Pre-Season Training

Planning a Pre-Nowra Season training trip. Check this video of Nowra's distant relative in South Australia for inspiration.

Start them young...

Just how young is too young to learn to belay?


Visualisation is an important skill for young climbers to develop, so Sigrid Hannu-Adams is wasting no time in starting to stare down Beefmeister 32 at Rosies.

2011 - The Year of Nowra

Minah LeBreton on Vandaholics (18) Thompson's Point

Shortly after Midnight on the first on January, Nowraphile and crusher of fine sandstone, Carlie LeBreton declared 2011 to be the Year of Nowra. The idea has caught on and gained momentum, meaning that 2011 is going to be huge!

Rod Young is nearing the completion of the most anticipated book since Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, A New Edition of the Nowra Guide!! The deadline for info, new routes and photos is the end of February, so get out there and complete those projects or bolt new ones for you chance at immortality.

Thomo's is prime before midday at the moment, especially if there's a breeze, and PC, The Grotto or the Bomaderry Creek Crags can all be good depending on the prevailing wind. But the rock's dry and a bit of spooge makes you stronger.

Then there's always the river, the nearby beaches and Jameroo!

Rod, Bronte and Minah rock jumping in the river below Thomo's.

T10 Northside 2010 - Rules

1. This is a social event. There is no registration or entry fee.

2. This events includes routes at crags around North Nowra; Lot 34, Mortein Wall, Rosies, Bartondale, The Bakery, South Central, Cheesedale, The Grotto (including all sectors from the Palm Tree Wall to the Powerlines Wall) and P.C.

3. The event starts at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday the 25th September at the North Nowra Shops Carpark. Score sheets will be handed out then. If you need a later start you can find us somewhere around South Central or the other Bomaderry Creek crags on Saturday morning.

4. Climbing concludes at 5:30 p.m. Please respect the rules by stopping climbing then. Scorecards must be handed in by 5:30p.m. at the South Central Carpark.

5. BBQ and presentation afterwards is at Shoalhaven Caravan Village.

17 Terara Road, Nowra (turn left at Moss Street when coming from North Nowra)

6. There are 8 categories:

a. Open Male – Volume

b. Open Female – Volume

c. Junior Male

d. Junior Female

e. Open Male – Points

f. Open Female – Points

g. Crag Lords Male

h. Crag Lords Female

In addition this year there will be an ULTIMATE ROUTE! This route is currently a project, but will be opened on the day for a first ascent. The location of the Ultimate Route will be revealed on Saturday Morning at 7:30am.

7. Volume Categories – climbers attempt to climb as many routes as they can, the total number of routes climbed are counted up as the climber’s score.

8. Junior Categories – Juniors must be 16 years old or younger on the 25^th of September 2010. Juniors’ rules are the same as the Volume competition, except that routes may be top-roped or led.

9. Points Categories – in the Points category, climbers try to do their 10 hardest climbs. Each climb is awarded points according to the following table:

GRADE	POINTS
18	1
19	2
20	3
21	5
22	7
23	9
24	12
25	15
26	19
27	23
28	28
29	33
30	38
31	44
32	50
33	57
34	64

All route grades are according to Rod’s 2000 ‘Rockclimbing at Nowra’ guide. More recently added routes and routes that are now considered harder should be checked with the organisers (Carlie and Rob). A couple of corrections to the grades of some routes in the guide will be given.

There are bonus routes that are worth extra points.

These will be announced closer to the event.

10. Open Climbers (Volume and Points) do not have to choose which category they enter until the end of the event, however only one category may be entered.

11. Crag Lords Categories – Every climb the climber completes counts toward their final score according to the following table.

Grade Range	15 or lower	16 - 20	21 and above
Points	1	2	3

12. All routes must be led (except by Juniors) from the ground to clip the top anchors from the normal finishing stance. Top-roping (for Opens), yoyoing, soloing, roped solos, simul-climbing and anything else like that is not allowed.

13. You may only count each route in your total or score once.

14. Chill out, have fun, make new friends and catch up with old friends. Your greatest competitor is yourself.

15. Remember these crags are in residential areas, look out for local kids, dogs and when driving through suburban streets. Take care where you park and respect the residents.

16. This is a fun event. The organisers reserve the right to disqualify anyone who we consider to be cheating, spoiling the event for others, or generally being a dick.

