"School's Out!"

Yes, we're all going on a summer holiday (to quote Cliff Richard from the 60's), although there hasn't been much to write about since our Kalymnos trip at Easter. This has been due to wet crags and a serious lack of outdoor climbing. Nobody down here can remember a winter and spring so bad. It's certainly the worst period of prolonged wet weather we've known in 14 years here. We were climbing at Val de Grimpe (the local climbing wall) even in the last weeks of June!

We only made it one day to Alex Meije's promising new crag near Escragnolles, three times to a wet Jurassic Park and twice to Mesa Verde before the end of term. Hardly enough to build on the fitness and psych after Kalymnos. Still, at last the weather has improved and the crags are dry (apart from Deverse). The only problem is it's virtually too hot to climb now! Just a slight problem!

We had an excellent soiree of Curry and real ales here to celebrate my birthday. Though we had way too much left over as some folks didn't make it. It was great to see Big Ben, Manu and baby Theo, Marie-Jo, Julien, Anna and Philip. A big thank you for coming and also for the excellent T-shirts and desserts.

Muse played in Nice during the last week of term. It was fantastic to see really talented musicians doing their stuff and the visual display was awesome, even though we were a long way from the front. They played all of The 2nd Law and super classics like Knights of Cydonia, Stockholm Syndrome, Uprising, Hysteria and so on.

Tomorrow we fly off to St Petersburg (thanks to a gift from a parent at our school). We'll be staying in a 5* hotel and be guided around the museums, operas and top restaurants. I'd really prefer to be out climbing and getting in shape but it's a chance of a lifetime, so I'm going to go along with the flow and make the most of it (and hopefully not eat too much good food!). Luckily, alcohol is not included, but everything else will be paid for!

When we return it'll be all systems grimpe (hopefully wherever it is going to be coolest). See ya.

Easter in Kalymnos (at last).

Imagine it's your birthday. Imagine, also, that it's Christmas. Oh, and new year, too. And, come to think of it, imagine it's just about all the great days in the year all happening at once. It's like having so many presents you just don't know which one to open first. Well, you've just discovered what it's like to climb on Kalymnos!

If you're any sort of climber, you'll have heard about Kalymnos. But, if you're not you won't have. Kalymnos is a very small, barren island a few km north of Kos and therefore part of Greece. There isn't much there or really much to do either, though the climate is nice (ie. sunny and warm). The Kalymnian economy relies on summer tourism since the decline of the island's sponge industry. Fresh water is sparse and tastes salty. The sanitation system can't cope with toilet paper, so it has to go in a bin next to the toilet! However, as luck would have it, the west side of the island has cliffs. Lots of them. And spectacular they are, as well. Since 1997, Kalymnos has actively encouraged the equipping of these cliffs to entice climbers from all around the world to sample their amazing climbs. There are plenty of studios and rooms to rent at affordable prices and within walking distance of many of the crags.  It's very cheap to eat out in the numerous restaurants and the locals are so friendly (most speak excellent English). If you fancy visiting the outlying crags or just want to go sight-seeing it is possible to hire a scooter for the day. This is not new information, of course. 

Elaine and I had not paid a visit. We live in a beautiful part of the world already, which has a wealth of fantastic climbing all year round. Plus having a dog, which we don't like leaving behind and also now having a camper van to travel. And so on. There have been many excuses over the years. However, the urge to go had been getting stronger and stronger in recent years. Infact, I became so envious each time I read people's posts on Facebook. Eventually, I daren't mention the "K" word in the house for fear of upsetting my loving and dearest! However, this year's bad weather, in most of Europe, meant that we finally got to go at last.

We flew from Milan direct to Kos and took the ferry to Kalymnos, just like thousands before us had. We had a wonderful surprise awaiting us at Pothia. We hadn't seen Chris Craggs for about twenty years, but there he was at the harbour, ready to take us to our accomodation at Louistudios, run by the super freindly and efficient Louis Siahamis. After shopping for provisions, then bumping into a tired looking Andy Cave, followed by an ice cream with Twid, we set off with a couple of hours daylight left. Our destination being the world famous Grande Grotta with long upside down pumpfests and tufas of every shape and size everywhere. We quickly warmed up on an excellent 6a+ and then I set off up Trela, a forty metre 7a, which I found hard and just about got up. Nevermind, I thought I must be tired from the journey or perhaps Kalymnos grades weren't that easy after all! (A couple of days later I found out that I had accidently done Tufantastic, which is 7b+ and then had to return to do Trela, which was much easier!)

The climbing at Kalymnos is ideal for "on-sighting" (climbing with no knowledge of the climb at all and without falling off or working the moves followed by a "red-point" ascent later on) because most of the holds are user friendly and there are plenty of places to have a breather and size up the next sequence. I wanted to do the two classic 7c's Priapos and Aegialis (the latter was still very wet). I was absolutely made up to do both completely on-sight, despite having to "dig deep" near the top of Aegialis! I then wondered if it would be possible to on-sight an 8a? Fun de Chichunne (40m of three dimensional upside down climbing) would be the one for me, if it was possible. And it was! So, almost 24 years since red-pointing my first 8a, and 200 grade 8 climbs later I eventually managed my first 8a on-sight at the age of almost 55! Words couldn't describe the feeling. I was on a major high after that.

