First two days at the Motherlode!

The next couple on days we decided the Motherlode was the place to be to get in better shape. Good call one would think since is wicked steep with (mostly) bigger holds. We started off at the so called Warm Up wall which has an 11a, 11b, and 11c all clustered together. My friend Evan taught me about a concept called "closest grade complement" which basically means that if you are at a wall where there is a couple 5.11s and everything else is 5.12 or harder chances are that the 5.11s are going to be HARD.

The warm up wall was no surprise that they had some nice tough cruxes. I wouldn't saw the grades were unfair but they are hard for the grade. Since the 11a was busy we worked on the 11b, Trust In Jesus. It took me 3 goes to get the ascent and the third attempt was touch and go as the crux is making a tough left hand Gaston to move up to a crimp then back onto good holds again. The route was not considered steep, a paltry 10 degrees overhanging. After the guys patiently let me work this route we all headed to the Undertow wall.

James set about working a 12c call Resurrection, while I headed around the corner to work on a vertical 11a called Snapper. Two goes later and I had done this. The guys ribbed me for picking to do a vertical climb when there was some of the best overhanging lines in the world just around the corner but I figure at this point I should play into my strength and work back into it instead of climbing at my limit in a style that is my weakness. Though I did make one attempt (bolt to bolt) on a 12a called Kick Me In The Jimmie. The holds were huge but the climb felt impossible especially for the last climb of the day.

Pete had a good day, getting the ascent on Pushing Up Daisies, 13b. While James worked out the beta on Resurrection.

The second day we return to the Warm Up wall. This time we got their earlier and the wall was free. We hopped on Injured Reserve, 11a. James made the first attempt on this tricky climb. He made it to the crux and tried working it out for a while eventually building up a good pump and taking the fall. I was up next and wanting to try to onsight it I climbed to the crux as well and couldn't figure it out falling off. Pete offered up the critical beta to move through, a high left hand crimp to a high step then a big move to a jug.

As we took our turns warming up on the Injured Reserve some locals showed up. One a character I had met on the first day. I believe his name is Jeff but I've heard him more often called "Ash Tray" than his real name. He was a professor at one of the colleges here in computer engineering. So needless to say we had a lot to talk about. He was climbing with Chris Snyder, whom I was later to learn, was the person who found the Motherlode. All in all my encounters with the locals have been very interesting, they don't fit the stereotype of the over-all wearing red necks. Though the beer swilling did come out from time to time.
Since we had been monopolizing the warm up routes, when Chris asked to warm up, I pass on my turn to let them climb through.

My second attempt wasn't much better than the first as I missed the throw to the good hold after the high step. I didn't want to hold up the team as I had done yesterday trying to red point an 11a that I was sure we would be back on in the future. We packed up and move on to the Undertow Wall.

James worked Resurrection, again, getting pretty close with only one fall. Just a matter of time before he ticks this fine route.

Pete and MF went to GMC wall to work 8 Ball, 12d and Snooker, 13a. By the end of the day Pete had ticked 8 Ball.

I spent the day working on Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 12a, top roping the route twice and leading it once (well maybe I should say aiding it since i was grabbing draws left right and center). Tired we packed up and headed in to a rest day.

I had time to reflect on my rest day as to the nature of the climbs here and the ethics the people making route here have. Seems the ethics here are to make sure all the lines a really good, well spaced and of high quality (at least where we have been).

There seems to be a nearly endless supply of amazing crags that haven't been bolted. Rock that would be gridded up in a year if it were in Squamish but they either haven't gotten to or don't feel its deserving of attention (yet). Also I have never been to a place with so much variety, from good cracks, to off-widths (for my friend Paul Campbell), to technical face climbs, to overhanging jug hauls that don't end.

The routes are long and pretty heady with the spaced out bolts at the top on the overhanging climbing. I've routinely seen 40 ft whippers in the Motherlode, but in their defense they only occur up high and only on the overhanging routes. Since I haven't been climbing routes and am wildly out of shape this has resulted in grabbing quick draws to clip on more than one occasion so I could work a hard section.

