Thursday, February 28, 2008

Goodbye to Toby.

The last four days have been pretty slow. I took it easy on my rest days visiting the market in Buis-Les-B. where I picked up a big salmon fillet for dinner. I was curious to see if salmon really does taste better at home. Its fun being at the market because the place becomes so lively. The medieval arcades in the town are filled with fish shops, produce, and people selling honey and oil. There are food vendors off all kinds. People are everywhere, neighbours and acquaintance meet and catch up; you can tell this is where the sense of community grows from.

Yesterday after having two rest days I hoped to get back into the flow of things. Toby, Adrian and I set out for Saint Leger. We got a late start arriving at 11:30AM; the sun high over head baking the rock in its yellow glow. I would guess it was around 19c a touch on the humid side. For our warm up climb I chose a 6a+ that was out of the sun called "T'as Le Look Coco", a short 6b. I got off route near the crux and fell after pumping out trying to reverse the moves to get back into a rest.

I left the draws in a for a second go while Toby climb the route next to it. He onsighted that one mentioning it was pretty burly and likely a little harder than the 6b+ that the guide gives for it.

I went up for attempt number two which I'm assured it always the hardest when you are red pointing something because you have failed you onsight but because you are onsighting you don't remember the moves because you focus is climbing. This proved to be exactly the situation I experienced. I want to correct path to the crux and half way through missed a key side pull pinch. Once off sequence there was no recovering. I too my second fall. This time I spent the time to note the hand hold I should have used as its not very apparent.

Toby red pointed at 7b around the corner and then I jumped back on for the red point. The sequence now known made the climb a song and I cleaned the route and we moved on down the crag.

For my next flail-fest I got on "Melancolique et Desabuse" a two star 6b+. Right off the ground I had trouble reading this route. It involves moving up off of big holds on a rock over with no real hand holds to speak of. Its a committing move off the ground and the route was dirty making me distrust my feet. After this the blindness because. I clipped the second bolt but couldn't see the next moves. There were two good holds where I was but they were up at head level and the next holds were out of reach and there was only one foot hold at chest level.

Adrian suggested that the high right foot was the only option and I should just go for it. I rocked up and over but couldn't find any good holds. After pumping out trying to get secure enough to make the next clip I took the fall with the bolt right at my chest. Hanging from he rope I looked up to see right at head level a pair of hugs sinker jugs. Clearly my pump glasses were on and this day was poised to be a struggle to route find and see holds.

For the next 30 minutes I took my time struggling with the pump I got from the first section and trying to make sense out of the rock which seems to camouflage ever hold with a varying patterns of grays and blacks. Exhausted and feeling a bit defeated I lowered off and cleaned the route.

I spent the next hour or so reflecting on why was having trouble. I know I can climb so much better than this, I have the skill and the technique so why can't I seem to apply it? I concluded that I'm climbing routes that are too hard to warm up on for the time being and I'm not having fun with it. I'm struggling right off the bat instead of enjoying the experience. So I resolved to stop chasing grades and just have fun and get back to climbing with good technique. I also realize my greatest problems come from insecure holds on overhangs. I don't have the endurance or the technique down well enough to hang around on smaller holds. Since i'm having trouble finding the holds to begin with this makes it double hard because I can't find the holds and I don't have the time to hang around looking for them because I'm on overhanging rock.

So for my next climb I did a 6a+ called "A Deux Pas D'ici". This climbing was so much more fun, the holds were not amazing but offered some fun movement on a slight over hang but most importantly the route was obvious. No guess work, no camouflaged holds, it was all right there. As an added bonus I found my first piece of booty: a quick draw was left in the climb at about mid-height. A nice Petzel spirit quick draw which is in good condition. So not only did I enjoy a fun, easy onsight I got one more quick draw. Useful since 12 draws will only get you to the top about 80% of the time on the longer routes.

Feeling good about the previous climb I decided to try to red point "Melancolique et Desabuse" since I had such a hard time with it before. This time I flowed from clip to clip, the motion fluid and clean. I found a few new sequences in the lower overhanging section that allowed me to pull through with any problems. I made it all the way to the crux section two moves from the top. I need to get one hand on the next hold but having stemmed my right leg out to far to the right I was unable to lock off and deadpoint to the hold. Instead I had to do it dynamically which caused my body to slip mere centimeters from the wall. This was enough to make my right hand slip from the hold which would have been the finish to the route as it was the last hard move. I fell loosing the red point attempt but being happy none the less as I was able to climb well.

I decided to call it a day after this because it was my sixth climb and I intend on coming out with Thierry today. I have many days ahead and given my sore tendons from before a little more rest won't hurt. I hope the new plans for warming up on fun and easy routes proves to be the recipe for getting my technique and my psych back up for the coming days.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Time to get a little more rest.

Tomorrow will make three weeks in France and from the past two days I would say I'm in need for a little more rest in order to start moving forward again. So I'm going to double up on the rest day tomorrow and start climbing again on Thursday. On the up note I got an email from my friend from Marseille, Thierry. He is going to be coming down to Saint Leger on Friday so after three weeks we will finally climb together.

As for the last couple of days, we visited Baume Rouse and today Saint Leger.

The coming off of rest day curse is continued as Adrian Toby and I returned came off a rest day. Since Toby hadn't been there yet we decided to go to Baume Rousse. When we arrived at the crag Adrian realized he had forgot his harness, so he decided to go soloing while Toby and I climbed together.

I warmed up on a 6b called "La Cicine" which is on the far left side of the crag. It was a wonderful route that goes on easy climbing to pull right out over a roof. Then straight up again to the chains.

