Countdown to Africa...

Its been a week since my last update and its now less than a week until I jet off to Cape Town and make my way to the bouldering mecca of Rocklands. This is all new territory for me but noises have been made suggesting this is perhaps the best bouldering in the world bar none. Safe to say I'm suitably psyched. 

At the other end of the rock spectrum (no disrespect intended) Ive been bumbling about on the peak limestone for the last week or so. Granted my last post did suggest I was more keen to get on the grit, even trying Brad Pit in June, but since then temps have soared, humidity has gone through the roof and my ideas of doing anything more on grit came down to earth with a bump. 30mins at Stanage the other day, with zero wind, incurring multiple midge bites and greasing off a font 6a most definitely was the straw that audibly broke the camels back. 

With this u-turn as mentioned Ive been back on the limestone. Ive concentrated on volume rather than trying anything really hard for me. I figured this would help maintain my fitness best for Africa as well as avoid any potential injury from trying a certain move too much. To be fair limestone bouldering certainly gets its fair share of bad press and yes its not Font by any means however Ive climbed some great problems this week and certainly feel the better for it. 

I spent most of my time at the Tor and Stoney. At the Tor the Weedkiller Traverse and Powerhumps hardway are two standouts for me...really good problems and the polish and typically slightly damp holds almost add to the atmosphere of the climbs. I tried Powerband a bit too but the finishing move is nails on the link and I only got the thing dry one day with condensation stopping play after that. Still a great, historic boulder prob no matter what people say and id like to come back to do this. 

Still my most fun was had at Stoney. For people who have not enjoyed a session here the place is of course polished beyond belief, not particularly aesthetic  and pretty darn greasy. Its also basically like a climbing wall in that every problem is eliminate and is described in acute detail to ensure you climb up the wall in exactly the right way you should. Still if you have a few hours to kill its great fun climbing here. Part of the problem is identifying exactly what you can and cannot use on a problem...to explain see photo below

On the above hold you would crimp the seam and place you thumb round the sidepull edge when trying Sean's Problem. If you were trying Zippy's sidepull you would grab the sidepull hold at the top and place your thumb in the seam to get a good pinch. However Zippy's sidepull 7c variation would mean you'd grad the sidepull slightly lower down and you would not be allowed to pinch with the thumb (so sidepull only). Finally if your trying Seans Problem 7c variation you'd have the sidepull only (no crimp seam), oh yes and remember no feet in the break - you get all that? So you get what I mean, the devil is in the detail. Still Seans Problem sidepull variation (7c) and Ned's Problem (7b+) were two highlights of many 7th grade probs I did here. 

So thats it for now, monstrous humidity today meant the lime was covered in a weird sort of waxy slime and tomorrow I head back to London to see the family, booze with the uni mates before heading to Heathrow for my flight on Monday night. Next post South Africa! 

Brits Abroad...

After the last update I stuck with the limestone and headed to Crag X next. Never ever seen this place remotely dry but I guess id never been there in June before. Always wanted to do Sean's problem after watching One Summer so jumped on that. Its a good problem, albeit you have to be clear on the rules. After that I dynoed out Lift Off. Had a look at The Thing but decided to call it a day, might come back here at some point to try that. 

This was the middle of last week but by Thursday morning something changed. I woke to strong winds and colder air, although I had yet to visit the limestone meccas of Rubicon, Stoney or the Tor I knew I would not be able to resist a dabble on the grit. An hour later saw me up at Stanage. 

I was amazed to see no-one about but then I reminded myself I was acting rather like a typical brit abroad. No local peak climber would be seen doing much on the grit in June as they do not want to battle with unhelpful conditions when cooler temps were needed. Similarly Terry Smith from Basildon on holiday in Benidorm would have no hesitation in cooking himself on the beach at 1pm, guzzling a Stella, when the locals are all indoors having a siesta. 

