What have us pensioners been up to this year?

Not written anything, for over a year. Not because I had nothing to write about, but mostly because I've been getting fed up of social media and the tendency of drawing attention to oneself. However, this year we've been to lots of places (many of them new), done loads of climbing, met up with several old friends and made many new ones. Undoubtedly it's been a cracking year.

Lourmarin in frosty January, last time was in the early 90s.

Reguchillo, Mula, El Queso and La Muela during a few wet weeks in February and March. At La Muela we met up with super keen wads Luken Hernandez and Penny Scully (and their crazy chicos Soca and Solo, who entertained Ruff). At Mula we spent a few lovely days with our old friends Eddie and Mandy Martinez, who were enjoying cycling in the area. Sadly, that was the last time we saw Mandy; tragically she passed away in June. 

Climbing at home and Oltra Finale (in Italy) in April and May, and doing my 8a+ training route for the 100th time.

La Baleine, at St Leger, in May and June, sharing some tufa tips with Kev Avery and meeting up with life long friends Al and Barb Stewart. Also hanging out at the crag with Yogi and Jagna (from Canada), Matt and Anna (from Australia) and Bertrand (Toulouse) and Kristy (Chamonix).

Escaping from the summer heat to Switzerland; climbing at Van d'en Haut in July with Dave and Rhian (stand out route: L'ete Indien), meeting lots of friendly Swiss climbers (especially Haf, from Bethesda, and Sylvan) and hooking up with Twid. (Last time we climbed together was a weekend in 1990, I led Wreath of deadly nightshade, on North Stack Wall, and he led Authentic desire on Cloggy, so long ago that Twid actually had hair!)

We returned home for a week at the beginning of August to help Garreth Scott install his first Digital Training Board in France, here at Art Bloc in Nice.

Joining up with the Chadster, Ben and Karyl for perfect conditions at Simplon Dorf in August.

September: climbing Triste Lune, a dream route in the Verdon. Lots of new routes in the Vercors (and meeting up with Ian and Judith, a lovely couple from Nottingham).

Returning to St Leger in September and October, making the most of the unusually quiet and dry crags. Stand out route being Le désespoir des singes.

Revisting Carros, after 22 years, to sample Manu's excellent new routes in October. Phil Ralph and Pete Blackburn (friends from Elaine's time at I M Marsh in Liverpool) came to stay and sample the climbing in the area.

And finally 3 wonderful weeks in Rodellar in November, simply because Tanya Meredith and Anna Gilyeat lured us across with tales of quiet and dry crags (normally Rodellar is understandably far from quiet). Also great to spend time with Steve Crowe and Karin Magog.

It's great to be back home and bouldering at Art Bloc. However I have injured a miniscus in my left knee, which needs attention. First rdv with Patrick Vialli (our amazing sports physio) is in a couple of days.

Special thanks to Eric and Edith, our lovely neighbours, for looking after our house when we've been away.

Climbing and the dark side of social media

A very long time ago, when the internet was a new thing and before social media had arrived. Imagine being a teenage climber, living many miles from the centre of the Universe, ie. Sheffield, climbing on obscure crags in the South Lakes, usually with your brother and often belayed by your dad. The chances are you're not going to see many other climbers (or be "seen" by many other climbers) but you're keen to progress and get better. Basically you're climbing well below the radar in a total backwater. It's the way it is, what you're used to. It doesn't matter anyway because you climb entirely for yourself. That's what climbing is all about, right?

Imagine being that same person in 1990, reading about the most important ascent in the world at that time, Ben Moon has just climbed "Hubble". Unlike most of us, this person is totally inspired and decides that he wants to follow in Ben's footsteps. He embarks upon a serious training schedule to get fit enough to climb "Hubble". He's geeky, unassuming and a bit shy but totally obsessed. He actually measures all the dimensions of "Hubble" and builds a replica in his parents' garage, reducing the size of the holds as he gets stronger. He rarely climbs outside, because he is so focused on training in his garage, besides he doesn't have a car and there aren't many locals to climb with anyway. On the days when he is getting close to repeating "Hubble" his dad drives patiently, whilst he warms up in the car during the long journey south to Ravens Tor. They always set off early to make the best of the cool conditions and after a few goes (and some progress) they're usually packing up by the time other climbers arrive at the crag. After a long time and a huge amount of effort and commitment eventually this "outsider" succeeds and realises his dream, he has just made the 3rd ascent of "Hubble". Respect! But he doesn't expect any respect or praise because he climbs for himself remember, he's not interested in being famous, he's just totally happy because he's really enjoyed the whole process, all the highs and lows during the last 4 years. 

Ben Moon climbing Hubble in 1990 (Ben Moon collection).

