Monday, November 21, 2011

The Simple Life with Issy Morgans


"I live a very simple life" Issy Morgans                                   
Where do I start? This girl is complicated. I don't think I've ever received a more bewildering personal profile from a climber. But lets begin. Issy Morgans is a tight ass. Her words, not mine.

She works for a tight ass, my words not hers, in a climbing gym in Logan on the south side of Brisbane that not only doesn't have the internet but doesn't even have a computer.  How tight is that?
                                                     




Morgan(s) my bad.

Last time I posted photos of Issy I was stuck for a single word to describe her style. Lee Cujes offered "composed".
The composure runs deep. She not only plans every meal for a week ahead, she plans every little  thing she will do for a year. Climbers, I have stopped laughing at driven people and started taking lessons. I admire the dedication I see in people who are working hard on improvement.

Issy doesn't watch TV, hasn't watched a movie for over a year, doesn't eat out.
She says, "I work hard and save hard, I'm persistent and routine".

A fear of leading kept her indoor for nine years. Look at her now.
Let the pictures tell the story.















Here's Issy's answers to the quiz:

Q: Fave crags - A: Coolum and the Blue Mountains
Q: Fave music - A: Listen to the radio most of the time jjj and Nova
Q: Fave movie - A: haven't watched a normal movie in over 12 months!
Q: Fave mag - A: I guess this would have to be Rock mag as its the only mag I have bought since I was a teenager!
Q: Fave celeb -A:  Couldn't name any apart from Chris Sharma
Q: Fave cafe - A: Grandmas kitchen, I don't eat out!
A: Dogs - The question was "Cats or Dogs"?
A: Rock -  The question was "Rock or Rap"?
A: Jeans - The question was "Frocks or Jeans"?
Issy scored 8/9 on the quiz. The correct answer was "Frocks"

The simple lunch - a rice cracker and water.


If I can re-phrase her words just a little, she says one of the things she is planning to do is to be more spontaneous.


Enjoy the simple things Issy.
We love your positive style.

jj

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Max power - warning puns ahead.

AKA Max Pietrzak
Max is amped to meet his potential.
Starting from way back in the field and staying positive, Max has charged ahead.










Climbers, I won't tell you what max does for a living. I don't want you to bug him endlessly for advice on treatments for your sore tendons and muscles.

Max has generated some renewed energy for this Coolum Cave problem.

 I got excited and plugged in for some of this action myself.
jjobrien
Is that not the sexiest pair of Red Chili Matadors you've seen?

Back to Max 

Static moves? Resistance training?


This was no flash. Maxy ran circuits on this problem till he had it wired, and got the send today.
 Onya Max, the boulder editor at jjobrienclimbing admires persistence.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Every trick in the book.

He's got a job at the new Coles. He's got his P licence. 2 weeks of school left. But something is missing. A new tick.

Matt pauses at the start of his new second pitch route to allow the camera to make a wardrobe decision. Yellow La Sportiva?

And we go with the white Bob Dylan singlet.


He gets the gear sorted, I work out the angles, and it's go time.



The route straight away sucks him in close with a gaston, undercling, stem combo.




It pushes him deeper into the scoop, unknowingly playing to his flexibility strengths.





 It goads him onto it's thorny bollards and tries to lure him into cutting loose, thus ripping his fore arm flesh, he resists and stays firmly attached.



Then it's the old "hang on my magic hold till your arms drop off" trick.

There's Bob staring at you.

He sees through it and punches on.










 Uh oh.        Climbers, we've all fallen for this one. 
It's the massive lunge off the slopey crimp and the end of the route story.






This route knows all the dirty tricks.









 Even Matty falls for it this time.








PS. Matt sent the route today 13/11/2011 calling it Tropic Thunder, 27


jj

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Birthday Boy


 Remember the Straw Brothers?     Eric the elder just got older.
There's no particular story here, just the very photogenic Eric did some climbing and I took some snaps.




I don't always go with the fall shot, but this one I think retains all the energy and body tension of the move.
 I reckon if you hold that exact pose, but get a bit closer to the rock, you should be able to pull that move off.

Everyone deserves a Lei on their birthday.

The statistics on strangulation rates of tropical island belayers is higher than you might expect.
All the gang gobbled up this lush cake in his honour.