tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73254287191021049842024-02-19T08:12:46.278-08:00Nathan Phillips ClimbingI've always been climbing...Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-66491517399279997762015-03-21T14:50:00.001-07:002015-03-21T14:52:57.699-07:00Ticking the Crag...Today I went to Rubicon in the Peak District for the first time. It's a small limestone crag next to a nice lake. The weather was sunny but cool... I got there and got pointed at problems by my friends and was set to work on them.<br />
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I managed to flash a 7a a 7b and a 7b+ then continued to climb another 7b and 7b+ as well as a 7c+ and two 8a's! A great day! Anyway, here's a video of me climbing both the 8a's...</div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/122855364">https://vimeo.com/122855364</a></div>
Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-27362568715188517922014-12-04T14:29:00.001-08:002014-12-04T15:04:09.051-08:00Steaks, Crimps and Roofs (Hueco Tanks)<div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This was a trip that we had talked about over a year and a half ago. When the idea finally came to be, the psych was high and we were ready to send some hard Boulder problems and eat a hell of lot of steak! After over 24 hours of travelling we finally arrived in El Paso in our absolutely incredible house that we had for the next 4 weeks.</span></div><div><br></div><div>Too giddy to wait, we went straight out to climb on North Mountain the next day. Jet lag was hitting most of us hard except Sam who made swift work of a really cool looking problem 'Dean's Journey' V10.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVQprq64atS_Lam99dJNGWHdH6MsyMoMRZ4qxxoTIgqL31seCbBSVBAd87sSYHRlK-u274nsHqpYqz8zVxdsR7RUe_67MIOg5O0_6Y_DoHKSET7ofXSc7CiuutETQHLRxMbnLzEFEYOI/s640/blogger-image-1248978593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVQprq64atS_Lam99dJNGWHdH6MsyMoMRZ4qxxoTIgqL31seCbBSVBAd87sSYHRlK-u274nsHqpYqz8zVxdsR7RUe_67MIOg5O0_6Y_DoHKSET7ofXSc7CiuutETQHLRxMbnLzEFEYOI/s640/blogger-image-1248978593.jpg"></a></div>Sam sending 'Dean's Journey' "what's jet lag?"</div><div><br></div><div>With our biceps aching from the slopey undercut on Dean's we went out again the next day feeling a little more awake... Slowly getting into the swing of things, we climbed a couple of V6's and V7's including a really fun highball 'See Spot Run' and the super classic 'Baby Face'. We also climbed a soft V10 'Fern Roof'. After this we all thought a rest day was needed to fully re-cooperate from the travelling and the climbing we had just done.</div><div><br></div><div>Fully rested and ready to go again, crush mode was engaged and I sent my first V12/8a+ 'barefoot on Sacred Ground' a really cool climb starting in a small roof climbing up through slopers and crimps with toe hooks and compression. This had an optional high top out which I did try but got freaked out when I found sand in the holds at the top and dropped off. Third day on and I had already reached a personal best! After taking a pretty sketchy fall from the top, max also climbed 'Loaded With Power' V10 a super cool line with huge Huecos and knee-bars. I definitely had to come back for this.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglASNLAkEI4Baz4cY9zTy4gynLBL5r6GV1Tk5vbew4swTs5GxHu6k7f3a9Iwvg4iZyZYVh1DBtbPI3E4eIVfJ-DYoX7uYTAxQbN8SpLvQzeIRRRsH_OXrq-lHrGdHM834S0pOwaGSHjc0/s640/blogger-image-1487117968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglASNLAkEI4Baz4cY9zTy4gynLBL5r6GV1Tk5vbew4swTs5GxHu6k7f3a9Iwvg4iZyZYVh1DBtbPI3E4eIVfJ-DYoX7uYTAxQbN8SpLvQzeIRRRsH_OXrq-lHrGdHM834S0pOwaGSHjc0/s640/blogger-image-1487117968.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">'Barefoot On Sacred Ground' my first V12</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8wZiU9iht68pmI0KGIbygCL8rM8IYzDivaJwi1B88PgpbO4Zin0mbHAwB_FixoMH80vH9yLjQ9P_fUXWmNPUbebBmRNIrFYexigDY7KaslgoYH3BXCgOHASzES6AWuhCsNYKMReXtjE/s640/blogger-image--1943887767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8wZiU9iht68pmI0KGIbygCL8rM8IYzDivaJwi1B88PgpbO4Zin0mbHAwB_FixoMH80vH9yLjQ9P_fUXWmNPUbebBmRNIrFYexigDY7KaslgoYH3BXCgOHASzES6AWuhCsNYKMReXtjE/s640/blogger-image--1943887767.jpg"></a></div>Max climbing the Huecos of 'Loaded With Power'</div><div><br></div><div>During the rest of the first week we went on our first tour to East Mountain where I managed my first ever V10 flash of 'Mojo' and climbed a V11 'Chninkel' and we also had another day on North where we climbed a slab and a couple of other things including an amazing climb called 'Bloodline' V7. After flashing Bloodline Max took a tumble down a crevasse while taking photos and hurt his shoulder pretty bad. And had to visit the hospital meaning he was out for a week. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_RTXvBezAWnTLLjt_BUQW1BHgXsy39-m1YO7jdRvBG5Kavs3tzNIB6aNRosmBIWsPw27r1o33-haZ_rPH0S006stLua-Ppd6PVNHV5sJ5PuLGi80Gb-BVBmo1qshZpqL_x3jymNRfUiw/s640/blogger-image--826566209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_RTXvBezAWnTLLjt_BUQW1BHgXsy39-m1YO7jdRvBG5Kavs3tzNIB6aNRosmBIWsPw27r1o33-haZ_rPH0S006stLua-Ppd6PVNHV5sJ5PuLGi80Gb-BVBmo1qshZpqL_x3jymNRfUiw/s640/blogger-image--826566209.jpg"></a></div>'Bloodline' V7</div><div><br></div><div>The second week was all on North with 2 more V10 ticks including the infamous 'Power of Silence' and one of my favourite climbs of the trip a V11/12 called 'Diaphanous Sea'. Basically a board problem with a jump. I also put up what I'm pretty sure is a first ascent which in true Hueco style I named 'Boobs.com' which goes at about V5. Tom also climbed 'Loaded with Power' his first V10 and was buzzing for the whole day!</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMekRQ3Wb7w4gAJUf__SkJyp8R_0ZhGAqd3jL_DFjr4Vb4_o-OqWt0Ezt9xVPomSqgS5pNrl8kv1-e5H0trkJm5XU9hJDF4_8plUDNTqn81cmpXp0dCyGJvvjmWkMo8fCjVU577NmcrK8/s640/blogger-image-1645946643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMekRQ3Wb7w4gAJUf__SkJyp8R_0ZhGAqd3jL_DFjr4Vb4_o-OqWt0Ezt9xVPomSqgS5pNrl8kv1-e5H0trkJm5XU9hJDF4_8plUDNTqn81cmpXp0dCyGJvvjmWkMo8fCjVU577NmcrK8/s640/blogger-image-1645946643.jpg"></a></div>Tom taking a wild swing at the top of his first V10</div><div><br></div><div>Now halfway through the trip which was going so fast, we had 2 more friends Join us; Dan and Rowanne. They where keen to get straight out like we were so we went on tour to East Spur where possibly the greatest concentration of good boulders in Hueco are. I climbed 2 cool V8's including a really fun roof called 'Bush League'. Dan's power scream/roar was quite impressive as he front levered himself through to the finish... I did try a V13 'Crown of Aragorn' and managed to do all of the moves but wasn't psyched.</div><div><br></div><div>Later that week I had what was probably the best outdoor climbing day I have ever had. I climbed 3 V11's including one which I nearly flashed... Then proceeded to flash a V10 and climb 'Loaded With Power' the V10 that Tom and Max had done earlier in the trip 1st go of the session. I don't know why but I had so much energy that day. I was running up the mountain to get to the problems... Michelle also climbed a cool V8 called 'McBain' which was pretty burly!</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUvdNhcx-4w3J4Y_Lu0dF6dfKpKzZ-DNU8PMDRXGZ90askkMtOXvwJAKr-I1Q-h8_7s9qARuqLPpv3R4I30ZxR6HymYxI1hD-se_BePygGEzGlz2wahDYIOY9dkx9kPB5r0vqdiqaZ-g/s640/blogger-image--1705905686.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUvdNhcx-4w3J4Y_Lu0dF6dfKpKzZ-DNU8PMDRXGZ90askkMtOXvwJAKr-I1Q-h8_7s9qARuqLPpv3R4I30ZxR6HymYxI1hD-se_BePygGEzGlz2wahDYIOY9dkx9kPB5r0vqdiqaZ-g/s640/blogger-image--1705905686.jpg"></a></div>Who needs knee-bar pads!</div><div><br></div><div>I had some trouble with my elbows but after getting a deep tissue massage we got quite a lot in during the last week. I pulled out another V12 'Loaded Direct' on North and we went on a lot of tours where we climbed a few V8's and a lot of mid range classics. About 3 days from the end of the trip I went back out to East Mountain, just me and my tour guide Ann so that I could try 'Slashface' a V13/8b which I had tried the week before and she could try one of her projects 'Sunshine Roof' a cool slopey roof traverse.</div><div><br></div><div>I went out in my Christmas pug T-shirt which the crew had bought me a few days earlier feeling confident. After 2 attempts missing the first crux move, I stuck it and made my way towards the final crux move where I just missed and fell. I took a 15 minute rest and pulled back on. I came to the same move again but this time I stuck it! Now trying to calm myself I fought through the next few awkward moves with toe hooks. I was fairly pumped after this so took a long shake out before continuing up the chossy top out to then celebrate as I had just sent my first V13!!! Wooooo!!! I wanted to climb V13 this trip and this was the one I wanted to do the most. I really couldn't have asked for anything more...