Next we got on probably the best line at the crag "Gnocci on Heaven's Door" a 6b+ that I fell off the first time I tried it. I wasn't sure if I was warm enough for the climb but I did know the sequence so I decided to go for the red point anyway. I pulled through the crux left hand tuffa pinch and into the jugs just in time to prevent a flash pump that would have certainly ended my day. Then proceeded to take my time getting to the top.

After ticking Gnocci I set my sites back on the 7a that has been my nemisis since the first day on the trip: "L'Ecolo Net". Since its been sunny for the past few weeks the right side of it has dried out allowing for a new starting sequence to become available. Using this sequence I was able to get through the lower section with a lot more energy than on my previous attempts for this climb. I rested then moved into the crux overhanging tuffa section. After only two moves I blew off then spent the next 30 minutes trying to pull through the crux using the sequence I had developed the last time I was on this climb. I found that I was able to make it through the crux sequence but realized i was too tired and lower up.

I spent the next hour and a half relaxing and trying to get enough energy to make a second attempt. When the time came to get back on it was late in the day. I made my first few moves then fell off when I couldn't figure out the foot sequence. I tried this for the next 15 minutes moving up and then falling on the first bolt. It was clear that I wasn't climbing very well. So I packed it in and took a break. As the sun drew low I decided it wasn't not to be, cleaned off my draws and called it a day.

Today was the second day in a row I have been struggling to get myself into a state of flow. I started off by warming up on a climb that I had onsighted on my second day in France, a 6b called "Le Maitre et son Discpline". By the second bolt my right foot blew and I fell. I got back on right away and struggled my way up to finish the climb. It was a difficult climb on my second day and I climbed it in better style despite the fall but it was still a struggle.

The next climb I got on was a 6c/6c+ called "Je ne fais que passer ma route" which was an awesome route. It is very long and sustained with fair to good holds all the way up until you hit a sustained crux over a steep gray slab. I fell off fairly early on after misreading the route and then several more times at the crux slab and then again at the top. The route packs a lot of punch and I wasn't climbing a well as I could. I came down but left the quick draws in so I could red point it.

Toby and I relaxed for a good hour. During my hour I did some self examination. I thought about it and it seems like I'm thinking about each move and my body doesn't want to flow. I kept trying to figured out what was holding me back, was I distracted, am I afraid? None of these thing seem to fit. I was tired and felt like taking a nap and I was totally not psyched to get on the next route. I tried to tune into what my body was telling me and I think I'm simply too tired. I haven't give myself time to rest and recuperate enough and this my bodies way of telling me. Mind body connection never fails.

When I got back on for my second attempt I was climbing well and moving at a good pace. When I reached just before the third bolt where I had fallen last time and once more feel off after following the route. As it turns out the last time I fell at this spot I was slightly higher and had already clipped the bolt when I was off route and so when I got back on I had missed this sequence of pulls. After falling off Toby pointed out the necessary cross through to step left. Once back on I climbed my way to the top without falling. I climbed in much better style and with better technique but definitely was feeling wiped. A small victory to be sure. I am not disappointed because the climb is so good its worth doing several times to get the red point.

We'll see if the extra rest proves to be what's needed to shake the bad climbing.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Combe Obscure and fairwell to Paul


Yesterday was great fun as we made an new addition to our group before bidding fairwell to another. Toby a climber from Sheffield joined us for a week of climbing to tied him over till he heads off to Spain. We met him a little over a week ago at Saint Leger. We picked him up on the way to Combe Obscure. For the first time we had reached a group size of four people.

Toby is a delight to climb with. He's laid back and upbeat and cheers you on when you are struggling with hard parts of the route. He and I are roommates as there is an extra bed in my room and clearly Adrian bunking with his client Paul.

Since I was climbing with Toby who is probably climbing the level of James we made quick work of many routes. At the end of the day I managed to climb 8 routes, one of them I red pointed. The climbs were mostly slab and tended to be either crimpfests or jug hauls depending on the grade. I climbed my first doctored route, the drilling was a bit of a let down but the climb was fantastic so I guess what's done is done.

We started by warming up on a 6b called "Picon Fatale" which was a nice warm up as you pull on jugs to a one more wonder on crimps. Next we shifted right and climbed "Joe Le Maxi" a nice 6b+ which has a slightly longer crux in which you step up on a few thin feet as you move out left into a scoop and you rock up onto a hero jug. We continued moving right across the wall and jumped on "Bibdufafait" a 6c+ with a pull of a slightly awkward crimp and small feet. I managed to find a way to fall of this climb despite being more than strong enough to pull on the holds.

Continueing our escapade to the right across the wall I got on a climb shown in the guide book we did have called "Truffe a la tronconneuse" with no description or grade given. The climb starts with a bug reach out to what appears to be a small hold on this gray limestone slab that is blank with no foot holds to speak of. The hold that you reach turns out to be a sinker jug which lets you swing out onto the slab and start pulling to a ledge where a beautiful blank creme coloured limestone wall that is characterized by a series of pockets starting about 4 meters up. I stood on a loose boulder and got my hand into a drilled pocket (yes this is France and the ethics are/were a little different at one time) then rocked over a waste level think edge to gain some pockets an a second clip. A few more moves on increasingly larger holds and tracking my feet brought the climb to a close. A really fun affair. I would grade the climb 6b+ or maybe a soft 6c (5.11a).

