In our continued effort to join the local competition scene SURMC has once again rallied its troops to represent the club at Villawood’s bouldering contest. The competition was held on Saturday evening and participants were given three hours to work on a wide range of problems with each contestant’s top eight problems counting towards their final score. An extra point was also awarded for flashing a problem (completing it on the first attempt). Congratulations to Georgi Knox for finishing first in the women’s open B division and to Michael Lee for placing third in the men’s open B. Great job guys! An honorable mention also goes to Alisa Rabovsky for finishing third in the women’s open B category although we’re fairly certain there weren’t many competitors in that division.

If you’re interested in competing with SURMC, even if you’ve just started climbing, just talk to one of the club executives and they can give you more information on how everything works. It would be great to have more people involved. We’ll be posting an announcement regarding the next competition so keep an eye on the website for updates.

Hi guys,

To celebrate the start of semester SURMC will be having a party at the Forest Lodge Hotel this Friday. There’ll be finger food and a few jugs to get things started. When the Flodge closes at midnight we will most likely find somewhere to kick on. Details about the Flodge can be found on their website: www.forestlodgehotel.com.au

We’d especially like to meet the new members of the club. (I promise, only some of them bite!)

See you there!

Emma

Many of you have seen this already, but in case you haven’t I put together a video using footage from trips taken during first semester this year. Here’s a link to the finished product:

Enjoy the show!

So once again the women of SURMC have successfully evaded the men of the club in order to have a climbing day all to themselves. This semester’s secret location was Hospital Rocks in Nowra. We were concerned about being rained out, but the weather ended up being beautiful in the end.

(from left) Elodie Fourmond, Elin Anderson and Alana Hill

There were a few girls new to outdoor climbing who got their first taste of real rock but hopefully not their last. Congratulations to Emma Welshman who completed two routes on lead for the first time, despite some touch and go moments. Great job Em!

Emma Welshman

Aisling Digges

Aisling Digges took the only lead falls of the day, which I know she won’t mind me mentioning because they helped make an awesome video edit and probably also means that the rest of us need to start leading harder routes. Don’t worry, when this happens I will be waiting in the brush with my camera, ready to capture the moment on film.
After filling the afternoon with climbing, the day was capped off with Anna Rogers sneaking off to a rope swing which quickly landed her in the freezing water. Brrrr. Looks like there was some testosterone among us after all.

Anna Rogers

A huge thank you to Georgi Knox and Fiona Cunningham for organizing the trip. It was a great location, awesome weather and an overall fantastic outing. I can’t wait for the next women’s trip in semester 2!

Fiona Cunningham climbing with Pip Collins on belay

So this actually happened a little while ago, but I thought I should finally get around to posting the results. As some of you may recall, the Bloc bouldering center hosted a competition on May 13. A group of club members went to represent SURMC which potentially marks the first of many other similar events for our climbers. The participants were given 2 hours to choose and complete six problems from a long list of challenges with various difficulty ratings. Each problem was worth between 20 and 60 points with an extra point awarded for flashing the problem. The top five scorers in each category went on to the finals.

Georgi Knox

Congratulations to Georgi Knox who finished second in the Women’s Open B’s and to Agnes Andre who finished fourth in the same category. The best performance of the day for the men was put in by Toby Hulf who finished sixth in the Men’s Open B’s, just out of the finals.

Agnes Andre

We’re planning on competing in more contests in the future so if anyone is interested they can come talk to someone on the committee and get more information. You do not have to be an experienced climber to participate. Thanks to everyone who came to the Bloc to support SURMC!

Lunch break, during which Sam is too concerned with his food to pose for the photo

So unfortunately we’ve been a bit slack on updating the trip reports. Hopefully everyone agrees it’s better late than never. For anyone who missed Araps this semester here’s a little rundown of what went on:

There were a fair amount of trad climbing virgins on the trip (am I allowed to use that word on our website?) but everyone was able to get a lot of climbing done. Congrats to Anthony Doig who spent the week learning to lead and was able to take several people up a variety of routes.
Although we were rock climbers by day, we became squeeze-boulderers by night. With only the glow of the moon to guide us we spent several evenings conquering various squeeze problems around the campsite. Jeremy Simes even went through one of the problems without putting down his cigarette. To witness the feat in person was nothing short of breathtaking.

Alana Hill pulling herself out of the scorpion squeeze

Sam Kissajukian in the squeeze boulder

A particularly amusing moment occurred when club president Emma Welshman decided to go through the scorpion squeeze feet first. Watching her legs wiggle out from under the rock is perhaps one of my fondest memories.
A small faction of us also broke away from the group for a day to head over to the neighboring Grampians. Here we bouldered, explored Hollow Mountain Cave, encountered an un-mantable mantle and afterwards went to the pub for the world’s largest chicken schnitzel.

Elodie Fourmond

Michael Lee

The win for the trip’s most epic fail goes to fan favorite Mat Guenette for having to bail off Salami (9), because he couldn’t get through the squeeze section about a third of the way up the climb. His struggle was both exhausting and amusing. Besides that it was just another trip that saw many routes completed and many more left for next time. Here’s looking forward to Arapiles in semester 2!

Jade Kingsley and James Henderson on Skink (18)

A place to drink, play, dance, celebrate climbing.

Date/time: Saturday, June 4th 7.30pm-2am

Address: 7 Epping Rd Double Bay

This is going to be good. We have a hammock city set up in the garden, we have amazing live music to dance to, there is a live art piece to be added to by participants and there are a plenty of interactive surprises and games to make the night quite unlike what you are used to. We are using Jimmy’s house and there will be a mix of people from outside SURMC to mix things up and keep it spicy.

