Postcards from Paradise - Ban Nam None

Finally I find the way... With the rope bag between my legs, and my backpack on my front, I can take a “comfy” position lay flat out of the wind, as I gun my little 50cc moped, full throttle towards the unknown. The ease and tranquillity of Green Climbers home has been left behind; we are in search of adventure in the East.

The road is long...

After 150km and 3 hours aboard my “hair-dryer”, my ass is numb, but spirits high as we enter the incredible cavern of Kong Lor. A 7km long watercave, navigated in almost pitch black with a tiny longtail boat is an experience in itself – the incredible stalactites in a central chamber being the icing on the cake. We leave the cave at just before nightfall with a new friend. Our guide from the cave offered for us to sleep at his house and eat dinner with his family, which was quite a humbling and eye opening experience.

The next morning we are back on our bikes in search of the small climbing area we had come all this way for. Ban Name None was opened a few years ago by a small team from France, who over a few weeks opened three new cliffs with around 30 routes up to 8b. Arriving at the base of the cliff was surprisingly easy, as the thick jungle we had expected had been recently cut back by the local villages – we could drive our bikes directly to the cliff!

The reason for our good fortune turned out to be the local government, whom have recently decided to make the area an Eco-Park. Climbing is one of the many activities they hope to offer to attract tourists, and work is well underway to make the area as accessible and safe as possible. Its a good plan, and one I hope works – the next step will be to convince the villages to stop stealing the hangers off the first and second bolts, all of which are currently missing.

Wow! Not so ugly... Photo - James Pearson

Steep routes on giant tuffas is the order of the day. Some of the rock is very sharp, and almost all of it is dirty due to lack of visitors. We would often have to aid the routes first with a big sweeping brush to clean off the spider webs, but after this little bit of effort, we were left with great routes with not a polished hold in sight.

James Pearson on the incredible tufas of Ca Baille Dur. Photo - Caroline Ciavaldini

The best routes to seek out are Ca Baille Dur - a perfect 7b on glorious jugs and collo’s, and Gross Slame, 8b - one of the rare routes to breach the blank rock between the lines of Tufa (this one was even more memorable as I Flashed it, perhaps making the first ascent in the process?). The rock continues for several hundred meters in either direction, with mega-impressive features just waiting to be climbed. With time and motivation invested from the right people, this area could become something really special...

Postcards from Paradise - Green Climbers home

Can you see the Katana Lace up hiding in the picture? I promise it is there!

Spot the Shoe... Photo - Caroline Ciavaldini

I am lying on my back, half stuck inside a hole on this giant block of Swiss Cheese, trying to figure where to go next. I squeeze upwards, or is it sideways, limbs twisted and inching slowly... then finally, there it is; the next quickdraw! You would be forgiven I was caving, but no, this is just another strange and funky route in the mega roof of Pha Tam Kam, the newest discovery in Eastern Laos.

Green Climbers Garden is the creation of Uli and Tanja Weidner, a German couple who visited this area during a round the world trip, and never left! Hidden away in the Pho Hin Boun NPA, just 12km from Thakhek, this little paradise holds several bungalows, a dorm, central restaurant/bar, as well as really great climbing.

Uli and Tanja are wonderful hosts, and the whole camp has a very relaxed atmosphere, exactly what you expect from Laos. The best time to visit is November to March, when temperatures actually get quite low. In December and January, it’s not uncommon to need long trousers and a jacket – essentially perfect conditions for climbing.

I never expected to see something like this!

The area in general is Tufa-central, it is quite similar in appearance to some of the cliffs in Southern Thailand, only with some friction, and without the crowds. The main event however is the gigantic roof on the right. 20m of horizontal, gloriously featured Emmental. Huge jugs and slopers, nothing sharp, nothing loose, nothing chipped or glued – this might be the best roof I have climbed in!

James on the finish of Monkey Trail. Photo - Caroline Ciavaldini

The current hardest route is the spectacular Monkey Trail, 7c+ but much harder lines are just waiting to be bolted. Having said that, it is not the hard lines that make this place really special, but the easy ones. It is quite rare for routes in the 6’s to venture into steep terrain, but here you can find 6b’s that tackle almost the entire span, via wonderfully interesting and involved movements – 3D climbing at its best.

The perfect end to a great 1st day! Photo - Caroline Ciavaldini

Green Climbers Home surpassed all my expectations. If the rest of the locations we visit over the next few weeks are half as good as this place, we will be very happy indeed. Tomorrow we will rent a couple of bikes and drive to Kong Lor Cave, where you can float 7km along an underground river, as well as explore some nearby cliffs developed by a French team a few years ago.

Sôhk Dee Deuh

James and Caroline

The Holidays Are Upon Us...

...and where better to spend them than South East Asia. Avoiding the cold and the snow, adventuring in the jungle, and eating mangos on the beach - not forgetting a little climbing.