Enjoying the rest day and look forward to some new crags when we return to climbing. Next crags up are Left Flank and The Gallery; does every climbing spot have crag with this name?

First days in the Red

It been over a year since I've logged anything to the travel blog but hey, times have been busy and I haven't been on any climbing trips that have been long enough or had internet access to blog. That has changed with my arrival in Kentucky for my first trip to the Red River Gorge or as most climbers call it, the Red.

The time leading up to this trip was pretty intense and put me in a position for being the weakest in my climbing ever. The month of October leading up to the trip saw me go to California for work spending a little over a week down there and working (including travel time) over 75 hours. It was a successful work trip but not a lot of climbing.

I return to Vancouver hoping to squeak in some last minute training in the gym but that was all for naught as I came down with Swine Flu on the Monday was a bed ridden for the entire week with a fever, lack of appetite, shallow breathing etc... I haven't been that sick in 15 years. It was a challenge to get well enough to make the trip to Kentucky on the Saturday morning. Thanks to the support and care of my girlfriend Angela and my roommates Hazel and Mike I was able to bounce back in time to make the trip.

I took the advice of my Boss who suggested I take it easy for the first couple days and so I enjoyed watching Pete and James climbing for the first day out at the motherload. I am amazed at how the rock has formed in this place. It is so steep the Undertow wall is 35 degrees overhanging and it only gets steeper as you move to climbers left to probably closer to a sustained 50 degree overhang. Rodellar was steep but in a far different way than this sandstone. The holds and the feet are much different causing you to hang on more on your arms. In Rodellar Spain for some reason (at least the routes I climbed) you could get your feet underneath you in such a way that you could take the weight off you arms by twisting to get your hips up to the wall. Here the feet force you to climb more head on as the feet are not nearly as wide in stance and as a result you hang on you hands and arms a lot more.

I had been warned that the Red would be a whole new experience and I should control my expectations on what I could climb. After watching James struggle with climbs as easy as 11- I knew I was in for it. I also had to manage my expectations as I was still weak and even experiencing dizzy spells.

For my first day on the rock Pete, James and I went to Drive-by crag. This was just past the Motherload down a gas and logging service road. The weather had turned a bit cold and we showed up slightly later to let me catch a bit of sleep in time.

The crag was busy with lots of people climbing on the easier "warm-up" climbs all day. I did my first climb at the Red onsight. It was an amazingly fun 10a called Make A Wish. The climb moved up through the rough overhanging sandstone to a mid-height ledge where I caught a rest before finishing off the pumpy upper half of the climb.

For my second climb I did what I will now call my favorite 10c climb: Breakfast Burrito. This amazing climb is slightly overhanging moving through long reaches between good holds to a no hands rest. I recovered fully then moved up and left out of a huge alcove onto an overhanging arete to finish off. The position on this climb is amazing as you pull out onto the overhanging arete you have nothing but air beneath you and the clips are well spaced to give you a sense adventure. I haven't seen a position like this on any other climb at this grade. Amazing! I'll admit, the blood rushed through my forearms on this climb and I worked hard to hang on to the finish.

My next climb of the day was a 10d called Fire and Brimstone. This climb earned its name as I struggled up the steep arete. Even catching a no-hands rest by wrapping my leg around a flake and putting in a heal-toe cam. The route spit me off at a difficult clip in the crux which I was almost too pumped out to clip. This was just before a sit down rest which lead to technical climbing up a crack to finish.

I rounded out the day with an epic battle on Slick and the 9mm at 10b. The route moved up through some fun crack to a roof crux in which I got trapped hunting for a clipping hold. Feeling the lactic acid building in my forearms I knew I couldn't hold on long. Hunting around wildly as my hands began opening I found a good in-cut crimp for my left hand. I was able to clip and move up and establish myself on the vertical section above the roof.

After this I tapped out feeling tired from my first day of pumping climbing at the Red.

The next day was a rest day so we all packed up and headed in to Lexington for stocking the house for food and alcohol.