The game plan of this house party:

1. Bring an item or prop that allows you to interact with others in an unusual way that brings happiness or amusement.
2. I retain the right to refuse any serious people, please check your adultness at the door. Non destructive immaturity is welcomed.
3. Bring boxed wine or a six pack.
4. I welcome suggestions.

Send me an email if life or anything about the party is confusing to you; samkissajukian@gmail.com

Sam

So, we’ve officially proved ourselves to have talents that extend far beyond rock-climbing. The Annual Team Challenge pitched man against man, woman against woman and men dressed as women against all conventions of good taste. We battled it out in tests of intelligence, skill and teamwork, and shamelessly cheated at every possible opportunity.

The contestants were Climbing Cartel, Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Bagel, The Jenolan Cave Walkers (hmmmm?), The Fighting Mongooses… and one more, but I don’t remember their name. Sorry guys.

The trivia was a questionable event requiring knowledge of climbing, cocktail making and misadventures with bread. The Fighting Mongooses proved strong in the Egg and Spoon Challenge, but only because no one ran with their socks on their feet. I’m not sure if Jeremy and Anthony got extra points for waging war on each other with eggs at the finish line. Trees and poles were enlisted in the tug of war, and got Daniel sent off (blood rule). And when it comes to limbo, I’m not sure any of the following are actually valid moves:

(1) leaning forward instead of backward

(2) touching the rope

(3) touching the ground

(4) touching the rope while touching the ground (with your head) and being dragged through by your team mates.

Also, I wonder if Sam, Alisa and Pip knew that the blindfolds in the Blindfold Challenge were see-through? Bullrush let people settle some scores that had been developing throughout the proceedings, and then it was time for the piece de resistance – Pinky attempting to drink 4 litres of milk. We all saw how that ended, so no need to post the photo.

Jessica dealt the winning blow in front of Fischer Library in the remaining minutes of the competition. Her team has definitely earned their prize of a free trip to the Jenolan Caves.

Thanks to Pip, Alisa and Sam for organising this event, and thanks to everyone who participated, cheated, drank goon and got their kit off. It was a great success. I hope that everyone got home safely and managed to do at least one constructive thing on Friday (I was impressed to see Adnan at uni before 9am).

Please post your comments guys, as it would be great to have some feedback from your perspectives, because I missed a lot (cask wine will do that to you).

If you like throwing drop bears on foreigners, wrestling poisonous snakes, sprint racing in flippers and drinking with your feet on the ceiling then welcome to ATC.

Part pub crawl and part team based challenge, you will pit your wits against other rival surmc factions. Your team must navigate multiple challenges to reach the coveted glory of the night including an amazing prize awaiting the winners.

Teams will be randomly formed on the night. Warning: There will be drinking involved in some challenges but it is not essential to be drinking to participate. Let me know in advance if you wont be drinking on the night.

A disposable light coloured t-shirt, dress or top is required. Every male contestant who wears a dress on the night will receive 5 points for the team he joins. Every female contestant who wears a wig or fake facial hair will also receive 5 points for the team they join.

The first challenge, to get a head start on the competition is worth 15 bonus points. Whoever emails me before next Tuesday the most  fun but simple, unique and team based challenge to play on the night will receive 15 bonus points to go to the team he/she joins and their challenge will be included on the night! The winner will be announced on the night, after teams have been chosen.

Email me at samkissajukian@gmail.com to enter your challenges.

Meet at the Flodge on Thursday, March 31st for a start time of 5.15pm, End time will be 10.30pm.

If you have any questions, email Pip Collins (pcol1053@uni.sydney.edu.au) or myself.

There is a limit to how many teams we can have, so please RSVP to pcol1053@uni.sydney.edu.au by Tuesday 29th of March. First in first serve.

To cover costs, entry will be $15 per person and will include some alcohol.

See you there,

Sam

Dam Cliffs, March 6th 2011

Sydney University Rock-climbing and Mountaineering Club kicked off the 2011 academic year with its first beginners’ climbing trip in which new club members, alongside experienced climbers, spent the day facing some of the Blue Mountains’ challenges.

The group all together

Early each year, the club organizes a variety of trips, training sessions and club nights aimed at introducing its new members to the world of climbing, both indoor and outdoor. After an initial session at club night – held every Wednesday at the Ledge at Sydney University – new members (including some absolute beginners… me being one) were last weekend offered an opportunity to put what they had learnt about climbing and belaying into practice outdoors.

Climbing with a grin

Crimpy climbing

Dam Cliffs, situated below an old steam train dam in the middle of the Blue Mountains, has a lot of climbs in a very small area. Grades range from 12 to 22 and there are a couple of slightly more difficult climbs for anyone feeling game. The dam presents opportunities for deep-water bouldering, but regrettably, the weather made that idea unappealing. Dam Cliffs is also a good place to learn to lead climb on sports routes, so it wasn’t just us beginners who made the most of this trip.

Chris pulling hard

For me, it was an opportunity to have fun and learn as much as I could, but with so much alien climbing terminology being thrown around, things quickly got confusing. Between not knowing exactly what a crimp was, even though if I found one I was supposedly required hold onto it, not getting exactly how a side pull was supposed to be of any use, just completely ignoring any advice to flag (?) or smear (???), and being disappointed to find out a jug didn’t involve beer, I just stuck to up and down. I’m pretty sure I now have the definitions of these things down, but I’ll admit I’m still disappointed about the jugs.

The club provides all climbing gear for the trips and with the only costs being petrol money and lunch, it’s a great way to get outdoors and have some cheap thrills.

Beginners’ training continues this week on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Ledge.

- Rebecca