I finally did it. I started a website. www.eddiegianelloni.com. I will be updating on this site from now. Hope you keep following. I have several projects that I am working on so stay tuned!!!

Gavin and I took advantage of the sun yesterday and went bouldering. It was actually sunny for two days straight, so that meant Mitake would be dry. Even cool in the shade this time of the year.

We set up shop at the Ninja Boulder. A slow day, only one other Japanese climber. I climbed a few problems that I like to warm up on. Then played on Ninja and Kodomo Gaeshi. At one point during a rest Dai Koyamada walked up with a coffee in hand. He was filming some commentary for a new climbing movie that he is working on. A rather large production too I might add.

It was a short session, but it was a nice break from the city. We are planning on going to Mizugaki this weekend for some highball bouldering. Hopefully the weather will hold up.



Go Climb Something!!!!

Eddie,

I wanted to go take look at this area (Tennoiwa)since it is so close. Is it pretty easy to find? I have biked in that area, so I know how to get there. Is the climbing area easy to find? I would really appreciate any info you could give me, I would love to find a close place to climb.

Thanks,

Rob Poole


Rob,

Stone Brewery's Ruination IPA, what a beer! This beer measures in at 7.7% ABV and more than 100 IBU's. The Ruination has a very interesting taste and color. Unlike most IPA's that I have enjoyed in the past, this IPA has a very hefei feel to it from start to finish. The color is very golden, with no visible sediment. This is not abnormal for an IPA, but what followed was very different to me.

The smell is very aromatic, with a floral and hint of citrus added to it. I felt like one of Pavlov's dogs right away. Once this beer hits your palette your mouth screams satisfaction!!! The powerful hoppy punch to the smooth, surprisingly tasty citrus finish is delectable. I had this beer with a nice, light summer meal and the IPA fit in very nicely. This beer is said to be very overwhelming to your palette. I do not disagree with this, but I do like it. It did change the taste of my dinner but in an unusual way. I was more attentive to the flavors of my BBQ'ed veggies and burger. I was expecting a total ruination but received a total reevaluation instead.

I think this is a great year round brew, but I will prefer to drink this one on warm summer days and nights due to the Ruination's refreshing overall experience. This IPA is one of my Favorites and goes to the top of the list. I give this IPA a 1 on the EGS.


Go Drink an IPA!!!!

Yesterday for Father's Day, Team G met up with Jack and his wife to check out a few bouldering areas. The weather was OK, but it is the rainy season so all of the boulders under trees or overhanging were wet. We were not able to climb anything but it was sure nice to see these boulders for the first time.

The first area is home to the Cabin boulder. A tall, steep block that sits very secluded next to a beautiful river making this boulder a great alternative to the Mitake Gorge. There are about seven problems here ranging from v1 to v-hard. The boulders here are the same as Mitake, chert, but much less frequently visited. I will be making my way back when the weather changes for the better.

The next area was near the Black Tea Cafe. On the water, below the cafe sit about six or seven boulders in a variety of sizes and difficulties. The nicest of these boulders is the Black Tea boulder. There are seven problems on this boulder from what I could see. A nice clean corner and a blocky overhang make this boulder a gem in my eyes. I had seen this boulder in the past and wanted to climb it but, it was August and too humid. I will visit this one again in September.

The name sake to this area, Black Tea Cafe, is amazing. The cafe is a traditional Japanese restaurant offering a large variety of foods. Luckily for us we had Jack and his wife with us to order for us. We started with a small sampler of tofu, pickled veggies, apricot, and river shrimp. Next was the main course of table grilled chicken, veggies, and river trout. All of the food is cooked on the table on fresh coals. The fish is served whole. We were told that it was OK to eat the guts due to the fishes diet of algae. We tried everything. Then there was the tempura, sea weed rice, and dessert. Dessert was a sweet tomato in a "soda" water. This was surprisingly good. All I can say is thanks to Jack for spending the day with us and ordering great food. You rock!!!

