Event Report: 36 Whiskeys 2014 First Round

On Sunday, June 1st, after a long day of cycling and uh, drinking, Charles and Jordan and I headed to Sapporo for the first 36 Whiskeys competition of the year at Whippersnapper. Writing this makes me realize that I haven't ever posted about Whippersnapper, which I'll have to do some time. For now, say that Whippersnapper is one of several gyms in Sapporo, and is my favorite. That's the storefront and the manager, above. Several times a year, they hold climbing events called 36 Whiskeys. This is their story.

This event was the biggest yet, with more than 70 climbers registered. Whippersnapper isn't a big place, so this can get a little crowded, but the event was well-managed and ran smoothly.

Climbers were split into two groups, creatively named A Group and B Group. A Group had an hour and a half to climb, followed right away by B Group. Then they repeated, so that each group had three total hours, split in half. This was, I think, a great way to run the competition. It allowed a huge number of climbers to compete, and to have a long rest midway through; I was gassed by the end of the first round, but got my second wind watching the other climbers and refueling during my down time.

Same overhang as before, from the other side

As for the competition itself, it worked like this. 36 problems were set on the wall, ranging from very easy yellow-tape problems to ball-crushing black problems. In theory, the hardest problems were around 1-2 dan, or V8-V9.

These volumes were new to the wall, and added a lot (of suffering)

In their two 1.5 hour sessions, each climber could climb whatever problem they wished, as many times as they wanted- but only one climber at a time on each of the four sections of the wall. Average waiting time to get back on the wall was only around three or four minutes, but knowing that you couldn't just hop back on the problem if you fell did add some pressure. That, and the other climbers watching and cheering.

Each climber had a card, and would get a mark for any problem they successfully climbed. Different difficulties were worth different points, but this really only mattered for the top-tier climbers gunning for a place in the final round at the end of the year; mortals like me just set personal goals and try to climb hard.

It's me!

In the first half of the competition, I managed all of the pink problems, which were pegged at 7-6kyu, which is maybe V2. I tried each of the problems of the next grade up, and while I didn't send any of them I was able to decide which ones to attack in my second half. That's one of them, up above.

Charles tries the technical volume problem

In my second half, I had two 6kyu problems picked out that I thought I had a good chance of sending. One was a slightly overhanging technical problem on a number of volumes, with bad holds and tricky feet, and the other was a fairly straightforward problem with a blobby, difficult-to-match hold in the center that I had trouble surpassing. I was able to get the first of the two on my first shot after the break; success! And the power of rest! I'm usually far too impatient to take long rests during a session, but this enforced break showed me the real value of getting refocused.

Thanks for the pic, Charles!

The second of the two problems I'd picked out was tougher to crack. That's me flogging away at it above. The crux was moving past the hold I'm matched on and getting to a slopey pinch that doesn't offer much relief. I worked through this position enough times to end up with a pretty gnarly abrasion on my left forearm where it rubbed against the hold. No good, though; I wasn't able to get the send, and I felt my strength going on each try. I felt I gave it a good effort, though, and I'm glad I stuck with it to the end.

In addition to getting to climb on some sweet problems in an intense environment, the competition also allowed us to watch some real talented climbers push themselves hard. The climbers here may not be world-class, but this competition does draw the best athletes from in and around Sapporo and was really inspiring. At the top level, I think we saw four or five total sends of black-tape problems, with a round of applause every time it happened.

In any case, a good time was had by all. I wish I had taken the opportunity to take more pictures, but I was too focused on climbing! Charles and Jordan kindly took some shots of me climbing; I wish I had returned the favor.

Looking forward to next time, and to getting out on some real boulders and a sport crag this weekend! Also look forward to an update on the home wall soon. Until then!

(all pictures courtesy of Whippersnapper Gym except where noted)

The First Semiperiodic Garage Bouldering Competition and Barbeque in Nishiokoppe

This is bouldering

Last weekend, my garage bouldering wall had its first real public debut, in the form of a (extremely casual) climbing competition and (deadly serious) barbecue! Everything went off without a hitch... more or less. Hitches encountered were small and easily surmounted. Well, they could have been bigger. Nobody died.

None of these holds broke and injured anybody. Success!

I worked overtime to make sure I had at least part of the vertical section up on the wall, which I thought would help with developing problems that beginners could do. More than half of the attendees had little or no climbing experience, and having this section proved to be a good idea, especially with the kids.

Preparing to climb. Safety first!

In the context of Hokkaido spring, the weather was fair: almost ten degrees above freezing and not actively downpouring. Although the competition took place in the garage, barbecuing and general grab-assery were slated for the yard outside, so the off-and-on drizzle posed a problem. We solved the problem with several beers, a few feet of twine, a big tarp, and two convenient laundry poles, but due perhaps to the beer nobody actually thought to take a picture of our makeshift shelter. This regret will live with me until my dying day.

Let the climbing begin!

The format of the "competition" was, let us say, "casual". I prepared eight problems in four ranks of ascending difficulty, and originally had the idea of giving each climber five minutes to try each problem before putting the next one up. Since I was trying to cook and mark problems at the same time, I quickly decided that timekeeping was simply too much work.

