LeBreton Climbs

The last 2 months

2010-05-14T10:12:00.007+10:00

We have been down to Nowra a lot in the last 2 months. Which has been so good. I started with working Ain't no Sunshine at South Central. After a couple of days I tick it, it's the best 28 in the world, a really cool climb.

Ain't No Sunshine 28

My next project I wanted to do was Brown Badge just left of Sunshine. So after ticking Sunshine that day I put the draws on Brown Badge and then next go ticked it. So that was a good day, a 28 and a 27!

Brown Badge 27

So it was over the other side of Nowra Thompson's Point. Where a did Baby Just Don't Bite It 28. I was working this last year for a couple of days. It was nice to do it first day working it this year. It's also a really cool climb, a long traverse of the Little Grease Cave's roof. I went back over to the Creek where it took me a couple of days to tick off Maintain the Rage 27. It starts the same as Brown Badge. It's the hard of the two I think. Nice climb.

Maintain The Rage 27

Since then I have been working Skin to Skin, which I ticked off a week ago. My first 29 (8a), that's cool. My husband Rob as done a little story of me and this climb on the Nowra Rocks page. Me and this climb go way back.

Skin to Skin 29

My summer training has paid off! It shows that if you want something and work hard for it, you will achieve it. The new Five Ten Teams have been with me on all of these accents. They are the best climbing shoe, thanks Teams!

2009 Australian Bouldering Nationals

2010-02-05T08:25:00.006+11:00

The 2009 Bouldering National was held at the Climbing Centre, NSW Penrith. Rob and I set with the help from Chris Webb. Chris made it his job to punish the Open male climbs in the finals and it was a nail biting final. It came down to the last problem to make the placing, but the crusher from the bloc Mac Edwards smash the final problem to take out first place on the podium. Sam berry walk the 4 final problem to take out the Open female. Its was a double for the bloc duo.

For more results on the comp go to the SCA web site.

It was a really fun event and great fun to set at. Can't wait for this year when I would like to compete in the comp this time.

Sam Berry on the 3rd final problem

Axel showing us our his slab moves on the 2nd final problem

France Man

2009-08-22T23:07:00.003+10:00

I am in France for the World Youths. Been here for one night, man it was a long flight or flights.

I am here with two of the team members, Mel and Zoe. The other will be here over the next couple of days. The comp starts next thursday, this is the Aus blog for all the updates

http://ausyouthclimbingteam.blogspot.com/

So for now hanging in Valence. Going to the climbing gym over the couple of days for last minute training for the team.

Now and France

2009-08-06T09:10:00.002+10:00

So since we have been back we both have been so keen to train and get fit and strong. I have been doing lots of Resistance work as I have not done any fitness training in a very long time due to speed training. So that has been nice and I feel like I am getting fit quick.

I two weeks I am going to France with the Australian Youth Climbing team for the World Youth Championships. We have 16 young climbers on the team. The comp is in Valence, south of France. After the comp hoping to do lots of rock climbing!

The Rest World Games

2009-08-06T08:52:00.008+10:00

The World Games was so cool. I came 11th i the speed and 9th in the lead. Watching the other climber was so amazing. After the climbing we went and watched some other sports like parachutists were the Aussie took out bronze. Then it was off to see the Aussie Ultimate Frisbee team were they took out bronze too. And, we watched some amazing Acrobatic Gymnasts.

Overall it was a wonderful trip and one were we enjoyed and learned.

Maya Vidmar

Acrobatic Gymnasts

Me in Speed

Rob in Lead

World Games Day 1 & 2

2009-07-18T15:44:00.005+10:00

The world Games are so cool. On Thursday we walk into the opening ceremony of the world games with all the other Australian from different sports. Its was so cool walking in behind your country flags and 40,000 people cheering for you. Then the fire works after were bigger the New Years Eve in Sydney!

Yesterday we went to the wall, its at a high school. The school has one indoor wall about 10m high with 4 ropes on it and then 7 bouldering walls that are set up world cup style. THEN a big outdoor lead wall which we have not seen yet as it got all the comp climbs on it and there is another warm up wall TOO! This would be to school to go to if you were a young climber.

In the arvo went to the Sumo, that was cool. The guys and girls are so strong and big.