</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFi6_GjFpK4Ny-KYT2v1XpZ2ZpFsCOXeKguWu4nbidQKDU-E0jW1VAu5O88-eCwnLpzKJC8Bmk8w8rZ_VrfYBQEACLWovIydakulQRljYIViw6TYQlB2x2rX1Y5p6-1VNUrX66hU2XhI/s640/blogger-image--577451217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFi6_GjFpK4Ny-KYT2v1XpZ2ZpFsCOXeKguWu4nbidQKDU-E0jW1VAu5O88-eCwnLpzKJC8Bmk8w8rZ_VrfYBQEACLWovIydakulQRljYIViw6TYQlB2x2rX1Y5p6-1VNUrX66hU2XhI/s640/blogger-image--577451217.jpg"></a></div>Trying on pug tops...</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13pJ9THhGYHEDj3ti4SjmSNrrOtDmXyTJ4WfeUXHWYCXU7IT3YQ5O-4GR3BMfPQsOMO8YtJO9EOpJ2tPUP3x2lDyiI3Ba_LHhO1-68Dar3oFHho0uukiapinrlPVUI_-5Au_ZDGbbPnQ/s640/blogger-image--647754603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13pJ9THhGYHEDj3ti4SjmSNrrOtDmXyTJ4WfeUXHWYCXU7IT3YQ5O-4GR3BMfPQsOMO8YtJO9EOpJ2tPUP3x2lDyiI3Ba_LHhO1-68Dar3oFHho0uukiapinrlPVUI_-5Au_ZDGbbPnQ/s640/blogger-image--647754603.jpg"></a></div>Shooting guns in Texas!</div><div><br></div><div>One more day in the park. We got up early and managed to get spaces on North where I climbed an incredibly sharp but cool problem which is a shorter version of a V12 called 'Le Retour de Goupil' which goes at V11. Me and Tom then finished our last day up on a super fun font style V4 called 'Michael Kenyon' which was the perfect way to finish up the trip.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1nfVvTtyAeHMWCvtBb_Mu94j9sBvxovuYzWk43a6rgrqk8VPx-y5KOs_NPYlTK112JAxx3Y654E-PwWvuGuMLtJVhnOvjgWXw_Y1IU87rgsa-CYXhfjJNl97n7wXPIJoz0xTixOGWEo/s640/blogger-image--1863374229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1nfVvTtyAeHMWCvtBb_Mu94j9sBvxovuYzWk43a6rgrqk8VPx-y5KOs_NPYlTK112JAxx3Y654E-PwWvuGuMLtJVhnOvjgWXw_Y1IU87rgsa-CYXhfjJNl97n7wXPIJoz0xTixOGWEo/s640/blogger-image--1863374229.jpg"></a></div>Last day in Hueco...</div><br></div><div>Wishing I was back there already. Maybe I will return for a full season at some point...</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldQvV4eKmjahpionSjx8SlxSfTv1l4_qA_g2igr9237W1lU5dEuaF8USfUOtzzFCQqv2XLmCd0YTnkur9eDcIToxTNZy5fMr2Rv-RLTsLjZihnMVUEkoJCprl7kunPgsdY-dwB7OZ2Tk/s640/blogger-image--1026755126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldQvV4eKmjahpionSjx8SlxSfTv1l4_qA_g2igr9237W1lU5dEuaF8USfUOtzzFCQqv2XLmCd0YTnkur9eDcIToxTNZy5fMr2Rv-RLTsLjZihnMVUEkoJCprl7kunPgsdY-dwB7OZ2Tk/s640/blogger-image--1026755126.jpg"></a></div>Leaving El Paso...</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks to the crew for being awesome.</div><div>Thanks to our tour guides: Anna, for bringing the psych every day and keeping us motivated, and Ann for spotting me on Slashface and taking me to see West Mountain which we didn't get chance to climb on.</div><div>Also, thanks to my sponsors: Scarpa (The booster S is the perfect shoe for Steep Hueco climbing), PrAna (The new continuum pants are a great rugged pair of trousers with cool colours), ROKT Climbing Gym, Metolious, and Peak Pro Fitness.</div><div><br></div><div>(Photos courtesy of Max Ayrton, Michelle Greenall, Tom Greenall, Sam Whittaker.)</div><div><br></div><div>Below is my full ticklist for the month.</div><div><br></div><div>El Rauncho V2F</div><div>Bloody Flapper V4F</div><div>Baby Martini V6</div><div>Nobody Here Gets Out alive V2F</div><div>The Mexican Chicken V6F</div><div>Fern Roof V10 (V9)</div><div>See Spot Run V6F</div><div>Babyface V7</div><div>Daily Dick Dose V7F</div><div>Barefoot on Sacred Ground V12</div><div>Warm Up Roof V4F</div><div>Mojo V10F</div><div>Le Chninkel V11</div><div>The Two Star Arête V2F</div><div>Blackmail V3</div><div>Lobster Claw V5</div><div>Speed Bump V7</div><div>King Cobra V6</div><div>La Delicate V3</div><div>Mandalahaha V3F</div><div>Bloodline V7F</div><div>Power of Silence V10</div><div>Pounding System V4</div><div>T-Bone Shuffle V4F</div><div>Sign of The Choss V4</div><div>Choss Training V3</div><div>Theatre of The Absurd V10</div><div>Diaphanous Sea V(11)/12</div><div>McBain V8F</div><div>Boobs.com V5 FA</div><div>Better Eat Your Wheaties V8</div><div>Bush league V8</div><div>Name dropper V3</div><div>Rogered in The Shower V10/(11)</div><div>Seka's Speciality V2</div><div>Dark Age V11</div><div>El Techo V11</div><div>Tequila Sunrise V11 (2nd go)</div><div>Girls of Juaréz V4</div><div>Free Willy V10F</div><div>Loaded With Power V10</div><div>Guillotine V2F</div><div>The Executioner V4F</div><div>Loaded Direct V12</div><div>Choir Boys Light V7</div><div>Uncut Yogi V6F</div><div>Sex After Death V8F</div><div>Hi-Pro Glow V6F</div><div>New Religion V7F</div><div>Alf in a Blender V6</div><div>Babyfat V6</div><div>Young Guns V4F</div><div>Greasy Kid Stuff V4</div><div>Slashface V13</div><div>Uncut Yogi (sit start) ungraded (V7) (1st go)</div><div>Javelina V8</div><div>Jingus Bells V5</div><div>Fuck You Asshole V4F</div><div>Adjust Your Attitude V8F</div><div>Le Retour de Goupil Light V11</div><div>Michael Kenyon V4F</div><div><br></div><div>Brackets is what grade I think it is...</div><div><br></div><div>Grades</div><div>V2 - 5</div><div>V3 - 5</div><div>V4 - 11</div><div>V5 - 3</div><div>V6 - 8</div><div>V7 - 7</div><div>V8 - 6</div><div>V9 - 1</div><div>V10 - 5</div><div>V11 - 7</div><div>V12 - 2</div><div>V13 - 1</div>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-3909880808247758682014-08-26T14:40:00.001-07:002014-08-26T14:59:49.783-07:00Travelling...<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The final comp of the season was last weekend. The world championships were an incredible end to the year for me. I'm not going to go into masses of detail about this competition but rather how the comps in general have changed my opinion on how I want to live my life.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The World Championships took place in the 1972 Olympic Park in Munich. A fantastic piece of architecture featuring really interesting wavy glass roofs all over. Going to all these new places has meant I've had the chance to see amazing things, like the: Arc De Triumph, Niagra Falls and obviously the Olympic Stadium in Munich.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNrQ9veBHnRIEF5aq83kKY6gmb6pv-N3GyZ6eFnlaI746LqXzR4j5Qz_M1SAaXDLN-DaumrhStyzndnUgjX6nwJSBjWe3lT84vCUtA3iIWR7uBqEfvVW5LlRLXTWmAETvs_zm3Hbei_Q/s640/blogger-image--1988806261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNrQ9veBHnRIEF5aq83kKY6gmb6pv-N3GyZ6eFnlaI746LqXzR4j5Qz_M1SAaXDLN-DaumrhStyzndnUgjX6nwJSBjWe3lT84vCUtA3iIWR7uBqEfvVW5LlRLXTWmAETvs_zm3Hbei_Q/s640/blogger-image--1988806261.jpg"></a></div> Olympiazentrum Munich<div><br><div>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">In Munich I got to see all my friends that I haven't seen in a long time. By travelling to these different countries I got to meet old friends and also make a lot of new friends! It's great to catch up with old friends; finding out what they've been up to and I love meeting new people.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCAjNjjMey784fu6Q69R0XDm0vVnh6IDzbj_B2k3gAEqmfhHaw6pkKgR37KyXIVZZRwp5vXivNxLVnNVO_NGVdEQMecTN5mFClbu12PdX4G0RAgI4-NGjKbUIlPkmi5G58lmTi1rpMnI/s640/blogger-image-1090708613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCAjNjjMey784fu6Q69R0XDm0vVnh6IDzbj_B2k3gAEqmfhHaw6pkKgR37KyXIVZZRwp5vXivNxLVnNVO_NGVdEQMecTN5mFClbu12PdX4G0RAgI4-NGjKbUIlPkmi5G58lmTi1rpMnI/s640/blogger-image-1090708613.jpg"></a></div> My beer is bigger than yours</div><div><br>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I managed to top one boulder out of quite a hard set in Munich. Over the 5 comps I did, I felt I progressed through all of them and improved both physically and mentally.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Basically, I've had the time of my life this summer and it was because: I kept moving around, got to see old friends, saw them climbing really well, and had lots of great experiences which I want to carry on.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Every time I come home I just think about the next trip I have planned and when is the next time I will get to leave the country. My life is going to be made up of as much travelling as I can possibly fit in. As long as I can afford to do it, I will do it.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmeeniXjNBu4dB8cF2lxrwiHLEDVoNRvOIXVtkKWN-HmRu6t7JnGVbn1xLfUwSeWvQg5EZxNZ0a36H_c10Xm9Xapi1zLTKcBKuZsA6JpVm8ZZ4yIupk7q7bEgNd9qM5EbS8IOZWOHg5k/s640/blogger-image-1282565412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmeeniXjNBu4dB8cF2lxrwiHLEDVoNRvOIXVtkKWN-HmRu6t7JnGVbn1xLfUwSeWvQg5EZxNZ0a36H_c10Xm9Xapi1zLTKcBKuZsA6JpVm8ZZ4yIupk7q7bEgNd9qM5EbS8IOZWOHg5k/s640/blogger-image-1282565412.jpg"></a></div> Returning home to cold cold England</div><div><br>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">On the note of meeting old friends, I happened to be sat next to John Ellison on the flight home on Sunday. I've known John for quite a while but I had never had the chance to speak to him for so long and in so much depth about how Cancer and the charity has affected his life. He smiles probably far more than the average person, which is incredible under the circumstances. I think we should all follow in his footsteps. He has a great outlook on life and I personally think if I can be anything like him them I'll have a happy life.