2010 MONK weer locatie voor World Cup Boulderen

Gespot op de MONK-site:

"Een hele oplettende surfer had het al kunnen opmerken … want wie op de IFSC website goed rondkoekeloert, ziet op deze pagina een IFSC Climbing Worldcup (B) staan op 25 en 26 juni 2010 in Eindhoven. Die informatie kan kloppen, want we hebben inderdaad - onder voorbehoud - weer een Worldcup Boulder op het program staan volgend jaar, bij Monk in de achtertuin, in dat mooie Klokgebouw. Yep! Wordt vervolgd natuurlijk."

Grafity Wall - Optical Illusion

You thought this is a usual grafity wall in some suburb. Watch closely as your eyes deceive ya.
Painstakingly the artist has made up the grafity with other tools than a spray can with paint...

(source: stumbleupon.com)

NIEUW Topo voor Boulderblok Rotterdam Zuid

Yep, daar is 'tie dan. De beloofde topo om je een idee te geven wat voor gradering je aan het boulderen bent. Het nieuwe boulderblok in Rotterdam Zuid dat al eerder op Sloper.nl en hier vermeld was, heeft een mooi en overzichtelijke indeling van routes gekregen. Klik op de foto voor een directe link naar de topo.

Op de site van bladoverklimmen.nl staat het volgende:
"De makkelijkste boulder op het blok is 5-, de moeilijkste in deze topo 6c. De mooiste boulders zijn gemarkeerd met een ster. Om het moeilijker te maken, kunnen alle boulders ook met een zitstart geklommen worden. Deze zitstarts zijn in de topo met een stippellijn aangegeven.Dit is een voorlopige topo. De waardering van sommige boulders kan nog wijzigen. Zodra de waarderingen ‘definitief’ zijn, zal op deze plaats een bijgewerkte topo gepubliceerd worden".

Aanstaande zateredag wordt het boulderblok feestelijk geopend en ontwerper Bart van Raaij hoopt dat er veel klimmers zijn om de gemeente duidelijk te maken dat dit initiatief navolging moet krijgen in andere steden !!

(bron: bladoverklimmen.nl)

Tenue Sharmante in the French Magazine l'equipe

Not only he is a world class climber but he knows his way in communicating it. In the french climbing magazine l'equipe Chris shows his (most recent) climbing outfit and tells you why.

One little flaw though.... the original article seems nowhere to be found on internet.

So if you know where it is, send me a note would you?

(source: pofroad.com)

Bicycle for Climbing Gear

's nice if you can go to the climbing spots with your bike, but I doubt there'll be many spots suitable. Nevertheless a cunning piece of industrial design and a funny way to 'commercialise' it.

(source: pofroad.com)

Most important climber until 1999?

Most important climber until 1999? (or click picture)
8a.nu started in December 1999 and this year we will highlight the 10 years in a special yearbook where we also will write an article of the 20th century also based on this votings and comments.

Go to the voting site and guess who most of the voters think is most important !

(source: 8a.nu)

sChOOL designs

School designs mostly tend to be straightforward or down right boring. Not the way Baupiloten studio thought about it. Students who were able to develop a new design for the Erika-Mann Grundschule II came up with something completely different.

The idea is to let go of the realistic world and accept that the human brain works best within a challenging, attractive and fantasyfull environment. I wish they could have designed my new workspace like that !!

Check for more backgroud info: Baupiloten studio

Super Woman Climbing in Spain

Just some funny pics I found on the net.

(source: comicmoderator.nu)

3 oktober 2009 - MONK and Sharma

Read all about it, Read all about it, Neeeeeeeews !
For all those who don't read Dutch (approx. 5 bilion minus 17 million people):
Chris Sharma comes to MONK. The biggest bouldering fascility in the Netherlands celebrates their first anniversary at the 3rd of october with spectacular actions. 1 euro admission fee, 25% discount on all climbing goodies in the MONK-shop, a massive parth, etc, etc. For all you climbers who live in the facinity of Eindhovenl: be there or be square.