The rest of the holiday continued in the same way with lots of great climbing. Further high points included DNA Extension (8a+), Super Priapos (8a+) and Daniboy (8a), all done first red-point; and Zawinul Syndicate (7c+) on-sight. It was quite funny showing a group of young Brit's how to "do it" on Daniboy (they were surprised when an old, bald, short and wide giffer joined the queue and even more surprised when he was the only one to "send it" that day!). Towards the end of the holiday, however, tiredness began to show and I dropped both Tufa King Hard and Joggel and Toggel. But I was happy enough to do them first red-point.

So, we made the return journey last Saturday. Both of us were looking forward to sleeping in our own bed and having hot water whenever you need it! But, both of us were sad to be leaving climbing paradise and the many friends we'd made, particulary Louis and also Ed from Chattanooga with his warm and infectious laughter. We both hope to return some day......

Finally, Kalymnos bound. Waiting for the ferry at Mastichari.

A windy crossing with Pierre Brizzi (far right) and Nicholas Rey.

The view from our studio: Telendos.

The view in another direction: Grande Grotta.




On-sighting Fun de Chichunne (photo by Simon Rawlinson).

Fun de Chichunne, Grande Grotta (photo by Simon Rawlinson).

Sunset behind Telendos from our studio.

Another rainy Thursday....

It's surprising how quickly the time passes (even when the weather's not good enough to get out on the rock!). Since my last post, 2 weeks ago, Robin and I managed to get out only once. We had a great day at Chouchou Place last Thursday. It felt like spring had arrived as it was warm and sunny. Since then it's been raining more or less every day and there seems to be no end in sight! (Still, it's not as bad as the UK weather at the moment.)

So, the climbing walls are eating into our bank account big time. Imagine my surprise bumping into a bloke I used to teach 12 years ago at Art'bloc yesterday! Eugen wasn't really motivated in school, though he was an interesting and very respectful teenager. He's here on holiday, so I'm going to meet up with him for another session there today. So I hope to find out how he got involved in climbing. I do remember he was into martial arts and was very athletic. He blew my mind when he did a back somersault from the top of a 9m cliff into the river, during a break whilst canoeing. Boy, I was so impressed and I'm really chuffed that he's got into climbing.

I managed to find and scan some old slides of our original climbing board back in St Helens from around 1992. We added loads of holds later on and it became quite popular with  local climbers Pete Chadwick, Ewan McCallum and Steve Tonks. A regular visitor was Lancs power house John Gaskins and even Tony Mitchell put in a couple of appearances.

Oats and bouldering

I'm just letting my "Quaker Oats" settle. They make a nice start to the day with honey and ground cinnamon, when I'm not working. So, I've booted up my laptop and found an email from Atout Roc (the local climbing club that I donated my earnings from Rockfax a couple of years ago) with an up to date topo of Chouchou Place (the current spot a la mode). Great; it looks like there's still more to go back for, if and when the weather improves long enough.

At the moment the sun is out, but I've checked the forecast again and they're still saying rain later on. So, Robin and I have a rdv for Art'bloc this afternoon. Should be a tough session, as my body aches from yesterday's session at Val de grimpe! Plus, my ribs/intercostal muscles are still really sore from my ski accident 3 weeks ago! It's important to get the excuses out ready...

Talking about indoor bouldering, I think I've got some old photos of our board in St Helens. I'll trawl the collection and see what I can post.

I could only find some outdoor bouldering shots from the 90's. See if you can identify any. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking of you all again working away today. Allez, ciao!

January and February 2013

The fingery lower section of Chouchou Place, 7c. Photo by Julien/Voyages a la verticale.

It's Thursday again (the only day I get to lie in whilst Elaine takes Scamp for a walk). It's also the day that Not-so-fatman and Robin get together and have the difficult task of going out climbing on the fabulous Cote d'Azur crags. I know, it's a tough life! However, unfortunately it's been raining for a couple of days now and today is shaping up the same way. Time for me to catch up, as it's been a while since my last blog.

Mike, Elaine, Scamp, Marie-Jo, Gerard and Marc at Chouchou Place (photo by Julien/Voyages a la verticale)

Elaine and Scamp at Greolieres in January

Chouchou Place, 7c (photo by Julien/Voyages a la verticale)

Since the new year, the weather has been very unsettled. Typically the pattern has been for an unsettled week with periods of heavy rain followed by a week or two of good weather, during which it has been possible to climb on the dry crags (ie. mostly those without tufas). Then the rain has returned again. It's been pretty frustrating for all the keen climbers down here. Most of us have been ticking over, occasionally snatching some good routes and keeping fit at Art'Bloc and Val de Grimpe.

Elaine and Scamp on the way to Chouchou Place in February

Robin warming up on a 6c at Chouchou Place in the February sun

The whole place to ourselves. How cool is that?