Still there was a coolish breeze and I was unfazed. This winter id be in the US anyway so this was my chance to try something. Brad Pit was the first boulder problem I remember thinking id like to climb when first getting into climbing and yet to this day Ive never actually properly tried it so I decided to jump on that first. Despite it being June, the strong winds were doing something, as I surprised myself being able to get my heel up ok and pull into the groove relatively comfortably. From here you have to adjust your hands, really sit on the heel and pop to the flatty at the top of the groove to finish. Unfortunately this is where I needed those cooler temps. The holds in the groove are pretty slopey and as you get rocked up on them a lot of pressure is applied. Just as id set myself to go my hands would just rip straight off the slopers and id be back on the mat. 

In the end I sacked it off with my skin very sore. I really would love to climb this boulder problem and believe its on, however I may have to be realistic and accept its not going to happen on this trip to the peak. The last few days has seen the wind drop and humidity pick up..still I haven't totally ruled out a night time attempt if temps come off a bit so we will see. 

In the meantime once id had this taste for grit I couldn't help myself, even in the knowledge I was breaking some cardinal rules bouldering on grit in the summer. The last few days I decided to drop my grade and just climb some other lines id seen or heard about that appealed. I figured that way I could keep my fitness sharp for my upcoming trip and enjoy myself in the process. First up was Dope on a Slope, then we went to Gardoms and I did Perfect Day Direct (photo below) and Marks Roof LH. Finally up at Cratcliffe I campussed my way along Jerrys Traverse and dragged my way up Jerrys Arete. Some really good problems and although my skin is sore today by doing them pretty quickly ill be ok to climb again tomorrow. So there you go peak raiders perhaps Terry Smith sitting on the beach in Benidorm, drinking his Stella has got the right idea after all. 

Killing time....

After two nights on the sauce in Amsterdam I am now back in the UK till the end of the month. From early July we fly out to South Africa which I'm super psyched for but in the meantime I didn't want to be completely idle whilst in the UK. The weekend of my return to the family estate saw the UK basking in sunshine, you could smell the BBQ's going and all the pubs were rammed. The British summer was well under way it seemed. Of course what this also meant was hot and sweaty climbing walls. I dragged myself down to mile end wall to try and get a session in but it was just grim. I lasted about an hour or so and sacked it off. 

I decided that outdoor climbing was the way forward. Grit may be out, at least in terms of doing something hard, but Ive done very little on the limestone up north and then there is North Wales that I could pop across to. So I now find myself up in the Peak District National Park having driven up yesterday. After arriving I popped out to Beginners Wall that I had looked at a year or so back but it had been seeping badly at the time. Yesterday the stand start of Neil's Wall, the main line there really, was semi dry with only one damp hand hold and the footholds a bit minging so with my new found experience with the kitchen roll i soon got it dry enough to pull on. The stand is 7c i think and although sharp and of course no top out, its pretty good. I managed to piece it together after 30mins or so. I had a look at the harder sit but it was pretty wet so left that for a particularly dry period of weather.  

So that was yesterday and today I was reminded of that other glorious attribute of the great British summer - rain. Not spectacularly heavy rain like what we saw in the Alps but more of a drizzly, blustery sort of nature that seems to be able to go sideways and up as well as the more conventional downwards direction. Anyway I have some plans of what to try and it cant rain as much as it did in the Alps so things are looking up...

Magic 6 - Dark days

Since my last post it has been 72 hours or so and of that 72 its not been raining for 5 hours in total I think. Of course it may have sneaked the odd dry hour past me whilst ive been asleep, but you get the idea - bleak. 

Saturday id planned a rest day anyway so the lashing rain from some huge thunderstorm(s) that moved through the valley did not bother me that much. I simply wondered at the sheer amount of water they see fall out of the sky here and watched some movies. 

