Spy Climb

When you hit rock bottom, the only way back is UP!!!

2011-07-26T14:26:00.001-07:00

There were a series of events that prompted me to look back at what truly defines an athlete. Not one who goes on smooth sailing through life, bags the prizes, and basks in the adoration of fans. No. It's one who gets side-swiped by life, run over but gets back up and throws it down through the pain and odds.

One of these events is from this year's Tour De France. Of Dutch cyclist Johnny Hoogerland in a breakaway from the pelaton going for the stage win when he and Juan Antonio Flecha got side-swiped by a careless driver. Flecha received the major impact hitting the road at full speed but Hoogerland took the brunt of the crash, landing on a barb wire fence.

The aftermath of Hoogerland's brush with a barbwire fence.

Astoundingly, both Hoogerland and Flecha picked themselves up and crawled to the finish. Hoogerland received 88 stitches for his escapade and the win of the pokadot jersey.

Three weeks ago, I got to meet Noelle Pikas-Pace at the annual UAHPERD conference up in Park City. Noelle's a skeleton racer who competed from 2000 to 2010.

She won three medals at the FIBT World Championships with a gold and two silvers.
After winning the silver medal in the women's skeleton event at the 2005 FIBT World Championships in Calgary, she emerged as one of the favorites to medal at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Turin. That would change on October 19, 2005 at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Calgary when she broke her right leg after she and her teammates were hit by a four-man bobsleigh that failed to brake after the finish line. The bobsleigh ejected out of the end of the track and hit Noelle and teammate Lea Ann Parsley, narrowly missing three other teammates. She suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula, and underwent surgery to repair her broken leg, including an insertion of a titanium rod in her right leg. Instead of quitting and wallowing in her predicament, she started aggressive physical therapy and returned to competition seven weeks later at Igls, Austria, finishing 20th.

In 2007, Noelle went on to win World Championships, by the largest margin in history, while breaking the track record in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and again becoming the first American Woman to obtain the title of World Champion in the sport of skeleton.

I know that most of us regular Joes wouldn't face anything this dramatic but we do get hit by life in our own unique ways. Take Tanleng for example. She had her foot dislocated and leg broken in Feb. When it happened, we just couldn't believe how she's gonna get back to normal function, let alone do the things she loves.

But in the end, we got it fixed...with two plates and nine screws.

Those months of recovery were tough on both of us. But through all the pain, pills and tears, she's now back in action. Recently, she sent a 12d and flashed a 12b in a day. 12s are usual fare now and she about to send one of the stoutest 13a in American Fork.

Strangely, we both now have the same story to tell with our right foot. Though I haven't broken my leg, I have dislocated it bouldering in SAFRA Bukit Merah in 1998. Had it fixed with surgery and was out of action away from climbing for a year. During that time, I was getting really good at Counter Strike, school and dating Tanleng. It helped that my wife, who was my girlfriend then, had so much love for climbing that I got drawn back into climbing. Progress came slow with an impaired right leg but it all worked out in the end. I started to love climbing all over again and got in shape at the same time. Very good shape....especially when it comes to bouldering. And when all the tertiary institutions like NUS, NTU and SP started their inaugural series of bouldering comps, I pretty much won every single one they put out.

Here are some of the hardware my brother randomly found in my storage stash in Spore. Don't really know where the rest are. Nevertheless, this is just a reminder that those years from 2000-2002, were my golden times as a competitive climber. I also got sent to the first Asian Championship for bouldering in 2001 and made it to the Finals alongside the usual Japs and Koreans. That was a proud moment.

And with every tide of success, there'll always be a lifespan for every athlete. Having a full time job took its toll but amidst the madness of work, I managed on last hurrah in the South East Asia Climbing Federation(SEACF) Circuit in Malaysia.

Jay recently reported on his blog that the SEACF circuit have been revived this year. Proud that he won the gold and that once again, Spore has a young and strong contingent.

Anyway, if you're reading this and you're in the pits of despair surrounding the circumstances of your situation, you just got to make up your mind about where to go from here. Remain in despair, or pick yourself up.

Contact 2.0

2011-07-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Demon have been serving me well and is my weapon of choice for outdoor sends...check, Big G. The Mad hommies were kind enough to send me a pair of Contact when I sounded to them that I was toying with the idea of having an indoor training/gym shoe so that I can preserve my Demon.

I received the new Contact three weeks ago and I've got to say that these puppies are a step beyond the ones I used to have. Let's not forget that the Contact were the shoes that got me up my first 5.14.

Lateralus, post send with the "old" Contact.

The technology that these guys have thrown into their new range is just staggering.

A look at the sheer quantity of innovation and workmanship of the new products more than convinces me that the new Contacts (or any other Mad equipment) will perform remarkably.

I also had an opportunity to contribute to Madrock's 2012 catalog with a written section on friction. It is a real privilege to be working with such a cohesive and innovative team.

The Mad hommies will be in town soon for the annual Outdoor Retailer Tradeshow in two weeks. Can't wait to check in and hang out with the Mad crew and sample the new products...oh, and did I mention that they have a new Flash in the pipeline? Can't wait...then check it out here!

Open publication - Free publishing - More belay device

Big G, 5.14a

2011-07-17T08:52:00.001-07:00

The Big G went down yesterday!! This beast links the cruxes of Body Count and Cop Killer.

This one's legit, bitches!!!

SCS Youth Divisionals 2011 - Updated

2011-06-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a season for the Front Climbing Team. Considering the fact that this is our first season competing on the ropes, the team has done an awesome job holding their own against competition that specializes in difficulty. It's been an enriching experience working with the kids in the team. A truly wonderful bunch who are dedicated, and joyful. Real gems. The Youth Divisionals will be held at Momentum gym this weekend and everyone's psyched about it.

The future...the SLC and Ogden Youth Climbing Teams coming together to prepare for a strong showing at the SCS Divisional Comp coming up this weekend!

Honestly, there were many doubters at the beginning saying boulderers can't rope climb. Yes, we get pumped quickly but give us time, we'll be up and running. And the kids' showing for the past comps are testament to that. And don't forget, as Tony Yaniro used to say..."If you can't do the moves, there is nothing to endure."

Update: Axel Dillman qualified for the Nationals after last weekend's Divisionals representing in his new Demons! Props to the Mad hommies for getting the shoes to him in time!

Madrock Commercial

2011-06-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Mad hommies just put up this commercial. I love working with these guys and it's been a real privilege to be representing a company that is driven by innovation, interaction with the community, and most importantly, a great love and respect for the outdoors. Enjoy!

Demon 2011 - Long Term Review

2011-05-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

It's been 2 months since I've received the Demon 2011 in the mail. Having tried on the demo at the Winter OR, the excitement of anticipating for it to arrive at my doorstep was reaching boiling point. As you would've expect, the shoes went to work immediately upon arrival at the my local gym...The Front SLC.

Since Tanleng is recovering from her traumatic ankle injury, pretty much all of my climbing has been confined indoors. The crappy weather compounded this problem but hey...isn't that what SchidzoSpringnia's all about.

Anyway, the Demon felt much smaller than the outgoing model for the same size but I was sure a little breaking in will do the trick of softening it up. Initial trials out the box was assuring when it came to precision footwork due to the fit of the shoe. The fit was like a glove thanks to the new material used in the uppers of the toe box. Typical material by most manufacturers have been leather and synthetic codura to limit stretch. This new material is a compound made almost entirely of rubber, thus allowing the toe box to flex (hence the name Powerflex) over the knuckles of the toes, alleviating pain often associated with tight shoes.

The shoe is super downturned but the unique thing about it is that the shoe has been able to hold its original shape throughout these 3 months. Again, this is only possible due the introduction of a new midsole material...polycarbonate. Unlike most shoes with midsoles, the Demon possess a great balance between stiffness and flexibility due to the use of this polycarbonate concave midsole. Enough stiffness to stand on the smallest of jibs and enough flexibility to toe grab on the steepest of caves. The new feature on this shoe is the heel cup jointly developed with Dai Koyamada. The heel cup fits snuggly considering that my low volume heel and doesn't let off any bagginess, often associated with shoes made without molded heel cups. Here's a vid of Dai climbing Agartha V14 in a Demon prototype.

AGARTHA V14 from project_daihold on Vimeo.

Prior to the Demon, I was a huge fan of the Super Locos and the Contacts. They were the only shoes I've worn on all my 5.14 sends but I'm sad to say that they have now been relegated to storage due to the phenomenal performance of the new Demon.

On the whole, this shoe pretty much does it all and it has been delivering since day one out of the box. Either that or I'm actually getting strong climbing in the gym this whole time...or maybe both.

And speaking of the gym, the Front's owner, Dustin Buckthal, and his crew of dedicated wall builders (Vertical Solutions), gym staff and phenomenal setters, have been hard at work organizing the FCC Semi-Pro Bouldering Series. The series consisted of 3 separate qualifiers in the Front SLC, Front Odgen, and Front Boise, with 10 competitors from each qualifier battling it out this Fri (Semi Finals) and Sat (Finals).

I managed to qualify for the Semis this Fri and here's the starting order based on qualifying results:

Looks like I've managed to put my dismal Spore climbing episode behind me and gotten my health back. Time to bring my A game this Fri and most important...my new kicks! It's been a real privilege representing the guys at Madrock cos these Mad hommies never stop innovating. And this latest performance shoe is a testament to advance technology applied to a product with great workmanship available to everyone at a reasonable price.