Our young climber continues to develop his local limestone crags, always pushing standards higher but always under the radar. He even gets taken to France ('95) and Germany ('96) by us, where he enjoys playing on "Super Plafond" and "Action Direct", there's no pressure to actually do them, he's just happy to test himself on the individual moves (which admittedly seemed a bit odd to us at the time, but each to their own, we thought). 

The years pass, our young climber is now grown up, at last he has a career, he's very happily married and he's a loving father too. He's continued to put up desperate problems on his local crags but he still operates under the radar, his friends think he's a legend and his hardest problems have achieved mythical status. 

However times have changed, we're now living in the digital age, climbing has changed and there are very few of us who practice our passion discreetly. Many of us have become narcissistic and constantly striving for fame. It's not uncommon to video yourself as you work on your latest project, edit it and post it on your favourite social media platform(s) as soon as you have succeeded, where you can get instant recognition from your friends. Not only that, there are endless possibilities to easily troll people you disagree with or you don't believe, often anonymously and without censorship from these websites. No wonder we live in an era of fake news and conspiracy theories.

Sadly, such is the setting whereby some younger (and some not so young) climbers have been casting doubts regarding the validity of some of my friend's hardest ascents. How dare they? Who do they think they are? What gives them the right to question someone's climbing achievements from almost thirty years ago, just because there's no video footage or nobody witnessed the ascent or some hotshot isn't strong enough to pull on the holds? Climbing is so unimportant really, and many of us choose to climb to escape from adhering to any definition of a normal life. However, I have only recently found out about the drivel and hatred that has been written on various forums over the years regarding some of my friend's climbing achievements (including the 3rd ascent of "Hubble"). I am totally appalled by this and believe that some have gone way too far with their character assassination of him. They should be ashamed of themselves, but I doubt they will ever apologise for all the hurt they have caused. I have no doubt that my friend did these climbs (including "Hubble", despite not seeing him actually do it). His word is enough for me. End of story.

Et dieu créa La Ramirole

Whilst we were climbing in La Drôme, a couple of weeks ago, we heard that the approach to La Ramirole (in the Gorges du Verdon) had recently been improved and was much easier. Previously it was exhausting getting to and from the crag with Ruff. I had to make the descent (via abseils, a via ferrata and handlines) with my sack and rope, leave them at the bottom and then return to pick up Ruff, put her in a large rucksack and descend again. At the end of the day the whole process had to be reversed. So La Ramirole was complicated. Plus it wasn't a good crag for Elaine, as you need to be climbing at least 8a to get the most out of it.

So, I got in touch with Seb Bouin to find out, then we went to check it out with Ruff on a rest day. Sure enough, there's only one short tricky section now and the rest is straight forward. Game on for a return and to settle the score with Et dieu créa la flamme (a magnificent 8a+ I had tried a few times in 2016, before my shoulder injury and subsequent surgery and recuperation). I was definitely psyched and feeling up for it this time. 

There were a number of reasons why I gave up 5 years ago, for example: it was too hot, it was too humid, the skin on my fingers was too sore, there were too many strong climbers using it as their warm up, and so on, yawn yawn. But mostly I gave up because I wasn't good enough. However, I felt that with a different mindset, and being in better shape, the outcome would be different this time round. 

Et dieu créa la flamme was equipped by Antonin Rhodes about 10 or so years ago, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful routes of it's grade at La Ramirole (and probably the whole of the Gorges du Verdon). It consists of 40 metres of sustained and very steep climbing mostly on tufas, sparsely protected by only 14 bolts (it definitely feels run-out). Surprisingly there are lots of good holds and lots of kneebars too, but the climbing is always very physical because the holds are usually far apart, and there is also a tricky fingery section between the floor and the 2nd bolt. Overall it's a great physical and mental challenge that is sheer bliss to try and eventually succeed on. 

The 1st day was cool and windy, perfect for working the moves and making links on the easier sections. On the 2nd day I went from the 2nd bolt all the way to the top, so it was definitely possible (unfortunately I hadn't worked out the best sequence for the difficult start). The 3rd day was really far too hot and doesn't really count. However it went like a dream on my 1st attempt on day 4, belayed by Pete Chadwick and after only warming up on the 6c.

Thanks to Elaine, Santi Garcia and Julien Bouquinaud for the belays and encouragement over the 4 days spent there during the last week. It's a dream come true and I still can't believe it!

