I have just returned from yet another eventful and character building climbing trip to Céüse, France. I was out there for around 4 weeks in total with two others travelling with me from Scotland, Andy Latta and William Bosi.
For those of you who don’t know Andy and William, Andy is one of my oldest and best friends, we have shared many adventures together since we were young and he is still my favourite climbing buddy on outdoor sport climbing trips. William is one of my young apprentices who is quickly becoming a master. For William, this was his first big trip abroad with the guys, he’s only 14 but he was ready for it and he has no doubt learned a lot from the weeks he spent at Céüse.
The Journey Out
We had planned to head out from Edinburgh early on the morning after we packed the car, however a last minute decision changed our plans and we ended up leaving at midnight of that evening. It was quite a big step for me as I had never driven so far in my life, the idea of driving 20+ hours in a car laden with all our kit including ourselves was scary, however after the first couple of hours I adjusted well to the endless streaming of lights passing by on the motorway and the doubling in weight of the car.
William tucking into his staple brekkie of Cookie Crisp without milk - all you need to crush at Ceuse
There is no doubt about it; Andy is the best driving companion I could ever have had. He is the most organized person I know, he had the maps and directions down and all the necessary paperwork for the ferry as well as all our passports kept nice and safe (if it was up to me, I would probably have ended up in some remote part of Asia no doubt). Andy was like my human sat-nav/alarm clock, when I looked tired he was the first to step in, slap me about a bit and stick on some good beats to get me psyched up again.
All in all we didn’t go too far wrong on the journey out – we got a bit confused around London that cost us a short amount of time, then we had to spend a lot of time waiting for the Ferry in Dover. And when we finally hit the French roads we managed perfectly until the final step of the journey i.e. reaching Céüse from Gap. I had never actually done this before and our directions only took us as far as Gap, so of course when we arrived at 5am in Gap, finding the crag took a bit longer than anticipated.
It was all good in the end though, we found the crag, set up camp and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow :P And that was the start of Céüse 2013!
Getting Started
So I wasn’t sure what to expect with Céüse 2013 – I had hoped to go back this time and get on some of the harder 8th grade routes as it is mostly these that I have left to climb. As I had climbed a number of 8b+ and 8c routes this year in Spain, I figured it might be a possibility to do an 8c in Céüse as well, this would certainly make my year since the Céüse 8c’s are amongst the most stunning lines I have yet to encounter on my travels.
Darren climbing a big 7b in Berlin Sector - I did the 7b to the left of this which might have been 7c anywhere else!
The last time I had actually been to Céüse was 2 years previously and I had felt reasonably strong on one of the 8c’s then, so this year I was hoping to see some improvements. Of course, it takes time to get used to a style and seeing as I had just driven a ridiculous number of hours already, gone 2 days without sleep, drunk 4 Red Bulls and sung a lot of Oasis… I was probably not in the best state of body or mind for climbing hard routes. Needless to say I flung myself at them anyway and got a bit shut down.
The first week became more of a “getting used to Céüse again” experience after that… What was really good to see was just how well William adapted his strong indoor fitness and strength to the Céüse rock. On his first day he came close on an 8a onsight (“Carte Blanche”) and then quickly dispatched it 2nd go without any trouble whatsoever. He then started trying an 8c in between attempts on other easier routes. The 8c he tried was called “Chronique de la Haine Ordinaire”, a tough short boulder section presumed to be of around F7C+ boulder difficulty followed by a longer section estimated at around f8a+ route grade. The boulder section was split in two, both around F7B+ I’d say. We could both do each section on its own, but I struggled a lot with one move going to a pinch on the lower boulder whilst William seriously disliked a small mono hold on the upper boulder. The 8a+ section was still possible to fall on, but both of us felt very confident that if we made it through the lower section then we would get to the top. I gave “Chronique de la Haine” a few goes but wasn’t psyched after it tore a big flapper in my finger. William persisted longer with it but did the same after a few more attempts.
I then decided to try easier routes that I could do in less attempts, as I wanted to get more into the style. There was still quite a few 8a’s and 8a+’s I had yet to try so I was keen to go around them and clip a few chains. This turned out to be harder than expected :P
Whilst William was trying 8c’s and I was ticking some of the easier routes in Céüse, some that were repeats and others new to me. Andy was getting back into sport climbing after a long time off. He had suffered a very bad rope burn on his hand earlier this year that laid him off climbing for a long time! He was mostly interested to see how much the scar tissue on his hand would be affected by the sharp rock in Céüse. Thankfully, Andy didn’t seem to be affected too badly by his hands and managed a quick repeat of a super classic 7b “Lapinerie”.
William Bosi trying "La Part du Diabl" (8c) - in the foggy fog!!! CRAZY BOY!!!
Starting to Function
After a week of climbing in Céüse, all of us were starting to get the hang of things. I still didn’t feel 100% in tune with the rock but it was coming slowly. It was this week that a few friends were arriving from various places as well which meant instead of lots of walking, I got to do some more driving!!! FUN!!! Our first guest was Alexander Bosi (William’s older brother) who was arriving in Grenoble. Secondly we had a very good friend of both Andy and myself, a Danish girl called Michelle Kim-Theisen who was supposed to meet us in Gap but ended up messing up (because she’s Danish) and we had to drive to some random little town in the middle of nowhere :P It was actually quite an adventure and Andy will do a good job of describing some of the “roads” we had to avoid falling off the side of… Worth it to pick up Michelle and grab us some pizza :D On the way back Andy and I serenaded Michelle with some amazing Oasis sing along action – by the way, if anyone is interested Andy and I are now doing a karaoke style duet which covers mostly Oasis but also do Owl City stuff and Magic Man by B.O.B.
Also joining us at the campsite was a friendly (and slightly terrifying) face from home, Mike Halcrow. Mike is a friend of Andy and myself who joined in on the trip as well. I told him lies about how Céüse is really soft and that climbing 8a here is like climbing 7b+ at the wall… Now I am scared to ever see him again otherwise he might kill me :P
As well as Michelle, Alexander and Mike, we met up with some more friends at the campsite. The always-friendly German beast, Felix Neumarker was one of the first to arrive. I last saw Felix in France end of last year but only very briefly, and we had been climbing together a lot the previous Spring. Since then he had climbed numerous 9a’s and one 9a+, La Rambla, which he told me is only 8c and isn’t so hard… Yes… Just don’t tell Dani Andrada that… Also climbing with us for a week was young Alex Waterhouse and Billy Ridal, both friends of Williams’ and mine from the national competitions.