Sunday morning dawned and I was raring to go. However the rain persisted, in fact as it turned out Sunday lunchtime was simply the halftime interval. At this interval we made a dash for it up to the rocks. Things were sopping, as to be expected, but with some fleeting sun and wind about I optimistically began applying kitchen roll to the holds on Jack's Broken Heart, determined to dry it (see pic above). After an hours or so work the rock was starting to look respectable. No more water as such just a slightly unnerving dampness on some of the holds. Still I pulled on to warm up and surprised myself cruising through to the pinch move and almost sticking it despite the damp. The rest day and a half had done me the world of good and skin/shoulders wise I was back at the level I needed to be at. Unfortunately the weather window was about to close, for good in fact. After resting for 5 mins or so and doing some more drying work I set off again only to be greeted by heavy rain drops hitting me in the face as I peered round the lip looking for the pinch. Game over for Sunday and we walk down in the rain. 

Monday morning came around and I was feeling positive. We had checked two weather forecasts on the net and both had said zero chance of rainfall today. I felt despite the large downpour we had caught the start of yesterday the rocks would be dry by lunchtime. It was just a case of waiting it out this morning. Unfortunately by the time I was sipping my first morning coffee it was raining again and it would not stop again all day. As a climber you get used to rain stopping play, you also spend a lot of time looking at weather forecasts in the hope of seeing the sun symbol. What ive never understood is how these weather guys (or girls) can get things just so wrong so much of the time. Do they just have a guess? 

Anyway by lunchtime the rain was still coming down but was more akin to English drizzle than an alpine thunderstorm we decided to give it a go and drive up to the rocks in the hope this was the tail end of things on the rain front. Another depressing walk around around wet blocs ensued. I noticed due to the rain being of a lighter nature certain blocs nestled under bigger pines were only damp rather than soaked. To keep me sane I found two 7a's benefitting from this umbrella effect, put the shoes on and climbed them in the damp just to register something on the ascents list. The first one, Heb da Arsch, actually was quite a good climb and worth checking out. 

After dispatching these two I went back over to Jack's for a final look, the rock had turned into a small waterfall, I said my goodbyes for this trip and turned my back on it. On the way back I walked past Sofa Surfer, a steep 8a/+ that climbs up a really nice concave overhang, most of the wall was dryish. I decided to give it a few goes, despite the holds going black with damp and it now lashing rain again so the top was dripping. I surprised myself in doing all the moves up to the wet patch in 20mins or so. This could be on I allowed myself to think. I decided to try and stem the dripping flow from above and dry the upper holds and then give it a burn from the start. I pulled on and felt good going into the match on the sharp crimps, from there you reach up RH to a slopey angled hold, work your feet up and match with the LH. I was now one move away from a semi-jug crimp. I steadied myself, eyed up this hold and slapped for it RH. I felt my fingers curl round something pretty positive but a split second later I was back on the mat. I looked up and it became clear. As id been climbing from the bottom the dripping had started up again and got into the hold before I reached it. gutted and time to go. 

I feel like this post may be starting to depress even the most optimistic of reader so ill keep it brief from here. Its now Tuesday, the weather prophet had said it would be dry this morning. We leave today but I had entertained going up to Sofa Surfer early if it had dried overnight to give it  go or two. The alarm woke me at 8am and it was pouring again so Ive given up and am currently packing up to leave. 

Magic Wood is a place of stunning natural beauty but when the weather comes in that could be better described as savage beauty. It hasn't been a great end to our time here. I guess at face value im pretty pleased to have finally sent my nemesis Piranja and Octopussy was a great 8th grader too. However I cant help but feel i didn't really achieve what I could have done here. Jack's Broken Heart was a go or two away I believe and after yesterday I also think I should have added Sofa Surfer to the sent list. Now if I had done these two it would have been a great trip. Still whats done is done, time to go, and this ends our European adventure. Going to take in Amsterdam on the way back to the UK which should be good laugh. 

 

Magic 5 - Something's better than nothing

In the bag today I had a new reel of finger tape, scissors and a tube of super glue. The idea was get up to Jack's... smear a load of super glue over the hole in my finger, tape it and send the problem in perfect comfort. It did not go to plan. 

To be fair, the super glue and tape combo did not hold up too badly. The pain I felt in my finger when crimping down on the edges was more a dull ache rather than anything too nasty. However, yesterday's session had taken more of a toll on my shoulders than expected. I was tired and that along with the tape created too big a hurdle to surmount. I did not really believe I could do it today and after a few half-hearted goes I sacked it off. 