We moved back right to get on a route called "Fou du Pont" a 6c maybe 6c+ that takes you up a nice face filled with man many small crimps and small edges that seem to not quite be at the angle you want them on. The climb is great requiring good and steady footwork. This one I red pointed after missing a key foothold an falling off.

Meanwhile Paul, Adrian's client, was having a minor epic on a 6b+ he was working on. The man has good climbing skills and physical capability but had a complete lack of believe that he could do climb. The 6b+ he was working was called "Vibration". He had been at the crux for almost 1.5 hours. He was talking himself out of being able to do the route, it was hard to watch because you keep telling this guy that has the skills that he can do the move he just has to ignore the fear and do exactly what moves he needs to do. In this case trust his feet. Adrian eventually stripped the route for him and gave him a break.

Since Paul saw me as more close to his level and had seem me fall off a 6b+ before which he had red pointed saw me as a good meter stick for comparing him. So I jump on the route to see if I couldn't offer any insight into the route. I didn't find it that difficult except for the crux. Ultimately it came down to the foot holds which may have seemed small to him but were actually quite good. I would in fact downgrade the guide evaluation of it as 6b+ and make it a 6b. Admittedly, while I did onsight it, I would have done it in much better style as I did barn door a little at the crux and only through good core tension and being strong on my feet was I able to correct this mistake. I hope Paul breaks through the head space problem he's having because he has a lot of skill, the only holding him back is his thinking and self talk that tells him he can't do moves or hold on to things.

To finish off the day, I did another cool down call "Chandelier" a 6a+ right next to "Vibration" which was characterized by some awesome big moves off of a suit case handle hold on to some jugs. A perfect cool down climb. With the light fading we all hiked out to the car for our latest time leaving the crag on the trip so far.

Today was a rest day and the day to bid farewell to Paul as he had to return to Briton. We drove into Avignon and dropped him off to the TGV station. Then we made a necessary stop at the to buy me some sports sandals for the crag. The high temperatures were just a touch too much for hiking boots and they take too long to get on and off. My feet are much happier now and I can tell you that a little known fact about Chris Singer is he hates wearing shoes, the make his feet feel like they are suffocating.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Working Routes at Baume Rouse and Saint Leger

Well its been a few days since I last posted but the climbing has been slowed down lately but the addition of a third person. This was welcome in some way for me because it has given me a chance to work on trying to red point some routes as well as climb a little less so I'm better rested.

The day before last we were at Baume Rousse again. Adrian client required a lot of coaching and I only managed to get on two routes. I climbed "La Caraille" as a warm up to get me to the base of my objective "Alband Fils de Crapaud" an awesome 7a (5.11d) that starts up some jugs then moves up and left into a crack system where you climb up to a head wall then traverse right 3m on so-so holds with little feet on an overhang. Once you move right the rest if fairly easy, maybe 6b climbing to the top on jugs. I climbed the route then worked it on top rope to see if I could link up the buttom section through the crux. I almost succeeded but in the end I was too tired to link it up as we were verging on a rest day. I reclimbed to the top an cleaned the draws.

The rest day we had yesterday highlighted by finally making it to the market that happens every Wednesday in Buis-Les-Baronnies. There are all kinds of produce being sold as well as various street meet and meals. Olives and honey can be found in abundance. There was a hint of Richmond night market to the whole experience. I bought some more socks as I didn't bring enought to allow me to not have to do laundry every rest day. We also bought fresh vegetables for roasting for the evenings dinner.

Today we spent at Saint Leger. I was seeing if I could shake my post rest day rut (so far after every rest day I hve climbed quite badely). I started by red pointing an awesome 6b+ called "Piedra Salvage" which goes up this beautiful groove while you stem your way up then pull on a tuffa till you reach a roof where you step left and out. The route was stellar, definite three stars.

Next I decided to get on a route that was rated 7a+ called "Le Machine a remonter la Jam". I figured the grade was off because the old guidebook we were using has these made up fictious grades that are typically a grade easer than posted. The line looked really good and seemed to have lots of good pockets on the overhanging section. I was wrong. The climb was the full value 7a+ and a touch on the run out side having only 8 bolts in 32m of climbing. Despite the degree of difficulty the climb was worht it. After the third bolt I got into a nice state of flow. And the typical fear and nerveousness of a climb of that grade was not there. I found a no hands rest in an alcove midway up after doing a runout section above a slab. The route then pulls out on to the face where you pink your way up an overhanging tuffa then cross left hand into a good pocket. You make the clip then haul on not so good holds to the top. After taking several 20ft wipers I managed to work out the sequence at the top and pull through. I would like to try and red point this route at some time but I'll have to get better and faster at my tuffa pulling to get the tick.

It has become late in the day and the section of the wall we were climbing on had fallen into the shade so we moved over to another area where this cute Lesbian couple had been climbing. They were sitting laying in eachothers arms suntanning when we saunter up. We wanted to climb the same route as them so I ask if we could pull the rope. The were very friendly and welcoming. They allowed us to climb on their quick draws which were in "Le Torcheur D'Elephant" the 6c+ we intended on getting on. I talked with them for a while as Adrian coached Paul. Their names were Christel and Auckey. They told me they were members of a climbing club near Carpentras a large city 30 minutes drive South East. They asked where I was from and Christel's sister, it turns out, lives in Vancouver.

My turn to climbing "Le Torcheur D'Elephant" came up and off I went. The climbing was 3 star once again, the holds were amazing and the body position good. I to the crux which is only 3 meters from the anchor and missed a hold and fell. I tried again as the sun went down so that I could return the quick draws to my new friend but had forgotten the sequence I had used to solve the crux and fell once more. I guess this one will have to wait till next time. I'm not disappointed in the least because the climb is so much fun.

