French Medicine

I suppose I knew I wasn't in the best form ever before I went to France, having hardly done much rock climbing in the last couple of months, but it was exactly what I needed to give me a kick up the backside, take some medicine and get me motivated for a winter of training in TCA Glasgow.


Having eluded already to the fact the daunting prospect of taking on a 9a is now entering my head I admit that this trip partially had the motivation of actually getting on one to see how far off that mark I actually am.  In this regard the trip was an abject failure.  I had wanted in particular to try a route put up by the French equipper extraordinaire, Bruno Clément and first climbed by Adam Ondra; PPP in the Verdon gorge.  Unfortunately access to this route is extremely sensitive and requires accessing the cave by boat and breaking a host of by-laws in the process.  Not wanting to step on too many toes on a busy afternoon in the gorge it didn't seem appropriate to go try this route until I clarify what the access rules are.  We did however hire a pedalo to go take a look and it is safe to say the thing was pretty mind blowing.

PPP climbs out the enormous left cave, the scale of which is hardly done justice in this photograph (Photo: Helen Black) 

Day dreaming about climbing 9a from the luxury of the Pedalo (Photo: Helen Black)

I didn't need to get on a 9a however to realise that a lot of hard training effort will be required for me to get one done.  I say this having tried and narrowly failed to climb an 8b+ in any kind of reasonable time and generally struggling on the harder routes.  Temperatures were high and I have that as some kind of excuse, but given I am aspiring to the next number grade I really should be close to on-sighting at this level and certainly making ascents in a few goes.  Normally this kind of realisation might defeat me but I think having TCA at my finger tips has given me the belief that I can still turn things around.

The TCA circuits board, as good as anywhere to train for 9a

A couple of major milestones were reached on this trip.  I did my first route in the Verdon with Helen (my now fiancé!) which is the most stunning place and somewhere I have wanted to climb for years.  I surpassed the milestone that is my 200th grade 8 route, onsighting a few fantastic 8a's in the process, including 2 of Gorges du Loup's best, Diplodocus and Deversé Satanique.  I also got very inspired by a 9a put up by Alex Chabot in the Gorges du Loup, Abysse which, at a crag marred slightly by chipping, is an inspirational natural line up 1 single tufa.  And, being a lover of tufas, got me thinking...

3 of my 200+ grade 8a routes, all 3 star routes and featuring my favourite thing, tufas (Photos: Helen Black)

Now we're back my mind is switching to the hard training required and the most awesome training centre in the UK in which to do so.