Delfts Bleau

2011 flew by, we are looking forward to 2012!

The economic crisis, resulting in extreme caution by banks, leads to a fading enthusiasm with the banks.

Cube Bouldergym opening recently and the upcoming opening of Graviton Bouldergym in Sittard unfortunately is no proof bouldering is popular in the Netherlands. In the event we’re not able to convince the banks of this, we’ll start the bouldercentre without the bank. Step by step if there is no other option. Besides talking to the bank we are of course thinking about alternative ways to finance the bouldercentre.

As soon as the fire department is back from their Christmas holiday we can discuss the problems with them, hopefully resulting in a positive advise towards the council of Delft. After that we can finalize the request for a permit, sign the tenancy agreement for the rent and the construction of the facilities can be resumed. We are looking forward to it!

We wish everybody a sporty and healthy bouldering year! Happy New Year!

It has been some stirring weeks for Bouldercentrum Delfts Bleau!

The council had a meeting with all departments where they discussed my initiative again and they still think it’s a good idea and still support it. First hurdle taken!

There have been considerable discussions about the ‘bridging loan’, as the real estate developer found it difficult to not make their part of the ‘bridging loan’ part of the negotiations between them and the the current owner. And this while the whole idea behind this construction was to separate the progress of Bouldercentrum Delfts Bleau from their negotiations. In the end, gladly we managed to work things out, so second hurdle also taken!

This last part resulted in real action! The work on the first phase of building the separation wall is started with setting up the columns! In the last weeks, Grecon BV welded the construction to fasten the columns. This extra construction is needed because the wall has to be placed a meter to my side, so the columns could not be fastened to the existing framework. There are already nine columns set up and the next five will be placed this week.

In the mean time, there has been busy searching for the course of the sewer, so I can connect to this. Unfortunately, the tube with the camera from Zegwaard was too short, so we only know a very small part. The rest of the course has to be found by some other means. The good news is though, the sewer does not go from the current toilet block straight to the outside as expected, but in the opposite direction, to the inside and maybe even though the hall!

Unfortunately, my meeting with the fire department has, a bit unexpected for me, lead to them having some objections, causing the current owner to cease investing in the building until it becomes clear if I will get a permit.

This means things have stopped again, until the fire department gives their approval.

This is of course a nasty blow, but at the the same time it’s better if it happens now, before we’ve started building, than just before (or even worse after) we’ve opened!

To be continued!

We’re on the homepage of the Kabelfabriek site!
With a beautiful photo taken by Amber Leeman of Leeman en Strandhagen

As announced earlier Marlies from Pralaya Yoga has developed a special Yoga workshop for climbers. In this workshop there will be special attention towards discovering and strengthening the (few) muscles less developed by climbers, like the backside of the shoulder, the back of the forearms and the lower back. By developing these ‘forgotten’ muscles your joints become better balanced, giving you more control, more flexibility but also more strength thus allowing you to make movements more easy.

More info about the use of yoga to support climbing in BLOK number 12, more info on the less developed muscle groups by climbers is in an article by Mathieu Ceron in BLOK number 4. BLOK is for sale at most climbing gyms and outdoor stores or through their site (they also sell older issues). Of course you can also order a subscription or give a person a subscription as a present via the site.

The workshop is scheduled for Saturday December 17, from 10:00 to 13:00h in the Pralaya Yoga Studio, Taj Mahalplaats 18, 2624 NH in Delft. The price for this workshop is E 30,- and Marlies has offered to donate the revenues to the realization of Bouldercenter Delfts Bleau!

More info on the type of yoga Marlies teaches can be found on her site.
A (partial) description:

“Pralaya Yoga classes are a physical challenge to increase strength and flexibility and to prevent injuries.

Pralaya Yoga focusses on lengthening the spine, recruiting ‘forgotten muscle groups’ and the alignment of joints. When a joint is out of balance, the tone of the muscle groups on both sides of the joint is not equal. Pralaya Yoga strengthens the weakest muscle groups. This balances the joints in the long term, prevents injuries and let the energy flow (also to your brain!).”

Enroll now:

Last couple of weeks were good weeks for Bouldercenter Delfts Bleau. I’ve had a meeting Wednesday of last week with the landlords and during this meeting we agreed on the facilities provided upon completion of the hall. Furthermore we discussed the last details of the tenancy agreement and came to an agreement on those too. During this meeting the current owner made a proposal to the real estate developer on a way to divide the costs for the adjustments that have to be made to the hall, so I don’t have to wait for the execution of the hall. During this meeting he also stated he is willing to provide his part of the money for investments right away, on the condition the local counsel still supports my plan to start a bouldering hall at this location.