Swizzy Bouldering with Martin Keller

2011-03-16T09:33:00.001-07:00

It's great news to know that my Swizzy homie, Martin's representing Moon Climbing. We first met Martin on one of our most memorable Krabi trips with me achieving a personal milestone, sending Asia's Shadow Play and Cara Cangresso, downing tons of mango sticky rice and Chang beer in the process.

Though both of us have moved on to bigger things with our climbing, Martin's progress in bouldering has been absolutely astounding, with sends of Dreamtime Stand v12, Collateral V14, The Dagger V14, and Confessions V14, to name a few.

This one's for the ladies.

Here's a interview Moonclimbing did with Martin.

The pic of me on ASP is also courtesy of Martin spending an entire day in the scorching sun snapping me hamming it up for the camera. Thanks dude!!

You can view Martin's blog by clicking his link on the right column under my fav links and blogs.

Show of Hands

2011-02-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

Our last trip to Moe's was eventful to say the least. Eversince Tanleng had her ankle broken, she's feeling alot better coming out of surgery cos we've been diligent at nursing the injury. It's also at times like these that your friends show who you how much you mean to them.

Anyway, it's been two weeks since the accident and I haven't had the chance to climb. All my time has been spend taking care of Tanleng's needs and that's simply way more important than anything else right now. Nevertheless, I had the chance to get to the Front for a sesh last Sat after two weeks of being sedentary and gravity hit me like a massive brick wall. I must say I was unpleasantly surprise cos two weeks prior, I was getting to the point where I felt I was in shape. I was super pleased with sending Show of Hands, Lindner Roof, and Underwhelmed, all in a day. But the sesh at the Front left me feeling like the way it was when I was in Spore...super drained, peeling off holds I can usually crush. I'm glad I recovered from that episode of being super ill with a bad bout of flu. I guess there's some truth to the adage "you snooze, you loose." Then again, I really shouldn't be complaining cos being out of shape is still alot better than my wife's current predicament.

Here are two vids of Show of Hands. One's by Joe Kinder and the other's by my buddie Scott Hall who pretty much cruised the climb.

show of hands from jorge visser on Vimeo.

Show of Hands V11, Moe's Valley from Scott Hall on Vimeo.

Scott's feet beta worked like a charm. Thanks!!!

But being 5'7", I had a hard time coming around the arete for the left hand bump to the better hold. That called for some drastic but novel measure...busting out a Sharpy to make a mark on my left forearm to make sure I bump far enough around the arete for a blind slap for the good hold. That was all I needed for the send.

Tanleng's Injury Update

2011-02-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

I'll like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for dropping in with their well-wishes, encouragement, and prayers, and also those who came by to visit. Really appreciate it. I would also like to thank Marc & Sybille Le Menestrel, Mike & Amy Beck, and all the members of the church in SLC for going out of the way to comfort and assure us that everything's gonna be ok. Big props to Chad and Scott for hauling Tanleng out of Moe's. I would also like to give a big shout out to the kid who helped call 911 and went out of the way to guide the EMTs to us. I must apologize for forgetting your name but hit me up if you have the chance.

It was really unfortunate that Marc & Sybille came all the way from Spain for this to happen. Would have loved to spend some time together but it was really comforting to have them by our side when Tanleng was stretchered out of Moe's.

Mike and Amy also went out of their way to make some really important phonecalls to the right people in the orthopedic community. Come to think of it, it's really crazy how small the world is and how connected we are to some people than we actually know. Turns out Amy's dad's Thomas Rosenberg of the Rosenberg Cooley Metcalf Orthopedic Clinic up in Park City. They were the ones who operated on Tiger Woods' knee. The surgeon who operated on Tanleng's Dr. Tim Beals, who's a surgeon at the U Orthopedic Center and also a partner at the RCM clinic and apparently is the best ankle & foot surgeon in town.

Dr. Timothy Beals

The surgery took about 3.5 hours cos the team need to fix quite a substantial amount of ligament damage. As for the tibia and fibula, it came down to plates and 11 screws.

X-Ray of the injured leg pre-op.

The shoe that I had to cut up just to get it off her foot.

Tanleng's doing pretty well post-op. There doesn't seem to be a substantial amount of pain but any type of pain associated with a surgery is bound to keep anyone in a certain level of discomfort any time of the day.

Dealing with this injury has affected both of us quite a bit. Week 1 was pretty rough just to get simple chores (ie. cleaning and dressing up, getting up and down our apartment) done. As a friend said, "there's always more than one victim in any accident." But that's why I married her in the first place. Going through life in sickness and in health isn't just lip service.

Calamity!!!

2011-02-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

We've been heading to St.George, Utah every other week just to get away from the winter chill in SLC. The sportclimbing on sandstone is quite a draw for many Salt Lakers but we decided to check out the bouldering at Moe's Valley last Sunday in hope of kickstarting our bouldering season.

Show of Hands, V11

Unfortunately, the season ended as quickly as it started. All was good with my one day send of Show of Hands, until Tanleng fell and dislocated her ankle. Her fibula and tibia were also broken and it looked pretty nasty. Worst part was being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no cellphone reception. Good thing there was a kid with a working cellphone but the 911 operator had no clue where we were despite our best efforts in describing the location. All that finally done, the EMTs couldn't get the ambulance in there so they had to get in there in a truck and then hike the rest of the way in to us. Pretty epic if you think about my poor wife having to wait all that while with the foot completely out of place. When the EMTs finally got her stabilized, we had to haul her out of there on a stretcher and props to everyone there especially Chad and Scott!!! Beer and food on me the next time!

Tanleng's feeling a little better now that the docs managed to put her foot back in place and splinted her up for our 300 mile drive back to SLC.

I'll update this blog again for the latest on her condition.

So much for our plans and aspirations for 2011.

Demon 2011

2010-12-29T17:51:00.000-08:00

I'm currently in Singapore visiting family and friends for the hols. Crazy to think that it has been 3 years since I left. Spore is still a bustling little garden city and having seen Seoul, KL, and cities around the US, I've got to say Spore is really quite the clean and lush city it has been touted to be. Respect! More on our trip later cos I would like to present to you the new Demon for 2011.

The 2011 model retains its aggressive down-turned profile but apart from that, everything's NEW!!! The recent Mad lineup of shoes were designed in collaboration with Dai Koyamada. The end product sees a new heel, dual density sole and most radical of all....the Power Flex uppers. Basically, the Mad homies are not using fabric for the uppers. They have invented this flexible, sticky, moldable rubber that can be sewn directly to the rest of the shoe. So basically this eliminates the searing pain most of us feel when we downsize our shoes. The Power Flex uppers amazingly flexes and molds over the knuckles providing comfort and sick toe hooking ability. Honestly, I don't think I'm doing a great job describing it, so don't just take my word for it...try it & I guarantee you wouldn't be disappointed.

I'm expecting my first pair of 2011 Demon to arrive in the mail soon. I'll give more scoops and updates once I get some mileage on them. Stay tuned and thanks for reading. Have a great 2011!!!

The Front Climbing Team Getting Psyched For Regionals!

2010-12-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

As reported in the Front SLC Blog, The Front Climbing Team is shaping up and looked super strong at the ABS comp at Momentum last month. Axel Dillman had his best comp ever and took first in Youth C, far ahead of the competition. Austin Hansel and Theresa Nielson also placed well at their first ABS comp. Keep up the good work team! Proud of y'all!!!

Here's wishing everyone a crushing good time at tomorrow's Crux'mas comp and the Regionals!!!

BAH HUM BUG!!!

2010-11-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

The weather hasn't been on our side lately. To say the least, the outlook has been grim. We got a snow closure notice from the U the other day for a blizzard warning. On the one hand, the storm turned out to be rather lame cos it's bark was worse than it's bite. On the other hand, I thought the U did a great job getting everyone off school/work so that we can return home safely. Nevertheless, temps are way below ideal for any climbing....bbbrrrrrr!

Here's a vid from Joe Kinder that speaks volumes about the situation right now. The snow really is a sight to behold, especially here in Utah (best snow on earth!). At the same time, climbing's out of the question.

The Dreadful First Snow of The Season from Joey Kinder on Vimeo.

So we pretty much have been getting into the gym alot, working on the last few assignments/exams for the end of the semester and looking forward to our trip back to Spore. And as much as we envy those who are still enjoying their climbing in the warmer regions, I've decided not to dwell on things I haven't done, but reflect on things that I have done this past season.

The season has been eventful to say the least. Looking back, I realized we've actually spent all our time on the rope. I guess the bouldering season didn't really happen. Ever since I snagged the 2nd ascent of Lateralus, I've decided to consolidate my climbing at the 14a level rather than hit up a higher grade. Moreover, with all the stuff that's on my plate right now, I find it hard to keep my climbing at a desirable level having to deal with pursuing a doctoral degree. The challenge is in the balance. Anyway, even as I reflect on some of the more notable climbs I've done this season, they are a greater reflection of my personal struggle to stay on top of my game than number chasing.

