Turakirae Sends

Over the last two months I have been sending a lot of stuff out at the Bronx, Turakirae Head.

First up I sent John Palmer's new Bronx Cave link up, Raw Iron (V8), starting as for Pumping Iron (V9/8) and finishing on Clark boulder. A few sessions later I did the first ascent on the extension to Raw Iron, starting as for Mr Olympia (V10), and named this Raw Ruthenium (V9). Later that day I did the second ascent of Supersonic (V8). Next I did the second ascent of both Kompressor Arête (V7) and Boilerplate (V8) in the same day.

A week after I got back from my trip up north, I did second ascent of The Code of the Samurai (V9/10). The Code of the Samurai is a variation my first V11, Though the Looking Glass. Though the Looking Glass and The Code of the Samurai are both variations of Alison Wonderland (V11), and all three climbs have the same hard start but finish differently.

Two days later I finished my sending spree with the first ascent of Boilerplate Sit Start (V9).

Here is a video of me sending Raw Ruthenium, and another video of me on The Code of the Samurai and Boilerplate Sit Start.

NBS Turakirae

On Saturtday 25 February I headed out to Turakirae Head to compete in round 3 the National Boulder Series. As soon as the comp started I headed over to Thor's Hammer (V9, FA by me) and started working on this. I was making progress, but before I could get really close it started to rain. After huddling in the Bronx cave until the rain stopped I did Sour Mash (Left) (V5) and Sour Mash (Right) (V6) which apart from the top outs were both dry. I then went around to Noir Désir (V9) and started working on this. The top, post crux, holds were still wet so I took a short break and did Game On (V5), Speed King (V7) and Speed King's extension Pro Series (V8). After many attempts and much time I managed to do Noir Désir and could move on. I tried Brassneck, a V8 starting as for Thor's Hammer, but I was too tied to do this so I went over to Rotund boulder. Within a few attempts I had done Über Alles (V8) and Über Rotund (V7). I moved on to Sawn Off boulder and quickly did Conundrum (V8) and Sawn Off Right Variant (V7). With not much time left in the comp I tried Über Huck (V7). It took me a few goes to recall the beta, but I ticked this one off as well. The comp finished and my top eight climbs were V9, V8, V8, V8, V7, V7 V7, V7 giving me 1021 points, enough for me to win the comp. All the climbs I did I had done before, but it was nice to do so many in one day. Mum and Dad both had a good day too. Mum repeated her hardest climb to date, Game On, and Dad repeated all of his 8 hardest Bronx climbs. A week or so later when the series had ended I found out I was the winner the series. Full results are available here.

Thor's Hammer

On Wednesday 15 June, Mum and I went out to Turakirae. After warming up I went over to Martini Roof to try the extension to Loki the Trickster. It was cold and all the slopers felt really good. After one go at the start I managed send the problem, but nobody was around to see me. I went over to Mum and asked her to video me. After a rest I did the problem again. I decided to call it Thor's Hammer. Here is the video.

Thor's Hammer (V10) from Josiah Jacobsen-Grocott on Vimeo.

Loki the Trickster

On Sunday 29 May, I went out to the Bronx with Mum and Dad.

After warming up I saw Ivan Vostinar working on a new project and decided to try the climb too. The climb was on Martini roof. It started as for Brassneck (V8), threw to a sloper followed by a hard (for me) toe hook move, and finished along Vision Thing (V7).

Ivan could do the first two moves but fell off on the third. I found a heel hook that made moves after the toe hook not too hard. We made progress; Ivan got all the way to the crux of Vision Thing clean, and I did all the start moves, and sent Vision Thing. Ivan decided he would try do the problem with an earlier and easier exit up Tricky (V5). He got close a few times, but didn't send. I finally managed to do the first moves clean and sent the problem, exiting up Tricky.

Ivan and I think the problem is about V9. I decided to name the climb Loki the Trickster, thinking the extension, finishing along Vision Thing, could be named after another Norse god.

Black Out

I started working on Black Out , a V9 at Turakirae Head, about the same time as I started working on Mr Olympia. But, because I made more progress on Mr Olympia, I stopped working on Black Out, and focused on Mr Olympia instead. The day I sent Mr Olympia I tried Black Out again, but because I still couldn't do one of the hard moves I decided the problem was too hard for me. A few days before I went to Paynes I tried the problem again and found a new sequence for the move I couldn't do before, but I didn't send.

On Wednesday 26 January, Dad and I went out to Turakirae for an evening session and after many goes I finally managed to put it all together, stick the top sloper and send the climb. Black Out is my second V9 and my third V9 or higher.

Mr Olympia

Over the last few weeks I have been working on Mr Olympia, a V10 at the Bronx, Turakirae Head. Mr Olympia is an extension to my first V9, Pumping Iron, itself an extension to a V7, Toast. I have been going out to the Bronx twice a week and when I first started working on it I couldn't do the hard start sequence.

On Sunday 12 December I got up at 6am in order to get out to the Bronx before it got too hot. After warming up I hopped on Mr Olympia and sent the problem first go of the day. Mr Olympia is my first V10 and the first V9 or higher I have done since I did Pumping Iron in April.

Here's a video of me sending the climb: