"the dogs bollocks"

Moving house

2010-09-21T21:55:00.000+02:00

Time to move. New blog at: http://markokauko.wordpress.com/

Sisäpiiri ceases to exist soon.

An update

2010-09-12T19:17:00.000+02:00

Some pictures in random order from this season. Blogger seems to have gone from bad to worse so I might move my blog elsewhere.

Kikka on a super cool problem in Norway

Mika climbing Høygaffel

Olli and project

Päivikki (have forgotten the name of the boulder)

Mini world

Kikka climbing in Almscliff

Ilari working on Booty

Ilari climbing in Kanavuori

Kikka climbing DR weed in Germany

7 Veljestä

2010-04-18T17:40:00.009+02:00

Lake was literally starting to take over Nurmijärvi.

Luckily we still found our way to 7 Veljestä boulder and Jani got a quick send of the problem! Which now goes with a number 8a+. We got some good footage of the boulder. I will edit and upload the video later.

We also visited Boulderkeskus Konala. What an amazing wall! Can say that it will take a bit more than a pain job to get Hutunki look like that... Great job Jarmo!

A photographic note. Muuratsalo is a great place to go for a Sunday walk. With camera of course...

Prime

2010-04-15T19:32:00.012+02:00

The weather has been prime for sending. Hope it stays that way for a month or so. Almost all the crags are dry now. Except Halsvuori but that's a sport crag so who cares. It's a boudering season!

Olli Mikkonen hoping to grow few centimeters. 'Huuhto' a Kanavuori classic! Altough almost all the problems are classics in Kanavuori!

Marko Yliniemi doing some upwards joga on 'Huuhto'.

Easter

2010-04-06T19:54:00.017+02:00

Easter came and went. We were supposed to go to Åland. Weather was so bad so we decided to go to Savonlinna instead. Can't complain about our choice, good food in a good company! Except I can't really climb at the moment. I have a painful golfers elbow. Luckily taking pictures is as fun for me. Hmm, maybe I should start filming some cool climbing on video. That could be fun!

Mika and 'Noitavaimo'. Hardest problem in Hurissalo. Well maybe not but close anyway.

Slam Dunk

2010-04-02T17:46:00.004+02:00

How high above the hold can you actually jump with out landing on it?

O-P answering the question. Kanavuori 'Ankle Fucker'. As you can see, still covered in snow...

Juho doing the same but,

Landing on the hold with out holding it. This time Näätäkivi 'Paskoja Kompiaisia'. Little bit less snow...

Forte was good yesterday. Today there was a puddle of water underneath. O-P in action.

Part 2

2010-02-09T19:31:00.007+01:00

Took some time but now it's finished!

S U N

2009-11-22T19:14:00.004+01:00

"Sun is shining, the weather is sweet". Makes you want to climb. Doesn't it?

Extremely rare sunny day! We hardly ever get to see sun in November in Finland. Not to mention climbing! But today (22.11.2009) was a welcome exception!

Testing testing, so interesting. I think these new DSLR's make handy cams quite obsolete...

Past weeks

2009-10-31T08:55:00.004+01:00

I have been a bit busy with school work lately. Hence the lack of updates. Here are few shots from past weeks.

Kirsi sending one of the best aretes in Jyväskylä called 'Uniikki'. Moves on it are very unique indeed. It is an arete, but doesn't climb like one.

One of the strongest boulderers in Finland Jussi Remonen has changed his passion from climbing to woodwork and other hand crafts.

Jussi's stool. Everything is done by hand and no electrical appliances or screws are used. Everything is done the old fashion way!

One morning in Lehtisaari.

Fyysikko

2009-10-05T12:07:00.003+02:00

A funny video of my accent of Fyysikko... How nice to see yourself behaving like a total twat. Believe it or not, but I was still enjoying every minute of it!

Huomio: Sisältää huonoa kielenkäyttöä! ;)

Fyysikko is a classic Font 8B problem at 28.7. First accent was done by Tomi Nytorp in 2005. Problem consists 12 hard sustained moves and a jug haul at the end. On the send I got a really bad cramp on my right calf muscle. Luckily I was able to fight all the way to the jugs and top it out.

10 days in Lapland - Part 1

2009-10-01T21:00:00.006+02:00

This is the first of two videos from our Lapland holiday. I decided to make two videos instead of one long. It will work better in 27crags as it features one area at the time. I didn't edit this video too much so that it works as a beta video too, I hope...

Part one features 'Martti Servo' block. Quality of the rock is as close as you can get to Fontainebleau in Finland. Without the reindeer you might actually think that you are in Apremont.

Misty morning

2009-09-18T18:39:00.007+02:00

I am not a morning person. Sometimes it worth waking up early though. Like the other day, it was a beautiful misty morning when me and Doris went for a walk. Thankfully I had my camera with me.

Plywood factory at Säynätsalo.

Infamous bridge which has caused a lot of debate lately for being too narrow.

A good place for a morning swim?

10 days in Lapland

2009-09-14T20:49:00.008+02:00

By the original plan we were supposed to go to Lofoten. But being Norway the weather forecast didn't look too promising. So in the end we ended up staying in Lapland for the whole time. Out of the 10 days we climbed 9. First 8 in a row. We were a bit knackered after that so we had to take that one rest...

Hiidenkirnut. Can recommend!

Kikka sending 'Los Cojones direct'.

Some easy soloing at Kirnut.

Doris and her favorite toy.

Kikka climbing at 'Rotanloukku'.

Can't believe that we have rock like this in Finland...

Jarmo 'The Axe' Annunen sending 'Pimp My Ride' at Servo block.

Kikka sending 'Almendra assis'. Or was it 'Peukku assis'?

Think...

2009-09-06T10:39:00.002+02:00

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2038

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=48885

Kuhanjulma

2009-08-31T14:52:00.009+02:00

Went through my video archives and found one that I haven't published yet. Quite a lot of work filming yourself climbing...