American Prayer, 5.14a (Rifle, CO)
Cryptic bouldery lower section that required me to devise a sequence that felt V9/10. Combined with having to compete at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, I really had to dig deep to pull this one off. I also had to focus on getting the top section dialed in, lest I punted off post crux. Rifle's a beautiful place to climb. Plans are underway for next year.

Deal Souls, 5.14a (American Fork, UT)
Super steep, bouldery, power endurance climb. Clips alone are hard, pulling seemed impossible when I first got on it. Initial progress was good when I had to take a break for a trip to So Cal to visit my Mom. At the same time, we also decided to stop by Yosemite to sample some summer bouldering (check: 80+F, gozillion tourists and bugs). First day, 7:30 am attempt on Midnight Lightning gifted me with a fracture calcaneous (heel). EPIC FAIL!!! Result: Visit Mom ahead of schedule, Mom was pissed and gave me an earful for showing up with an extremely swollen and purple foot. Upon returning to SLC, I could only climb with one foot. But over the course of the rest of the summer, I managed to squeeze my foot into a slightly oversized slipper and sent Dead Souls. Moral of the story...as long as you got them arms, you can make it work with less on ya legs.

Millennium, 5.14a (Maple Canyon, UT)
What can I say about Millennium, except that it's totally my anti-style. I'm better suited to climbs that are short & bouldery, given that I spent so much time in the gym. Considering that the crux is in the low V-grade (perhaps V4?), I got my arse handed to me big time when I first got on it. The pump was sick and I didn't enjoy it. Then again, Tanleng was having a blast at Maple cos that's where her A game's at. I didn't wanna sulk, so suffering on Millennium's better than sitting around like a turd. I totally surprised myself for sending it the first time I blasted through the crux. I've never felt like I had to fight so hard since my send of Asia Shadow Play, Krabi.

I guess it's been a pretty good season thus far except for Big G. Progress came too little too late with winter closing in. I was throwing myself at it 3 days in a row with 5 burns each time, cumulating to me punting off post Cop Killer crux. My fingers were basically frozen. Next season hopefully. And speaking of next season...I'm hoping for bigger things to come...so here's the tentative list:

Big G, 5.14a
Cannibals Direct, 5.14a
Super Tweak, 5.14b.

And in the near future....being able to climb in Spore's infamous weather, 90+F in over 90% humidity...come to think of it, I probably should look forward to the food instead and hanging out with the family...missing my Mom, Dad and bros big time!

Epiphany!!!

2010-10-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

I guess everyone have their moments of epiphany. Individually, me and Tanleng had ours on our projects today. Difference is, I still didn't quite manage to send but she DID!!! El Diablo 12d/13a was pretty much her nemesis since day one of coming to AF. Just when she could do all the moves and cumulated all her efforts to one hang, she was still stumped by the huge (cos she's 5 ft) deadpoint to the pocket at the 3rd clip.

Anyway, I was punting on Big G when I randomly spotted a tiny chip for my left foot that worked wonders for sticking the undercling move on the Cop Killer crux, STATIC!!! EPIPHANY!! Problem was, it was my 2nd burn and I was also feeling the effects of Wed's gym sesh. Went on to making the move successfully on my next go but faded out higher.

I guess this really motivated Tanleng to seriously refine her beta and with the discovery of a foothold way out left, her moment of epiphany enable her to make the move to the pocket static! Unfortunately, she was also starting to fatigue cos it was late in the day, probably around 6 pm and light was fading. I managed to convince to her give it one more go with the rationale that she's got nothing to lose anyway. I mean, we've both fallen so many gozillion times at the cruxes of our projects, how's one more fall gonna matter? This turned out to be the send of the day so BIG PROPS to my little pocket rocket!

Looks like I've gotta start bringing my A game the next time. Wish I had this in my arsenal though...the new 2011 Demon, availabe Dec 2010.

About a Beer

2010-09-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right...in climbing, it all comes down to beer. At least for me it is. I mean alot of us cannot deny downing a cold one epitomizes sweet vibes of hanging out at the end of a climbing day. For me, it was. At least that was when I wasn't broke. Now that I am, beer has become something I've put at the end of a stick in replacement for a carrot. Sounds kinda shallow but for those of you who savor the aroma of good hop, you'll know what I'm talking about. So here I have a common can of Pabst Blue Ribbon given to me at LCC's parking lot a couple of months ago....thanks Shingo!

I had it in my fridge for all this while cos I told myself I'll only get to savor it if I get Dead Souls done. And since I was getting pretty close, I figured it'll be pretty soon before I pop the lid and chug that golden ale down....WRONG!!!
Why? Cos it was all put to a stop due to THIS....that's right...Midnight Lightning!!!

Nope. Not only did I not do it, I shattered my left heel on the granite slab beneath it falling off the lightning bolt hold. First day, first try, and I completely missed the pads. So that pretty much ended my Yosemite trip right off the bat. Good thing is, I get to see my Mom alot earlier than intended so we ended up heading down to So Cal for the visit. Guess I don't have to narrate the aftermath of showing up at Mom's with a shattered heel that's now all purple and porky. Since I did mention that I was broke, that meant I didn't get the chance to get my injury checked out. So after 2 weeks of ice and elevation, we returned back to SLC with the climbing season in full swing...except for the fact that now I only had the use of one foot and how excruciating it was to put on just a regular shoe (let alone a climbing shoe). Tanleng was psyched and I was gonna let my injury get in her way of heading out to AF so I figured I can still perform my duty as her faithful belayer. So we headed out to AF with a walking stick in hand...well technically it's just a tree branch I picked up from the brush. So here we have a glorious climbing season going on, with me dragging a bad foot when I was reminded of the beer that's still in the fridge. I guess that was all it took for me to suck up the pain, slip on me climbing shoes and give Dead Souls a go.

Though I didn't send it right away, I felt pretty good on it. So I made the decision to rest a couple days, which I needed to do anyway with the OR Tradeshow in town and having to set at the Front for the comp in conjunction with the OR. Guess it came down to the rest cos it did go down on the first go coming back. That feeling was sweet cos I was so in control pulling every single move and basically cruised it with the sweet knowledge that I was gonna finally savor that little can of watered down beer. So did I drink it...NOPE...I kinda stared at it for a while and figured that I can save it for the next send...one that would feel hard...one that will take relentless effort. And it turned out I didn't have to wait too long for that to come. Cos we were headed to Maple and I was gonna get on something my anti-style....Millennium 14a.

Maple's pretty much Tanleng's playground. She's awesome with power endurance climbs and she pretty much walked Rucksack Wanderer 12d/13a and Deliverance 12c/d in one weekend. Me, I was getting my ass handed to me. See, I'm pretty accustomed to NOT getting too pumped at AF. I can deal with super bouldery moves but MAN...when it comes to long endurancy stuff...I'm a wuzz! So Millennium's basically a jug haul to a V4 crux and a dyno end. And it was starting to get pretty depressing having to put in so much legwork with the thought of never being able to send this rig this season.

But then again, when it's up against beer...I figured I better suck it up and put in 110%. I guess that mentality worked cos I unexpectedly pulled the crux, fought my way to the last rest and gave the dyno all I had. DONE FREAKING DEAL!!! And did I drink my little can of Pabst when I got home....YES!!!!

But does it mean that I'm just gonna kick back now that the beer's gone? I guess not...not when I'm up against BIG G!!!! YYEEEAAYYUHHH!!!

Here's a vid of Joey Kinder walking Big G. Dude's strong and made it look easy. Enjoy!!!

Joe sending Big G from Joey Kinder on Vimeo.

Test Vid - Self Intro

2010-08-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

So I was cracking my brains over how I can incorporate a voice over for my Prezi slideshow (previous post). Prezi was suggesting that I record an audio file and convert it into FLV format before inserting it into the slide to be run concurrently with the slides. I had alot of trouble converting my audio file into FLV format but chanced upon Jing. This software's pretty similar to a screen capture but allows the user to perform a vid capture with voice over. Pretty neat!

Here's the final vid using a combination of Jing and Prezi.

Prezi

2010-08-22T20:13:00.001-07:00

Preparing to teach my Biomech class this Fall led to a foray into a fancy new freeware online called Prezi. Here's a draft version of my self-intro to the class. Voice over coming soon.

To view the presentation, just click on the play button followed by Auto Play when you mouse over the bottom right corner of the screen.

Chee Hoi (Self- Intro) on Prezi

American Fork

2010-07-06T09:59:00.001-07:00

With the temps rising to scorching levels, Pro-Series will have to wait. Fortunately, the AF season is in full swing. We've been getting out mostly only on Saturdays and Tanleng managed to send Merciless Onslaught (hardest 12b ever!!! Eliciting major punting from me) and me sending Teardrop 13a. These aren't huge numbers but I'm relieved to know that with my limited endurance, I can make it work with efficient movement and the power I have stored up all winter.

So I figured maybe now's the time for a bigger number...Dead Souls 13d/14a at the El Diablo wall. This climb was first ascended by Scott Franklin during the AF pioneering era and given 14a. The grade was consolidated at 13d after several ascends. However, a hold at the 3rd clip broke some years ago and locals began calling it 14a again.

