Rains have finally left; now some challenges with Visas.

(Picture is a panorama that I stitched together using autostitch. This doesn't do the climbing justice but its of the North face of the Chaine de Clapis in Les Dentelles de Montmirail this place is simply amazing, so many climbs)

After the deluge of the last few days Adrian and I finally made out way back out to St Leger. Equipped with the 100m rope we decided the only place to go was to Al Andeluze as there are several new 40+ metre routes to the right of the sector.

The hike in was relatively uneventful and we were the first people to arrive at the sector, which was somewhat surprising since we had gotten a late start.

Since this was the first day back after starting my forearm recovery program using the weights I started out on the easiest climb in the sector a stiff 6b (5.10d) that I had climbed several times before called “La Maitre et son disciple”. I could really feel the pain in my forearms but it was somehow different; it felt more like a muscular pain than the burning from lower down near the connective tissue.

After completing this climb I moved on to “Le Deux Boeuf en Vacances” the 6b+ (5.11a) next to it which I had also climbed before but fallen off of. I made my way through the bottom half to the second roof where I found myself at a loss for the sequence and decided I wasn’t warm enough to pull hard so I sat on the rope to recover and figure out the sequence of the climb. Getting back on I climbed to the upper crux which pulls over a small bulge and as per my usually self as soon as I loose sight of my feet I fall apart. There was a great hand ledge below the bulge for you feel but you can’t see it after you move up so with my poor memory of the climb and uncertain of my foot placement I fell off. I quickly realized my mistake and finished the climb with ease.

Adrian went and warmed up on “Gourmandise” an overhanging start and a slabby finish makes this three start 6c a great choice but perhaps not for a warm up, at least not for me. At my request Adrian left the quick draws in the climb so I could try to flash it with him passing on beta to me.

But first things first, I wanted to red point “Le Deux Boeuf en Vacances”. I moved back over and easily dispatched the climb, executing the moves I had done the last time and the sequence that I had forgotten at the cruxes. Happy I came down and belayed Adrian on one of the many 40m routes around the corner. Toby if you are reading this, the 100m rope works wonders, you can lower to the ground without a second thought.

For my first attempt on “Gourmandise” Adrian suggested I go bolt to bolt and check out the situation. The climb had a few big move and a very sustained nature, if it wasn’t for the no hand rest after the overhang I would expect the climb would have been two grades harder. I thought I should just try to flash it so I told Adrian I would go to the crux at the overhang and see if I could pull it and if not I would go bolt to bolt. Well I moved up to the crux and made the move but couldn’t figure out how to get my feet up to pull over the steep overhang and onto the headwall. So I sat on the rope to figure out the sequence.

I jumped back on and climbed through the crux to a no hands rest. While recovery in this stance I noticed that one of the French women from Grenoble was climbing next to me on the next route over. I didn’t think this would be a huge problem even though the climbs shared an anchor at the top and the fall line would be right over top of where I was climbing. She passed me on the left as I moved into what felt like a tricky face climb with very little feet. Once she reached the top she lower off and cleaned, again not a problem until the need where she unclipped her last clip which sent the rope she was lower off of sliding across the rock as she swung into me. I didn’t fall off but was a bit annoyed. Then as I was trying to figure out the rest of the climb she starts to pull the rope which is passing over my back. So I’m sitting on this face hanging onto the rock trying to adjust my body position to keep the rope from melting the shirt I’m wearing while not falling off. She finally get the rope through the top without saying anything and the end whipped through the anchor and hits me in the face. I more than a little cheese, could they not have waited a mere 5 minutes for me to finish the route. Talk about situationally unaware! The rest of her group was really nice and I enjoyed talking with them but this person was pretty self absorbed.

After a brief break and verifying that the climb next to me was free so that I wouldn’t get a rope in the mouth I got back on for the red point attempt. The climb flowed from one move to the next. It felt really good to execute the moves cleanly and smoothly as I had planned them out on my previous attempt. After finishing this off and cleaning the climb I was happy with my day as was Adrian so we packed up and headed home.

Monday, April 14th, was a hard day, I woke up feeling exhausted from a restless sleep. The sleepiness that you experienced followed me like a shadow of lead. I felt tired and couldn't move and the rock, my limbs weighed down by some unseen force (gravity I think they call it). I feel exhausted even now and will likely go to bed soon after a shower. The climbing was a little frustrating as I seem to get tired after every move now. I only managed to do 3 climbs on the day. One of them I had climbed before and fell off at the top. I tried it again and got right to the anchor but I lost site of my feet when I pulled above an overhang and fell again. Very frustrating.

