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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Up Coming Travels

Posted by Eddie Gianelloni at 10:14 PM / / 0 comments
So I have just passed the "oh my" stage for travel plans for this year and I only have plans through May. Here is what I have so far.

Feb 5-7 Little River Canyon to send some Projects

Feb 19-21 Climbing/Fun in Chattanooga for a late Valentines

March 5-7 Backpacking the Azalia Trail in the Kisatchie NF

March 12-21 AMGA certification in Red Rocks, climbing fun, Red Rock Rendezous clinics

March 26-April 4 Climbing in Red River Gorge for my birthday and beyond

Aprilish or Mayish Going to Seattle to hang out on Star's parent's farm and learn to be a farmer

Three days in May Hiking rim to rim in the Grand Canyon

Last week in May We have ten days to spend in a destination yet to be determined

I am very excited to see this written out. I just thought that I would share this with you.
Friday, January 22, 2010

Photos of the Wake and Bake Send

Posted by Eddie Gianelloni at 10:40 AM / / 0 comments
At the last bolt about to clip the chains

This line was first sent on gear



In the fun crack at the top



Stemming is key on this line but tough on the greasy jibs




The lower crux




Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Thai 2

Posted by Eddie Gianelloni at 8:59 AM / / 0 comments
Star leading the 7a

Scary gear on the Thaiwand



Me having fun on a polished Longes Feschtl 6b+


Looking at Tonsai, Dum's, Tyrolean, and Tiger Walls




Andie moving up Groove tube



For the next five or six days Star and I climbing on the beach in the morning and followed the shade to the NW walls. It was also very nice to meet people from all over the world on the beach too. We met a wonderful couple from Austria, Clara and Andie. We also met a couple from the states, Andy and Jenn. They are from Utah.
After a few days of climbing we decided to take a rest day. We took a long tail boat to Ao Nang. It is 10 min ride and very scenic. We walked around there and took a elephant treck. It was fun.
By this time in Tonsai I had three or four lines that I had tried a few times and they became projects. The first on was a Little Fish 6b+(11a) that has nice holds mixed with bad holds and is very beta extensive at a slit overhang. Another was a beautiful steep line up an arete, Over Stay 6b+(11a). It is only 6b+ but OS is very pumpy. What turned out to be my biggest challenge was what I set out to do in Thailand, besides get a tan, send a 12a. Wake and bake is a very steep line that follows a dihedral. It is overhung from both walls of the dihedral. This line has two cruxes. One down low at the second bolt and one up top in the crack.

First Little Fish went down then Over Stay was redpointed. Now the same day that OS was sent I decided to go and try to work WnB for the fourth time. When I showed up at the line there was a few folks working the 8a next to it. I climbed it once and got the beta down nice. As I was resting and packing up one of the guys motivated me. The guy that was on the 8a was very excited about his 8a project and I thought that if I wanted to send this 7a+ I was going to have to be just as pumped. So I decided to try again to send this thing clean. I wound up redpointing it and all I can say is I was a little excited. It was great.


Star lead here first 7a. It was a very steep line the followed the opening of a cave on the Thaiwand. The second pitch of Inaka. She did a fantastic job on this on. Exposure is a large reason why folks do not send this one clean.


Over the next few days we climbed on the Fire wall, Melting wall, the Nest, Wild Kingdom, Thaiwand, Tonsai beach, and Cat wall. Thailand is a great place to climb but make sure you have at the very least two weeks.



So whats next........... Little River Canyon this weekend and many more to follow, T-Wall projects all season, AMGA SPI training in Red Rocks at the beginning of March and Red River Gorge at the end of March for my birthday. In May we are going somewhere for two weeks but have not figured out where yet. I will let you know.
Sunday, January 17, 2010

Thailand, Oh Thailand

Posted by Eddie Gianelloni at 11:19 PM / / 2 comments


Cat Wall




A monkey




Fire Wall




Dum's Kitchen


Ao Nang Tower




So Star and I are back from Thailand and all I can say is wow. Thailand is an amazing place. Even if you are not a climber it is worth going to. We took a detour at first and stayed a night in Phuket the second night and took a ferry to Krabi the next day. In Krabi you have to take a bus to Ao Nang, and then a longtail boat to Tonsi Beach. All of this seems easy but if you do not speak thai or the people speak VERY little English, it's tough. After three days of traveling we arrived on Tonsi. Tonsi is a breath taking place. We took an afternoon to get accustomed to the area and decided to climb at Dum's Kitchen the next day.

The next morning we climbed some very nice lines right on the beach. DK, along with the Tyrolean wall are in the shade until about 12 or 12:30. then the lines start to heat up fast, and in Thailand you never want to climb in the sun. We climbed three routes there and then walked over to the Tyrolean wall to climb some classic lines on being Missing Snow. We climbed a couple lines and went for lunch.