We also made plenty of new friends of course as we always do on these trips, in particular we met a group of British climbers, two of which (Sam and Darren) study at Aberdeen university, not forgetting of course Jay and Mark. It was good to hang out with these guys for the majority of our trip as they certainly livened up our days.
Sam and Darren at their camping spot - Note: Hammock is a good idea!!!
Anyway, the second week of climbing felt a lot better than the first. I started the week by ticking of a few routes I have always wanted to try but never got round to before. First on the hit list was “Femme Blanche” (8a+). I fell after the crux at the top on my first attempt in the dark, then did the dirty tech slab onsight during my successful redpoint the day after… I also managed a very solid flash of a classic 8a/+ called “L’ami Couette”.
On the same day I did “L’ami Couette”, I also did an 8a+ called “Les Poinçonneur de lilas”. This was a route I had wanted to try for a number of years, as it looked amazing – and it didn’t disappoint either. It wasn’t too hard compared to other Céûse 8a+’s but perhaps the boulder mid-section could be hard for those breaking into the grade.
Onsighting a big blue 8a! I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out this bit :P
William and I both tried a good looking 8a+ in Berlin that I had never noticed before. The route was called “Ratman” and took a slightly overhung section of the wall on what seemed small but positive holds all the way up. Both of us had onsight goes on it on which we both fell on the same move at the crux around 4/5th’s of the way up. When we discovered actually how hard the individual moves where, we were blown away! This is probably the hardest 8a+ I have ever done, possibly in line with another 8a+ I climbed to the left of this called “Queue de Rat” which I did on my last day. “Ratman” climbs a long section of steady 7c/+ climbing on small but positive holds before you hit a gnarly V6 boulder with a not so good rest just before entering this. After you do the boulder problem there is still a little bit of techyness and some very droppable moves… Luckily neither of us dropped them and we both sent :P In all honesty, I have done 8b+ that have felt as hard as this and it would be 8b anywhere else for sure! Same goes for “Queue de Rat” and funnily enough my statement is backed up on 8a.nu by Ethan Pringle who says exactly the same :P
Big Ticks and Big Falls
Eventually, I managed to find something harder that I fancied projecting a little. The route was called “Slow Food” and was situated in probably the steepest sector of Céüse. Unfortunately in this sector there are only two climbs, “Slow Food” (8b+) and another absolute classic 8a called “Bourinator”. I was very lucky as Michelle had decided to start work on “Bourinator” which suited the two of us very well for belaying each other.
William had tried “Slow Food” briefly a few days previously and had told me it was really hard but that he was keen to get back on it. When I approached this route there was already a young American boy called Mirko (Caballero) trying it. It was impressive watching him make some good links on the lower section (crux) despite only being 12 years old! Also with him and his parents was young Ashima Shiraishi, the 12 year old girl who was climbing V13. I couldn’t wait to see her climb as I had heard so much about her :P I watched her walk up “Slow Food” (8b+) 2nd go with so much ease – it was nothing short of incredible. What was nice to see was her wonderful attitude towards climbing, she didn’t seem to have any ego despite being the best climber at the crag (by far) and was very happy to just go and climb anything that took her fancy, not jaded by grades or pressure in any way.
My initial attempts on “Slow Food” started out as bolt to bolts as the bottom section for me felt pretty nails, but quickly I discovered beta that improved the situation massively and on my 3rd attempt I stuck the first crux to my surprise and fell on the last hard move of the 2nd crux. This was huge for me because previously the route had felt totally nails and now I knew that if I had got through that 2nd crux I would have completed the route.
"Slow Food" (8b+) - the gnarly drop knee crux moves :D I loved this bit!!!
A couple of days later, William in amazing style at the end of the day did “Slow Food” for his first 8b+! At 14 years old, he matches the youngest Brit to climb 8b+ and is now the youngest Scot. A day later, I got back on the route and made it through both of the lower cruxes (only just) and was at the top of the final crux… I felt really steady and was moving to a huge jug when the right hand crimp shattered in my hands sending me hurtling off the wall! I didn’t really know what to do… I was hanging off the rope a little confused, I didn’t know if I should be angry or happy. I had made it through every crux and had essentially done the route, but the hold had broken stopping me from clipping the chains :P In my heart I know I did the route, but I hadn’t got the tick truthfully, so I decided I would try it again after a rest day. Unfortunately the rain came and I never got a chance to get back on it… Oh well L I will be back soon to clip those chains :D
I got into a habit of taking the jump from the top of “Slow Food” whenever I got to the chains. The fall is huge but very safe and so was good fun even if you didn’t do the route – it was always my excuse to go to the top just so I could take the jump. I then convinced Michelle, William and Alex (Waterhouse) to take the fall when they got to the end of either “Slow Food” or “Bourinator”.
As well as jumps from the top of routes, a popular rest day activity was jumping into the lake from a 10m high concrete tower. The hard part for me wasn’t the height, more the cold water… I improved at this rapidly however, going from not wanting to jump in at all, to jumping in multiple times in the sun, then one day suffered a terrible dare where I risked losing an eyebrow unless I jumped in at night on a particularly foggy evening… trust me, it felt a little like the start of a horror movie :P Luckily I had a partner in crime, Jay, who was the darer but agreed to do it with me… Thanks man!
More friends arrive...
We were coming to our final week in Céüse and more friends were arriving from all over making it much harder as the days towards our departure loomed ever closer. Alex Barrows (now made famous by his cheating knees) joined us as well as Tom Richmond (current Ednburgh local) and Andre Hedger (my biggest fan - but apparently he's more impressed by Alex's knees nowadays).
Impressively on one of the first few days of arrival, Andre ticked "Seurs Froides" (8a+), and I have heard via text that he has also made quick ascents of "Encore" (8a+) and "Femme Blanche" (8a+). Good Effort!
Also, Alex I have heard has made an impressive flash ascent of "Encore" (8a+) since I left - but he still fell on a 7c+ onsight attempt at the start of the trip so it kind of evens things out considerably... ;)
And Michelle made a very impressive redpoint of the super classic 8a "Bourinator", probably the burliest 8a I have ever tried and one of the few 8a routes I think I am scared of trying again. I did it again this year and it felt just as hard as it did when I first climbed it years ago! BEAST!