Spirits were pretty low, the session had been a big disappointment, the rain was still forecast to stop play most of the weekend, so that might have been my last chance to climb Jack's. I decided rather than heading straight home to sulk I needed to just climb something. I'd seen a video on Dobbin's blog of the stag team making short work of Jack the Chipper and it looked good. Armed with that beta i headed up to the bloc. 

The key to the problem is a right foot cam, i managed to get that in good first go and knew the flash was on. A couple more moves on a nice fat pinch saw me reach a good sloper on the lip. The mantel is slightly fiddly but once i sorted my feet out it was easy enough to roll out. This is my hardest flash to date but I'm not sure if its 7c or 7b+ to be honest. 

The rain has arrived as I type so its a case of waiting it out now to see if I can sneak one more session out of the Wood in the next few days. Fingers crossed. 

Magic 4 - time to get real...

After another 2 days rest spent hiking and a day trip to Juf, i think one of the highest Swiss villages at 2100m or something like that, it was back to business. Since id managed to climb an 8a bloc here as in Font i wanted to dabble with something harder, problem was what? I had to consider that at best with no rain days i had 3 or 4 good sessions left ensuring proper rest etc. I hopped back on Pura Vida but got no more joy from the end section, it truly is desperate involving crimping the smallest of gnarly pockets or alternatively cutting loose on a dreadful crossly sort of sloper hold at full reach. Hard 8a+ i think this one. 

Next up back to Electroboogie. Stunning feature, great pinches and sloper's atypical to much of the climbing in Magic. The problem is 8a+ rated pinching is not really my forte and i find this climb very hard. Id like to have the time to really work it in good temps but with days running out this was not now. 

Almost as an after thought i remembered Jack’s Broken Heart an 8a+ next to Octopussy. Considered low-end for the grade i think so it could be a good introduction problem, it has a lot of crimping and body tension so my style i hoped. Downside was i had been told it was sharp but hey right now i had some skin so it might work. 

Next session i went straight up to Jack’s to give it a burn. Its basically a series of moves leftwards between some good and not so good edges before the crux involves putting a heel next to your RH in a slot, weighting it very gently because otherwise it pops, whilst at the same time locking off a very sharp crimp with the LH enabling you to reach over the lip of the roof to a good pinch (The pics below show this part of the sequence). Within a few goes i had linked the moves together from the start into this heel move but as i was reaching for the pinch my heel would blow at the last minute and id find myself back on the mat. It was starting to get irritating because i felt if i could get the heel to stay and reach the pinch the rest of the problem was ok so it would be on to finish it from here. 

I decided to work the heel move individually a few times to get it wired before going from the start again - big mistake. The LH crimp i knew was sharp but in fact its one of those holds that's so sharp you do not even feel it when it cuts you. After 4 or 5 goes pulling up to the heel i noticed blood on my finger and realised i had managed to bore a really deep hole in my index finger pad. Not good and game over. 

So once again the dreaded skin problems have stopped play. To make the issue worse a storm of sorts is forecast for this weekend here that may/may not last into Monday. Our last day climbing is Monday so time is pretty darn short. I really want to climb this problem, yes the grade does mean something, but aside from that i really think the moves are cool and its just a shame the thing is so sharp. What this means is i'll likely have to tape up tomorrow and try and block the pain out and see how i go. If that doesn't work its going to come down to Monday being "last chance saloon" when at least i might have some skin back and the hole in my finger may have healed up. 

Magic 3 - a return to form

In hindsight the split tip may have been a blessing in disguise. It got me away from the boulders for a day or two and i went hiking instead. My skin grew back and perhaps most key was the wind direction changed and a north-westerly cooled the temps right down. I'd had time to think and get a strategy of exactly what i wanted to have a go at once i got back climbing again. 