This past weekend was spent at the climbing gym. The weather here is very hit or miss and the best way to get a nice workout in is to go to a gym and really push it. It will rain for days then be sunny for an afternoon, then start raining again at 5pm. Not enough time for the rock here to dry. But it is OK, Caramba and Base Camp are very close. I spent most of my weekend on routes at Base Camp. And it looks like I will be headed to BC tomorrow too.

Enjoy the photos from my first Father's Day. I thought black and white was appropriate since were went to the Black Tea Cafe.


Go Climb Something!!!!!

The Midnight Sun's Sockeye Red IPA is a very nice, well rounded IPA. The Sockeye is a bit daintier IPA than the Melt Down DIPA. When first cracked open the beer has a sweet smell, opening your senses to the soon to be experienced flavors of this IPA. This IPA weighs in at 5.7 ABV and 70 IBU's. These are weaker numbers than I usually enjoy, but the Sockeye makes up for it in the overall experience.

Like most IPAs the start of this beer is very floral and ends with a smooth, residual bitter taste to finish. The main reason that I like this beer is because the bitter taste does not overwhelm what you are eating. I had this IPA twice in my visit to Anchorage and once back here in Japan. I enjoyed this beer with a soup and sandwich first, a burger second, and with fish the last meal. Not once did I take a sip of the Sockeye, then a bite and have the bitterness from the beer dominate.

Most of the beers that I love wind up being a fuller, heavier IPA. This one is lighter than some, but should not be taken lightly. I give the Sockeye Red IPA a 2 on the EGS. Midnight Sun Brewery has a good thing going here. Keep this one as a year-round!



Go Drink an IPA!!!!

Over a couple of nights last week I polished off the fantastic Ninkasi DIPA and IPA.

The Total Domination IPA is my favorite of the two, it has more of a traditional northwestern IPA taste, which is my style. It being called TD I was not sure if it was going to be a total let down, but Ninkasi came through. At 6.7% ABV and 65 IBU's the TD has a nice floral start with a smooth hoppy finish. The TD combines three taste hops Summit, Amarillo and Crystal with a pair of malts that don't distract from the aromatic hoppiness. I have had this beer with both a spicy coconut curry and a burger and I give this one a 2 on the EGS.

The Tricerahops Double IPA is a more full, robust IPA. Not in terms of hoppiness but more of a stout or heavier bodied DIPA. This seems to be attributable to its three different malts. This beer has an ABV of 8.8% and 100 IBU's. On their website Ninkasi says this beer is earthy, I will totally agree with this and then some. This is a heavier DIPA than I'm accustomed to. I give it a 3 on the EGS. My buddy who favors Belgian beers loved this one and says he will drink it again should he find another.


In my time drinking IPAs I generally categorize them as 1,2, or 3 on the EGS (Eddie Gianelloni Scale). This is in terms of their repurchase-ability. 1 meaning that I go straight in and look to buy at least one on my next trip to the store. 2 meaning that I will forgo it on the next trip unless there are no number 1's and no new IPAs to sample in stock. 3 is left for the IPAs that I have sampled and will leave for someone else to enjoy.


Go Drink an IPA!!!!

From time to time I receive emails for people asking for beta due to it's scarce nature in English. I have decided that I will post some of them here, maybe one will answer your question too. Hope this helps.

Hi Eddie,
How are you doing? Sorry this message is a bit out of the blue but I stumbled across your blogspot (very good by the way!) and thought I'd try to tap you up for a bit of info if you don't mind.
I'm currently in Japan with my fiance, we're based in Ashigakubo in Chichibu and also at Tokorozawa with her parents and were hoping to get some bouldering in while we're here.
Scouring the Net has brought up Mitake & Ogawayama as decent locations but could you recommend any others? Do you know of any in the Chichibu area at all?
We're looking for stuff up to about v5 really (not sure on grades to be honest so that might be an overestimate!)

Any info you could provide would be massively appreciated.

