The beginning of the end

After Switzerland we headed back to Fontainebleau to meet some friends for New Years. Unfortunately during their stay and for a while after there was a lot of enforced rest and a lot of traipsing around looking at wet rock. Toward the middle of January though the weather started to pick up.

By this time however my psyche had taken a dive. Usually I'm happy to jump on something hard and battle away to victory, or more often than not, defeat. And then get up the next day and do it all again. Before we had arrived in font I was really keen to put in a lot of effort on The Island, (top of my life long tick list). Somehow though I only managed a few sessions. They weren't even bad sessions, if anything they were quite encouraging faring better than I had expected to, but I think on a long trip where all you have is climbing it can wear down your tenacity when it comes to trying things at your limit (or out of your reach).

I decided to do a couple of things to battle with the low psyche. First off I decided to give up smoking. I really like smoking but giving it up has been on my to-do list for a long time now. I always struggle when trying to quit because I crave it the most when I climb-weird. Secondly I decided to step it down a notch and do lots of sevens and just dip in out of the eights. In hindsight this is probably the decision I could have made. Fontainebleau is unique in that some of the best problems aren't necessarily the hardest ones. In Switzerland it seems that the quality of

the climbing and the line improves with the grade and to a certai

n extent in the peak district and in Wales too. In Font however there are quality problems of every grade and a lot of the sevens are really beautiful climbing.

At first I must admit I was pretty embarrassed by my footwork on the more vertical problems. Part of the reason was due to my planning to only climb steep stuff and bringing only tight down turned shoes but a big part was that I had forgotten how to move efficiently in that plane of motion.

For the next 7 weeks or so we went out and I climbed things I wouldn’t normally try. My girlfriend roped me into trying crimpy problems, balancy technical problems, high-ball problems, even a slab or two. Basically everything I was rubbish at I got on at some point and surprisingly I really enjoyed them. Not only that but the way I moved on the rock improved steadily throughout the rest of the trip. Usually I feel like I'm fighting the rock, trying to climb the problem in my style of climbing rather than moving with the rock. By the end of the trip I still

hadn’t quite reached the mythical moving with the rock state Mina seems to achieve, in fact it took me half an our to do a 5+ trying to emulate her style, but I was definitely on my way. Occasionally I was let down by skin strength which resulted in some good old fashioned sulking but the vast majority of stuff I tried I got up.

There is one little thorn of contention though. Total Eclipse (V12) at cul de chien. It too is on my life long tick list and being particularly rubbish at toe hooks I never thought it would be possible for me to do eclipse. Turns out I’m not as shabby as thought however (maybe the toes on the

instincts helped a bit here). I did Eclipse and L'Integrale Autre Toit, the sit down to Arrabesque (V11) fairly early on in Font and on my second session on the link of TE was failing on the penultimate move. This too for me was a massive surprise because before then I hadn't really thought I could do it. After that though I visited the roof a number of times and couldn't quite pull it out the bag. Either my core would be too tired or I would be too stupid to link the moves, somehow flailing myself off the rock on moves that I had previously found easy, to roll around in sand and have the obligatory paddy (when no one was around of course! There's something really nice about being able to indulge yourself and throw a really childish tantrum just because you fall of a piece of rock).

During this time my girlfriend Mina decided to start crushing. The weather improved for the last few weeks ( the best I’ve ever seen it in Font) and everything she touched went down pretty much. Very impressive to watch. Having only a few weeks left and having had such bad weather all trip I decided that the best option would be too climb every day until we left just in case the weather crapped out. So tenth day on with two split tips (from getting shut on Paddy grrr) I was taped up and back at the roof. There was a good scene there with lots of enthusiastic Frenchies, many who we had met before, all throwing themselves with vigor at everything.

I warmed up by retro flashing nouvel vague (V9) and then 4 goes later I had somehow managed to bumble my way from the sit to the end to get the pumpy little V11 tick. The frenchies and Mina also had a good sending spree with multiple ascents of nouvel vague which was good to see. I decided to try my luck at Total again. I was pretty tired but hoping that today would be one of those magical days. I pulled on, through the big moves at the start, into the tricky hand flick, out onto the face of the rock feeling tired by digging deep. Unfortunately it was to be a case of man down. Down, in the sound on my back. I had quite a few more goes each slightly worse than the last. Still, its a cool problem and one that feels different when fresh so I’ll be glad to go back to it.

