Sheffield - dominos

Roof Warrior (8a) at Cheedale Cornice at the weekend

I am so frickin psyched right now! A great time at Chee Dale last weekend followed by a couple of days at the Climbing Works last week has continued to give good energy going. I've had a couple of days in at the Works since getting back and I just keep thinking when I'm there......When will someone build a facility like this in Ireland (and elsewhere)?!?!?!?

In the meantime, I'm getting my ass kicked at the Works which is awesome - it can only get better so it's all good :) I had a great day at Cheedale Cornice yesterday, flashing a 7c (my second onsight or flash at this level so hopefully that's the second domino to fall and set them all off - hence the post title :) and working a super-techy 8a+. The latter route won't go easily but it's pretty eye-opening to the sheet lack of holds on the route. All in all, I'm super happy, I've always been uncomfortable on the shorter more intense routes so to flash one easily yesterday is another nice little benchmark on the climbing journey. Roll on more fun and games :)

I've been super impressed by the level of keeness here at the Works. I was in here on Saturday evening from 8-10pm and was blown away by the number of people in there. I expected everyone to be at the pub! Still though, it shows an attitude to climbing that is really inspiring - it's people of every level so I'm watching and learning continuously, there's everyone from the person with the most amazing footwork, to the best balance, to the freakishly powerful to the ones that don't seem to even realize that they actually have feet. I'll be picking their skills apart over the winter and taking the good bits for myself.
Huge positive is finding an 8c route on the traverse wall, I now have a goal for the winter to get my level up to this - it can only translate to proper rock as well. Game on!

Trip Calculations & Costs for a summer at Ceuse

Total Mileage (Sheffield to Ceuse return, plus any driving while around the area): 2200 miles (3520kms) - +/- 50 miles

Total number of nights: 38 (5 - 1/2 weeks)

Total cost: €900

A few different people emailed me asking what the costings were for a trip to Europe so I thought this was worth putting together briefly to give an idea. Hopefully it’ll inspire some people to take their own adventures, especially as it’s probably as much if not more expensive to stay at home!. For any prices that are variable (e.g. petrol/diesel prices which vary on country and location of purchase - for example, it’s more expensive at the petrol stations on the motorways in France), I’m going to use the higher numbers as it seems to give a more accurate reflection of the eventual costing of my trip. Note that this journey is from driving from Sheffield, UK, so if you’re flying/driving from other locations it’ll have a factor on your costs - Ireland, sorry but you get nailed for a really expensive ferry crossing (about 350 Euro one-way I believe for the direct to France), or else drive through the UK (cheaper).

In total in the 38 days of the trip, we did a total of about 2200 miles. It was 898 miles going via L’Argentiere La Besse to Ceuse, and about something similar on the way home considering we went back via Paris. On average, that works out about 57 miles per day if you spread out the total driving - not as low as I’d like I have to admit, but pretty good in general. Obviously, if we’d doubled the length of the trip and kept the same weekly mileage while there, it would have worked out as 34 miles per day - justification for a longer trip if you ask me ;)

As you can work out we did about 400 miles in 5-odd weeks (so 80 miles a week average) while there - this included drives to the big lake for swims, drives to Orpierre and trips into Gap for shopping, etc. As you can see above, this is what the car averaged on the way to Ceuse. Interestingly, it was closer to about 58 miles per gallon on the way home - the campsite at Ceuse is at 1300 meters so I guess it’s because there’s a climb up onto the Alpine plateau which is all downhill on the way back.

Tolls are the hidden cost through France, it costs about €60 Euros from the top of France to Ceuse, the equivalent to a tank of fuel. We guess-timated that it cost about 2 tanks (I’m rounding up here, it’s probably closer to 1-1/2) at a cost of about €45-60, and tolls and food which brought the complete total to about €250 each-way.

Once you’re there, it’s then cheap. Campsite costs €5.20, so €36.40 per week. Then you’ve cooking gas costs and food/drink. We were on an MSR petrol stove (cheap!), a one-liter bottle did us for two full weeks so nominal cost for this. Food works out about €50 a week. You’ll then probably have a trip to the Pizzeria (you are on holidays! :) so an extra €15. So guaranteed, weekly living is €102.

