English man in Font

I woke up this morning expecting to leave for Martigny but the weather forecast was at the very wet end of the spectrum but font was offering me blue skies and cool temps (and dry rock later in the day). I couldn’t possibly leave my love and risk missing that magical feeling of skin gripping on to nothing sandstone holds, only fused to the rock by magic and determination. With the plan changed I then started the complicated process of deciding where to go.

Why is it so complicated? Not because I simply want to try so many different things and have psyche for everything, but because I wanted a certain psychological result from my day out climbing. I wanted to leave the crag feeling good about my climbing. This might sound like a strange thing to want from a day out, but I believe that at the beginning of any rock climbing trip it’s important to get into the flow of things. A confidence, a self belief, needs to be built up and it’s the foundation of this building is success. Having victories, however minor, add to the foundations and set you up for great things. Anyone who spends the first two weeks failing will not only be sacked but their mental state will be setup for failure and not success. So I wasn’t being greedy with what I wanted to climb, but I had a specific intention for what I wanted to get out of my day climbing. I’d spent the previous 2 days on rock just enjoying myself, doing easy problems and putting no pressure on myself. Today I wanted to take advantage of the cool temps and try something a bit harder, but I didn’t want to go and fail on a single hard move. I was trying to balance this with the things on my mental tick list, and in the end all of the things I want to actually do possess the property that I may go there and simply fail. I created a short list of Hip Hop, 8A/+, Kheops, 8B, and Gecko, 8A+/B. I’d tried Kheops earlier in the year, Hip Hop I’m not sure I’ve tried but might have done years ago, and Gecko I’d tried about 18 months ago with Danny. The common theme was that I’d not had any success with any of them. I was somewhat apprehensive about going to any of them because I really didn’t want to get shut down and leave the crag feeling a bit crushed about my climbing. After Sara spent a while at Isatis refamiliarising herself with rock climbing after 3 months in India, I reached the decision I was dreading. I chose what I think is probably the hardest, Gecko.

I’d seen Dave Graham trying the sit start to this problem a number of years ago, and back then he was saying it would be forests first 8C if it got done, but unfortunately he didn’t succeed. When it did get climbed from the sit start it was ONLY given 8B+. Certainly it’s regarded as a hard boulder problem and because I’d seen Graham on it years ago I’d always fancied giving it a go. I tried it briefly when I was with Danny last year but in the 30 mins I spent on it I only managed one move, the first, and only managed it once. It certainly shut me down. I didn’t have any expectations as I walked in to the crag today, apart from the expectation of myself to try hard and to not get sacked. I warmed up, feeling alright but not amazing, and when we moved to the Gecko block there were a few locals trying les beaux quartiers, 8A, and le clown, 8A. I dumped my pads, set my stuff up, and had my first go. I nearly did the first move and it felt easy. Immediately I was shocked, intrigued, and the feeling was positive. A few goes later I’d done the second move and then the third move. Only one move to go and I was at the jug.

Gecko is, to me, a near perfect boulder problem. Certainly some of the moves are getting close to perfect as the holds are so bad and the only way you can do it is by, you guessed it, sticking to the rock like a Gecko. It’s a perfect name too as you really do climb the first moves like a gecko. For me, this problem has a certain allure to it, much like Partage did. I never really thought I could do it, but longed to be able to do it. I saw it as a benchmark, a standard that was very high and one I desperately wanted to reach but was a little scared to try. It’s special because it’s a hard problem that has no small holds, which is always special, but also because each hold is wonderful in that it fits your hand with a separate space for your thumb to act. It’s hard to explain but I love that style of hold. If you are in font, you should witness this boulder, and look at the first few holds on Gecko. They are wonderful. It’s also a perfect combination of power and subtlety. You really do need good technique to climb this boulder but you also need a very strong grip and a strong body. More perfection.

I was ready to have another go and set off feeling good. The holds felt somewhat grippy, my heels worked well, I did the 3rd move into the undercut, managed the hard foot move, and slapped to the jug. YES! I was on it! A quick message to myself of “don’t fluff up now” and I did the next couple of moves. I had been somewhat foolish by not cleaning the very top as I wasn’t all that worried about either getting there or falling there. But now I was there. Shit. The moves were easy, on their own warranting something like 5+, but the holds were dirty. I put my heel on, starting reaching up to another jug, and then WOOSH! My heel came skidding off the green, my lone arm wasn’t strong enough to grip on, and I helicoptered groundwards fast, missing both my nonplussed spotters and my pads. I’d really jarred myself but was more disappointed that I’d managed to just climb an 8A+/B and then fall off because I hadn’t cleaned the top out thoroughly. Super amateur tactics. Once I’d brushed my shoulders off I was able to stand up and look at what just happened. I was so happy because I knew I’d done this problem even though I couldn’t even remotely consider claiming it. But that doesn’t really matter to me. I’d gone to the crag asking the question of myself “Can I really do Gecko” and I’d answered that with a resounding yes. I was really made up actually, but the fact I was on the ground and not stood on top had left a bitter taste in my mouth. I was both overjoyed and annoyed at the same time, which is a funny combination. I wanted to wash out that bitter taste and so had several more goes but I think my skin was getting thin and with the disappearing of the sun the holds suddenly because a little humid. In the end I had to give up, but I’d managed to get EXACTLY what I wanted from my day at the rocks.

