Thursday, 2 June 2011

VIDEO: BIG NEWS.. Greg finally bags his first European 7B!!

Video: Greg on Fire with fire 7B 
http://youtu.be/3QM4qdMGILU

Ok guys,
I'm sure those of you who have been following the epic Operation Beastmaker tale know the trials and tribulations that have sometimes put a downer on things. For me it was most definitely the persistent injury that I was carrying literally from day 1!

Well good news at last. The left hand is starting to feel strong again and my efforts to rehabilitate it appear to have paid off.

From the start of the journey I always wanted to tick that all important "first European 7B" but many things seemed to conspire against my efforts. With renewed energy and feeling strong I set an amazing overhanging boulder in my sights. The name of the boulder is "Fire with fire" and is situated on a hill in the Zillergrund Wald area of Zillertal, Austria. After working out the sequence during a relatively short evening session I came back the following day to send it. It went better than expected and on Tuesday I sent it first go!! I couldn't have wished for a better line to help me get over that 7B hurdle.

Check out the video I put together (I have spent the last 4 hours or so listening to screaming children in McDonald's, so hopefully it has been worth it!)

Cheers,

Greg

1 week in Zillertal, Austria

Here's a brief post on our antics in Zillertal, Austria.

We arrived last week Wednesday and met up with the "Crazy Austrian" Dominic and headed to a climbing area in Ginsling. Chris flashed his first 7B!

Next day we climbed in Zillergrund Wald. With Dominic as our guide we climbed some classics! Crocodile 6C (Chris flashed), a really nice overhanging 6C+ (Chris flashed and Greg got close to flashing but got it second attempt) and Chris climbed another 7B (close to flashing).

Friday: We headed to McD's as it was raining extremely hard and bought a new green tarp (we could never replace Blue Tarp though -RIP). Dominic decided to abandon us as the weather was not looking good for Saturday...but he left us a bbq sausage (Frankfurter, wrapped in bacon filled with cheese...divine!) each. Good times! We spent the evening watching 7 Years in Tibet and then the laptop battery died watching Thor...we cried as Natalie Portman vanished from the monitor...NO!!!

Saturday: We got snowed in and had no gas or matches! Somehow we survived!

Sunday: Went to Sondergrund. Hiked 20mins up a mountain (Chris not happy...). Chris climbed a 7B in the worst possible conditions (direct sunlight on a slopey problem) and climbed the classic Moonwalk 7A+ (the boulder on the cover of the Zillertal guide). Greg does not climb well in baked conditions...

Monday: Gary (the 11kg grey gas canister!) was purchased and will hopefully solve our gas issues for the rest of the trip. We love him very much and has been warmly welcomed to Team Operation Beastmaker as the 3rd member. We try and avoid paying the E7.60 toll buy putting on dark sunglasses and looking like lost tourists...we fail. Scenes of the toll woman running after our van, screaming in German, will always make us laugh!
 We love GARY!!!

Tuesday: CRUSHFEST!!! The classic 7B, Fire with Fire, is firstly flashed by Chris (without warming up at all - SORRY DOMINIC!!! You shouldn't have told me it couldn't be done! This was Dominic's first 7B so it held special significance for him...my bad! haha!) then laid to waste, first go by Greg after working it the previous evening. We then head into the forest and crush a beautiful 7A and Chris DE-stroys a 7B+/ 7C.
 Fire with Fire - Flashed!

 "Sweet" dynamic 7A
 Chris on 7B+ / 7C

Wednesday: Photo session and Chris gets spanked off a 7A+...shi-times!

Thursday: Approach cam and tandem ascents filmed in Zillergrund Wald.

We're now off to Magic Wood, Switzerland. We've had enough of sitting in McD's...

Later!

Greg and Chris

Chris's introduction to public speaking

Hello everyone!

As promised, here is a video link to the "shout out", I gave to the Cassin Team for donating us a boulder pad after ours was stolen.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2Fgap-BLD21Ys&h=8db5d

Special thanks to THE MAN Ahikam Yaish for hooking us up with the footage! Thanks alot bro!

Enjoy

Chris