Big, bigger, and biggest!

The last few months have been pretty full on, bouncing from one continent to the next. Since my last blog post in May it's been a non-stop climbing schedule for me starting off with multi-pitch/alpine climbing in France and Switzerland to hardcore bouldering in South Africa, Deep Water Soloing in Exeter and finally Sport climbing in France.

Its been one amazing adventure to the next so instead of me writing about it all, here are a bunch of pictures that will hopefully tell the story much better than I will. Enjoy!

First stop, Samoens, France. (Multi-pitching)

The plan was to try a route called Bin Fizz as a warm up route to the main objective of the trip. Unfortunately we only managed to get up the first three pitches of this route before having to bail off and run back down to the car before the storm hit. Not a short approach!

South Face of the Fizz. Photo Calum Muskett.

Not a bad view. Photo Wiz Fineron

The death gully as I called it. This is where Calum came in to his element. Choss. I was sh##ing myself, and we hadn't even started climbing yet. Photo: Wiz Fineron

3rd pitch of the route. Amazing water warn slab. Photo Calum Muskett

Smearing to the max! Photo: Calum Muskett

Next up, Ratikon, Switzerland.

This was the main event of the trip, to climb the famous Multi-pitch, Silbergier. An impressive looking route with it all. Hard climbing, big run-outs and amazing views.

Good old 'Monique'. Citroen C1 doing us proud on the crazy drive up to the Ratikon. Nobody told us about this? Photo: Wiz Fineron

Not a bad place to go rock climbing at all. Photo: Calum Muskett

Psyched!!! Ready to give the Crux (8b/+) pitch a good go. Managed to send this thing on my second attempt. It doesnt count until I climb from the ground though... :P Photo: Calum Muskett.

Oh yes..... The weather. Not the best that's for sure. Photo: Wiz Fineron

Getting caught in a storm at the top of Pitch 4 again. Yes... that is hail. Photo: Calum Muskett

Looking up at the terrifying second pitch. A very thin and run out 7c+ traverse. Photo: Calum Muskett

Checking out the second pitch. Definitely more scary on second. Photo: Calum Muskett

Calum in training. Cake, cake then more cake!!! Photo: Wiz Fineron

Calum trying to stay warm at the top of the third pitch. Amazing water warn rock and a good view of the approach in the background. Photo: Wiz Fineron

The clouds are coming in again. Photo: Wiz Fineron

What a view. Switzerland on one side and Austria on the other. It didn't quite look like this on the day of the send :P Photo: Calum Muskett

The clouds have arrived. This is our view from the ledge at the top of pitch 4. Still two more to go! Photo: Wiz Fineron

The day of the send. Back on the rock after a forced one and a half hour break due to rain. Thank god for the sheltered ledge. Scary and cold climbing in a white out with some decent size run outs. Photo: Calum Muskett

Trying to stay warm for the upcoming crux pitch!! Legs in the haul bag is the trick. Photo: Calum Muskett

Just keep on climbing. Believe that its dry and it will be... (I think) That's what I told myself anyway. Here I am on the 4th pitch looking up at the crux pitches to come in the fog. Uh Oh! Photo: Calum Muskett

Back on the ground. So psyched to have achieved the goal of the trip. Silbergier (8b,7c+,8a+,7a+,8b/+,8a) done and dusted! Thanks so much to my partner of the trip Calum Muskett for keeping me alive on these big walls the past few weeks.

Pitch three 8a+. Photo: Calum Muskett

Next up some proper alpine climbing in Chamonix. I had to use those axe things and even those spiky things that go on ya feet. Team extreme that's for sure. No better place for it but on the peak of Aguille Du Midi.

Thats right... I'm alpine climbing. Atop of Aguille Du Midi about to take my first steps in Crampons. Psyched. Ok fine, I did fall over once but that's it. What a beautiful place. Photo: Calum Muskett

Stunning. Photo: Calum Muskett

Up high on Ma Doltan of the South Face. Granite crack climbing...  Uh Oh. Great fun. Photo: Calum Muskett

Calum in the awkward transition between crampons and climbing boots. About 8 or 9 pitches later we should be at the top. Photo:Wiz Fineron

Oh no, what you doing Calum? Taped hands mean...... Photo:Wiz Fineron

Yes, crack climbing. Horizontal roof crack climbing as well. So hard! Good effort Calum. Photo:Wiz Fineron

Climbing with Mont Blanc in the background. Nice! Photo: Calum Muskett

A lot of rock fall going on nearby.  A little too close for my liking. Photo: Calum Muskett

The view from our hut for the night. Cold but beautiful! Photo:Wiz Fineron

The next morning it was time to get back on the ice and snow. The usual route was busy so this was Calums idea of a short cut. Pretty dam fun.