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 29px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33z0Umkl6dGYG_pNjUJxvku12kbsjgW40lPDQTVdVzqYQBvMKW60AEAOqhlsA0UjTXgWrzyd109MgRxdHu9cjNnCUrSpwcLWQF0AMxCA02C12nzH3Juvqb2qSLKYejxlad4pi-mSr8sw/s640/blogger-image-1042320234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33z0Umkl6dGYG_pNjUJxvku12kbsjgW40lPDQTVdVzqYQBvMKW60AEAOqhlsA0UjTXgWrzyd109MgRxdHu9cjNnCUrSpwcLWQF0AMxCA02C12nzH3Juvqb2qSLKYejxlad4pi-mSr8sw/s640/blogger-image-1042320234.jpg"></font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 29px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> An inspirational moment at the CAC donation before finals</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Also, definitely buy a Climbers Against Cancer t-shirt or 2, or 3 if you get a chance.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Till the next trip... </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p></div></div>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-34182306940681163342014-07-09T15:02:00.001-07:002014-07-09T15:05:04.231-07:00World Cups + Recovering From Injury 2<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Haiyang</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After a solid week of training and sleeping back in the UK it was time to head out to China. I had never been to Asia so I was quite excited but also a little worried as I had only heard not that great things about China...</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I had a nightmare trying to get my visa sorted out prior to leaving but eventually managed to get one with a day or two to spare. This was the longest flight I had to take for all the comps involving 2 layovers, one in Paris and one in Guangzhou China.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">When we arrived in China the air was incredibly humid and you got a sweat on just standing still. After a long taxi ride we finally made it to the hotel. Haiyang was not at all what I expected. I had heard about the masses of people in china and not very good food, but in fact Haiyang was quite the opposite. There were loads of high rise flats with no one living in them. The whole city felt like the aftermath of a zombie apocolypse. With lots of construction going on and only a few people here and there, it was a bit strange to say the least. Then after suggestions of bringing my own food with me to China, (which I decided against) the food was great! A huge buffet for every meal with plenty to choose from. So not typical China I would say...</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The boulders in the comp were fairly basic pull hard problems. It was quite hot during qualifiers but I felt good. I dropped a few boulders and came close to getting boulder 1 and 2 but I knew not many people were topping. It came to the last boulder and I was tired but knew this was the one to get. I pulled on and climbed to the top with relative ease. I topped a burly (ish) boulder! Well it was overhanging and not a slab at least...</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">When the round was over I checked the results and found out I had qualified for the semi-final. A great birthday present!</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXE6e7O5cN-gTYRVsuTdG09OjxZmDqYDhB7pwe2fqLVHdhOFxhQud26p35FqlfbNhmJdhJpfzIo6krx4Lt73GTFGaKbLO8z6EP9K0o4OkWemLQnbU_NQmMRPcvP-t9Z8dpJ17UfMcTPsQ/s640/blogger-image-1582044589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXE6e7O5cN-gTYRVsuTdG09OjxZmDqYDhB7pwe2fqLVHdhOFxhQud26p35FqlfbNhmJdhJpfzIo6krx4Lt73GTFGaKbLO8z6EP9K0o4OkWemLQnbU_NQmMRPcvP-t9Z8dpJ17UfMcTPsQ/s640/blogger-image-1582044589.jpg"></a></div>Photo by: Shauna Coxsey<p></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The next day in isolation me and Shauna had both somehow misread the time for semis so I ended up only having 20 minutes or so to warm up. This definitely showed on the first boulder. I just couldn't engage my shoulder enough to press out on the volume. This was the boulder I thought I would have had the best chance at. It started raining half way through my rotation so I got to have a bit of extra time to rest which I was thankful for. I managed to get one bonus on the roof problem. It didn't really matter how I climbed because I had accomplished my overall goal for the season. To make a semi-final, and I was happy with that.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light; text-decoration: underline;">Laval</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">We arrived into Charles De Gaule Airport to be notified that our bags had been; "misplaced"... Great. I won't go into detail about how shit AirFrance were to us whilst we attempted to regain our bags over the following weeks. I still don't have my bag back yet. Anyway, after a couple of days training and wandering about Paris taking in some culture. We met up with Shauna's coach who drove us to Laval. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7juQqBm0gdxaE-QxOMJFj7HQ8YJ7SuVW2YWUKejyyOiON53eipvD9xnKLSr4jVEK4jsYnOgy1JzplQYvrEv9TIR0dIcqwRGPAjHo-l_if5I40-cTomwrVBk7k7LOzIsbFktSSIgLoHNI/s640/blogger-image--598942473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7juQqBm0gdxaE-QxOMJFj7HQ8YJ7SuVW2YWUKejyyOiON53eipvD9xnKLSr4jVEK4jsYnOgy1JzplQYvrEv9TIR0dIcqwRGPAjHo-l_if5I40-cTomwrVBk7k7LOzIsbFktSSIgLoHNI/s640/blogger-image--598942473.jpg"></a></div><b>View of Paris</b><p></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">It was great to be back in Laval, the town where I won my first international gold medal as a junior the previous year. It brought back some good memories. I got to meet some old friends who were also competing in Laval last year and we also had a much bigger team at this event. I always like the team vibe it definitely pushes me to climb harder.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Whilst warming up for qualis, my skin just disintegrated and fell off. This has never happened before and I was left asking myself "why now!" After a lot of chewing I got my fingers to a climbable level and carried on with my warm up.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The venue was much hotter than last year which was a big factor. Everything was quite sweaty and it was hard to keep your breathing down. There were a lot of competitors entered for this competition which meant we had to climb in two separate groups. I was in group B.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I was out fairly early on and cruised the first boulder. It felt really easy. The next 3 were a bit harder but I managed to reach the last move on all of them. The final boulder was a cool outward facing start, a little manoeuvring and a sideways jump to the finish. I surprised myself with another flash! Well psyched!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXMaj0LFAkb_0MoO3yOugXj75x852_c5ViCxbPfTecc5vwdIwUtsBJnjNqDVUWXEfmsQmR8WTzbQqy9upAVHK9fL77wH0mUFNoZYs2BusFQRvL-jyDCQzn0PRf-uNSrK1MdPEDCnZyIA/s640/blogger-image--1340202683.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXMaj0LFAkb_0MoO3yOugXj75x852_c5ViCxbPfTecc5vwdIwUtsBJnjNqDVUWXEfmsQmR8WTzbQqy9upAVHK9fL77wH0mUFNoZYs2BusFQRvL-jyDCQzn0PRf-uNSrK1MdPEDCnZyIA/s640/blogger-image--1340202683.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Photo by: Eddie Fowke (The Circuit)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WxaVv4kuyq4T_Frft8nrhAegDoza9P14hWJudopZQdHUK-Z6z4QhrSjK7K0mBEeflBA9A0ReHHiq_O53TCnxY1IQZy4KejYq15waiZQHAcVtZKLbZikLj9Hz59V_QHyY-1tkv94tWSY/s640/blogger-image--1451572603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WxaVv4kuyq4T_Frft8nrhAegDoza9P14hWJudopZQdHUK-Z6z4QhrSjK7K0mBEeflBA9A0ReHHiq_O53TCnxY1IQZy4KejYq15waiZQHAcVtZKLbZikLj9Hz59V_QHyY-1tkv94tWSY/s640/blogger-image--1451572603.jpg"></a></div>Photo by: Eddie Fowke (The Circuit)<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I definitely feel like I climbed my best in this competition compared to the other rounds. Once again, I didn't care where I placed, the fact I felt I climbed well was all that mattered to me.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Well that's it for now, the World Cups are over and back to work. Now it's time to train for the World Championships!</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Hopefully I'll get my bag back at some point...</span></p>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-78795327685885303202014-07-06T13:38:00.001-07:002014-07-06T13:40:37.387-07:00World Cups + Recovering From Injury<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I am going to write 2 separate blogs for the World Cups. One for Toronto and Vail and the Other for Haiyang and Laval. This is just so I don't bore you with endless amounts of words.