Tomorrow we tackle Combe Obscure and back to vertical crimp fest.

Hugs and love all. I hope the sun is still shining on you.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Baume Rousse as a group of three

Now that we have been joined by Paul we are now a group of three. Paul has come from the UK to receive coaching for a week with Adrian so he is now joining us in our escapades.

To start Paul off on his first day we selected Baume Rousse as it offers a good range of climbs and styles of climb so that he can get used to the rock and climb the type of climbs that suite him. So we spent the better part of the morning getting him warmed up to the rock on a 5+ and a 6a. We was more than strong enough to climb them but needed some time and help to get over the mental aspects of it. His hardest red point to date has be 6b+ but I recon he gets a 6c or more on this trip. He looks good just needs to believe he can hold on to that stuff.

Since we were in the neighbourhood I decided to jump on a 6a+ and 6b slab routes called "Etoile des Neiges" and "Soleil Levant". I managed to move up them with relative easy and Adrian snapped a few photos of me on route as there was a good vantage point that you can get above the climbers from.

We hiked up from sector Facile and moved to sector Central Competition. Paul got on a 6b that called "La Caraille" which Adrian and I had climbed before. He made his way up after a pause on a ledge and worked through some jiters he completed the on-sight. I seconded the climb and then climbed through to do "La Racaille" a 7a that was the first junior mens qualification route for the competition that was held here in 1995. The lines is beautiful, is starts straight up this golden limestone over hanging at 20 degress. Your pulling on huge holds for the first 8 meters then you hit a head wall where you must traverse right a few meters on good hand holds but small foot holds. Once you step right using and undercling you are in a huaco and the climb is back to jugs and more vertical climbing. Not a real test for technical climbing its more of a power endurance crux.

I only made 3rd bolt before I got stuck being unable to figure out what to do with my feet on the stupendously overhanging rock. After sitting back on the rope for a look around I figure out where my feet should go and took another run at it. This time I made it in to the crux sequence before once more losing sight of where my feet go and fell off. It took too more runs to resolved the foot situation but once I did I climbed through to the top. The foot work clearly underscores my challenges with overhanging rock. I need to sort that out if I'm going to get on hard climbs in the future. The only way I can see to resolve the foot work is to get more experience. I guess I'll be making another attempt at this 7a.

After letting Paul have some fun on the top rope I set up on "La Racaille" we came back down to the ground and packed up our things and moved to sector Right Competition. There Adrian and I wrapped up the day on "2002 L'Epicier De L'Espace" a 6b that had bolted on holds. Yes folks, there are gym holds on the rock out here. I'll take a picture next time I'm in the sector. The climb not that ascetic because of the plastic but it is a really nice route.

I almost forgot not only was there fun on the rock but some in the air as well. The French Airforce had a Mirage 2000 flying maneuvers through the mountains behind us earlier in the day. It was like something out of top gun, we were even height with the fighter as is rocketed by.

The day wrapped up with a beautiful sunsets of gold and red in the distant mountains. I see that the sun is shining on the friends back home. I hope you all got out on Sunday!

I hope climbing isn't put off to much by this but I seem to have cut my finger nails a touch short and now chalk has gotten up under then and caused the skin under two of my nails to separate from the nail. Ouch! they sting so much now. I've had this happen before but not quite sure if there is any way to avoid it. Seems to be something I might have to just deal with.

I hope you all well and life is shining on you. Hugs!

Pilgrimage to Buoux


For my rest day I decided to start working on that article. Its fun and interesting speaking in the first person as all the writing I've done to date has been through work which means I'm speaking in the third person on the time. Aside from some writing and a little reading I didn't really do much.

Yesterday the day Adrian had a client come so we had to pick him up in Avignon a hour drive from where we are now living. So to make the day worth while we decided to go to Buoux which is pretty close to Avignon. As I mentioned in my last post Buoux is historically significant climbing area and for good reason it is amazing. The cliffs are hugs and the place feels magical. There are steps hewed in the sandstone/limestone (Calcareous sandstone I'm told its called by a geologist friend, John Foulkes) cliffs that lead between various sectors. You can see where ancient peoples carves the walls to allow for their houses to be built. If you want to see what I mean you should check out the pictures I'm posting on crackbook (if I can get the thing to work).

As much natural beauty it possesses it also has amazing pockets and beautiful lines. They proved to be more than a match for me. I was humbled by this location. Adrian hung the draws on a pair of 6c's as warm up and I tried to follow. I ended up with a horrendous flash pump and dogging my way through the cruxes of both climbs. The ordeal too near to an hour for me to get to the top and then clean the route. they were beautiful lines and the climbing was hard but not outrageous I just wasn't climbing well at all.

We tooked a break and wandered over to the "Fin du Monde" sector where the famous "La Rose et la Vampire" is located. Surprisingly the sector was devoid of people which I'm told by Adrian is very unusual. After walking back to the other end of the crag and taking a saunter up some of the carved stairs we had lunch.

When we had finished up its was getting getting late in the day but I still wanted to get on one more climb. I wanted to tick off at least one route from Buoux as if to feel like I had connected with the rock in this place. For the route I selected "Tomate Blue" a 6b which I figured was within my ability as its generally my on-sight grade. It was not to be as I ended up dogging my way up this climb as well. I enjoyed the climbing but walked away defeated.