For the second climb I tried to flash "Des Titis des Grisette" a pump 6c (5.11b) as Adrian had climbed it first and left his quick draws in. I climb with Adrian giving me beta form the ground. I pulled through the crux move after which he had no information. On my own I couldn't see where to go after that so I fell off. When I got back on I pulled through the crux and made the last clip but couldn't get any higher than that as the rock above was frighteningly weak and there were no feet for me to easily stand on. After thrashing a bit and hanging on the rope a lot I managed to find a way through it. I was feeling defeated and exhausted. I had pulled two fist sized holds off the top 3 metres of the climb and was not interested in repeating that experience so I setup to clean the route.

As I was lowering off I cleaned off the first clip and noticed that there was a traverse possible to a different set of bolts out on the left. This traverse could be done on good holds and had reasonable foot holds. I got Adrian to take and then worked the moves on top rope. They were good so I put the clip I had just cleaned on the bolt on the left and lowered to the grounds so that I could red point the climb.

The Red Point attempt went flawlessly and I pulled through the deadpoint (where you make a move and if you don't catch the hold you are going for you fall) at the crux and through the top sections just as the sun came back out. though I succeed on the climb, I decided to call it a day. My heart and my head were telling me it was time to go home and take a break. So we packed up and headed back into town.

Since the day before was such a gong show, I decided to take a day off while Adrian went off to photograph the South face the south chain of les Dentelles de Montmirail. Instead I took the time to relax at home and map out climbing crags I want to visit as well as look into buying a car in Italy and finding accommodation and ways to get to Milan. After spending a few hours on the couche surfing website I found a really helpful guys from near Milan who just put up a social networking site for climbing called 9b (here is the link for the climber out there). Its a pretty cool site because its just like Facebook but for climbers. I ended up talking to the guy on Skype for a about and hour and he taught me a bunch of Italian. I'm looking forward to meeting him when I get to Italy. I also had a great visit with my dad on Skype to top out the day.

As of the morning April 16th, that has all changed. I was doing some research last night into if it was possible to buy a car in Italy and finally piece together something that has been making me wonder this whole time. My visa, it seems is a Schengen tourist visa which lasts only 90 days. What I thought was a visa that was for the country I was in and could get renewed by leaving that country and moving into the next is not in fact true. The Schengen space is made up of all of Western Europe and now as of this year most of Eastern Europe. The visa granted to tourists on arrival to this area is valid for only 90 days and can be applied for only once every 180 days. Thus, when my visa runs out on May 5 I will not be able to return to the Schengen space (mainland Europe) for the following 3 months (90 days).

Now that is a scary or expensive prospect given that I'm flying out of Marseille in October. I called the Canadian Consulate in Paris to find out if I had any options for applying to get another visa or an extension. I wasn't impressed with the level of help I got, the suggestion was that I only had two options: stay and keep a low profile and hope no law enforcement ask to see my passport or keep traveling in other countries outside of the Schengen space for 3 months and then come back.

So my options for destinations are fairly limited at this point. As far as places I would like to go and won't cost me an arm and a leg are: Morocco, Turkey and the UK. So it looks like Adrian might not be ride of me yet. My new plan is to go up the the UK where you can get a tourist visa for 6 months at the border and maybe spend a few weeks there and then head to South Africa for a month or two. Return to Britain and spend a bit more time climbing there till August when I can get another 3 month tourist visa for the Schengen space.

Simple plan, just need a get a few things taken care of like Malaria drugs, Typhoid and Yellow Fever vaccine and a plan ticket. I've also sent off an email to the French Consulate in London to see if I can apply for a long stay visa from them, contrary to what I was told by the Canadian consulates.

I've been dealing with the feelings of embarrassment, like I should have known that or I should have done more research on visas. I feel like a child who made the most obvious mistake. Ultimately, I recognize that these feelings are not helpful and I'm only going through the old habit of punishing myself in order to learn. I'm working on letting go of that feeling and choosing a more effective learning script by seeing the experience as a moment to learn so that I associate mistakes with learning instead of with negative emotions like embarrassment or fear. I'm also moving on to the more immediate and fun aspect of trying to figure out what I want to do. I think this is a harder decision but life has been telegraphing a trip to South Africa for a while now as my wonderful sister is going to be down there as is Karina.