Quick update. Just got back from Rovaniemi. Weather was warm and humid for most of the time, but we still managed to climb a LOT. But more form that later. I have some video of our trip. Would people like short videos, like one problem in video or a longer one?

Problems that we got on video:

Pimp My Ride (Jarmo)
Viimeinen Tuuttikuski (Marko)
Almendra or Peukku Assis (Kikka)
Turvasanat (Jesse and Marko)
Los Cojones Direct (Kikka)
Pyramidi (Marko)
Easy Company (Marko)
Midi Assis (Marko)

Off Season

2009-08-12T09:58:00.015+02:00

Like it love it? Or just hate it?

Have to say that I have enjoyed climbing quite a bit these past few warm and humid weeks. Off season climbing can be fun if you don't stress too much about it. I've been having some nice sessions with friends in Jyväskylä and Helsinki. Especially super humid session in Myllis was cool! Just did a lot of easier stuff but had to fight for every single one of them. So cool! Seems that every time I go to Myllis it's either too warm or wet. Now it was both!

Btw. Should off season be called wedding season instead?

Once again congratulations to our dear friends Juha and Oili! Thanks for an amazing wedding party! All the best to you both!

Now that the weather seems to start cooling down I've injured my both middle fingers... Right worse than left. Board climbing isn't good for you if you do too much of it. Holds are very similar all the time. I think that's the reason why I got injured fingers. Well live and learn. Although I think I should have learned all ready...

Anyhow, here is a video of Gluteus Maximus. F.A was done by Mika Hinkkanen. Think it was 1st of November 2007? Boulder is quite "of the beaten track" so it doesn't get much traffic. Although it's really worth your while. It consists 3 hard moves and shares the top out with 'Pacman'. Climbing is very similar to this Font problem called 'Hibernatus gauhe'. Although for me Gluteus Maximus felt a tad harder. Conditions weren't prime though.

TIA

2009-07-20T16:29:00.015+02:00

TIA = This is Africa.

Roadcrew.

Rock: Quartzite. Not all good quality, but there is a LOT of it to choose from. And it varies in different areas.

Texture: Exactly the same as Grit stone but with more holds. With pebbles and all.

Color: Orange / Gray.

Teemu Uusi-maahi sending 'Rhino'.

Climbing: From mindless jug hauls to best climbs that you can imaging. Harder ones being better ones (most of the time).

Fact: There is more jugs than anywhere I've seen before. Still maybe not for beginners. Most of the blocks are just too easy to be climbed on.

Amount: Lot of rock, still not very developed (hope it stays that way).

Approach: Mostly long and treacherous walks (20mins being average). Mostly gravel road, but sometimes you need to do actual climbing to get where you are going (not too nice when its wet)... It's not an 'easy' area to be in like Font or Swiss.

Permits: Needed for every area (about 3€ a day per person). Hard to get and find out how the whole thing works...

Rules: Leave no trace, walk on existing paths, pick your garbage (finger tape is also garbage). Clear tick marks (so the same as any were esle)!

Guide: Coming... (some info in the web). Locals are making one.

Roadside.

Senery: Beautiful!

Wildlife: Yes and some poisonous! Didn't see any snakes though. Apparently you have about 2hours to get to hospital if one bites. It will be hard in that terrain. Good thing is that they mostly hibernate in winter time. Baboons are quite scary too.

Weather: Could be rainy. We where lucky though. Only two days of rain. It was mostly hot around 27celsius. Had some cold weather too. Actually saw some snow up on the mountains! If you are staying in a campsite, you will most likely need warm clothing.

Season: Our summer.

People: Very friendly. Still stay a way from certain areas.

Bankcards: Work. Need actual cash to get petrol though. For permits too.

Teemu Uusi-maahi sending 'John Denver'.

Eats and Drink: Olifanti, Nancy's tea house, Kelder. All of them good! Cheep too!

Shopping: For grosery Spar in Clanwiliam etc.

Stay: Many different. From houses to campping. We stayed in De Pachys campsite. Can recommed.

Car: Needed. Preferably 4x4. Roads tend to be quite bad in climbing areas. With heavy rain there will be hard river crossings to do.

Ville Kurru warming up in Plateu area.

London epic

2009-07-20T15:10:00.010+02:00

We had a pit of an epic, when coming back from Rocklands. Our transit in LHR was about 9 hours coming from Cape Town. So we decided to go sightseeing London. Of course not taking the underground but only the very nessesery. We ended up walking +15 km with heavy bags. Almost missing the flight because someone got hit and killed by the train so the tracks got closed and we ended up running like headless chicken in a middle of nowhere trying to find a cab or right bus line. When in airport we got stuck in security check behind Serrano family form Spain who didn't know that tooth paste etc is actually considered as liquids... So we just barely made the flight.

Teemu having no clue where to go.

Well Paddington sounded good.

London Eye and Big Ben.

Kids playing around near Tower Bridge.

A tourist.

Dunno what the hell that was... Long walk though. Had to go see. Apparently its called ' The Gherkin or Swiss re'.

Teemu and mates.

Vihersalo

2009-06-24T16:35:00.007+02:00

Two problems from Vihersalo. Which is small area near Jyväskylä with good rock quality. A bit like Vaasa actually. Some info at 27crags.com. If you decide to visit this area, please behave! There are houses just next to boulders.

Don't know the name of that first problem? So if someone could enlighten me please?

Huhu

2009-06-07T12:17:00.006+02:00

There was a rumor spreading amongst Jyväskylä climbers (4 of us...) about a cool new block with a 45dec overhang. Finally we got info of the location of this boulder called Huhu! Have to say that it's an amazing problem!

Thanks for Jani Askolin for all the hard work!

Moon 14

2009-05-17T09:26:00.002+02:00

Does anyone have a spare Moon school set number 14 hold? I would be keen to buy one. Mine blew up in my face! Wasn't even pulling that hard from it. Bloody annoying. Just had a good problem going from that hold...

Font Images

2009-05-12T10:14:00.006+02:00

Famous texture of Fontainebleau.