Climbing Et dieu créa la flamme is up there with other memorable days spent in the Verdon, such as:

La Demande with Elaine in '83, taking all day, finishing in the dark and having to walk all the way back to La Palud;

Dingomaniaque with Joe Picalli, also in '83;

Le Triomphe d'Eros with Al Simpson, again in '83;

L'Ange en Decomposition with Simon King, in '84;

Surveiller et Punir with Dave Turnbull, also in '84;

Elaine and I hot on the heels of Jim Hewson and Pete Chadwick on Rêve de Fer, again in '84;

a 1 day/1st red-point ascent of Seance Tenant (belayed by my ever patient and long suffering wife Elaine in '97).

Such a stunning place to climb and so many happy memories. However, I have another score to settle with Triste Lune over at Petit Eycharme sometime. Bring it on!

Thanks to Elaine and Pete for the photos.

Orpierre and Figols

There hasn't been much to write about this year, due to the Covid-19 restrictions on travelling. However, we did get away to Orpierre, in May for ten days or so, to climb at Paroi Jaune. Thanks to Simon King for the recommendation. The routes there are long (up to 40 metres) and gently overhanging on edges, pockets and lots of slopey kind of holds. You have to go and do Misere (7a), Caroline (7b), Trop Pure (7c+) and Lost (8a). There are some more recent routes further right, most of them 7a to 7b, which are worthwhile to extend your stay. However, to the left, there is a great slabby wall covered in 5's and 6's, which are all very good. The must do route being Vive les femmes (6a), which looks more like 7b when you see someone on it from Paroi Jaune!

We've recently returned from the Spanish Pyrenees where we revisited Las Devotas and Rincon de Sin (the walk up and down hadn't got any easier!). Whilst in the Bielsa area, we visited a crag at Liguerre del Cinca. We were recommended by Jean Claude (from Team BTR) to do his route called Marysa, a really good 7c with a bouldery start and then tufa heaven for 25 metres. The crag takes some effort to find and was rather hot, so it would be a great place in autumn. Marysa is the easiest route, so it's hard to warm up properly, most of the other routes are 8a+ (Chorrera Marron looks rather like Dinosaur at Seynes and equally good).

The weather was really weird, with lots of rain. In fact, the whole time we were there, Foz de la Canal was soaked. So we moved on quickly to Figols, in the Alt Urgell valley. We'd seen some amazing photos of our friends Marco and Marta, from Andorra, attempting their projects in a big cave (called Cova de les Gralles) and just had to go and check it out for ourselves. It proved a great place to climb in summer, with coolish temps and mostly good holds. However, the walk is a steep 20 to 30 minute slog uphill. In summer the sun doesn't shine into the back of the cave but your belayer would be suffering from about 17H, whilst the less steep walls on either side are fully in the sun (left side from around 16H and right side from around 18H), so early starts are recommended. Most days we had the place to ourselves, how good is that? Stand out routes were Gigita (6b+), Limonchella (6c+), Catalina (7b), Clasica (7b), Sensacion de Pinzar (7c), Kingline (7c+) and Gambusina Line (8a). There are some really steep, thrutchy 7c cracks (reminiscent of Gogarth Main Cliff) in the back of the cave for masochists (eg Sucina, Virginia and Amazonia). George Smith would love them!

The view from Cova de les Gralles (carefully taken to avoid showing the quarry).

Whilst at Figols, we checked out some of the other crags in the area. Tres Ponts involves waiting until 17H before climbing in summer (so we didn't bother hanging around wasting time for that). Figol a l'ombre and Socol de Narieda were really disappointing (tiny crimps and slippery slopers) and I wouldn't recommend either (especially in summer!). There are obviously some harder routes at the left side of Figols a l'ombre that are classics, eg the 8a/8a+ link up looks like a must do in cooler temps. Fontanella had great connies (cool and windy) for summer, but the climbing was disappointing again (very fingery, polished and caked in chalk). However Lapsanus (30m) and Segle XIX (45m) were very good 7b+'s. I was too much of a wimp to try Aromes de Fontanella (a hard 8a) as it looked like too much effort in summer.

After spending so much time in the Vallée du Cinca (Bielsa) over the years, our impressions of Alt Urgell, by comparison, were rather disappointing. It's ugly, noisy (from the quarry opposite Cova de les Gralles and the road traffic) and the river is dirty and smelly. That said, luckily, the climbing at Cova de les Gralles is really good and it makes a great summer venue. A muerte! 

Thanks Elaine for the following photos.

A great doss spot away from the noise.

Cova de les Gralles is big and steep!

Mar on Papiandres (8a).

Ruff and Slack at Fontanella.

2 photos of Veterana (8a). Very appropriate!

6 photos of the excellent Gambusina Line (8a).

3 photos of Catalina (7b).

2 photos of Mar on Clasica (7b).

4 photos of Bertrand on Kingline (7c+).

3 photos of Jerman on Sucina Line (version 8a+).

Always happy.

Back to beautiful France.