The Fat Lady Has Sung

Yep the fat lady has sung her heart out, has packed up and is heading home for supper. What am I talking about? Well thats the end pretty much of another spanking in Magic Wood. I had a rest day Thursday and the split tip looked slightly better Friday PM so headed out again. Warmed up with loads of tape on and felt ok'ish. Up to Sofa Surfer, two goes and the tip has split again with tape on! Game over for Friday.

Today decided to sack Sofa Surfer off as although I feel I can do it its not going to happen with the current gammy finger tip and I actually fancied doing some climbing before I leave this place. Some may say well you have over a month left in Europe so just stay longer, get your finger better and have another pop but the weather window is well and truly closing out as of tomorrow evening. Heavy snow is forecast for Monday to Wednesday in the Alps and if I did ride that out id only experience all the damp issues again like the start of this week, so ive got to call time on this one. Jack's Broken Heart, Sofa Surfer the list of what id really like to climb in Magic Wood is not long but what I do leave behind unfinished does cut a bit.

Anyway so with taped up finger I headed out today trying to get some decent mileage in and climb some of the more obscure problems here. The problem you have with granite is most stuff is a crimp, and typically quite a sharp crimp here in Magic Wood, so actually finding stuff to climb that didn't mean id leave trails of blood on the holds was quite tough. First up I hiked right up to the top of the crag and flashed some 7b called Fleisch something, then I got spanked on some 6c highball wall climbs that took me an hour to work out. Then some local guys pointed me at a 7c+ called Diesel Power, an aesthetic overhanging prow, that had no crimps on it at all.

Went to work on this, it was a little wet, so usual drying tactics first off. A few goes and id realised instead of pinching this obvious hold on the arete you could twist your wrist round and kind of undercut it meaning it was a jug. Once that beta kicked in I was up top and mantling out. 7c+ my way no way, its probably more soft 7c or 7b+ even. Still a good problem and I guess most of the grades on the well established problems at Magic Wood have settled down to what is right but the more obscure ones are bound to need some more input.

From here the helpful locals next pointed me at Kalorienmonster. This thing is a monster. Its a slopey, heel hook shuffling, traverse thing. Again no crimps so I had to give it a go but by now it was 3pm and by that time here the sun has dipped below the ridges and the dreaded damp kicks in big style. After slipping off numerous slopers on the route I decided it was not going to happen today but I have a sequence now so unless my finger recovers miraculously overnight and I can crimp again ill come back for this in the AM.

So a short session tomorrow and then we leave pre the snowstorm to go back to Fontainebleau. The forecast looks pretty bleak, lots of rain around, but at least it may be cooling down a bit and I can try and get out in between the showers. Plus Neil H is based in Font and im really looking forward to climbing with him again after spending most of this week mooching around on my own.

One Step Forward Two Back

Yeah it was going to be a positive post. Yesterday was good, the damp did clear out as predicted with the drier spell and although things were still a bit greasy it was much improved. I fired off Iron Butterfly first try and it felt a hell of a lot easier as I must have been picking up so much moisture on my hands the other day (its a 20 move problem).

So that was good and I walked up to the Sofa Surfer bloc feeling like it could be on. It took a couple of goes to get going but my third and best go of the day saw me reaching for the good right hand edge that marks the end of the difficulties only for my foot to pop at the last minute. Still after a couple more naff goes I left it there thinking by finishing the session strong'ish id be on for it today as that was my best link since June where I fell off the end section due to wet holds.

Sofa Surfer would not be considered a sharp problem for the Wood but it does have a couple of crimps you really bone down on in the middle that do take their toll on your skin. What I did not realise is these edges will really take a chunk out of your index finger if your foot pops unexpectedly. Thats what happened today...again attempt three saw me matched on these crimps setting myself up for the final reaches into the slopey right-handers. Suddenly my right foot popped and I slipped rightwards landing on the pad with a bang. Quick look at my fingers revealed a puncture of my right index finger caused, I guess, because I twisted off rather than fell straight. Its not horrifc but game over of course for the day and now im out tomorow too at least.

I would like to have another lengthy moan about my weak skin and how id be one of the worlds best climbers if I had leather on my finger tips instead, but of course thats rubbish however I split a tip in Magic in June so do feel a little hard done by thats its happened again out of nowhere in cold conditions too. Anyway im not done yet and hopefully with the weather window looking like it will hold good till Sunday I may still have this problem in me before I leave. In the meantime im going to go hiking tomorrow which is the advantage of being in such a stunning place as the alps.

Finally before signing off worth noting that luck, or absence of it in your climbing at a certain point in time is all relative. After my finger incident I went up to spot an Italien guy who has been working High Spirit, an 8a+ boulder problem, for 3 and half years he tells me on and off. He was really up for it today so he said and with my pad meaning he felt more comfortable on the higher moves he fired off a great go getting through all the difficulties only to fall matching at the jug (where the route effectively ends as it does not top out). The Bloke was prettty distraught as it seems his feet popped off alright holds and he did not expect it. After that he was spent and could not get back to his highpoint. Bad days all round then it seems, perhaps its easier just to stick to bouldering 7a.