You can then add on an extra €10-20 or so for the all-important croissants and ice-creams on rest days, etc. - rona of protein in ice-cream if that helps you justify it all ;)

TOTAL COSTS FOR 5 WEEKS

- So......with the drive there and back, that’s a total of €250 per person (€125 each way).

- Then for 5 weeks of accommodation, food and drink, it’s €510.

- Factor in some additional spending like the all-important ice-creams, croissants, coffees on rest days and that’s an additional €100. I’ll round it up with other miscellaneous purchases (E.g I bought a new harness) to €150

A grand total of €910.

Not bad for five weeks living in Europe eh?

Side notes: You could upgrade at Ceuse to the mobile home or caravans. They’re pretty basic, but obviously have four actual solid walls and a roof in comparison to the fabric of a tent (the only time it’s really worthwhile is when the rain is chucking it down). This will push up your cost for accommodation by €2-3 per day (so a total of €105 over 5 weeks), but you can offset some of it as this will include gas for cooking on (they all have a cooker) and electricity for lighting (so savings on batteries if you don’t use rechargeables - why not if you don’t?!?!?!). We didn’t bother this year - a 4-person tent from Decathlon is more than sufficient :)

Hope that helps :)

Chee Dale revisited

Can you tell what the difference is between going sports climbing at Ceuse and at Chee Dale? All comments welcome :)
Obviously, faces have been removed from this photo to save too many jokes :)

Obviously we couldn't really stay away from rock for too long :)

We got back to my new home in Sheffield on Thursday night, chilled out on Friday and hit Chee Dale and the Cornice for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. As always, it's great just to be out on real rock! Yes, the routes are a little shorter than I'd like, and the variation in hold type is a bit restrictive (basically all routes consist of crimps :) but at least there's a crazy and brilliant amount of variation in the angles of the holds!

I found it quite amusing that tons of people complain to me that they won't go to Ceuse as it's too busy (although one additional complaint is the walk-in.....). Ironically, the Cornice area at Chee Dale was busier than any sector ever was at Ceuse this summer! And in fairness, considering the amount of muck on the walk-in I'd have to say I enjoy the Ceuse hill even more too ;)

I jumped back on Cry of Despair, a 7c that I'd tried quickly a few months ago and didn't expect very much due to moving over onto routes that are much shorter than we've been doing (and hence I should be lacking in power for). Much to my surprise, I sent it first go. Definitely not due to maximum strength - I don't know what's happened this year, but my mind and skill-set on routes seems to have progressed to a whole new level.
Naomi tried one of the 7a's and was finding it a bit of a shock, very technical and tricky movement. Still though, a couple of goes over the three days meant that she romped up it. Again, it was a learning experience for her - when she first tried it, she couldn't link a lot of the moves, now she can do laps on it. Super psyched!!!!

Personally I really seem to have transitioned to something new. I can turn up at any crag now, onsight up to 7b+ (and getting oh so close on 7c and +'s now), and send an 8a in 2-3 days. It hasn't fully come to fruition yet, I've left areas having not successfully ticked a route having come ridiculously close to sending it, but it's really getting there. A real positive for me as I seem to have gotten over some of the psychological hurdles I used to struggle with - every attempt on a route really counts and that can only be a good thing.

Ceuse - there will be blood edition - final

I seem to be making a habit of this on my last few days at Ceuse - last year revolved around quitting attempts on Carte Blanche due to a bleeding finger. It’s an ethics/considerate thing for me to do so - I don’t particularly want to coat a wall after an injury. I suppose it makes sense too, in any other sport they’d halt for a blood injury so I may as well follow the same attitude.