I first sussed out Dead Souls in Aug 09 when I was in SLC for a month. I remembered having a pretty hard time just clipping the draws, let alone climbing the darn thing. I was apprehensive about getting back on it at first cos I was thinking I'll probably get my arse handed to me like I did almost a year ago. Strangely, the moves felt very much more doable this time, and the holds even seemed to have grown!?!?!?!! Make no mistake, the climb is still bouldery hard and the hard clips just further compound the problem. So that was last Sat Jul 3rd. Tanleng was getting spanked on El Diablo 12d/13a (wat's up with all the slash grades in AF?)

We returned on Jul 5 (Mon) for another sesh. This time, Tanleng managed to do all the moves on El Diablo. Excellent progress honestly cos she wasn't even remotely close previously. And I actually came pretty close too with one hang on Deal Souls. Though these aren't big steps forward for both of us, whatever progress we get, we'll take it. As for the send, only time will tell, won't it?

As for my weapon of choice this time in hope of slaying the beast of the steep El Diablo wall....

....the Demon.

Akan Datang - So Cal

2010-06-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

My Mom's arriving in Huntington Beach tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to seeing her again. Miss my Mom and Dad loads cos I haven't had the chance to return home for a visit eversince my move to the US.

Plans are in the works to visit her in the 3rd week of July and also detours to Yosemite and Bishop from our drive from SLC. I've set my sights on Midnight Lightning in Camp 4 and also polish off some old projects in Bishop. Here's an old vid Thomas took of me on Morning Dove White V7 at the Happies. Though it's a great classic, I was clearly pissed about it spitting me off on my flash attempt.

Meantime, the season at LCC is coming to a close...just when I'm falling off hitting the ending hold on Pro-Series V11. Good news, I'm making it to the last move in 70F plus temps...bad news, I've been getting white knuckles greasing off the crimps. There's a price to pay getting out on warm, greasy evenings in my desperate attempts to bag it. The prospects of sending it in summer is looking grim. NEGATIVE!!!!

I'm hoping on getting better luck at AF.

Rifle and the Vail World Cup @ the Teva Mountain Games

2010-06-09T14:07:00.001-07:00

The sound of the wind blasting through my window had been going through my brains for hours now driving down the 6. It's ironic that I didn't have the A/C on cos it really is the only thing working on my car right now. Considering all that's broken or held together with duct tape and zip-ties, it's dumb not to enjoy the cool of the A/C in 90F weather. Oh well, all this to save gas cos we're Rifle bound. We were also pretty psyched about checking out the Vail WC happening in conjunction with the Teva Mountain Games.

Our psyche have been pretty high in anticipation of this Rifle trip but personally, I was kinda worried about my route fitness having been holed up all winter bouldering. I'm expecting tons of flailing but seemed pretty assured of doing well having signed up for the Citizen's comp at the Vail WC. Besides, I've kinda set my sights on trying American Prayer. It's apparently a 6 bolt 5.14a with a opening crux section of V9-11 depending on how you climb. It's the post crux section of actual route climbing that I'm worried about. But heck...let's worry about things one at a time. Meanwhile, Tanleng was psyched on sending some 12s.

We finally got to some wild campground called the Corral on our first evening outside Rifle Mountain Park. According to random sources, it's a much warmer place to camp and it honestly didn't look too bad compared to Cedar Pocket at VRG. But I have to admit it looked kinda dodgey with shot out beer cans and tons of dried animal bones around the campground. I was certain the cougar's stalking us.

Rifle turned out to be a really gorgeous place with a little creek running by the crag...and zero hiking.

Day one of climbing was pretty much exploratory. Tanleng sussed out the moves on Cardinal Sin 5.12a and I went and jumped on Amercian Prayer. I had Chad's V7 beta written down but making sense of it was cryptic. I soon resorted to formulating any sensible way of getting up the crux section and by the time I was done, I was completely wasted. I guess I only have myself to blame cos I had only one rest day before Rifle after 3 days on in SLC. Nevertheless, I spent the rest of the session sussing out the moves post crux...just in case I pull the rabbit out the hat for this one. So it was basically a one day sesh on American Prayer on Thu, rest Fri & Sat for the comp on Sun. Tanleng had better luck on Cardinal Sin, falling off post crux from an insane pump on Fri morning. So with nothing much left in our arms, we left for Vail.

We arrived just in time to catch the Men's Qualifiers. Here's Magnus Midtobe on a qualifier problem. Vail Village turned out to be a beautiful ski town. Tons of touristy shops with Euro architecture.

Chill'n.

And there's the Mud Run of course...GO MUD WARRIORS!!!!

Super GRRRLLLS!!!

...Batman!

....and them Sumo wrestlers.

Kayak Freestyle World Championship.

The torrential swirls are insane, lesser men would've drowned!!! These dudes are suicidal...I'll stick to fighting gravity.

The finalists lining up for the BIG showdown!!!

Men's Finals.

Bouldering World Cup 2010 • Vail, Colorado • Mens Finals from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

Women's Finals.

Bouldering World Cup 2010 • Vail, Colorado • Womens Finals from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

D Woods put up an amazing climbing spectacle winning it for the home team!!! Hori, who came in 2nd, is a beast too. Props to Killian for coming in 3rd with a broken toe.

Citizen's comp on Sun. My turn to pull down.

I've got to admit that I did feel like I'm hustling, signing up for the Masters' Cat but can't blame me for feeling my age lately. At the end of the day, my score would have placed me 4th in the Open Cat, against kids half my age.

It's been a while since I last stood on podiums. Better a has-been, than a wannabee.

So it was back to Rifle after all the fanfare. This time, we decided to give the Corral campground a miss and headed up to the National Forest free camping area 4 miles past the climbing area. The view is stunning!

I was feeling the aches from Sun's comp, plus an anvil of doubt about being able to pull the moves on American Prayer now that I have to resort to a much harder sequence. So we decided that Tanleng will get back on Cardinal Sin on Mon morning and I'll attempt American Prayer in the afternoon to give me more rest. The weekend rest in Vail did the trick cos she cruised Cardinal Sin on her first try back on it.

I got back on American Prayer to re-work Chad's beta and still couldn't figure it out. Looks like this 14 isn't going down without a fight. I gave it 2 serious attempts before deciding that I only have juice for one last go and calling it a day. Fatigue from Sun's comp was setting in and I was getting a whole lot of regret for signing up for the comp. Plus if I was to get back on to try the climb the next day, it would be 3 days on for me and my body would usually break down by then. So one last try it was...and one was try was all it took to SEND!!! Now I'm thankful for all the time holed up in the Front all winter bouldering!

Day 3 was spent checking out other classics. I called it the TRY HARD day cos we had to dig so deep to climb. Still, I managed to flash Cardinal Sin and Fossil Family. Tanleng also managed to fight her way up Fossil Family on her 2nd try for the send. EPIC!!!

And to reward ourselves for sending....we stopped by Draper on the way back to SLC for a massive double-double....ANIMAL STYLE!!!! YYEEEEYYUUUUHHH!!!

Mad Resole

2010-05-11T08:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we all had a favorite pair of climbing shoes that worked for us in all situations, especially when it comes to sending. My sending shoes are the Madrock Super Locos. So what happens when the rubber's burnt through as our favorite sending shoes approach the end of their life span? That's when we begin the hateful process of breaking in a new pair and hoping that they conform quick enough for us to send the next project....or at least spare us the agony of excruciatingly painful squished toes.

Well, turns out Madrock found the solution to the problem by offering a professional resole for all brands of climbing shoes with their propriety Science Friction 2.2 rubber at their Santa Fe Springs, CA HQ office. So when the Mad hommies told me that they can give me sending shoes a new lease of life, I was on it! I had my apprehensions at first from all the negative reviews of commercial resoles done at other joints. Common complaints were the delamination of the rubber, having to wait gozillion weeks for the shoes to return, and worse of all, the misfit of the shoes due to the resoling process of fitting it over a last that's not similar. But when I got me Super Locos back...lo and behold...here are the result:

Left: Brand new Super Loco with FX5 rubber.
Center: Beat up Super Loco with FX5 rubber.
Right: Newly resoled Super Loco with Science Friction 2.2 rubber. Custom made cos I didn't want to have the dual density sole.

Workmanship of the uppers was immaculate. Tears on the uppers are notoriously difficult to fix but not a problem for the Mad cobblers.

Custom resoling of the uppers so that they extend higher over the top for more rubber coverage.

So now, me sending shoes have a new lease of life. They climb solid right out of the box and I need not worry about breaking in cos they are my old shoes to begin with. Considering the quality of the resole, the reasonable price, and professionalism of the Mad hommies, this is a serious proposition for anyone looking to get a decent resole done...especially for those of you living in So Cal.

Look up Madrock Resole and you may find that orders are backed up till May 1, 2010. Testimony to the demand, so don't miss out on being part of the next batch.

Little Cottonwood Canyon

2010-04-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

With winter giving out its last breath, we were psyched to check out Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) given that it's just 15 mins from our apartment. Prior to having a personal experience of that place, we've been getting different stories from people about how some loved that place, while the major pretty much just bitched about the lack of footholds and odd features of the granite there. Nevertheless, when you have a place for outdoor bouldering 15 mins from your doorstep, you gotta at least CHECK IT AUS!!!