Tuesday we were back at it again, back to Drive-By crag to resolve some unfinished projects. I warmed up on Make A Wish and then followed up by doing Fire and Brimstone with relative ease. For the third climb of the day I on-sited possibly one of the best 11a's I've ever climbed: Whip Stocking. This climb moves up through a series of steep jugs and flakes. I was clearly not in shape for the climb but managed to pull through by finding 4 knee bars and one no hands rest just before the final roof before the anchors.

Pete offered to hang the draws on the four star 11c, Spirit Fingers. I was feeling good and eager to get on some harder routes. Harder it was, the crux moves up through a steep overhanging section to a hard clip and then two more hard moves off smaller crimps while you are tired to get back onto huge holds and a run-out to the anchor. I made two attempts on this route grabbing the draws in a few occasions (my head was not prepared for the big run-out at the tops of most of the steep routes in the Red).

James continued to work on a 12a called Primus Noctum, which he did. The tick of the day went to Pete who did Dirty Smelly Hippie, a proud 13b that climbs out of a massive 40 degree roof for a full 28 meters. Since we were all a little roughed up from the physical aspects of the climbs and Pete had split his finger we decided to take the following day off to recover.

Our next days on would be at the Motherlode, and we would need ever ounce of skin and strength for the 35-50 degree overhangs that go for 20-35 meters.

Siurana - 9 Days of Climbing with James and Evan

Reunited with Evan and James after a big of baggage drama. The carrier from Paris to Barcelona lost Evan's bag. So we spent a day enjoying some Gaudi architecture and the Rambla.
By the afternoon we had received a phone call from the airline and Evan's bag was found.

We picked it up the following morning and set out from Barcelona destined for Siurana. The trip was not too long only about 4 hours but we did have to make a few pit stops along the way to pick up a map as the direction we got from Google maps were a bit confusing.

We got into Siurana with enough time to climb so I bought the guide book and ask Antonio which was the best crag to hit up for the grades we were looking for. After a bit of discussion we settled on of the crags that was nearby. It was only a little over a 1km but we decided to drive.

It wasn't long before we discovered that the trail marking and the maps in the guidebook were woefully inadequate. The scale was off, trail are not marked. After an hour or so of wondering we ended up finding a new sector but no the place we wanted.

Instead of carrying on trying to find the place we headed back to town to resupply and get a fresh start on the next day.

The following day headed to the opposite side of Siurana. Again we stumbled around looking for trails looking for sectors. We were looking for specific sectors that were out of the sun and had the grade range we wanted to climb. Eventually we gave up on the idea of finding a shady sector and braved the sun at sector Espero Primavera (36).

After warming up on a couple 6bs we were joined by Sarah who had a bit of disagreement with her partner on areas to climb so they had gone separate ways for the day. We now had even numbers of people. We all packed up and headed over to sector Siuranella North (34) which was now in the shade. Evan and James continued to climb strong while I Sarah and I teamed up to tick a few more 6cs.

Well alas, its been a little over a year since I start this post and so the memories have faded.

Of our time in Siurana I can say the best party was going to an out door party in the bush with Sarah where they had a DJ setup and the DJ let me bring my hard disk and play till 6 AM. The experience was amazing, and I got to enjoy playing some music for the first time on the trip.

Other memorable moments was my second 12a right next to the tower.

All in all a great trip. After Siurana we headed south for the DWS festival in Benidorm.

Ceuse - Best Crag in the world

The train ride to Apt, the closest town to Ceuse was uneventful. I had a two hour stop over in Grenoble so I was able to have a look at the area where Scheinder electric. I found myself in the Apt train station at 5:00 PM.

I decided to look for a grocery store to buy food and an internet café to get direction for Les Guerins where he camping was. I wondered up and down the main street in Apt with my two packs on, one in the front and one on the back, as well as carrying a bit of food and my laptop bag. The total weight for all my gear would easily tip the scales at 40kg. So when I step into a break in the sidewalk because I couldn’t see it over my backpack I went down hard.

This was a rather humorous moment for me. I think this was the first time I had fallen on my face in my adult life. Quite an experience having feeling of wounded pride; I could only laugh as I felt the warm trickle of blood start to run down my leg. I gather myself up and move on walking past a French girl waiting at a bus stop laughing at me. It must have be a comical scene watching me tumble to the ground.