First up was a reccy on Octopussy. Since my chat with the German fella at the problem id done some searching for beta on the web and found that sub six-footers could in fact leap for the sloper and then use some serious body tension to get their feet over left and in the heel-toe cam which is what is needed to finish the problem off as you turn the corner onto the slab. I worked my own sequence on the block with some useful encouragement and advice from fellow Brits out visiting on a stag do. I left for lunch feeling pretty confident this one could go down. 

I came back that evening and took a trip up to No Liberty for the first time after it had severed my tip so cruelly. This time i taped the suffering finger with a view id give this one 30mins or so work and see how i got on but no more. 5 or 6 goes later it was done and my first Swiss 8a was on the board. Hopefully from here i could build some momentum. 

Next morning we went back to Octopussy. Temps remained favourable and my skin felt good. Armed with my sequence from the day before i got started. A few goes in and it just wasn't happening. I started to feel the pressure a bit, i knew temps were good, my skin too, but i was also aware the powerful dynamic move to the sloper was taking its toll on my shoulders. I needed to get this done. A long rest and i went for it again...this time i caught the sloper just right and the problem went down. Pleased as i feel this is a tough 8a using my sequence...this is captured in the below vid, enjoy....

Magic 2 - down to earth with a bump

After the great start on day 1 my tail was up but unfortunately my fortunes quickly changed. Temperatures soared, the dreaded humidity came in and then in the evenings a damp sort of mist descended on the Wood. Rock became damp and holds started to turn black whenever you pulled on something as moisture oozed out of the rock. 

Unperturbed i started to feel out some problems i wanted to try. Here at Magic there is less to go at compared to Font so i wanted to start to try and project some harder grades (8a and above really) and see how i went. I started off with Pura Vida an 8a+/b that traverses a barrel shaped boulder. The damp holds were particularly bad here but i managed to link it from the start into the ending sequence however at this point i got totally shut down. I tried a few different methods id seen but nothing seemed to click and meanwhile my skin was getting dangerously thin again. 

I decided to move on...next up was Octopussy, a really nice looking 8a roof. I got up to it and a German guy was working it. I joined in but screwed the start up and was off. I struck up conversation with the German guy asking for any beta. He told me that for tall people you simply jumped leftwards for the obvious sloper and from there swung your feet over to the arete thing and you were done but that was for TALL people. The guy was 6'3ish and he said it would not work for him so being considerably shorter i ruled myself out of that beta and started trying some heinous hand heel match thing which after 30mins of failure i gave up on. 

Days continued like this with very little change in the weather or my fortunes on the boulders. Riverbed seemed too techy for me and long, Electroboogie has some brutal shoulder action and seemed too slopey with currrent temps. Finally i took the walk up to No Liberty, an 8a i had heard was quite straightforward and easy if you liked backhand gaston sequences similar to Michel-Ange. You have to be careful where to start with this one..reach too far right and its 7c or 7c+ but still after working out what holds i could use i got to work. It seemed that if i could pull on ok at the start and make the throw to the gaston (see below pic) it was in the bag for me. 15mins later crimping hard on the starting hold i blew a tip and it was all over.  So with 8 days gone since i arrived and sent Piranja i had climbed nothing else and was now staring down the barrel of 2-3 days of forced rest at least. How things had changed....

Magic 1

We arrived in the Swiss region of Graubunden where Magic Wood is located. This was the view that greeted me on the terrace of our small apartment near the Wood. 

Spots of rain were around but not amounting to much and temps were so much cooler than Italy or Brione. My skin felt good with the rest too. Despite the 3 hour journey we had just undertaken it was time to get out and climb. 