This year the route was Petit Tom (7c+ - most people seem to be of the opinion that it’s 8a. In comparison to the others I’ve done on Berlin sector, it’s not 7c+). Having watched an Australian friend (previous blog post where I talked about it) spend a couple of weeks trying this, I was inspired enough myself to give it a go, but like on Bourinator, I didn’t particularly play my cards right and jumped back and forth between the two meaning that I wasn’t really learning how to climb either route. Still though, I was inspired for this one (much more so than Bourinator) - there’s something amazing about climbing long, slightly overhanging walls on tiny holds.
My second last day at the crag led to some interesting events. My first attempt went brilliantly, cruising through the first three bolts (the hardest section), all movement perfect and feeling strong. But, looking for a true challenge (and to support my goal of an 8a onsight in the coming year or so), I hadn’t really practiced the upper 20 meters as I didn’t want to  have all the moves rehearsed. So, off I went climbed really well, got really pumped, made it all up, grabbed the last small hold looked up to grab a big hold you can rest on, and as I re-adjusted my foot popped off and down I went. Oh well, positive experience and close oh so close. 2nd attempt didn’t go so well that afternoon - I got to the third quickdraw which you have to clip from above (holds below are too marginal) and realized that one of my footholds was about to slip off. Couldn’t re-adjust as I couldn’t see it so decided to make the commitment and try clip the draw. Dropping the rope into the quickdraw, I could feel the foot fall away and I was off. Close call, I would have hit the ground from several meters if I hadn’t made it. And who says sports climbing is safe? ;)
Anyway, I was feeling pretty tired by now and with another day left, I felt happy enough leaving it to the following day to complete the route. Thankfully Naomi was there to persuade me to have a burn on Berlin (7c) which I hadn’t ticked yet (kept trying it after multiple routes in a day and too tired for it). It turned into a bit of a fight, but managed to clip the chains in a rain shower. Nice. In between all this, Naomi was having goes on Diedetic Line, a 7b. She wasn’t feeling overly psyched for it by then but was getting closer, so much closer by the end of the evening......

When I ticked Carte Blanche last year, a blood injury had been o.k as it was on the 2nd last day. I was happy enough stepping off, giving the finger a night to heal a small bit, tape it up and go for it (with success). My last day attempt on Petit Tom didn’t leave that flexibility! As it happened, I got through the first 3 bolts pretty easily. And then looked up to find a gash in the back of a finger, presumably from stuffing my fingers into one of the many narrow finger slots below. Bugger, decision time. I knew that I didn’t really have too many goes in me that day so took the decision to see if I could manage the cut to the chains. Daft, and not particularly considerate of others but I felt I wouldn’t get the route on another attempt. The short story is, I stopped on every hold to press the finger against pants, and cover it in tons of chalk. On every hold to the chains. Success! I’m so chuffed with this one, ticking the route while recovering on every single hold. It’s also a sign that I wasn’t being fully tested to my limit also which has got me thinking about a few things.....that’s for another day though.
As it happened, Naomi wasn’t to have the same success on Diedetic, falling off at the very top on her 1st attempt (the last hard move), and then on subsequent attempts lower down. There was issues with the holds being coated in chalk by the end of the day, but forgetting excuses, she just needs a bit more stamina on steeper rock now. Guess what she’ll be working on for the winter! In all though, she learnt a huge amount from the route (it’s intensity, the mental challenge on a route like this, etc.) so it can only be of benefit to her.

So all in all, a great trip!

Naomi ticked 10+ routes of 6c+ and above, onsighting a 7a+ and 7b in the process. Fantastic going, especially as she only trained this year with the use of a fingerboard and the Archway wall in Dublin. For her, probably the best learning experience was that she still felt a long way off doing Angel Dust, the 7a+ that she couldn't do either last year. It's a real mix of very sustained climbing on small holds up a vertical to slightly overhanging wall. Something that will give her a focus for the coming months!