Alas I gave up on the idea of finding internet access and feeling hungry and a bit beat up I decided to get a taxi to the camp ground. After a brief negotiation I got the drive down from 50 euro to 35 and we headed to the campground. I was taken aback by how beautiful this place was. The campground was relaxed and the cliff face seems like a warm guarding presence looking down on us in the campground below.

Picture: Panorama of Ceuse from the campground. That cliff band is as high as 100m.

I setup my camp and had something to eat.

The next morning while I was cleaning up in the bathroom I ran into Audrey. Apparently both her and Adrian were staying there for the next couple of days. Audrey and I decided to climb together up at Cascade sector and Adrian went out to take pictures for the Guidebook.

The infamous hike to the top of Ceuse was at hand. Audrey set the pace and lead the way up since she had done it a few times. A gentle breeze kept the hike from being unbearably hot as we hiked through the heat of the day. By 1:30 we had arrived at Cascade the hike not being nearly as bad as advertised. The hike up was made easier by chatting with Audrey and being distracted by the gliders that would routinely buzz the cliff face overhead. The glider really are a surreal experience because they make the same sound that the Cyclone Raiders do in Battle Star Galactica.

Picture: Cascade Sector profile as seen from Medecine Douce.

We accidentally warmed up on a 6c that was a bit of the shock to the system since we both thought it was the 6b. The climbing was slow going and steep in the blistering heat. I think it was around 31 degrees. That night I stashed the rope at the top and left my draws in Medicine Douce a 6c+ that I was projecting while Audrey left her draws in Hyper Mickey 7c.

That night I spent hanging out with the Germans that I had met the night before when I had arrived. We just hung out around some candles they had brought and drank wine. Now here is something that left me longing for home: the lack of camp fires at the campground. That is definitely one of those treats we have in North America and specifically Canada – the luxury of having a camp fire; small things that mean a lot.

The next days Audrey and I headed back up while Adrian set out again to get photos for the guide. After a couple 6b and 6c warm ups to the wall left of Cascade I took a burn on Medicine Douce. It was a good burning making it all the way to the crux before pumping out and falling. Audrey had picked off Hyper Mickey and so we took a break in the shade to hide from the sun.

Picture: Me just before the crux of Medicine Douce, 6c+ at Cascade Sector.

I took one more burn on Medicine Douce later that day falling at the first crux and decided to take out my quick draws in favour of using my last couple days for climbing at other sectors. Adrian had rejoined us so we went over to some other sectors to climb the classics at other walls.

Audrey put up Zegreb, the classic 6c. I took a spin on it despite feeling tired to start. I fell off below the crux, catching my left foot on the fall on a hold re-sprained my ankle. The sprain wasn’t nearly as bad as last time, more of tweak this time but it hurt none the less so I called it day. I took a nice hike up the wall towards the Demi Lune sector passing under Biography wall where Realization is. I looked the route but to be honest it wasn’t as inspiring as I would have though it because of the way the cliff falls away below it you don’t get to appreciate the steepness or difficulty of the 5.15a climb.

Picture: Panorama of Biography sector, Ceuse.

Later on down the wall I stopped to sit under a beautiful overhang where hundreds of sparrows were swooping towards the cliff roof trying to find a place to rest for the night. They would fly right up to a pocket and then hover right at the edge, sometimes they would land, sometimes they would fall away if the pocket was already filled with sparrows. Sometimes they would spook and several would take off and the group would fly a few meters from the cliff only to turn and come back to find a place to sleep. It was a wonderful experience to just appreciate their dance for a moment and see the beauty in their existence.

When I returned to where we were climbing earlier that day I found Audrey and Adrian had already packed up and headed down the hill. I got my pack and walked down. Had dinner with Audrey and Adrian during the last night there then caught a ride into Apt with them the following day to catch up on emailing and coordinating plans with Evan and James.

I have to say hitch hiking in France is pretty nice, I had no trouble. Of the 20km trip to the campsite I only had to walk for 200m and wait no longer than 10 minutes. Definitely feel appreciative to the generosity of my French.