I also have some wonderful support from my cousin in London who has offer me a couch of his for the beginning of May which is where I will setup for my trip South Africa. I will fill you all in on the details as they become more clear to me.

So naturally I was a bit stressed over this development so Adrian and I went climbing in the Dentelles de Montmirail as he needed to get pictures of the North Face of the chain de Gigondas. He hiked up and around getting pictures the on an overcast day which is what he wanted for the North side because it would otherwise be in the share and make for bad pictures. I dozed in the car as I hadn’t slept well for obvious reasons.

We then packed up the 100m rope and our gear to hike up to the “La Breche de la Pousterle”, a gap in the giant fins where you can cross over to the other side. Adrian wanted to photograph the North Face of the chain de Clapis. After a 20 minute uphill hike we reach the break. Adrian hike to the other side and got his pictures while I wait at the break. We then hiked in and linked two climbs together as warm up. We chose to do the first two pitches of “Oceane” at 4c and 6b+ then linked into the upper pitch of a beautiful dihedral crack line called “Diedre de Provance” at 6a (5.10a). Not having read the topo on the first “Oceane” I jumped on thinking it was a nice looking climb and it appear to have spaced bolts but I wasn’t concerned as the holds looked good. I was mistaken and after climbing the route head on instead of stepping right at the crux I found myself hanging from the rope. After a brief rest and finding where I had missed the transition right I jumped back on and linked the two routes right to the top of the fin for a single pitch of climbing of 55 metres. It was quite fun when we found that the we could rappel all the way to the ground once all the direction changes were taken out of the route.

Since it was cold we decided to hike back over to the break where I saw a climb I wanted to do from the previous days hike called “Je Suis un Communiste” a slightly overhanging 6c+ (5.11c). I put aside the any thoughts of what the climb would be like or level of difficult and just focused on wanting to do it and enjoying solving the challenges along the way. Once I started in it was amazing, my mind got quite and started to move with precision and confidence. The crux sequence was amazing, a pull off of a sidepull and a mono (one finger pocket) on a 5 degree overhanging bulge to a soso crimp with slabby insecure foot holds. The climb continues in a sustained mediocre holds as you progress through vertical and overhanging sections till you pull up onto a slab head wall to finish. It was 30m of pure pleasure, the guidebook under rated this one giving it only one star. Its easily 2 and a half.

Adrian decided to lead it and he felt it was a pretty stiff 6c+ so I would have to say this is the hardest onsight I’ve done on the trip so far. The best part was I wasn’t in any great pain for the lock-offs I did with my right arm. I guess the rehab I’ve been doing is helping.

I spied yet another route I really wanted to do just to the left, another 6c+ (5.11c) called “Ourdes 96” which was even more steeply overhanging. The guide gave this climb two stars which as I would find were well deserved. The climb starts out stiff off the ground with a few thin moves at 5 meters up then starts walking straight up a face moving through good holds and head on climbing for the most part. The moves are big and sweeping and the footwork as your get into the crux is of a technical nature. The climb then works left up into a no hands rest where you can recover after pulling the crux then another 4 meters of jugs get you to an alcove and the anchor. I fell off at the crux because I didn’t see the sequence but it will be an easy red point if I get to come back. This finish off surprisingly good day of climbing and clean out any stress I was feeling from the visa situation.

My birthday with Erin and Carrie. - April 1-6th

(Picture is Le Rocher Du Saint-Julien)

With the arrival of Erin and Carrie I found myself taking it much easier in the climbing. For their day of introduction to the rock in France Adrian and I went to Baume Rousse. Adrian still needed pictures for the book from that location and it has plenty of excellent rock with a full grade range.

To acquaint them with the rock here slowly we picked the slabs at the far right side of Sector Initiation. Since this was Erin's second time on real rock and Carrie had yet to clean an anchor I lead the first pitch and set myself up at the top so the could TR and I could teach them how to clean a sport anchor. I climb a 4+ (5.6) called "Tyrex" which run a full 30 meters. I would have suggested they lead the climb but the top 15 meters only had two bolts and I though it wouldn't due to have them thinking about bolts for their first climb or worse taking a long fall on slab.

So after a clinic on anchor cleaning, I descended and cleaned the route. Next up was "Sikarate" a 5 (5.9) which got three stars in the guidebook. I found the climb while well bolted and fun, had some thin moves on it. The angle I guess is what keeps the grade down as it a slab but decided it might be better to give Erin and Carrie one more climb on top rope before getting them on lead. I once more waited at the top of the route and walked supervised the simulated cleaning of the anchor (simulated since they were top roping).

