The summer holidays can result in what I would have a called a blow-in or two coming back to town. However, before I call Mikie a blow-in I thought I better check the meaning of the phrase. It originated from Ireland, referring to visitors not born in the local area. No matter how long you may have lived there. Making me the blow-in, not Mikie. Australia more recently adopted the phrase putting a less friendly slant on it. Suggesting the person is an unwelcome newcomer or stranger, something that is fair to say doesn’t apply to Mikie or me:
You’ve probably guessed Mikie and his family are back for a while. A visit by them would not be complete without a catch-up or two on rock. We last caught up just over three months back, when Howsie and I flew over to stay with them in Queensland. Since that time Mikie has only been climbing on rock and with ropes once. Having an appreciation of where we were climbing today, He was very aware that today’s foray would be challenging. In addition to his lack of climbing fitness, the climbing style would pile on extra helpings of difficulties:
He started cautiously scoping the start of first climb. Moving his arms and hands with purpose in the air, as if to mimic climbing the route before he had even left the ground. A technique that people may be more familiar with since climbing has been included in the Olympics. There are three disciplines of climbing in Olympics. Bouldering, something Mikie has been doing occasionally on his own wall. Short explosive problems, but not great for building stamina. Lead climbing, which is what we were doing today and requires stamina:
The last being speed climbing. Even as I say it I can feel a bad taste in my mouth. I do not really considering it climbing, being a discipline only devised to make it more appealing as a spectator sport. And in the climbing world, I’m not alone with this thought. However, as I was about the meaning of blow-ins I may also be wrong about speed climbing. Record’s go back over two thousand years. During a siege of Sogdan Rock, Alexander the Great offered a grand reward for the first soldiers to scale the fortress located north of Bactria in Sogdiana:
In more recent times, but still approx. sixty years back, Russia used speed as a measure of climbing ability. By 1955, they had a clear set of consistent rules for engagement, and by 1976 they opened up the ‘sport’ to the rest of the climbing world. I was therefore wrong to assume it was created as a spectator sport. But speed is one thing that Mikie has on his side, he climbs fast and when your stamina is not up to par speed can be a worthy ally. The first two climbs flew by, and above he kept the pace right up till the last bolt on the third line:
A line that his brother Howsie has pontificated on for rather a long time, just a few weeks back. With no guarantee siblings will be similar, for these brothers their climbing styles are very different. David and Seb also joined us, the latter who again can’t be called a blow-in under the less abrasive Irish definition. And while not new to the area he is relatively new to climbing. Not that this stopped him giving several routes a red hot go on lead. While they spent a little while perched on the handy posts being spectators, it wasn’t for too long:
By Welly Dam standards the place was busy today and a third crew arrived. Having climbed here for close to two decades, as happens every so often, the other climbers recognised me. This time I recognised them too. Dan established some quality lines a decade back. Three were named after his children, only the youngest of which had taken to climbing. The climb named after him being Chasing Mason, and based on how he climbed today if he sticks at it there’s a good chance he’ll live up to the climb’s name and will be ahead of us in ability:
Sandbagged 