So… On Wednesday 7th September 2011 I successfully completed the Grampians bouldering test piece, the Wheel of Life!

People have been asking about my history with the problem so I may as well tell all…
I first visited Hollow Mountain cave back in September 2001 when I was 16 years old.
I completed the first of the 4 problems that make up the wheel in January 2002 (Cave Man).
In April 2003 I completed both the first half and second half of the wheel and it was then that the whole problem caught my eye.
In the following 8 years I have been to the cave on many occasions and have of course played on the problems and attempted the wheel many times. I have always gone through phases of being psyched on it and then other times where I have walked away for anywhere up to 12 month at a time uninspired or just over it… When it started becoming a chore I decided to leave it for a time that I could enjoy it for what it is rather then doing it because I felt that I had to.

Call me stubborn, crazy or out right stupid if you must but climbing the full length of the cave wasn’t just a matter of getting from one end to the other the easiest possible way. Ethan was confused as to why I didn’t want to use the “easier beta” of putting on knee pads and milking the knee bar rests that are otherwise impossible to use…
Ultimately I set myself a personal goal and that was the way I was going to do it.

To me, it was never a matter of ‘IF’ I was going to do it but a matter of ‘WHEN’…

I know that there are a lot of people out there who are going to give me a hard time (more over the internet than in person) about how long it took me to complete the Wheel of Life but to be honest I couldn’t care a less what they have to say! There are currently only 3 people who could honestly give me a hard time… Dai Koyamada, Chris Webb Parsons and Ethan Pringle! (The only other people to have completed this problem)
If anyone else wants to give me a hard time then they are more than welcome to come, complete the problem in a shorter amount of time and then ill listen to what they have to say…

Is that it for me in the cave??? No way! I may have completed the Wheel of Life but for me that was never the line… The Wheel of Life bails out right at the end of the cave and takes the shorter path. My line of choice will take the direct finish up the highest point of the cave… Will it add another grade? No… It wont. But it is a harder finish and a more impressive line to take! I hope to get the FA of this in the not too distant future…

What grade do I think it is??? Thats a great question… Im not a route climber and as such am not going to give it a route grade. I figure that Dai has a pretty good idea on things so im going to run with his V16/ 8c+. Im not doing it for the grade but I sure as hell will take it!

Whats next for James Kassay??? Well whats the fun in giving everything away??? Lets just say it involves lots of bouldering, a few international flights and maybe some competing…

Until next time… Climb Hard, Have Fun and ALWAYS remember to smile!!!