I descended leaving the draws (short for quick draws) in the climb so they could lead it. We ate lunch basking in the hot sun, the temperature maybe reach 26 degrees and a light wind blowing. After lunch the light was right for pictures and Adrian soloed up a 6a to get on top of an adjacent pillar to our slab. I climbed a 3 (5.6) route called "Douce Colere" to get the draws in for Erin's first lead clean the draws out of "Sikarate" which would have ruined the picture as they would appear in the foreground.

Both Erin and Carrie did well on their first lead climbs in France and cleaned without any hitches. Since we had climbed all the good climbs in this section and Adrian got the pictures for the book we packed up and moved to the other side of the crag to sector Facile where I put up a 5 (5.9) called "Murmuroa" a three star face climb that is much more fun than the slabs we were previously playing on. Both Erin and Carrie lead the climb to the setting sun.

Day two Adrian decided to stay back and leave Erin, Carrie and myself to climb on our own. It was Wednesday April 2nd and that meant we were going to be able to shop at the market in Buis-Les-B. We made the rounds as quickly as we could because we had left late and the market closes at 12:00 noon. Stopping first at the fish monger we picked up a fillet of Salmon and then went to the produce are and got variety of vegetables and fruits for our week. We then moved up to the Baker and the Biofood store to get bread and some gluten free products for Erin. On the walk back to the car we passed through the vendors whom were selling clothes and other miscellaneous items.

We took quite some time at the market so I decide to go to Ubrieux for climbing as its a close location to Buis and you can practically belay from the car. I started the day by putting the draws in "L'ABC" a 5+ route that works up a crack system. The girls both lead this route and cleaned it.

Next up I put the draws in two routes: "Hesitation" 5 (5.8) and "Aphrodite" 4+ () and turned Erin and Carrie loose on them. They had no trouble pulling through the slightly technical "Hesitation" which requires a bit of route finding and footwork at the top. After they finished their leads and cleaned the route we stopped for a lunch break. The wind was hollowing at this point and the guts were enough to knock you off balance if you were on the rock.

I had one climb I was interested in climbing on this sector which neither Adrian nor myself has climbed, "Ecolo Man". The english guide gives it a 6b+ (5.11a) but I had known it to over grade quite a bit. The climb proved to be as hard as advertised. Basically a bolted boulder problem, the entire route took 4 draws, one of which is of little value as its at the 3 metre mark and you gain a large ledge just above it. The next clip comes at the 8 metre mark so I didn't bother clipping it as it would only add rope drag and put me in danger of getting caught on the rope if I fell at after the first bolt. I moved up on a some jugs at the start of a right diagonal crack system to make the second clip.

The crack system was shallow and provided no more jugs as you move up and right under the overhanging head wall above. I did a hand travers with my right which became sore as was forced to do a low right lockoff. I called for take but realized that I didn't in fact need to stop as I was able to shift my weight over my right foot, work my left hand up to an open hand slopper and then throw my left hand up into a finger lock and rock over my feet. The next move was a blind throw to a line of weakness on the face behind and above then a cross through with the left over the top to a big juggy ledge. You cut off you feet and swing them left to get some feet to stabilize you position to get the third clip. The rest of the climb was a jug haul to the top.

I set up a top rope on this climb and let Carrie have a crack at it. While having some fun falling off at the crux she did pull through and moved up to the top. Since the wind was so bad I moved us up and right to a dihedral with a three star 30 metre 5+ climb called "Mammouth Cave". I decided to climb a 6b right next to it called "Dernier Soupir" which worked up a slightly overhanging gray slab with technical moves on poor feet. A runout at the top made it interesting and instead of going right to the anchor which has 5+ moves I stepped left to setup the top rope on "Mammouth Cave".

There was only time for Erin to have a climb and clean the route. I had to be back to the house at 5:15 PM to go look at a car with Christian, Gabriel's husband whom I mentioned in on of my earlier posts. Unfortunately, the car was a not up to snuff, as it only had 2.5 seats which isn't enough for when the rest of the clan arrives in Aug-Sep time frame. The back was also a touch dingy, at a cost of 2500 euro I wasn't interested even if the mechanics were good.