One of the best parts of the trip was has close climbing is to everything there. Our bungalow was 10 mins from the crags. The crags are 5 mins from the restaurants and the beach is between it all. That first day we figured out what areas were in the shade at what part of the day and which areas were accessible when due to the tides. After lunch the first day we climbed at the fire wall. Which is a cool place that offers lines in every grade up to 7b. One thing worth knowing is that because of this many guides take their clients there and it tends to be busy after lunch. Also, it tends to get more sun in the early afternoon.

If anyone tells you that it does not rain in the "dry season" they are lying. The truth is that it rains everyday. Now in the "dry season" it rains everyday in the afternoon or evening. In the "wet season" it rains the same times just for a bit longer. And its 5-10C warmer. It is a myth that the wet season is nothing but a down pour. Point being that it is still OK to climb there through May.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Country Side Hotel. It was a splendid place that I would recommend to everyone. The folks that run it are English and are a joy to be around.

The crags around Tonsi are very interesting and require a bit of information before you start to climb so be sure to buy a guide before you head out. Most of the info is about the types of bolts and how to identify the "good" bolts from the bad. This is very important. I bought Sam Lightners's guide before hand which was printed in 2005 with the intention to have beta and a general idea of where to go. It turns out his guide is not just a climbing guide but some what of a travel guide too. But because the guide was five years old. The bolt info is not entirely accurate along with the airport info. Since the guide was written there is a new airport. Just keep this in mind. So we bought the new guide with is great. Having both guides was a great idea. I highly suggest purchasing Sam's guide in the US and the new one in Thailand.

I will write more on my next post. I'm tired...........................
Saturday, December 26, 2009

Star @ Brech

Posted by Eddie Gianelloni at 12:26 PM / / 0 comments













Here are some shots from Star's latest boarding trip to Brech.

Thailand is Around the Corner!!!!

Posted by Eddie Gianelloni at 10:35 AM / / 0 comments










First I'd like to say "Merry-Happy Hona-Kwana-Mas!!!!" Next is we are headed to Thailand in 6 days!!!!!!
We are going to Thailand for about three weeks Jan 1. We have a loose plan but, here is what we have so far.
We are flying to Thailand and landing on the 2nd in Bangkok. We take a flight on the 3rd to Phuket and use a longboat to go to Tonsai beach. We are staying on the beach!!!! The world class climbing is just a 5 min walk from our bungalow. We usu ally over extend ourselves so this trip we are only staying on Tonsai Beach. We are planning on taking a couple of day trips to Phi Phi island, where The Beach was filmed. We plan to climb some hard classic lines. My goal, in terms of climbing, is to send a 12a. I have my sights on a few, but we will see what motivates me. Star's goal is to ride an elephant.
In other news I am signed up to get my first AMGA cert. in March. I am headed to Red Rocks in Nevada. I am very excited!! Star gave me several text books required for the classes for Christmas. She sure is great!!! And another note I am looking more into Search and Rescue courses that I can take through the ambulance services that I work for. SnR is a large part of why I transitioned into emergency medicine. I will keep everyone updated on our trip in Thailand. Chat soon.

The pictures are from the web. I thought you might like seeing where we are headed.



Go Climb Something!!!!!!!
Monday, December 21, 2009

Chattanooga, Fantastic as Usual

Posted by Eddie Gianelloni at 11:27 PM / / 0 comments
































So last weekend Cody and I headed for Chatty. We left after I was finished with work and camped at HP40 Thursday night. It was 25F. We woke early and I showed him around a bit and we rolled out. Drove straight to Tennessee Wall.
As we hiked up the overcast sky started to clear. The temps jumped at least 10 to 15 degrees. By the time we geared up and I was ready to climb it was blue sky, sun and 50F. What I call a T-Wall day. We ran up a classic 5.7 and 5.8. Cody had not climbed outside in three years so I did not know what to expect. Turns out he did not take any rests on either line.

That night we went into town and eat at Lupis. We crashed at the T-Wall camping area and and woke to cold overcast weather. I was not pumped to start climbing. It looked like the forecast was calling on rain for early afternoon so we decided to get at least one or two line in. We wound up climbing one, Razor WORM 5.8 or 9. It was a fun route. I always warm up on Goldenlocks 5.8+ to then play on Cake Walk 10a, which is the first ten that I lead on gear last season. The clouds started to rolling so we decided not to chance it and hiked out. We made it to town and caught a movie. We drove in the rain to Desoto State Park and camped there for the night. We were meeting up with our buddy Mike to crush in the rain. You ask where can one crush in the rain, Little River of course. We went to the Unshackled wall for some fun. It turned out that the rain was coming in from an angle and all that was clean to climb was Iron Mike 12a. Mike lead first and found out that the town was wet. He was not able to send it due to the crux being soaked, but was able to get through the crux and whip. I gave it a go and made it through the crux but it was too wet to clip the chains. It will go down on my next trip out. Warming up on a 12a is rough for sure.

We rolled out after that but I was able to get Cody pumped back up to climb again. I think that he is going to start to get out more with me to send.
Oh yea, a big congrats goes out to Cody for becoming the newest member of the College Ambassador program with Mountain Khakis. Way to go bro. Where your MK's everywhere!!!!!!!!
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