the power is coming, she says unconvinced!!

So, we are still in Hampi and still loving it. What can I say its a great place!! We are climbing 2 days on and 1 day off - with 3 session in those 2 days.  We are both starting to rack up a stack of projects. Every day (usually) I manage to tick one problem and start a few new ones. Grades, who needs grades, right? The guidebook while is useful as a guide, only has a very small percentage of problems and the grades are very subjective!

To put it in perspective, I've been warming up on 5's usually, but this one problem on "Sandwich Boulder" in Little Cave (for those that might know) took two days worth of attempts before I finally sent it.  It was a high and reachy, overhung to start and with a delicate finish.  Very technical and powerful and for me certainly not a 5 in keeping with others I have done recently - perhaps if you were 6ft then it was a 5!  Anyway, putting that aside it was a great problem to work and was a great sense of achievement when I finally got to the top. 

Mac working the 5c in Sandwich boulder

Andrew, like when we sport climbing has yet to find his limit.  He has flashed 6c's and has tried a number of 7a's and 7a+'s.  It's now sending time.  His current tick list looks something like this: 

• Torture Traverse 7a+ 
• Cosmic Arrete 7a
• Sandwich Roof 7a+
• Airplane 7a
• 3 7a on the Plateau
• 7a at Double Tap

Matt on Kingfisher (7b?)

Alessandro on a 7a in Egg Boulders

Hopefully the list is a lot shorter next time I blog and a few 7b's will be featuring on it.  For me I'm working a bunch of 6b/6b+s and a 6c.   I would love to get the 6c before I leave, but I'm not too concerned about the grades and more about getting volume in and feeling confident about bouldering - something that I never have before and for now, I am most certainly ignoring any highballs.... 

The burning fireworks man

FIre Damage to the Hut

New Years Fire Fun

Climbing aside, its been an eventful Christmas and New Year.  Both were spent relaxed and chilled out in our guest house, with a bunch of climbers, sitting around a campfire munching on yummy indian cuisine.  New Years was slightly more eventful with a spectacular (ahem, a large straw scarecrow, packed full of fireworks (almost like dynamite!) and lite in an open field) fire works display - indian style - light the firecrackers and worry about consequences afterwards.   And yes, there were consequences :)  One fire cracker didn't quite take an upwards trajectory, more a sidewards one and landed on the roof of our cabin. Luckily it was noticed immediately and put out but we live in mud huts with thatched straw roofs, so two minutes later we'd have lost everything - down to our passports, visas and money.  We were lucky - it must have been our night... and it was - it will be evening neither of us will forget because it was also the evening we got engaged :)