Autumn glow part 1

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It’s been the most glorious of weeks in the Alps. The tourists have long gone, the locals are resting in between seasons, and a sense of peaceful calm has descended upon the valley.

For those of us who live and play here on a permanent basis, it is the perfect time of the year. This is particularly the case for the climbers: no more scorching, energy sapping heat, no more school parties at the local crags, and no more fighting for tables at the cafes. We’ve got our valley back and we’re going to make damn sure we make the most of it before winter and the inevitable swapping of rock shoes for crampons and chalk bags for ice axes.

Autumn in Chamonix

With manfriend back in Scotland doing some TV work and the Alps bathing in glorious autumnal sunshine, it was time for me to find some new climbing partners if I was going to make the most of this wonderful time of year. It didn’t take long to find willing companions, the only problem was that they were a slightly different breed of rock lizard to myself. Let’s just say if it was football they’d be the Barcelona and I’d be more like… well, Brechin City…

Ladies and gentlemen I give you…

Last week’s potential climbing partner number 1:

Agnieska Warszawska - the Vallee du Giffre’s most ripped and accomplished female climber and canyoning/hiking instructor. Climbing and Agnieska go together like me and Creme Eggs and she regularly climbs around the 6c mark. I climb the stairs and regularly open bottles of wine.

And next up we have potential climbing partner number 2:

John Falkiner - a Verbier based legendary mountain guide and Scarpa/Marmot sponsored athlete. John is beyond an expert in the vertical world having spent most of his life skiing, climbing and mountaineering all over the globe. He was the mountain guide and safety guy for the film Touching the Void. My contribution to this film was to sit on my sofa, and watch it whilst eating Creme Eggs. Cripes. I detected a slight mismatch.

As you can imagine for a relative novice like myself, the concept of climbing with such experts was beyond intimidating but it was also simultaneously fantastically exciting. And in my experience, these two factors make for a brilliant combination. Butterflies in your belly generally mean that something big is about to happen and how you choose to view this is really up to you.

Option 1 would be to shrink from the opportunity, politely decline the offer, and stay at home and eat Creme Eggs. This decision would be understandable as you’d ensure your ego stayed intact but deep down it would be a deeply unsatisfactory choice to have made. The other option would be to brush the ego aside, be open to the opportunity, push beyond the comfort zone and rise to the challenge.

I admit that on both occasions, I briefly toyed with the former option. This lasted for all of about five seconds before I got my head straight, ‘manned up’, picked up the phone to both mountain goats and started to make the plan…

The times they are a’changing…

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After a rather tediously long absence from the rock, I got out again last week for the first time in over a month. Those of you who read my previous post will know that the last time I was oot and aboot in les montagnes I ended up with someone else’s crampon in my leg which somewhat stopped play for a while.

Add to that three weeks back in Scotland to see my folks and then a rather debilitating kidney infection upon returning to the Alps, and you’d have to be crazy to not see that perhaps the world was conspiring for you to do different things for a while!

Anyway, this week I got out again and it was only for a couple of hours on a very local crag but it was good to be back. 3 routes done: 5c, 6a and a ‘getting-back-into-it’ lead of 5a.

Nothing strenuous, nothing life punctuating but if nothing else, a perfect opportunity to try out my new Ultimate Hoody that Mammut have kindly given me in reward for annoying them lots! Great bit of kit actually - a soft shell windstopper with a funky zip system that allows you to access your harness and quickdraws with the jacket still zipped up.

And I tell you what, I think it’s going to become quite a fixture in my backpack over the next couple of months. Because people, it’s getting cold out there. In fact, the day after it snowed at 1,200m. A lot!! It’s melted now of course but one of the things that struck me most last week during my afternoon rock potter was just how cold the rock was at this time of year. This is totally new to me as I’m far more used to climbing in the baking spring/summer sunshine to the cicada soundtrack and with lizards clambering all over my chosen route.

Now I can see that keeping warm is definitely going to be the autumn challenge out here in the Alps and this is especially relevant for me as I suffer from very cold fingers and hands. Due to the fact that rock climbing isn’t really conducive to wearing gloves (lack of feel and dexterity), I’m going to be focusing on keeping my core, wrists and head as warm as possible for the next outing so as to minimise numb, useless digits and inevitable ensuing frustration…

And on that note, the next outing is hopefully going to be the end of this week as I’ve had a couple of offers to get out on the rock which are very exciting - one’s a legendary mountain guide and the other is the best female climber in the valley! No pressure then…

Stitches and Realisations…

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There are things in life that go hand in hand such as Soreen malt loaf and the mountains, grand bieres and chalky climbing hands, and Italian coffee/icecream/pizza and me.