The next couple of days were as blue and crisp as the ten before them. I tried Paddy again. A problem that looks like its slopey compression but is in fact about boning down on dirty holds. Still its beautiful and Mina and Mickey had made it look easy while I’d split two tips so I got back on it. And again split my tips. Doh! The next day we were at rocher cannon and I managed to bust out another couple of V10's. One in about 5 minutes which is pretty good for me. It was a nice short compressiony problem that I could get up close and personal with though.

Back into the van and back home. A great trip with lots of rest (except for the last 4 weeks) I've come away minus the overly ambitious ticks I had hoped for but climbing like a proper climber rather than a thug. Back to training for the next trip. Hopefully I can improve on my new found lung capacity and technique for Hueco this winter. Big thanks to Scarpa and OR for their support.

Mini road trip!

So I just got back from a short trip to Wales and the Peak district I went with two mates of mine Ben and James!

I think the first night was the most eventful. we arrived at the little field that was supposed to be a camp site at about 1.30 on Friday morning after a 6 hour drive. We got out of the car to put the tent up and realised it was so windy that we could lean into the wind it was so strong. it was amazing! we heard the next morning that it was like 80-90 mile an hour winds!!

Anyway we started to put the tent up. by the way this was one huge tent. it had a kitchen to bedrooms and a living room. massive! so we got the ground sheet down all pegged up and everything. we were all thinking " wow this is actually going pretty smoothly". but we were so wrong. we took the tent out of its bag and strait away it ballooned up like a big kite. two of us held it down while on person tried to peg it down. so we had all the poles in it. all we had to do was get a few more pegs in it, suddenly a gigantic gust of wind tore the whole thing out of our hand, over a barbed wire fence, all the way across a another field and got stuck the side of a barn. at this point we thought "bugger we are going to have sleep in Ben's small Renault Megane." to cut an even longer story short we somehow managed to get it off the side of the barn back into the "camp site" and put up on a big slope next to wall. it had holes everywhere. tried to sleep but couldn't so just lay there!

We stayed in Wales for two more nights. we went for the bunk house option instead of the camping one. the climbing was really good. I'm not a great fan of limestone but i actually really enjoyed it. we bouldered in Llannberis pass for the first day and went to Perisella's cave on the second day. I didn't feel I was climbing my best on those two days. I managed to do quite few problems in the low sevens but nothing harder. oh well it's not all about the TICK it's the experience!!

so then shot over to the Peak on the third day. It was a pretty cold day and friction was feeling good. my skin wasn't though! we had a good session at curbar where I spent a lot of the time trying a problem that was put up by Kook it's called Super Size Me 8a+. it is a very low start to another problem. I found it very hard and I think I need a little more core strength but very psyched to get back on it at some point! On the last day we went to Burbage valley. first Burbage west to try West Side Story which is a 7b+ wall climb, highball. had no luck with that either but once again a very nice problem! Then we shot over to Burbage North to try this problem called The Terrace 7c+. it is this really cool over hanging prow with annoying heel hooking business. I actually did have some luck with this one. got it in about 45 mins think it might be a touch soft but still super cool.

Swizzy

Switzerland is a funny place. There are a lot of little things you take for granted in Briton that just aren't there in Switzerland. Cash machines in supermarkets are one, seems like a sensible place for people to be able to withdraw cash but not in Switzerland. I also always took for granted the fact that the I could go climbing and pick up dinner on the way home in the UK, but again not in Switzerland because things seem to rarely be open. For a nation famed for its efficiency it seems frustratingly inefficient of the supermarkets to close up just as people finish work!

Anyway, just a little update of Swiss to date. I've been opening accounts all over the place. Got a few that should hopefully go quickly if my skin holds up and some that might go if I'm lucky enough to wake up with good skin, good conditions, good co-ordination and low gravity.