I ticked 5 7c’s (one onsight, two more that I should have onsighted), a 7c+ and two 8a’s. I’m more than happy with that, I had a lot of other things to deal with this year so can’t complain with that list at all. The two mains routes that I really hoped to get was an attempt of an onsight of Les Collonettes (7c+) and a redpoint of L'ami du tout la monde (8b). One positive from the trip is though that while I always used to look up at the route and think it would be impossible for me, on the last day, as I stood underneath it (just to try and remember some of the moves), I realized that I believed that I could do it. And not only that, I could do it relatively easy. Something to try and remember over the coming weeks as I try to get onto some of the local limestone of the Peak district, and to tide me over the winter!

Hopefully many others of you are happy with your summer ticks? Comments and stories welcome as always!

Delayed posting, stay tuned

No I haven't disappeared off the 'net. But it turns out that just because you've gotten used to having online access on a campsite (which you have to admit is pretty amazing), that this doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to get it somewhere straight-forward (you'd think) like, I don't know, a city? Yep, back in Sheffield and until I actually get a physical cable into the home (thank you Virgin fibre for the excellent service!), I'm having to depend on a mobile broadband stick. Which are completely useless if you ask me, as I'm now writing this from my mobile which is more reliable.

Anyone know a place with free wifi in Sheffield that doesn't mind a customer sitting there for a few hours to do some work?

Ceuse - semi-final update

Bourinator 8a. Photo courtesy of Gav Symonds

just a quick update before hitting the road once more (not before a caffeine/croissant binge in Paris!) but to say the trip ended up on a pretty good note with some more ascents, one involving an fun battle to the chains - the photo below says it all. Stay tuned, it ended up with a happy ending.....

Ceuse - the general scene

I'll write this up in more detail when I've had time to reflect away from the bubble of Ceuse, but a quick reflection for now on the climbers of Ceuse.

One of the big things I love watching is all the different styles of climbers at a crag and Ceuse is pretty exceptional for it due the sheer number of people across the grade range. Think of it like watching football/soccer players (translate for whatever country you live in :), you can see the differences between the truly skilled, the ultra-fit, the efficient, the throw-yourself-into-every-tackle-no-matter-what-the-cost types of players.
Climbing is the exact same and it's a huge benefit to watch others for ideas to help yourself improve. I'm naturally a very technical climber, good on strong holds, quiet.
Here I get to watch all the styles - at the 'normal' levels (i.e anyone who isn't up to sponsored level), you can see those and learn from what they're strengths and weaknesses are. Many people are definitely being held back by the fear over the run-outs between the bolts - you'll see them pull down on the most ridiculously small holds and yet won't go more than a foot above a bolt without panicing. Read MacLeod's book and his section on falling (there's other books who discuss it also, but his is pretty good and honest about what is required).
Then there's the others who scream their way up routes and arrive at the chains. This year's bouldering World Cup champion is exactly that. It's pretty crazy to watch, not particularly strong looking but seems to be able to use pure willpower to get up a route. I need more of this, Bourinator in many ways was a drag for this reason as I just wouldn't get angry with the route. It's something I need to spend some time on.
There's also the opposite of course, the silent destroyer. Not a word, perfect movement and pace, and looks outrageously efficient at climbing. They're my benchmark, even though ironically (and as was described to me), in France, this is the benchmark for climbers, they all aspire to have perfect technique and cruise up the latest hard route. But ironically, you will get the utmost respect for fighting, almost falling off every hold and looking like you're going hurl when you get to the chains. go figure! :)

Anyway, battery on laptop is about to go so I'll have to finish this off another time but I'll hopefully get to elaborate more in the coming weeks...... Give me some ideas about where I can go with this, I've some ideas but all ideas welcome :)

Ceuse - boo to all tick marks!