And then, of course, there are things that don’t make for such fantastic combinations like Liz Hurley and Shane Warne, me and overhanging steep rock (see previous post…), and crampon spikes and legs.

Yes, I’m afraid that there has been yet another minor setback in the 6A climbing goal in so much that the week before last I was cramponed while descending the Petite Aiguille Verte, Chamonix. Result = hole in leg through to the muscle, five stitches administered by a handsome French doctor, and currently out of action for a wee whiley…

After a well documented whole host of delays, hindrances and setbacks which have inhibited my climbing progress this summer, you’d think that this incident might be a step too far and may have resulted in a full-on toys out of the pram moment.

But actually that’s not the case at all. Actually I’m pretty cool with it and totally accepting that it is going to hold up my 6A leading goal further. The reason why this is the case is obvious to me. The injury was not sustained tripping up or falling down the stairs or doing DYI, it wasn’t anyone’s fault, and most importantly, it happened doing something I loved during the best two days I’ve had all summer.

Trou dans le jambe occurred because I was lucky enough to be invited along with some great friends to do a spot of Alpinism in Chamonix. We had the best time. Amazing weather, so many laughs, and some real adventures were had over the course of 48 hours in the high Alpine world.

Sitting astride the rather sharp and somewhat painful La Vierge and looking over the spectacular Chamonix valley from the top of the Petite Aiguille Verte are two experiences that I will remember always. The leg injury will heal, I’ll lead 6A eventually but I’ll never forget those two days of feeling totally and completely alive and utterly myself.

Days like these are life punctuating and I’ll take a leg full of scars if I get to do more of them while I’m on this planet. This is the stuff that makes me tick and I’m completely aware of the fact that I’m one lucky girl… these are happy, hole in the leg days…

And…Yes, Unfortunately You Lose Some…

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One day after the glorious girls took on Les Gaillards in Chamonix, manfriend and I headed off to do something a little bit more challenging. The goal - to do a multipitch route on the Barberine crag near Vallorcine.

It was hot and fuelled with water and espresso, we packed super light knowing that it was going to be a challenge to just be in the glare of the Alpine sun, let alone having to climb 10 pitches of 6A-6B+ in the oppressive August heat.

As it was, we didn’t make it to the top. It wasn’t the heat that got the better of us but actually something far more humbling. A meltdown. Mine. Yuck.

I say yuck because I’m not used to emotional meltdowns generally in life and certainly not when I’m taking part in any kind of physical challenge or adventure. I’m a pretty level headed character at the best of time so my goodness it came as a shock when I suddenly found myself on the 5th pitch high above the valley and feeling like I was losing my mind.

The previous pitches had been difficult and scary but they were nothing in comparison to this one. It was overhanging, graded at 6a+ and requiring steep rock technique, enormous physicality and the need to move quickly over upwards so as to avoid totally burn out.

I am not used to this type of climbing, didn’t have a clue what the hell to do, was physically spent, and knew that I had to get to the top somehow in order for us to be able to get down safely. Cue tears. Lots of them. I felt lost, weak, out of my zone and completely incapable – as I said, yuck.

A combination of sheer will, lots of hauling by manfriend, and utter necessity meant that I made it to the hanging belay so that we could begin the long abseil off. On reflection, I should have known that it’d be a hostile route – the name ‘Viper Foot’ would indicate that things might be a touch spiky and dangerous, but my goodness, I never expected my reaction.

My confidence was in pieces and over the post crag beer in Chamonix I felt only disappointment – disappointment that we didn’t get to the top, disappointed that this was essentially due to me, and most importantly, disappointed in myself. Yuck.

So what am I going to do with this rather large vertical induced knock in confidence? Dr Chill Out might prescribe a few days away from the rock and perhaps for the next outing, something a little more suited to my style of climbing and perhaps something a little less hardcore.

I say sod it, I obviously need to work on the steep stuff so I’m going out tomorrow to do exactly that. The worst that can happen is that I’ll fall off a lot, and the best? Well, hopefully I’ll have a bigger repertoire of skills and techniques to draw upon next time I’m faced with yuck climbing. Oh and there’s always bigger biceps……..

You Win Some…

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The drought is over and the flood gates have opened. Yes, there has been a 100% increase in climbing since my last post! Last week was we went out once and this week… well, we’ve been out twice in seven days!! Not exactly a big deal in terms of numbers I admit, but in terms of my climbing development, the significance of each of the trips has been… well, pretty significant.