Psyched to have successfully squeezed my way up that chimney. Not long to go now. Photo: Calum Muskett

What a poser. The summit is in site! What a great adventure. Photo: Calum Muskett

Well that's the end of the big stuff for this year anyway. Just want to say a huge thanks to Calum Muskett for giving me this opportunity and for keeping me safe when I had absolutely no clue what I was doing (which was most of the time). Lets do it again!!

Stay tuned for part two including Rocklands, UK, and Ceuse!

Climb Now Work Later

So.... As usual I have been pretty slack with keeping this blog updated but trust me, I,m trying. I will get better at it.

What's been happening in the world of Wiz you ask? Well all the days are merging together and I have been climbing a lot of rocks. Traveling, climbing, eating.... Sounds pretty good to me. One thing is for sure though. I am living my dream and having a lot of fun doing so. A few things have changed with me recently, and I am very excited to have joined both Rab and DMM as part of their teams. I am really looking forward to working with them.

The last six weeks or so has been pretty exciting actually. Climbing in the UK, to bouldering in Ticino, to climbing in the Frankenjura, then Bouldering in Magic Wood, then back to the sunny Frankenjura. Now I am back in North Wales with the aim of hopefully climbing lots outside and when it rains, training time!!!

So where do I start....

Ten days in Ticino.
Again I teamed up with the German power house Alexander Megos and together we decided to head down to the famous bouldering area of Ticino (Cresiano and Chironico) to have a go at this thing called bouldering that everyone is talking about. I hear its meant to be pretty good there...
We quickly realised that bouldering wasnt easy... I spent a lot of my days falling and sitting on the pads staring at the wall. What the hell am I meant to do? Bouldering is all about finding the 'trick' but unfortunately for me a lot of the time I didnt, leaving me puzzled and empty handed. I found this quite hard to deal with because for me I like to move on the rock pulling through one nice move after the next but with hard bouldering this doesn't happen very often. I found this very frustrating to begin with as I would look back at how my day went and I may have only pulled a few moves in the entire day and the rest of the time spent was trying and falling. Something had to change. There has to be a secret to this.

Bouldering in the woods. Photo: Wiz Fineron

Not a bad view from the balcony in Ticino. Photo: Wiz Fineron

None the less I was having a lot of fun climbing everyday (we were there for ten days and we only had one rest day) so it had to be good for my climbing. Not so much for the skin though. Toward the end of my time in Ticino I began to notice some improvements in my bouldering and the secret was slowly being revealed. Both myself and Alex had been approaching these problems way to calmly... Trying to fined the easiest and smoothest way through each move. Typical route climbers. But we soon found out that this was not the way. The trick to getting up these darn problems is being angry. With bouldering you have to be willing to let emotion out and really find the drive to want the problem bad enough to actually do it. One day this clicked and from then on a chilled out climbing day turned in to an exciting, tantrum packed bouldering session. Pads were flung through the forest, shoes were thrown at the wall, and in the end we just ended up having full on brawls with each other. (that is a joke) Who ever said that violence wasnt the answer?... It worked. Problems began to go down one after the next. (more so for some of course).

Victory over Alex. He may be good at climbing but definitely needs to practice his fighting :) Photo: Alex Megos

Unfortunately I only found out this trick about three days before we had to leave. This was a bit gutting but I made sure I was to get things done in the time I had left. 'An 8a a day, keeps the doctors away' some people say. So that was it!
On the second to last day I found the courage to finally try a really cool looking problem called Delusions Of Grandeur. A problem that I had wanted to try since early on in the trip but due to how I was climbing, the number '8b' seemed way out of reach. Anyway I thought I should get on it just to see how it was with the thought 'There is always next time...' in mind. But surprisingly it went really well. After a few tries of working out the right beta etc, I began having tries from the start and surprised my self by climbing to the end of the slopey rail on the first go. I knew it was possible now so it was just a patience game from there. I fell off towards the end a few more times before I realised that I that was too tired to do it this session. We still had time in the morning to come back before we drove off so that was the plan. Rest up and get it done quickly the next day.

Having fun on ????? 8a. Photo: Alex Megos.