Kikka moving pads around. Erosion is a big problem in Font. Even the wind and rain eats the rock quite quickly. You can see that the arrow and 20 are about 1mm higher than the non painted surface.

Stefan Pettersson close on Fata Morgan. One of the very few climbing pictures that I took...

Cul de Chien.

Doris.

Andy and Lara.

Pihla having a nap.

Hämeentie

2009-05-04T22:06:00.008+02:00

Jyrki sending the amazing 'Hämeentie' in Hurissalo.

If you are wondering what is Sami doing on top of the boulder with a bouldering mat? It was a sunny day and sun was just hitting the top holds. Jyrki couldn't see the top holds at all. So Sami had to act as a shade...

Hammas

2009-04-28T20:16:00.009+02:00

Bit of an inside joke this video...

All most DV quality, sorry about that...

77

2009-04-19T19:16:00.008+02:00

"Choose Fontainebleau. Choose bad weather and slow drying rock. Choose polished, pof blackened holds. Choose trashed problems and grotesque chipping. Choose crags overcrowded with greasy handed weekender Parisiens and legions of ubiquitous Yanks. Choose grumpy old locals chastising everyone (except the French, that is) for using chalk. Choose unsafe car parks (just like at home) and obscenely expensive, yet utterly lifeless bars. Choose Calvaire, that slimy hole in the ground o a wet weekend day with 20 or 30 other people huddled beneath it's partial cover, wondering what the hell you are doing so far from home yet so far from paradise..." - Simon Panton, Bouldering Scene, Climber may 2002.

Still we chose to choose it. We absolutely love it there. We have so many good friends out there. Every time it feels like coming home (in a good way)... I don't think much of that text is true. Only once have we been told of for using chalk and I think they where weekend Parisians. Francois ( THE local hero) got quite pissed of about us getting told of. One of the 'Bleausards' actually said to me that 'pof is shit' when I was about to smack it on a foothold!

Last time and last boulder that I've climbed in Font was when I topped out 'Big Dragon'. After that it kinda felt that I'd had enough of Font for a while. After visiting Swiss/ Italy / Austria four times in a row we felt that maybe it's time to go back to cradle of movement. It's not like the climbing can get any better than in Font, but it's maybe not that important any more as seeing your friends first time for a long while.

Any how, here is a short video of our trip to Font. I was supposed to do a lot of filming, but I got lazy and didn't do much of that. Climbing is too much fun to be bothered with camera.

Thanks to all friends (old and new) for such a nice holiday! Hope to see you all in not so distant future!

Iban G.

2009-02-27T11:56:00.007+01:00

Think it was 2000 or 2001 when we met this strong as a bull Basque climber. He was here in Jyväskylä doing some kind of a job training to become a certified electrician. If I remember correctly all they let Iban do here was some garden work. Closest he got to actual electricity work was changing light bulbs... There is some pictures in Iban's blog from his time here.

On one of the pictures we are gluing Forte's jug back on. Well actually Juha is. I'm on top of the rock... It's a shame that the hold came of in a first place. It was a very special climb. Now that the hold has come of again it's maybe a bit harder but not so nice to climb. It actually stirred quite a conversation at slouppi if it was OK to reinforce or glue holds back. I still don't know the answer. Maybe in some cases it's OK, but in Forte's probably not since it goes without.

La Rhume Folle from Marko Kauko on Vimeo.

A short video of the man himself in Fontainebleau, Bas Cuvier. Don't remember the year anymore. Maybe 2002? Good old days!

Revelations

2009-02-03T13:20:00.005+01:00

Motivation arrived today in a form of a book. Singed and all by no other than Jerry Moffat himself! If you don't know who Jerry is you can not call yourself a climber... Let the training commence!

Self portrait.

Just been doing some systemboard lately. Good way to train some climbing specific isometrics (e.g. Lock offs etc.). Seems that it's not that bad for your fingers like normal climbing since the moves are very controlled. Bit like fingerboard training. Same principals apply on system training like it's very important to use and maintain good body and finger positions trough out the exercise. I pay special attention on elbow angle. I try to avoid chicken winging because I think that it's bad for your shoulders and elbow to use unnatural angle.

Last week end we had two days at Boulderkeskus. It was good fun! It's good to go visit some other caves every once in a while. It sort of a gives you perspective of where you are in your training, or which are your week spots. It's the same outdoors when you visit new crags and climb with other people.

Check this out!

2009-02-02T08:48:00.002+01:00

If you have not yet seen it on BK's site. Can't wait to see the whole film!

PURE - A Bouldering Flick by Chuck Fryberger OFFICIAL TRAILER from Chuck Fryberger on Vimeo.

Archives 2

2009-01-23T13:30:00.002+01:00

Here are few 'digitized' pictures...

Jyrki on 'Nakit ja muusi' -98. 'Forte Risoluto' and 'Nakit ja muusi' 7B+ says the text on my album. Although think they both should be listed on MTK's list of hard boulders. Juha gave them both 7B+ after visiting Fontainebleau for the first time. On that trip he spent the whole week working on 'Carnage' which he did in the end. He had just sent 'Forte Risoluto' and 'Nakit ja Muusi' before. Have to say that 'Carnage' is miles easier...

Jussi Remonen doing F.A of 'Salamurhaaja'. Grade is still a mystery. Having just seen Ben Moon on 'Real thing' doing 'Karma' Jussi probably didn't figure out the easiest way for this boulder...

The dream team, Jussi, me, Jukka Mäkinen and Jykä...

Plastic pulling

2009-01-16T16:58:00.007+01:00

Some plastic pulling. Picture by me with a timer...

From the archives 1

2009-01-15T14:14:00.010+01:00

These pictures are from Samppa's arranged gathering to Font. There was a big posse of Finn's and two Brits in our ridiculously cold and expensive gite (one with a tennis court).

Unfortunately I don't have any really old pictures digitized yet.

Our captain of the trip Samppa.