Coming to an End
As the trip was closing to a finish, I started to realize just how much I love Céüse… I can’t quite place why exactly I love this place so much… its not just one thing, it’s a mixture. I have been here five times now:
$1. Céüse 2007 – with Rich Simpson when I was 17 (5 Weeks)
$2. Céüse 2008 – with Andy when I was 18 (5 Weeks)
$3. Céüse 2010 – with Natalie when I was 20 (10 Days)
$4. Céüse 2011 – with Natalie when I was 21 (4 Weeks)
$5. Céüse 2013 – with Andy and William now I am 23 (4 Weeks)
That equates to around 20 weeks living in Céüse altogether… I guess I have been there so much that it has literally become a home away from home of sorts. Whenever I return, I feel like I am coming back to a place I am comfortable in, not like going on holiday, like going to my other home :P One of the best things about this home however is that it has the best crag on earth 1 hours walk from my tent… That and the scene at base camp is unlike anything I have ever experienced at any climbing destination… The Céüse experience truly is one of a kind…
The crew...
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That is as the saying goes but it's not entirely been true this trip. Time has flown by for me but I haven't been enjoying myself as much as I should have been. It's a common theme when pushing your own personal boundaries, when you're not going well, having fun seems to be a lot harder. What a stupid way to be though right? Why should having fun correlate directly with performing your best at the activity you are doing? It shouldn't realistically, I tell this to all the kids I coach every time they are competing or going for it outdoors... It's one thing giving the advice but it's another taking it...
When you put "All you eggs in one basket" it makes life a lot harder to enjoy when things don't go as planned. I had planned this trip to improve on Siurana (earlier this year) with potentially another 8c and hopefully another 8b+ or two. I was also hoping to step my onsight grade up a bit which has been somewhat lacking in attempts over the last year - but instead, I've probably had the most unsuccessful climbing trip since my first trip to Ceuse (which ended in basically no actual ascents harder than my warm ups)! So yes... initially I was very upset with my performance. Nat tried to help me but I am quite a difficult person to console when down in the dumps. But you can't spend the whole time sulking can you? Well I managed to, but life goes on :)
A week ago I did the classic 8a/+ of the crag "Deverse Satanique" and after a rest day, did the left hand variation of it as well called "Deverse SatanX" which goes at 8b. Young Buster Martin climbed this earlier in the year so I was really keen to check it out and see what it was all about. The climbing on the lower section shared with the 8a/+ was sustained and pumpy but with no hard moves - if there wasn't a rest before the split for the 8b then for sure it would make the last section feel a lot harder but thankfully there was a nice little "mushroom" shaped hold that provided the perfect shake before hitting the final head wall, a vertical wall on positive but small crimps and pockets. As most of you will know now from Facebook, Nat made "SatanX" her first 8b as well shortly after I did it in very quick succession. She is definitely capable of climbing a lot harder! Lets put it this way, if she spent as much time figuring out the perfect beta as some of the climbers at the crag, then she would climb 8c as quickly as she did 8b :P
Since climbing those awesome routes, I have tried a number of routes from 8b-8c and basically got spanked on every one. I fell off clipping the chains four times on one of them, and was making it to the end of another 8b falling just looking at the chains! I have never felt so totally out of my depth in a climbing area as I have here. For most of the trip my mind has been clouded by high expectations and a feeling that I really should be doing better than this, but it can't always go our way can it? If it did then we would never learn anything and therefore never progress...
We have two more days before we go home now - I am in the process of preparing my next training plan for after Kalymnos in October which should hopefully get me fit and strong for next spring. I am not going to make the same mistakes as this time for sure. I'll post my new plan as soon as I have finished with it for everyone to see and comment :D
ROBZ OUT
Climbing at Deverse sector in Gorges du Loup is a lot like climbing on a hard competition style route indoors. They are relentlessly difficult with long sustained sections and no real rests (unless your Alex Barrows and love knee bars). A lot of the climbing holds here are drilled finger pockets alongside tufa pinches and everything is from 15 degrees to 85 degrees overhanging. Resting is intense on these routes as you are always upside down in a knee bar whilst struggling with core body tension. Pain and blood rushing to the head are common themes of rests at Deverse. It's a constant struggle for survival on these routes and there are no techy tricks that can get you by the hard moves... it basically comes down to just pulling hard when your pumped. 
The subtleties in this crag are still there but they are of a different style to what I have accustomed myself in crags like Ceuse, Siurana and Malham - in these places you can find little foot placements that might aid you a lot with resting through a crux sequence or just allowing you to compose yourself. In Deverse subtleties are only there to help you pull your way to the next hold, a mistake or hesitation on these routes costs you everything because you now need to pull doubly hard to make the next move!
I feel that the training I put into this trip perhaps was misguided slightly. I was expecting this same style of climbing but not the length, so most of my training that was centred around anaerobic endurance was done a lot on shorter circuits with no rests and intensive moves. The circuits might last anywhere from 1-4 minutes depending on my focus, but these routes at Deverse are longer than that and the rests that you need drain you as well. It would have been much better if I had focussed more on longer circuits and more boulder (strength/power) training.
Anyway, the last two days have been better... I did a popular 8a+ called "Quossai" which I haven't seen anybody "walk up" (which is always nice to see). I attempted to flash another 8a that Nat did called "Sika" but had an abysmal attempt failing shy of the chains. I was by no means close though as the crux is at the end. I went to the top of the extension, an 8b which was really good but with one intersting exception... every hold bar one was drilled. It was probably the most basic route I have ever climbed, but I don't think just any 8b climber could do it - it would require a level of power endurance beyond the norm. There are no jugs, no hard moves and certainly no rests!
The good news is I almost did a Gorges du Loup 8b/+ called "Soul Sacrifice" which is definitely an apt name for it. I feel like to do this route one has to sacrifice their soul to the god of power endurance which I would be more than happy to do if it gave me the ability to climb these routes :P I fell off just below the chains but totally powered out - looking forward to attempts after a rest day :D
The final route of day 4 was "Hot Chilli X" (8c) which I have entered myself into alongside Izidor Zupan (Slovenian friend). Izidor is looking super strong on it and hopefully should do it before he goes home in a few days. Gasper Pintar, another slovenian friend did it a few days ago in an awesome display of pure fight, grit and determination. I was also really inspired watching the beast, Ed Hamer casually flash the bottom part of this route linking in with the 8a "Deverse Satanique" which he had climbed before. The link is given 8b+ and although you can't technically call it a flash, IT WAS!!! Ed belayed me on my first look at "Hot Chilli X", at the same time talking me through the moves. I can definitely see how this route is flashable for someone as strong as Ed, the holds are all positive, it's just the footholds that are non-existent. It is pure resistance climbing, no really hard moves, just lots of them and wait for it... NO REST!!!