T’is heel simpel. Monk is zaterdag 3 oktober 1 jaar open. En dat gaan we vieren. Iedereen mag moet komen. Zelfs Chris Sharma komt, dus een echt goede reden om weg te blijven ga je niet hebben. Het wordt een doldwaze zaterdag. Boulderen voor maar € 1,-, 25% kassakorting op de hele Monkshop-collectie (schoenen, kleding, crashpads, tassen, beanies, boulderbags … ), een meet-and-greet met lezing van meneer Sharma én natuurlijk een topfeestje als afsluiter. Zet het snel in je agenda. Zaterdag 3 oktober, vanaf 12.00 uur.

Meer details volgen snel.Kaarten zijn verkrijgbaar vanaf maandag 14 september.

(source: monkbouldergym.nl)

Boulderkei Rotterdam - NIEUW FOTO'S

HAAAA!! Niemand in de buurt en het hele blok voor me alleen. Ik kon na het lezen van het bericht op Sloper.nl niet op m'n stoel blijven zitten en ben meteen met m'n klimspullen naar Rotterdam Zuid gegaan. Daar, op zo'n 200 meter naast AHOY staat Nederlands eerste boulderblok in de openbare ruimte. En niet zomaar een blok ! Vormgegeven door klimmer/boulderaar en ontwerper Bart van Raaij staat daar een kruising tussen iets wat je in Bleau en Peak District tegen zou kunnen komen. Randjes, kommen, richels, pockets slopers en pinchers, je vindt het er allemaal.

Ik kon natuurlijk niet alleen kijken dus ik heb, naast het maken van foto's (helaas met m'n telefoon) ook geboulderd. WOW, superlatieven schieten te kort. Dat ligt niet alleen aan het feit dat er goed nagedacht is over de grepen, die allemaal als stuctuur in de boulderkei gemaakt zijn, maar ook het feit dat je in het park aan het klimmen bent.

Ook over de rotsvorm is nagedacht. Overhangen (natuurlijk) maar ook loodrecht, mooie randen, spleetjes en grote kommen waar je je lichaamsspanning flink op kunt uitleven. Het is nog te vroeg om de kwaliteit van de boulderei (het materiaal) te beoordelen, maar het voelt goed. Minder ruw dan gegoten grepen (die godzijdank niet op de boulderkei voorkomen) maar hier en daar nog wat losse structuur die na het fabricageproces nog los komt. Ik denk dat het wel losloopt met het zanderige materiaal dat er her en der afkomt, maar de toekomst moet uitwijzen hoe slijtvast het is. Hieronder nog een aantal foto's van de structuur.

(pics by Paschnampook)

Boulderkei Rotterdam Gereed - Bouldering in the Park

Wahoo !! It's there at last!!! Long awaited (see previous post), but now the boulderstructure in the 'Vaanweide'-park is ready. Designed by Bart van Raaij the construction of the boulder started in july this year at the Entre-Prises factory, England - Skipton. In eight different parts the boulder was delivered in Rotterdam and construted on sight into the complete boulder. It looks stunningly good and according to Bart it's bouldering in the grades 5 and 6 but if boulders are combined the grade 7 is possible too. The next BLOK will have topo of the boulder.
The boulder is open from now on but the official ceremony will be held on the 19th of september. See ya there !!

(source: sloper.nl)

Reel Rock Film Tour

The Reel Rock Film Tour is coming to MONK - Eindhoven - Netherlands at the 7th of November (To watch the trailer click the pic). And Guess WHAT !! Chris Sharma is coming too.... Need I say more?

(source: Fightgravity.nl & monkbouldergym.nl

Worn out Climbing Shoes - BAZ 2009

Hmmm, after BAZ 2009 (Boulderevent at the sea - Netherlands) my climbing shoes defenitely have suffered a lot. Not only from the friction but the same from landing on the sand. In comparison to last year the lack of sufficient landing mats had it's downsides. A lot of sprained ankles and climbing shoes gettin heavy blows from landing on the sand. Pitty because BAZ was a super event again this year.

My shoes are defenitely in for resoling and my backup pair as well... This means thinking of a new pair, and which one I am going to get. On the short list are the following shoes:

- Boreal Crux

- Evolve Pontas

- 5.10 Project

The first one is my current shoe, the second was to expensive a year ago but certainly is a versatile climbing shoe. The last one could be another option beside the fact that most of the 5.10 shoes don't seem to fit my heel too well.