And finally the Bourinator goes down! Jeez, what an epic for a route that should have gone quickly. Still though, it just shows that sometimes you can't be overly confident about a route as it'll come back to bite you in the ass :) Just showing the strategy and quirks of climbing, a day and a half of rest after being a bit worn down, I warmed up on Naomi's current project, a 7b. After a bit of a rude reminder of that route and how reachy it is (seemed to have blanked that part out when I was recommending it to Naomi - ooops!), Bourinator went easy. The start wasn't even stressful, I wasn't pumped on it at all, and only managed to make a bit of an epic of it at the top after grabbing a (what turned out to be) non-hold because someone had ticked it with chalk. I ended up having to throw big style for the final jug even though I wasn't even stressed. This is the fascinating part of climbing - I'm after finding out on this trip that I can cruise a fingery 7c/7c+ in a maximum of two goes, but when it gets really steep, I'm not naturally designed for this physical climbing and struggle. Interesting, I'll have to sort that out over this winter. Still though, stoked to get this done as it's dragged on for a good few days now! To finish off the day, I put the quickdraws on Petit Tom, the other goal route of the trip - hopefully it goes quickly now, time is getting short!
The biggest disappointment of the trip is that I'm now not going to have time to put into L'ami du tout la monde, the 8b. the big positive is I now know that I could do it, and I'd guess it would go in about 5-6 attempts. Not enough time now for it, but I'm happy just to know that and walk away. It's been a really successful trip by all accounts other than that.

You'll notice my comment of tick marks on routes. It's especially common in sports climbing, although quite common on hard trad routes (especially for gear placements). I'm taking my own bit of a stance on these and removing them all from routes I attempt. It feels like just a game of joining the dots (or ticks) if every hold and foothold has a line against it. Yes, it's harder without all the holds marked but for me at least, way more satisfying. And anyway, do you really need to put a foot long line to a hold that is big enough to put your arm into, and you can see from the ground 30 metres away!? I'm noticing it's moved the difficulty of Petit Tom up a notch without ticks (the wall is perfectly smooth so especially hard to see the foot edges) but I'm psyched for it this way. I don't think the other people trying it are too impressed to see me brushing all the chalk off the routes but they'll get over it ;)

Naomi is settling into Dieditic Line, 7b. She was of the opinion that it was above her in difficulty after the first couple of goes (she tried to onsight it, then went bolt to bolt on it) - huge reachy moves and a real crux - holds maybe only half a joint in depth on a vertical wall. But her first proper redpoint attempt yesterday, she fell off on the last hard move. The mental block is gone now so it's just a case of getting on the route fresh and in good conditions. Game on!

Ceuse 10 - meltdown!

Well that was a non-event! As always happens on a long climbing trip, energy levels slowly get degraded and it was one of those days yesterday - the walk-in felt awful and both of us were wrecked so we binned plans and headed to the tent for a bit of extra rest. It's interesting, I feel at this point now that my base level is back to normal after study last year but to start trying really hard routes (for me) that require 100% effort, I need 3-4 days off to let all muscles regenerate and then get back to routes. From trying the 8b's here, I'm physically capable of them, but arms are getting a little sore that a day off just won't fix. Still though, it'll just means I'll have to ensure form is perfect to succeed on the 8a's I'm on. The little elements that affect top performance!

Great news was an Australian friend of ours who succeeded on her long term goal, Petit Tom 8a. She'd tried it two years ago falling right at the very top, and had to spend multiple days again this year to do. The mental challenge to stick with it is pretty awe-inspiring and I've learnt a lot just from watching her.

Other news that you'll see if you read the main headlines. Adam Ondra onsighted Dures Limitees 8c and femme blanche 8a+, fell right at the top of No Futur 8c+ on the onsight, and redpointed a new 8c+.
In one day.
The top end guys are really pulling ahead of the 'normal' climbers now and it's amazing to watch!

Question, has anyone from Ireland redpointed 8c? What's the best success so far and is it inspiring others to reach their own new levels?

I'm off to eat ice-cream so have a good day :)

Ceuse 9 - learning

And so it goes on! One of the tricky items to deal with at Ceuse which doesn't come up on many other crags is the crowds and actually getting onto your route - with only a limited amount of routes at each grade, it's pretty common to arrive at your planned route for the day to find a big gang setting up on it for the rest of the day. So it was yesterday, Bourinator was on, I arrived did the warm-up on it (poorly I might add!), found three other guys on it, so sacked it off for a couple of hours. By the time I arrived back, one of the guys was taking all his quickdraws out which meant a bit more of a challenge as they're not particularly easy to put in. Still though, as ever, surprises were in store, I managed to get most of the way to the chains before my arms gave out. There's always a positive!
It's been a great learning process on this route, my natural inclination is to just walk away from this steepness so learning from the experience is fab. And just showing that you see bigger gains from doing things that you're really bad at (instead of things that you're already quite good and therefore have less opportunities for noticeable improvements) means that I'm already seeing visibile gains in my movement and strength. Life is an education.