At the moment my skin seems to be having a problem adjusting to the rock. It keeps splitting and little chunks of it shear off. For example, I was trying a problem with my girlfriend called Marilyn Monroe (8A) and had a sequence worked out. I'd already split my tip on a nasty spikey little hold at the start on the previous week , but thought if I could bosh it out quickly I would be fine. Pulled on, split my index. Damn! Then for some reason I thought I could do it on my back three so I pulled on again, split my middle finger. What a muppet.

Needless to say my tick list has taken a re-juggeling with crimpy sharper problems being relegated to the bottom or not at all pile. Apart from skin issues its been pretty sweet here in Ticino. The weather's been good, I managed to bust out one of the prettiest problems I’ve ever seen (Conquistadores 8A+) which made me a very happy man. . .for a while. I was so psyched for it at the time. A single block with an awesome line on it, situated in a random beach in the middle of a river. On my first proper session on it I worked out a sequence and started red-pointing. For a while I thought luck might be on my side and might manage to muddle my way through fairly quickly. Unfortunately I kept falling at the same point for about an hour and a half.

The next time I went back it was slightly spitting and I only had a few goes before I realised I was getting half as far putting in twice as much effort. I was properly psyched though so I rested, grew some skin and Mina and I got up especially early (9-ish) to try and get good conditions. As we arrived at the block I was feeling fairly confident it would go, until I saw that it was fully was in the sun. I tried for a few hours and gradually it came into the shade. I lost more skin and got weaker, still failing at the same point, a high slap with the left hand from a rubbish sloping pinch with the right. Always a centimetre out on the link. The next evening I went back and after a brief warm up bumbled up it first go of the day.

At the moment though It's raining, which is why there is another blog so soon after the last. Still it'll enable us to grow some skin and recover in preparation for (hopefully) another week of good weather.

The trip has begun!

I can actually climb on real rock and will be for a long, long time. F*%*%in Get In! After locking myself away and pulling on wood (-en holds) for a while my girlfriend and I finally departed in blue skies for font.

Unfortunately every time I drive round Paris a thunder storm seems to materialise from nowhere, which for some reason really excites the French making them drive closer and faster than usual, so we arrived in a very wet font a little shell shocked. I don’t thi

nk I’ve ever been to Font in good conditions though so I proceeded to run around trying various projects over the following couple of weeks in conditions that ranged from hot, wet and humid to hot, dry and sweaty. Needless to say that although I stuck my finger in a fair few pies and lost a lot of skin I didn't have a massive ticked list when we left.

I don’t really mind too much as I was looking at Font as a warm up introduction to pulling on real rock after a few months of being locked inside. Anyway I'm a try-er and enjoy the trying so the poor conditions meant I got to try that bit harder. I did manage to pull a few things out the bag which I'm quite chuffed with.

Neverland (8a), because I'd always wanted to try it and when it went it was 22 degrees, humid, and the problem was actually wet. I love a bad conditions tick, me. There's something very satisfy about pulling it out the bag despite the odds. The other thing I was quite chuffed with was a 7C+ plus high-ball. Mainly because its a cool line but also because its a high-ball and 1. I’m a massive fairy when it comes to high stuff and 2. I’m quite good at falling off the top of things. Part of me admits the only reason I did it (after my girlfriend made me get up early to get the slightly less worse conditions) is that she danced up it first and the male pride kicked in. Needless to say I spent the afternoon in a small coma recovering from my early morning, near death experience.

Apart from that and another V10 Font passed in a blur of camp fires, good friends, red wine, wet rock, sweaty rock and sore skin. It also gave me an opportunity to witness the wonder that is Barney in action. I wish I could ,move on the rock like him. A truly natural climber who managed to pull two 7c's out the bag on the last day of his trip. Not bad for a ginger ;)

Next on the list is Switzerland. Much more my kind of style and better conditions. The rock actually has holds in Switzerland. We have been here a couple of days and have two months here. I have a very long and ambitious tick list, which I’m sure will inevitably lead to disappointment. Still, aim for the stars, hit the moon. Or something along those lines. Anyway the trip has started off well with a surprisingly quick dispatch of one of the 8a's on the list and a promising first session on another line. Time to step and get shut down I guess. As Mr Katz once said to me, “you've got to enjoy the process”.