While I was out Carrie and Erin arranged to hire Adrian for a day of climbing. This threw my plans to take them to the Mineral Spa at Montbrun into chaos. The idea was to have Adrian join us as this would be the only day it was possible to do the spa with him and he had expressed and interest. Alas, it was probably the only day they could have hired Adrian so I adjusted my plans and made the mineral spa day be on my Birthday.

I had to be up at 5:30 AM that morning so I could be online to attend a Soundproof meeting. Though totally exhausted from getting to bed at 1:30 AM and up at that hour. It was all worth while to see the friends I have been missing so much over here on the laptop. After the conclusions of the meeting I managed to sneak in a few more house of sleep.

So for Carrie's birthday they got a multipitch lesson and went and climbed "La Grotte" on La Roche Du St Julien. I accompanied them to the base and took pictures from a mountain just opposite and then took Adrian mountain bike and rode through the mountains on my first mountain bike ride. Alex, Sheri, James, Becca and all the others; I now understand the challenge of mountain biking. The trails its can be small and the turns sharp and steep angles. The ride was fun and popping off of jumps with a full suspension was tons of fun.

The girls were rather bubbly when they got back from their climb. I think I heard about a hundred times how Carrie "save Erin's life". As Erin had taken a fall on her traverse on the second pitch of the route. I was happy that they now had some multipitch experience and learned a few tricks about moving while off the ground. That night Adrian drove into town to get Audrey. I left him for some down time in the car alone as I'm sure having us all around him for the past three days had been draining.

My birthday was a slow start. Since I hadn't been able to take the girls to the spa the day earlier I decided I was going to go on my birthday. Audrey and Adrian wanted to climb so we dropped them off at Baume Rousse and took the car to Montbrun-Les-Bains where the spa ValVital is located.

The lounging in the minerals pools, the sauna, hot tub and then down in the Hammam (steam room) was a welcome break from the climbing. The Hammam was particularly interesting, the design had a parabolic column in the middle surrounded by a pool of cool water for splacing on the face. The room was dark except for some LEDs lights that would glow in several patters from the pool in the centre. The column made a parabolic shape that started at the outer walls then drawing more and more steeply till it sank into the cool pool in the centre. This allowed all the condensation from the roof to be guided down into the pool instead of dripping on people heads. The room was very peaceful and everyone whispers which adds to the relaxing atmosphere.

We drove back to Baume Rousse at around 5 after soaking for quite some time in the mineral baths. We picked up food at the local grocery store for the dinner that night which we were to share with Christian and Gabriel upstairs. They had prepared "racklette" which is boiled potatoes skinned then covered in melted cheese slices that you melt in a fondu like heater at the centre of the table. You then cover the cheese and potatoes with slices of meat. I'm sure if we weren't climbing every day we certainly would have had heart attacks.

The conversation was fun and interesting as it was all in French because Christian is French and doesn't speak much english though he understands it quite well. The night went late but as we started rather late in the evening. When the clocked roller around to 12:30 we thanks our gracious hosts and departed for some much needed rest. For those back home you will get a chance to meet Christian and Gabriel because they are moving to Vancouver the same week I'm coming home.

For the girls last day we made our way to a hard location: St Leger. I figured this is the up and coming place and is easily as big and as important as Buoux as far as cliffs go. Its the climbing location of the future for the South of France as there is still load of development to be done here and no shortage of 13 and 14s to be set.

We started the day by hiking in to South Face where there was a 6a+ called "A deux pas d'ici" which I had climbed on previous trip to St Leger. As a warm up it wasn't the idea as it start off a bit bouldery then gets easier as you move to the top. The climb is however, the easiest at St Leger in terms of over all grade (excluding the North Face which is cold and wet at this time of year). I hiked up and put the draws in for the girls. Since the start is rather hard I left the first bolt clipped so they could lead the climb. Carrie made a good run of the climb but as expected found the start challenging.

Erin had a bit of trouble with the start and psyched herself out of the climb. Rather than banging our heads against the wall she came down and we took a walk. This is no less than what I had to do on my first day at Baume Rousse when I got shut down by "Ecolo Net".

Before we left on our walk I lent a couple quick draws to a french couple who were climbing a 6c next to us. They seem competent enough of climbers and it was only a couple draws. The guy had reach the crux of his climb and was getting shut down as well so he lowered off. The couple wanted to climb our climb so we pulled the rope to let them climb through on my draws. When we returned from the walk the guy had made it to a tricky slab above the crux. He was having trouble progressing so I suggested the easier slave section on the left which doesn't take much power but you need to be good on slab and make sure you clip the second draw before traversing back right onto the main section of the route.