The following day I climbed with one of the Australian guys from New Leyland. He had been sick for the past couple of days and wasn’t looking to climb hard. My ankle was still sore and I was looking to test is gently to see how it was doing. We headed up to Demi Lune and the first 6b we got on was technical but I was able to hold on and get the onsight but I felt very uncertain of my ankle as rocking over on it was causing some pain. Still not warm I followed up with a 6b slab climb thinking it was a 6a. I made it all the way up to the top and found myself at a tenuous crux where I had to rock over my left food on a flow stone scoop. This move proved to be very painful for my ankle not to mention scary as I didn’t want to fall off and land on the slab below and possibly aggravating my already injured ankle. I pulled through after falling off once but resolved to avoid slabby climbs because I couldn’t compensate for my injured ankle with my arms and was more likely to further injure it if I fell of.

To round out the day I headed up Chant De Cristal at 6b+ which I onsighted easily – I hit the crux sequence properly which makes it feel easy and them moved on to the 6c extension that pulls the steep roof above on large holds. I feel off after the first bolt and then dog my way to the last bold on a huge 4 meter run out. I called it a day after this since I my nerves were fried for the day. Since my ankle was bothering me so much I decided to pack up my things and head out for Pierre Longue and visiting Christian and Gabriel my friends whom I had met there earlier in the trip.

Christian picked me up from the train station in Orange and we headed immediately to close family friends of his up in Beauvoisine for a BBQ with his brother’s family and family friends. It was a great night catching up with Gabriel and Christian and eating some fresh BBQ lamb from their farm as well as sausage, cheese and vegetables. It was really unique to experience another family meal in another country of the world.

The following day we spent lounging around at the river and in the kiddy pool with Gabriel, Christian and their children Salomi and Camie. Gabriel and I made inukshuk at from the rock in the river.


The next day Christian and I hiked up to the top of the mountain between Pierre Longue and Mount Ventoux to get some exercise as our last day together. We had tons of fun and I enjoyed the view from the top looking down at the places where I had climbed and lived for 3 months at the start of the year.

The following day Christian and Gabriel dropped me off at the train station in Orange and spent traveling to Barcelona on the train.

Switzerland - I love the mountains.

Picture: View from Chalet Martin where I stayed in Gryon

My first day in the Swiss alps necessitated some very important things. the first of which was the needed to get some Swiss Francs. It seems that I am a bit naive and figured that Switzerland had adopted the the Euro like many of the EU countries. The second was getting food as I was without.

Since I had now Swiss money as of yet I couldn't take the tram/train up the hill to the village of Villar. Instead, I hiked in the 5km with my laptop to add surfing the next to my list of things I wanted to do.

Picture: Swiss Village of Villar.

The hike was long and uneventful. I got on the net and bought food for the week. I took the tram ride back and spent the rest of the day gorging myself on the food. The next day it rained so I spent most of the day sleeping in and relaxing with the people at the hostel. It was a terrible shame since this was the only day that Matt had available to go climbing. Matt did tell me about some boulder fields up near Solalex, a 5 km hike up the hill.

The next day the sun had returned so I grabbed Matts crash pad and my shoes and head up to Solalex. The hike was mostly off the road. I arrived at Solalex after about 1.5 hours. The hike brought me in front of the Mirroir D’Argent – a 500m high sport climbing wall. The routes up this wall were many and varied from 16 pitch 5.10a to 5.11d. The boulder fields were made from the rock that was shed from mountain top.

Picture: Miroir D'Argent - 500m of limestone!

The bouldering was fun despite the stinging nettles that were growing around the base of the boulders. The problems were conveniently developed with little white arrows painted at their base to indicate the start. It took several goes to work out the problems. I ticked off most of the problem in the area with the exception of a dyno problem that pulled off a sit start and two pockets to in-cut flake nearly full arm span away. After 3 hours of bouldering I was spent and the light was slipping away so I headed back down the road.

Picture: Boulder Field at the base of the Miroir D'Argent near Solalex.

The night had fallen when I wander back into the Chalet Martin to find Matt and everyone at the hostel drinking Mojitos. Matt said we could catch a half day of climbing the following morning as he didn’t have any contracting. I put back a few Mojitos before returning for the night just a touch wobbly.