Sat's our typical climbing day but with the weather dumping 10 inches of snow 2 days before, we weren't sure if we were going to get anything out of LCC. But we went anyway. Place turned out to be pretty decent. Boulders were right off the pullouts. I had set my sights on Shingles V9, Copperhead V10, and possible Bully V11 at the Secret Gardens. I was pretty psyched to try Shingles first of all but the day turned out to be pretty damp with the snowfall, which made the Shingle move feel pretty impossible. I was kinda depressed cos it didn't looked like I could do Copperhead having seen how small the crimps were. But with nothing of interest around, I decided to try it anyway. Turned out I could pull the first move to the right hand crimp within a couple of tries but with the moisture, I was shutdown pretty quickly. Plus my cuticles were starting to tear from all the crimping. This was when a local came over to tell me not to beat myself up and return on a colder, dryer day. Spent the rest of the day checking out the Cabbage Patch and getting on "easier" climbs like the hardest V5 on earth...Fungus. My day pretty much ended when I couldn't get off the ground on a V1. NEGATIVE!!! I was really starting to believe in the curse of LCC.

We got news during the following week that Kim Boon was enroute from Yosemite to pay us a rare visit. And with him wanting to sample the best snow on earth, we headed out the following Sat to Snowbird Ski Resort to checkout the conditions and stopped by LCC again for another sesh.

Setting up the landing zone at the warmup boulder.

It's pretty amazing that with his extensive climbing experience, this was actually Kim Boon's first shot at REAL bouldering.

I take it that he likes it!

Tanleng on some V3 warmup.

I wasn't gonna waste any time getting back on Shingles, so I headed straight back to Copperhead and hoped that the temps were on my side this time.

Pulling the first move on Copperhead.

Copperhead has essentially 2 hard moves, which involves the first move into the right hand crimp off the ground, followed by cranking and getting the left hand on a semi-gaston lefthand crimp before busting the right hand to a decent incut flake. The second move to the semi-gaston wasn't exactly working out for me so I decided to switch my sequence out. I remembered vaguely when sussing out beta on youtube of Aaron Shamy busting right off the right hand crimp all the way up and hitting the decent flake with his left hand. I gave that sequence one go by stopping on the left hand semi-gaston first before moving off for the jump. And when I almost stuck the jump to the flake, the plan was to rest up and SEND!

Busting to the good flake.

SENDING!!!! YEEAAYYUUHHH!!!

Here's a vid of Aaron Shamy getting on a buncha climbs in LCC. There's one of him cruising Copperhead among other hard blocs. He didn't have to stop on the left hand semi-gaston. The bloke pretty much cranked down on the right hand crimp and bust straight out to the flake.

Managed to flash Barfly V9 (which I felt was V8) and Crystal Pinch V6 at the Gate boulders, which made for a pretty sweet day! Flailed on Superfly V8 cos I was so done by then but it made me pretty psyched to get on Pro-Series V11 the next time I'm there.

Here's Tanleng sending a pretty tricky V2 mantle. Rather decent effort considering the fact that she's still recovering from her back injury and didn't want to risk falling.

So the verdict is....LCC really isn't so bad afterall. The features weren't too different from the Tramway up in Palm Springs and Black Mountain, CA. Plus it's literally in my backyard and I don't have to pay for any tramride. Heck, I'm even considering getting a lamp and getting some night sessions in!

Pine Mountain Pulldown 2009

2010-03-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

Pine Mountain's sandstone boulders are nestled in the city of Ojai, California and provides a breath-taking scene for bouldering in the Spring and Fall. The Pine Mountain Pulldown (PMPD) has been going on since 2008, courtesy of a dedicated few lead by Yishai Horowitz and his company All Out Events. Me and Tanleng had a great time last year with our sponsor Madrock and I was pretty sure I wasn't gonna miss it this year with the Mad-hommies! Anyway, just wanted to blog it down here before I forget the good times I had with the crew.

I was pretty psyched in the days prior to the event cos I felt I was in pretty good bouldering shape but it's really strange how life can throw you a curve ball when you least expect it. Here I was in Long Beach living by myself (away from my wife who's in Utah). So what happens when you don't have your wifey around to prepare your meals....leftover pasta...and I mean waaayyyy leftover. Result => diarrhea the day before the comp....nothing better to make you buckle at your knees and letting your love with toilet paper be rekindled. Stomach felt fine the day of the comp but I wasn't so sure I could crush. Anyway, I packed tons of toilet paper along with my crashpad just in case MR.WET FART decided to show up when I do crush.

The day turned out pretty fine and here's some great footage from R. Tyler Gross at www.rtylergross.com from his coverage of the event. These are some of the sending shots he took.

My send of Involuntary Lunge V10. Pretty decent one-day ascent, beta thanks to Garret Gregor.

Here's the blow-by-blow account of the whole sequence.

The OOOHHHHH-YEEAHHH fist pumps from the crew!!!!

My attempts on some V8 that felt harder than V10....NEGATIVE!!!

Here's a example of the great scene you'll find at any boulder. Great company, tons of spraydown and a friendly spot. There's Anthony Tarascio in the background together with Mr. Bishop Bouldering...Wills Young.

And then it was PARTY TIME!

Me and Kaz...CHILL'N@the Mad-booth!

And don't even try keeping up with these grrrrls!

BIG thanks to Madrock for making it all happen. I'm really missing those times now that I'm in Salt Lake City. Then again....there's the Mammut Sendfest in Summer! See y'all hommies then!

Spring 2010

2010-03-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

Looks like my doctoral program has taken it's toll on my blogging. Not a good thing. In fact, my Spring semester has been kinda crazy. Nevertheless, here we are at the end of winter and looking forward to some good climbing days to come. It does snow occasionally. Kinda like winter's way of letting us know that it ain't going without a fight but on the whole, it's been pretty good T-shirt and shorts weather for the last couple of days...when I say "T-shirt and shorts" days, I mean temps in the 50s. Do not make the mistake that I'm referring to the Singaporean "average of 92F T-shirt and shorts" day. I'm so gonna melt when I return to Long Beach, let along Spore.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics taken during on my winter walkabout on campus at the U of U.

Who would've thought that the Merril approach shoes I got from Team Spore will actually work on snow. Good traction but the sole eventually delaminated after several months of stomping.

The snow kept us in most of the time and when you can't get climbing done outside, you're left with quite alot of time at your disposal. Tried my hands at baking cos when you want ya own cinnamon rolls, you just gotta bake it yaself.

The aftermath...pretty darn good cinnamon rolls!!

And one of the greatest perks of living here in SLC, besides being at a Research 1 University and 30-mins from world class climbing, is my very own mountain view from the bedroom every morning. And if you are reading this post, I do encourage you to click on the image for a better look.

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

2009-12-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

Winter finally made its presence known. It's been snowing pretty regularly and this has affirmed our resolve to remain indoors. My knee has been getting alot better, thanks to Ibuprofen and tons of ice treatment. And since I don't have an ice maker at home, the snow comes in handy.

My regular session of ice treatment on my MCL.

And since climbing is out of the question, I been getting back to my hangboard routine and also began experimenting with some body weight exercises adopted from www.beastskills.com.

Good thing the Front gym comes equipped with this...

...this...

...this...

...my beloved Franklin pincher board (the one I left back in Spore)...

...and the Moon Board!!!

I hope there's some truth to the saying that winter is the time to get STRONG!!!

UTES vs BYU

2009-11-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

Yes we played crappy for 3 quarters and came alive in the 4th to go into OT. And I'm still bitter about the TD that Max Hall threw but this comment by him takes the cake!!!

Taking a quote from my friend Dave,"it took max hall four years of hard work to build himself a reputation as a very good college quarterback. he then tarnished his legacy forever in a quick two minutes."

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why he was so fired up during the game(all thanks to the cussing, beer throwing UTES fans last year) compared to Wynn. Then again, gotta give him credit for rubbing salt into our wounds and keeping the rivalry alive for next year. Even though he has since issued a public apology related to his comments, I seriously hope someone will be smart enough to get the UTES to watch this vid right before taking to the field next year.

That's something we don't see in climbing. That'll probably explain why it doesn't make for an entertaining spectacle compared to football or boxing. Wouldn't it be interesting that, instead of the current cordial relationships that the world cup competitors maintain under the intense rivalry, someone like Ondra will at least mouth some trash talk against Paxi or something to get some heat going. Man! That'll make for some great viewership! Gotta love football when it comes to this!

On a personal note, I'm thankful that when it comes to outdoor climbing, I don't have to beat the crap out of somebody to win something. Moreover, you don't exactly win anything whenever we send something. It does however, keep the love between us and our neighbor. PEACE!!!

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

2009-11-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Eversince the vid of my send of Lateralus was posted online, I been getting tons of affirmation from friends in the U.S. and of course Spore. I'm proud of the send, not because it's of monumental significance to my climbing, but also a tribute to the people who have stood by me throughout my struggle to achieve it...especially my wife!

I must thank SCA for putting up a link to my vid as it does lend itself to my shameless self promotion. Though it was mistakenly touted the "first Sporean to send a 5.14", it did create some sort of buzz in the community debating about which Sporean really was the FIRST to send a 5.14. So let me clear it up right now...Jay was the first Sporean to send the 5.14a Lightning at Yangshou followed by my send of Lateralus a couple of months later. So apart all the spray about who's first, who's best in Spore and some say Batam, let me mentioned a few people, who have contributed to the progression of climbing in Spore and who have laid the foundation and spurred us into believing that we're capable of great things in climbing.