In principle we agreed on a date on which the hall will be delivered to me: Januari 1st 2012. The hurdles that still are ahead are addressed and one of these hurdles is already taken: the cooperation agreement between the real estate developers to develop the area in the future is signed this week, an import milestone!

There are still two hurdles ahead:

1. The real estate developer has to officially agree on the proposal made by the current owner for the ‘bridging loan’
2. The current owner likes to know from the local counsel if they still support my plan on this location, before he starts investing

Last weeks I’ve been helping a couple of days in Enschede to build a temporary bouldergym (with possibilities to stay of course) as a part of the Performance Factory, which has it’s festive opening today and tomorrow. This is good for bouldering in general! More info on Cube Bouldergym at their site

It has been quiet for a while around Bouldercentum Delfts Bleau. There were several causes for this: there hasn’t been much real progress, I’m still waiting for the landlord(s) and because of this, the past period has been pretty frustrating for me. Of course it’s still is going to happen, but not at the pace I’d like it to.

Some background information: the place I am going to rent is part of an area that will be redeveloped in the future. At the moment there is a large factory standing there, that used to belong to the NKF (Dutch Cable Factory). The rear part of the hall has already been bought by a real estate developer. In the front, the part where I’m going to rent my space, another real estate developer will be buying themselves in. At this very moment they are working hard to put the dots to the i’s to finalize this deal. This makes things pretty difficult, mainly on the part where some investments needs to be made, who is going to pay for this at this point in time and when the money will be available. As soon as the deal is made, the budget the real estate developer has reserved for investments in the hall will be available, but until then, things remain difficult.

Last week I have had a good meeting with the both of them, in which the current owner told he is willing to do the necessary investment in the hall, so the bouldercenter can be opened, even if the deal with the real estate developer doesn’t come through for whatever reason. Unfortunately this doesn’t give me a definite date to start building, but it does give me (even) more certainty my plans can become reality.

Todays conclusion: it’s still on and things keep getting more positive, we just need a bit more patience!

Will keep you posted!

Unfortunately there is not much news to share, but there are some small things are worth mentioning. There has been a meeting with both Axis and Vertigo, to make sure we all have the same picture about how things are supposed to become.

Since a fair couple of weeks I’m waiting for the landlord to start some actions, actions conditional to enable starting. Amongst others actions required for fire safety and the essential facilities. Furthermore, the waiting is for the dividing wall, the wall that creates a separate, closed space. Once this dividing wall is built, we can start building. This waiting without being able to do anything about it, results in me be going through a bad patch at the moment.

We do have something else worth mentioning though: this week all subscribers should be getting the new BLOK magazine, with a piece about using yoga to train for climbing. In cooperation with Marlies from Pralaya Yoga, who also models for the photos in BLOK, we developed a yoga workshop especially for bouldering.

The workshop is planned for December 17, from 10:00 to 13:00h in Delft, more info and a form to sign up will be posted soon. More info about the use of yoga to support climbing in BLOK number 12, for sale at most climbing gyms and outdoor stores or through their site. Of course you can also order a subscription or give a person a subscription as a present via the site. More info on the type of yoga Marlies teaches can be found on her site.
A (partial) description:

“Pralaya Yoga classes are a physical challenge to increase strength and flexibility and to prevent injuries.

Pralaya Yoga focusses on lengthening the spine, recruiting ‘forgotten muscle groups’ and the alignment of joints. Antagonists are essential: two groups of muscles that wrap around a joint at a different side. When one muscle group contracts, the other group is released.

When a joint is out of balance, the tone of the muscle groups on both sides of the joint is not equal. Pralaya Yoga strengthens the weakest muscle groups. This balances the joints in the long term, prevents injuries and let the energy flow (also to your brain!).”

Last Saturday, September 24th, the NK (Dutch National Championship) Boulder 2011 took place at Klimmuur Centraal in Amsterdam. During this NK the best 12 men and the best 8 ladies battled to become Dutch National Champion Bouldering 2011. All participants started off with a semi-final, in which they had to climb 4 boulders. Based on the results in this semi-final, the best 6 men and ladies went to the final, where they had to climb another 4 boulders.

During this event the observant spectator might have spotted a representation of the Delfts Bleau logo. Rianne van den Berg (5th) and Melle Vroom (9th) offered to have the logo printed on their pants and of course we accepted this generous offer! Thanks a lot Rianne and Melle!

The results:

Ladies:
1. Vera Zijlstra
2. Nikki van Bergen
3. Roelien van de Vrie

Men:
1. Nicky de Leeuw
2. Tim Reuser
3. Hans Busker

Photos made at this great event, and the draft logo, can be found via Photos, complete results are here
Unfortunately the lighting at the finals has made the pictures very yellow.
Of course photos can be removed on request and full resolution photos are available on request.