So after chilling in the heat all morning waiting for the cooler conditions we wondered on down the hill to give it a last go before heading off.  At first it felt hard again and it made me worried it wasnt going to happen... But after a few warm up goes and revising the beta I had it in the bag. As usual when you finally send something it didnt feel to bad at all. Definitely a lot left in the tank.

Wiz Fineron on Delusions Of Grandeur 8a+/V12 Photo: Alex Megos

So now that we had left Ticino having a great trip but it was definitely in the back of both of our minds that we hadnt climbed has hard as we would have like to. We were heading back to Germany for a few days to come up with the next plan but in the mean time the weather was looking good in the Frankenjura so the psyche was on for some short hard bouldery routes!

1 week in the Frankenjura:
It was the first time that I had been in the Frankenjura and it hadnt been raining. I have been there twice before and and it seemed like the rainiest place on earth. So to finally to be there when the weather was good I was so excited to get out and try some of the classics. I just wanted to climb everything and anything. Alex is a bit of a local I hear so a guide book was definitely not needed.

Having only about a week we decided that only one rest day would be more than enough. Climb climb climb!! The psyche was high.

Too strong. Training at the crag. Photo:Wiz Fineron

As usual it took me a few days to get the swing of things and by that time we only had a couple more days left. Not to worry though as I was determined to make the most of it. On our last day in the forest before we took the long drive to Switzerland (Alex drive, me sleep), iIwas feeling strong and very psyched. I just couldnt stopped. The day started off with a climb called Straight Edge. A short hard bouldery 8b+ face climb on small crimps. I had tried it a few times a couple of days before and came close so I was eager to get it done before we left. Having falling off the last hard move every time I just had to get the body position right and it would be done. Pump isnt really too much of an issue on this one. So I warmed up, put the quickdraws in and tried the move a few times. Came down, rested and then bam, Execution. It is a great feeling to climb something hard, and feeling solid on every move. Later in the day we returned to the same area and I decided to try a climb called Boiling Point. Another short one (of course) but this time steep and powerful on pockets with limited feet options graded at 8b. Considering the size of my Biceps (or at least where they are supposed to be) I am not normally very good at these kind of climbs. I went up, checked it out, put the clips in and was feeling strong. Still high on Psyche I came down, pulled the rope through and tied straight back in. About two minutes later I powered my way through it cutting loose and jumping my way to the top. It felt like I was swinging around on monkey bars. Great fun. Next up was a one move wonder 8a+ called Bad Brain. I fell of the crux on the first go but then found myself a cheating heal hook making the move really easy. Came down and then climbed to the top straight away. More like 7a+ this way. :P
That was the end to a great days climbing in the Frankenjura all with the excitement of spending the next 12 days bouldering in a Magical Woodland.

12 days in Magic Wood:

Psyched!!! Photo:Alex Megos

Magic Wood is a place that I have heard a lot about, seen many pictures and a lot of videos. It looked amazing. I could not wait. After having figured out the secret to this bouldering thing toward the end of our time in Ticino I was keen to give it another shot. I was feeling very psyched, strong and angry for some bouldeing. This was going to be a good trip.
I came up with a goal of wanting to do the same amount of boulders 8a or harder than the amount of days that we were there. So the attack plan was to climb hard all day everyday no matter what. Climbing with Alex really helped with this. Seeing him just walk up problems that I would normally perceive as being hard made me realise that actually there is no reason why I cant do that. Giving me a really good head space for hard bouldering meaning no matter what the number was, I got on it and gave it a go. Day after day, some cold, some hot and some wet we were out there climbing and having a lot of fun and that is what its about.

Not a bad place to climb. Photo:Alex Megos

Another goal of mine was to climb my first 8b/v13 boulder problem. A goal that I have had in my mind for a while now so after having done a fair bit of bouldering recently and liking the style here in Magic Wood, I was feeling strong. Time to try hard. First I tried a problem called Steppen Wolf. A short but hard problem with each move being just as hard as the last leading to a tricky mantle. It was definitely tricky. To cut a long story short, I was pretty much to weak to do it so I had to start looking for another one otherwise it would drive me mad trying the same move over and over. I like to at least pull a few moves in a row before falling off. Next up was a climb called One Summer In Paradise. A really cool looking bloc with small in cut edges leading to the top. I first tried the Pura Vida section as it is meant to be a grade easier but still climbs through all the hard bit of OSIP. It didnt feel to bad, and after a bit of working out I just had to stick the first move. This was definitely the hardest move so once I got it I climbed to the top. OSIP is pretty much just an extended start from the left so after a bit of a rest I decided to give it a go. Coming in from the left meant that you skip the first move of Pura Vida (for me the hardest) so my theory was as long as you have a little bit of endurance it shouldn't be to much harder. After a few tries all falling off on the last few hard moves I realised that it wasnt going to be that easy... The extra few moves at the beginning meant that I was that little bit more pumped on the final moves making them seem much harder. After a rest day I returned super psyched to get it done. I knew it was possible now so I just had to wait for the right moment.