Anuar Hassan...our beloved nomad...first Sporean to send a V10 and getting it featured in Climbing mag (bet ya didn't know that!!)

Philip Lim...his masterful performance in sportclimbing is second to none (and cut that PR crap about him...cos he's always our homeboiii). Pretty much unstoppable in his prime and reigned as the Numero Uno in our Spore comp scene.

Halil B Ngah...Numero Uno in our speed climbing scene...then became a loving cat owner and now a loving husband and father. Spearheaded sportclimbing route development in Southeast Asia.

Thomas Tan...nope, he ain't just the guy who filmed my vid and stills. Bouldering aficionado. One of the first to travel widely to climb on blocs and eventually ended up in San Francisco. Currently has more V10s in his bag than any Sporean.

Suzanna Tan...first Sporean woman to send 5.13c (Asia's Shadow Play) and together with my wife, the only women in Spore to climb 13s.

Beatrix Chong...this lady needs no introduction and continues to rule the local bouldering scene.

And of course there's Jay...not only has he done Lightning, he has also sent Botanics 13d/14a. And with me, remains the only Sporean to have sent Jai Dum and climb 5.14.

So these are my picks. Why them? Cos during a time where standards were mediocre, they remained the only ones willing to put in sweat and blood, dedicated to achieving what no one in Spore has done before. Of course, with every wave, the second pushes the first and I can say that they too stood on the shoulders of giants to achieve what they have today...but it still remains for the next generation to build on their achievements.

Last but not least...there's....Shannon Tham a.k.a. FB. Cos he's my climbing instructor when I first signed up for a class and without his intro, I would never have gotten further into climbing. And as you can tell from the pic, his psyche continues to inspire me.

Arrrghhh!!!

2009-11-17T21:53:00.000-08:00

My session at the Front yesterday was a disaster to say the least. Sess started pretty well, feeling good on my warm-ups. That was till I got on a project and twisted my right knee getting into a drop-knee. I knew shit has hit the fan when I felt my knee crunched out of alignment. Now the area around my MCL's swollen and painful and any slight rotation of the tibia'll set off the knee in lock mode. I pray that this doesn't set me back permanently. Screw drop-knees!!!

Tramway Bouldering

2009-11-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

This post is kinda back-dated but I just wanted to make sure I have it in here before I forget.

I was living in So Cal, alone and away from my wife, for a couple of weeks in Fall cos I needed to complete the work on my thesis. Couldn't wait to get done so that I can head back to Tanleng but meantime, I got to sample some fine bouldering with the guys on a weekend. Headed out to the Tramway up in Palm Springs(finally!!) with Leo and decided to bring FB along for the ride.

The tram ride up to the summit.

Glorious So Cal weather!

FB hamming it up...no punt intended.

Angus V9

Sending Angus!

Sucking it in for the send.
Managed to send Byron's roof V9 (some say V10) on the same day!

Having to try my hardest for the day's flash of Power Windows V6. I was so done by then only the energy from the crew kept me going.

Moving On

2009-11-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

Eversince I got to Utah, I've been pretty busy trying get some personal admin done to establish residency here in SLC. First up, getting my license plate switched out.

Bye bye LA-LA-Land!

Lateralus 5.14a & Ghetto Crossing 5.13a

2009-11-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

Finally got down to editing the vids we took. Not our actually RP burns but I figured that the achievement on these climbs were of such monumental value to us that we should at least film them and place them in our life-goals archives.

Lateralus 5.14a from Chee Hoi Leong on Vimeo.

Ghetto Crossing 5.13a from Chee Hoi Leong on Vimeo.

A New Beginning

2009-09-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

Eversince we arrived in SLC, we were super psyched to checkout the local climbing areas. First up, Logan Canyon...home to Boone Speed's Super Tweak 14b.

China Cave

Super Tweak's V9 start is to my left.

The place is awesome to say the least. Considering that the wall is a 5-min stroll from the pullout and that it's shaded all day with the creek running next to it, it really doesn't get any better than this. There are more than a lifetime of routes right here.

Had a great first day out with an onsighted of Vulcan Crawl 12d/13a and if it wasn't for the huge flappers from the vulcan hold, I would've sent Girl Power 13b on my second try. Solution...tape, check....Girl Power, check. Brilliant route with a little bit off everything thrown at you...face climb, roof and overhang...I wouldn't exactly say that I like the sharp pockets though.

The following weekend, we decided to check out American Fork, which was a 40-min drive south of SLC. I managed to get in touch with Jeff Webb during the week and it was really pleasant to connect with someone who's familiar with Singapore in SLC. Jeff spent some time teaching as a visiting professor at NUS in the late 90s and that was perhaps the first time any of us in Spore had actually met a 5.14 climber. Not to mention the first ascentionist of Lung Fish (probably 14b now with the traffic it has gotten) in Rifle. Anyway, we got in touch and headed out to AF.

Together with Jeff at Hell Wall.

Jeff giving Hell 13a a burn.

Apparently the bloke hasn't been climbing for quite a while and obviously isn't in his prime but when you've got what it takes to be world class once, you'll always have it. His movement on rock puts my brute cranking to shame.

Me on Hell 13a...a bouldery little beast!

Jeff giving me a rundown of the routes at the Diablo Wall...managed to suss out the moves on Deal Souls 14a and THAT is AKAN DATANG!

Church Life in Long Beach

2009-09-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Acts 2:46-47 And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart, praising God and having grace with all the people. And the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved.

Moving On

2009-09-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Geez....when was the last time I updated this blog!?!!?

Guess everyone can tell that I've been down with tons of chores and one of the major ones was our move to Salt Lake City, Utah. So here we are pack'n and stack'n up for our drive up cos Tanleng's due to start her PhD prog at the U of Utah.

Loaded up and ready to GO!!! It's crazy how much we've accumulated since arriving here in the US with just 2 backpacks and a crash pad. I would say probably half the load is stuff from Madrock!!! Thanks guys!!

The drive from Long Beach to SLC ended up taking us 13 hours. Couldn't go too fast with a truck laden with tons of stuff...which I personally think is a good way of keeping me below the speed limit the whole way.

Leaving Long Beach was bittersweet. You know you're a great part of the church life when it pains you to leave one locality even though you're excited about joining another. I'm pretty sure the Lord will bless us wherever we are with a fulfilling church life. The only other thing that I'll miss is probably the climbing in Bishop, but then that shouldn't be too hard cos there's gonna be Joe's, American Fork, Maple Canyon, Logan Canyon and the Cottonwoods. SWEET!!!

Singapore Slingers

2009-06-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Thomas was in town for a visit from SFO so we pretty much have a good crew of Singaporeans around in LA-LA Land. We were psyched to get a Singapore night going so once FB gets back from his ROM, we were gonna do Bak Kut Teh, Laksa, Money No Enough and Mr Brown. Meantime, Thomas was nice enough to hang out with us at Malibu to shoot stills and vids of me on Lateralus and Tanleng on Ghetto Crossing. SWEET!

Getting to the crag was always an adventure trying to stay dry! I was hoping Thomas' bag was smaller but someone's gotta carry the chips and salsa. Traverse ain't exactly a gimme!

Busting out the move out of the cave on Lateralus. Hitting the pocket has been taking a toll on my fingers.

Tanleng running a lap on Ghetto Crossing 5.13a

And finally, the highlight of the week....Singapore Nite at Shannon's swanky Marina Del Ray apartment. Laksa, Bak Kut Teh, Money No Enough 2 and Mr Brown!!!! YEEEAAAA!!

I couldn't believe it when I actually needed subtitles for some of the dialogue in Money No Enough. I haven't been away from Spore that long not to be able to catch hokkien phrases, have I?

Team Hoyt

2009-06-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

When I saw the vid posted by Hatta under Facebook, I was reminded of this amazing father and son team. I've known it for a while through casual talk with friends telling me of this extraordinary feat by Team Hoyt but I didn't bring myself to actually check it out. Now that I've done so, I am awed, not only by the amazing feats by the Hoyts, but most importantly by the boundless love given to us by God. To know that, just like Dick Hoyt, God our Father will go through all odds to deliver us from a world that bounds us.

Support Team Hoyt at http://www.teamhoyt.com/

Graduation!

2009-06-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

Yup....we finally did the WALK last Wed!!! So this week has been super eventful with the two of us finally completing all our modules and me sending Lateralus! Unfortunately, we still have our thesis to finish up on but at least we're done with classes.

Finally getting our Masters in Science!!

Dean's list baby!!! Plus 4.0 Club! Mighty smart little girl but as long as I make her breakfast every morning, she'll give me the respect I deserve...YEEEAAA!

Me and cousin Linda...she could've passed herself off as a college student. Dearest family to us!!

The saints who've been faithfully sheperding us these couple of years.

So here we are, all decked out in cap and gown...supposedly the top brains in the country meaning that we're pretty smart but jobless in a dismal economy.

Sending Lateralus!!!

2009-05-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

Finally sent Lateralus! What an epic struggle! Frankly didn't think I was gonna send it with all the negative vibes I was dishing at myself and being exhausted from Tue's sess at BCR. Felt so strong last week but didn't send and conversely did when I was feeling kinda low psychologically and physically. I've always felt the magnitude of nervous jitters before sending but this time I also figured that at the end of the day, 4.8 million people in Spore and the billions in China ain't gonna give a crap about what I was gonna do so what's there to be nervous about!?!? All I did this time was pray, commit the effort to the Lord and God willing, He will bear me up to the chains!