Major positives yesterday, Naomi flashed another 7a+ (easily!) and earned the respect of the watching crowd for it. She's moved onto a 7b now, and had her first experience of trying to put the quickdraws in herself. Small steps, and while not completely successful, it looked like a big learning experience for her. She came down with a smile and left a queue of people to try her route after her so enthusiasm is obviously infectious!

Back to Bourinator today, fingers crossed. If it doesn't happen, it'll still be there tomorrow. Every day is a good day at Ceuse so it's hard to get stressed!

have a good day all - positive vibes to everyone!

Ceuse - learning

Easily recognizable by the name painted on the rock at the bottom of the cliff, Angel Dust 7a+

Another relaxing/rest day complete to enjoy France, and generally emphasize the fact that this is still a holiday and I'm pretty privileged to be able to spend so much time doing a sport that I love so much. Of course, these trips wouldn't be much fun (even with the amazing climbing) if it wasn't for the people who you are there so it was great to hang out with the current Team Ireland for a day - ice cream and lounging on a beach can't get much better!

Still though, the cycle begins today and motivation is high amongst us all to get on some routes and have a go. I'm back on Bourinator, so hopefully will send it this afternoon - I'm just looking forward to the big swing off it when I have success! :)
Naomi is back on a route she tried last year, Angel Dust. It's perfectly vertical up a blank wall with little or no rest. And it's really challenging her, the fitness level on this route is above what she's experienced so far. But she's taking the right attitude and looking to learn what she's doing right, and wrong, and what the fitness required for this type of route is. And she's doing it by spending lots of time on the route. It's easy to try a route or a problem, find that it feels impossible or weird/strange/reachy/fingery/pumpy (or even just a problem that someone has shown you at the local climbing wall that is their own style) and just decide to forget about it and move onto something that you're better at. But in the long term, you're just digging a hole for yourself by not improving at the things that are your weaknesses.
I've done it myself, and it always comes back to bite me on another route that inspires me. Bourinator is one of those routes. I don't particularly like near-horizontal climbing (imagine climbing across the roof of the ceiling above you), but there's routes where it's just necessary to climb that sort of upside-down angle and I'm just having to man up and get better at it. The irony is that usually on this type of route, the holds are massive (gravity does enough to make moving across a roof hard without the holds being small!) so I've no reason to get better at it.

We'll see whether we both learn something in the coming days :) What's your least favourite angle/style?

Just another day at Berlin sector! People hanging on ropes, others trying amazing climbs!

Ceuse update 8 - motivation and settling in

Once again no pictures - it's been too tricky with two of us in sectors at any one time. Hopefully now that we're climbing with Dave and co, we can start making an effort with it.

Motivation dipped for some reason for a couple of days last week, think it was that transition point in the middle of the trip where I went to having to spend a lot of time on individual routes and just falling off the same moves. Not that I was going badly, got pretty ill for a day last week but still managed to fall off a 7c onsight. From the very last hold after my hand slipped. Gutted, I wasn't even pumped. Still though, it did bring about an interesting experience of no shouting, no annoyance. Just an 'oh well, it'll be there to do tomorrow again (when I can see straight)'.  I didn't really think about it, but a few people watching were wondering that I should have been really annoyed?! I don't know, it's just another climb and I saw lots of positives in my climbing - vision of how to make movements, pacing, recovery, etc that I couldn't see a reason to get angry! Since then, it's been more time in this area on a beautiful route called Petit Tom (8a). It's cool for me, very small crimpy holds up an overhanging wall with terrible footholds (a coin on it's side would be regarded as large at times to stand on). I'm strong on this type of style but never before with such poor feet so it's really working me and I can see improvements already. Future ambition is to onsight the 8a beside it which is exact same style - an incentive to come back here in a year or so.