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">As you may know, I injured my hand 3 weeks prior to the world cups. I tore the lumbrical muscles between my ring finger and little finger. This put me out of the first half of the season. Obviously I was devastated as I felt the strongest I'd ever felt. I knew I had to train safe and hoped that I would be able to maintain some strength and be able to compete later in the season. I set my self a goal to make a semi-final at least once, but I wouldn't mind if I didn't. this year was all about gaining experience.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light; text-decoration: underline;">Toronto</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">My hand recovered enough to start my season in Toronto (Canada), the 5th instalment of the World Cup Circuit. Before the competition we had a session at Climbers Rock with the Australian Team. We also went to see the incredible Niagara Falls! </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">This was my first ever international competition as a senior, and I had a bit of first comp nerves. I went out after Ty Landman the only other Male climber competing for GB. The first problem was a vert 2 mover. I managed to top after a few drops of the last move. I was really happy; I had topped a World Cup boulder!</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After that I got another bonus but struggled on all the rest of the boulders. It felt I gained a lot of experience from this first comp and I would apply it in the next one. Ty managed to make semis, and Shauna made finals. The crowd was amazing in Toronto. So loud and super psyched for everyone. Even clapping when someone fell off...</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWd_sBJYlwuRUs5ClfT4IpqmFRtY02RsHXZmJYSElQ9P5VBshK8D-Ot1hsgtHQHspjKwdj_juVEISEvpJOKaXhSgEBmcVli17NJ4qXlNLPGVS_3UJchs4KaYneS0XPBwW52ZiitMay8E8/s640/blogger-image--1194438098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWd_sBJYlwuRUs5ClfT4IpqmFRtY02RsHXZmJYSElQ9P5VBshK8D-Ot1hsgtHQHspjKwdj_juVEISEvpJOKaXhSgEBmcVli17NJ4qXlNLPGVS_3UJchs4KaYneS0XPBwW52ZiitMay8E8/s640/blogger-image--1194438098.jpg"></a></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><b>Photo by: Eddie Fowke (The Circuit)</b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><b><br></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">On the way to the airport before leaving for the USA we managed to visit "Nathan Phillips Square".</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbrnq1e-thWdhV9Y75D2W-ibCQBSiv-6JyfzBHmXWxbuGOdFMWrtgY_GE18DHMn_tPwf1mjP5dQptZLMUKwIKRBpBD03gEQoLGT8tAmzFHrj_ROiCzHADhJ_gklU417PtkEQL_FF-rxo/s640/blogger-image-1380724893.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbrnq1e-thWdhV9Y75D2W-ibCQBSiv-6JyfzBHmXWxbuGOdFMWrtgY_GE18DHMn_tPwf1mjP5dQptZLMUKwIKRBpBD03gEQoLGT8tAmzFHrj_ROiCzHADhJ_gklU417PtkEQL_FF-rxo/s640/blogger-image-1380724893.jpg"></a></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light; text-decoration: underline;">Vail</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">From Canada we flew to Denver (USA) and drove to Boulder at 4000ft above sea level. On the first night I got to meet and have dinner with someone I had seen in climbing videos for years, Chris Schulte, along with a couple of really nice people who cooked and welcomed us into their home.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">We spent a couple of days in Boulder where we had a session at the Spot Gym where I got to see how strong Daniel Woods and Carlo Traversi are in real life. They are very strong by the the way... Then we ate a lot of pancakes... Vail is 9000ft above sea level so before heading there we drove up Mt Evans, all the way up to 14000ft in the hope that when we got to Vail it wouldn't feel nearly as bad as up there. I really struggled with the altitude. I had a couple of nose bleeds and a really bad headache coming down from Mt Evans. I just had to make do.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7j74v4YJSxk2PZykrW9XqDXhAj60W32_zXAVNpkBSBM3pPf7t3GUICEpH8heMM2ikdo4zSx0DuX18tVR2SFY0uvLZoDXDxzlm5CauwfLAJt4ls4Rzn6dP2w6RTgtcpAyPLZA9YGtjn4/s640/blogger-image--666979078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7j74v4YJSxk2PZykrW9XqDXhAj60W32_zXAVNpkBSBM3pPf7t3GUICEpH8heMM2ikdo4zSx0DuX18tVR2SFY0uvLZoDXDxzlm5CauwfLAJt4ls4Rzn6dP2w6RTgtcpAyPLZA9YGtjn4/s640/blogger-image--666979078.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hHCikIuUpK-T7WnbT0aXU8Zo7NNdYiX7Km5iDFTMZoh6PzWIL0JcN0Mi30TLNnLIm63-AdKnDhGzcc7-e_thT7WXce6gyirTg4DpvLRp_xrIpFp_gcISrFOtyeTzUZ8Dkf8VNhH6OfI/s640/blogger-image-2040112687.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hHCikIuUpK-T7WnbT0aXU8Zo7NNdYiX7Km5iDFTMZoh6PzWIL0JcN0Mi30TLNnLIm63-AdKnDhGzcc7-e_thT7WXce6gyirTg4DpvLRp_xrIpFp_gcISrFOtyeTzUZ8Dkf8VNhH6OfI/s640/blogger-image-2040112687.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=565880696866759&id=293931117395053">https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=565880696866759&id=293931117395053</a></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">A short video of us climbing at the Spot Gym in Boulder. Video by: Shauna Coxsey</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">When we arrived we got upgraded to an amazing suite with 3 chandeliers! I had a 4 poster bed to myself!</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The competition was part of the Go Pro Mountain Games so there was a lot of other events going on that we could watch such as the Slackline World Cup and Slopestyle Mountain Biking. Oh yeah and this weird contest involving dogs jumping into a paddling pool.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Anyway, time to compete! after being in isolation for 4 hours it was finally time to get on the wall. I felt more relaxed this time and felt good. I struggled on the first boulder but regained myself to get the bonus on the second. The third was a 360 campus on 2 finger pockets. I hadn't tested my hand on pockets in a while so I thought I'd give it a go gently. As soon as I started to weight it it really hurt and let go. I had to do the move off my front 2 fingers and did it next go. I reached the bonus several times but could not finish the boulder.the 4the was really hard and after a moment of stupidity not seeing the blue hold on the blue volume I topped the last problem. Another slab! Leaving this comp I knew what I wanted to do in the next comp. top a burly boulder!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSoIYg30WnVrvA93MTpeqmC1obtqBgoBMTE1BEQp_zzE_mhmhOZSQUyPxbgMyk8wkNVNZ5w1FwwjlDeF2dh8-PzL9yH8YbkKoI2qht2_oafQ3SGheclaPmxmwc5tFNeWbhFNODGk423Fo/s640/blogger-image-856420480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSoIYg30WnVrvA93MTpeqmC1obtqBgoBMTE1BEQp_zzE_mhmhOZSQUyPxbgMyk8wkNVNZ5w1FwwjlDeF2dh8-PzL9yH8YbkKoI2qht2_oafQ3SGheclaPmxmwc5tFNeWbhFNODGk423Fo/s640/blogger-image-856420480.jpg"></a></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;">Photo by: Eddie Fowke (The Circuit)</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Before leaving America we headed out to Independence Pass with Chris and some other friends. And got to see the amazing ice caves. They were so cool and can only be expressed in full by actually seeing them in person. It rained so we went into Aspen for a hot chocolate then got to do a little bouldering when it dried up before getting snowed out. After all that we finished up with a greasy burger before leaving for the airport.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzn_UOOA-6TUUyCIQ6zOK-I3ZkRprCikWZ39eDPkxLWYvhPJlOEgXRwR26YQZYZxo2d-693Ucu-HDZ74wSOhFnJqPi9VJgK01FgMlivkgkwy0a1DLYpHuTzji1Hlwm6KXYnalp0qTT-k/s640/blogger-image--1052312962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzn_UOOA-6TUUyCIQ6zOK-I3ZkRprCikWZ39eDPkxLWYvhPJlOEgXRwR26YQZYZxo2d-693Ucu-HDZ74wSOhFnJqPi9VJgK01FgMlivkgkwy0a1DLYpHuTzji1Hlwm6KXYnalp0qTT-k/s640/blogger-image--1052312962.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn6ThyOJV8JbqGA93Jkg__lbxbMHd1_9XaZzG_y_4aL5KPUF3HYzBZPAX436TAl8mrAcMREqxYEZYItqglEdeBq9CJrIzxHnmmOkAyp96F6DCJUXt0LRnRWEJ98T0AV1twijFOKRA6gw/s640/blogger-image--1047905396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn6ThyOJV8JbqGA93Jkg__lbxbMHd1_9XaZzG_y_4aL5KPUF3HYzBZPAX436TAl8mrAcMREqxYEZYItqglEdeBq9CJrIzxHnmmOkAyp96F6DCJUXt0LRnRWEJ98T0AV1twijFOKRA6gw/s640/blogger-image--1047905396.jpg"></a></div><p></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">For now it was back to the UK for training and much needed sleep.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Haiyang and Laval blog will be up in a few days.</span></p>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-30761080787765895552014-04-03T02:12:00.001-07:002014-04-03T02:13:07.001-07:00A Trip Cut Short<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Since my last post I climbed Le Mur Du Son 7c a couple of 7b dyno's and a few 7a+'s. Everything was going so well until I pulled a finger...