17. You are responsible for your own safety. Climbing is potentially dangerous and the competition organisers cannot be responsible for the security of the fixed protection, the solidity of the rock or the competence of your belayer. If in doubt, back-off, have rest or go home. Just don’t try to blame us for your mistakes!

T10 2010

It's been too long...

As season 2010 has kicked into full swing, it’s been action aplenty at The Home Of Power. The only thing absent has been a record of what’s been going down on this blog. So here’s my chance to put it right and satisfy the thirst for information that I know all you Nowraphiles out there crave.

New routes are always the most newsworthy occurrences, so we’ll kick it off with a mention of the awesome new lines everyone’s favourite dad-to-be Graham Fairbairn has added out at Babylon. G-Man has rejuvenated this old Nowra backwater by adding 2 stellar new routes up an impressive orange wall that previously only had a girdle across it. The left line is Something Jumpy 26 and the right Father Figure 28. Both 3 stars and there’s plenty more to do on this wall.

On the repeats front, there’s been stacks done so here’s a summary listed by climbers. Apologises to anyone or anything I’ve missed…

The most active climber has been Mick Wells. Another Croweater, come to test himself on the glorious rock of the Shoalhaven, Mick has worked his way through the classics, ticking off; Dungeon Master 31, Physical Graffiti 31, Non-Dairy Cheese-Like Substitute 30, Cheesemonster 30, Comin’ At Ya Pundi 29, Black Flag 29, Plastic Exploding Inevitable 29, Vehicle of Hate 28, Baby Just Don’t Bite It 28, Brother In A Bodybag 28, White Trash 27, Maintain the Rage 27 and Brown Badge 27. And heaps of other stuff. You get the idea, he’s done lots.

Matt Pascoe, back on 2 pegs and crushing, has achieved many PBs including; Skin To Skin 29, Baby Just Don’t Bite It 28, Top One Thomo 27, Brown Badge 27 and Maintain The Rage 27.

Local hero, Will Watkins onsighted The Hustler 24.

Mel Shields did that crotchety South Central testpiece, Scum 25.

Matt Norgrove ticked Brown Badge 27 and Plastic Exploding Inevitable 29.

Pete Tosen made it back down to Nowra, getting in an ascent of the neglected classic, Mr Bubbles 29 over at Bartondale.

Logan Barber slipped in an ascent of Brown Badge 27.

Marc Edwards has ticked off Sexy Is The Word 31.

Jason Smith tackled the Girls In The Hood 24 and pulled off an onsight.

Fred Bonnet did the classic Top One Thomo 27.

Tragedy struck on Brother In A Bodybag 28 when a taxi driver, frustrated with his own project, decided to give it a go and ripped off the crucial/key undercling hold on the crux. The undercling will forever be fondly remembered by all who were lucky enough to fondle it. Apparently the move still goes with a different sequence.

A couple of old favourites have received new steel. The starts of Ain’t No Sunshine and Lost Weekends have both sprouted shiny new rings.

I’ll add more and fill in the gaps soon! Keep cranking!

Mrs L the Strong

Nowra's golden daughter, Carlie LeBreton, has continued to apply her off-season power gains. Last week, she sent her first climb of the magical grade of 8a, Skin To Skin 29 in the Grease Cave, Thompson's Point.

Many years ago, when the rock was younger and the sky was brighter, as a 20 year old, Carlie climbed her first 28, Vehicle Of Hate. She then turned her attention to Skin To Skin. After much work, she could redpoint to a few moves from the end. Alas, at this time tragedy struck and injury caught up with her, robbing Carlie of all strength and stability in her right shoulder.

Carlie then spent years trying to recover her injury and with it, her intense psych. She also turned her attention to wooing and marrying her Prince Charming. Finally she succumbed to the inevitable and went under the knife and had the shoulder wrenched and screwed back into place. And so the rehab program began. Step by step she worked her way back to her former strength, power and fitness levels. As her skills grew, so did her confidence and determination.

After quickly adding 2 more to the 28s to her repertoire this season, she again turned her attention to Skin To Skin. The low crux move proved a little tricky to work out initially, but was soon sorted. On her second day on the route this year she redpointed past her old highpoint twice. The next day Carlie was at Nowra, Skin To Skin was ticked and she was the happiest girl south of the Illawarra.