Where FTR lives

We’ve led a weird life trying to find a suitable home for this bunch of reffos and have found it at last.If the outdoors can ever come to an urban setting, then a climbing or bouldering wall is as close as it gets and the Lactic Factory here in Melbourne is run by one of our earliest friends Christian.

Have a look at the details below about what’s offered here but otherwise, come over to say hi and be among kindred spirits. The Lactic Factory is Melbourne and Australia's first dedicated, bouldering-only climbing gym.

Located in Abbotsford, we host Melbourne's bouldering community by offering great routes and atmosphere to train in, all close to public transport.

The Lactic Factory is open 6 days a week (see below for opening hours), where there are facilities for storing bicycles and gear, with drinks and snacks available while training along with a comfy place to chill out.

Opening Hours

Monday to Thursday  4.30pm - 9.30pm

Saturday:      2pm - 8pm

Friday and Sunday:   Closed

Public Holidays:        2pm - 8pm

For the remainder of the climbing season (Oct-Feb) we will be closed on Fridays.

Number 1.

Studley Street

Abbotsford, VIC, 3067

Phone: 03 9416 2508

Fax: 03 9416 2508

E-Mail: christian(at)thelacticfactory.com.au

Or check out www.thelacticfactory.com.au

 

As well as bouldering, a nice lounge and a 160 double mattresses to fall on, the Lactic Factory has almost certainly the world's biggest working cam. (Alway risky to state this too certainly but it's got to be bloody close you'd reckon).

It was made by Ivan who is a toolmaker by trade and is basically a totally working replica of the traditional 4 lobe Friend model cam.

The trigger retracts, the cams retract and then snap back via heavy duty springs, it weigh 60+ kgs, can protect a crack a metre wide and stands about chest height.

Made of wood?

Paper mache?

Nuh, tooled aluminium and it's testament to the craftsman who made it.

The fact that it takes 3 grown men to even place it in a trench in the ground is beside the point, it's simply a good thing to have around.

Just in case .......

Here it is taken from where it lives at the bouldering wall.
And here it is on holiday at the Pines at Arapiles.

Competition Report, final of FTR bouldering series

Round 4

(Saturday, 2 September 2006) Wrap Up:

For the last time for 2006, the junior competitors filed in the door for registration as enthusiastic as ever. So a spot of coaching on boulder comp tactics was given to hopefully slow them down a little. The standout tick came from Josh Fawcett, thrashing himself by repeatedly falling off the last hold of a hard blue problem on the 20° wall. After about 12 attempts he stopped for an extended rest, then brushed the holds and then sent what proved to be his second hardest problem of the day. Madeleine Melder showed her class by flashing all of her 5 scoring problems and Sarah Davies climbed with a spectacular amount of power that defied her size. Round placing for Junior Men were Josh Fawssett (214pts), Jayden Irving (175pts) and Doug Stewart (168pts) and for the Junior Women Madeleine Melder (171pts), Sarah Davies (136pts) and Merryn Fletcher (82pts).

Next was the Intermediate category with the largest turnout of all the rounds and with the overall championship score very close, it was down to this round’s results to determine the intermediate mens champion. There were highs and lows to come in the next 2 hours, Miriam Taig pulled a tendon in her finger in after about 30 minutes ending her day early, but still managed enough problems to place second on the day and first in the overall championship.

David Kingan showed off his absurd finger strength pulling on a tiny intermediate hold to circumvent a hard sequence and ticked the second hardest problem in the category. The day’s winner Corey Putkunz topped that with a hard earned tick of a particularly slopey red problem on the 25° wall. Round Placings were, Intermediate Men: Corey Putkunz (233pts), David Kingan (222pts) and Jesper Sidhu (218pts). Intermediate Women: Jackie Bernardi (156pts), Miriam Taig (130pts) and Caroline Dunn (113pts).

 

Last to start were the Open Men and Women, with only 12 competitors stepping up to the challenge the gym felt positively spacious. James Kassay was in his usual sublime form as he systematically went about ticking the gym. Anthony Prieto and Justin Power climbed extremely well to take second and third places, but for an illustration of scale, Anthony’s hardest scoring problem was James’ easiest.

Bec Foxen climbed with great style on the day to win the women’s category with a comfortable margin over a recovering Alison Wong. Final scores for Open Men were: James Kassay (277pts), Anthony Prieto (256pts) and Justin Power (250pts). Open Women: Bec Foxen (200pts), Alison Wong (187pts) and Bec Hopkins (169pts).

I’d like to thank all of our sponsors for their generosity and support, the route setters and graders. The staff on comp day and particularly the competitors for their enthusiasm and attendance. I’m consistently impressed by the co-operation and friendly spirit that the competitors have towards each other. It’s wonderful to watch. – Christian

A man of contrary tastes in climbing, here are a couple of pics of CM on The Nose but these days it's a crash mat and chalk bucket.

 

The classic pic, where are Bridwell, Long and Westbay?