Juha Saatsi wearing his color of power. In his case blue. 'La Baleine' Petit Bois.

Tim Clifford working with 'Big Dragon' in Petit Bois. Think the problem was named after a certain shop in Switzerland... Tim sent the problem later that spring.

Crazy weather

2009-01-14T19:02:00.008+01:00

Weather is just crazy at the moment. Would have been possible to climb outside today! Just too lazy to do the same old problems again and again.

This was what Päijänne looked like just few days ago.

This is from today. No snow and warm.Supposed to get colder tomorrow...

From the photo archives for MTK's retro picture challenge. Kikka sending 'Desert island arete' in Earl crag back in the day. More coming later...

Good effort!

2009-01-07T18:47:00.005+01:00

Just read from Bishopbouldering that Tim had send Matt's 'The Swarm' in Bishop. Good effort. Though not sure if it was hard for Tim since he is super strong on crimps. Same goes for Matt. Think he gave V13 for 'The Swarm'. It just got upgraded afterwards... Shy Yorkshire man 1 and 2...

Here Tim Clifford working with 'The Ace' in Stanage plantation. He would have probably done 'The Ace' easily, but Tim wanted to do it with out glued hold...

Photo by Kirsi Kauko.

Here Matt Birch coming down from 'Ben's wall' at Curbar. Good old days!

Can't wait!

2008-12-07T17:43:00.005+01:00

When browsing the internet I pumped into this old video by Slackjaw on b3bouldering site. Think it's one of the best climbing videos ever made. Quite keen to start training on our board. Though it's not time for that just yet.

Motivation.

2008-11-29T11:08:00.005+01:00

Web seems to be full of training advice at the moment. So mine would be to have fun and enjoy the process what ever you decide to do. Included a short clip of Ila working with 'Marvin'. No send though. Think Ila just got bored of trying same move over and over again and didn't go back to finish it of. Sorry about the quality. It was dark and wet when we filmed this.

Marvin 8A. from Marko Kauko on Vimeo.

First snow

2008-11-20T15:46:00.009+01:00

We got first snow last night. Might be the end of a season. No plans for the winter. Maybe edit some old footage for web?

Doris having a scroll on the beach.

Marvin and a moving crux.

2008-11-06T19:42:00.006+01:00

Sami on a second move of 'Marvin' which feels piss compared to the first one. What has happened? The first move used to feel easy. Talking about the original sequence of course. The way Jyrki did it, he skipped small left had crimp all together and went for a better hold higher up. I used small crimp as intermediate. Still keen to do original way someday.

What has happened to our lovely running track?

Most of the wood have been chopped down.

guess they are making plywood...

Viva la Resistance!

2008-11-02T15:27:00.005+01:00

Still out n' about! Todays venue was Mäyris. The boulders where a bit damp but nothing that a little chalk and a brush couldn't fix. Todays mission was 'Viva la Resistance' and 'Uniikki'. Both of them über classics. 'Viva la Resistance' has quite a bad landing but still ok with few pads. The top move is cool. At least the way I did it.

Juho got painfully close on a flash attempt on 'Viva la Resistance'. No cigar.

Tuomo showed some good skills by sending 'Uniikki' with few tries.

Juho got painfully close too...

So many projects...

2008-10-29T17:26:00.003+01:00

So many projects so little time before winter comes. Yesterday me and Jussi tried the ramp project at Toivakka. It's quite similar looking as Tim Clifford's 'Park life' in Yosemite which is featured in Dosage 5. We had no success. We also tried one other project which is very cool. We found some moves, but it will be extremely hard. Perfect technical and powerful climbing. No avail on that one either...

Today was time to go check one new area with Juho. All I managed to do was to get two bleeding finger tips. On one go I got over the crux move but decided to skip all the intermediates and go for the jug. Didn't work...

At least Juho put his free time in to good use and did 'Syyshämärä stand' with both ways. Hooray!

28.7

2008-10-25T17:47:00.006+02:00

A day out at 28.7. What a horrendous approach! Landowner has chopped all small wood and left it rotten. The trail is in unusable state. Hope somebody cleans it. Otherwise it's just waist of perfectly good firewood.

There was a lot of water too. If somebody is planning to do 'Kuhanjulma' it's best to leave it for spring and go when the pond is frozen...

Still nice to climb here every once in a while. Actually managed to do something which I had not done before. 'Dementia' photo by Kirsi Kauko.

Beasts from the east.

2008-10-24T09:24:00.009+02:00

Beasts from the east came for a quick visit yesterday. Sami looked super strong on 'Marvin'. Second move which is a crux for most of us looked like piss for him. Sure he will do it soon. Though it looks like the season is about to end soon. Hope not.

Paavo had bit of a moment with 'Forte'. Hope he didn't knacker his finger too badly. It was quite cold for such a long problem. At least I almost fell from the top while doing it for the video. I got bit of a cold pumped. Scary...

As a consolation prise Paavo send 'Herkules' with a good style.

Here taking a nice fall from the jug while left hand suddenly popped of...

Dr G.

2008-10-19T16:24:00.002+02:00

On one of his last days as a local climber in Jyväskylä Tomi decided leave his mark and brake the hold of 'Paskoja kompiaisia'. Hope he doesn't brake too many holds at Oulu since that would be disastrous...

Africa slab.

2008-09-30T11:58:00.004+02:00

'Africa slab' a cool Font style slab. Maybe 7a? Feels harder for me but easier for Kirsi...

Training 4 Font.

2008-09-29T14:45:00.005+02:00

Lasse doing F.A before going to Font for 6 months...

Nice high problem with good moves. Name is 'Ilaskivi'.

Make working out the sequence.

News flash!

2008-09-24T18:45:00.007+02:00

Jyrki the photographer (here taking a imaginary photograph) send the old Keljo project which now carries the name 'Hamsteri' 8a! Good effort!

Shigading!

2008-09-23T20:27:00.005+02:00

Blood, sweat and screaming. Ila send 'Forte'! Liimatainen was not too far to follow.