To make us appreciate the things to come even more, we spent Christmas and New year in a very soggy England, where there are definitely no Mangos - just a LOT of chocolate. Its safe to say that right now I feel like quite the glutton, but luckily Christmas comes but once a year.

In addition to the usual orgy of Tonsai, we plan on visiting a lot of new, relatively unknown areas in Laos and Malaysia which look to hold great potential. Throughout the trip we hope to send little "postcards" about the places we visit, back home to a few special people, including my mum, grandparents, UKClimbing, Caroline's sister, Kairn, and 8a.nu

Here is the first, courtesy of Caroline, about her opening thoughts on the grit. Its all in french, but luckily, Google has your back...

http://www.kairn.com/article.html?id=2335

Toucher de Grit avant le grand saut…

Dans la lignée de mes habituelles échappées hivernales vers le soleil, j’ai choisi cette année l’Asie… la belle ! Malaisie, Laos et Thaïlande pour ce mois et demi à voguer avec le courant. Nous avons pris les billets… et c’est tout ! Donc dans 3 jours, Sri Lanka Airlines nous téléporte à Kuala Lumpur depuis Londres. L’occasion de se préparer aux grandes vacances… par de petites vacances. James m’a promis mon premier toucher de Grit dans le Peak District !

Caroline "enjoying" the gritstone classic, Not to be taken away. Photo - David Simmonite

Première virée, Stanage, une grande barre de grit pas bien loin de Chatsworth, le domaine du héro de Jane Austen (un peu de culture britannique voyons, j’ai reçu pour Noel un livre, deux films et trois audio books de l’auteur de « orgueil et préjugés »). Revenons à nos moutons, pour ce premier jour James a choisi un grand classique, des blocs majeurs bien qu’humides et mousseux… avec en hors d’œuvre : Brad pit !!!! Pour votre culture, pit avec un seul t signifie trou profond et sombre !!! Le célébrissime Brad pit est donc un 8B décoté à 7C+ par notre grenouille préférée Marc Le Ménestrel, qui, enfin (!!), a suggéré aux british une alternative à leur bourrinage en no foot : poser un talon dans la rampe de départ ! Quoi qu’il en soit, j ai essayé, pas trop insisté, ca semble chouette, surtout une belle histoire de triomphe français !

Dans un autre registre, facile mais très, très haut, « Crescent Arête », et « Not to be taken away », sont l’occasion de tester mes qualités d’engagement : avec nos pauvres deux crashs pads, et mon pareur auquel je défends de se reculer pour la photo, j’ai bien compris qu’on me faisait faire mes gammes pour le Trad. La journée sera clôturée par un chocolat chaud au camion bar posé sur le parking des grimpeurs. Convenient isn’t it ?

Le lendemain, je continue mon apprentissage avec un footing aux Black rock, maison de "Gaia", La voie où Jean min Trin Thieu s’est cassé la jambe ! Bon… vu du bas… heu… ben …oui, certes, le rocher est pas mal, mais j’ai un peu de mal à saisir le concept du trad extrême, pourquoi n’avoir pas mis de spit si la voie n’est pas protégeable ? Mais parce que c’est la tradition, voyons !!!!

Ok, back to packing, but before I go, here is a video from one of the areas we will visit later on in the trip...

Le Blond, la Brute, et le Manouche - Video

France, Italy, France, Italy, Greece, Italy, France, Austria, France, Italy, Austria, England, Austria, Itally, Switzerland, France, Spain, Mexico, France - My last two months...

This time of year is always hectic, it seems like the majority of my work and non climbing commitments all come at the same time, which is a good thing as it leaves a lot of the year free, but can sometimes be frustrating when climbing has to be put on the back burner, and you feel yourself growing fat from all the eating out and sitting on your ass in the car/plane.

However, decent rest can be just as important as decent training, and despite feeling lazy and unfit, your body may actually be happy for the R&R and excess calories, rewarding you now and again with little surprises on the occasional visits to the cliff.

Les Joncasses...

One of these surprises came last week at my local crag of Les Joncasses, a short, steep cliff of perfect compact limestone just 25min from our apartment in Grabels. I was back from a few days of traveling and meetings, with one afternoon free before we had to leave again for the final round of the Lead world cup in Spain - not exactly a perfect scenario for climbing hard projects. Still, it would be nice to get outside on some real rock, and good to re-familiarize myself with my projects, ready for more serious attempts next year.

The Pinch...