Not So Magic Wood

Man, I think from living in the States for a couple of winters id forgotten just how damp Europe can be. Im resting today, but not really from climbing as such really, more from the act of "trying to climb". After I last posted I was more optimistic that the weekend forecast was dry and that dry rock would result. True enough it didn't rain and the sun even came out for some fleeting periods but it failed to penetrate the gloom that currently hangs over Magic Wood.

Its just SO moist in there. You cross over the river to get into where the boulders are and almost instantly are hit with these damp plumes of air, rather like when you visit a cave, the ground is saturated and now with day highs of around 10 degrees max it will not dry out easy. Im starting to think maybe I should have stuck with Font but im here now so gonna have to make the best of it for a week or so I think. The worst thing is (and the reason why I am in need of some rest today) is the rocks themselves look dry. You walk around the blocs and the holds are white with chalk dust, drawing you in, thing is once you do chalk up and pull on you realise you have been duped as the holds quickly turn black with moisture. Of course once that happens then you try and kid yourself that its not that bad, you can still pull these moves off, you start to use tissue paper to soak up the damp, you brush every hold hundreds of times, but of course really unless your climbing way below you limit you've had it really.

Still I got drawn in a plenty over the weekend trying Sofa Surfer, Iron Butterfly and Jack's Broken Heart with very limited success. All three of these problems I was really close to back in June so its a bit depressing but i know im not as strong as then so need to get that back and of course the conditions totally suck so perhaps there is still a chance for some success this trip with time. Either way for that to happen I need it to stay dry, anymore rain and im dead, and then perhaps if Im doing the moves now in the damp they will feel easy when the whole place is a bit drier. Thats the theory anyway. Forecast wise no rain is expected this week now so perhaps thats my window, but today its not raining and yet its still super misty and overcast with no wind so ill need better than this I think. Time for a dvd marathon then...

Judgement Call

Limited internet right now so a quick update from Euroland...

The van's called Pammy - shes big and busty, dressed in red, a VW Californian too - it makes sense, sort of, we thought.

Aside from that captivating bit of news its been a slow start on the climbing front. Arrived in Fontainebleau Sunday late on but it was a clear night and Monday dawned cold. I was super keen to get out with the cold conditions so I headed over to Buthier to try Appartenance, a highball arete of quality, that is a target of mine in the forest. Unfortunately with Font if its cold that can backfire on you as a shady rock spot wheres theres no wind can get damp. People will talk about holds "going black" in font..meaning usually they are white'ish, a combination of the rock colour and the chalk residue i guess, but then as you begin to touch them working a problem and they warm up they kind of darken with moisture on the hold. Once this blackening effect happens you know you are up against it.

This is exactly what happened at Appartenance. The rock gets little sun and after arriving and feeling the rock was super cold I excitedly pulled on. Within a few goes I was slipping and sliding off the holds and so gave it up pretty quick. It seems at the moment Font is in its transformation phase. Tree leaves are only just starting to turn and theres still a lot of vegetation around. The weather is also erratic, after the cold Monday, Tuesday was hot and humid and by Wednesday it was pouring rain. Im only in Europe till late Nov/early Dec latest and so with the Font forecast looking iffy for a bit I decided a trip back to the Alps (Magic Wood) might be the best bet.

We hacked it through France in lashing rain Wednesday PM eventually making it to the Avers Valley in Switzerland (Magic Wood) by Thursday afternoon. After a quick turnaround I headed out for a short reccy Thursday evening but it was dreadful. The sky was that brilliant bright blue you get in the alpine areas but clearly it had rained HARD at some point in the last 24 hours as the whole of the wood was soaked. One of my main aspirations here is the overhanging wall of Sofa Surfer. I felt I was close on this back in June in the rain.

Remebering that this wall had the ability to stay dry in all but the worst and seeing that all the warm-up probs were dripping I headed up to the Sofa Surfer bloc straight off. Awful damp hell of death greeted me and that was game over for the day. Gutted but theres still time i guess. Today its dry but very cloudy so im not sure how much of the place will have dried but the forecast is better for Saturday so lets see if I can get going in the next day or two...

On way to alps stopping for coffee. Note: always make your own coffee enroute otherwise face a 20 quid sting for two coffess in the garage shop...

Spain

I'm writing this at my parents place so we didn't manage to leave for Fontainebleau today as originally planned. Still the ferry's is booked for tomorrow morning and I'm chomping at the bit to get out there. The 2 months in Font I did earlier in the year was really great but naturally I left a load of projects that I'm keen to have another go at. Plus i arrived late March and it quickly began to warm up as we moved into April. This time at least it should, in theory, be cooling down as the weeks go on, making the climbing that much easier. So that's the plan till December plus ill probably duck over to Magic Wood if I can for a week or so in between.