</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzaVLoW8CbiEF-y2qeZneKnLNqEMDJaWzrYiG92tyU9qv5ngJbm4_GLptckkWL_HpcspUgeIc4j9xkrd4hwJ-EmIUifAA6_a26GKV3K6IoDeCZbwFJPOhkLx85NAEkZgHCGEJO2Ixm4I/s640/blogger-image--1878172773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzaVLoW8CbiEF-y2qeZneKnLNqEMDJaWzrYiG92tyU9qv5ngJbm4_GLptckkWL_HpcspUgeIc4j9xkrd4hwJ-EmIUifAA6_a26GKV3K6IoDeCZbwFJPOhkLx85NAEkZgHCGEJO2Ixm4I/s640/blogger-image--1878172773.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ups22IttRbS2iGa8rXZ7BYB7H9-I7cWbjFEzOE-eQJErj-_0Dvvhc3VTIPecLHsuFqBFzl4wB7xvsISWKjUlz9kKaYK0K3YTlPjHnruIjoSwYafa7vdHh0h9t3KcMDWH4ZNBKApwIvA/s640/blogger-image-1290717303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ups22IttRbS2iGa8rXZ7BYB7H9-I7cWbjFEzOE-eQJErj-_0Dvvhc3VTIPecLHsuFqBFzl4wB7xvsISWKjUlz9kKaYK0K3YTlPjHnruIjoSwYafa7vdHh0h9t3KcMDWH4ZNBKApwIvA/s640/blogger-image-1290717303.jpg"></a></div> Le Mur Du Son 7c<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I have never really had a serious injury that has put me out of climbing for more than a week; I've been ill but never injured. To be honest, it couldn't really have come at a worse time. With the World Cups only 5 weeks away, even if it was completely healed by then I wouldn't be able to train... Rendering me useless.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">It happened a few days ago. We went back to have another go at Elephunk which I had previously got so far on. It took me a little while to remember all the moves and then I started trying from the start again. For some reason, the crack felt better with 3 fingers today rather than 4. On my 3rd or 4th go I heard a loud snap and felt my tendon go tight all the way from my wrist down my forearm. I obviously dropped off holding my arm in confusion. There was no pain... Then after a minute or so my ring finger slowly started to hurt and ended up being quite painful. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew my climbing was over for quite some time.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">It was bound to happen at some point. It's not often someone climbs for 13 years and doesn't get injured, I just wish it could have happened at a different time.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Luckily I have BMC insurance and they are sorting out an earlier flight home for me so I can get it checked out as soon as possible.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I plan to train using other methods while I am out. Lots of core work, maybe some swimming and when I can use my hand properly again hopefully some weights. All in hope of recovering in time for the second half of the World Cups.</span></p>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-9736860684459852362014-03-28T13:37:00.001-07:002014-03-28T13:58:11.534-07:002 weeks in Fontainebleau: Day 4-7<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Day 5:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After all the rain we had yesterday meaning all we could do to keep ourselves amused was to have a weight session at the gite, when the sun came up today we we're raring to go out and crush some boulders.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">We decided to go to Cuvier Rempart and try the big 4 which consists of 3 7c's: Big Boss, Fourmis Rouge and Tristesse, and also a 7c+: Big Golden. When we arrived we headed up the hill a bit to warm up on some easier stuff. We climbed 2 7a's: Laser, and a nice little climb called Ridicule and also the super classic easy arête: L'Angle Alain. Then to get the hight factor warmed up we did Watchtower 7b+ which is pretty damn high.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEiPnlK4EjiAkuSxRI4IqE7fooo9Hf118d-EQTNvmE5q71c7T7wHEFGEJZzPI05mDVLvm6NCc-g6nI72IhtCMdRpk-g9RpC5ODQiCEP-hPN6SH3VNuKcIkbHH6aJlAuRfLnB5XQLmI-Q/s640/blogger-image--169076271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEiPnlK4EjiAkuSxRI4IqE7fooo9Hf118d-EQTNvmE5q71c7T7wHEFGEJZzPI05mDVLvm6NCc-g6nI72IhtCMdRpk-g9RpC5ODQiCEP-hPN6SH3VNuKcIkbHH6aJlAuRfLnB5XQLmI-Q/s640/blogger-image--169076271.jpg"></a></div> Watchtower 7b+<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Now fully warmed up with the sun beaming down, it was time to get on the big 4. As Big Boss was in the shade we decided to try this one first. Will hurt his finger so had to stop which is a bit of a shame on his first day... I almost flashed the problem but then had a bit of a hard time getting to the same point again. After a few more attempts with some different beta I topped out! Feeling good we then moved to the next (Fourmis Rouge). This took a little bit longer and was quite scary at the top. Slapping for slopers at about 4 or 5 metres is not the nicest thing to be doing but I managed to pull it off. Joe was really close to this climb and I think he will go back to get it sent. Tristesse had been in the sun all day so I was a bit sceptical to whether it would be doable. To my surprise it only took me about 10 minutes to get this one done. My favourite of the lot!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LDkGoqxFcbLOxBpXJKFNWjh6q7gDO068jbcFG9UqZpRwmkjeF9rw_U4_bC_dKvXqdInoFD27nhgVZE2e1g_DVrVWFssqsadvP13NTMs6Exp95cVdlgSha4Oy6kSOYuaVbGU3J6hzyiI/s640/blogger-image--1491974748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LDkGoqxFcbLOxBpXJKFNWjh6q7gDO068jbcFG9UqZpRwmkjeF9rw_U4_bC_dKvXqdInoFD27nhgVZE2e1g_DVrVWFssqsadvP13NTMs6Exp95cVdlgSha4Oy6kSOYuaVbGU3J6hzyiI/s640/blogger-image--1491974748.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> Big Boss 7c</div><br><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgA-FJtDoSIAi9W1PImfS-fYabimDwQaegO_8AiMmASe3pau4UBtgW1VpVsCQ-rGj3y2aW1XQAQxAh9GgKgEE58rnHomhIaYt4JuA3mgM1R117pVkDHZeo_zyKd6eVkxGlqqjdgUay5G8/s640/blogger-image--1048557251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgA-FJtDoSIAi9W1PImfS-fYabimDwQaegO_8AiMmASe3pau4UBtgW1VpVsCQ-rGj3y2aW1XQAQxAh9GgKgEE58rnHomhIaYt4JuA3mgM1R117pVkDHZeo_zyKd6eVkxGlqqjdgUay5G8/s640/blogger-image--1048557251.jpg"></a></div> Fourmis Rouge 7c<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The last one was Big Golden, the 7c+. I still felt ok so started working the problem. I managed to get quite far but I could tell I didn't have much left in the tank. After lots of unsuccessful attempts I had to call it a day. A little disappointed I didn't manage them all but still happy with the rest. I will go back fresh to see if I can get Big Golden finished.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Day 6:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Today was kind of a rest day. We headed to Franchard Cuisiniere at about midday and warmed up. I climbed a hard 7b called L'Arete Du Star and then moved on to Rencard; a nice 7c just down the hill a little bit. This felt similar to an indoor style problem and only took about 5 minutes to get done.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvCkAx-dTuKMpmy1aeaNiFpCBSuAa3nEURcv5OEi4JyLfrGGO2E42bwTOHQwGqco30CrEAInrdzJx9bzAfqO508gFFbo5O-iR4vKjdh9ZSKuoQMim-wZCOU6-2LjgjBDSAPz8357vuEo/s640/blogger-image-782820747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvCkAx-dTuKMpmy1aeaNiFpCBSuAa3nEURcv5OEi4JyLfrGGO2E42bwTOHQwGqco30CrEAInrdzJx9bzAfqO508gFFbo5O-iR4vKjdh9ZSKuoQMim-wZCOU6-2LjgjBDSAPz8357vuEo/s640/blogger-image-782820747.jpg"></a></div> Rencard 7c<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After that I had a few goes on Karma which I had tried before but it felt even harder than last time so I heroically gave up.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Feeling tired with not much skin, we went for another session on Duel (an 8a slab) which I had also tried previously. I made even more progress than my attempts back in October getting just below the high crux move. Definitely need another session on this before we leave.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">So all in all a pretty good "rest day". Tomorrow, we head to Marlanval to try Elephunk.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Day 7:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">A mixed bag of emotions today. We set out to Marlanval to try Elephunk (8b). We got there and it looked slightly damp but it turned out we had perfect conditions. It only took me about half an hour to get all of the moves done. All that was needed was to link it.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The problem has a steady-ish start into an awkward hand flip and a tough move into a vertical crack. There's one more quite hard move which needed perfect body positioning, then you're into Mac 4 7b+ which is not too bad but is quite snatchy.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOj4cRBCvkw0jnyDsATvxsMNWkwqZnxTpi-C8Y8e-eSJke-5-WI3t_ZhagqQ2u6aFkTfJAEEAylndmKG8KOvkzm_GJwrB-jS7eH7f5ZIMPq9YdQFEbfOGvBMvBilViB5n1pBtnK7okWII/s640/blogger-image-1320940949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOj4cRBCvkw0jnyDsATvxsMNWkwqZnxTpi-C8Y8e-eSJke-5-WI3t_ZhagqQ2u6aFkTfJAEEAylndmKG8KOvkzm_GJwrB-jS7eH7f5ZIMPq9YdQFEbfOGvBMvBilViB5n1pBtnK7okWII/s640/blogger-image-1320940949.jpg"></a></div> Latching the crack on Elephunk<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After a few goes from the start I did everything perfectly and got through all the hard moves into Mac 4 and my left hand ejected out of the crack. Devastating!