Rob is updating his blog too http://mrlebretonclimbs.blogspot.com/

Last Week of Training

2009-07-15T07:59:00.004+10:00

Rob and I are leave today for the World Games in Taiwan. We compete on Saturday and Sunday 18th/19th. I have had a few light trains at SICG and Penrith Climbing Gym. My last train at SICG felt like I made a good step in my training as I broke the 10sec on the 13 metre wall, with 9.21sec.

Here is a vid of me, but when I got the camera out could not get a 9 again.

Rob is feeling great and ready for the Games. He has been tapering the last 2 weeks.

This was taken last time we were down at Nowra, me on Baby just don't bite it 28, hoping next time i will send it, such a cool route!

Training for the World Games

2009-06-04T10:34:00.004+10:00

So since we have been back, we have been training hard for the World Game s. The World Games is on the 18th and 19th of July this event is held every 4 years.

Rob will be competing in the lead and I will be in speed. I have been focusing on getting strong by doing lots of campusing, bouldering and finger boarding. Also going lots of speed laps. I would like to get a faster time then the Shanghai Rock Masters event. That is my goal.

Shanghai Rock Masters

2009-05-07T19:23:00.014+10:00

The Shanghai Rock Masters was such a fun event. The world record speed climb is such a good climb. Its hard and I need time on it to learn the moves and get faster on it. The climb has the same hold all the way up and the same foot hold, and has been around for 3 years now so some of the women have been training on it for that long. Rob was up first on the Saturday he climbed well, but not as good as has he can, bit nervous? He was going to climb again in the evening but it just bucketed down and they put the speed on instead, so I was up. I had a few goes on the world record speed climb after Rob's climb and felt ok. When it was my turn I must of been a little tense, my foot slipped off the first hold and I was out of there. But we had two goes. The next time I was worried about slipping and did not get a good time. I did not feel like it was me climbing at all!

The next day Rob was up again in the morning and he climbed really well. He came 7th on that climb and 10th overall. I was climbing again in the afternoon on a classic route which is a climb that none of us have been on. I thought I would have done better on this, but the girls were just the next step or two above me. I came last in both record and classic speed climbing. I have so much work to do be for the World Games as it's going to be record format. The experience of being in this comp has made me want to train harder. I've learnt so much!

X Games

2009-04-30T19:02:00.006+10:00

Well where do I start!

We had a 10min practice go this morning, which i felt good on, I had worked the climb and knew what I had to too. I felt I was just as good or not to far off the top guns from Russia and China.

After that everyone had to leave the ground for a police check. Back in we went, and it was time for the setting round, this is where they take the top 8 into the final. Fastest to slowest. I was up 3rd, came out, started out good then just fumbled a bit and I was all over, 2nd last, thanks for coming. I did not feel good on the wall, not myself. Rob and I have had the flu seen Sunday before leaving.

So now just have to get over in and move on to the next comp The Rock Masters on Saturday and Sunday.

Going to watch the final of the men at the X Games tomorrow.

China

2009-04-28T11:44:00.002+10:00

We are here!

Got in last night, it was a long flight, the girls were over it by about half way!

Today we are going to find a climbing wall to have our last train before the comp. Hoping to find the world record wall to see what its like before the comp. I think its the format for the Shanghai Rock Masters on Sunday.

I am first up, with speed climbing on Thursday, Rob on Saturday and then me again on sunday. I will let you know everything.

See ya for now.

The China Campaign

2009-04-25T12:27:00.009+10:00

Rob and I are off to China to compete in two competitions. I will be doing the Asian X Games and The Shanghai Rock Masters for Speed Climbing, Rob will be in the Shanghai Rock Masters for Lead. Because we are the Oceania Champions in these disciplines, we were invited to these events.

We started training specifically for these events 7 weeks ago when we found we could go. Training wise, we have been climbing lots down at SICG because of the height and the variety of walls angles. The X Games wall is 17 metres high with two, 1 metre overhangs and steep climbing in between! I have been doing sets of laps with only a short rest in between. This has been working as yesterday my last speed training day and I felt like it has all come together, that I'm flowing really well, and that I'm strong and powerful.

Rob has been doing lots and lots of training, SICG has been good for onsighting for him as all the route have been changed recently. He is looking really confident, strong and fit.