The green one! The OTHER green one!

When everyone had climbed a given problem, I marked the next one in chalk- the school kind, not the hand kind. This was super-visible and worked great for the first few, but turned out to be a bit tough to erase. I'm not sure if I'd do it this way again.

Which way is up?

Setting interesting and enjoyable problems on a wall the size of mine required some creative thinking. A few of the problems had foot goals- to complete the problem, the feet had to be placed on a specific hold. This worked out well and added a lot of length. Another option was downclimb problems- start at the top and get to a hold near the bottom, which really changes it up.  Adding these variations helped keep it interesting, given that the only others were really short straight climbs and traverses.

Potential for head injury: fun!

I learned a lot from hosting this event, and would like to do it again. A few kids from the village even showed up and tried their hand at climbing; this is where the vertical wall really saw a lot of use.

Pictured: not a village kid

I even cued up music for each of the sets of problems, but I turned out to not have an extension cord. Added that to the shopping list for next time, along with more seating.

This was probably a foot goal problem

Some things I would change for next time: more cameras. We only really had one camera, which means limited pictures and angles.

Sometimes holds need tightening... mid-climb

I'd also give myself less to do at once. I tried to cook, run the competition, socialize, and take pictures all at the same time... it didn't work. Better organization would help things run more smoothly, even if it is just a casual event.

The Magic of Climbing

All in all, though, a great night and a reassuring sign that my construction techniques, although perhaps let's say "unorthodox", were sufficient to create a structure capable of being climbed on all night without murdering anybody. So that's good. Hope next time will be even bigger and better, and thanks for reading!

Bouldering in Ayoro

Good morning! Like my last post, this post has nothing at all to do with this blog's stated topic, the building of my garage wall. No, as spring finally arrives for good (please God) and the flowers blossom and the cherry trees bloom, so too must this blog blossom and branch out. It's time to talk about some outdoor climbing.

When I came to Japan three and a half years ago, I wasn't a climber and had no interest in climbing. And yet here I am, investing countless hours of time and countable-but-uncounted amounts of money into building a bouldering wall in my garage. But despite how I've jumped headfirst into climbing, this spring marks the beginning of my experience with outdoor climbing on real rock.

A few weeks ago, we took a trek out to Noboribetsu, a town on the southern coast of the main bulk of Hokkaido. Noboribetsu has a lot of volcanic vents and smells a lot like sulfur all of the time, so the locals decided the obvious thing to do was to make their town hell- (and onsen-) themed.

Welcome tourists!

Not included in most guidebooks is the bouldering area at Ayoro Beach, a set of seaside cliffs ranging from about 3 to 5 meters in height. We brought out the crash pads and had a look.

The crux is getting down

This was only my second time out to a "real" bouldering area in the great outdoors. The first was too shameful to write up, and anyway I don't have any pictures. Find the area was easy enough, but my inexperience proved a burden when it came to finding the actual boulder problems as written up in my guide. I imagine that this will come with experience. It would have helped to have met somebody familiar with the area, but we were alone.

Nurikabe Stem 5c

Climbing on real rock is, obviously, much different from climbing on gym holds. Much has been written about this, but until you do it yourself it's hard to understand the difference. One aspect of outdoor climbing that I've found much more challenging than I imagined is identifying holds- since I'm used to colorful and obvious holds against a wooden wall, the art of finding good holds in stone is very new to me. You can see in the pictures that some of the holds were marked up with chalk from other climbers, but many of the easier problems we tackled were not.

Nurikabe Stem 5c

Another challenge was learning to trust my spotter and the crash pads. None of the problems we climbed were particularly tall, but there was still a mental challenge to it. By the end of the day I was pretty comfortable.

Dimple 6a

Sukesou Traverse 6b+

The problem I enjoyed the most was called Sukesou Traverse, shown above. Next time I go out, I need to remember to take pictures of the problems before we climb them! Rated at 6b+, the low problem involves traversing across pockets before going up the wall. Charles, shown above, was able to reach the goal horn from this position; I wasn't so lucky.

Sukesou Traverse 6b+

I tried pulling myself up enough on the sloping top to get my feet into the pockets, but no dice. I did manage to find another pocket up there that I could barely reach, though, and that gave me the leverage to get myself up. Success! This was the first outdoor boulder problem that I had ever "worked" successfully- previously, everything had been either an onsight or a failure

Sukesou Traverse 6b+

We did a few more problems before calling it a day. Next time I go, I hope that I can meet a climber at the site or bring somebody more experienced along; finding the problems and identifying them in the book was more of a challenge than the actual climbing was. Then again, it may be that I need to pay less attention to the guidebook and its ratings, and just focus on climbing.

Orange Crab, 6a+

And finally, boy do I need a tan.

Charles atop Standing Face 5c

Hoping to get out again this weekend, so more to come. English information on Hokkaido climbing seems non-existent, so I'm hoping to get some information and beta pics put up.

Thanks to Charles, Jordan, and Elise for use of pictures and likenesses!