Coming soon

The enigmatic Antoine Moussette.



Fashion Friday - It's a pants off!

The last week saw probably the most exceptional pants wearing The Cave has ever seen.




Frey Yule pulled off a stunning hibiscus board pant in blue with a simple lemon chalk bag by Black Diamond and a translucent green denture brush.
jjobrienclimbing votes this look: Flawless

Matt Walpole went all out Acid with a wild Psy-Macaw Board Pant,
Dippers chalk bag in Acid Fluff with a deep pink plush lining (Aussie made too, that's nice)
framed in a Wild Country Syncro (way too many gear loops for practical sport climbing, but the added colour and structure works super, don't you think?)

 

Remember jjobrienclimbing says: 

 Fashion is what separates climbers from monkeys.

Frey Yule

A few bolts, a few moves, a few years.
Frey sees things long term.
The project has had cave climbers looking up and wondering for years.

Frey's contributions to Coolum Cave have been infrequently repeated.

They are arkward, hard and undergraded.

His new project is likely to follow suit.

                                                                                                                           Pre-burn concentration.

Toughened on the windswept coast of New Zealand. Tuned in the Blue Mountains of Australia.

 

Frey - Norse God of rain and sunshine. Yule - Celebrating the re-emergence of Frey.










 "Once you get past the nine metres of hard bouldering, 

 there's some really nice climbing".

Oh, great.

 

If the climber can match the shape of the rock,
                                                              there is a rest.

Not this time Frey.

Man Fashion Friday

Model wears:
3/4 Pant - models own design 100% nylon, gusseted climbing pant, tailored in Shenzhen, China for jjobrienclimbing.
Shirt - models own design,100% silk, with gold thread brocade, reclaimed Idian Sari fabric. Tailored in Shenzhen for jjobrienclimbing.
Glasses - Shanghai Tang HK
Croc knock offs - HK street market
Location Coolum Cave.

OMG is that international Aussie rock star Lee Cujes?



Model looks hot in:


Jeans: by G Star Raw

Inner Jacket: in lime by Boulders and Nuts (models' exclusive clothing sponsor)

Faux leather bomber: unpurchased I suspect,
by the dead stock and sample cult mega-label "Mee and Gee" of Hong Kong


Glasses: unknown




Location: Mee and Gee, Tung Choi Do HK

(upstair for man)


Photo: Sam Cujes, on Lee's iPhone presumably

Welcome home to Australia, Lee and Sam.

Meet the Reeves

Let's start with Mrs. Reeve shall we?
Here's a beautiful example of the human spirit.
First climbing experience: The long, rambling "Caves Route", Grade 4.
For our international readers - that does not rate on your scale. It's too easy.
Totally freaked, and swore off climbing forever.
But something internally had changed.
She unlocked her inner steep climber.

Can't get much steeper than that.

"Hung Like a Fruit Bat" 25 Coolum Cave

Let Ruth Reeve be a warning to 'fraidy women everywhere. Find your bravery, and you too could spend a year upside down working a route like this.

What?

Too much with the new "Logo" draws?

You think?

The camera has trouble focusing on the climber when they are in frame.

  

You think I've forgotten Mr Reeve?
Hey, I'm not saying he is old, but here's a shot from the 30's of Dave on Hung Like a Fruit Bat.

Hey Dave, you got the time?

Man Fashion Friday

Songzanlin Monastery - Yunnan Province (Lets call it China for now shall we)

The models:

jj wears - jeans by G Star

Various layers of fine New Zealand wool and Chinese silk.

God knows who made that butt-aweful hat. (I've still got it)

Shades by Shaghai Tang

Cashmere jacket "Sheepy" by Lowes I think.

Sheepy and I parted ways at Hong Kong airport after almost 20 years together.

I miss you Sheepy.

Small model -  is absolutley rockin' this sharp little wool/poly mix combo.

I really must learn to work that  hand-in-jacket-roomy-trousers-lowered-face-angle look.

This is the standard we are up against today boys, so lift your game or get left behind by a four year old from remote China.

And a big, handsome, shirtless Frenchman never goes out of style, non?

Antoine - Photo: jjobrien

Did you mean "Girl Fashion Friday"?

Check   http://redphoenixstyle.blogspot.com/

Clementine Pradal

Here at jjobrienclimbing we've had hundreds of letters from readers asking "When are you going to add some sophistication to your blog".
Hey, what was wrong with Big Al? ............. OK, OK, I hear you.
So here's Clementine Pradal. She's French, she's stylish and she climbs in pearl earings.
                   
                 Sophisticated enough?

That's Damo in the background, more from him later.

Clem works Coolm Cave's icon 26, "Screaming Insanity".
I'm confident the stylish bloggers over at Red Phoenix Style are going to award Clem their highest approval.

Even Princess Russ never looked this good at the Cave.

Clem grew up climbing real mountains (in the French Pyrenees) with her family. Before she could walk she would climb mountains.

Two years ago she climbed 22's and hated anything and everything steep. Now she loves steep routes, enjoys falling (sometimes!), secretly hates slabs and climb's mid-20's.

Oo, nice chalk bag jj

    

All that stylish climbing can wear a girl out.

Man of Steel

What's a nice way to put it?
Duncan started climbing a long time ago, and he wasn't a kid.
By the time Duncan was dispatching hard routes a lot of todays rock stars were still choking on Leggo.
All those years add up to a depth of climbing experience.
The Man of Steel graced Coolum Cave for an elegant send of "Spoonman" 28

Duncan regards "Spoonman" 28 as a benchmark route at the grade.

Perfect tension and position.

The "Thank God" horn that marks the end of the crux sequence.

Control and power, and the signature red chalk bag.

Here's the easy way to look good at the crag

Get one of these from Red Chili and leave the fashion choices up to the experts. How good would that look on film?

Boulder Shirt by Red Chili