I listened to my body and decided that this was not the day to climb. We packed up our gear and headed to Avignon to pick up Paul, Adrian's client. This proved to be a challenge as well since we didn't have a map of Avignon except the regional map. After getting lost countless, including an unexpected visit to Pernes-Les-Fontaines, we managed to make our way back to our house.

Sleep took us quickly.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Baume Rousse, time to take it up a notch.

Today we return to Baume Rousse for another rounds. After our last trip to this location we climbed most of the 5's and almost all the 6's. Today we return to finish up the rest of the easy routes and start to pick off the harder ones.

I started by climbing "Cheloup Plage" a short 6a that had one interesting move on it. This route and really all the routes on the lower bowl are easy approaches to the harder routes above. For use the provided good warms ups. Only problem is that the route on the left including this route were stupendously dirty. All the dirt from the upper bowls was washed over this route and "Pasta de L'Elephant" a 6a+ right next to this route. This necessitated holding on and dusting off each hold throughly before committing to it. I don't think I have ever been so nervous on such big holds even after dusting they felt like the were covered in sand. Needless to say the foot holds were in no better condition except that they didn't have the benefit of being hand dusted first. Word to the wise, avoid these climbs after a rain unless you have a brush with you.

After finishing up these two routes, I did "Al Dente" a far less dirty 6a which made for good climbing. By the end I was nicely warmed up and it was Adrain turn to get warmed up.

He linked up a 6a+ with a 7b+ above. The climbing was pretty amazing and with a 70m rope linking these pitches was a breeze.

After Adrian came down it was my turn. I found a nice 6b called "La Caraille" which, according to the old English guide book, was supposed to link into a 7a at the top. I planned to do the link up then come down. The first pitch was amazing, two stars out of three. Nice slightling overhanging climbing on big jugs. I reach the belay and continued up into the next route. As it turned out I in inadvertently had hopped on a 7a+ called " La voie de Abeilles." Translation, the climb of the bees. I feel twice before the crux because I misread the climb but it the crux at the last bolt and was completely unable to figure it out. It was very thin (small holds) on a seemingly blank head wall. The most unnerving thing about it was I kept falling and ever time I did I would hang right in front of this hueco in the rock where there was a bee's next. I asked Adrian to check the guide book because the climb felt far harder than the 7a I was supposed to be on and there was a bee's next to me. He said that the one with the bee's was the next one over after many minutes of attempts on the climb I finally caved and pulled on the bolt to get my fingers into the key hold above me so I could complete the climb.

It was a good head experience because I was about 30m off the deck trying to pull a 5.12a bouldery crux with a bee's nest at my feet. Good practice on maintaining focus.
I also manage to figure out the sequence which at this point I was just not strong enough to pull.

Once down we discovered that the old guide book writer appeared to have not climbed any of the upper bowl climbs and had offset several of the climbs so the were not in the correct place on the topo. Incidentally the old guide book is a piece of work, I haven't written about it but the author makes value judgements on so many of the climbs saying things like "This climb is exactly the climb you hate.." and "... climb should be avoided ...". It also has a fictious grading scheme. Apparently there is such thing as a 6b- and 6c minus. I will stop the rant about the old guide book and no mention it again the comment only make sense if you've seen it.

Finally we wrapped up the day by wandering over to the other side of the crag finish up with a interesting and heady 6b+/6c called "L'Esperon 1". The climb is interesting because you have to climb a slightly overhanging wall that is trending to the left and is part of a dihedral. So basically you feel like if you fall you will crash down on a slab. The climb is safe but it just appears scary. In the end I got too excited at the top, slapped on the pump goggles (something like tunnel vision but you also can't see holds even when you are look directly at them) and blew off.

Adrian gave me some pointers on style and commented on a few that I can do to improve my footwork. He also suggested a new philosophy, I should climb for style points not to reach the anchor. Armed with this new knowledge I went up a second time and the climb was relatively easy. I know a lot has to do with knowing where the holds are for the crux and the sequence but it definitely helped putting into action the techniques suggested.

Well tomorrow is a rest day and that means sleeping in. On sunday we are making our way to the first famous crag I have been to here: Buoux. For those non-climbers in the audience, Buoux is famous for some of the hardest climbing and ground breaking activity in the 80s. Not to alarm anyone but this is also the crag where Lynn Hill nearly died after falling from the top of a rope because she failed to tie in properly. So there is some history.

The plan is to spend a single day at Buoux and then on the way back we will pass through Avignon and pick up one of Adrian clients who he will coach for a week. We also are going to be joined by another Sheffield climber that we met at St Leger so our merry party of 2 will become a party of three.

Sleep well all and have a great weekend.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

New location today; Ubrieux

I will start off this post by saying that this is the first day where I've actually felt strong climbing. I think the training is starting to have an affect.

Today we visited a new location call Ubrieux. I climbed five climbs while Adrian did four. The area was a little better suited to my style of climbing, mostly slab to vertical climbing with small overhanging bulges.

The best climb of the day was "Le Grand Chaos" which goes at 6b+. It is a beautiful route that pulls through some big moves on an overhanging bulge using big holds to a crimpy slab that doesn't give up till you pull up on to the ledge with the anchors.

We shared the crag today with a couple of British climbers. Once of which as it turned out now lives in Radium Hotsprings and was telling all about climbing in the Bugaboos, small world. They had just arrived from Chamonix where it was too hot for them to ice climb.