Projecting.

2008-09-21T21:01:00.003+02:00

Kikka working on 'Varjoneuvosto'.

Päivikki was so close to send 'Africa slab'!

Mika and reflector...

Varjoneuvosto.

2008-09-18T22:29:00.004+02:00

Small but cool problem.

Green valley.

2008-09-17T17:28:00.004+02:00

Jyrki sending 'Täyspakkaus' 7b+ F.A.

Rain rain rain...

2008-09-14T21:16:00.005+02:00

Went to shoot some pictures for a new web site that will open soon.

First stop was Ticino. It started raining... (Brione)

And it lasted for six days in a row. (Magic Wood)

We went to see if Italy would be better.

It was for a while. (Val Massino)

Until it started raining... (Val Di Mello)

We got lucky in Zillertal! Weather was fine. Though road tolls were expensive... (O-P 'Briscila' Zillergrund)

So we headed back to Magic Wood. But not much time left... (O-P 'Marihuana corner')

Heidelberg, Germany.

Back home now with a lot of photo editing to do...

Quick stop at Keuruu today. Did right side start to 'Vakiopaine'. Maybe a plus harder than 'Vakiopaine'. Name 'Sisäpiiri'... (Photo by Kirsi Kauko)

Lofoten.

2008-08-30T23:05:00.016+02:00

Shoreline of Henningsvaer.

Echinoidea.

Girls.

Wind was quite hard at times.

Kikka flashing Coctail.

Klatre kafe.

Mika doing 'Presten roof'

Mika sending 'Slartibartfast'.

Mika's climbing face...

Mika working with 'Tare Baby'

Clouds rolling over.

Jyrki having a moment with 'Midnight Sun'

Vast sea.

Kalle stranda.

Kalle Stranda.

And Ila set...

Working with 'Monster'

Monster.

Monster.

Sending 'Moon Problem' at Presten boulders.

And 'Presten Roof'.

Working with new project...

Mainland at the horizon.

Doris the fjällräven.

Doris and Vågakallen.

Font circuit at Paradiset...

Update.

2008-08-27T15:44:00.006+02:00

Warm and swetty here. Still Kikka managed to send her old nemesis 'Martikainen'.

and 'Steel Pulse'. No updates from me... Think I am going to change sport to golf soon since I already have golfers elbow... Getting a bit pissed of with the whole thing soon. Doesn't seem to get better.

Under the Apple tree... Lot of apples here, though the ones that grow wild are small and bitter.

Some nature shots.

Samma här as they would say here.

Kumba, Ila's cat is still going strong...

Some slab climbing at Kasviken.

Busy week.

2008-08-10T20:07:00.005+02:00

Ila checking out 'Kellarijengi'.

Ila figuring out the moves of 'Red October'.

'Tuulitulos' new problem at Brändö by Ila.

Mushrooms.

Ila sending 'Manaaja'.

Ila trying slimy 'Over the moon'.

Paddington arete yet again Ila...

Tomi working 'Paddington'.

Sleepy Doris after all the playing and driving around.

Lappajärvi

2008-08-03T14:11:00.003+02:00

Had a nice weekend in Lappajärvi. Good food in good company.

Convallaria majalis.

Doris and Ringa enjoyed each others company after a bitch fight.

Making a fire the old school way.

Finally got it going.

Wasp.

Niemisel

2008-07-31T20:03:00.009+02:00

Heko working with 'Jedi mind tricks'.

Jari trying to levitate up to jug. No avail.

Heko and Jari...

Juha back in redpoint business (Poor Oili)...

Mr bicep...

Doris wondering that 'what are we doing at sport climbing crag?'. Not to worry just stopped for a sauna...

Quiet...

2008-07-06T19:34:00.002+02:00

Daisy.

...

Puumala-Savonlinna

2008-06-09T17:59:00.006+02:00

Eetu on a new slab at Puumala.

Jussi....

Mika on 'Jedin paluu' 7A+. Savonlinna.

Mika making F.A at crag X.

Mäyränmutka.

2008-06-02T10:31:00.004+02:00

Mika on a cool Font style slab. Maybe 7A?

Päivikki climbing a warm up slab.

Jyväskylä's promise to photojournalism capturing Päivikki on proper 35mm.

Mika doing 'Hylje' 6C. I'd say it's hard for the grade. More like 7(C)...

Keuruu.

2008-05-29T18:49:00.003+02:00

Not much to report, but we had a nice day out at Keuruu. Was hot but we made some progress on our projects.

Here Tomi on an old nemesis 'NP' 7A.

Same here but with a different top out.

Tomi working with 'Vakiopaine 7C+'.

So close!

2008-05-20T11:09:00.004+02:00

Yesterday Teemu was painfully close of sending he's current project. Many of you probably know which problem I'm talking about...

Only a painful flapper kept slowing him down...

Quick visit to Vaasa.

2008-05-18T18:07:00.006+02:00

We made a quick visit to Vaasa on saturday. Tomi and Marjo were on a mission to send 'Mjölnir' at Köklot. Ila was on a mission to do some F.A's. My mission was to see if I can climb at all. I've been having a lot of problems with my left knee. I haven't been able to heel hook at all since our trip to Åland. I still couldn't bare to put any weight on my heel. Even walking has been a bit hard at times.

Tomi making facial expressions on 'Mjölnir'...

Not mutch sending was done on our short trip. Guys were greasing of on 'Mjölnir' 7A(+). All the time from the same spot. Ila was already knackered from too many tries of 'Marvin' back home. I tried to climb 'Hubbabubba' with out heel hooking. No avail. Although I did manage something! I did F.A to 'Viagran mahti'7B+ at the place near airport. Stand has been done by Sami a few weeks back, but I did it from the ovious sit start. So the line is now complite. Sami also did the hard extension to 'Silver surfer' 7/8(?) and one other old project which I remember looking awesome.

May day.