The next morning I was up and ready to go by 9 AM when Matt returned from his bike ride. We pilled into his Van and headed to a crag on the other side of the valley called Sex Du Corbeau. We warmed up on some easier routes before turning up the challenge on a slightly wet 6c and then a really nice 7a. I fell off both but had a good time. We started packing up to leave when four English climber showed up and offered to let me join them and give me a ride back to the train station in Bex so I could get back.

Their names were Jon, Jon, Bruce and Susan. Two of them were climbers from Geneve who worked for CERN so we instantly had the nerd connection. We talked a bit about the particle accelerator they have there and how there is legal action currently against the installation to prevent them from completing the high energy particle accelerator as there is fear it might open a black hole that could swallow the planet. I told them about my trip and how I was debating if I should go to Ceuse or Magic Wood for bouldering next. Bruce said he had just dropped off a single climber from the US who was climbing the same grades I was roughly. So I decided that I would go to Ceuse after visiting Kevin Baumer in Lausanne.

After pulling down several more fun 6b’s I got on a beautiful overhanging 6c+ that exhausted me for the day. With the light failing we packed up and headed down to car. Because I had forgotten my wallet back in my pack at home they gave me a ride all the way back to Chalet Martin even though it was far out of the way.

That night I packed up so that I could check out and head down to Lausanne to meet up with Kevin. I hadn’t had internet access for the last couple of days so I wasn’t able to warn Kevin of the exact time of my arrival. So when I rolled into Lausanne at noon on Friday morning he wasn’t aware that I would be there. I found a internet café and spent the day there. I got a message through to Kevin and he met me at the café after work.

We went out drinking and caught up on old times. It was really fun, we did a lot of people watching that night as we moves from pub to pub. The Swiss definitely tend to keep to themselves and after a certain age doesn’t seem at all interested in forming new social bonds. I gathered this from observing them and how Kevin relayed his experience with them.

Picture: Kevin on the streets of Lausanne.

The next day we were a bit hung over so we moved very very slowly. We went out to go shopping and then walking around Lausanne in the afternoon. Kevin showed me his work and I bought camp stove fuel for when I got to Ceuse.

Kevin and I talked about books we had read recently. Mostly Kevin who has been into interesting books and he passed on 1984 and Girls of Riyadh to me for my time in Ceuse. I had no book for him with the exception of sharing what I had read so far of Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception.

The following day I was to leave for Apt France and had to be up early. I said good bye to Kevin that night. He was a generous host and it was good to catch up with my old friend.

Next stop, arguably the best climbing crag in the world.

A few days in The Neatherlands

The time in the Netherlands was fun but intense. The train ride from Berlin to Amsterdam was relatively uneventful. I had a nice Dutch couple and a mother and pair of kids from Chicago sharing my car. During the trip I was able to finish the Book on Genghis Khan that Jon has passed on to me in Portland.

Tiemen and Jochem met me at the train station in Amsterdam and we set out for Jochem’s flat where I would be staying while I was there. The walk was short and made easier by the two of them taking a backpack each (thank guys). We wound our way through the narrow streets, crossing canals as we went. Thankfully Amsterdam is a very dense city and so the walk was only about 15 minutes.

We dropped off the packs and immediately set out for a place to have dinner. We stopped at the local pub around the corner from Jochem’s to have a few Heineken first to decide what we wanted to it. We decided on a Thai restaurant across town so we had a walk ahead of us. They saw to it that we passed through the red light district and down a narrow alley of which the name I didn’t recall. I have to comments about this: it was weird to see these women in the windows and though the sex trade is no less overt on Nelson it was really strange to see it indorsed by the institutions. Then we headed through the main square apparently where the prince proposed to the queen at one time.

Picture: Tiemen and his 4-month old son Diede

The next day I woke up at noon and had to quickly get under way to meet up with Tiemen at Leiseplein square where we agreed to meet for lunch at 1. The walk was fun and the place was easy to find. Tiemen was waiting there with his 4 month old sun Diede whom I had been looking forward to meeting. Tiemen was telling me he was the Zen baby and I could see why. In the crowded square of tourists he was just laying there sleeping.