Magic Wood is a wonderful climbing area, it really is. Immaculate steep blocks sit in lush pine woodland above a fast flowing crystal clear river. The boulders are above 1000m altitude wise and so cold air often circulates through the wood making it cool to climb despite blazing sun. The problem is its quite a small area..compared to Fontainebleau its tiny. Its popularity as a summer bouldering venue has had its effect it seems since i first visited this place in 2006. Path erosion is bad, litter lurks and now every weekend it seems the campsite is full to total capacity with vans from many areas of Europe. The place is still stunning, no doubt, so i do not blame any European with a van for coming down here. I just hope the locals can manage it ok so this place does not get ruined by traffic that's all. So far they have stuck in a new bridge at the campsite end to help climbers get over the river. Good idea it seems except the bridge is only shoulder width wide. What that means is anyone with a large mat (which most people have to take into the Wood due to choice landings) has to take it off and drag it over the bridge with difficulty. Not the smartest move. Anyway I'm waffling it was time to climb....

So after warming up i moved up to Piranja a 7c/7c+ problem that had become a total nemesis for me in trips of the past. I was on my own and only had a small mat (the one the goat did its business on) still i just felt so good in the cooler temps i figured it was worth a shot day one. First up i pulled on "the move". You have a two finger crimp in you LH, your right is on a small sloper, you paste your left foot on a small edge and fire up RH to a positive edge taking the swing left your body takes before pulling up to jugs and the finish. It was this swing that had caused me problems in the past. Today though i fired the move off first go. Wow! it was on...A rest, a go to remind me of the start and third go i fire the link and put a nemesis to bed. Great start to my time here and time for a beer...

Brione

So the plan in Italy was to chill round Lake Maggiore for a few days however i still planned to get some climbing in with a trip or two to Brione. This village is actually only 20mins or so from the Swiss side of Maggiore but involved us crossing the border on each visit. 

There is some major access issues with Brione and so at this time there is no guidebook to the place. However some text messages and emails to Tyler got me the necessary beta. With temps high and this meant to be a quiet week on the climbing front I did not have a large tick list for the place. I simply wanted to try Molunk..a steep arete with weird colours running through the rock (see pic above) that many people had told me was the best 7c they had ever done. 30 mins of work and i got the send. It certainly is a great climb, easyish for the grade but the moves are cool, the setting is sublime and the rock itself is so eye catching its a pleasure to move on it. 

I climbed a few other blocs in Brione over the next two visits we made but really only scraped the surface of the place. There is so much rock up there. Aside from climbing the valley is such an interesting place to visit. It has a massive dam made famous by Bond jumping off it in Goldeneye, numerous bridges across the fast-flowing river and some awesome waterfalls. Turns out at 220m the Contra dam is 20th tallest in the world or around there with the tallest being one in the former USSR at 335m. Anyway enough of this, on to Magic Wood....

Swiss welcome

So after a few hours driving we were deposited in the valley of Ticino. The weird thing about Swiss motorway driving is you spend so much time in long tunnels you lose all conception of where you really are and the incredible scenery you are flying past. You can enter a tunnel and it is pouring with rain and come out the other side 10mins later to bright sunshine. 

Anyway we came out of one of these such tunnels and Ticino was before us. After some personal admin finding accommodation etc it was out to Chironico to boulder, one of the main climbing areas in the valley. 

Now for 2 months id been pulling in the main on subtle sandstone slopers, occasionally an edge but i avoided the sharp ones. The picture attached sums up what granite pulling is about, edges, edges and more sharp edges. The climbing is aggressive, hence why a lot of strong indoor guys do well out here i guess. With humidity high this adjustment in climbing style proved tough for me to carry out...everything just felt damn hard. I tried a few hardish things, scraped my way up a few 7a's but generally it was really feeling like hard work. With screaming tips i started to daydream of swimming in the cool blue water of the Italian lakes. 

Thankfully Magic Wood our final stop is a lot higher so typically the air is cooler and conditions better. With that in mind we decided to bag it and head off to the lakes. However Chironico had one final nail in the coffin to offer...as we were packing up a family of goats made their past us. The big one (see below the picture does not do it justice) decided to stand on the bouldering mat. Before i could react it then decided to wet itself on the mat in what can only be described as a mini Niagara falls. Mid-way through relieving itself i did try and push it off but it just pushed me back and kept going. In the end the beast got bored and moved on leaving us with a stinking and stained mat in the car for the hot journey down to Italy. 

On the move....