I'm looking forward to finishing of "Soul Sacrifice" (8b/+) after another rest day and then hopefully putting my last remaining efforts into "Hot Chilli X".
ROBZ OUT
On first arriving at La Balme we found it to be insanely hot and humid. We had one days climbing there in which all three of us where pretty tired from the drive south and therefore not up to any hard climbing. This was further made harder with the fact that conditions where terrible, it could only be worse if the crag was sodden wet, but in reality, it was my hands that were continually dripping with sweat!
At La Balme, I came close on our first days climbing to doing a long 8a+ (I onsighted the original 7c+ first section) but it was just too hot and I was too tired. Alex did a 7c on the left hand side after much complaining of how hard it felt and Nat followed him with only one attempt at it. Not the best start, so we opted for a drive to Gorge du Loup earlier than expected to escape these hot temps.
We are now climbing at Gorge du Loup (Deverse Sector). We have only had two days climbing there so far but from what I have seen I am mega impressed. It's super steep, very gymnastic and bloody hard! I'm hoping it's because I'm still tired from traveling, I must admit that on todays rest day I have never felt so exhausted after two days climbing in my life... On the first day I did an 8a there called "Cascade" which in reality wasn't that hard, the holds were big, there were loads of kneebar rests but for some reason I just couldn't recover? I have been training had for this trip, harder than ever before and indoors I feel stronger than ever as well, but the initial transfer to outdoors has felt pretty abysmal. At the end of day 1 I tried and 8a+ called "Quossai" which I had marked down for an onsight attempt but upon trying it, each move felt like a V10 boulder and I thought it was impossible for me to climb...
On Day 2, things perked up a lot! I tried "Quossai" and after having only had a brief play on the route the day before, I fell off this time in the final section more due to my stupidity than anything else. I decided to rest myself from trying this until after a rest day and instead to try the 8b/+ variation out left called "Soul Sacrifice". I did all the moves quickly and linked sections together on my first try but it felt very hard for a supposed 8b. I spoke to a local and he said that a few holds have broken from the bottom and middle section which have now bumped the grade up a bit. Before it was considered an 8b/+ so now it probably is 8b+.
Nat has been on fire, she did an 8a second try on her first day and got high up on the retro-flash of another 8a called "Sika" (named for an obvious feature of the roue). I am going to have a flash attempt after a rest day and hopefully she will do it as well.
We have been climbing and chilling alongside friends of ours from England, Slovenia and Germany who we've met up with here. Ed and Sam Hamer drove out here with fellow Sheffield based climber Ethan Walker. From Slovenia, Gasper Pintar and Izidor Zupan. And from Germany, my old pal from Siurana, king of jokes and a 9a beast, Daniel Jung.
It's good to be out here climbing with friends and pushing it hard on the rocks. Nat and I have been still felt really tired physically and mentally after our travelling experiences but thanks to a good supply of Stoats bars, oatcakes and Porridge we have been keeping ourselves strong!
Psyched for more climbing tomorrow!
ROBZ OUT
I am finally home from my 2 week stint climbing in southern France. If you've been keeping up with the blog, you will know that I spent quite a bit of time climbing in the multipitch mad crag of Verdon. I ticked "The" classic of the gorge, none other than the famous tufa, "Tom et je ris" (8b+). It was an amazing experience to climb such an aesthetic line in such an exposed position and it's not a route that I will forget in a hurry.
Anyway, things moved on a bit after ticking this epic route. First of all, Alex and I had some serious chats about what we wanted to do with our remaining time. In the end we came up with the conclusion that being in Verdon, what else would we do but multipitch!?!?!? So we headed to the guides office on the way to the other side of the valley were we where intending to get on the famous 8a+ "Demence Senil". Whilst in the guides office we met a very pleasant French guide... we spoke for the best part of an hour about our experiences of Verdon, climbing "Tom et je ris" (of which he claimed to be the bolter) and of what we where planning to do. It turns out that he had a mutual friend in common, Tom Randall! This wasn't that shocking, climbing being a small community anyway. Turns out Tom and Pete (Whittaker) met him during their trip to Annot last year whilst they where crushing all the local french climbers projects. The guide joked a bit about this, apparently Tom and Pete mopped up all their hardest trad crack projects with ease. So anyway, we figured we'd ask him a bit about the route we where planning to do since he was the experienced local... By the end of the conversation he had convinced us that the crag we wanted to go to was a bit hard to get to and the climbing was a bit poor, I believe the words, "dirty", "chipped" and "upside-down-roof-crack" where mentioned which kind of put me and Alex off a bit. Anyway, he showed us what seemed to be an awe inspiring monolithic wall not far from where we were going with a classic 8a going straight up the middle. He did mention that the 8a pitch had only recently been freed but that it was definitely possible. The rest of the route comprised of:
1) 7c
2) 7b
3) 6b
4) 8a (or A0 but freed early in year)
5) 7a+
6) 7b
So, Alex and I uber keen for this adventurous route set of the next day in search for it. When we arrived, the wall looked stunning! It was massive, steep and heavily bolted!!! After warming up on a slopey handrail below the crag we set of on our adventure!
The 7c was HARD! Holy crap, it had some spice involved in it for sure! Alex fell on the onsight, worked the moves and came down. I blew the flash and opted for a different less strenuous more flexy way of doing the crux. We both did it second go and where soon at the belay of the next pitch. I headed off on lead up the 7b... On the first move I tore a massive hold off the wall! In all honesty, the pitch was a teetering pile of choss! Every hold felt like it was going to snap under the slightest pressure not to mention most of the route involved flaky crack climbing, balancy traverses with scary run outs on suspect rock and disgusting corners with smeary bridging! I DIDN'T COME TO SOUTHERN FRANCE FOR THIS!!! I COULD DO THIS AT HOME OUTSIDE IN RATHO QUARRY!?!?!? Anyway... I sketched my way to the hanging belay around 40m past the 7c. Alex seconded me, he looked almost as terrified as me despite being on top rope - it was comforting to watch him sketch up as well, it solidified in my mind that maybe I'm not as big a punter after all... Well at least not as big as Alex : D
The third pitch was glorious... Gloriously chossy that is! At 6b you get a loose traverse ledge over a tree and round a bush, where every inch stepped you are in fleeting terror of the ledge disappearing below your feet. After the travers of doom, you come to a hideous mantle move onto a slopey shelf, THANK GOD FOR THE MANTLE BOULDER AT RATHO!!! I doubt I've ever done a climbing move that made me feel like I'd actually become worse of a climber having performed it... It was the single most retched, disgusting, totally un-elegant move in the world, no one could make it look good!