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifdhVEf9ZVm4emzRfwog7LLOzFbPnlWtSc_8DPAXqcdc7ZNmyLL2TPoV_A2yrBcGdZA2sDcgUbDIcE7X4I9bkt2LCCZKVjyQGMfy3wnjtdqOWboCsyg9JuRxPD9yh7TzyIG4eq3EFISDs/s640/blogger-image-598318085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifdhVEf9ZVm4emzRfwog7LLOzFbPnlWtSc_8DPAXqcdc7ZNmyLL2TPoV_A2yrBcGdZA2sDcgUbDIcE7X4I9bkt2LCCZKVjyQGMfy3wnjtdqOWboCsyg9JuRxPD9yh7TzyIG4eq3EFISDs/s640/blogger-image-598318085.jpg"></a></div> Left hand ejection!!!<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">The way you hold the crack, it crushes you're little finger and was tearing a hole in the side of mine. Which meant I had to stop. I am going to rest up tomorrow and not climb in the hope that the hole in my finger will heal up and allow me to go back and get it sent!</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I'll let you know how it goes in a few days.</span></p>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-40649570975209769332014-03-25T03:14:00.001-07:002014-03-25T06:58:13.485-07:002 weeks in Fontainebleau: Day 1-3<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I haven't been to Font since October and it was definitely time to go back to complete some unfinished projects and send some new stuff!</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Day 1:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After doing the final round of The Depot winter boulder league last night then driving straight down to Font over night was pretty epic to say the least. It was raining when we arrived at our gite so we decided to do a food shop and stock up for the week. After that the weather cleared up and it became really sunny so we headed to Roche Sabots (a place we are very familiar with) to have a relaxed climb on some easier problems as we we're shattered. After climbing a few 7a's and 7a+'s I ended up repeating an 8a I had done in October last time I was there (Sale Gosse assis). Joe Swales had previously done the stand start to this problem which gets 7c so he attempted the sit. He cruised the flick off the mono at the start but just couldn't link the whole problem together. I am certain he will get his first 8a this trip.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WNSM70ORMndwNv26WQ-oPZsUFzORvk9NlgAun7_87-vDsQuX4NyznfvqxpXLDgxiYOfm2VCvI58km0EpRQoqYz-W3wODmMB_MwSQzRCITLjVx0Z11cnwk4JwqratIDpul4wD16tVduE/s640/blogger-image--1256342436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WNSM70ORMndwNv26WQ-oPZsUFzORvk9NlgAun7_87-vDsQuX4NyznfvqxpXLDgxiYOfm2VCvI58km0EpRQoqYz-W3wODmMB_MwSQzRCITLjVx0Z11cnwk4JwqratIDpul4wD16tVduE/s640/blogger-image--1256342436.jpg"></a></div> Joe Swales on Salle Gosse Assis<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Day 3:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Yesterday we went to Bas Cuvier. Me and John climbed Aerosol 7b+ and then had a few tries at La Balance 7c before getting rained off it. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"></span><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4e6jd5q0VM9eUSUHBXlDSJ2DUiamvopBOKJgIl1Xnapo6poo58wD85C1eUs6-GT6gmx6g9wraS5NnJaUnldshGLxK-FwvUpWPnVmz5Pzgn7ReV-CSpdMmBzuI32SvksXed3ZeZ4Z0cqs/s640/blogger-image--248309984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4e6jd5q0VM9eUSUHBXlDSJ2DUiamvopBOKJgIl1Xnapo6poo58wD85C1eUs6-GT6gmx6g9wraS5NnJaUnldshGLxK-FwvUpWPnVmz5Pzgn7ReV-CSpdMmBzuI32SvksXed3ZeZ4Z0cqs/s640/blogger-image--248309984.jpg"></a></div> John Thornton on Aerosol<p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Today was an awesome day! We met up with my friend Mike who was on his last day in Font. He showed us this really cool boulder in the middle of nowhere with an 8a problem on it called Opium. It was a bit morpho but I managed to send it after figuring out the beta that worked for me. I really enjoyed that climb and would recommend anyone who climbs at that level to go and try it.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">http://vimeo.com/90013936</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">
</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">Video of me climbing Opium.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></div>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After that we wandered off to try and find a problem called Hueco Tanks 7c+. But instead stumbled across a huge outcrop of untouched boulders. I put up a new line fittingly called "Where's Hueco?" which goes at about 7b. I will definitely have to make a longer trip to font at some point to have a look at some of the other cool looking lines there.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">After all of that we had some lunch and ate some weird pink stuff which sent us a bit hyper, we took the trek to find the elusive Le Kraken 7c. Leviathan 7a to the left was our warm up which I managed to flash and then started working the moves on Le Kraken. We were getting really close to the hardest move (a dyno to a crack) When me and Joe sent it straight after each other! All aboard the send train!!! Toot! toot!</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;">I will keep you informed on the rest of the trip with more mini blogs like this one throughout.</span></p>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-36575994228202363802014-03-22T03:39:00.001-07:002014-03-22T03:45:50.047-07:00It's been a while<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's been a while since my last post, but honestly it's been hard to top what I talked about in my last one. It truly was a great moment.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since then, a lot of things have happened. A Font trip, a hell of a lot of training, World Cup Selection and The CWIF. I have actually gone from strength to strength since Laval. I managed another 8a in font (Salle Gosse assis) and another one back in the UK (The Joker) at Stanage Plantation. I won the GB Team World Cup Selection event at the Castle in London, meaning I am now competing in the full World Cup season along with The World Championships a bit later on in the year.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><a href="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5UqHboI3t9I" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5UqHboI3t9I</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Video from the last font trip.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last weekend was the annual Climbing Works International Festival. this year a huge amount of international strong men and women had signed up including the likes of Rustam Gelmanov (RUS) and Jernej Kruder (SLO). I knew this would be a good tester to see how I will perform in the world cups to come.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Qualifying was made up of 30 blocs that were truly awesome. Super techy with only a couple of slightly burly ones. I think everyone who competed would agree it was set to perfection. I was really happy with my qualifying score of 291 which put me in joint 3rd with Gabriele Moroni (ITA), only beaten by Alex Megos (GER) and Stewart Watson (GBR) who both scored a very impressive 300. A full house.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29KssBJkdb7ze8DiLCA1O8tBjM73-C81f2NbI7N-Q3XSo_eWcqRxR01EdIJHmb_UpSLA5eUaaSbO6UGt_5bSrPySgv1riwek4yZSJuF6kKLMsLM2Q05RbIC-ExmtBLBm3UuwlbJ4XWfs/s640/blogger-image-1722899931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29KssBJkdb7ze8DiLCA1O8tBjM73-C81f2NbI7N-Q3XSo_eWcqRxR01EdIJHmb_UpSLA5eUaaSbO6UGt_5bSrPySgv1riwek4yZSJuF6kKLMsLM2Q05RbIC-ExmtBLBm3UuwlbJ4XWfs/s640/blogger-image-1722899931.jpg"></font></a></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The next day we went into isolation for semi's. I used this time to mingle with some of the other athletes who will also be doing some of the world cups this year (It's always good to have friends), and of course to warm up.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Because of my qualifying score I went out near the end. I decided to try some relaxation methods to calm any nerves I had about the competition. As I sat on the mat waiting to turn around and head towards my first problem. I closed my eyes and imagined myself laying on a beach on a really hot sunny day taking in the rays. This seemed to really help.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The first problem was a pull hard or go home kind of problem and I only managed to gain the bonus. After, I looked at the second and knew straight away I was going to send this problem. It was a ninja kick! (Anyone who knows me will know that this is my favourite kind of move), I flashed the problem with relative ease. The third, again I only managed the bonus but still felt pretty good. The last was a really balancy slab. I took my time to look at and prepare all the holds. It felt like I was on the wall for ages, but I pushed through and managed another flash!