Climbing, Climbing, and more Climbing!

After about a week of being in NZ, I started to get a bit impatient to get climbing outside. Before I left, I had told most people that I was going on a climbing trip here, with some studying on the side, and I think I convinced myself of this as well. So I was a bit disappointed in my lack of climbing in my first few days here. My arrival seemed to bring bad weather, as rain continually dampened my climbing plans, and not having access to a car also proved difficult.

However, my luck began to change about a week ago. As more people moved in on campus, people kept finding me, saying that they'd heard that I climb. In one day, I met at least 6 or 7 people who seemed really excited about climbing.

I also had the fortune of meeting the UC Climbing Club president, Peter, at the climbing gym in town. He took my friend Paul and me to Castle Hill for the first time a few days ago.

Castle Hill was named the "Spiritual Center of the Universe" by the Dalai Lama in 2002. Take a look at some of my pictures and you will understand why. This is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Castle Hill is one of the world's best bouldering spots and is only an hour from Christchurch!

I'll admit, I was nervous about climbing at Castle Hill. The climbing there is dominated by slopers and mantles which are not my strong suit. A lot of the moves and reaches are big, maybe too big for me. I fully expected to get my butt kicked on V1's.

However, things went much better than expected on my first day there. Peter proved to be quite a helpful guide, pointing Paul and I to all the classic problems. I sent a V4 barefoot, which was pretty fun. And I worked on a ton of mantle problems, as I am determined to get better at them! I'm now thinking about working towards my "Bachelor of Castle Hill," which is a list of classic problems that one needs to complete for the "degree." Four months doesn't seem like a very long time to finish the list, but it'd be quite a good time trying.

Check it out: http://castlehillbouldering.blogspot.com/2006/08/bachelor-of-castle-hill.html.

And with that, I think I'll call it a night and go nurse my bruised and scraped body from many days of climbing and get ready for the first day of classes tomorrow!