After the 6b, it was my turn to lead for the 8a! The prize pitch, surely this couldn't include more of the same choss as before? Oh wait... What a surprise! I doubt anyone has climbed this route, I don't think it's possible for any creature heavier than a slater to weight the rock without the whole collection of grouped sediment sliding of like caked mud! No... This route has never been climbed by a living creature with less than 6 legs and that weighs more than 1/8th of a gram.
The final two pitches were actually quite good, with decent rock despite muddy pockets on the 7a+ and a horrible funnel of muddy choss and tree infested banking to finish the 7b - not to mention as I reached the top I found that I had to anchor myself on two bushes and lodge myself against a massive rotting tree trunk as the rain came pouring down, drenching us both! Oh I forgot to mention the ton of rock that came loose as I scrambled up the 15m gulley finale of the 8a pitch - that was a pleasant surprise for Alex!
After this experience, Alex and I came to a few conclusions...
1) The guides in Verdon clearly smoke way too much!!!
2) When a guide talks enthusiastically about soloing sandstone off widths amongst perfect bolted limestone, think twice before asking for recommendations! Or at least ask for recommendations so as to avoid all mentioned like the plague!
3) and finally that we think Tom and Pete may have inadvertently pissed of the local french climbers by being way too good at cracks and ticking off all their projects and the locals have then turned their heads towards killing off all British visitors by recommending suitable death trap choss fests!
Can't deny though it was absolutely hilarious!!!
A re-jogging of the pitches I think is in order also. Here is my opinion:
1) 7c (7c - but hard for the grade)
2) 7b (7b+ - I've done easier 7c's)
3) 6b (CHOSS)
4) 8a (probably 8c now seeing as I tore of all the remaining holds - have you ever attempted to climb a giant sand castle? If not then I recommend this route!)
5) 7a+ (7b+ - I've done easier 7c's)
6) 7b (7c/+ - I've done easier 7c+'s, a good example being "Makach Walou" in Ceuse)
After our loss in the choss, Alex and I decided to finish the trip with something a little more down to earth, some nice, healthy single pitch cragging! We evacuated Verdon and headed towards the nearest sport crag we could find. The choices where:
1) Buoux - La Rose et le Vampire (8b)
2) St Leger - Mur de Six Clopes (8b/+)
3) Durby - Some other stuff
In the end, we opted for some steep, single pitch fun in St Leger!!! I must admit, I was very impressed with this crag. I only went to one sector, but the quality of routes I did was very high! Alex and I focussed our attention this time on another classic route, this one called "Mur de Six Clopes" (8b/+). Interestingly, this route is given 8b+ in one guide and 8b/+ in another. On inspection of 8a.nu (the source of all knowledge), most took 8b+ for it. Alex and I both did it pretty quick, both of us on our 4th go I think? I fell on the last move on my second go and then again on my third go! Oh yeah, and technically I had a warm up to the 3rd clip on my 4th actual time on the route, but lowered and then did it to the top from then. Alex beat me to the send on his attempt just before mine (cheeky bugger) - pay back for "Tom et je ris" I think? Our thoughts on the route where that it felt like a standard 8b, not harder, not easier.
The next climbing day I did another classic 8b in the area called "Abregnief". This is the popular 8b to do. It comprises of 5m of f5 climbing on a slab to a ledge, then 15m of non-stop power endurance climbing to a juggy rest and a f6c to the top. This was a really good route and man I would love to have this back home, it would be the perfect circuit! It was definitely a soft touch for 8b but not worthy of 8a+ as I've heard being mentioned by a few on the web. This was my 17th 8b in the last year, I feel I really have the 8b's down to a tea now. This was my goal at the beginning of the year, to consolidate climbing 8b's in every style... I think I've achieved this now : P
Alex continued on his run of good form after "Mur de six Clopes" by ticking a hard 8b in the same cave also! I opted for more mileage and did an 8a, 7c+ and a 7b+ on our last day (also got spanked on a 7c+ which I think is 9a).
So after 2 and a bit days driving, 3 trains, one drunk and several slightly deranged Neds on the carriage and one final car journey from the station, I am now home, tucked up in bed, sipping a nice warm cup of green tea and dreading the train im getting tomorrow to Kendal for route setting (man! I hate public transport!). I am looking forward however to unleashing my creativity on the awesome new Walls at "The Lakeland Climbing Centre" of which I have yet to see fully built. If anyone is up for it, pop down over the next couple of days and say hi, I'll be keen to go over the new routes I've set on the Walls! Maybe I can convince them to let me set a mega tufa creation in memory of "Tom et je ris"?
So that's that, I have a month until Kalymnos more or less, im gonna be putting in the hours training at A2 and EICA: Ratho over the coming weeks and am keen as ever to push it out there for the next level!
8c here I come!!!
PSYCHED
ROBZ OUT!!!]]>
We packed up all our gear and headed off into the forest, on our way to do battle with the legendary tufa, "Tom et je Ris". An hour and a quarter of walking up hill (worse than Ceuse), a bit of scrambling and lots of moaning about not having had enough cake for breakfast from Alex and we where at the top, looking over the vast Verdon Gorge, a huge dense cloud floating through the valley like from that movie with the Chinese ninjas flying about the place with swords - well cool!!!
We get all our kit out at the tip of the crag, Alex sets up a static line for abseil and I sit an eat rice cakes whilst pretending to look busy. In 15 minutes we are ready to go - Alex heads down first as I will be the first one to climb today. He gets to the bottom of the route, 60m below the top of the crag and sets up a hanging belay. I follow him soon afterwards - as I'm abbing in my fingertips burn just from looking at the spiky, sharp tufa. I lower past the least overhanging section of the wall and into the main overhang... I'm flying out from the wall, super exposed, tufas everywhere and hanging out with the vultures circling us on the wall : P
When I'm finally with Alex, he's set up the belay and 5 minutes later it's all mine. So we'd only had one previous day on the lower section of the wall. We where intending on having this day spent working the lower section since we where still pretty rusty with it (myself more than Alex, he's a beta learning machine). On my first go, I just went bolt to bolt, reminding myself of the moves and trying to do some small links, unfortunately my fingers where so worn through from the day before, I was having a nightmare trying to warm up and it felt as though nothing was going to happen today. I did my best, learned where my feet had to go for every hand movement and where the shakeouts where. The lower section of wall is like a power endurance 8a with quite bad shakeouts (for me). I went to the jug rest, above from where I had linked to the top the previous day.