I’d answered my question about Gecko, but also answered a more broad question about what kind of shape I’m in at the moment. I’m not in bad shape and this is good to know. I was worried that I am kind of heavy at the moment and I wasn’t feeling lithe on the rock, but when push came to shove I can do hard moves. I left feeling really good and one of the French dudes even mentioned that in reality I’d done Gecko but summed up the situation by asking if I was coming back tomorrow. The answer is a most definitely. Well, perhaps not tomorrow because my skin is now rather thin, but for sure I’ll be going back on Thursday. What I might do is try the sit start and see what those moves are like, as the sit start would be something I’d love to do at some point in the future. In my opinion it’s one of the best hard problems I’ve ever tried and I’m now sure that I’m climbing well. My fears have been put to rest and I can now concentrate on crushing instead of wondering if I can really crush. Great Days. It feels so good to be back in Font again and in some ways I don’t want to leave but I know that the things awaiting me in Switzerland are equally as good. A rolling stone…

I arrived in font feeling rather under the weather. Too many nights of only 4 hours sleep and lots of driving had left my body in a state of recovery. I probably shouldn’t have gone climbing but how could I come to font and not head out into the forest in search of great problems? I took some painkillers, some throat lozenges, wrapped up warm and headed out. We went to Rocher de la Reine which gets the sun and is a nice crag to open the account with. I didn’t want to go out and try anything in particular, but simply go out and do some climbing. With that in mind we wasted some time on a 7B/+ traverse which was nice but I ended up getting too pumped to do it. Some nice moves though. Then we went up to try a problem called Compression Zip du Fond, 7C+, which would be a 5 star problem if it was 8 foot off the ground. As it is, it’s still good climbing, but a bit lowball which is a shame. The start is a bunch of easy ass dragging moves along a crack and then 2 hard moves to get established into the 7B end sequence. The 2 middle moves are really nice and I climbed various links but didn’t manage the full thing. I was let down a little by my wood skin, which gave me no grip when I got to the end and couldn’t get any purchase, but also let down by a lack of shape. I was getting a bit too pumped on moves that I shouldn’t be getting pumped on, which was confusing me. I made a good enough link to feel like I had done it and so didn’t feel the need to do it from start to finish as I was out for a day of fun climbing and not getting stuck in to a certain problem. With that in mind we headed off to try Hotline, 7C, which was over the ridge, and always in the shade. Hotline is something I’d always wanted to try but I’d never found it dry enough. I was keen to do it and after realising I couldn’t span between the holds like most people do, I found an alternate start sequence. It worked just fine and I got up the small right hand crimp, but then got stopped. Every go it was feeling either damp or greasy and I put that down to my skin. I just couldn’t grip it enough to do the move to the large crimp rail. It was a shame because that was the final move but I kept trying to no avail. Eventually my skin gave out and I called it a day. It’s a great line, a great problem, and one I’ll be going back to finish off. I’d spent a day at the rocks, completed nothing, but felt happy to have got a day’s worth of climbing in. I wasn’t feeling too bad at the end of the day but my throat had certainly seen better times even with the hourly administration of decquacaine.

Today, Sunday, I woke up after many hours of sleep and still felt a bit rough. I once again began the day with some drugs and the will to enjoy the rocks drove me on! Neil wanted to go to Cassepot so off to there we went. We started off with the wonderful Double Axel, 7A+, which climbs up prime rock and is far too short lived. Neil made swift work of it and once again I couldn’t span between the holds we was starting on, but all that meant was that I had to use an alternate sequence. It’s always amazing that the same bit of rock and different sequences that all end up being pretty much the same grade. I found my sequence and despatched within a few goes. It’s such a great problem with the exact type of move I love. Strange leg flick jump moves off wonderful slopers… mmmmmm. It was so good that I decided to have a quick burn on the sit start. I fell with my hand on the top and was happy with that effort so took my shoes off and moved to the next challenge. This weekend wasn’t meant to be about ticking problem but only about my reacquaintance with the rock, so walking away from things like this was altogether easy. We moved to a problem called Cent Pofs et Sans Reproche, 7C, which at first glance looked rather similar to something else i’d done recently. The crux looked like a long lock/throw to a sloper whilst your leg was stuck under a roof… hmmm… Luckily this time there wasn’t any issue with falling off so it was most definitely going to be a throw. The first few goes saw me unable to even grip the start holds, but I soon warmed into it and had it sussed. I shot off a couple of times completely unexpectedly which I attribute to a lack of rock skin, but I knew it was possible. Then one go my skin gripped and I made the crux reach and then rocked over to a nice slopey topout. There’s a video if you follow the link so check it out. Neil has footage which he will probably put online this week. After this I wanted to try the 8A to it’s right, but my skin was weeping and my body was actually feeling a bit sore. It was a reminder that I hadn’t been doing enough climbing in the previous 10 days as I’m usually never sore after climbing! It also acted as a reminder that I needed to do a bit of stretching whilst warming down and spotting Neil!

