Back to the States (well Canada actually)

Just a couple of days after arriving back in the States from our Europe Trip Laura and I were back on the road again, this time up to Canada. Our good friends Micah and Nick were already up in Squamish enjoying the bouldering, so we decided to go up and meet them. It was to be our last time climbing with Nick for a while since he is moving to the east coast to start a nursing program in Washington DC. The night before we headed off I got a call from Nick in Squamish. They had a pretty bad day, they were working on the Squamish classic Sesame Street (V9) when Nick took an awkward fall and smashed his leg against a rock. They spent most of the day at the hospital where he had to get stitches and because Nick is uninsured it cost him $600 out of his own pocket, Ouch! But that didn't deter him, he was back bouldering later that evening.

Nick on Gull Skull

It was great to see them again, the last time we saw them was in March, but it was like we had never left, except for the fact they had gotten a lot stronger. Nick improved from climbing V6 earlier this year to now having climbed his first V9's over the summer, not to mention his great improvement on routes. And Micah has now climbed 2 V10's as well as numerous V8s and 9s! This was the same guy who at the start of summer last year didn't think bouldering was for him. And only just did his first V6 around this time last year at Squamish! It was clear to see how strong they had become when we met them at Worm World Cave (V9), Nick was really close on it, and Micah was showing him the beta having already done it.

It was great to climb with them again even though I couldn't quite keep up with them on the hardest stuff. We managed to flash Atlas a cool V4 that I had never seen before, it was a really good find, considering I thought I had done pretty much everything worth doing at this grade in Squamish. Laura added it to her growing list of frustrating Squamish V4s. I also showed Micah my beta on Corrupted a crimpy V7 I had done last summer, and he quickly sent it on his second go of the day.

Micah going for the repeat of Tatonka V8

A boulder problem I had thought about a lot since I was last here last September, was Immunity Challenge (V7), a great 12 move crimpy endurance problem. So I convinced the guys to make the trek to the other side of the forest to try it. I had worked on it one day last summer but couldn't link it together , I did however write down move by move beta on a post-it note and stuck it in the guide for the next time I'd try it. It paid off when I sent it second go of the day, I was really proud of this climb especially since Micah and Nick thought it was pretty tough. After this we tried The Fuzz another V7 that manages to be a Squamish classic despite it not being in the guide. Micah sent it quickly with ease while Nick and I just watched on in awe.

The following day we awoke to rain which was a big bummer. We hung out at a breakfast joint until it looked like it would be alright. The forest was soaked but the apron boulders dry very quickly so we headed straight for those. There have been major roadworks all along the Vancouver to Whistler road as they expand it all in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and it has finally caught up with Squamish. One of the best V4's here Shots Fired is slated to be blown up to make way for the road expansion and currently it is right on the verge of the road and literally has gravel piled up to the side of it. Micah and I repeated it and Nick did it for the first time, he may have gotten its last ascent. The road works also unearthed a few other boulders nearby so we played around on them a bit as well which was fun. What looked like a write-off day actually turned out to be quite productive, as we managed to get on quite a few things that day, we capped off the day by catching a movie at the Garibaldi cinema: Pineapple Express, I'd highly recommend it.

Nick showing us how its done

Sunday was more of the same in terms of the weather, the boulders were still wet in the forest so we made do with what was dry at the apron boulders. We repeated The Cutting Edge (V4), and Micah finished off some old business with a send of Gull Skull (V6). Micah put together some footage, its all new except for the clip of me on Holm Boy from last summer. Although we didn't manage any huge numbers, it was a great to be climbing with Nick and Micah again. I'm sure I speak on behalf of everyone in Oly when I say you'll be missed Nick!

Céüse

Once we got bored of Ailefroide we took a bus a couple of hours down the road to Gap. From Gap we could see the cliff of Céüse, often called the best sport crag in the world. I could see what all the hype is about, perfect rock with pockets everywhere, its like it was made to be climbed. The big drawback of Céüse is that its a gruelling hour and a half walk in (for us) to get to the base of the cliff. The first time we walked in was the worst, maybe becasue we took the wrong way, but I seriously had my doubts if it would be worth it once we were up. But it definately was.



The climbers campsite, Les Guerins, was pretty intense. It seemed like every strong climber travelling around Europe was there. There were climbers from all over Europe, the US and Canada, even Asians and South Americans. It was easy to tell where some of them were from because they were often in teams with matching tracksuits representing their country (i'm not joking). There were a lot of very serious climbers there. It seemed like the average climber was climbing 8b and had about 2% body fat. Laura and I felt pretty out of shape in a place like this which is pretty ridiculous. There were quite a few sponsored climbers there I recognised, and some guys from a couple of the climbing dvd's I have; Underdeveloped and West Coast Gimps, so that was cool. We even ran into Aline a friend from Edinburgh who we had climbed a lot with last summer in Squamish, so it was fun especially for Laura to climb with her again.

Me fighting through the steep crux of Bibendum 7b+

At first it took us a while to get used to the climbing at Céüse, there were often quite scary runouts towards the top of routes. I did a long 6c+ called Mawoi (to the second chains) that had two bolts in the last 20m to the chains, it was vertical climbing on shallow slopey pockets with no chalk on the rock, I was very tempted to bail but I'm glad I finished it off. It seemed that often the worst run outs were on the easier routes, so Laura had a tough time committing to some, nevertheless she still sent some proud routes including a 6b+ flash, and a 6c redpoint. In the first few days I fell off a 7b and a 7b+ that I thought felt quite hard, which got me a bit worried. But then I got on some steeper stuff and seemed to do a lot better. I onsighted Lapinerrie a classic steep 7b, it didn't feel too hard, the crux was probably waiting around it the queue for the route without ruining the onsight. A couple days later I tried Bibendum an awesome looking 7b+ that I'd been told was onsightable and my style, steep and juggy. It was a real fight going through the steep bulgy roof on good (and occasionally not so good) pockets, before I managed to find a rest in a big pod where I could get a half decent knee bar and sideways arm bar that was just enough to de-pump before the pockety headwall. I was really chuffed to onsight this route, I certainly wasn't expecting to onsight a 7b+ in Ceuse. I met Dave Redpath from scottishclimbs.com up there and he kindly sent the photos of me on Bibendum, my camera had broken somewhere between Ailefroide and Céüse so these are the only photos I have from there.


After I did Bibendum I asked Robbie (from Edinburgh) and Eric (from Sweden), a couple of strong young guys who I was hanging out with, for a good 7c to get on. They had both onsighted the classic Céüse climb Vagabond d' Occident, and were always saying how easy it is. I got on it and was expecting a jug ladder to the top the way they were describing it. But I soon found out 7c in Céüse is not easy no matter how easy people make it sound. I got back on it for my 2nd go attempt a couple of days later and this time I cruised it. It made a big difference knowing what to expect and shaking out on the good holds. I was really glad to climb 7c in Céüse and to do such a classic route there makes it all the better. According to the routes database on 8a.nu Vagabond d' Occident is the 3rd most climbed route in the world!

Me on Bibendum just after the rest

I did Vagabond right at the end of our time in Céüse, if we stayed there a week or two longer I'm sure I could have climbed even harder. But I think if we stayed any longer we would have gone crazy, there is only so long we can take living out of backpacks. We're back in Scotland now, its nice to have a warm shower and a comfy bed to sleep in. We fly back to Seattle in a few days. Its been a great trip but I think we're both ready to get back to real life.