So here it is, my first ever blog! As I
have called it ‘sandstone bouldering’, what better place to start than with a
trip to the sandstone bouldering Mecca of Fontainebleau. Matt Cousins and
myself headed here for a week over the Easter holidays, and as I sat down to
write this I reflected on how I have chosen to use my holiday time. Instead of
kicking back in a nice five star hotel (what my wife sensibly did with her
week) I chose to stay in probably the worst hotel ever made and battle against
some rocks. Bouldering trips seem to be a series of mini battles, whether it is
against conditions, projects or yourself. As such, instead of just writing a
tick list of what we have climbed, I have put each problem within a broad
‘battle’ category that I think many of us have faced in climbing.
The Previous Battle:
I think everyone who has been bouldering
for a few years has one of these. You are planning a trip, which of course
involves hours of youtube and guidebook research to find the perfect problems.
You go on said trip and find that the problem that looked so easy in the video
is actually an unsolvable monstrosity that you can’t even imagine climbing –
one to leave to your future self! One of these for me was ‘La Gaule’ (font
7c/+) at Bas Cuvier. I remember trying this when I was 19 years old. I had
climbed 7c+, surely a font 7c compression problem (my climbing style of choice)
would be the perfect problem for my trip. No, no it was not. I remember not
being able to do a single move and drawing the conclusion (or excuse) that I
was not tall enough to climb the problem. Eight years later, and we ended up at
Bas Cuvier on our first evening. While Matt was crushing ‘Carnage’ (font 7b+)
into submission I took a wander up to La Gaule to have a look at my old nemesis.
Try the moves, why not; I’m too short to do the problem anyway! Yet
move-by-move it all began to seem more possible. Two days later I came back and
sent it. Whenever this happens I’m sure most of us think to our selves ‘how
much stronger I have got’. In this case I would like to think that this is true
– however, I think the key to sending this problem was how much better
technically I’ve become as a boulderer in the last eight years. Resting,
thinking about my feet more, and body position – these are so much more
valuable than that extra rung on a campus board.
The ‘Should have done it already’ Battle:
Perhaps the most dreaded of all battles on
a bouldering trip. Matt set about trying ‘Symbiose’ (font 7c) at 95.2 one
evening. Having worked the moves out, he began redpointing, clearly enjoying
the process as he made more and more progress up this classic line. Finally, he
made it through the crux and was on the easier, yet still technical top out.
Having climbed with Matt for 13 years I have seen him in this position hundreds
of time – composed as ever I expected him to top it out with ease. However,
once a foot slips or a sequence is slightly altered it can throw even the best
of us – and uncharacteristically of him, Matt blew it. Enter the ‘should have done
it already’ battle. This is perhaps the most frustrating of all bouldering
battles, as you fall from lower down that your previous high point, while at
the back of your mind you can’t help but remind yourself that you should
rightfully have done it by now. That enjoyable problem that you were freely
pulling up earlier, suddenly becomes a grinding battle – although more mentally
than physically. To Matt’s credit he calmed himself down with a walk before
sending the problem with his normal technical style. Often it is difficult to
walk away from a problem – but when you have been this close it become almost
impossible.
The Flash Battle:
Perhaps the shortest battle of them all –
the problem that you want to flash. You have identified it in the guidebook as a
climb that suits your style, you have watched every youtube video on the
Internet - you are as ready as you’ll ever be. However, when you sit down under
the climb there is that horrible voice in the back of your head that you only
get one flash attempt – no matter how well you do it on your second, third,
umpteenth go, it is not a flash. Pressure. I had two problems that I wanted to
flash; ‘Magic Bus’ (font 7b/+) at
Buthiers, which the legendary Mark Croxall had flashed back in the day, and
‘Gargantoit assis’ (font 7b+) at Gorge du Houx, another compression problem
that I thought would be right up my street. Thankfully, both went well (this
time) and I walked away with two 7b+ flashes for the trip.
The Time pressure Battle:
The worst thing about a climbing trip is
when it is all over. Actually I don’t think that is quite true – I think the
worst thing is when the trip is almost over, you are tired and your skin is
shredded, and you stumble across yet another amazing looking problem. For me
this was ‘96.15 Power’ (font 7c) at Rocher Canon, the day before we were going
home. I had tried this before (another failure from eight years ago), and it
had stuck in my mind, like ‘La Gaule’. This climb is one of those great
problems in bouldering that combines power with subtle movement – I was strong
enough eight years ago, but definitely not subtle enough! I set to work and
formed a sequence that was consistently leading me up to the crux final slap.
But I was tired, my skin was screaming, and I could feel myself becoming less
precise. I hate leaving problems that I am close on, but after three hours you
begin to question whether this is meant to go this trip. ‘Just one more go’ I
said to myself again and again, as I’m sure all boulderers have! On one of
these ‘final goes’ it all came together and I sent the problem – I have
deliberately not edited out the end of the video when I come down from the
boulder as it shows both how shattered and pleased I am that I ticked this
problem.
The Battle too far:
If I climbed every problem that I tried on
a climbing trip I don’t know if I would be happy – I like having something
(although not lots!) to come back for. This trip the main problem that I’m
desperate to come back for next time was ‘de la Terre a la Lune’ (font 7c+) at Gorge
du Houx. This is a visually stunning boulder that involves shouldery indoor
style climbing lower down before transitioning to a rather delicate and
technical upper section. We found this mid-way through our trip and decided to
return on our last day and once again face the long walk in (ok it was 20
minutes – but that’s no Bas!). Matt got desperately close (as you can see in
the clip), and I’m sure that he would have got it if he were fresh. This was a
battle too far for me – I got nowhere on it! But it is nice to have an excuse
to come back in the near future, and at least I have something to watch on
youtube in the mean time.
