Jump to content

2017 July - SJ4 - Bill Lepage


Sapper88

Recommended Posts

Here is my whole report:

Leading up to the event,  @anwnate did a great job of keeping the excitement level high. My grip training was on track up until 4 weeks out. I got sent away for training and had no access to being able to train. So I was a little worried about what kind of numbers I would be able to produce with this not only being a new sport for me but also my first ever lifting competition of any kind.

After much heated debate @NealB and I were able to convince my two other training partners, my brother @Brandon LePage and cousin @Derek , to commit to going despite their worries about being very new and not ready. 

1500 on Friday: we set out on the road to get to my shop to get the new bending material to give out and headed out from there. We were held up in HEAVY traffic for hours. We got to the hotel around midnight and tried to recon the event room but could not see inside so we went to bed to be ready for the competition. 

0600 on Saturday: wake up to reveille! Headed to a local diner for a pretty good breakfast. 

0800: we headed into the event room. It was so surreal. Seeing guys like @Jedd Johnson, @Lucasraymond, @Squeezus, kody and others that you only see and study online. As well as many other faces I don't know. Partly because I am a newbie and because I've come to recognize avatars and screen names. We were very politely greeted by a man with some of the biggest hands I've ever shook, @acromegaman. He gave us the run down and we got in line for the weigh ins. I came up and was greeted by the biggest smile on nate's faces. It's clear the genuine passion he has for the sport by looking at how happy he was to see the turn out and his meticulous set up of the venue.

I came in at an unexpected 208 pounds which put me in the weight class above where I expected to be.

We then were able to watch @KRC absolutely destroy his red nail certification. Then he ambitiously tried to attack a giant brass bend (I think it was 5/16" hex brass). Dan near got it but ran out of time. I'm sure he would have nailed it if he was fresh. 

After that, I got to see two guys do the crushed to dust challenge. Both making it look like child's play.

Beginning of the main event: grippers came first. This is my weakest and most unfamiliar event. I only own 1 rated gripper (GHP5 @ 110) so I was very unsure where to start. I jumped at the 113 on my first attempt and it felt great. So I went up to 121, good, and then hit 129 pretty easily on my third attempt which is a new p.r. for me. On my last attempt I went for the 132 and I thought I closed it but got a no go from the judge.

Flask: since I weighed in early I had time to warm up and see where I felt I should start. Based on my weights i landed on platform two. My first two openers (32kg and 34 kg) went up great. Then I went to 36kg. I missed the crossbar by what looked like a half inch as the flask slipped out of my hand. I went for it again and missed by the same amount.

Crusher: 46, 50, 55 and 60 kg. All went up nicely. 

While my placing was about the middle of the pack I was quite proud as I got all new p.r.'s.

Back to nate's house: as I pull up to the house I see people moving into the house with all sorts of weights,  loading pins, implements and of course beverages. After an amazing meal by nate's wife we were ready to get after it.

Nate's gym is the stuff of legend. From the sheer volume of grip tools, the great organization, and the walls covered in pictures of feats and grip icons to the great layout. Very impressive. 

Medley: I felt pretty good about it going in. In practice medleys at my house I've done pretty well. As my name was called I went up and made a rookie mistake, I just got started instead of checking, prepping and chalking the implements. As I was going through and doing well I came to the item next to the jr inch (118#). As I pulled that item it got got stuck on the magnet on the jr inch and stalled the lift. I got it free and pulled it again which cost me precious time. And as I set it down it got stuck to the Jr inch but I didn't notice. So as I lifted the dumbell it got stuck to the weights on the loading pin next to it. So I had to break it free and lift it again. All this really set me back but I still placed second on the light side.

Bending comp.: after the long day I definitely wasn't at 100%. after some confusion about the rules I got started. struggled with the 9/32 but got it and decided to finish up with 1/4". Taking second to last position with a total of 1400.

Remainder of the night: incredible to witness all the experts show different lifts and feats. Jedd doing the blobs and scale weights, Gil on the manna-nuff and one of the giant blobs, Chris rider doing the phone books and penny, Luke curling plates and blob, @Andrew Dube and Kevin with some impressive braced bends, and Too many more to list. Extremely Motivating to see what these guys can do. 

At that time I broke some of the toys out that I brought. Some of the new bending stock coming out soon. @Andrew P closing a very tough letter N (.302") bar of stainless. Then I gave one of the new challenge bars I am putting out to @acromegaman. He battled it and came out victorious and remains the only person who has been able to complete it.

Next was my sliding block weights. @Lucasraymond put up some impressive numbers and seemed to be having fun with it. 

Then came the brand new feat of strength I unveiled at SJ4, steel torquing. Many attempted it and only very few got the bar to move. Delmar got pretty close to a full revolution and Luke got I think two full revolutions. Then came @Squeezus. I handed it off to him and watched him get to work. After playing with techniques and approaches, he went at it like a wild animal and took it further than I've ever seen and completed the challenge by making 5 revolutions and snapping a 1/4"×7" piece of CRS square! Unbelievable. If you got to see it and try it you know how impressive it was. Those who didn't see it or couldn't make it to SJ4, you will be seeing more on it soon.

In conclusion, I've never been so comfortable and welcome as a newbie to any group. The grip sport community has some of the nicest and most selfless people I've met outside the military. Everybody was more than willing to help me and teach me. It was truly one of the best experiences I've ever had. And @anwnate, no words can express my respect for the hard work you put in, opening your home to a bunch of savages, and the enormity of the event. 

 

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks man.  Great report.  That steel torquing is super cool.  You've got some great ideas man.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the write up! I love reading all these reports from SJ4. My fiance suggested I write my own SJ4 report that chronicles my unfortunate absence. It would mostly be a sad (but true) tale of me sitting on the couch with my laptop, refreshing the gripboard, waiting for real trip reports that I can live vicariously though.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Boulderbrew said:

Thanks for the write up! I love reading all these reports from SJ4. My fiance suggested I write my own SJ4 report that chronicles my unfortunate absence. It would mostly be a sad (but true) tale of me sitting on the couch with my laptop, refreshing the gripboard, waiting for real trip reports that I can live vicariously though.

Unfortunate for you. Fortunate for my ego

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy policies.