Perfect weather... Photo: Alex Megos

The plan was to warm up, climb the end a few times and then hopefully climb it first go from the start and that is exactly what happened. It was a great feeling but something inside me just didnt agree to 8b/v13... I just didnt feel like I worked hard enough on it for that grade so I decided 8a+/b sounded fare. This meant I still hadnt achieved my goal so the next one on the list to try was the famous Riverbed problem. This on the other hand I found really hard. My first session on it I got totally shut down on the end moves (the crux) but it was a problem that I had heard a lot of great things about before going there so I was willing to put in the time and effort to see how I got on. All the holds on it are all quite skin friendly meaning I could really squeeze tight and give it all I had. Each session progress was visible keeping me in a good head space to keep trying. By my third session on it I was falling off right at the very end so I knew that on the next go I just had to try that little bit harder for that little bit longer and that would be it.

Here is our video that myself and Alex made of a few problems we did in Magic Wood including:
Sofasurfer, Jacks Broken Heart, One Summer In Paradise, Steppenwolf, Riverbed and The Never Ending Sorry.

http://vimeo.com/95501608

Towards the end of our time in Magic Wood the weather gods had decided that it was time for us to leave. The weather was looking really bad for the following week so unfortunatly we had to leave a few days earlier than expected. Being the only ones left in the campground we figured it was most likely not going to be sunny tomorrow. This was a little disappointing but after being there for twelve days and having done twelve 8a's or harder (including my first 8b) I was pretty happy with how it went and was ready for the next stage.

Not a bad view here in Magic Wood Photo:Wiz Fineron

 Grades a are a funny thing. Some people may think its easy, some may think its hard but climbing is such a specific sport and is different for everyone. I believe the numbers are there as a guideline and a great way to follow your progression so dont be held back by a high number (we all do it) If you think it looks cool just get on it. You might surprise your self. 

Next we headed back to the sunny Frankenjura for a few more days before I went back to the UK. We had a few really great days in the Frankenjura but one stands out among the rest. It was my second to last day and it was a chilly one at that. A few days earlier the idea of going to try Action Directe came in to Alex's mind and he could not get rid of it so he just had to go give it a go. After a chilled out morning trying to warm up we found our selves standing beneath it. It was a cold windy day making it very hard to keep the fingers warm especially on pockets. There were a few others hanging around and you could tell Alex was nervous. After a bit of umming and arring he finally decided to get on it and I was lucky enough to be the one belaying him. I didnt really have much to do of course because after only a few tries he climbed and screamed his way to the top. It was one of the most inspirational pieces of climbing I have ever seen. Hopefully one day soon I will be back there ready to climb it myself.

Here is a video of the ascent here:

http://vimeo.com/96647951

For the past few weeks I have been back in North Wales doing a bit of everything really. Trad climbing, Sport climbing, Bouldering and just having fun. It is a great place for me to use as a base over here in Europe as it still has a bit of a homey feel to it. Lots of nice people to hang out with and when the weather is good there is some great climbing to be done right on the door step.

Llanberis pass. Photo:Wiz Fineron

The end of a great days climbing. Photo:Wiz Fineron

Whats next you ask?
I am going to be spending the following three weeks out in the Alps doing some big multi pitch routes. A completely new form of climbing to me so I am very excited to learn a lot and hopefully climb some impressive looking walls. Psyched.

Living the life!!

Thanks to my sponsors FiveTen, DMM, and Rab for the ongoing support.

La escalada en Espana!!!

So where do i start?... Since finishing my epic training cycle, back in early December it was finally time to leave Germany and head south to Spain for the winter climbing season. Since arriving in Europe many months ago, the main goal has always been Spain so to finally arrive and actually see this place for real feels amazing! I started off in Margalef. I am a huge fan of pockets so this was a perfect place to start. I spent the next three weeks or so here camping in the car park and climbing everyday I could. The skin tends to get trashed here pretty quickly so I had to get used to climbing in pain or with a lot of tape!  

Everyday in Margalef.