In between, Naomi is settling into some 7a+'s that are really working here. One that is super technical and pumpy, a nemesis from last year. She's still finding it hard so she's putting in the time now to learn better technique from it. She's also getting on Petite Illusion, the classic of the crag at 7a+. This is more steeper/overhanging which she is definitely struggling on so will continue to see gains on. Motivation is back up again though so all good!

More general Ceuse news? Gabriel Moroni and David Lama are on for a race to tick an old project route on the Berlin sector - no holds up an overhanging wall. Enzo Otto (age 16) is projecting Realization (9a+) after the start lost some holds - it's now Font 8b just to get off the ground. hardcore. Little Alex (age 16) has finished many of the 8b's and now moved onto the 8c's. Bewildering. Loads of the 8b - 8c's are getting ascents and everyone is generally having a good time. And of course, the pizzeria is amazing ;)

Positive vibes to all worldwide reading this!

Ceuse wifi mornings :)

Ceuse - Alex and Naomi

Alex: Hi Neal

Me: Hey Alex, having a good day?

Alex: Yes, warmed up on Carte Blanche, and now I will go do L'ami du tout la Monde.

Me: wow, nice!

Alex: see you.....

[couple of hours later]
Me: Hey Alex, did you get it?
Alex: Yes, it took me two goes. also have you done the 7c+ beside it? It is very good, very hard for the grade.
Me: ehhhh....o.k., I'll keep that in mind! What are you going to do now?
Alex: I think I will go and do Carte Blanche now.
Me: Jeez, you're having a great day! Life is good, eh?
Alex: Life is always good as long as you're alive
Me: right, must keep that in mind. Later.

- Alex is a 16-year old Polish kid traveling on his own around Europe for the summer. We met him last year here when he was trying 8a's. His ticklist yesterday was a 7c+, 8a and 8b. Not bad!

Huge positive was Naomi ticking her 2nd 7b. More pumpier than the last one, she did it all. As one of the Aussies said here, when you watch a French climber they always look really good and moving with beautiful movement. But what the French really love is when they watch someone (on a route of any grade) have a fight to the death, almost fall off once or twice, and still make it to the top. Naomi managed both, fighting at the start, almost falling off about a third of the way up, barely managing to recover at a rest and cruising to the chains. The locals would have been proud.

As for me, an uneventful day yesterday as I stuffed up Bourinator at the very top and in doing so managed to remove a significant quantity of skin from some fingers. School-boy error, you must practice all moves properly otherwise you forget and fall off! Still though, lesson learned and a reminder that I'm still not performing at 100% just yet. It's not just about strength and endurance, there's a lot of technique and skills that depend on success at climbing. The main difference between myself and many of the climbers at their peak is their consistency on sports routes over several months or years. I'm easily as strong as many of them, but I seem to only get regular route climbing when I'm away on a trip. Hopefully this winter will be little different from usual with less study to deal with and sports routes close to home!
I'm happy enough for now with it so will go back to the route in a few days. Steep rock is fun, but I'm much more in love with smaller holds on slightly overhanging terrain - it's not just about having big arms, technique counts for so much also.

Dave has arrived with uber-psyche, Berlin today to try another fun day at the best sector of one of the best crags in the world.

Ceuse update 6 - 80's extreme

O.k. not really 80's Extreme but the video quality is pretty old-school so you'll have to laugh at the grainy-ness. Belgian Sean on my current psyche route, the 'fantastique' route, L'ami du Tout la Monde. This footage is from my first big road-trip in 2002 and my first viewing of this route (from Sean). At the time, this looked outrageous and I think it inspired me for future years. Took me a bit longer than expected to get on it, but the great thing about climbing is that routes will always be there, and it's a sport you can keep improving at!

Enjoy.

