Weather here in the south of France (and northern Spain too) has been abominable for the last three weeks or so, with most crags now very wet. However some friends were over in the St Antonin area, which seemed to be experiencing much better weather. So I took a cheap flight to Toulouse (flight time 50 mins from Nice!) to meet up with Eddie and Mandy, for a short one week climbing fix.
We had hoped to try "Marathon" (a brilliant 8a at La Croix) together, but the whole crag was in fact soaked. So we turned to Plan B, which was to climb at St Géry, where it would be dry and in the sun. Indeed the weather was much better and we were climbing topless in shorts. Mandy opted to go cycling instead, she clocked up very impressive distances and ascents during the week.
The climbing at St Géry is not everyone's cup of tea, being as it is very fingery and the grades are generally fairly stiff. Eddie had been trying a very hard 8a, called "Los taquos de los dos rigolos" and I was very keen to try it myself. Unfortunately the long move left at the end of the difficult start proved impossible for me, as I'm simply too small. I did have more success on a different method (using a very small gaston with the left hand). However I tried the move so many times that I nearly destroyed my left shoulder on the first day, so I promptly steered well clear of it, as I didn't want to go through what happened to my right shoulder last year. Surprisingly, I was able to do the hard move at the top, which usually proves hard for short people too. Anyway, I'm glad that Eddie eventually linked all the moves and did this fantastic long route in fine style.
We both tried the brilliant 8a just to the right (called "Cacahuète"), which seemed more reasonable. However there was one move, at the end of the hard start above the jug, which proved very hard to step my feet up when I was stretched out on the crimp above, and yet I could do everything else ok. So I didn't get an 8a tick this time, though I was happy with the consolation prizes of "Aller retour pour une mèche" (7c+) and "Cagueux au relais" (7c).
Writing this back home in Le Rouret, the sun has been shining today but most of the crags are still wet. Amazingly St Géry is still getting very good weather. It seems that it's still one of the few dry crags over here and definitely a place to go to at the moment.
Thanks to
Mme Delanges (05 63 93 00 57 and 06 25 19 59 66) for the lovely gite in
Fonbeilhe, Auty and to
La Table du Cardinale (
latableducardinal.fr) restaurant in
Montpezat for their wonderful cuisine at very reasonable prices. Check them out if you're in the area, highly recommended.
Watch this video to see visually impaired World Champion Nicolas Moineau climbing at St Géry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY2wSBhenYs
Super impressive, or what? I might even go back to climb again at St Géry some time in the future...
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| This shot and next: Mandy warming up on Panique a Daytona Beach (6b+). |
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| Coffee and pain aux raisin for me! |
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| Porridge for Mandy and poached eggs and beans on toast for Eddie. |
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| Speed Rock at Roc D'Anglars, a 7b I on-sighted years ago. Haha! |
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| The view of St Antonin Noble Val from Roc D'Anglars. |
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| Local climber on "Aller retour pour une meche" (7c+) at St Géry. |
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| Chilling out in the sun at the excellent gite in Auty, run by Mme Delanges. |
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| Apparently this is the "pose" if you're into cycling.... |
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| I was so chuffed for Eddie doing his project that I bought him a gateaux! |
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Amazing autumnal colours in the village of St Géry.
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| Steph from Brives (ex St Jeannet) on "Cacahuète" (8a) at St Géry. |
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| Eddie (right) flashing "Cagueux au relais" (7c) at St Géry. |
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| Dessert in the fabulous "La Table du Cardinale". |
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| Fancy really good French cuisine at very reasonable prices? Check out "La Table du Cardinale" in Montpezat. |