The two days of climbing in font have been a great reintroduction to the rocks. I feel like I’ve already become much more familiar with my rock skills and my skin, once recovered, will be strong and grippy! I’ve also realised a few things about my training that aren’t necessarily good. My board at home is perfectly formed, but it is very small. This has certain benefits but also certain drawbacks. The moves and problems I do are exceptionally distilled. They involve only 3, 4, or 5 moves, but each move requires maximum effort and maximum skill. This means that I try super hard on every move which is good for training but not good for climbing on rocks. On real boulder problems there is usually only 1 or 2 moves per problem that require maximum strength/power/etc and the other moves can be climbed with much less effort. Climbing efficiently is about only using the required amount of strength for the particular move, so when you do hit the crux you have the required juice left in the tank. More often than not I can do all the moves on most boulder problems, but find that I reach the crux with a lack of power left. This is largely due to my lack of efficient climbing. I often watch the top guys/girls and see how well they move on the rock. They never expend more energy than necessary and always look so fluid. I definitely realised this weekend that I can easily fall into the trap of overpowering moves, leaving me wasted when I hit the crux. Often I have enough strength to be able to overpower easy moves and still do the crux, but when I reach my limit I have to climb efficiently and so this is the perfect time to realise such a lesson. In many ways this is probably the reason I rarely do a hard problem quickly, and find that the days I spend working them are spent refining my energy expenditure on  the easy moves and not simply trying to do the hard moves. I just need to remember all these lessons, apply them, and execute when it counts.

My body finds itself in Belgium. My mind finds itself in a state of readiness to battle. It’s been what feels like a long time coming but I’m finally on the brow of the hill looking down into the battle field. I don’t wish to make it sound epic, but it really is. The last weeks have seen a silence permeate the blogosphere and in reality I had my head in the books trying to cram every last bit of statistic knowledge into each nook and cranny of my brain. This reached it’s zenith on the 13th and 14th when I went and tested my onsight statistic skills against the examination of 2008. I won’t find out whether I reached the glorious heights of success or the depths of failure until December, so in the mean time I’m going to find another battle. My search has thus far led me to Belgium which isn’t so much the first battle ground but the final feast before adorning my body with armour and riding off into the mist.
A quick itinerary looks something like this; I’ll be arriving in font later today and spending 3 days trying to re-find my long lost rock skills. I’ve not been feeling all that good on the rocks recently. My body doesn’t feel young, lithe, and ninja. It feels rough and heavy which is why I need to re-find my skills and I think the forest is a prime place to do so. I’m hoping for a dry weekend with lots of climbing, which should also have a bi-product of prepping my skin for a stint on rock. My current wood skin needs to be shed so I can grow into my rock skin. After 3 days in Font I’ll be heading down to Switzerland to enter the true battlefield. My body is strong at the moment, I’m fairly certain of that, but whether or not my skills are enough is something that I will find out in battle. I certainly won’t fail from lack of trying, lack of perseverance, or lack of desire.

I had an inspiring talk with a good friend of mine the other day and it had a wonderful effect on me of something akin to a laser being refocused to exert maximum power onto a small spot. I feel like my mind has been sharpened and the mind is truly the most powerful muscle we have. I was asking about trying to lose some of my bulk for my trip to Switzerland and he replied “you can’t lose 4kg from your body, but you can lose it in your mind”. When you believe in something and you feel good on the inside, I think the climbing flows naturally into a good state. I don’t want to get all Ron Kauk, but utilising the full power of your mind is probably something that not everyone manages to do, myself included. I’ll certainly be trying hard to remain conscious of this throughout my trip. Utilising the full power of your body is probably more important in the final analysis, but I think these two things definitely go hand in hand. When you are in a good mental state you always find yourself in a good crushing state.

I don’t have anything in particular in England drawing me back so I don’t know how long this trip will go on for. I think it will go on until I complete the things I want to do. The list isn’t long, but completing it would be a great achievement for me. And the beauty of climbing is always in personal achievement. I’m really looking forward to feeling very, very cold upon arrival at the rocks. I’m looking forward to wearing thermals. I’m looking forward to long days fuelled by chocolate and coffee. I’m looking forward to falling asleep from exhaustion. I can’t wait.