The route Le Blond, la Brute, et le Manouche was bolted last year by three friends of mine, Adrien (le blond), Nico (la brute) and Anto (le manouche) but was always too intense. The route is very bouldery, with the difficulties beginning at the 2nd clip and continuing until the junction with "Progression" (an 8c to the left). The moves themselves are very difficult, and clipping even more so, with the intensity building and building until the crux of the route arrives at strange horizontal collonet in a roof. From here, a few powerful moves lead to a precarious, run-out clip, from an opposing sloper and heel hook. Fluff the clip and the floor will be uncomfortably close, clip it and you are almost home... just the crux of Progression still to do!

At first try of the day I could not climb the individual moves, which was a bit of shock considering I had been attempting to redpoint on my previous visit just a few months before. The holds felt too small, the moves felt awkward, but I accepted this was just the result of my crazy busy last few weeks.

The Crux Collo...

After a little rest I decided to make a try from the floor...

To read more, and see the video, head over to JPClimbing

The Source 8c+!

When I first moved to Innsbruck, The Source was known as “the Sprung project”, due to its crazy all points off dyno in the middle of the route. I tried the project during my first visit to Schwarze Wand, pulling through the quickdraws to arrive in the jump, then failing miserably on the move, again and again and again, finally lowering off thinking it would be a damn hard route.

The infamous dyno! - Photo Riky Felderer

Two years later, and a lot has changed. The project has become The Source, 8c+, and I find myself back at the black wall (Schwarze Wand) a little fitter than before. After climbing up to, and sticking the dyno on my first red-point try, I fall in the next boulder just 2 moves above. It turns out that the dyno is only the beginning of the troubles, and that from here to the top, the route is a series of continuous and varied boulder problems.

See the rest of the post with more pictures over at JPClimbing

Transmission.. Joy Division

I can finally (so happily) say, that last month I made the first "1 push" ascent of Joy Division - The big wall in Val di Mello I have been working on all summer. The story of the ascent is long, too long for right now as I am rushing out to go training, but thankfully, The North Face has just released an incredible video along with a small write-up and some pretty pictures.

You can find it all over at TheNorthFaceJournal

Thanks to all the people that made this possible, it was a journey I will never forget.

The Only Mistake

It was surprisingly easy to wake up at 5am. The sun was still hiding behind the opposite hill, but the oppressive heat was instantly noticeable. Breakfast went down and final items were packed in relative silence, words were not really needed, we both knew what to do.

The walk to the base of the wall was as horrible as ever, the uneven ground unbalancing you at every step, bringing your stumbling sleepy body uncomfortably close to some rather large drops. The sanctuary of the ancient and crusty fixed lines allow a little relaxation and we prepare ourselves for the long day to come. Chalk bag, quickdraws, mini trad rack, shoes... food... water... one last check... off we go.

I jumar up the first 30m and begin warming my body in the top of the first pitch. Things go well, and after a short time I link the entire upper part from no hands rest to belay. I take this as a sign that things are ready, and lower back to the base hoping the crux boulder passes just as well.

It doesn’t!

The first time I arrive in the hard moves, I am instantly aware that the small rough crimps don’t feel like they should. The more I squeeze the slippery holds, the more spooge seems to ooze from my fingers, and the more I feel the tiny crystals eat into my skin. I fall on the last move of the boulder, unable to control the delicate, stretched barn-door.

I lower down and try again, doing my utmost to hide the doubt creeping into my mind. I fall lower than before, then lower, and lower, and lower. With every attempt my skin disappears, and chances of overall success grow slim. The doubt is no longer hidden, but staring me fully in the face, as far as I am concerned the dream is practically dead.
After a longer rest and a few well spoken words I try again. I focus on perfection, each move must be executed just right, there is no point thinking about what comes higher until you succeed on that right in front of you. The last move comes and goes, the boulder is done, just 20m of technical slab climbing to go, where I could really fall off any move.

Another look at the first crux... Photo Riky Felderer

A protruding quartz seam allows an awkward no hands rest – not comfortable, but enough to chalk my hands, wipe my shoes, and calm my nerves. I know I can climb this section, i did it just earlier today, but now there is so much more at stake. I begin moving through the now familiar sequence, the nerves make everything feel even more delicate than usual, but I force myself to keep moving, knowing any pause is likely to be a false friend. The hardest section comes and goes, but I don’t ask questions, simply climb into the next.

I reach a positive quartz side pull, one of the few in cut crimps on the route. From here I must place a high left smear and slap my left hand 1m higher to a good hold in the crack. The move is scary because it is dynamic, forcing pressure onto the little vertical edge, which is worrying due to the fragile nature of this rock. During the working process, I had inspected this hold and decided, despite its potentially delicate appearance, it was very solid. It didn’t move, there were no cracks, nor did it sound hollow - everything pointed to green. I took the hold, and prayed I had made a wise decision, raised my foot, slapped my hand, and caught the next mini jug. Relax! Just a few more easier meters to the end...

SNAP! The righthand sidepull broke off the wall!

Read the rest of this post with more pictures at JPClimbing.com