So why the slightly later departure for the magical forest? A combination of factors to be honest, some a bit personal to go into here but playing a big part in the delay were my old friends; paper pushing admin that needed to be done (tax disc, ferry booking blah blah) and also; another cold/man flu episode. Still the admins almost all done now and the man flu appears to be abating slightly hence the green light to go.

The man flu/cold episode has definitely been self induced this time so I cant complain, burning the candle at both ends until the candle is nothing more than vapour would sum it up well I think. After I last blogged on the Friday I went up the Castle wall again on the Saturday. Better session than the previous Wednesday so I decided to celebrate and go out with one of my old uni chums for a few that evening. As is often the way with old uni chum beer ups it quickly turned into a massive booze up that ended late. 2 hours sleep and I was up to hot foot it over to Gatwick to get the Pony Jet out to Madrid for my mates 40th do.

After arriving in Madrid early afternoon I was still a mess but had to step up for more alcohol as we headed out for a birthday bash for my mate. By Monday morning I was in pieces but we were up early again driving 3-4 hours east to Albarracin. Albarracin is a great tourist spot with an old castle/fort thing on a hill overlooking a remarkably well preserved village but we were going there because its also meant to be the "Spanish Fontainebleau" and offer superb sandstone bouldering in a forest setting.

Now Ive voiced my opinion previously that perhaps the South African Rocklands do not quite deserve the title of the worlds best bouldering spot but acknowledged that they are certainly on the podium. With Albarracin I feel anyone who hasn't been and hears talk that's its like Fonatinebleau combined with Hueco need to tone down their expectations a fair bit. The setting is beautiful, there is a fair amount of rock there but a large amount of it is pretty poor in my view. Its not a Font and its not really close to the Swiss granite areas in terms of problem quality, volume of problems, rock quality etc.

However considering by Monday evening all of us had started to get the dreaded scratchy throat, (a well known indicator of potential man flu to follow), and we were all still drinking a load of booze nightly, (subtle shift to red wine in rural Spain instead of beer did not improve morning hangovers), we did enjoy our climbing out there. I managed to flash a few 7b+ graded problems, I also did a LOT of mantling which hopefully will help in Font and with our door mat size bits of foam to land on we had plenty of scary moments at the tops of boulders trying to roll out that should help my head game.

I don't think id go back to Albarracin, not because I don't think its pleasant but because I didn't really find any superstar problems that really screamed out to me that I must climb them. Certainly not in the higher grades where by you might try it and fail and in that way have a long-term project to go back to at a later date. To me its just too enticing to go to Font or the Swiss granite if moving around Europe. Unfortunately it seems many people have been enticed by the rumours of a Spanish Font/Hueco and now you have bog roll left everywhere in the woods and loads of broken holds on problems. The rock here is not that much better then High Rocks in my view so that means large things coming off in your hands if you pull too hard after rain for sure.

Anyway the cold fully kicked in on the flight back Thursday night and then I had an early meeting Friday with some ex banking colleagues to discuss the current state of play in that industry (pretty good again by all accounts) It amazes me how quickly that industry has bounced back from the doldrums. Do I need to start thinking about a job again or risk missing the recovery boat? perhaps we'll see. This post has been very sort of nothing I know, but the next one should be much more climbing focused I hope and ill try and get some pics up of project attempts. Its time to climb...

Van

Some arty and less arty pics of the van. It hasn't really got a name as yet, nothing has really stood out so far, i think its a lady rather than a geezer though, although it does growl a bit in the low gears.

With the continued van admin and some other personal bits and pieces I've had going on climbing has once again started to slip down the list of priorities. Id started to feel pretty fit towards the end of last week. Ive been out with my mate HP on the Peak lime and had managed to bag Bigger Splash from the kneeling start and The Pinch at Cressbrook, both 7c I believe, in not so many goes. Id also had a play on the sit start to Bigger Splash (Tsunami), which is 7c+/8a and done that very quickly in two halves. Now for me Peak limestone grades are pretty tough so I think to hit around 8a on one of these polished walls is a decent achievement and something that will get me back up to the Peak at a later date to try for the full link on Tsunami.

So after those sessions I was feeling positive but three days for admin duties, followed by a short visit to The Castle wall in London on Wednesday brought me back down to earth. Felt weak, skin was very soft etc etc. Anyway ill try and get back there this weekend at some point to at least try and keep some sort of regularity up before we head off to Font (that is looking like being next Saturday). I have a 40th birthday to attend first (sandstone dyno legend Chez George) in Madrid followed by a few days in Albarracin, the Spanish sandstone mecca. Have heard good things but not been so should be exciting. Only thing is Madrid beforehand will be heavy boozing and due to us flying with Pony Jet we can only take a tiny mat the size of a small doormat so I hope there is some good low level traversing in the vicinity.