Asian X Games (S) - Shanghai (CHN) 2009 30th and 31st
Shanghai Rock Master (L + S) - Shanghai (CHN) 2009, 2nd & 3rd

Results should be up after the event on the IFSC website

All 4 of are packing our bags and getting ready to fly out Monday morning. Minah and Tahlia are very excited. They've checked out the new Chinese Visas in their passports, put some Chinese Yuan in their wallets, packed lots of books and charged their DSs for the flight!

Keep looking here for updates

2009 NSW Difficuly and Speed Titles and Qualifier for WYC

2009-04-25T11:57:00.009+10:00

The NSW State Titles were held over the Easter break at Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym, St Peters. It was two days, 5 climbs and lots of fun. The Competition was also the selection trials for the World Youth Championships team.

The weekend started at 8am on Saturday morning. All competitors did 3 heats on the first day and then one more heat Sunday morning, with the finals on Sunday afternoon. The Heats were flash and the final was onsight. With lots of juniors coming from all over Australia, the field was hot! Everyone wanted to be in the Australian team for France this year. Places in the team were offered to the top 4 climbers in each category based on the 5 climbs done over the weekend. The event finish up with the speed climbing, the fastest climber of the day was Mattias from SICG with 9.48sec!

Everyone had lots of fun and did lots of climbing. For more Results click here.

Thanks to the

Tour De Corde So Far.........

2009-04-25T11:19:00.008+10:00

The Tour has now had two comps one at Penrith Climbing Centre and The Rockhouse Brookvale. Both comps were high on the fun factor and the competition was fierce but friendly.

Penrith- Lindsay Fletcher in Youth C age 12 was the star, smashing everyone over the two days with 52 climbs and 27,051 points all done in the two and half hours time limit.

Andy Richardson won the open A male with has 10 best climbs 9390 points, Sarah Mathews took out the open A female with 8,955.

Overall Penrith had 107 competitors and lots of PUMPED arms.

For results on the Penrith Tour de Corde click here.

Rockhouse comp had a standout crowd too with 105 competitors over the two days, Opens was huge on the Friday night. The leaders from the Penrith Comp had to wear, in the traditional style of the Tour, a yellow tag on their harnesses to show they were the leaders.

Stand out performances were Dave Hoyle from Hangdog with 44 climbs and 28,210 points being the overall pumper with the most points. But the climber with the most climbs was Adam Gearing, a Youth C male from the Rockhouse who did 48 climbs and scored 26,260 points!

Robert LeBreton from the FIS, Mitch Breheny from the Centre of Gravity in Port Macquarie, and Pitch Ninja, Axel Triton shared the prize in the Open A male with 9,410 points. The Rockhouse's own Ben Aves, in Youth A Male, achieved the same score the following day. Open A Female was won by another Rockhouse local Nikki Selles with 9,025 points.

Rockhouse Results

The next Tour de Corde is at Hangdog Climbing Gym on the 1st and 2nd of May, hope everyone feels the pump!

Tour De Corde 2009

2009-02-13T16:20:00.005+11:00

The Roped Series also introduces two new aspects to the pumpfest format. The first is the introduction of a team score where the 2 highest placed competitors in each category from each team earn points to toward their team's overall score. The second is the introduction of the "Pumper" Category in the Open event. The Pumper category is designed for those climbers who enjoy getting involved and doing as much climbing as they can in 2 and a half hours. Juniors are also welcome to compete in the Pumper category. In addition to these changes, all juniors who compete in all 5 events will be recognised with a medal at the end of the series.

Open will be Friday night 7pm and Juniors will be Saturday morning at 9am

27-28 February – Penrith Climbing Centre
20-21 March – Northern Beaches Rockhouse, Brookvale
1-2 May – Hangdog, Wollongong
22-23 May – Summit, Blacktown
19- 20th - SICG, St Peters

Arapiles

2009-02-13T15:52:00.008+11:00

Rob and I went to Araps for 10 days in January. It was really cool, and did lots of climbing. The weather was really hot, so we had to hide in the gullies. The heat zaps your energy and you don't feel like climbing. So we had to stay motivated.