I lowered and then it was Alex's go. Alex did the same as me, bolt to bolt, working bits and bobs out, except he looked much better than me on it. He actually made a really good link from around the second clip to the jug rest (the start of the next 40m section - 8a+). Alex was well chuffed with this link, we both knew that if we got through the first 8a section, all we had to do was the endurance 8a+ to get to the top and we were both really confident with that section.
It was now my go! I felt pretty crap, my fingers hurt and my body ached, but this would be my first proper redpoint attempt on the route and I figured that I might as well give it everything if we're going to have a rest day tomorrow...
I started up the first section, I was quick and decisive with all my moves. I was surprised at how previously my skin had been really sore, now it actually felt quite good? I sometimes get this if i haven't warmed up properly, my skin will hurt initially, but after a while of climbing it gets better again. I managed to get a good link in from the bottom all the way to the first bad rest before heading into the second half of the 8a section. I shook out, confident and psyched that my skin didn't hurt and I wasn't really pumped or tired anymore. I started off again straight into a long, pumpy single tufa. Hand over hand, feet compressing the tufa and a burning desire to just get to that jug at the 20m mark which would set me up well for the next 8a+ section of wall that I knew really well.
Before I knew what was happening, i was eyeing the jug, I locked off hard on my left hand and I was on it! I took both my feet of and replaced the left on a higher part of the tufa and slapped up to the better left hand jug! I heard Alex shouting encouragement below, I knew I could do it now, but I still had 40m left of potentially harder climbing... How was I going to pull this off? I shut my eyes and focussed, I need to just fight, never let go, pretend I'm linking sections to relieve some pressure. I headed into the next single tufa - it felt easy, I had never felt so good on this section. I continued into a further double tufa section, cruising for another 15m taking the run outs as they came, I even accidentally missed one of the clips and inadvertently took an even bigger runout, but I was psyched and in the zone, nothing mattered!
I got to the end of the double tufa section and managed to rest with a bad knee scum. The next section was the first crux of the 8a+ section, I looked up, assessed the sequence and went for it! I climbed quickly yet again, not worrying about the foot smears I was bridging up on and just giving it all I could. I mantled out on top of a bulging tufa successful on the first crux. I rested a bit more here... My feet were really starting to ache now. This route has more to do with your feet than any overhanging route I've ever done. I shook out my feet on the bulge before heading into yet more tufa - this time two bigger tufas that you lay back up. I climbed this section without too much trouble and was into a short traverse out right on some tufa blobs, smears for feet and into yet another layback tufa leading you to the best rest on the whole route since the hanging belay (a good right hand jug, a left hand finger slot above and some small ledge smears for feet). The next section is probably the scariest, although not physically the hardest by a long way, it's incredibly technical and involves too much smearing that no self-confessed jug puller can deal with.
I de-pumped on the rest and went for it, the last few moves of the sequence where the scariest - right hand pocket, left foot sloppy pocket, left hand pockety crimp, right foot horrible smear, left foot horrible smear and reach for all mighty and hope that neither smear slips! I reached the jug and pulled up into a small cave where you can rest for as long as you need. All that's left now is a small bulge with not really any hard climbing. I went through the bulge, pulled over the lip and was on top of the world!!!
I had climbed the legendary 8b+ of Verdon, "Tom et je Ris"! This is probably my greatest achievement to date. I've definitely climbed physically harder routes, but the whole aspect of this climb with it's limited time to be climbed (between 7am - 2pm), massive walk in, ab in approach to start of route, hanging belay, mega long run-outs, technical nature of the climb and difficulty of working the route on dog made this my greatest accomplishment. It has opened my eyes to a new style of climbing and I'm psyched for more epic adventures like this one!
After completing the route however, the day was not over! Alex still had one go left before we headed back to the van, so I abbed back in and secured my hanging belay. Alex went for it and in similar style (maybe a bit more shabby : P), sent the route!!! TEAM ASCENT!!!! We think our ascents may be the first British Ascents, but we are unsure. It's been a great adventure on this legendary route and our trip is still not over! We are psyched for more epicness, so we are looking towards something hard with more exposure and more pitches. We have eyed up a sick looking 8a multipitch in a huge cave somewhere in the gorge - stay tuned for more of our adventures if we're still alive to write about them : P
PSYCHED
ROBZ OUT
Martina Cufar - Tom et je ris 8b+ 60 meters -... par worklessclimbmore]]>
We've had two days on the route so far, owing to the impracticality of lowering to the start of the route every time we want to try it we have been mainly climbing on top rope. It's far easier for working this style of route than on lead (and it's less scary too). Alex is a big wimp and insists extending all the draws, you should see him blubbering about taking run-outs, honestly, he calls himself a rock climber... PFFFFFFFT! Today we decided to go for a big link - it's really awkward to work the lower 10m of route on top rope so we just started from there. Alex went first - I lowered him to as far as I could still here his screams, them stopped fearing that if I lowered him any further he might just get stranded in space without any way of getting back to the wall. This would require some serious rope skills on my part to save him and trust me, that's not a good idea! 45 minutes later he was mantling over the top of the cliff having climbed from 10m above the starting position.
I was up next - after working some individual sections a bit, i decided to also go for a link. I managed to match Alex in linking from 10m to the top - and might I add, with a lot less puffing and sweating at the belay : P
Alex on his second linking go managed to go from a bolt and a half lower to the top and I repeated this afterwards also. It's certainly looking good for a serious redpoint go soon - we are going to go to the bottom tomorrow on lead, if we can grow some skin back tonight we might just sketch are way to the top? If not then we will have another rest day after tomorrow and hopefully tick it after that... Hopefully!!!
If we do this soon, then we hope to avert our attention towards some classic multipitch madness - VERDON ROCKS!!!
Will be home soon and getting back to some serious training, mega psyched! I can't climb 60m tufas forever, I think some serious boulder bashing down at A2 is needed - PSYCHED!!!
ROBZ OUT]]>
So we've been in Verdon now for two days. Alex (Barrows) and I had a crazy drive down filled with hours of endless motorway, lots of winding country roads and one very unfortunate encounter with French 16 year old chavs!