I did get some wonderful valentine email today which I appreciated from the friends at home. Thank you guys. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentines day.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Back to Baume Rousse


Another day at Baume Rousse was the order of the menu today. All I could think about was the 9 routes I did yesterday. I was pretty stiff and I'm noticing I'm not eating enough. I could really feel the calorie deficiency. I made up for it tonight by consuming a massive plate of pasta and two plates of salad plus half a baggette.

Ok, enough about the dinner plans so off we went to Baume Rousse. We chose this crag because it means we have ot pass through Buis-Les-Barronies and we hoped there would be the outdoor market which was supposed to happen every Tuesday or so we though. We arrive in town to discover no market but we did find the really good Baker from Montreal and a French special food; paine chocolate. So naturally at the high recommendations from my friend Jenny we bought two and filled our bellies with the delicious chocolate bread on our way to the crag.

The objective today was to completely climb out the left side of the crag most of the remaining ones were easy. The system is to lead one climbing then lower off and top-rope any adjacent climbs. I climbed a 5b called "Murmuroa", it was fun then TRed "La Bavette Spatiale" a 6a one move wonder and finally "Couleur d'Embruns" a 6a+ which has this nice stemming problem. Then I let Adrain take over, he cranked out a tons of routes, some 10 routes in a row. Which cleared out the Facile (easy) wall.

We walked up to the Competition Gauche (left) wall and I jumped back on the sharp end of the rope and lead "Qualif a la place du Kalife" another 6a+ of very high quality. I give it two and half stars out of three. Nice climbing up slightly over hanging rock with good holds and excellent foot holds. I followed this up with a 6a+ called "Les Mille-et-unes Buis" which was pretty easy except for three awkward moves which give it the grade. I wouldn't recommend this climb. Adrain took over and climbed a few climbs as I was getting pretty tired for my third day on.

The animals came back out to play again, this time a beautiful big red squirrel was running around on the climbs at the top of the crag. I was amazing to see how agile it was and big, the thing was like those giant over fed tree rats we have in Stanley park. ;) I was on belay duty when it came out to say hello so I didn't get a picture. Sorry guys. But the animal story I'll cover later will appear on my crackbook pictures.

I hoped on probably the best route at the entire crag a 6b+ called "Gnocchi on heaven's door", it has superb climbing on some over hung sections with tuffas. Unforetunately I missed the flash because I was too tired from attempting a so called 6c boulder problem which gets you to the base of the climb but it was still amazing and I will definitely be up for getting on that one again. Perhaps when some of the tuffa's are more dry.

I finished the day with a fun 6a+ called "No Slibards Today", this was a really fun over hanging jug haul. Only reason this climbed didn't get an easier grade was it has a single awkward section where you have to step up and out onto a ledge with marginal holds.

So we packed up and headed home stopping once more to visit the Baker from Montreal to get some more paine chocolate. When we got home I got a little surprise; my first scorpion in the sink. Yes folks instead of spiders in the sink the get scorpions. So I snapped a picture and will post it as I mentioned earlier. Me, life goals, "Find Scorpion in sink". Tick! I'll definitely be checking my shoes when I put them back on at the crag from now on. Those thing give me the willies.

Tomorrow is a rest day so hopefully I have more time to contemplate things and I'll hopefully share them here. the picture in this post is of the single rose that is just outside our door. Seem spring is coming early here.

Be well. May light and love shine on you.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Today we hit Combe Obscure

We went to a new area today called Combe Obscure. Adrian and I got a slightly late start today but we made up for it in mileage. It wasn't leading but it was fast and fun. Combe Obscure is located on the other side of Mount Ventoux so it was slight driver.

The angle at Combe Obscure is pretty low with mostly technical and slab climbing. The majority of the routes were 5c and 6b which in part was how we manage to pull through some many in a single day. By the end of the day we had cranked out 23 climbs mostly top roped.

It was really quite fun. This is the first time on the trip where I've gotten into the rhythm/flow of climbing as the rock was easy to read and tended to have a climbing angle that is much more like Squamish.

For my part I did: Vision (5b), Zizibien (6a+), La Martre (6c+), Pas glop pas glop (6b+), La Calaoe (6a), La Puce (5c), Angoisse (5b), Tarton coquine (5c+) and Tete de Gondolf (5b).

Erin and Carrie if you guys come out here this will likely be your first day unless I find something better between then and now.

I also got to talking to Adrian and he suggested that it might be good for me to write an article for Gripped or something like that. I figured I could write an article about South Eastern France from the 5.11 climber's perspective. James, you always complain that you are sick of hearing about some guy who pulled 5.15+ and can't relate. I know 5.11 might be a touch on the low side but if all goes well I should creep into the mid 5.12s by the end of it. What do you guys thing, should I write something?

I hope you are all well out there on the other side of the planet, yet so near on the Intarweb.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Had a rest day now back to Saint Leger


Yesterday was a rest day so I decided to skip posting that day. Didn't seem like there was a lot talk about. The only thing of note was I wrote my first route descriptions for the guide book. I'll be doing more today as I'm climbing more of the easier routes as expected and Adrian is hitting the harder routes. It was a lot of fun though.