2008-05-07T16:09:00.012+02:00

May day in Åland. I was prepairing for worst since I heard that it's going to be packed with climbers from all around. But it was fine after all. Think we managed to avoid crowds quite ok. We just climbed early mornings and late evenings. It worked well since the weather was too hot any ways.

Way to Grottan. Most of us used it but not all... Think SKIL should do something about it. Maybe negotiate with the road owners since the driving won't stop. Shouldn't be too hard to work some kind of a deal since the parking isn't a problem.

Dog training.

Some locals were seen in Kasviken also. Starving marvin Tomas and Daniela were climbing too.

Tomas showing some good skils on 'Great escape'. A high ball 7A at Kasviken.

And giving a finger to all in the process...

Although Tomas did only the 'Escape' this time...

Boys from the north were filming their new production called 'Passion'.

And showing some weard Swiss army knife topping out on 'Nannou'.

Mika did a rediculously fast repetition on 'Dodo' stand. He'd be climbing 8B's in no time if he invests more time on hard bouldering...

Sami from Mikkeli's labour party doing 'Huba huba'. Well may day is a international workers day.
That's why there were lot of people in red. Loudest of them all was Antti with a red Tarja Halonen t-shirt...

At times is was nice to take a brake from men in red and head to a new crag x. Jykä, Teemu, Sorsa and Marjo had found some new rock. Best found so far was two move highish problem witch we named 'Michelin'.

We thought it's going to be a long dyno from a poor grimp. Almost thought that we'd have to leave it to mr Tawast but it turned out that it could be locked of with a right foot on smear. So best 6C in Åland was born...

Quite often it felt that there was cameras lurking aroud every where. It was actually quite disturping at times. Well I was one of the camera men too, but in the picture paparazzi Mika.

On digital film was captured Marjo doing the end of '20 cent' at Soltuna roof.

On a rest day we walked to Fågelberget. Well not a rest actually since Kirsi did 'Dodo' stand in totally empty Kasviken the same evening. Here Mika with a knackered bicep working moves of 'Orange'.

Small grimps lead to a scary top move. Landing is quite dodgy also.

Rest day activity in Kasviken.

Our holidays main send was done by Kirsi. She send 'Dodo' stand quite easily after some work with crux dead point.

Getting right hand on higher grimp was hard for her. Propper copression move if the foot slips of the rail. Only one thing to say about Åland is that it is a totally world class climbing area!

3 0 4

2008-04-24T20:15:00.004+02:00

Evening session at 304. Mission was to repeat problem called 'Korallit kuntoon Jacques Coustau'.

Mr Paddington was hangover and me knackered after morning's Paddington session.

Jyrki did put good effort but no avail. I only managed to get shoes on but that was it.

So the sending was left to tick master Ila's broad shoulders.

And he topped it out with style after once falling from the last move.

My Bro.

2008-04-22T15:33:00.005+02:00

A.K.A Jyrki "Jykä" Kauko Held the move on Paddington formerly known as "project".

Still two more to do on that rock so it will remain secret...

Oh, 4 f's sake...

2008-04-14T20:27:00.004+02:00

Yet again snow!

At least it's melting quickly. I hope...

Twentyeightpointseven.

2008-04-13T18:39:00.003+02:00

Juho nearly sending 'Unelma'.

Tomi G. showing how to crimp slopers on 'Dementia'.

Easter in Åland.

2008-04-04T18:57:00.048+02:00

Geta from view point.
This year we decided to skip our traditional Font trip and go to Åland instead. Don't know if that was a wise decison since it was very cold almost the whole time. Got quite a lot of snow too. Few days were spend brushing snow off problems.

Kikka doing Hammas.
We did manage to climb some too. But not much. Kikka did Hammas and had some progress on Dodo stand.

Kikka working with Dodo stand.
Although one move might just be too long for her. She can't use heel hook to get the higher crimp so she is just jumping for it and swinging off wildly. Other ways it doesn't seem too bad.

Me doing Mongooli. Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.
I did Mongooli quite quickly. Witch is a nice low roof in Kasviken. Climb consists some nice undercling moves on good holds. Perfect for my knackered finger.

Me doing Mongooli. Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.
Although it was so cold that day that my biceps hurt for two days after. There was some icecles hanging from the roof. Shame that we didn't get them in the picture.

Self potrait of me doing Desperado.
Desperado is a newish problem in Kasviken (in a middle of the high wall). It doesn't top out, but finishes in a horisontal brake with a dyno. Think Ville did it left hand first from undercling but I did right so I could use bicycle move for getting left hand up (And yes you can use the block underneath as foothold). Not too bad if you are tall enough. Anyways a good climb. Definitely worth a go.

Local wildlife crossing a road in Dånö.

Bonsai tree...

Think Doris had the most fun of us.

A day out.

2008-03-13T11:43:00.008+01:00

Went down south for a day. Plan was to go work on moves of '7veljestä' and after meet up with Tomi and Jarmo. Wasn't the best of days. It was cold and drizzling a bit in Nurmijärvi. Warming up was horrible. Pulling from small holds and just waiting for something to snap. Luckily nothing happened. Although I couldn't pull hard enough because of my knackered left ring finger. That felt a bit disappointing.

photo by Kirsi.
'7 Veljestä' is a cool overhanging prow with very small holds. Climb consists nice tecnical compression moves and cunning heelhooking. Just what I like... Wish my finger gets better soon.

photo by Kirsi.
Rock has few other nice problems too. This one is called 'Zion train'. Quite a "board" problem with nice incut crimps and long lock off's. Did this last autumn. I used dyno method witch felt easier than Tomi's rockover way. But hey when you are strong (like Tomi) you can climb them any way you like and you still get them done. Just us week bastards have to find easier ways to do things.

photo by Kirsi.
Sure that Doris was enjoying the day out. She didn't mind the cold or the drizzle.

After Nurmijärvi meet up with Tomi and Jarmo in Sipoo. Weather was better there. Just unfortunate thing happened to Jarmo while warming up. He tweeked his ankle while jumping down from a boulder. Not a good start for a season. Hope it's not as serious as it sounded when it happened. Well climbing is like this some days.

