never the end

the past week marked the last training we had

- half of which we spent on taking pictures

the colourful, saturated Red from our Flasher Tee

we'd never wear again, 'cept on Casual Fridays

the past week marked the last competition we had

Friday - Novice Women&Men & Intermediate Women

As legends once again, we breezed through the former

Tore through - said Michael - like the TJCCC War Machine

Intermediate was different - too different

It was devastating and discouraging

I hated the fact that my last competition had to end that way

Bottomline though, we had fun..!

Laughing at the tiles, sloping and odd-angled

Falling off the wall, barely to the bonus tile

Wondering "WHATTTTT????" and "Howwwwww?"

Staring at the route, hoping it'd change. Ha

Some excelled, beyond most expectations

Beyond boundaries anyone could fathom

For this, Congrats are due to

Novice Men: Christopher & Ahmed

Inter Women: Valerie, Shi Hui & Eugenia Pua

Inter Men: Clement Tan

To the rest, we all know you've fought hard

And what's more important is

That this is not the end

It never is

CLIMB X 2010

"It's a bee-a-you-ti-ful Saturday morning, here in Temasek Junior College

And if you've just joined us, this ruckus you're witnessing by the Climbing Wall

is CLIMB X twothousand and ten(:

Solely organised by Temasek Junior College Climbing Club

Sponsored by Climb Asia, Milo, Red Bull, Metro, PUB and Frolick"

Yes, i was DJ/emcee-ing at the event last weekend together with Calvin/Alistair/Jo/Jac

The whole competition was more or less flawless, i must say, if we ignored Nature's wrath...

I hope competitors enjoyed themselves, cos I sure did ;]

Agreeing to this competition was probably one of the best decisions I've made in my time in TJCCC

I know it might not be such a big deal to anyone else

But this comp served to remind me why I loved Climbing and competing in the first place.

Sure, i told myself, being organisers of the competition took precedence over being a competitor..so i did not expect any kind of achievement going into this (except for the competition to be AWESOME ;) )

Yet, from the minute we settled into isolation, and got seated at the transition area, my heart started pumping and butterflies were emerging.

For the first half of our competition season, I manage to let these feelings just flow through me.

In and out.

That Saturday though, 8th of May, it stayed inside.

However, it was different. Good in a way.

Adrenaline pumping, I stepped up as the 3rd JW to the baby roof.

I hadn't touched the baby since January.

YES JANUARY eonssss ago..!

And if you climbed enough with me, you'd know roofs were a certain psychological barrier to me

Anyhow, anywhat - I ascended reminding myself to breathe, clip and flow.

I was in LOVE with the route in no time ;)

Towards the middle of the roof route while holding the crack on the wall,

I remember having that nudge in my head

"quit now. you're tired. after all you've never been able to flash a competition route before...

much less now that you've NOT trained for highwalling"

And i punched that thought into oblivion and said

"No Ashley, you will NOT quit on me now"

I progressed another 4 moves to get to the penultimate hold

And then in sight, about a panel's length away, was the anchor.

And the last yellow jug.

I reached up, but it was out of my grasp.

Panicking, I felt around for inserts, features, nuts, ANYTHING

that i could use as an intermediate hold.

All i got was a semi flat insert - and i recall going "WHAAAA?"

Without hesitation, at that moment, i leaped for it, as though i was on a boulder problem

And hey, I topped the route (:

TJCCCCamp 2010

busy busy week, preparing for numerous things

like buying logistics, packing them, finding alternatives and so much more

it was hard juggling between TOOP, Climbing camp, CLIMB X preparation and studies

but we've all been through worse

i'm glad the camp turned out successful

i wouldn't have it any other way

despite the last minute decision to hold the camp last weekend

the seniors pulled through for the TJCCC family

because we wanted all too badly for the J1s to experience what we did last year

except more.

it started on a Friday evening with tile stripping and washing

and sacrificing would-be time at Mega House Func

a brief briefing then followed, i was surprised every one grasped the 2D1N camp in a mere half hour

even though we were all exhausted, Sherwin and i sat by the grandstand for some time alone

and i liked that we talked about everything

it wasn't a "hm, nice weather. hope camp goes fine" talk.

rather raw, with more depth and honesty (:

slept came at 2am, ending at 7am

juniors came after breakfast and we proceeded to do MORE stripping/washing/sorting/drilling.

you know.

games finally started off with trust fall (which i missed..?) followed by

HUNGRYHUNGRYMUNKAY - a whole lot of laughs, blisters, wide-open mouths and flour-throwing. Yes, we learnt that our Captain and Vice Captain liked it white.

Bucket balance was next (another game i missed-i'm missing these games from preparing the next/packing up from the last. NOT slacking! see?) followed by climbing games!

1) Pass the pocky-gross much? apparently (while i was gone again!) the J1s bullied J2s by challenging them to pocky passing. Except it was minuscule to the point that Sherwin was licked by Clem. =( bad boy!

2) Hang challenge, and

3) Scissors Paper Stone (endurance-y game)

Water-hole was next, and i must say, the juniors were really innovative(: our cups' designs were pretty menacing, but they managed to fill the bottle oh so fast

Oh yes, i think i missed out their trials to be the next top Yati/Maria. The climbing area's so CLEAN now. Free of tapes, tiles, bolts, screws, weeds and litter(: yay for j1s

Sock challenge on soapy mats was realllllly entertaining. I didn't quite want to get down and dirty (or squeaky clean for that matter) so i watched from the side and took pics! haha SO hilarious. I don't know who/how/when/where/why/what, but J1s beat us =(

we ended the day's activities with a yumyum dinner and a visit from j3s! hahha(:

OR SO THEY THOUGHT! while they were catching up on sleep in lalaland, we were half-zombified, preparing for Night Games.

Last minute? Yes, but it turned out better than expected. At least Jun Wei told me i was creepy... "Ring around the rosies...." And i initially had a kick out of being a mental kid-ghost.

Talked again with Sher till my hair dried and we went to sleep(:

The next morning brought about PT race! which the J1s embraced (RIGHT?!)

Butt abrasions, lactic acid build-up, scorching hot weather and a whole lot of sweat.

Like Jia Ying Ma'am used to say, "What's bitter to do is SWEET to remember"(:

I hope this camp really brought the team together and gave them an opportunity to know each other. Not superficially but as friends, as a family, as a TEAM. I really was moved when (during the debrief), Mr Kao said to the J1s that we've left a legacy behind, and that TJCCC 09/10 was the best batch of climbers ever ;D

To the dear J1s, as Exco elections approach and the seniors get prepared to step down... Always remember the passion you have for climbing. The rest will fall into place.