Unfortunately, the guy didn't have the head I though he did and instead climbed passed the second draw without clipping and continue up and left onto lichen where he slipped and slid down the slab. His partner couldn't do anything as he had failed to protect himself by clipping the second draw and scrapped up his leg and arm and banged his leg on a tree stump off the ledge where the slab starts. He lowered off and cleaned his scraps and nursed his wounded pride. The bad thing was he was unable to climb after with what I suspect was a charlie horse from the tree stump. The fall pretty much seal the deal with Erin, she wasn't up for getting on this route no that it had spit her off the bottom and had scrapped up a climber.

So up I went a second time on a retrieval mission to get back my quick draws and set up a top rope for the woman in the couple. No sooner than i got down I realized I was going to have to finish and clean the 6c (5.11b) that they had been climbing previously. The route was called "La Violence Eternelle" and was definitely not the best route at St Leger. The first half moves through some poor quality rock and climbs less than vertical to a head wall that kicks back. This is the point where the French guy had lower off. The climbing really starts here as below this it probably grades only about 5+. I quickly found out that the climb was manufactured as the sequence is unnatural for the rock you are climbing and the cemented in holds become you route finding marker.

Needless to see, I couldn't read the route and sat on the rope in the middle of the crux while I tried to work out the sequence. Once I figured out the sequence is to follow the cemented holds I move pass it to the upper section which moves on a vertical wall with crimps and high steps to the top. On the second to last move my foot blew off and I took a fall which the hold I had in my left hand being a bit sharp left me with a flapper (flap of skin that is still attached but cut deep). I pulled back on and cleaned the route leaving a top rope in place for Carrie and Erin to play on the route. Carrie did well to dog her way up through the crux and finish the climb while Erin moved cleanly through the bottom section to enjoy the moment.

I got on a 6b+ called "Melancolique et Desabuse" which I was hoping to red point. I climbed well through the bottom sections but found I had forgotten where the hand holds were for the top crux right before the chain. I left a top rope in place for Erin and Carrie to play on. The bottom gave both of them a run for their money as the move requires some sure feet with no hands. It really isn't an easy move and the the climb gets overhanging and pumpy. I would actually thing the climb is sand bagged and is probably a 6c but its St Leger and sandbagging is the norm here. I made one last attempt for the red point as the sun was setting but rushed to the upper crux but this time missed a key hand hold which you can skip if you have hung at the crux hence why I didn't find it the second go. I cleaned the route off and packed up so we could go as we had to get home to pack and drive the 2.5 hours down the Montpellier so the girls could get there flight in the morning.

The drive proved to be more of an adventure that we first intended. The car I realized as we left Pierrelongue was showing an empty tank and it was Sunday night in rural Southern France. This translates to no open gas stations and the beauty of being North American is that gas stations here don't accept your credit cards. We made our way to Vaison-Les-Romaines where we were unable to get a gas stations that was open or find someone who would buy us gas. Giving up and seeing that the gage was more full than I first suspected I decided to press on listening to the GPS navigation system call out the turns I should take.

After about 30 minutes but what seemed like hours we crawled into Orange at 10:30 PM running on fumes. I figured we didn't have much time to wonder around looking for a gas station so I stopped and asked the first french guy I could find. He was a friendly and asked if our credit cards were functional in the gas station here. I told him no and he offered to lead us to the gas station and pay on his credit card if we were to give him cash.

We jumped back in our cars and began following him. He found a gas station quickly but it was closed. He turned around and went back the way we came and exited the center of town in different direction. All the while in the back of my mind I'm wondering if we are going to take a turn down a dark alley to be blocked off but I didn't sense any deception from the man and he had a good natural smile. We drove another 5 minutes and reach a gas station that was open. He happily provided us with the need fuel and the offered to help us get to the Autoroute (toll highway) when I mentioned our destination was Montpellier. Since we had the GPS navigation already calling out the direction I thanked him. Carrie and I tried to slip him a tip but no sooner that he found out he was knocking at the passenger window thrusting the 5 euro we had included in saying we should keep it. If you ever read this Jerome, thank you.