We went to Vondel Park which was close by for lunch. Vondel Park is a big park in the center of Amsterdam where much like Stanley park or Central park but perhaps a bit smaller. There is lot of grass for people to picnic on and enjoy the sun. We had a quick brunch and then went back to Tiemen’s house as he had friends coming over to meet Diede.

I got a chance to spend some time with Diede, holding him and feeding him though Tiemen took over the honours of burping him. We spent the afternoon hanging out but I had to make my way back to Jochem’s because I had his keys. The way back to Jochem’s proved to be a little more tricky than I first anticipated. I manage to get myself lost on the way. It seems that, like Victoria, Amsterdam likes to make roads that are perfect straight change names at intersections so I walked by the turn off to get to Jochem’s house since it didn’t have the same name as the road I had turned on earlier that day.

Picture: Traffic Jam on the cannels of Amsterdam.

After realizing that I had over shot the turn off I double backed and decided to take a random turn off in hopes that I might intersect the road I was looking for farther down. The gamble paid off and I found Karthusier street at the exactly the spot where the name changed. I returned to Jochem’s place to find him waiting outside with slightly warm beer. I guess I should have started out from Tiemen’s a little earlier but c’est la vie.

That night Jochem and I spent the night in playing computer games, eating pizza and watching entourage. I know it never that good reliving the past but it was just like old times when they would come to Vancouver and visit during the summers. Good times. The following morning I was supposed to get picked up by friend from Vancouver who was visiting as we were going to go out to a party near Utrecht that night but the rides were synching up so we planned to meet at Utrecht at 9:00 PM. I coordinated meeting up with another friend from home who was living in The Hague for dinner in Utrecht at 7:30 so that we would be fed before meeting Jaap at 9:00.

Jochem and I decided we would go out people watching for the day, on our excursion we though it was rather amusing to get the some tourist sunglasses that were fully chauchie so that we would be a little less flagrant. The glasses were perfect, it was great because they were so bad it was amusing to see who noticed these horrible glasses, who pretended not to, and who was in their own space and didn’t notice at all. We made our way to Vonder Park again and sat on the grass there for some more people watching.

Picture: Jochem and I with our voyeur/people watching sunglasses.

The hours slipped by quickly and before I knew it I had to rush back to Jochem’s to pick up my packs to make the train to Utrecht. A hasty goodbye and then jumped on the train. It was a really good time reconnecting with my cousins in Amsterdam. Its been far too long and next time it won’t be 4 years before I spend time with them again.

Seeing Tomas was really great. We headed out for a quick bite after wondering around downtown Utrecht and then met up with Jaap. We went over to an industrial site where friends of his had an art studio. They were having a BBQ out front and we had a chance to meet all these friends who were going to the party that night. A friend of Jaap’s whom I had met in Vancouver name Roderick was there also. They were the most generous hosts, no sooner had we arrived than we had Heineken’s in our hand and were being introduced to everyone.

Once we had arrived at the party we got our first taste of the small underground parties that happen in Holland. The place was a small clearing near a boat lunch about 45 minutes out of Utrecht. We had arrived a bit early and setup for the second stage was still underway. We found a place to park and had a walk around to see what was around.

Picture: Roderick at the party outside of Utrecht.

The music was heavy and hard: welcome to Tekno – that’s Techno with a K. The sound was something of Gabber with more techno sounds and a slight melody to it. Not my cup of tea but it was interesting to listen to something new and see what I could make of it. Unforetunately, I had left my earplugs in my other bag which was being stored at Roderick’s house so I had to do without.

The overall sense of the party was aggressive and edgy energy about it. I would say it was a reflection of the music being played or perhaps the fact that there were far more men than women there (a pattern I had noticed in Greece when I saw Dave Seamen a few years back). I don’t know if correlation is causality but it was pretty apparent. There was also a darkness about the music and what people were wearing. It was almost a punk and also some Goth look about them, that having been said they were friendly enough. I was approached by a woman named Chantelle who introduced me to many of her friends and the party organizers. She invited me to come visit Rotterdam though refused the offer as I was pretty keen to get back to climbing. Not being a huge fan of the music and not being able to dance I spent the majority of my time in Roderick’s camper van hanging out and talking with his friends whom were really awesome.