So we headed south-east from Fontainebleau through France and many of the fields looked like the picture on the left. That's why it was time to move on, spring had arrived in earnest and day time temps in Font were typically +20 degrees. This is too hot, for me anyway, to climb hard and the alps being at higher altitude and having had such a dumping of snow this winter, promised cooler temps to climb in. They also happen to have some of the best mountain rock anywhere. 

Our mode of transport is a pretty old automatic Rover that's fuel efficiency is something close to a fully loaded HGV going up a steep hill. Since we had no intention to blow a small fortune getting across France on fuel we had to keep to a cool 60mph top speed. The journey to the Alps was looking long indeed and we decided to stopover en-route in Mulhouse, close to the Swiss border. If you ever come upon this French version of Coventry, keep on driving, the place is pretty awful. 

Anyway a restless night in a Formula 1 and we were on our way again with Switzerland in our sights. The plan was to get to Southern Swiss to a valley called Ticino. This is where the boom in Swiss bouldering began and there is plenty of rock here. After spending a day or two there we would move down to the Italian lakes, hopefully i could grow some decent skin, before the short 2 hour drive or so East back through Southern Swiss to Magic Wood for a 3 week stint. 

Fontainebleau flashback...

Trying to summarise two months climbing in Font in one post is a tough ask to be fair but ill at least try and give some of highlights...

Having lived in the States for the last 18 months i had not been to Font for a number of years and so on journeying down to the forest i tried to give some thought on what i might expect to climb here. I had become a better climber for sure since my last visit to the forest so i felt i could aim higher in terms of the difficulty of the climbs i attempted but in turn Font is a notoriously technical place to climb, the solution to a boulder problem is often hard to figure out and you can waste much valuable energy trying. I was bound to get spanked on some 4+ graded slab now and then but hey my ego could handle that. I decided that priority 1 was to climb the real classics of the forest in the 7th grade range and if i did sneak an 8a rated bloc along the way so much the better. 

So it all started with Hotline an immaculate 7c arete hidden away in a quiet part of the forest. Here i'm working the lower moves and at this stage the problem felt pretty darn desperate due to reach more than anything else. 

However after this short reccy i returned two weeks into the trip, armed with spotter and sent this fine line. The quest to climb some of these classic lines had begun....

In the first few weeks by far the stand out day had to be what has become known as the "Bas Cuvier blitz". I hit the crag around 3pm, temps were primo with a slight wind meaning friction was top. 

I took 20mins to fire Berezina, from there we went round to Aerodynamite and i did that in a few tries. Next up was Balance, id been told this was tough for 7c by a few strong guys and with it being a slopey, mantle type thing and me being a crimp fiend i thought i was done for. However great friction and some grim determination to not let go saw me top this one out 20 mins later. Two nice 7a's to warm down and it was getting dark. 

Great days at Cuvier when you have things your own way are rare and i certainly savoured this one with a few beers after. 

So the forest experience rolled on. I climbed a bit with Tyler Landman, one of the worlds best, and his brother Jeff. To gain inspiration from these guys is easy, next up was Eclipse 7c (on the day Ty sent Total) then Surprises 7b+ (but i think 7c) and then Cent Pof at Cassepots (hard 7c) and Triple Axel 7b+. 

Around this same time we made a trip to a classy roof, close to JA Martin. First visit i quickly dispatched Vandale, a soft 7c through the centre of the roof. Neil was up there too and showed me a line that traversed the roof to the right and exited at the arete called Contre Sens, given 8a. In the back of my mind i knew i wanted to get an 8a graded line done whilst in Font and this seemed a good place to start. Numerous sessions in the following weeks saw me top out Contre Sens for my first 8a in the forest. If you go to try this one note it tops out directly on the arete and it is definitely not over until its over. 

One month in friends and family visited which was great fun and allowed me to dabble on some of the easier problems. However, easier problems still eat skin and my tips were close to see through as people departed. Rest days were required but once back in the fold Sale Gosse and Noir Desir were both dispatched in a session.