Anyway, hope all is well with you & yours.
Keep on keeping on,

Rich



Hello Rich

First, are you driving or using the trains? If you are driving there are MANY areas with in a couple of hours. If you are using the trains then it will take about three hours and a bit of walking to visit some of those areas. There are several published and non published areas around you in Chichibu. If you are just bouldering, then you can spend several weeks at Mitsumine and have many projects. If you go to any Outdoor shop in Chichibu you can find the Japan 100 series guides books, there are four of them and they are blue. The areas that you are looking at will be in the number 2 guide. Do you have pads? If not let me know, I will see what I can arrange.

Mitake is the most popular bouldering area in Honshu. This is primarily due to it's close proximity to Tokyo. There are several nice, large boulders at Mitake. I am actually writing the first English guide book to this area right now.

Ogawayama is a MUCH better place to climb in my opinion. Several sweet boulders with tons of problems in your grade range. Speaking of grades in Japan. I think the grades in Japan are very stiff. First off the Japanese do not use the V-scale or French bouldering grades. The kyu or Sho Dan scale is used. Check out my Mountain Project page on Japan for more info on this.

My favorite place to boulder in Japan so far is the Mizugaki area. This area has MANY, MANY untapped sectors and hundreds of boulders to be cleaned and climbed. There are tons of highballs to make me salivate every time I see them.

I am not sure if you climb routes but Japan has copious wonderful areas VERY close to you most notably Futago. Again some of the areas are open to the public and some are not. This is mainly because they are still being bolted and cleaned. Let me know and I can tell you more about them if you are interested.

I hope this helps. How long are you here? Where are you from? Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

Eddie

I finally made my way to Chichibu to see some of the areas there. Jack took me to the impressive Battleship Area and several other areas that I can not remember the names of now. All of these areas are places that Jack has developed/ing or discovered. These areas have many bolted lines, including a 30 foot roof in a cave boosting two 13+/14- lines that need ascents.

The Battleship crag is very visible from the town below and is very nice limestone. This area in particular has seen several ascents, notably Yuji's send of the most obvious line that I can not remember the name of, but goes at 5.13+. We were on a scouting mission this trip and we climbed a rather unusual line for Japan that moves through slopers below to a long tufa up top, then to a pumpy crux finish that if botched, the leader will take a long, fun fall. But totally safe due to the steepness of the head wall.

Next we traveled down several more roads and visited more areas, but the area that sticks out the most was Osutaka no One. This is named after the deadliest plane crash in history that happened in the area. This is the area with the large cave that I mentioned before. The main wall has about 10 routes with about 5 more on a wall near by. We climbed a very beautiful and dirty 10d, that was the first line Jack bolted here. Very nice and technical line that works its way up the middle of the wall.

I was not able to take many photos, but Jack snapped a few of me climbing. I included them to show some of the rock quality. Enjoy the photos and I will have another post tomorrow.



Go Climb Something.

I made it into another Rock and Snow!!! The write up is about the new area that I helped develop. The route that I am climbing is my 11a. I am about to make the crux move in the photo. Cool stuff.

Thanks Nobu!!

As usual I made my way to Calafata in Tokyo to play with all of the new gear and to have lunch with Jack. Among the many new shoes, harnesses, carabiners, and clothes was the this gel. The new NST Eco Grip gel is awesome!!! I am not into the liquid chalk scene at all, except for DWS. Liquid chalk is all over in Japan. Jack brought me over to the shop's climbing wall and asked me to hold onto a sloper pinch and lift my feet. Of course it was a fixed test and I could not lift my feet for any measure of time. We then lathered our hands in a small amount of Eco Grip Gel and after waiting about 1.5 mins Jack said "Again". This time to my surprise I was able to not only hang from the hold for 10 secs with my strong hand but, I was able to hang for 8 secs with my weak hand. "SOLD!!!!" I said to him in a flash.

This new Eco Gel is alcohol free, non-toxic, and biodegradable. There is no dust and the gel lasts all problem long (this is dependent on how much you choose to lather on). NST is a French company that makes an assortment of outdoor goodies. I think the guys at NST got this one right. I put my stamp of approval all over this one. Off to go climbing.

Ciao!


Go Climb Something!!!!

A simple ,easy, no frills way to stick clip on the fly. This is for clipping a rope into the first draw or as some like to call it, wienie clipping, without using anything extra. Not tape required.

