would say!

 The shops here are open from early morning to late at night. Not that it matters, because our backpacks are so full there is no room for shopping. I guess that's good for us for a change! The food here is amazing. Every day we eat "bao-tse" some kind of steamed bun filled with meat, vegetables and rice. We haven't eaten dog yet (that we know) but we did eat stomach… yes, the translation is in fact "meat" as well! We ate it, but maybe I would't have chosen it from the menu if I would have known!

 The Chinese like to cycle and the lazy Chinese ride electric bikes. You see those electric bikes everywhere. Public transportation is also very cheap. We have rented a bicycle several times, and we also take the bus. This morning, when I arrived downstairs, Marcel's bike wasn't there anymore. Of course it gave me a fright, thinking it for stolen for a moment. When I went looking for it, it turned out… it was towed away!!! It was parked in front of the wrong hotel, so it got towed away….. luckily we didn't get a clamb on our wheel, just like you get in Amsterdam! :-))

 The scenery is really pretty here. Yesterday we cycled to the Dragon bridge, along the Yulon river. It was really beautiful, like we where cycling in an old Chinese movie. Ricefields, mountains, little villages along the way. We watched water buffalo's and farmers working, and children running with us while screaming proudly "hellooooo!!!" to us. Needless to say, we took many photo's along the way. 

When we arrived at the hostel "Climber's Inn", Lilly the owner took us climbing on a nearby crag only hours after we arrived. That's what i call a warm welcome...  Climbing here is great! After a hard start because we needed to get used to the rock here, are we back in shape. We have been to Moon Hill twice already. This is a climbing area with rock in the shape of a half moon. You have to climb 700 steps in order to get there, but it's worth it! :-) On the stairs two old ladies sell ice-cold cola and mango juice. One is 56 and the other is 73 years old! Every day they climb all these stairs. Marcel went climbing with a South African man named Herman. Together they climbed "Moonwalker" a 7C. I climbed a very pumpy 6A+ and a 6B. The gradation is by the way a little harder then we are used to, but maybe we also need to get used to the rock a little more. We also went to White Mountain, one of the major crags here. This is a huge wall with a big steep section. On Moon Hill we also met a group of Chinese tourists. They where from a different part of China and did not see so many foreigners yet. "May I take a picture with you?" times 30 ;-) We will be famous! :-))

We Are On Our Way!

By the time you're reading this message we are probably sitting in an airplane somewhere between Amsterdam and Hong Kong. We're very excited that the Trip Has Begun and we promise to keep you posted on our adventures (if the The Great Chinese Firewall permits us).

New climbing gear arrived!

The mail today brought a much anticipated package: our new climbing gear from our sponsor DMM has finally arrived, just before we're heading to China! DMM is well-known for it's excellent craftsmanship in making the safest and lightest carabiners and they are one of the few companies who have not off-shored their production factory to the Far East.
Because of their weight, DMM climbing equipment is often used by trad climbers. Considering we're going to have to carry it for the next 10 months we're very glad to have joined the DMM team! DMM sent us quick draws consisting of the Alpha Trad and Spectre 2 biners with a 18cm dyneema sling, two Renegade harnesses and some Belay Masters and Screwgates. 
Here are some iPhone photos taken from our roof terrace overlooking the centre of Amsterdam. It's a really cool view up there, but i'm looking forward to waking up with a nice mountain view on the other side of the globe :)

Climbing 9A made easy

Remember the days when "sticky rubber" was invented? All of a sudden those seemingly impossible friction walls were climbed by climbers wearing Boreal Fire or PE shoes. Climbing technology kept on improving every year, quick draws and ropes became lighter, training methods were improved... and now there is the ultimate technologic advancement to conquer the last unclimbed vertical walls!

Participating in a challenge for the American Air Force where the objective was to create innovative climbing equipment to get people over a 90 foot vertical concrete face, the Utah State Univerisity was the clear winner with "The Personnel Vacuum Assisted Climber!". 

I wonder when this apparatus will be small enough to take with you on the rocks :-).

(from: Hightech Edge)

Short visit to Font

Beginning of april we took off for a few days of bouldering on the beautiful stones of Fontainebleau. It has been quite some time since the last time we visited the forest and it was a joy to be back! We visited Gorges d'Apremont, Franchard Cuisiniere, Petite Bois and Restant du Long Rocher but both of us were not in the best of shape so no big numbers were crushed. The weather was perfect and we met up with quite some friends, Font is a very social experience!

Robert-Jan in Egoïste, Gorges d'Apremont

Sandra in 20 blue, Gorges d'Apremont

Focus on the crux..., Gorges d'Apremont

Marcel in Clin d'Oeil, Gorges d'Apremont

Arnold in Big Jim, Petite Bois

Tenerife Night Climbing

A few weeks ago we hooked up with the guys from Team Rasclat to go bouldering in Tenerife. Here are some photos of our Bouldering at Night session. 

The overhanging cliffs of Arico

Climbing photo wins climbing wine

The Dutch rock climbing and boulder magazine BLOK (Bl.ad o.ver k.limmen) runs a photo competition on their website. Sandra decided to send in one of the photos of our spring 2011 Kalymnos trip, and guess what.. we won two bottles of "Climbing Shiraz" :).

The winning photo, featured on their website and in the BLOK magazine, shows me climbing Kerveros 7a in sector Spartacus, a very aesthetic route with lots of stalactite features and a marvelous view.

Climbing in Kalymnos

Twelve years have past since i entered a 'serious' climbing competition, so when i read about the Dutch seniors national climbing competition NK Veteranen, i thought it would be fun to enter. And guess what, i won 1^st price! :) The results are listed on the site of Mountain Network, organizer of the event. It was a lot of fun, especially since we came home with two 1^st prices... Sandra's age group only had one participant :). Unfortunately we won't be there in 2012, by that time we'll be pulling some rock somewhere deep into rural China.