I left on a train from Edinburgh one day after Me and Nats Yorkshire trip. I travelled down to meet up with Alex in Sheffield before driving down to France the next day. I have never driven such a long distance before, of course I did none ofnthe actual driving, but sitting in the passenger seat took a lot more out of me than I ever would have expected. A whole day of driving left us both pretty exhausted, we where keen for a rest, so decided to stop of, have dinner and sleep in a service station.
Sometime during the night, I heard a few noises, bumps and shakes. I put it out of my mind as other drivers from cars parked nearby. A couple of minutes later I heard some more noises, this time whispers and a faint feeling of cold air across my face... The door was open? I sat up turned round and was staring straight into the face of some French 16 yearbold boy in a hoodie with his mates! He had opened up the back of the car and was helping himself to our stuff! The Boy attempted to shut the door on me of which I pressed back open. After waking up Alex we got out the car to find my iPhone gone, his iPod gone, €60 disappeared from his wallet and my Credit card and a £10 note gone from my wallet. Amazingly, they had the decency to leave most of my change including the wallet which they could have nicked as a whole... What nice young fellows (or should I say - Garcons).
After a morning in the police station, we continued our journey towards Verdon. We arrived fairly late at night and so settled on checking out the crag the next day. Our big goal for this trip is to climb the amazing tufa line, "Tom et je ris" (8b+). One issue we never thought we'd have with this route was being able to find the damn thing! The guidebook is crap, all the web explanations are pretty bad and it's an ab route, which means we are trying to find the top of the cliff rather than an obvious feature. It took us at least a couple of hours to find the route (not that bad since I heard it took Nina Caprez a lot longer on her first days search for the route).
After finding it, we had to ab in (very scary from around 150m off the ground). Well, I was crapping myself! Actually, I am super psyched for this route, it's challenging me in a new way that no other route before has done - it scares me! I don't remember the last time I was scared on a sport route? Maybe when I first started climbing sport outdoors, but I've done so much since then, so why is this different. I think simply, as well as being super high, it's mega exposed! You are out flying on a hanging belay amongst falcons and vultures - they can smell fear you see! As well as exposure, the run outs are humungous and the tufas and footholds all break really easily! This is such a great experience and I'm loving every minute of it!
We've had a couple of days on the route so far, mostly learning how to climb in such an exposed position. It's certainly a hard route and I think if I do it, then it will be my biggest accomplishment to date. It may not be as hard as other routes I've climbed, but the whole nature of the route encompasses any physical aspect. We will see... All I can say for now is that im PSYCHED OOT MA MIND!!!!
PEACE
ROBZ OUT]]>
We have returned from yet another sport climbing adventure in Europe. The last 2 weeks of our trip where a bit tough, what with my skin injury and Nat being ill, but hey, its been a pretty awesome year for climbing so far so what's two weeks? As Nat said in her blog, we learned a lot from the trip and as soon as we had left the crag on our way home, we were already planning our next moves towards overcoming our new challenges and seeing our climbing goals met this year. Both Nat and I built ourselves a new set of goals for the next year and a training plan to follow. Our plan is based on a few different things i.e.
- Weaknesses we have discovered this year on trips
- New training techniques learned
- Climbing trips still to come (lots!) : P
- Goals we aim to achieve
So our new training plan is based on the above. Weaknesses we have discovered need ironed out, training techniques we have learned over the year need applied, climbing trips need to be made the most of with appropriate goals and training strategies set towards them.
We have 3 weeks until Yorkshire, then another 3-4 weeks spent there. We won't have a car for that time so it will be interesting to see how we survive : P We decided to base ourselves at Malham for the most part of it because its a crag we love to climb at and we have plenty to go at there.
After Yorkshire, I have probably around 2 weeks to train until a trip to Verdon with Alex Barrows. Out there we hope to climb the iconic tufa line of "Tom et Je Ris". This has been something on the tick list for a while now so when Alex gave me the call and asked if I was keen, I jumped at the opportunity! If we manage to tick this amazing line, then I would love to get stuck into some of the hard multipitch the Verdon has to offer, but I have a funny feeling that I might get totally spanked : P
After Verdon, I have around 2-3 weeks more to train before I head of to Kalymnos for coaching and climbing! I absolutely love Kalymnos, I have been there five times now and I am still not sick of it. This year I want to bring Nat along with me for a week or two so she can experience Kalymnos again after 8 years since she was last there. My plan for Kalymnos this year is to attempt more 8a and 8a+ onsights as well as gearing up for my first 8c and potentially some more 8b+'s? "O'dracinian Devil" is on the cards...
After Kalymnos, I am taking some time out of trips and outdoor climbing for a few months over the winter and getting stuck into some solid training! I have big plans for a Spain trip in March and I need to be on fighting form for then. Additionally, having a good trip in Spain will set me up well for yet another training cycle geared towards the ultimate trip, Ceuse 2012! My 12 month plan is built with this in mind... Ceuse is my dream crag, a place where I am always humbled and brought down a notch. That magical limestone paradise teaches me new things everytime I go there and I can't resist learning more from it. I plan on being fitter, stronger and better than ever before by August next year and I have my whole year planned out to get me there...
BRING IT ON!!!
ROBZ OUT
Martina Cufar - Tom et je ris 8b+ 60 meters -... by worklessclimbmore
However, the trip as a whole was both enjoyable and successful - we are definitely heading back next year! It was great to hang out with our friends from the GB Climbing Team in a non-competitive environment for a change, and just relax and enjoy the climbing.
We also met loads of new and interesting people from all around the world, as well as learning about ourselves as climbers and what we need to work on for next year. In fact, Robbie and me were so psyched about our goals for next year that we listed them in a document at Lyon aiport and made a training programme in order to acheive them!
My main concern before I arrived was my finger injuries - I had two minor pulley tears (one on each ring finger) which had been holding me back both in training and performance. I had been climbing on them carefully and not following much structured training other than pure bouldering sessions. I saw gains in strength and power compared to last year, as I had never really just trained bouldering on its own before in 11 years of climbing, but still had to err on the side of caution and stop when it hurt too much - a necessary evil! :p Coping with an injury is frustrating and has an affect on the mind which can be almost as distressing as (if not more) than the physical pain in some cases. I had never really had a serious injury through climbing in 10 years before this (apart from two hernias, not necessarily due to climbing!) and always tried my best to avoid getting injured, so when the first one arrived after Ceuse last year, it was hard for me to accept. Just as this one was starting to heal up in February this year, the same injury occurred on my right hand - even more acute than the first one. I had just competed in the BBC's and was feeling confident in my bouldering, I knew I had improved a lot and was reluctant to take it easy - I wanted to go to Spain and climb hard routes, this was the last thing I needed! In the end I had to ease off the gas and listen to my body (and Robbie!) I focussed on slopey holds and big dynamic moves between jugs, avoiding crimps and pinches or any move/hold which could hurt. I had a great trip in Spain, it was a real learning curve as I had to step back a fair bit and do lots of mileage to build confidence and movement skills on the rock. I found it harder to predict which holds and moves would be painful on the rock, and lacked aggression to really go for moves in fear of causing potentially permanent damage to my fingers. I ended up ticking my first 8a by working my way through the grades and picking an apprropriate route. I learned ways of climbing without over-straining my fingers on rock and overcame a massive hurdle in doing the 8a. I hoped I could learn from this experience and give it my best in Ceuse...