We set out at 11:00 PM to Montpellier. By the time we arrived at the hotel it was nearly 1 AM and once we settled into our room and set alarms the time had struck 1:30 AM. Exhaust we all passed out almost as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Climbing with Thierry at St Leger, Rest and back to Ubrieux

On Friday I met up with Thierry at St Leger. It was really good to see him and his dog. He always has a great smile on his face and is excited to be out climbing. We started out on the East Face. There as is a hard 6c+ (5.11c) I was hoping to tick off called "Torcheur D'Elephant". The climbing routes names don't seem to be any less humorous than the ones in English. A Torcheur if you were wondering is the french word for someone who wipes your bum.

To warm up I decided to get on a route called "BC L'Ecornifleur" a fun sandbag 6a+ until you get to the anchor which is in a terrible position. Yes, another Kalymnian anchor. I think in the new guide we will give it a 6b (5.10d) as this is the a little more appropriate for clipping the anchors.

Basically I got all the way to the the last move where you have to move off of some really nice jugs into a terrible and insecure position with off angle feet and an overhang to reach and clip the anchor. I got trapped here and rather than get a flash pump decided to lower up and let Thierry see if there wasn't an easier way to do this. Thierry climbed it and agreed that he climb is pretty ugly and there was no easier way to do it. So I went back up and red pointed it.

Next we moved over so could get on "Torcheur D'Elephant" the 6c+ that I'm trying to red point. Thierry, still need to warm up decided to climb it first and put in the quick draws for me. He walked the route till he reach the crux which is 5 moves from the end of the route. He pulled through the bouldery moves and lowered off. Next was my turn to jump on and I climbed to the crux and fell off three moves in. Since I was red pointed and figured I had I good idea of the sequence I lowered off.

Thierry then got on a pumpy 7b which he finished with after hanging on the rope to prevent a flash pump. He lowered off we relaxed in the sun for a while talking about the technique need for the rock here, and about climbing when Erin and Carrie arrive. It was a lot of fun spending time with Thierry, he's such a fun guy and always has a sparkle in his eye and a faint hint of a smile.

While Thierry and I were climbing Adrian had gone off on a hike to get some more pictures for the book and now had returned. He decided to warm up on Torcheur as his warm up. Then I had another go on it. This time I got one move from finishing the crux when I fell off. This time I got back on and pulled through the crux then lowered and worked it a few times.

After rest and Thierry cranking out a 7c+/8a I got back on. I ran to the crux but was more tired than the last attempt and fell. I decided that maybe that was a day for me. Thierry still has some energy so I gave him a belay on a bouldery 7b which exhausted him as well. All three of us walked back to the cars and parted ways.


I took another double rest day to help recover from the abuse my body has been getting from the climbing.


Sunday, came soon; any harshness in my head and body were chased away by a couple of cups of coffee. ;) I hoped on a bike and cycle with Stuart a friend of Ollie, the owner of our gite. We went to Propiac, the next town over, which is where a street rally was going through. We perched ourselves atop an embankment overlooking a pair of hairpin turns. After about 5 minutes the cars started screaming by. We had another car every minute for 3 hours. Some screeched around the corners, some slide, some just turned. A couple nearly hit the bank we were sitting on but that was as we were about 20 feet up and so were in no risk.

At 11:00 AM the last car rolled through our stage of the race and we state down to eat lunch. The day was hot, the hottest so far here. i would guess it was 28 degrees but a nice breeze kept the temperature from getting too out of hand. After a 45 minute interlude the second state of the rest took place with the cars pushing now to their limit.

The Rally lasted till 3 in the afternoon and we packed up and cycled back up the hill to Les Jonchiers. I spent the rest of the afternoon down in Buis-Les-Baronnies with Adrian who needed a break from writing the book.

Today I wasn't expecting to climb as we were going into Buis-Les-Baronnies to see if we couldn't get Adrian's dentist appointment moved up. Adrian while in Switzerland skiiing manage to crash and hit himself in the face with his pole. He had a false front tooth from when he was a boy and got it knocked out. Well I said had and I mean had, he is looking like a hockey play now. Apparently the crash broke either the tooth that the false one was sitting it or the cement hold it in but either way its out now.

So we wondered into the dentist office in hopes of getting a cancellation or improving his appointment time. I spoke to the receptionist and she gave us a better appointment for tomorrow at 3:00 PM. So we found ourselves with the entire day available.

We decided to visit Ubrieux, we had spent one day there already but the place was massive and we had lots of climbing to check out there. We set out and climbed out the far right sector of Tchernobyl rock, a sector with a slightly less than vertical wall to a roof and then it slabs off. The routes in this location are quite short only 12-15 meters in length, making them bolted highball boulder problems.

