That’s me done for the season folks. It’s such a bloody privilege to do this work, I can’t believe how lucky I am. Significant career changes coming in the next few months, but with 60 weddings under my belt, I know for absolute certain that I’ll be doing this for the long haul.
Also this song is by @gemma.dart stream it on Spotify now, it’s truly wonderful. It made me cry and incredibly proud to know her.
Best workshop day ever with @stan_browning a couple of months back, a very fun sequence to force and a lot learnt. Also don’t mind Stan’s pouting, we had lunch riding on who would send first 😵💫 let me know if any of you got on this boulder and how you found it ! 🫶
#bouldering #setting #routesetting #toehook #lache
DISCLAIMER - These boulders were never meant for commercial purposes, they were for Routesetter professional development only and were removed prior to opening.
Very cheeky day with @oscar.landman setting the famed ‘Cartwheel’ boulder. We knew of a few ways to force this sequence, one is through using toe hooks (see my BlocHaus Boulder from 2 years ago). But we wanted to find some other ways.
Oscar choose to go the ‘4-point start’ method, making for a much more intuitive sequence, guiding the climber and being a lower intensity over all, perhaps sitting around V5. We couldn’t break it after about an hour of attempts.
I challenged myself and tried to stick to the commercial 2 point start. Turns out you need to make cartwheels bloody HARD before they’re forced this way. The hands are tenuous and the wall being 0 degrees rather than slab meant the hands stand position was incredibly intense. Perhaps had a break if you had a very impressive vertical jump, but Oscar and I couldn’t do it. This one sitting around V6 ish. Certainly less pleasant than Oscar’s variation.
So why did we do it? Because it’s fun! We’d both been feeling a little flat at work and wanted to spend the morning really allowing ourselves to play. Our set days at Lab are pretty fast paced, so slowing down and allowing ourselves to fail was really valuable. We had a good laugh and still managed a set of 7 nice easy funky little boulders by the end of the day.
Enjoy our goofy video 🥰
#bouldering #melbournebouldering #boulderlab #climbing #climbingmelbourne
Last day at @boulder.lab for 6 weeks, plenty of fun, plenty of silly, plenty of good climbing.
Also @r_osie_edwards took my water bottle, drank most of it, then left it in a crate of holds without the lid on properly and if that is love I don’t want it.
Good briefs tho.
2025 VIC Boulder State Titles - The comp that shouldn’t have worked.
Wouldn’t have happened without @pat__klein ‘s generosity, taking probably a massive lost to host this event when no other gym in VIC offered.
@sportclimbvic worked their little butts off to get this thing off the ground. Almost entirely volunteers. From the judges, to the organisers to the media team. Unbelievable effort.
To my team, @zachtram@lil.sets@enricocapanosetter@ethan_wdingley it was an honour leading you for the Open Athletes. You made it so easy. I barely set a thing… just pointed and panicked.
I entered this comp thinking it’d be my last, certainly as a HRS, the process leading into it was… frustrating. The pay is insulting, the timeline unreasonable and the thanks minimal. But things came together, I’m really proud. We’re fighting for some change, and it’s coming, everyone acknowledges that. The event has unanimously been seen as a huge success and I’m not broken or in debt. Maybe… just maybe… I’ll put my hand up again.
📸 @jimmysontherocks
Lactic Factory Full Gym Reset - Feb ‘25
An honour to set at this institution, a gym doing something truly unique in Melbourne whilst prioritising connection, collaboration and community through Routesetting.
A big year on the tools to come, some special things happening.
How can we learn if not through failure?
Well, many different ways but failing forwards is certainly one of them.
Got over to Boulder Lab FTG today and had a day just @sam.gull_ and I. So we did something a little different. PLAY