I've been pondering a few things which maybe I'll get into now briefly. I've just been considering how much fear plays a role in the activities that I do or do not do. Sometimes I avoid doing some things because I'm afraid. I often find some rational explanation about why I shouldn't or should do something but the bottom line is my mind has filled with images about whats going to go wrong or why its dangerous or why I'll fail. My mind, I've realized, tends to be a predominantly negative force, at least for an array of new things. I find it tends to be more negative with regards to things that I don't commonly associate with who I am. For example, I think of myself as an engineering, I have all kinds of self talk about being and engineer but is that what I am or is that what I do. Is it possible I could be equally good at some other profession? I love what I do but I'm generally resistive to thinking of myself in any other context so in essence I'm limiting the possibilities for my life. I have many more examples but the most easy one to find is when I'm climbing and I'm starting to get tired and listening to my self talk and decision making process. It starts to go, "Don't go for that hold, what happens if its the wrong one. You'll fall you are too tired to get the wrong one." Then I hesitate and the longer I wait the less energy I have to get to the next good hold or to find the hold I need. I'll leave this discussion for the moment but I'm really trying to delve into this relationship with fear because it has a lot to do with my success as a climber but more so with success in life.

As the post would lead you to believe I was back at Saint Leger, more properly called Saint Leger du Ventoux because its located at the base of the Ventoux ski mountain. After a rest day I was feeling really quite stiff and rough around the edges. I'm clearly not in as good a shape as I need to be and pulling on plastic in the gym hasn't prepared me for the 30+ meter routes that are here. So off we went hiking the length of the valley to the farthest crag which has the easier routes.

Since it was Sunday there were actually several groups at the location today. I was happy about this because it was my chance to to interact with some new people which in part was one of the things I was looking for in this trip. I got on a 6b call "Le Maitre et son Disciple", it was fun but clearly my body is not out of rest mode as it was extremely pumpy and I nearly fell at the top. Luckily there was a nice rest off to the right where I could step onto for a rest. I complete the route after finding a hidden hold.

For my second route of the day I was going to do a 6b+ called "Les Deux Beauf en Vacances". I had my shoes on, rope all tied up and was at the base of the climb when something fell from above and hit me in the shoulder. I wasn't a rock because it was slightly soft. As it turns out a tiny lizard had fallen from the top of the crag. I seem to have some type of animalism going when I climb because this isn't the first time something like this has happened. When I was climbing Birds of Prey with Paul Campbell this past summer I had a butterfly buzzing around me and landing on my harness for the button half of the climb.

Unfortunately the lizard was really giving me a demo of what I would be doing on the climb. I feel twice after losing my way on the route. I have to say I find this limestone hard to read. Can't find the holds often. It really feels like Kalymnos all over again. The process of relearning where you can expect to find holds and trying all possible holds to find the best ones.
On the up note the climb was really fun with a great drop knee huge reach on overhanging rock with good holds.

As a final route I finished up with a 6b+ called "Maitre Vautour". This route played more to my strengths, I pulled through the lower overhanging bits by moving fast then popped up on to the a slab or calle as the call it here. Worked my way to the top while fighting the pump for the onsight.

Meanwhile Adrian didn't climb at all and spent most of his time hiking around getting pictures for the book. i've started keeping a list of comments in my Tick-list and Travel Journal; thank you Marcia! I hope the journal will be helpful in the route descriptions I write.

Well that's all from France. I hope everyone who is reading is doing well. Let me know how you are thinking or better yet post a comment. So far Amy is the only one to have discovered the comments feature.

Hugs and love.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Return to Baume Rousse


Today we return to Baume Rousse for some more abuse. After dogging it for the first two days waking up at 10 AM I finally managed to shake the jetlag and wake up at 8 AM. That didn't mean we got rolling quick it just means I ACTUALLY woke up that early.

After a slow start we still managed to get to the crag and hour earlier than our previous times which was much needed since we were going to make this a big day as tomorrow is going to be a rest day.

We started by warming up on a climb call Milky Way was a two pitch climb or a single 35m 6b+ that was really easy up to crux at the top. Next we took a photo op for Adrian to get some shots of the crag.

Next I hopped on Rigni, Rignette et Rignoulou and Haschisch B both of which are 6b+. The were fun and got me warmed up to retrying the glorified boulder problem L'Ecole Net which was the 7a couldn't finish on Wednesday. Well on the bright side I was able to do the crux moves of L'Ecole Net but I was feeling too gased to 'scend. So I bailed off it and Adrian put the draws up on a 6c+ call Les Ailes du Vizir. I got on it and fell just after the crux. All these climbs were awesome and I would recommend them to anyone visiting the area.

I took a few shots from the top of Les Ailes du Vizir and that is the photo attached to this post. On the right side of the cave to the right of the tree is where Haschisch B starts and it goes right to the top.

Tomorrow is a rest day so I'm going to catch up on sleep and email.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Saint Leger - Welcome to the hard...


Today was the most impressive location we have been to so far. We headed over to this place called Saint Leger, it had easily as much rock amazing rock than Poets to Sparticus in Kalymnos for those who have been and much and harder. There are walls of 8a and up. It was incredible.

We only managed two 6b+s today. One I on-sighted, the other I fell off at the last bolt because I misread the finish. Both were good except for the one I onsighted which proved to me the word Kalymnian anchor* is not restricted to being found on Kalymnos. Actually I clipped the anchor and when I was getting Adrian to take, the hold I was using broke off and I took a nice 10 ft victory wiper. What made it funnier was that in the 32m of climbing there were 15 bots plus anchors. I only brought up 14 draws with me so I was forced to back clean a draw and use a spinner biner to clip the anchor. Oops, guess I should get a little better at managing the gear.

Hopefully today is a bigger day. I hope everyone at home is enjoying the snow.

* A Kalymnian anchor is when the anchor appears in a position that is ridiculous and doesn't add anything to the climb. Instead it make the climb needlessly hard compared to the rest of the climb. Often place just out of reach of the last good hold.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

First Day in Buis


Slept in today due to the jetlag and possibly from the sleeping pill I took to make sure I stay asleep through the night. Adrian and I continue to unpack and setup our interenet connection.