Back in the day in Switzerland.

2008-03-02T18:56:00.010+01:00

It's officially spring time now, but seems that
the winter is back. At least its quite cold for
my standards at the mo. It has been possible
to climb out for about 2 weeks.

Oh well back to indoor training. At least the wall
is in our living room so not too much of a hassle
to get to the wall. Tough don't think that my
fingers can take the abuse for much longer. All
ready have one knackered finger. Hard to take
rest days...

Here is one video that i made back in the day.
Think 2003 or 2004? Not sure. Actually made
a better version of it too, but could not find it
any more. Anyhow parental advisory may be
needed at the clip where Sorsa climbs...

Lofoten video.

2008-03-02T17:37:00.006+01:00

Made this long time ago from our trip to Lofoten
2005. So in the mean while waiting for Tommy
to publish his Lofoten video...

Suisse 07-08

2008-03-01T17:34:00.010+01:00

Christmas and new year in Switzerland.

We got it all, from sun to...

Snow. Mostly snow though. A lot of it.

Kikka at Brione warming up in sub zero
temperatures.

Kikka working with 'Shakin Stevens sit start'.

Mats on 'Kirk Windtain'.

Strong Norwegian on 'Kirk Windtain'.

Torstein on 'No Mystery'.

Jyrki on a 'Saltamartin'.

Not quite the standard version.

But the dyno version.

Selfpotrait.

Tomi on a 6c at Cresciano.

Team Norway on 'Doctor Med Dent'.

Thanks to Norwegians it was possible
to climb few days at Chironico.

Night shift.

2008-01-21T10:57:00.002+01:00

At 'Säynätsalon vaneritehdas'.

That's it.

2007-11-25T15:55:00.001+01:00

Winter has arrived and the competition has been
competed. So only thing to do is to wait for spring to
come...

Not too keen to swim any more...

Here Juho pulling hard on big jugs... Jyrki won the comps
by sending 15 out of 28 problems set by me and Ila.
Although Sorsa put on a real fight...

Cold action.

2007-11-14T14:23:00.003+01:00

A cold november morning in Muuratsalo. Tomi was keen
to go do Keventäjät, but maybe it was a bit too cold?

Doris having fun.

Tomi working with Keventäjät.
Kung fu style.

Out'n About.

2007-10-27T17:00:00.002+02:00

Been so busy latelly that haven't
managed to climb much. Today
went out just to realise how tired
I am. Need to sleep more...

Here Jyrki is working with a new
problem called 'Korallit kuntoon
Jacques Cousteau' at new area in
Jyväskylä called 30.4.

Ila doing the same. It's about 20 moves slouper monster
set by Teemu last summer.

Booty.

2007-10-10T16:08:00.002+02:00

Kikka sending Booty. Might I just add that it
looked very easy when she did it. Well some
times you just hit everything perfectly. Good
Effort!

Vaasa report.

2007-10-08T18:13:00.002+02:00

Finally fonund a decent place to stay over night in Vaasa!
Well not in Vaasa but worth the drive any ways.

Also spotted this beautiful wall on the way
to the beach. It's called 'Keripukki' and the
rock is perfect.

Kikka did 'Rantatien kantti'.

Tomi just about to deploy parachute.

Nalle doing F.A to highball arete.
Now named 'Projektipäälikkö'.
Grade, not too bad but fooking high.

Also, we had to stop at Esa's house
to see Doris...

Nälkävuosi.

2007-09-26T10:01:00.001+02:00

Yet another problem added to
Jyväskylä's long list of world class
boulder problems. Me sending
'Nälkävuosi' @ Lievestuore.
Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.

Ila campusing on rounded holds of
'Nälkävuosi'. Might I just add that
Ila has single handedly tripled the
places to climb in Jyväskylä.
Whitout him we'd be still bouldering
in Kanavuori. So big thanks to Ila for
all the hard work!

Hitman, etc.

2007-09-24T12:03:00.001+02:00

First stop was to go see some puppies.
Kikka and Doris.

Next was finding a camp and shoot some night art.

In a moring it was time to try 'Hitman'.
Managed to fall from the top twice on
stand start . Seems to be the crux for
me. Bad tactics since i didn't do
the top first as i should have. Here OP
working with a 'petit homme' way on
'Hitman'. OP got close but no sigar.

Superstyling.

2007-09-20T10:17:00.001+02:00

OP writing a mental code of how to
climb 'Superstyling' @ Keljo.

Testing.

2007-09-17T19:30:00.002+02:00

Funny shot with a new lense.

Keljo.

2007-09-14T19:34:00.001+02:00

Kalle climbing 'Booty' yet again.

Campusing might not work...

O-P employing german efficency.

Long lock off on Marvin.
Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.

Marvin, quite hard for the grade...
Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.

Good weather.

2007-09-10T20:32:00.001+02:00

Was one fine weekend! We went to
Savonlinna and Simpele, but first
stop was Luolavuori. Guys checking
out 'Entti'.

Ila sending Groove FM.

Mika warming up on Groove FM's
starting moves.

O-P working on 'Groove FM'.

Savonlinna's promise to hard climbing.
Mika Hinkkanen.

Me doing a F.A to 'Tricontinental'7C+.
@ Savonlinna. Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.

Mika getting the moves wired. Boulder
was a bit damp so let's see where the
numbers settel.
Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.

Mika doing F.A. on 'Moldova' 7B @ Simpele. One fine
roof. Packed with a lot of climbing in short distance.
Photo by Kirsi Hiironen.

Send.

2007-09-04T19:47:00.001+02:00

Kikka sending 'Keventäjät assis' 7C.

Humidity was around 84%.

But some days you are just able to
sqeeze hard enough.

New blocks.

2007-09-03T18:55:00.002+02:00

Esko sending 'Vastuun portaat'. New
block @ JKL.

Under the watchful eye. Olli working
with his heel hook beta.

Make on a 'hidden' project called
Paddington.

