一直到前一天深夜都沒有答應參與的我，忽然想到兩個抱石墊阿諾瑞瑩出門應該不夠用，就答應了瑞龍之行。當天身體也很給力，失眠到凌晨五點，差點五點打電話叫大家起床出門攀岩。勉強睡了兩個小時後，在便利商店門口集合，見到新朋友、上了阿諾的迷你小車車。
Until the late night before, I hadn't agreed to join, but suddenly I thought two crash pads might not be enough for my friends' Ruilong trip. So, I agreed to the adventure. My body was energetic that day. Staying up until 5 AM, I almost called everyone to wake up and go climbing at 5 AM lol. After a brief two-hour sleep, we gathered at the convenience store and hopped into Arnaud's mini car.
迷你的車車都有一種魔咒，比普通的轎車還能夠塞墊子。阿諾的小車車就這樣放了三張墊子和三個人，和我曾經的Prius一樣好用。第一次台灣戶外攀岩不用負責開車，好幸福，躺平躺好。一直流鼻水，阿諾好像嫌我太吵，送了我一包衛生紙（嗯？）。
Mini cars seem to have a magical power to fit more crash pads than regular sedans. Arnaud's small car accommodated three crash pads and three people, just as useful as my previous Prius. For the first time climbing outdoors in Taiwan without having to drive, it felt blissful. I lay down comfortably. Somehow Arnaud gave me a pack of tissues, saying its a gift for me.....might be my noisy runny nose lol.
今天的目的地是南投瑞龍，車程兩小時。瑞龍是台灣天然抱石團隊開發的（Taiwan Outdoor Bouldering, TOB），有收錄在他們出的Guidebook之中，也是台灣唯一一本有出版的Guidebook。其他區域的資訊幾乎都要仰賴線上資源，稍微有一點可惜，之前去泰安時，阿諾就說他怎麼找都找不到任何跟泰安有關的資訊，直到我把閃電的臉書相簿貼給他，還在學中文、不太使用社群媒體的他才說：「天啊，我這輩子都不可能找到！」
Today's destination is Ruilong in Nantou, and the drive takes approximately two hours. Ruilong is developed by Taiwan Outdoor Bouldering (TOB), a team in Taiwan. It is featured in their Guidebook, which is also the only published guidebook in Taiwan.
Unfortunately, information about other areas mostly relies on online resources. When we went to Taian before, Arnaud mentioned that he couldn't find any information related to Taian no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't until I shared Inazuma's Facebook album with him that he, still in the process of learning Mandarin and not actively using social media, exclaimed, "I would never have found it!"
這也是為什麼我想把更多資訊放到 Mountain Project，這樣就可以有讓更多人看見台灣戶外攀岩的資訊。當然，還有很多不同的戶外攀岩資訊網站，不過我最熟悉的是 Mountain Project，很自然得從這裡開始了。
This is also why I want to contribute more information to Mountain Project, so there can be a broader audience accessing information about outdoor climbing in Taiwan. Of course, there are various outdoor climbing information websites, but the one I am most familiar with is Mountain Project. It feels natural to start from here.
瑞龍天然抱石區就在瑞龍瀑布風景區的前面，一路導航到瀑布風景區的收費站門口，在那邊上個廁所，接著調頭沿著原路走幾分鐘，轉彎就到了瑞龍抱石區的入口處。
The natural bouldering area in Ruilong is right in front of the Ruilong Waterfall Scenic Area. We navigated all the way to the entrance of the waterfall scenic area, stopped at the entrance to use the restroom, then turned around and walked along the same path for a few minutes. After a turn, we reached the entrance to the Bouldering Area.
Guidebook上面說可以開車進去，不過我們一轉彎進去小路，就看到前方的路有很多大石頭，阿諾的車很小底盤也很矮，以防意外發生，我們決定在路邊停車，背著抱石墊下車走進去。就算是這樣，整個路程也才不到10分鐘，非常好走。（讓我想起某次要去 Big Bear Lake City 附近攀岩，Vy跟Chris勇闖各種崎嶇的路段，直到Chris衝過一個大泥坑的時候，底盤整個卡住最後掉下來 :))，大家千萬不要冒險。）
The Guidebook mentioned that you could drive in, but as soon as we turned onto the small road, we saw many large rocks ahead. Arnaud's car is low, so to avoid any accidents, we decided to park by the roadside and carried the crash pads into the area. Even so, the entire approach was less than 10 minutes, very easy.
(It reminds me of a time when Vy and Chris bravely navigated through various rough sections near Big Bear Lake City. Chris charged through a large mud puddle, got stuck, and eventually the cover of his engine fell down :)), please don't take risks.)
我們今天鎖定的攀爬區域是黃家托兒所（Huang’s Nursery），那邊有比較多簡單的路線，雖說如此，後來仔細看了一下Guidebook，發現那些路線都是在同一顆石頭上。我們也很順利，一轉進抱石區就看見那顆石頭，結果就在這顆石頭玩了一整天。
Our chosen climbing area today was "Huang's Nursery," which has more easy routes. However, upon closer inspection of the Guidebook, we realized that all those routes were on the same boulder. We easily found the boulder as soon as we entered the bouldering area and spent the whole day on it.
Guidebook中，黃家托兒所的Boulder 4，一共有五條路線，級數在 V2-V3。
In the Guidebook, Boulder 4 of Huang's Nursery has five routes, graded from V2 to V3.
不幸的是，這邊顯然平常比較少岩友來爬，石頭上佈滿了青苔跟泥沙，摸起來很滑，沒有什麼摩擦力。我們花了一點時間努力地清理石頭，只要看到覺得是有可能的岩點，就很努力的刷啊刷、刷啊刷，都還沒有開始攀岩，二頭肌就開始痠了。
Unfortunately, this area seems to have fewer climbers, and the rock surface was covered with moss and sand, making it slippery with little friction. We spent some time diligently cleaning the rock. Whenever we spotted a potentially good hold, we brushed and brushed, and before even starting to climb, our biceps were already sore.