Ceuse update 5 - info

Ceuse wide-angle. Note that blue line describing path is about as inaccurate/vague as you can get :)

I thought I'd put a short post about Ceuse itself since many people haven’t been here and thought some people might be interested.

Here’s two photos of the crag, one zoomed in and one wide-angle so you can see the campsite and the walk-in. Hopefully you can view them in full quality - if not go here and here. Basically, the campsite is at about 1300 meters and the crag is about 1900, so about a 600 meter vertical climb over 3 kms every day. Who said sports climbers were lazy?! :) No seriously, it’s also one of the special quirks and benefits of Ceuse because it keeps the numbers down at the crag. One of the nice benefits of the crags location also is that you don’t have to bring any gear down everyday, everyone is friendly enough that all gear is just stashed up at the crag in random locations. Items are rarely stolen, and if anything it seems that if something goes missing, it’s due to a mix-up in grabbing the wrong gear.

Regarding the crag, it’s described in separate sectors to make more sense of it. Cascade and Thorgal being in the sun until about 1pm, and the crags on the right go into shade about 3pm (during summer months). Depending on the mood, some people will walk up for a morning and afternoon session, many will just do one or the other.
The crag is slightly curved also, it’s just just a straight line so that you can look across and see each sector.

Face du Rat is relatively undeveloped, but that's also because it's ridiculously overhanging. Biographie overhangs about about 30-40 degrees, and is about as awe-inspiring as it gets for routes. Yes, Biographie/Realization (8c+/9a+) pretty much looks like a blank wall from below. The right hand side of Pont sur L'infinit is the super-classic overhang of L'ami du tout la monde (8b) and Bibendum (7b+). Hard to perceive how steep they are front-on but one of the reasons that everyone wants to do Bibendum is because the swing is so much fun at the end :)
Demi Lune is the main sector for grade 6 and 7 climbing, beautiful vertical wall of blue, grey and orange streaks of pockets.
to give an idea of height, La Grande Face is about 120 meters in height. Many of the routes are about 30 meters, but many are getting extensions now that are up to 80 meters. That’s a single 70 meter pitch. One of the more famous ones is the extension to a classic 7c+ on Biographie sector, that is about 60-ish meters in height and goes at 8b. Obviously you need big ropes for these, you’ll see the odd person here with 100 or 120 meter ropes. Glad I didn’t have to carry that one up.......

As for grades and routes, as one Swede memorably said to me many years ago, "up to 8a, none of the moves are that hard, the problem is there is 100 of them on each route!". It's pretty apt, many of the routes are very endurance related, no single impossible move (although some do feel harder), but just loads and loads of them to fight through. It makes for brilliant climbing as you can never really relax till you get to the chains. I can't actually think of a route that only has one really hard move, there's usually multiple moves that feel pretty stiff. The other side of the routes here is the run-outs, 3 meters is pretty common. The grade 6's are pretty well bolted but once you're into the 7's, you have to deal with this exposure which is made all the more real as due to the type of climbing (feet and hands in pockets in a sheer wall), it means that it's a clean drop below :) Some of the harder classics start off with 2 meter, then 3-meter, then 4 meter, all the way up to a 6-meter gab to the chains. We've seen some monster plummets off one of the classic 8a+, Femme Blance, which is the epitomy of this run-out style.
Berlin is the classic area of the crag and arguably the best sector if you're climbing mid 7's and above. Slightly overhanging, and super-sustained. The classic is Blocage Violent 7b+ (many argue it's 7c) that follows a gorgeous blue streak of rock up the left-hand side.......

Anyway, hope that helps. And to finish off, this is one of the reasons this place is so amazing. Courtesy of friend, this is how Ceuse looked one night last week from the campsite...

Ceuse - Photo says it all!

It's not me (another Swiss climber), but it shows my current status. The challenge continues on super-steep-ness; how can I fall off holds that are this big?!!?!? :)

two days of rest awaits, we've decided that we need to rest the arms properly and one day isn't enough. With rain predicted for tomorrow, it seems like good timing.

Have a great bank holiday weekend all!