I warmed up on a 6b called "Ira De La Lune", the climb was relatively straight forward but condensation from the hot weather made some of the polished holds slippery. Feeling good about he onsight I decided to talked a 6b called "Sensation". This route has a roof which forces me to climb the overhang. Overhangs have been my Achilles heel so far on the trip so I'm now focusing on working the technique needed to climb these.

The climb didn't go so well, the first section was relatively easy till you pull up to a ledge just under the roof and most of the holds run out. I had to pull on a mono (pocket in the rock only large enough for one finger) to gain the first hold on the roof. I clipped the bolt and then worked my hands to the jugs just above the edge of the roof but with no support from my feet I was unable to hold the position and fell off. I rested briefly and then gave it another try. This time at Adrian suggestion I cut my feet off (cutting off is when you remove both feet from the foot holds and hang exclusively on your arms) and reposition my right foot and then rocked up and locked off. I moved my right hand to a so so hold but my right foot with where it was positioned was forcing my body out and away from the rock and I was unable to hold the position. Rather than continue flailing I decided to come back to the ground and rest before making another attempt at the route.

After some rest I got back on "Sensation", after working out a better sequence involving a left hand cross (when you cross you left hand over you right hand) above the head wall I was able to get the red point.

We decided to move over to the K D'Annibal sector a bit further from the road. Here I flashed a three star 6b+ called "Nuage". The climb works up some gray slabs to a overhanging buldge. Once through the bulge you make you way up to some slightly overhanging right trending flake to a traverse (climbing horizontally) right on thin holds, then up to the anchor.

We decided to finish the day off at the Diagonale Du Fou sector. I got on a route called "Desir" without looking through the guide book. It was slab for the first section, then crack and then back to slightly overhanging moves on slab. This marathon route is 38 meters. Some tricky moves open the climb as you pull up into an undercling and then up onto a head wall. Moving over sustained but easier terrain you reach a short section of chossy (rotten/crumbly rock) rock which you pull through with some caution and then out on to the slab. The moves get progressively thinner as you work higher on the route till you step left on small edges and a couple of sidepulls and latch on to a big flag that threatens barn door you (when you body peels away form he rock and you but one side stays attached making you look like a barn door). Fighting through the barn door you get into a set of finger locks and then underclings to the chains.

I eeked out the onsight of "Desir" just as the sun set so we packed up the gear and headed home. A good finish to a good day. It seems the extra rest I've been taking recently is paying dividens as this is my first 6c+ (5.11c) onsight on the trip.

A friend recently as about what my feeling is for this trip, what exactly is my persuit here. Am I just chasing grades or what do I hope to accomplish. I think it would be good to share my thoughts on this.

I want to see just where I can go with my climbing. I'm pursuing it to the limit and see where that is, I know it might not be the same place as those guys but that doesn't matter, I want to find mine. I love the purity of climbing and its one thing I have a passion for in my life. I have always love it.

I have a whole lot to learn and I'm already starting to discover some pretty glaring technical weaknesses that have been hidden by the angles I climb in the gym. Basically the Coquitlam gym is not steep enough to teach what you get out here. Things are so outrageously overhanging it will blow you away. I now know that once the angle of a climb reaches about 15-20 degrees or more I'm going to have problems because I haven't developed the technique. Some of this is physical as I'm getting worn down a bit from the intensity and length of the routes. I also realize now that I haven't developed the strength I need for some of the hard moves because I haven't bouldered much but most of all that could be compensated by better technique which I haven't got yet. I'm sure it will come but its becoming so apparent it really interesting. Knowing a thing is one thing, becoming a thing and living/moving in that way is quite something else.

Knowing all this I'm starting to develop a more structured approach to climbing here. I'm starting to set goals and training practices to help me get the technique and strength I'll need to start climbing harder. One thing I'm not doing is resting more. I'm now going to take two day rests every week or so to make sure I stay physical condition for climbing hard. Next climbing day I'm going to get on some much harder climbs, maybe a 7b+ (5.12c), and go bolt to bolt to help develop more power. I'm also going to start picking out easier climbs in the 6a/6a+ (5.10b/c) range that are overhanging and focus on technique where I am not totally taxed to my limit (today I did this with sensation).

So there you guys have it. There are other reason for the trip but in the context for climbing that is why I'm out here. I hope everyone back home is well. Hugs and love.