There will be only one task to set my mind to: go to the shop of Fuerza Climbing from Ad and try them all !!

Steve McClure on TV (BBC1)

I found this little piece of info by McClure quite funny to read:

Funny game climbing, sometimes its like buses, you wait for ages, getting more and more frustrated, and then, just when you’ve given up, two come along at once.
Last week was a weird week. It began in typical British style, the style we expect now in summer. We drove to the crag and found it utterly soaking. Everywhere else was wet too; we drove straight back home to the local climbing wall! With damp weather for a while my motivation had been sliding downwards as fast as I slid from the greasy footholds. That day it took a distinct nose dive to zero. Indoors in August was just not right. I gave up! Mentally I packed in climbing for a while. There were some parties to go to for the next few days. Then it got boiling hot, too hot to climb, then I climbed Hubble! This was confusing but very nice indeed. Perhaps my shortest and most bouldery route ever. Now I could really relax and party!

Before this I’d been trying a route at Malham cove, a link between Bat Route, Rainshadow and Overshadow, but with quite a lot of new climbing. I dreamt this up a while ago but was inspired to get involved after I got a call from the British Broadcasting Corporation (the TV)! read more

Air Star (V14 - South Africa) by Kilian Fischhuber

Kilian Fischhuber has sent a problem at Rocklands, South Africa, previously dubbed the Air Star Project, that likely is V14 or harder. The problem, which had been worked by Kevin Jorgeson and Nalle Hukkataival, has V6 moves leading to a big dyno to a sharp flake, followed by scary V8 or V9 climbing to the top-out. Fischhuber, from Austria, has been the world’s number-one competition boulderer for the past three years.

Emerson said that previous attempts on the Air Star dyno had involved a leg-swinging move to build momentum which Emerson dubbed the “Moon Kick,” after English boulderer Ben Moon. Though Fischhuber reportedly declined to use the Moon Kick to send Air Star, this simple, fascinating technique is well-illustrated in the following video

(source:B3bouldering.com)

Fight Gravity - NEW Website

Last year Maurice and I had the idea to make pay tribute to Wolfgang Güllich by making a Che Guevara-like T-shirt. At Boulderen aan Zee (dutch version) - "bouldering at the sea" for ya Eng-linguists) they were noticed. And how !

This year he went way beyond his first idea and some new goodies are thrown into the world ! The famous red-and-white striped climbing pants of Wolfgang were recreated and who knows can be ordered soon at his site ! Retro climbing lives and who knows will be the next hot thing in the climbing society the coming season.

Check for more info and other climbing-related news at www.fightgravity.nl

(source: where else ! fgthgrvt.nl YO M. you rule !!)

Climbing the Stairs-Chairs

Art for art's sake? a flight of chairs to be used as chairs perhaps.
A short one for today, but I'm too busy now. Next one will be more elaborate.

(source: stumbleupon.com)

Animation edPixar/Disney - Lift

As a starter for the weekend a short animation film made by Pixar and Disney. Keep watching until the 5th minute is finished for the punchline ! Click picture to start the movie.

VIDEO + MINI INTERVIEW Steve McClure - Hubble (F8c+)

Steve McClure, one of Britain's top climbers, recently repeated the Raven Tor test-piece Hubble (F8c+) and in doing so completed one of his major climbing ambitions. Click the picture for the video and see here for the mini-interview with Steve.

The route is a short limestone power problem and was first climbed by Ben Moon back in 1990. Commenting on his blog, Keith Sharples said:
"Hubble was reckoned to be the first Font 8b problem ever climbed. Despite being done nearly 20 years ago, the list of Hubble repeats is very short and entirely restricted to UK climbers."

(source: blog.keithsharplesphotography.co.uk)

Forecast Netherlands (20-8-2009) Severe Thunderstorms

Forecast Netherlands for tomorrow: severe chance for thunderstorms after tropical heat stress.

Picture above is from Boulderen aan Zee 2006 when all the onlookers were stunned to see not one (quite rare in the Netherlands) but three(!!) twisters, or waterspout, at the same time. Lower picture is just an beautiful view from a storm front coming towards a ship on the ocean. Gulp.... it looks like the captain is streerin it's ship into a time warp vortex.