之前都太幸運，這倒是第一次遇到想爬的石頭那麼髒，需要花那麼多時間清理。我們也意識到，「鋼刷」原來那麼重要？上次在泰安看到岩友用鋼刷，還覺得好神奇，從來沒看過（有可能是因為南加州砂岩比較多，不太可能用鋼刷去破壞岩點），現在卻恨不得自己也有一隻鋼刷。
I've been quite lucky before; this was the first time for me to encounter such a dirty rock that required so much cleaning. We also realized how important a "steel brush" is. Last time in Taian, when I saw a climber using a steel brush, I found it fascinating, as I had never seen it before (probably because in Southern California, there is more sandstone, and using a steel brush might damage the rock). That day, I really wish I had a steel brush too.
這次只有五個人一起來到瑞龍，大家都超級supportive！在後面拍到一張團體照的我覺得很感人哈哈，大家一起努力爬同一條線的感覺真的很讚，後面有好多spotter也好棒。
Only five people came to Ruilong this time, and everyone was super supportive! I found the group photo taken later in the day quite touching. Climbing the same route together feels amazing, as well as there were many excellent spotters lol!
玩完最右邊的路線（坑洞/Hole，V2）後，我們稍微移動到中間，開始嘗試黃金/Gold（V3）這條路線，又重新開始了刷岩點的過程。
After completing the rightmost route (Hole, V2), we moved to the middle and started trying the Gold (V3) route, restarting the process of brushing holds.
我一邊刷一邊找點，一邊跟大家說：「這個點很好、這個點很好！」開始分不清楚是自我催眠、還是催眠大家了。連比較有戶外攀岩slab經驗的阿諾都不相信我，直到我刷出一個腳點，他一站就站上去了，他才說看起來很爛沒想到很不錯。哼哼，不要小看在被優勝美地slab虐待過的我，我當時可是在邪惡大魔王Darius（我相信他會喜歡這個綽號）的教導下受過slab特訓。（但我還是很爛，拜託不要相信我的吹噓！）
As I brushed and pointed, I kept saying, "This hold is good, this one is good!" I started to lose track of whether it was self-hypnosis or hypnosis for everyone else. Even Arnaud, who has more experience with outdoor slab, didn't believe me until I brushed a foothold, and he stepped on it, saying it looked bad but surprisingly worked well. Hummm!!! I've been through slab training under the guidance of the evil Darius (I believe he would like this nickname) in Yosemite. (well but I'm still bad, plz don't believe my bragging!)
另外一件好笑的事情是，我只要摸到一個覺得不錯的點，就大喊：「its a JUG！！」是個大點辣！！我覺得瑞瑩他們是都不相信我，反正我也是催眠我自己，戶外只要有個好施力的摳摳，就是大摳摳。
Another funny thing was that every time I found a hold I liked, I would shout, "It's a JUG!!" It's a big hold!! I think my friends didn't believe in me, but I was probably hypnotizing myself. Outdoors, as long as there's a good grip to pull on, it's a JUG.
平心而論，黃金 V3 確實是一個訓練戶外腳點的好題目，小小的斜面腳點跟很爛的手點，讓人必須要相信腳還有摩擦力，才能夠順利往上站。
Honestly, Gold V3 is indeed a good challenge for training outdoor footwork. The small footholds and bad handholds force you to trust your feet and friction to stand up.
阿諾跟我們打賭誰先完攀就可以拿到四塊餅乾，於是我們四人很努力地不讓阿諾上牆，一直車輪戰輪流嘗試，直到真的累到不行，阿諾換上他的戶外神鞋Otaki，嘗試了兩把就爬上去了，可惡啊。
Arnaud bet with us that whoever completes the climb first can get four cookies. So, the four of us, Juiyin, 周倫, Phyllis and I, tried our best to keep Arnaud off the wall, taking turns attempting until we were exhausted. Arnaud then put on his outdoor magic shoes, Otaki, tried twice, and sent the climb. Brah!!!!
黃金 V3 我的完攀影片超級無敵醜，前面 slab 很流暢也很順利，幾乎都是用腳在往上站，但是到我沒有嘗試過的 top-out 動作時，我的左腳踩了一個太左邊的點（被好點吸引），導致身體重心太左側，沒辦法用右邊的 sloper 進行 mantle。接著我又誤上了膝蓋，top-out的錯誤之一就是用膝蓋，但我還是......每次都會犯下這種錯誤，上了膝蓋就上不了腳了，卡在那邊一、兩分鐘，把膝蓋當成腳在用，最後才用超醜的姿勢站起來。
My sned video of Gold V3 is super ugly. I did the slab part at the beginning smoothly and easily. But when I reached the top-out move that I hadn't tried before, my left foot stepped on a moon-like hold that is far left, causing my body weight to be too much on the left side, making it impossible to use the right sloper for the mantle. Then I made the mistake of using my knee. One of the top-out mistakes is using the knee. Once I was on my knees, I couldn't get my feet up, getting stuck there for a minute or two. I ended up using a super ugly posture to stand up.
沒關係， A send is a send. 醜完攀也是完攀啦。
No worries. A send is a send.
那天我觀望了一下四周，其他石頭都沒有找到，總之，有機會還是會想去瑞龍摸摸其他石頭，也想去黃金V3再練練腳法跟完攀姿勢。
Anyway, I would like to go back to Ruilong to explore other boulders and practice footwork and top-out techniques on Gold V3. Seeya next time!
Comments