Jyrki zeroing down for the dyno on
Paddington proj.

Not quite. Good effort tough.

Tourist shots.

2007-08-31T11:12:00.002+02:00

Rain at Gimsøy.

Gimsøy.

Svolvær.

Austvågøy.

Åland

2007-08-21T10:27:00.001+02:00

We went to Tomas and Danielas wedding in Föglö at
Finnish archipelago. Of course i forgot my camera that
day so Mr Vakiopaine and Kafesolo will have more
pictures of wedding on their sites.

Calm seas, but the storm is about to rise.

On a car deck they told us that we can forget about
docking at the port of Långnäs because of the windy
conditions. So via stockholm we arrived to Marienhamn
next day. About 18h on a ferry instead of 4h...

Mr cool aka Samppa reminding him
self how to move on rock. Djupviken.

Jyrki gaston pulling on 'Steel pulse'
@ Djupviken.

Crux move.

Up or down? Marjo on 'mundo ganja'
@ Kasviken.

Team under the stars. We stayed in small cabins at
Soltuna.

Stellar evolution in progres.

Leaving home.

True solitude.

Sila

2007-08-20T10:48:00.003+02:00

Sila, one of many amazing bouldering destinations in
northern Norway. Rock quality is amazingly good (same
kind as 28.7 has). About 400 established problems. Nothing
too hard, think hardest is around 7C+ at the moment, but
lots of quality easier climbs.

Nice free camping near fresh water river with a sea view.

Juha sending a very cool 6C boulder called Mats power!

Juha on a 6C-Egg boulder.

Happy Juha on top of the power branche boulder.

Juha on 'Hei Bob' 7B.
Close but no sigar.

Austvågøy.

2007-08-14T11:04:00.002+02:00

Tomi's new problem called 'Sea gold'. Name comes from
dried fish brand that is a local delicacy.
@ Stem bastensen.

New slab called 'Fish bone' at Djupfjorden. Self portrait.

Juha doing 'Cragnslap' @ Djupfjorden.

Aki leading 3th pitch of 'Solens Sønner'.

True friction slab.

Photo shoot...

Happy Aki at the top of 'Solens Sønner'.

Djupfjorden. View fom high above.

Team Finland took silver yet again...

Gadus Morhua was quite tasty...

Deep grooves.

2007-08-03T21:40:00.002+02:00

O-P working with 'Syvät uurteet' @
JKL.

O-P sending 'Entti' @ JKL. A very
good climb!

The dark side.

2007-08-02T21:40:00.002+02:00

Obi wan Ila. May the force be with you...

Ila doing his high and scary
'Aurinkokunta' high ball slab @ JKL.

Ila repeating 'Pehmeä jänis' @JKL.

Cats and dogs.

2007-07-08T11:49:00.001+02:00

It's week end and of course it's pissing down cats and dogs
here. You can see a glimpse of sun every once in a while,
but if you start thinking of climbing it will start raining again.
Hope Jyrki and Marjo are having good weather in Squamish.

Don't be fooled, these photos are from last summer...

Under water.

Making pebbles...

Old log.

Weird colors with camera set on Fluorecent.

Old steps.

Rocky beach of Muuratsalo.

The Cave.

2007-07-05T09:41:00.002+02:00

Ila trying out Chiqui's new roof problem @
the cave.

Amandine on a same broblem.
No send. Landing is quite dodgy so
good spot needed...

East is east.

2007-07-03T13:41:00.002+02:00

Kikka doing Pac-man @ Simpele.

Nice 6C problem on good rock.

With a cool top out.

Päivikki working out the sequence.

Since it was Juhannus it was to party.

Mika showing us the way...

Lake during darkest hour. Around 1am.
But it wont last for long...

Sun was already rising around 2am...

Juha taking it easy... Maybe a bit hangover?

Kikka warming up @ a place called
'Suljan risteys'.

Rock quality is very good.

Spider web.

Mergus serrator. Jump start.

Mergus serrator.

Evening session at 'Punahilkka'
Juha working out the sequence.
No sigar...

Me trying a high ball arete project.
Small and sharp holds... Photo by
Kikka.

Mika showing Päivikki the moves on
'Muurahaishappo'.

Päivikki trying out Mika's beta.

Cheers for our hosts (Mika and Päivikki)
for such a nice Juhannus. Hope to see you
guys soon...

Halsvuori.

2007-06-26T11:46:00.001+02:00

Sign for protecting prehistoric paintings at Halsvuori.

Juha Juutila on first moves of
'Multasormi' or was it 'Mutasormi'.

Rope bouldering... 6 something?

Juha being belayed by Aki Rautava.

Weekend.

2007-06-18T13:57:00.002+02:00

Ursus arctos, mean the foot print. Not the spanish guy
next to it, Chiqui... Foot print was 17cm wide, so it
is an adult bear.

View from Oravivuori.

Papilio machaon.

Was hard to get a picture of this fellow.

Since it didn't want to stay still for too long.

10.

2007-06-15T10:42:00.002+02:00

O-P being well spotted on
'Pelko'@ Kymppikivi.

Harri on an old classic 'Goofy'.
@ Kymppikivi.

Yet another classic called
'perhe ongelma' @ same place.

JKL.

2007-06-12T14:48:00.002+02:00

Chiqui sending cool high ball
called 'Vihreä lohikäärme'
@ JKL.

Cunning foot work.

Crux dyno just before top.
Number is around 7A.

Kikka working and sending
later (1.7.) 'Syvät uurteet'
about 7A @ JKL.

Flash Gordon.

2007-06-12T11:08:00.002+02:00

Dr. G. On a flash attempt of
'Flash Gordon' 6B+ ;) @ Vaasa.
No Sigar.

Marjo trying to use her hand
as a hold...

Close but no sigar...

West side.

2007-06-11T12:50:00.002+02:00

Kikka doing 'Silver Surfer assis' @ Vaasa.

Me doing FA. to 'Tero Assis' @
Vaasa.
Foto by Kikka.