The first few days were all about mileage (and getting used to the walk-in!) - my fingers were slightly tweaky but felt different after two or three days of climbing. I have no idea how or why my fingers healed so suddenly, but I reckon a combination of hot weather, Tiger Balm and the magical rock of Ceuse had something to do with it! It is slightly creepy that my first injury appeared the day after I got home from Ceuse last year, and upon my return both disappear! Despite the lack of pain, I was sceptical and still wary of pushing myself too hard too soon. I also felt relatively unfit on the rock, which was frustrating! 8 months of no route-climbing meant I was getting pumped quick, something I hadn't experienced since returning to climbing after my operation last February (and that was only 10 weeks off!) As a result I lacked confidence - I was strong enough to do moves but felt pumped and unnerved by big run-outs on vertical/slabby ground (for which Ceuse is notorious!) I found it hard to get psyched when all I was worrying about was falling and hurting myself - it really detracted from the climbing and irritated me. Being on a rope again high up felt really unnatural after bouldering for so long, and I seemed to have acquired some kind of injury paranoia after dealing with two of them for a year. It took about 2 weeks to be fully comfortable with falling, I overcame it by warming up on tricky 7a/+ slabs and realising that the determination I had to do the route was more than the chance I had of hurting myself by falling.
I ticked "Petit Tom" 8a, but it had been a case of getting redpoint stress and having a lack of confidence, which made it take a lot longer to do than it should have. I was also still building up my endurance and quite often I would just pump out and fall off! The major turning point of the trip was the day that I almost did "Carte Blanche" 8a second go. I don't really know what came over me, or at what point I changed my outlook on redpointing, but I just remember feeling really angry with myself for not going for moves previously on routes. I wanted to show what I was capable of if I put my mind to it. There was a good gathering of people at Demi-Lune, and I remember being a bit put-off by the noise and activity at the crag. In fact, I think this encouraged me more to get psyched and really go for it - it was just like in competitions where there is noise and lots of distractions, but you have to zone-in to the climb and use the atmosphere to your advantage and feel the adrenaline! This was what I'd been doing for years and it had never fazed me - for some reason I'd had difficulty transferring it onto the rock. I think I had always doubted myself when it came to outdoors, believing that I was just a competition climber and would never be able to do hard routes outdoors. I had to deal with comments along this line from very narrow-minded adults (yes, adults!) a lot when I was younger, and if there's one thing I enjoy doing, it's proving people wrong and surprising those who doubt my abilities in some way.
I got on the route and made it to the rest before the crux. This was it, a massive move that required full committment. I looked at the pocket and went for it - powerscreaming and latching it. The next moves also required a lot of gutsiness -I did the same and roared as I caught the next holds. I was being aggressive and it was working! I made it to near the top before falling after getting my hand sequence wrong, I was annoyed at falling but satisfied with the way I had climbed. Everyone down below was quite taken-aback by my performance, as was I! I had always been a very cautious and considerate climber in competitions and in general, but this new style of climbing seemed to work well for me outdoors. The power-screaming seemed to remind me how much I wanted the route, and prevent any insecurity or reluctance from taking hold of me.
Now more confident in my abilities, "Carte Blanche" and the next two 8a's came quick and fast - I did the same on "Bourinator" and "Colonettes", and climbed with sheer aggression and determination. "Colonettes" was probably the hardest route for me, moreso because I had had a nightmare on it on my first attempt! After failing on the boulder problem at the start, which has a very big move to a poor sidepull, I was slightly demotivated for trying the rest of the route - graded at 7c+ if you can't free the start. I hadn't climbed much on tufas before and found them quite intimidating, I didn't like the massive runouts and found knee-barring a very alien concept, and after getting completely boxed on the tufas the top section was still quite tricky on sharp holds! This first attempt involved lots of negativity and "I can't"s, but after doing "Carte Blanche" I was determined to get it done. I struggled to do the first section, but eventually summoned up the power to get through it and completed the route! In the space of one week I had ticked 3 8a's in a row, a feat I never thought I could acheive when I was struggling to get to grips with 7a's and run-outs!
It was time to work on something slightly harder - I had an attempt at "Dolce Vita" 8a+ and "Radote Jolie Pepere" 8b. Both routes felt tickable, but with the time I had left I wanted to focus on "Dolce Vita". On my second attempt I reworked the crux, and by the third I came off halfway through the crux, but found a new foothold! It was getting late and my skin was sore. I was tired but wanted to do this route on my next go. I went for a run to warm up and got on, not feeling as comfortable as before but my determination won through - my sequence worked and I roared through the crux. Once again, mind had won over matter! Watching the footage of me climbing this route taken by Robbie really inspired me, I had never seen myself climb like that before from a distance, and looking on as a spectator gave me a different perspective on my climbing. I had surprised myself and my foot was now in the door for climbing a harder grade!
In all I realised what I am capable of if I put my mind to it - as someone once said to me, I reckon I climb about 3 grades harder in competition than I do in training - purely because of my determination to succeed and the way my mind has adapted to competitive environments. I have had to learn to be competitive with myself and the routes I try outdoors, and to believe in my abilities. I feel fitter and stronger than before I went out, and can't wait to get back on a trip with friends and meet more new people :) I would like to thank everyone on the trip who gave support in some way - whether it was a quiet "Allez Nat!" or a full-on "PUSH IT OUT!" We had a great team spirit at the crag! Thanks also go to Robbie for his patience and support when I was finding my feet on the rock, and for looking after me over the last few days when I was vomiting and generally not being very pleasant to be around :P
Now that my fingers seem to have healed up, I am psyched to get into training for next year and all the trips I have coming up - Yorkshire, Kalymnos and Spain! My aims for the next year are to consolidate 8a/+ and climb some 8b's, bring it on! :D