Successful climbing

Climbing last weekend was successful. I went there feeling much more scared than I was during all the weekend. In fact I'm really proud of myself. Sometimes it would also be nice that I don't worry so much about everything!

I learned a lot and I now know how to secure myself on top of a climb, how to secure a partner from top while he's climbing and I also learned how to create an abseil for the team and also for myself. These steps are the main steps one needs for climbing outdoors.

We were lucky and had good weather all weekend, so good that while climbing I was feeling really hot. It might had to do with all the exercise though!

Michael at the top

Michael abseiling

At the top

Me climbing

My body might be slightly confused at this point since in the last couple of weeks I trained much more than usual. I have now started jogging a few times a week in the country side around my house. It's so nice to be able to be away from the city's hustle and bustle in a just less than 5 minutes. And even though the weather in Holland hasn't been what one expects at this time of year many evenings have clear blue skies, which makes everything look like a picture on a postcard.

Climbing in Hotton

This weekend we'll be climbing in Hotton, Belgium. This will be my second experience climbing on natural walls. Most of the time I climb at indoor climbing walls and sometimes at a fake outdoor wall. Netherlands is impressively flat, that means that we have to climb outdoors at its neighbouring countries.

This is how the area looks like

Am I scared while climbing outdoors? Obviously I am, but somehow the protective gear and all the people around you make it feel easier. Technique and experience should also help me to feel more secure.  On weekend like this I get to experience the outdoors like never in my early life and I get to feel a real connection with nature. Maybe it has something to do with camping outdoors as well, which again I have never done in my life in Malta. They're also days in which I can eat power sweets like Snickers because I deserve it and not feel too guilty about it!

This is more how it will look like in real life

This weekend happens to fall on the first Dutch Euro 2012 football game. Thus we need to find a pub to show the game. Imagine 7 or so smelly people watching the game on a Saturday night!

[Image Sources: Belay Mates, Luie Klimmer] 

Spring has reached our garden

My aim to write more about my latest trip went down the drain. Working on a computer 5 days a week is quite draining so when I'm at home I'm always trying to relax and spend quality time with my Dutchie.

We have started indoor climbing again after a winter break. So once a week I can be found hoisted around 15 metres above the ground. I'm still stuck at a beginners level but looking forward to improve my technique. Thus we'll be off for a weekend climbing in the Belgian Ardennes soon.

In the past weeks we started working on improving our garden. Seeing that now we can start spending more time outside we started planting some plants and flowers. Little did I know how many plants you need to fill up a garden!

Here's the colourful additions.

Climbing Knots

The climbing instruction weekend was a success. On our first day we headed to an outdoor natural massive rock structure. It was my first time climbing outdoors so I had an instructor all for myself who went through all the process with me. This meant that I spent a lot of time learning knots that are used for securing, belaying, abseiling one's self and your partner while climbing.

Below are the knots that I have been taught and which I used all throughout the weekend:

• the Italian hitch (halve mastworp)

• the clove hitch (mastworp)

• the figure of eight 

• the double figure of eight

• the friction hitch (prusik)

What's interesting is that I climb using the Dutch language, not the English language! This is because the knot names are different in English, so if I climb with Dutch people I have to make sure that everyone knows what I am talking about.

[Image Credits: Wikipedia Prusik, Wikipedia Italian Hitch, Wikipedia Clove Hitch, Wikipedia.org Figure Eight Knot, Chockstone]

Climbing weekend in Belgium

Right now I am most probably hanging from my harness some 20 meters above ground in a forest in Belgium. This weekend is my first proper outdoor climbing experience. Looking forward to spending a few days in nature, where I show my 3 decades old body that it can still handle a work out.

My festival tent will be put again to good use, quite different use than it's maiden voyage at the Lowlands festival a couple of years ago.

[Image Credits: Hotels In Belgian Ardennes]

Climbing

A few weeks back I discovered a sport. We went climbing at an indoor climbing wall. It was my first time and wasn't sure what to expect. Was I going to manage to reach the top? It didn't help that on that day there was the juvenile national climbers climbing the hardest routes. These kids around 2 decades younger than me where climbing up the walls like monkeys. I on the other hand was stuck at one of the most basic routes. This didn't stop me though and I did finish a few easy routes by the end of the evening. I even have a challenge to myself to finish one of the routes with an overhang which beat me last time.

Now we're trying to get ourselves into a beginners' course to climb outdoors in the Belgian Ardennes. Will I be scared when I am out there for real?

Here's Michael from his last climbing experience in Belgium.

If I keep practising this sport then I will surely need to keep a hand moisturiser at hand's reach to make sure my hands will remain ladylike!

Week Snapshots

Last weekend while us girls went to the spa the boys prepared dinner on the grillk8rv
. Prepared in this case means buying the meat and chopping up vegetables since we had to cook our own food anyway!

This week we said our goodbyes to winter. The weather wasn't what I consider pre-spring weather but somehow the temperature kept coming up, leaves are slowly starting to appear on the dead-looking trees and flowers are just budding everywhere. And finally we had blue skies to welcome the change of seasons.

Seeing that it was the bi-annual restaurant week I tried a couple of new restaurants. The food was delicious and the service was great in both cases. The wine arrangement though was a bit too much for me and I felt spaced out on Sunday morning.

This weekend I had my first indoor climbing experience. We went to this massive (massive for me possibly not for experts) climbing wall. I was hooked up to the safety line and somehow I managed to be spider man for a couple of hours! I loved it and even though I was doing the baby routes I felt that I was challenging myself to do better each time.

Work has been rather busy with very tight deadlines. Somehow we toughened it up and now have a product which seems that will manage to make it in the real world.