The place we are staying is pretty nice. The owner is a friend of Adrian's named Ollie and he has the house next to us. We are sharing his ADSL with the Wifi router I brought from Van, so hopefully I have lots of posts for you.

We packed out gear and were out of the house for a trip to the market in Buis to get food for the next couple of days. Little did we know it was 12:00 and the market is only open this late. We managed to catch one baker in time to pick up some raisin bread and a couple loves of french bread for dinner tonight.

Then we headed up to one of the local crags call Baume Rousse for some abuse. The weather was nice and sunny. I would guess the temperature was around 14 C, we were able to climb in our T-shirts while in the sun.

Adrian lead the first 6a+ call Coin Coin, I know I'm writing about it and so this its a little ironic to say that its nothing to write home about but I would give that for the description. It was a so so line that followed a crack and probably should have been bolts. Dear god listen to me I'm turning in to a climbing snob.

I took my turn leading up Coin Coin, and then lead the 6b right next to it. A climb call Au Bout. This climb was a lot more fun and sustained. Apparently it had been raining and nowing a couple days ago so there was some water seeping through the rock in parts making a few hold unusable but this didn't change the character of the climb all that much.

We finished dispatching these slabby warm ups and decided to walk around the corner to the overhung business. We found that all the climbs in the 6c-6c+ range was wet so we opted for the 7a (L'ecole Net) and 7b tuffa climbs on the right hand side of the crag.

Lets just say that low 6 slab climbs a totally inadequate warm ups for overhung tuffa climbing. Furthermore, let me say that I am not an elephant and have nearly completely forgotten how to tuffa climb. I manage to make it just a little over half way up the climbing before getting my butt handed to me. Atleast I got the first fall of the trip out of the way early. I gave it a shot at the crux a couple of times but decied to come down and give Adrian a second chance on the 7b that had unceremoniously spit him off earlier.

He swept up the 7b commented it was a touch on the hard side but didn't give any appear to having trouble with it despite not having climbing in the last month. Talk about power off the couch.

I took one more shot at the 7a but found I was a touch too tired from my first attempt and had to retreat one more at the crux. We cleaned the draws off and called it a day. Tomorrow we'll see if the sun holds.

The picture for this post is look away from the crag, you can see in the center of the shot Buis and the ski runs on the local mountain.

Traveling isn't very interesting.

Well the adventures getting to Buis was a little boring. I didn't manage to sleep on the plane. I instead overloaded on movies: Stardust (fun fantasy), The Kingdom (raw raw USA), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (good historical drama), and a slew of nature shows.

This manage to pass the time during the 9.5 hours trip from Vancouver to Amsterdam. I had a two hour layover at the airport there, then another two hour hop Marseille which I manage to catch about 30 minutes of sleep.

I was greeted at the airport in Marseille by a climber friend Thierry. This was greatly appreciated as I was a pretty groggy at this point and would have been hard pressed to find my way to the TGV station in Aix-En-Provence. I got a TGV train ticket to Avignon. Due to a mix up in communication I ended up waiting at the train station for 2.5 hours before my climbing partner showed up.

This 2.5 hours was rather interesting as it is the first time of my not doing much if anything in such a long time. I hadn't felt boredom in a long time. Sure I shoulc have read, I could have even played on my laptop but ultimately it was interesting to savor the I didn't have to necessarily do anything.

The drive from Avignon was long and whinedie; by the time we got to Buis and at dinner it was 11:50 PM (local time) or 2:50 PM (PST) so needless to say I had no trouble sleeping.

Tomorrow the climbing begins... maybe.

I have the best friends ever!!!


I'm sitting in the airport now, my flight boards in 5 minutes. Probably not the best time to write a blog entry but I figure I'll start now and finish the entry in flight.

I find myself with time to reflect on the events of the past few days. Since finish work last week it seems like everything has been happening too quickly. One events or task blends into the next. As a friend suggested I should savor the moments; drink in the feeling. I tired my best but I seemed to have fallen short. Possibly because the moments were overshadowed by the farewell party. As the title of this entry suggests what made it so outstanding was the people who attended it.

I wish I could have spent more time with each of you wonderful people but the moment I did get to spend with you will be the memories that I will return to when I'm half way around the world and thinking about what I'm coming back to. The party was amazing success, I can't believe how many of you could fit in such a small space. The vibe was awesome, it felt like you could walk up to anyone and strike up a conversation. I really appreciated that you all made and effort to meet the host, Carrie mentioned that she appreciated that.

In particular I have to thank some people:

First off Carrie, for providing access to the Best Place Ever, yes, the name of the house. She went to some great lengths to prepare it to be filled by fun people.

Evan Jones AKA Mittens, what can I say the DJ Olympics provide no end of laughs even if it was at times just from reading the score sheet.

Mike Flynn, the decor was awesome, it gave just enough light that we all could forget about the outside world long enough to enjoy the music and the people on the inside.

Erin and Julie, the signage divas, thank you for pulling that together. There Olympic judges would have been disappointed holding up their fingers.

James, thank you for doing the visuals. Having them really added the ambiance.

Thank you, Sandie for shaving my Mohawk. Thank you Jenny for the 5" platform boots.

The DJ's you play me better than I play me. Thank you all for playing.

All who showed up, wow, wicked vibe fun dancing and a great night.
With out a doubt I have the best friends in the world.

I love you guys!