</span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dzpMff8Wm0MixgV95mi31A5pVWZ5LlPdiLHij-Tds7uYie6NNP7kin8GLijoc6wIGTQP5lbv5LDmXUCnl4hvKNHRwAznu7-_pKwKTHe4VjBn_dwZKrpQIY5gK-UfX8ZwPyPsqhIIRjM/s640/blogger-image--477256441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dzpMff8Wm0MixgV95mi31A5pVWZ5LlPdiLHij-Tds7uYie6NNP7kin8GLijoc6wIGTQP5lbv5LDmXUCnl4hvKNHRwAznu7-_pKwKTHe4VjBn_dwZKrpQIY5gK-UfX8ZwPyPsqhIIRjM/s640/blogger-image--477256441.jpg"></font></a></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Me sending the ninja kick problem!</span><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was really happy with my performance at the weekend and I now know I can hold my own against some of the worlds best. Following last weekend, I have also had the opportunity to have 2 training sessions run by the Slovenian coach along with the Slovenian and Deutsch teams and Rustam as well. These were really good fun and I really had to try hard throughout.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, as I write this at 1:30am, I am currently wedged like a Tetris piece in the back seat of a car driving down to Fontainebleau yet again along with some of my good friends. I will post this as soon as I get some wifi which may be a couple of days from now. I'll keep you informed on how it goes with a full report of the trip and we will also be making a video so keep an eye out!</span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7Og6HxsVWCZ1nOg8lh4YKtl1pZbAi_BiJiYEEwYJ8GciCgsQNFuKQ5VU4ihmxzNtSjKpsFkXoZltV-dpvvTmolxhF88Q9fv2dF3D8QyUWJeVCVc5XSzdHTPyf_t6f2JRcWfOO8bEmUM/s640/blogger-image-183720401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7Og6HxsVWCZ1nOg8lh4YKtl1pZbAi_BiJiYEEwYJ8GciCgsQNFuKQ5VU4ihmxzNtSjKpsFkXoZltV-dpvvTmolxhF88Q9fv2dF3D8QyUWJeVCVc5XSzdHTPyf_t6f2JRcWfOO8bEmUM/s640/blogger-image-183720401.jpg"></font></a></div><div><br></div>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-33144171789022399532013-10-15T14:25:00.005-07:002013-10-15T14:28:25.820-07:00The greatest moment of my life so far…<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Looking back at last
weekend I can hardly believe what happened. As I sit here writing this struggling
to keep my eyes open, it’s amazing to think of all the unbelievable achievements
that were accomplished for GB climbing.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">So Thursday, travelling to
Laval (France) for the last round of the European Youth Bouldering Cup. We all
met up at Manchester airport raring to go and excited about the weekend. After
a short flight, a few delays at the car hire and a hell of a lot of Paris
traffic, we finally made it to our hotel. It was quite late by this time and we
all needed some sleep but for some reason I wasn’t able to get any… As I sat
outside the hotel at half 3 in the morning I had time to think. I knew this was
going to be my last ever competition competing as a junior and I really wanted
to put in my all.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The next day I had a
chance to catch up on some sleep and relax a little before the opening ceremony
in the evening. It did feel quite cool to go up on stage holding our nations
flag along with all the other countries. The speeches did drag on a bit but
maybe if I had learned some French before I came I may have understood at least
some of it. Afterwards I did my usual team talk with everyone and also got to
meet one of the GB para-climbers.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Competition day, today was
the day it all happened for youth A and junior categories. I watched the Youth
A’s in the morning and tried to help out as I could. Everyone did so well! And it
really got me pumped up for my qualification round in the afternoon.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQjdXkbs7aDwNvWtNeWQpKfajzFwq-L2_OlOoiRdVgQQGv-jYY2UpadPTU2bBxuXwEyDEudUbxmQR1mKdoQkarvYPUyj-TnRLlPDxrprISvWnwgs9BANXuUfS7F8e1Y76P1kguyDXLjo/s1600/phoca_thumb_l_img_2868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQjdXkbs7aDwNvWtNeWQpKfajzFwq-L2_OlOoiRdVgQQGv-jYY2UpadPTU2bBxuXwEyDEudUbxmQR1mKdoQkarvYPUyj-TnRLlPDxrprISvWnwgs9BANXuUfS7F8e1Y76P1kguyDXLjo/s200/phoca_thumb_l_img_2868.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2eyCauno_kRv0BcIARw1Guw7Dcd0UBFy_81dXAEmrba0t60pr0mOC29qlb5VqkKDi_d_kmAQDOSvJ5H_RiTj_IkJy7m3MU9cFReYEvw2L_uEYmnMB90pwPv5XGxxIapUbs1SAKlGNAQ/s320/phoca_thumb_l_img_2886.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="212" /></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It finally came time for
me to get on the wall. I hadn’t climbed properly since the Monday before so I
wasn’t quite sure how I was going to feel once I got started. I had a good warm-up
and was ready to go. The problems were really cool and I really enjoyed it. I
managed to top 7 of the 8 boulders qualifying me at 5<sup>th</sup> into the
final.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I normally suffer from bad
cramps during the finals of competitions so I got a massage straight after
qualifying. This really helped and I didn’t get any cramp whilst on the wall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We were in isolation for
ages so I went to sleep. After waking myself up and having another good warm-up
we all went out for observation. The crowd was massive and the atmosphere was
incredible. The problems looked awesome and I couldn’t wait to get on them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
first boulder was and off-vert, technical and slopey creation. I came out and
somehow managed to flash it! After fist pumping at the top and shouting “COME
ON!” I was feeling great going back into isolation. The second was a crimpy
start into a dyno. It took me 3 goes to stick the dyno but it felt great when I
topped it. The final boulder looked crazy with these huge pink blobs leading to
the top. On my first attempt I got past the first section with relative ease
but then came unstuck at the slap for the penultimate hold. I knew what I had
to do and started up the problem once more. I paused just before the move I had
previously dropped and said to myself in my head. “Last ever junior problem. Make
it count.” I stuck the move with a wild helicopter of my feet and matched the
last hold with a massive smile on my face.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGYSXFlbZaTNwM2Kf6xRwnGr7WhnfdIPUTwsDjitys-vCkdNC70d7ZpkwQTdu9XuHH_Ymx5MeQ7aFcDGgJSpwr1qhCF4Pl-p7ATKH4dETEOmfr4P3SWe0eP-ztojgybt-F0v3WNTMCdU/s1600/phoca_thumb_l_img_3128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGYSXFlbZaTNwM2Kf6xRwnGr7WhnfdIPUTwsDjitys-vCkdNC70d7ZpkwQTdu9XuHH_Ymx5MeQ7aFcDGgJSpwr1qhCF4Pl-p7ATKH4dETEOmfr4P3SWe0eP-ztojgybt-F0v3WNTMCdU/s200/phoca_thumb_l_img_3128.jpg" width="200" /> <img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-b0-DqS2mKXmtWxu-UhSWINM9FWTIzdxbaAYQkoQUah5hyphenhyphenLKS04U3hsfJBCjeGI-mNWaXbLJGGORWMJ-Qu1TClDyV2cXq0m1zCBvw4cy0Y4Mn9taM1hFekDnO6e-gm2zpTKWpk1LKIgU/s200/1400761_536766149742880_196177422_o.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDflQxxwRFidHi6cpMXM_MgLjDtGrH75PfVji03zOmiApFun5aklzJZfJFMKjp0f1OjX-_IXITJttq3e78xgMW9X6AXCOIcAcGI-SXTTCuGuDk7r5bXtt7qsJqgRfqQtHysmj1yElyI1g/s1600/phoca_thumb_l_img_3232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDflQxxwRFidHi6cpMXM_MgLjDtGrH75PfVji03zOmiApFun5aklzJZfJFMKjp0f1OjX-_IXITJttq3e78xgMW9X6AXCOIcAcGI-SXTTCuGuDk7r5bXtt7qsJqgRfqQtHysmj1yElyI1g/s320/phoca_thumb_l_img_3232.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">As
I walked out to watch the last competitor on the final boulder, at this point I
knew I had second place and wasn’t expecting anything more. I was really happy
with this and I had maintained my world ranking of 2nd and bumped my European ranking
up to 2<sup>nd</sup> as well. The only way I could come 1<sup>st</sup> was for
the last climber to not top the final boulder. I was standing with the team at
this point who had been giving me the best support all through the final and
were by far the loudest team there. After he had dropped the problem 3 times I actually
started to think I might actually win this. He pulled on for his last attempt
just before the buzzer sounded so was allowed to complete his go but was not successful.
The whole team including me jumped up and roared! I felt a bit bad that we were
all cheering when he fell off but I couldn’t believe it! I had actually won!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This
was the greatest moment in my life so far…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">To
be honest, it still hasn’t sunk in and I was getting congratulations all
weekend. It felt amazing!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
next day was the turn of the youth B’s and I was just blown away with how well
the whole team worked together during qualifications. Normally I go around coaching
during qualification and helping out as much as I can but today was different.