First take two bites of rope. Make sure to leave your self enough tail on the side that you will tie into once the rope is clipped correctly into the draw.
Make an overhand knot with the two bites. Pull the knot tight.
Next find a branch long enough to reach the draw. Cram the stick into the knot in between the two bites.
Locate and grab the "tie in" side of the rope. Hold this side and the stick in the same hand to prevent the bite from pulling through the knot. Making sure to keep your rope on the outside of the draw, put this bite around the draw and slowly pull the bite tight.
If done correctly the rope should easily clip right into the draw no problem. Just make sure your side of the rope is on the outside to prevent back clipping.

Happy clipping!!!

It rained the entire time we were in the south. Kyoto is amazing and very old. Osaka is a larger port city. The remarkable temples are surrounded by 30 story buildings. The bad weather was due to a typhoon that blew in the entire time we were there. When I say this you might imagine gale force winds and waves crashing. No. There was just spitting rain the entire time. Enough to move around in but make you wish it would stop.

We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto first, then the local line to Osaka. There are more sights to see in Kyoto then are humanly possible to see. Osaka has many sights to see, but we spent the two days we had in the underground tunnel systems around the train station. FYI if you are planning on traveling to these cities, the hotels in the train station are very nice. Some are pricey, but worth the extra money because of location.

We originally planned to go to the Kasagi bouldering area south of Kyoto, but it rained to entire time. I am not sure if I have said this enough. We did go to Crux bouldering gym one night. The owner, Yuki, is very nice and she has a fantastic venue. If you are in the area check it out.

This all said, I was not able to take many good photos. Here are a few from the trip.

Sorry that there is not more to this post but really it rained the whole time.


Go Climb Something in the sun!!!

I like beer. I guess what I should say is I love IPA. In the past few years I have grown to really appreciate the sometimes jolting taste of a high quality IPA. Saying that, I am not a beer expert by any strech of the imagination. I am just a rock climber who happens to love IPAs. Now that I live in Japan and IPA's are hard to find where I live, I have decided to write about them when I come across one. In this case I have come across eight. And first up.....

While I was in Alaska I was able to sample several beers. Some I had before, some I had never heard of. The one that stands out the most is Midnight Suns Melt Down double IPA. Measuring in at 8.0% ABV and 80 IBUs the Midnight Sun is a micro brewery in Anchorage, AK. MS brews several IPAs throughout the year. The Sockeye Red IPA is there non seasonal that was very satisfying, but not to the degree of the Melt Down.

Like I said before, I am no beer expert. But the Melt Down has a very nice balance of sweet and bitter. The selected hops gives a very floral smell to start and a nice pop to your tongue right after you swallow. This beer is not overpowering like some DIPAs can be. But rather pundgent with an aromatic hoppiness that will leave you wanting a second.

Let me know if you have ever had this beer and what you think of the Melt Down. I will be posting a series of on the beers that I have come across in my journeys.

More beautiful photos from AK. I have a few more that I am working up right now. But I am putting a bit more English into these. Enjoy for now.

Oh yea, the weather here is nasty yet again. I sure hope the rainy season has not started yet.

Alaska, Alaska. What a beautiful place. So pure. I will write more later. Photos just for now.

Yes I am talking about Alaska. We are going to Anchorage on Saturday and will be staying for a week. I have never been to Alaska, so I am looking forward to this trip very much. Star has more training on the military base there and Gavin and I are planning on checking out the surrounding mountains. I am aware that this time of the year there are many hungry bears out, so GnE will not be venturing out too far by ourselves.

That said I have very lose plans to take some photos on the water and in Anchorage. I know of a few climbing areas that are on my list to visit too. Gavin and I are meeting Star's grandparents for the first time next week. Long over due. I have heard so much about them I can not wait to meet them.

This should be a great trip and I hope I am able to take some nice pictures. We will see. Here are some random pics from the last month. Enjoy and My next post should be from Alaska and hopefully drinking an IPA!!!!


Go Climb Something!!!