Felt kinda desparate this week clearing the crux compared to the breeze last week but I told myself, if I stick that pocket move, I'm gonna give it all I have. Make no mistake, it was kinda sketchy getting to the anchors but I bore down as hard as I could.

Post send with my tools!

As I've always believed....it matters who's on the other end of the line. YEEAA!!!

There's a little spray associated with this route with conflicting tales from locals about the 2nd ascend. Apparently Michael Reardon bolted it while Shawn Diamond copped the first ascent so the main controversy lies with whether Reardon did the second ascent after Shuan. Whatever it is, I'm not gonna argue with anyone about this cos the spray isn't bigger than the tragic demise of Michael.

Besides, the main motivation personally comes from it being a life-goal to climb the darn thing before I get too old to bear down.

Props to Madrock and Edelrid for equipping me with the tools for the send!

Progression

2009-04-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

For climbing to develop the way it has in a sunny little island like Singapore is pretty amazing. To say the least, it's down right phenomenal considering the limited amount of "mountaineering" resources we possess within our 263 sq miles.

When Norman Mansoor posting several pics of Rock On in the '90s on Facebook, I can't help but realize that climbing in Singapore has actually progress beyond what a few pioneers would have ever imagined, in comparison to what they were capable of during their heyday. Strangely though, the scale and hype of climbing has taken a proportionally inverse relationship to the progression of climbing standards. We can begin to realize this when we take a look back at some scenes of what most climbing "dinosaurs" would describe as "The good 'ol days".

The old World Trade Center, housing the mammoth Rock On wall once every year. Considering that this was simply a local cum Southeast Asian event held in the '90s, it can actually be comparable to current IFSC World Cups by any standard.

No lack of competitors. Back in those days, if you're a bloke climbing 5.11, you'll probably win the day. Can't say the same now that we've reached the realm of V-double-digits and 5.14s.

And then there was the Taka venue, right smack in the middle of Orchard Road. The scale of the event was indescribably enormous!

Can't go on raving about Rock On without mentioning its stars. Here's our local strongman & woman Thomas (right) and Corrine (center) with whom I believe is Eric (left) from Malaysia. Along with Norman Mansoor and a couple others, these guys were our national pride in those days, dominating every comp. This is long before the appearance of our local mutant kids that we see now or even Khairul Hafiz and Nizam from Malaysia. Respect y'all!!

And for an island whose highest point is at 545 ft (166 m), the secret of sending comes from the tiny gym located in SAFRA Bukit Merah. The size of only half a squash court, it was home to the latest sends and spray...and of course lycra tights. No punt intended cos Wolfgang Gullich did send Action Direct in one of those. Lycra was how climbers REPRESENT in those days.

So for those of you indulging in this sport now, even as you consider how far we've come in terms of climbing standards, perhaps one question to ask is whether the magnitude of public events have somewhat diminished (save for Climb-On Spore). And instead of pointing fingers, perhaps also consider if you're willing to be part of a change to bring current events back to their deservedly glorious state. Imagine what a great spectacle it'll make if the public can witness the mutant abilities of the current generation on a grand scale.

Or whenever you're hanging out a local comp these days, do take the time to look around, for that average spectator next to you with disproportionate forearms, may just be the person with a history of CRUSHING big scale comps back in the lycra '90s.

Tossed by Waves

2009-04-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

As my final semester in CSULB approaches its final 4 weeks, this is literally how I'm feeling...tossed by the waves of worldly concerns and uncertainties of finding a job for our move to Utah. The only hope I have is the knowledge that the Lord will calm the storm, and as I plan my course, He will direct my steps.

And then there's the wait for my send of Lateralus. The fact that I can get past the last clip and gun towards the anchors may seem to signify that the send is imminent but with my current level of fitness, it's difficult to cruise through the 13a section after a desparate V9/10 section. This is further compounded by me having to take more rest days due to my elbow tendinitis, which have also kept me from my usual structured training. Let's hope that with last week's refinement of the crux moves, I will have a better shot at it this weekend.

We returned to climb at the gym this week after a 2-1/2 week hiatus and it's crazy how alienating climbing seemed to feel. We were so caught up with getting through the semester that it had unknowingly crept up ahead of most priorities in our lives...one of which is climbing. And naturally, you snooze, you lose. Ironically, our friends back in Spore still have the impression that we're enjoying a climbing bum life here in the US when in fact, we are just as busy as any city slicker, having to get through grad school, working to pay off rent and making sure there's food on the table at the end of the day. Such a contrast from my days of staying in 5-star joints for a weekend climbing trip to Malaysia, zipping around in a suped-up rice rocket, dining in fancy restaurants and catching soccer games on my 50-in plasma flatscreen TV. What a worldly life of excess I had then! Sadly I was clearly poor in spirit.

Nevertheless, regardless of my current predicament, I am truly thankful for the position that I am in now. While I lack so many necessities in life, I'm rich in Spirit. I rejoice to know that Jesus is with me, for He has cause me to grow so much with the little that I possess. And in light of the uncertainties that lie ahead, I can only pray...

...as for Thy way, O Lord,
I often am not clear;
I toward seclusion tend
And from the pathway veer.

Oh, may Thy living light, Lord,
Scatter all my night, Lord,
And everything make bright, Lord,
For this I pray to Thee.

Joe's Valley!!!

2009-04-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

Super psyched heading down to Joe's Valley. I mean, with all that internet stuff and spray from friends, you've gotta believe the hype somehow.

First impression of Joe's is that it isn't as gorgeous as the Buttermilks. But when I first got to touch the rock, I absolutely couldn't believe the texture! For once, we were climbing on rock that doesn't take skin like it does in Bishop! I was pretty sure I was gonna be in for a great time!

Apart from knowing that Darryl, Wes and Shuan were gonna show up, we were also excited about seeing Mary and Rocco again...good vibes from our last meeting in Bishop.

Shuan & Wes preparing the Lunch of Champions

I had my sights set on Fingerhut V10, Nerve Extension V10, Worm Turns V11, Resident Evil V10 and of course Jitterbug Perfume V10/11. Day 1 was spent messing around on the moderates cos I wasn't gonna burn myself out by jumping on the hard blocs right away. Plus with the tons of moderates around, we were pretty much having such a good time that it didn't really matter what we jumped on...anything and everything was fun!

Decided to check out Worm Turns on Day 2 and I've gotta say turning that worm takes some crushing pinch grip strength.

Carlo and Alex soon showed up and I basically got schooled.

Respect!

Alex came super close to sending it when the weather took a turn for the worse. As you can imagine, a tropical bloke like me would be overjoyed to actually see snow coming down but trust me, once the novelty wears off, it ain't a pretty sight having to stop shivering and keeping my climbing shoes from freezing. Tried stuffing them under my down jacket but I wouldn't say it was entirely effective.

Here's the crew is good spirits but it didn't take long for the temps to ruin it. I had the gut feeling that the end of our Joe's trip was imminent when everyone was getting into their cars and driving off.

Snow coming into the valley. There goes our Joe's trip! What a bummer having to bailout and driving back to So Cal!

Everything freezing up...my wipers froze, my cruise control froze. Doesn't all that frost remind you of Spore!?!?

Stopped by St. George for a day and decided to check out the sportclimbing at VRG. Not the prettiest of places especially with the dumb turn-arounds on I-15 plus the maddening traffic noise. Did gave Hell Comes to Frogtown a couple of goes and I really do like the climb. Super bouldery though...I later realized that most of my foot sequences were wrong when I saw vids of sends. I was beginning to feel pretty good on it with my crappy foot beta so I'm relieved to know that it could've been easier had I gotten better sequences. Not sure if I'll return to work it cos I wouldn't deliberately climb here unless I'm a local.

So the last Sat of Spring break was spent going back to Malibu Creek and this time, I fell of going for the anchors of Lateralus. Guess not everything's lost...only time will tell if I'll send it.

Spring Break in Utah

2009-04-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I last posted anything cos the semester continues to be crazy. Nevertheless, we still managed to find a little time to get out to Salt Lake City for our Spring break last week. Plus we were psyched to get out to Joe's Valley and hopefully send some nice lines. There has been a flurry of vids that continuously get uploaded on the net recently and this had produce alot of hype. Wes, Darryl and Shuan also agreed to drive up for the weekend so we were assured of good company.

The saints in Long Beach managed to hook us up with Daniel and Irene for some fantastic hospitality in SLC, 'cept that when we arrived after a 12hr drive, we were greeted by 24F temps...far from our likable So Cal standards. Regardless of the cold, we were warmly greeted by our hosts and visiting saints from the University of Washington. Awesome fellowship I must say!!

Our hosts, Daniel & Irene plus their daugther Olivia.

Visiting students from University of Washington

Breathtaking view around Daniel and Irene's house!

The next morning was nice and sunny but the temps continue to be in the 20s. Made a trip down to Uni of Utah for Tanleng to meet with her prospective advisers of her PhD program while I met up the Dept Chair hoping to secure a job in view our move to SLC in the Fall. With the economy in the pits right now, I've gotta say I'll have to fight tooth and nail to secure a job in SLC. Gotta pray hard that God will open doors for me now.