I sat back and watched the team do this without any instruction. They just
wanted everyone to climb their best!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Both
Pete and William made finals and did amazing. Will even made podium! I loved
watching them climb in the finals, proving that the Brits are a force to be
reckoned with.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Team has really bonded more than ever on
this trip; it feels like I have become part of a 2<sup>nd</sup> family. Without
them cheering me on there is no way I could have done what I did. I am really
sad to be leaving the team and I’m sure the next team captain will be just as
good if not better than I was. Thank you for all your support guys. (And of course
the card and cake)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="tab-stops: 306.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Now…
Into the seniors…</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunN4nAx_cDhzl2AcWCt4r0UwnNZrbDBo0PemeK3ZBZtpwSeP5M8ZMKF4ut8ytdWS4yXxQC7yVOyd-qEDUfaf8abW_3WNoePhCEsRasWxt8_VpwfdnNFyROQRDx8FVtWHcaUQv220Tw28/s1600/Les+anglais.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunN4nAx_cDhzl2AcWCt4r0UwnNZrbDBo0PemeK3ZBZtpwSeP5M8ZMKF4ut8ytdWS4yXxQC7yVOyd-qEDUfaf8abW_3WNoePhCEsRasWxt8_VpwfdnNFyROQRDx8FVtWHcaUQv220Tw28/s400/Les+anglais.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Photos - Credit: Brieuc Deléage, Stasa Gejo, Céline Bellanger<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-58804349181565438182013-10-04T07:08:00.001-07:002013-10-04T07:08:54.432-07:00Zoo York 8a<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/76141141"><span style="color: white;">https://vimeo.com/76141141</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCkyXQoSgS5XmQj9I_a3mRquo2yxPsOSafEpNAEMCAEWoyoPdzgEfpp9ejQt8Kj5DPPAFHdprFqSuRHSQtvWZwxOuWc99kJGtIkMrZ5UjUKkMHiepurGmdNmLn9O_7IHm-4Mni1OKZ0s/s1600/zoo+york.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCkyXQoSgS5XmQj9I_a3mRquo2yxPsOSafEpNAEMCAEWoyoPdzgEfpp9ejQt8Kj5DPPAFHdprFqSuRHSQtvWZwxOuWc99kJGtIkMrZ5UjUKkMHiepurGmdNmLn9O_7IHm-4Mni1OKZ0s/s400/zoo+york.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-60037553818565731352013-10-03T16:18:00.001-07:002013-10-03T16:18:25.865-07:00Vienna 7b+<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/76098005"><span style="color: white;">https://vimeo.com/76098005</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSMYA5mbzb9XCn7OJ2EmtlVdNGynOcS3FHCBlhKrQrnjSLyXZTtjzPo3cVFlFiP4noEcyry5womaQ8_8-27fTgRl8_DA-4SOB1uGSJqiOVDnw-uMoMdUB6Y3I0nA_E6V-1H19sgHQHxU/s1600/vienna.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img alt="Click link above for video" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSMYA5mbzb9XCn7OJ2EmtlVdNGynOcS3FHCBlhKrQrnjSLyXZTtjzPo3cVFlFiP4noEcyry5womaQ8_8-27fTgRl8_DA-4SOB1uGSJqiOVDnw-uMoMdUB6Y3I0nA_E6V-1H19sgHQHxU/s400/vienna.PNG" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-23239956379979389742013-07-14T14:35:00.001-07:002013-07-14T14:35:48.814-07:00The Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings Episode 10<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/69337012"><span style="color: white;">https://vimeo.com/69337012</span></a></div>
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Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-43111367712813088362013-07-14T14:32:00.001-07:002013-07-14T14:32:30.321-07:00The Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings Episode 9<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/67413826"><span style="color: white;">https://vimeo.com/67413826</span></a></div>
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Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-71399530008884351282013-07-14T14:29:00.001-07:002013-07-14T14:29:23.278-07:00The Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings Episode 8<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/65183239"><span style="color: white;">https://vimeo.com/65183239</span></a></div>
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Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-22134752362693060492013-06-21T01:50:00.001-07:002013-07-14T14:22:23.381-07:00Red KIte Arete 7b+ - First Ascent<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/68813598"><span style="background-color: white;">https://vimeo.com/68813598</span></a> </div>
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Click link above to watch!</div>
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I went to Caley yesterday on my 19th birthday. Had a little warm up on New Jarusalem (7a) which went second go. We were about to head up to the blockbuster area when I spotted this arete which wasn't in any of the guides or anywhere online. So we had a look and worked out the moves. It went fairly quickly and was a really nice problem. I topped out and a red kite (bird) flew quite low overhead so I named it "Red Kite Arete" and I'd give it 7b+. It would probably get 7b without the first move. Yeah, so a great birthday present really!<br />
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So... at the time I posted this i thought it was a first ascent. turns out i was wrong... ah well.</div>
Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-50862775861385112802013-03-29T03:13:00.001-07:002013-03-29T03:13:35.732-07:00The Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings Episode 7<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vimeo.com/62889626"><span style="color: white;">http://vimeo.com/62889626</span></a></div>
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<br />Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-37005049529330652202013-03-12T06:36:00.000-07:002013-03-12T06:36:22.432-07:00Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings Episode 6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAH7Ub5qIy1z8jp1lmomw_yUph_Ju0cepKjOW9IOO4QnDcP06-H3-2J13ywt19f5s72YyqgLRw2vCeXJjZcK8VcgYzVNzjsxxY62TSqhWbfMcwb7sMKoFFTyW2NgRxC3bYVoRUvdG1Dz8/s1600/ep+6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAH7Ub5qIy1z8jp1lmomw_yUph_Ju0cepKjOW9IOO4QnDcP06-H3-2J13ywt19f5s72YyqgLRw2vCeXJjZcK8VcgYzVNzjsxxY62TSqhWbfMcwb7sMKoFFTyW2NgRxC3bYVoRUvdG1Dz8/s400/ep+6.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/60908111"><span style="color: white;">http://vimeo.com/60908111</span></a></div>
Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-77211173224610690972013-03-12T06:30:00.000-07:002013-03-12T06:31:43.673-07:00The Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings: Episode 5<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vimeo.com/58570429"><span style="color: white;">http://vimeo.com/58570429</span></a></div>
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Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-55410179051824437012013-01-02T09:12:00.001-08:002013-01-02T09:13:26.059-08:00The Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings. Episode 4.<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vimeo.com/56592004"><span style="color: white;">http://vimeo.com/56592004</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrV6KkCL2V4-ONpgehx5iZjPwb7la8quKVjgGmA75nxOb1ecgnoFmx86lu1RlUOrUHbh8zw3Nqmi2Bw0Fbuyv3E38wEnSqVpJZ66b2Czy1RvTwQ6qxxIkLM0gtTbEe6n5ZxuG-spOtpIQ/s1600/ep+4+tr.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrV6KkCL2V4-ONpgehx5iZjPwb7la8quKVjgGmA75nxOb1ecgnoFmx86lu1RlUOrUHbh8zw3Nqmi2Bw0Fbuyv3E38wEnSqVpJZ66b2Czy1RvTwQ6qxxIkLM0gtTbEe6n5ZxuG-spOtpIQ/s400/ep+4+tr.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-84309424277566897302012-12-04T14:45:00.002-08:002012-12-04T14:45:50.640-08:00The Training Diary of Nathan Phillips and Garry Cummings. Part 3.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6flwqlC8AdWAjn7EfpunjqtLHqho4JK4Hhds2PdlJ1FvyhpXfIEVhONBWx8XrYVZa5XG-L9CGJ3PJcj8RBNLSI6eD0vKUvHVqGUVKOLaApIYGgfL20va6wxpFAepI5C3zdk8lPOL0r8/s1600/td3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6flwqlC8AdWAjn7EfpunjqtLHqho4JK4Hhds2PdlJ1FvyhpXfIEVhONBWx8XrYVZa5XG-L9CGJ3PJcj8RBNLSI6eD0vKUvHVqGUVKOLaApIYGgfL20va6wxpFAepI5C3zdk8lPOL0r8/s400/td3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Link Below!!</div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/54616249">http://vimeo.com/54616249</a></div>
Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-70795245541308615802012-10-28T06:00:00.003-07:002012-10-28T06:02:43.986-07:00Training Diary Episode 2<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRN3zkeAuOQg8E0o1mxTFsYIaoMYV1ApeATuVQjZBpMIMQTMTkEOw9yir3hb0gO4wT09dkchs8bAcslwjhTPNf4TvWuIXvYGjgZc0MWl2oKN7jbu5djmLTdmKouxGFgTyUJR_5w1l_G4/s1600/td+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" oea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRN3zkeAuOQg8E0o1mxTFsYIaoMYV1ApeATuVQjZBpMIMQTMTkEOw9yir3hb0gO4wT09dkchs8bAcslwjhTPNf4TvWuIXvYGjgZc0MWl2oKN7jbu5djmLTdmKouxGFgTyUJR_5w1l_G4/s400/td+2.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get psyched!! link below</span></div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/52213040">http://vimeo.com/52213040</a></div>
Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-40843242304417019332012-09-30T13:23:00.002-07:002012-09-30T13:24:37.907-07:00Video Training Diary No.1<a href="http://vimeo.com/50444409"><span style="color: white;">http://vimeo.com/50444409</span></a>Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-61459130784843147632012-09-30T13:18:00.000-07:002012-09-30T13:18:09.613-07:00New BMX Edit!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xxv7mSI0yAs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7325428719102104984.post-13207289522015682342012-08-18T11:00:00.000-07:002012-08-18T11:04:16.558-07:00EYBC - L'Argentiere - France - 2012<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Three weeks ago the last round of the European Youth Bouldering Championships was drawing near and it was time to start packing. Between the last one and this; I had upped my training because I knew I needed to get stronger. So when it came to the comp I was feeling pretty good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The comp was held in L’Argentiere France where I had been twice before. It helped a lot to know the area and to know where the supermarkets were. It was boiling the whole time we were there and I wasn’t complaining as I love the heat. On the day of the qualifiers I managed 3 tops and was close to 3 or 4 others. Only me and one other managed to get all the bonuses which made me feel a bit better about my result. I ended up in 13<sup>th</sup> place. I thought I could have done a bit better but after seeing my overall European Junior ranking at 10<sup>th</sup>, I thought that was pretty good. It was nice to see Dave Barrans and Ellie Howard cheering me on in the crowd.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Whilst at the comp we met some really nice people who put us up for a night on our last day there. The final was really good to watch however much I wanted to be doing it. Hopefully next year it won’t be just me going from Britain. </span></div>
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Nathan Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681608064847940278noreply@blogger.com0