Weeks rolled into months and suddenly I was staring down the barrel of a few days left with a tick list of 10 to 20 problems! With that in mind it was time to get out there....first up was Coccinelle. Recommended to me by Tyler, a classic traverse made famous by Jerry in The Real Thing.

At this stage in events having skin on my tips was a long forgotten memory, liquid chalk and tape were getting me through. 

Thankfully Coccinelle proved kindly and in 5 goes i got the send. 

The final few days dawned, Tristesse was next and then I revisited an earlier nemesis from the trip....Michel-Ange. At this stage i'd sent 20+ classic problems at 7c or above and the individual moves on this felt the toughest of the lot. I wanted to climb it Jacky's original way, with no toe-hook out left, but even if my shoulder took the strain, my feet would pop off the greasy smears. A friend offered me pof, but i declined...this was it last session or nothing. Two goes, shoulder screaming and my feet had blown both times. Chalk up, here we go again, but this time, its different...the feet hold and i'm in the undercut, work the feet up, slap the sloper and it's over. Classic end to a trip...7c+ in my view but this is Font i guess. 

So that about rounds it up. I've missed out loads and probably got it in the wrong order but they are certainly some of the highlights. I left the forest pleased with what i had achieved, but of course, i have some problems i must return to. Appartenance at Buthier, i was beaten by the dark on the final day, Beaux Quartiers, a superb crimpy 8a that i simply ran out of skin for and Total Eclipse, after Ty made it look so easy. There is more of course but i've written too much already, what I did decide is i'll return to Font at the end of this trip, coming full circle, so i'll be back... but now attention moves to the granite blocks in Switzerland.....

Backtracking...

Almost 3 months ago now i made the tough decision to quit my top Wall St job and take a year or two out to realise a dream of travelling and spending time in some of the world's premier bouldering destinations. The financial world had gone into meltdown and with no near-term fix in sight it seemed right timing wise.

With the popularity of modern day bouldering expanding at a rapid rate coming up with a specific list of exactly where to go and when was tough, globally there is just so many top places to climb now. However after some hard deliberation i came up with the below plan of action (subject to some change of course as the year goes on...)

1. What better place to begin than the global home of bouldering - Fontainebleau

2. Continuing the stay in Europe, moving onto the mountain granite in the Swiss Alps

3. From there with the summer heat shutting Europe down we will move to the cooler winter temps in South Africa's Rocklands

4. By now it will be fall 09 and the only place to be at this time is the USA. Many places to visit here but starting in the east and heading west seems to make sense...Gunks in NY state, Colarado, Utah sandstone, Yosemite and Bishop in California, Hueco Tanks in Texas..the list is long...

So with a plan in place in early March i headed off to Dover from my parents house in Essex to begin a two month stint in the magical forest of Fontainebleau in France. So why no blog till June 1st you may ask?

In rural France wireless internet is still a bit of a mystery i am afraid to say and so that put paid to my early blogging plans. However, after this introductory post my next offering will attempt to summarise what i got up to in the forest before i moved to the Swiss Alps two weeks ago. Suffice to say going forward i will try and update this blog a little more often than every 3 months! 

So to finish off my first post aside from visiting these temples of rock what am i actually intending to do here? Climb, of course, but more specifically i would like to climb the classic boulder problems in each place, "the rites of passage" you might say, because these are the climbs that stay with you when you leave an area so it seems to make sense. 

However no climbing blog is complete without some mention of climbing grades, so lets start here. Aside from scaling the classic lines i have also set myself two (rough) targets with regards to the grades of the boulder problems...

1. To climb an 8a or harder bloc in each area i visit

2. To try and climb an 8b bloc somewhere along the way and achieve this magical grade of difficulty.

So that's its.... that's the plan and with the number 8 being so pivotal "life in the 8th lane" seemed like a clever sort of title. So far i have climbed an 8a bloc in Fontainbleau and in the last week managed two in Swiss so i'm hitting my numbers but really that's only a fraction of the story. Beyond grades I have climbed some truly great, great lines. Read on....