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

Insight

The nights were a cold and uncomfortable time during my last visit, partly due to mistakenly bringing only a sleeping bag liner rather than a full bag, but mostly just because it was f@%king cold for August! Not this time however - shivers were replaced with sweats, it was uncomfortably obvious we were in the midst of a little heat wave.

Chilly times during my first visit (Photo Riky Felderer)

Today was supposed to be the first attempt at the “big push” but motivation was not super high as I rolled out of my sticky sleeping bag into the full morning sun. Coffee did its usual trick of making the world seem a better place, and I started the preparations for later in the day, which essentially involved relaxing and eating as much as possible. This is one part of big-walling that I really enjoy! I usually try to watch what I eat – not quite counting calories, but certainly not eating to excess. However, there are enough difficulties to pass on a wall without having to worry about an empty tank, so I take full advantage of the opportunity to “scientifically” stuff myself, all in the name of good preparation.

For the full post and more pictures go to JPClimbing.com

I Remember Nothing

Time in Insbruck is training on the rock and in the gym, which always provides a nice balance of motivation and humiliation. We began preparing ourselves for the next trip to Val di Mello, trying hard to pack well, taking the minimum amount of kit, for the smallest loads up that damn hill. With 150m of static fixed in place and some food and supplies stashed from the time before, I was hopeful for a sub 30kg pack this time round. The addition of a portaledge however played havoc with this plan, and we set off again with packs almost as heavy as before.

Testing our ledge (used to belong to Greg Child!!!) on the wall, thanks to Hansjorg for the kind loan

Free-climbing a hard multipitch route seems to be a lot about planning. Firstly planning what you want to do, then how you want to do it, as the styles and ethics of the big wall world are more complex than I could have ever imagined. Once you have set your goal, the planning then moves on to how best to achieve it – what training do you miss, what time of year to try (cool conditions but short days), what time of day to start, fast and light, slow and heavy, speed or comfort... the list goes on and on.

You can read the full post with more pictures over at jpclimbing.com

New Dawn Fades

The difference between clean and dirty on this wall is immense, and should have been expected on an alpine wall of this exposure, parts of which rarely get wet. I spent a long time cleaning the 4th pitch and checking out the moves, thankfully to find that it was not so bad. Sure it is hard, sure it is a little scary, and there are parts where one must be very cautios with large chunks of rock. However, there are holds – positive pieces to grab with hands and feet, success will be more dependent on personal strengths and stamina, than positive relations with the Onyx, god of friction.

The 1st pitch. The end of the crux boulder leads into 30m of delicate and sustained finger layback/slab! (Photo Riky Felderer)

After feeling satisfied with Pitch 4, I returned in the evening shade to try Pitch 1. The difference was noticeable from my earlier tries in the morning sun, nothing incredible, but enough that I could start making small links and better understand the subtleties required. I worked out all the sections from bolt to bolt on the upper crack, and after a lengthy amount of time, solved my problem of the bottom boulder...

Read the rest of this post along with more pictures over at my new site - JPClimbing.com