Elaine still looking good in SOS pants at Isola

Elaine and I have even been skiing and making the most of the brilliant conditions. We've had a couple of great days at Isola 2000 (where there was almost 3m of snow) and a couple of superb days at Valberg last weekend. Yours truly had a nasty wipe out at Isola, cutting my head (5 stitches needed) and covering the piste with lots of the red stuff. The irony was that the day before I had a helmet in my hand at Decathlon but decided not to buy it. Guess what was the next thing we bought?

I'm made up that I've remembered how to upload photos! And I'm psyched for some bouldering this afternoon with Marie-Jo, Julien and Robin whilst the rest of you folks are keeping the world turning! See ya!

Wet Monday afternoon

Doom, 7c at Castillon.

Scamp and I have just got back home after our walk up the hill behind our house. It was pretty cold out there - I had to put a fleece over my T shirt and hoodie! However, what I should have put on was a waterproof. From the summit, I could see that it was raining over Roquefort les Pins and, on the way down, it caught us about 15 minutes from home and we got pretty wet. Still, it could have been much worse. Now the fire is roaring away and a very happy, tired dog is sleeping underneath and I've got a mug of Twinings Earl Grey. We're both drying out nicely.

Not-so-Fatman and Robin have been out cragging. They were seen having a merry old time at Castillon last week. On Thursday, N-s-F was chuffed to do a 7c he hadn't done before called Ultimate Mort de Faim, which does all of Starlette then follows tufas and a groove to the top of the crag after 30 metres of very varied climbing. On Saturday, they both hauled themselves up the first part of Mortal Kombat, a tough, powerful 7c+. N-s-F had already done the full version at 8b in 2005 (an event he happily relives most days) but it was the first time for his trusty side kick, Robin. They then moved onto Doom (down graded to hard 7c), the route just to the left of Mortal. (N-s-F did this with "steady" Eddie Martinez way back in 1998, before he moved down here with lovely wife and Merlin.) They both huffed and puffed, with arms that were already feeling tired. Unfortunately, it was too much for the young Robin (who apparently was heard to complain about the age difference as N-s-F reached the belay, after a real fight up the damp tufa in the middle!).


Whilst the boys were out battling with the real thing, Elaine went to Val de Grimpe (a fantastic bouldering wall nearby, opened up by Alex Chabot) and had an equally merry time by all accounts with no problems experienced with her injured finger. We will be doing more of the same at Art'Bloc this Wednesday afternoon (shame Val de Grimpe doesn't open until 6pm!!).

Yesterday was cold and overcast and Liverpool were not up to beating Man Utd. Just when will they be able to knock Fergie and Man U off the perch that used to be Liverppool's?

Oh well, I should drag myself downstairs and do some bouldering in the cave. See ya.

Happy new year everybody

It's a damp, cold day here in Le Rouret, very un-French and more like typical UK weather. Still, it doesn't matter as my body needs a rest after climbing the last six days.

The last month has been colder (not surprising for December, I know) and I caught a pretty bad cold at school. I still haven't shaken it off, so the climbing has suffered. We spent some time bouldering at Art'bloc and Valle de grimpe, but hardly any time outdoors. With the holidays arriving, we were keen to get away in the Cali but didn't want to make the usual long drive to Catalunya. So, we decided to head to Valle Pennavaire (Castell Bianco) near Albenga an hour and a half away in Italy. Unfortunately, the sun didn't follow us and the crags were very wet, so we returned home for Christmas after enduring two damp and cold days at Terminal.

After Christmas dinner, we were wondering where to go next. Elaine came up with a great idea to go to the crags near Toulon. Immediately I was transported back in time, remembering the long falls off En un combat douteux at Cimai (whilst putting the clips in for Ian Vickers, who refused to watch me so that he could do it onsight!). Patrick Edlinger gave me some great beta for the last section, that enabled me to redpoint the same day Ian did Treblinka Direct. That was a very cold day in March, 1996 and it was the last time I had been climbing near Toulon.

So, we headed off in the Cali and were climbing in the sun at Coudon, about two hours after leaving home. Brilliant! Elaine was happy to do some easy 6a's to test her finger and I was happy with just onsighting up to 7a+ (not easy on match stick edges on vertical walls, just like in the 80's!). After two days we moved on to Baou des quatre oures and found the climbing much more friendly (i.e. steeper and with bigger holds) at secteurs Cayenne and Minarets (ticking away at the routes in the excellent Cote d'Azur Rockfax). We did loads of brilliant, long routes from 5+ up to 7b+ and most of the time we had the crag to ourselves. We headed home last night for a well earned rest, as the forecast was for rain today.

It really feels like winter here now, the temperature downstairs in our "cave" has dropped to 11 degrees and I had to light the fire at mid day. Snow was forecasted today but so far hasn't arrived.

2012 was not a year that we'll remember with great affection in years to come, but we do have some fond memories that have made us very happy and put big smiles on our faces. We're hoping to have lots more happy times in 2013. And of course, I'd like to wish all of you all the best for the coming year, great health and hope you realise your dreams.