The first trip was to Chamonix on Wednesday. What started as a business meeting suddenly morphed into three girls heading to join the hoards at Les Gaillands for a bit of afternoon rock fun (best business meeting ever).

Despite the fact that the place was mobbed, it was baking, and the routes were short, we had the best time. I didn’t climb particularly hard or well, it wasn’t really about that as such, more about a departure from the norm and the rewards that stepping into the unknown invariably always bring. It wasn’t planned, it just happened and this was a new experience for me.

Up until Wednesday I’d only really climbed with manfriend: he of large forearms, knot knowledge and pert climbing bottom. For all of the previous reasons, I love climbing with him but now I know what it’s like to climb with new people, and in particular what it’s like to climb with a group of girls. Without getting all ‘hands in the air independent women’, I have to say it was pretty cool. I borrowed unfamiliar gear, led routes I’ve never seen, held my own and most importantly, laughed. A lot.

To get out there and do it on your own terms with no pressure, great company and with the only real goal being to have a damn good time…….well, that’s got to be what climbing should be all about.

73 days

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73 days, 1,752 hours, 105,120 minutes, and 6,307,200 seconds. This may sound like the very uncatchy title to a Hollywood blockbuster but it is actually the duration of time that it has been since I last climbed.

Thank god this changed yesterday. The sun shone, we did a couple of routes, drank our beers with chalky bloody hands, and now the ticker can be reset to zero once again (I bet Barack Obama wishes this was all it took……).

After such a long time spent away from the rock, I had a lot to re-learn yesterday. Because of this, I thought it would be a good opportunity to write a post about the gear required to go sport climbing. We’ve talked about grades and leading climbs, but not actually looked at what you need when heading off to a crag. So here we go…..

1. Rope – you’ll need one. Choice of rope will depend on your budget and skill level but the general rule is the old peanuts and monkeys one. Pay peanuts and you’ll get monkeys so go for the best rock climbing specific rope that you can afford. The best size to go for is a 60m rope that is around10mm in thickness. It may not be light but it’ll last longer and besides, unless you’re an elite climber weight is unlikely to be a huge factor. In which case you’re probably sponsored and get ropes for free – lucky b**gers.

2. Quickdraws – these are the bits of kit that you place in the bolt and then put the rope into as you climb. Essentially they are bits of webbing with two carabiners on each end. For sport climbing, you’ll generally need around 12-16 quickdraws but you may need more depending on the length of the routes at your local crag.

3. Belay Device –the rope is threaded through this bit of kit to allow the belayer to control the amount of rope given to the climber. Essentially this is the thing that is going to help you hold your partner when they fall off the route. When it comes to purchasing one, there are many options but in the world of sport climbing, the Petzl Gri-Gri is the belay device of choice as it is self locking and the nature of sport climbing is such that it involves more falls than trad climbing. With so many options, purchasing a belay device can be a bit confusing. It is worth bearing in mind that actually knowing how to use whichever device you go for is by far the most important factor. The best investment you can make is to actually practice and familiarise yourself with your kit – all the gear and no idea has no place in the world of belaying!

4. Harness – As long as it has leg loops, pretty much any harness will be fine at the beginning. Sport climbing harnesses tend to be on the lighter side so if you have the option go for one of these. In an ideal world your harness should have four gear loops so you can carry as many quickdraws as you may require.

5. Rock Shoes – They look silly and chances are they hurt like hell, but you need them. Without killing yourself, you should try and go for as snug a fit as possible as they nearly always stretch and you’ll then lose your feel on the rock. Shape, sole and profile all becomes a little more complicated as you become more specialised but essentially at the beginning, just get yourself a good all-round shoe that fits nice and tight.

6. Chalk and Chalk Bag – Whilst not as essential as the other bits of kit listed above for obvious reasons, chalk really is quite key when rock climbing. Nerves and exertion equal sweat and sweaty hands equal slipping which equals falling off. Booo. Chalk is also good for leaving indicators to other climbers of where useful holds may be. As my regular climbing partner is rather like Spiderman, I particularly like this benefit of the white stuff!

Whilst there are a multitude of other bits of kit carried by climbers such as rope bags, locking carabiners, slings, daisy chains, meons and many other weird and wonderful sounding things, what is listed above are the essentials to get out and go climbing.

Sport climbing specific versions of all of the above will generally be lighter, more streamlined and designed to maximise speed and efficiency. As none of the aforementioned words could be used to describe me at the moment, it’s time to plan another rock excursion as soon as possible. Let’s just hope the Alps have decided that they are bored with pretending to be Oban……