Tick List

Lamplighter

D Minor

Swinging

Trapeze

Pilot Error

Daily Planet

Megalomaniac

Electric Warrior

Mari

The Bard

Dreadnought Variant

Outrageous Coincidences (Boulder)

King Rat

Glory Rodent

Coming on Chris

Ethereal

long Hair and Great Coats

Horn Piece

Tannin

Cellular Destruction

Thunder Crack

Missing Link

Swinging (Boulder)

Mt York

2008-12-12T18:07:00.007+11:00

Went to Mt York twice last week, to do a bit of trad and had lots of fun. Did some classics like The Obituary 14, Atomic Punk 20, Lishenbak 10, Birds Nest 15 and Peppercorn 15. Did a climb with Minah, she second The Knight of Nee, 17 which was a big effort as it was hard.

I think its good to break your climbing up like this and do some climbing that out of your comfort zone.

Climbing Classes

2008-11-28T12:45:00.003+11:00

Tuesday 9th of December at The Climbing Centre Penrith

Thursday 11th of December at The Climbing Centre Leura

Hope to see you there, email me for a place, only 10 spots.

Rob's MO

2008-11-19T18:51:00.000+11:00

It’s all About Me

2008-11-15T18:14:00.000+11:00

I have been rock climbing now for nearly 13 years, I started when I was 13 down at Hangdog Climbing Gym in Wollongong with school sport. I did not pick a new sport after that for the rest of my high school years! I worked and hung out at the “Dog” all the time until I was about 24. I went climbing at Nowra most weekends and I started competition climbing about a month or so after starting. I loved comps, and still do! During this time at Hangdog I was lucky enough to be coached and mentored, by Rob LeBreton, Paul Westwood and Rod and Sue Young. They not only helped my climbing but also helped shape who I am today.

I competed in as many comps as I could, all around Australia for the next 5 years. I went overseas when I was 16 and 17 to compete in the USA. On my second visit I won my age category in the Touchstone International Juniors in San Francisco. I went to the Asian X games when I was 18 and placed second in bouldering and fourth in speed. Back here in Oz, I was winning the Opens at 16 and was Australian Female Champ for 4 years. I also did a lot of speed climbing and won that for a few years in a row.

As well as comps I climbed lots outdoors, my hardest redpoint was Vehicle of Hate 28 at Thompson Point Nowra. In 2001 I hurt my right shoulder in the last bouldering comp for the year. Not realising how bad I had damaged it, I took time off hoping it would get better, but it never did. The lesson here; get injuries checked by someone who knows! (When I hurt my other shoulder recently, I saw Julian Saunders as soon as I could and as a result was climbing again within 2 weeks!)

Not realising the injury was not going to get better, I saved up and went to Europe. I camped around Spain and France climbing at all the cool crags. The climbing was great, but I was frustrated by not being able to push myself and the ongoing pain in my shoulder. I ran out of money and went to London, the big smoke to work. I got work straight away at Snow & Rock and made lots of new friends that were also from Oz. I lived and worked there for 8 months and then came home.

In 2006, I had finally had a shoulder reconstruction and began the rehabilitation process. That same year I married Rob LeBreton. My shoulder has taken about 2 years to get strong again, and we have both started competing again the last 2 years. I was second in the Oceania and National Lead competitions this year and second in the Bouldering Nationals and the NSW Bouldering Series. This year Rob and I have been climbing down at Nowra all winter. I did a new route at the Grotto in the Hood area called Funky Gripsta 27, a 3 star classic. We have a blog with lots of info on what’s happening at Nowra.

I have been working at The Climbing Centre now for a year and a half where a take the kids coaching and work with school sports, also I do all the route-setting. I have been route setting since I was about 15.

That’s a rough history of me, hope you enjoyed it and watch out for some to more come!

Why

2008-11-15T18:06:00.000+11:00

I have started this blog so I could to keep log of the climbing I have been doing and how I have done them. Rob and I are constantly developing and refining new training methods and techniques which we apply to our own climbing.

I have been coaching for many years now and Rob and I are the Australian Junior coaches and I coach the kids club at The Climbing Centre, Penrith. In not too distant future I will be expanding my coaching services.

I have put my sponsors on the page, to show my support for them. I have been with most of them for many years now; they have done so much for me that has helped me with my climbing. I will include some product reviews of new items I have been using, and there have been some good ones this year!