Not a matter of "If", but a matter of "When".

2009-03-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

Eversince Tanleng sent Ghetto Crossing 13a/b, the attention has been diverted to me on Lateralus for the past week. The closest I've got on the V9/10 crux was to struggle my way to the last hard move/jump to the 2-finger pocket on Ghetto Crossing. I basically figured that the move is feeling so desperate for me now that it'll probably take another couple of weeks just to stick that move. Strangely, I surprised myself last Sat by climbing the boulder section entirely, sticking the move to the pocket and actually getting on Ghetto Crossing. Sadly, it being my 6th burn and me usually not lasting too long working on V-double-digits, my fingers basically uncurled from the decent holds and fell off the upper section of the climb....well, not exactly kicking myself cos progress is progress afterall.

As for prepping myself for the climb, can't say I'll be able to do anything during the week cos school's been crazy and we're pretty much messing around the gym on Wed evenings without any serious training agenda. And with mid-term going on and me having to take the tests and also dishing them out to students, I've been missing my sessions at the weights gym even. This is seriously turning me into a weekend warrior. But I figured if I continue to put it on the line for this 14 and work at it with all I've got, sending it will be a matter of time.

Pocket Rocket!

2009-02-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

That's right, me little Pocket Rocket finally sent Ghetto Crossing. The winter rains decided to take a break and gave us a tiny window on Sat to head out to Malibu Creek. Conditions were not ideal...hike was muddy, creek was bursting its banks, traverse was slimey, cave was flooded, holds were damp, but heck....we were so adamant about getting back onto our projects that we were willing to wade into the freezing creek just to get to the Ghetto Wall.

Super stoked to see her send it, I probably screamed louder than her when she clipped the chains. And I guess the energy of the SEND TRAIN just kept going! Came within a move from clearing the crux of Lateralus myself so I guess it's Game On!

Pics and vid should follow in the coming weeks for Ghetto Crossing.

And speaking of winter, it's certainly a blessing that the weather for the "coldest" time of the year is actually pretty refreshing...away from the smog of Summer and the gloom of Fall. Here's a typical view of LALA-Land in So Cal these couple of weeks.

Here's another pic I took while on a visit to Pacifica High School in Orange County. If we had this view in Spore, I wonder how many of my kids would've skipped school, plus there's PE everyday!

Me New Puppies

2009-02-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

Got them puppies a couple of weeks ago and gotta say they're SWEET! The new line of Madrock's Con-series of shoes come with their propriety Science Friction 2.2 Mad rubber.

First look gave me the impression that the Con-series shoes were simply re-designed versions of the Hooker series. But upon closer examination and stuffing me toes in them told me that they are radically different in terms of last and camber.

Concept

Contact

A couple of sessions in them made me realize that they are poles apart from the previous Shark slipper. Personally loved the Sharks for their softness and sick toe-hooking rubber uppers but they were kinda on the broad side for my feet and the rounded toe box didn't particularly favor tiny pockets. However, the new Contact is a different animal altogether. Firstly, this slipper fit like a glove, leaving me skinny feet with no dead space. The radical camber create a beak-like point at the area of the big toe and this allowed me to focus alot of power onto the tip of the shoe when pinpointing on tiny foot chips thus bumping up precision a couple of notches. Furthermore, these puppies performed pretty well on the pockets of Malibu's volcanic tuff and with the new rubber, I didn't feel like my feet was ever gonna give on slick foot holds. As with any slipper, the Contact has all the wonderful properties of convenience for bouldering and softness for toe grabbing. But the softness and ease of putting it on comes at a price.....you'll need a strong foot if you plan to stand on your toes for extended periods of time on longer routes and when it comes to heel-hooking, the aggressive teeth on the heel will rip the heelcup right off your foot.....so either downsize (Ouch!) or keep the Mad straps on.

As for looks, the Con-series ain't nothing much to shout about but hey....I'm a pragmatic guy...FUNCTION before fashion. Plus being priced below $90, it's a real bang-for-the-buck!

But at the end of the day, the Super Locos are still my SENDING SHOES...FLAME ON!!!

Motivation

2009-02-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

Through all the years of being in the sport of climbing and being a competitor, I have recently reflected on what truly motivates me to climb. Is it really the joy of getting out there amongst the whispering maple trees, basking in the warm sunshine of Tonsai beach, hanging out with the bouldering posse in the Buttermilks at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada that truly motivates? Or am I a hypocritical worldly being motivated by the adoration of my peers, the disgrace of my enemies and the self-affirmation that comes from SENDING?

Christians on Campus College Meeting

2009-02-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful evening tonight at the College Meeting for the Christians on Campus and I've gotta say that the fellowship with these group of saints continues to multiply our growth in the Lord day by day. We have been truly blessed since we joined the church in Long Beach and it's only possible through God's Grace that Christ is expressed by all of these people everytime we are in their presence. We didn't manage to take pictures for the day but here some back dated ones from Thanksgiving 2008...Yam was blessed too!

Acts 2:46-47 "And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart, praising God and having grace with all the people. And the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved."

Dampened

2009-02-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

Eversince Tanleng came close to finishing Ghetto Crossing (possibly 8a with the ridiculous sequence that she's doing and falling a move from the chains), we've been getting out to Malibu Creek State Park alot.

And since I was stuck having to belay her on her project and not having the chance to get back to Echo Cliffs, I thought I'll jump on Lateralus 14a for a go. This climb was put up by Shawn Diamond back in the day and everyone I spoke to told me it has this ridiculously hard boulder problem (V10 possibly) before linking into Ghetto Crossing. After working on it for a good frustrating 3 weekends, the verdict is that it is ridiculous NOT, hard YES! Frustrating...definitely!! Why? Cos just when I began to make pretty good progress on it, things would happen in our personal life that took 2 or even 3 weeks away from our projects. So there's this on-going roller-coaster ride where I'll make progress, get on a 2-3 week break and return to getting shutdown, making progress again and the whole process will go on and on and on and on.....Furthermore, the climb isn't something one can get away with just by having good power endurance cos if you can't even pull those moves, there's nothing to endure unlike some marathon 8b+s like Millenium in Maple Canyon.

To make matters worse, the rain has been beating down for the past couple of weekends, completely raining us out! Yes my dear Californians, we do need the rain but being from Spore and having experienced 30 over years of tropical monsoon rains, I ain't a fan of precipitaion for very selfish reasons.

So here we are stuck in the climbing gym, strong...perhaps, stoopid...yes. I may have maintained my bouldering power but I must say not being outdoors has detrimental effects on my climbing form. Kinda reminded me of myself when I was bouldering well in my 20s but sucked when it came to sport climbing. If you've watched me lead, not glamorous that's for sure. However, the encouraging thing is getting on Facebook to see friends back in Spore still getting psyched climbing on plastic and the resurgence of activity at Dairy Farm by Derek and gang. I hope I can rub-off some of that motivation especially when I haven't been in the pink of health lately plus not giving myself a break in between workouts. And you would think that an exercise physiologist like me would know better when it comes to periodization. Such is the desire for progress that it has driven me towards irrationality.

Rain, rain please go away cos the fields aren't the only thing you've dampened.

Game On!!

2009-02-11T14:34:00.001-08:00

Well, well....here's my first foray into the world of blogging...not too sure where it's headed but I'm primarily trying to chronicle the events in my life and perhaps with all the trials and tribulations that occur along the way, I can look back later and have a good laugh.

It's been an eventful year and a half since I first arrived in the United States. Going back to school after such a long while and getting more involved in climbing (not as much as I anticipated). I had the impression that quitting my full-time job of teaching in Spore will afford me tons of time to climb but boy was I wrong! Days in full-time grad school only afforded me time in the weeknights in the local gym and either Sat or Sun for the outdoors. Sadly...not too much difference from Spore. Well....I guess I just gotta make good use of whatever I have right now.

School-wise, it's been busy....climbing-wise, it has been both fruitful and heartbreaking.

Nevertheless, it was a wise decision to leave the climbing-abyss of Singapore...sorry my friends. Alot of my buddies here in So Cal will beg to differ that there are tons to climb here but it truly beats climbing in a little gym for 365 days a year, in temps of 92F and humidity of >90% year round.

Climbing has it sweet moments in 2007 when we first arrived with me flashing V9 on my first trip out on established terrain in the Buttermilks. Plus the sponsorship by Madrock that followed later in the year as well as Edelrid's offer of a rope during the greatest time of our need. I must say I was and still am truly blessed by my sponsors' enormous generosity and it gives me tremedous privilege to represent them.

2008 was a bittersweet year. Managed to excel in school but I supposed I still continue to struggle with my internal demons when it comes to climbing hard. Only time will tell who will triumph....so onward to 2009!

Studying Exercise Science in CSULB and having the opportunity to teach Biomechanics have gifted me tremendous insight into how our human body can adapt to training stimulus and I have constantly been incoorperating it into my own training for climbing. I recently started a page on Facebook that allows discussion and sharing of training tips for the climbing community in Singapore. Though there had been a couple of responses from readers, I have recently began to wonder if there is a broader readership to my posts. I hope the scarce responses on the forum is not a true indication of readership though...otherwise, it may indicate that climbers in Spore either don't give a damn about their improvement or they'll rather take a passive approach, sit and read and expect answers to drop onto their laps.