Picture: Tomas and I at the party in Utrecht. Its colder than you think there in the summer.

I can also say they go really hard as the party continued till 10 AM at which point I had long since thrown in the towel. Jaap was generous enough to give me a ride up to The Hague and drop me off at Tomas’ place. I had a shower cleaned up and unloaded my gear.

Tomas, Jen and I spent the day wondering around The Hague picking up my train Ticket reservation to Switzerland for the next day and a few bike parts. The train ticket proved to be a bit more of a challenge then I wanted since I wanted to go to Lausanne and then on to Gryon where a friend Matt whom I had met climbing in Kalymnos had a hostel but the operator said all the trains were full. So instead I book a ticket to Basel where there was climbing as well but I had no connections.

After walking around looking for a while in the overcast day we settled on an Indian Restaurant right across from Tomas and Jen’s place. No sooner had we sat down then it started raining. We ate dinner then they went home while I walked up the street to do some research on place to stay in Basel so that I wouldn’t be completely lost when I arrived there. Then we went back to watch the Astronaut Farmer, said our goodbyes before heading to be early.

The train went shockingly early leaving at 7:06 AM so I would have to be up at 6:10 AM to make the walk over with all my bags. On the train to out of Utrecht I was joined in my cabin by a Dutch man who worked for the railroad service and he explained that reservations were not necessary on many trains and also explained that even if a section is full you can always stand if necessary on the train.

I decided to go to Gryon knowing it was only a few hours that I would be standing at works to make my way there. It was really an amazing journey, I didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes at any station along the trip. As soon as I got off I would check the train board and was able to find a train heading to where I wanted to go on my route. The only mistake I made was getting on a train that indicate it stopped at Bex (my transfer point to Gryon) and then went past that stop and the following two before I was able to get off and double back on the next train. This is yet another advantage to of hanging a Eurorail pass since I would have had to pay for the train to double back to Bex if I didn’t have it.

I found my way up to Chalet Martin and met Matt at around 8:00 PM and got myself setup in the place. The sun had been shining and I had left the rains of the morning behind. The mountains were beautiful and I felt at home once more, I never realized how much I feel a part of the mountains. Now hopefully the weather will hold despite what the tram conductor told me on my journey up here.

Berlin

I'm starting my entry for these areas now while sitting in the Berlin train station about to go from here to Amsterdam.

My time in Berlin has been quick but good. I've spent some time visiting Paul Sikora and touring the city. Berlin was interesting the most notable of which was the architecture. I can definitely see the pragmatism in how the design things here. The industrial look of the older buildings and the shining glass of the newer ones makes for an interesting contrast. The city also doesn't have the panicked nervous energy that I often sense in North American and even cities in the UK.

Picture: Fernsehturm in Berlin.

The first day was not that interesting as Paul had to work and I recovered from my travels and worked out a Eurorail pass for getting around during the remainder of my trip. The afternoon was spent relaxing and back at Paul’s place which he was leaving the following morning. We packed up his bags and did the final inspection with the landlord which freed us up for spending the rest of the night visiting the sites of Berlin.

We started out by visiting the Fernsehturm (telecom tower), Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, the holocaust memorial, the remains of the Berlin wall and then had dinner. Mehrdad’s cousin (terrible with names and forgot it already) came and met us so we went out for a couple beers.

Picture: Riechstag in Berlin.

Picture: Part of the Berlin Wall. We had dinner behind the building in the background.

The next morning we were up at 7:30 and jumping into a taxi. Paul dropped me at the Bahnhof where I stored my bags for a few hours then got on the train and visited Tiergarten and the Seigessaule (the golden statue of Victory). I walked the length between the Seigessaule and the Brandenburg Gate then made my way back to the train station for my trip to see my cousins.

Picture: Seigessaule from the underground tunnel which takes you under the road.

Off to Amsterdam.