After a week or so of climbing and getting used to the style I was feeling strong. It was time to try something hard! Los Ultimos Vampiros Hippies, a great looking line graded at 8c/33/5.14b involving a couple of hard boulder problems and a lot of mono's! I was Psyched! After some surprisingly fast progress on the route success was near and after only a few days of effort BAM it was done! After this I wasn't to sure when I was going to be leaving so I decided to not project anything and instead just try and climb a lot of things slightly easier than my limit but with only a handful of tries. This was great fun and a great way of training to get fit for the next step. Siurana!

End of the day at Margalef, Spain.

 It is every climbers goal to push themselves to the limit and reach the next step in their climbing and for me, I have been wanting to reach that next step for a while! I climbed my first 8c back in late 2012 and since then I have been pushing myself hard to get to that 'next level' in my climbing. I arrived in Siurana early January feeling strong and very psyched. This was going to be the place where I finally break through that barrier. Again the style here in Siurana is completely different so as always I spent the first week or so climbing in lots of different sectors and really getting used to the crimpy and technical style of Siurana. In doing so I managed to claim my hardest flash to date with the popular classic Migranya, 8b. Not exactly Siurana style but a great steep and powerful route none the less. I really had to fight for this one so it was definitely good training for what was to come.

Not me! on Migranya 8b.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siurana, Spain.

Whoooops!!! I broke it! A large flake from the start of Pati Nosa.

Siurana is home to the famous El Pati sector where there are some amazing and very famous climbs such as La Rambla and Estado Critico as well as many other hard test pieces. A steep 40 meter high orange and blue wall caught my attention immediately and man was I excited to find a project on there to start working on! I was recommended a climb called Pati Nosa, originally graded at 8c (a hard one at that) but recently a couple of holds have broken off pushing it in to the 8c+ range. It wasn't to hard to find the motivation and will power to really try hard on it as just to the left Daniel Jung was throwing himself at La Rambla over and over coming very close every time! This was very inspiring and it really made me throw everything I had in to my project. I wanted this one badly. For days and days, try after try I came closer and closer but sticking the first dyno move from the ground became a huge problem for me. Time and time again I would get to the same move, set up, go for it and fall. Very frustrating. Sticking this move definitely did not mean it was over but by this stage I had done it from this point to the top a couple of times now so I knew it was possible! 

Wiz Fineron on Pati Nosa. Photo: Harry larkins

Patience was the key. Each try I tried to stay positive and treat each attempt as training. If I fell off that next attempt would hopefully be that little bit easier.
After around 8 days of effort, battling with freezing finger tips, bad weather and whatever else, I was there. I had stuck the move. Luckily for me this was that perfect moment. Approaching the top crux I was feeling pretty damn pumped but I still felt like I could do it...I just had to try hard for a few more moves before easier climbing to the top. I really did have to try hard on the last hard dyno move... It even forced a bit of a grunt (a manly one of course) out of me and that never happens. NICE!

So, I climbed Pati Nosa!! My hardest yet. This was the most that I have had to work on a single climb so far but I really enjoyed the whole process. No matter what the grade, I tried harder than ever, got stronger both physically and mentally and have learnt a great deal from my time on the route. In terms of reaching that next step in my climbing I think I can now say that I am finally there! YEY! 

 Time to start chasing the next!!

The Learning Curve - Europe Part 2

 I had seen many photos of the climbing in Kalymnos and one thing stood out more than anything.... So many tufas! I had only done one Tufa climb before this (Les Colonnettes in Ceuse) so i had some learning to do. I have always enjoyed going to new areas and learning new climbing styles so i was pretty excited to try and master climbing on crazy polished tufas.

Kalymnos. Photo: Wiz Fineron

Kalymnos was great! Everything was so easy and relaxed. There were a few of us staying together so it made it nice and cheap to rent a little apartment.
For the following 6 weeks we had a lot of fun here in kalymnos. Climbing most days, chilling on the beach, slack-lining, swimming, and buzzing around town on scooters! This was the highlight...Racing around the narrow busy streets with some dodgy rented scooter, pushing it to its limit trying to drive up the steep hills with three people squeezed on the back. Helmets..... what are they?

The climbing was great fun, but i have to say it did take me a while to get used to the familiar hollow sounding 'dong' as you climbed on to the thin tufas hanging from the roof. I think they were solid but it definetly crossed my mind a few times "what would happen if this thing ripped off" as i was straddling it... Luckily i never found out the answer, which i am pretty happy about actually.
The technique i found most useful was the 'straddle', at the time when all else begins to fail, wrap your whole legs around them and sit... Wala, you have a no-hands rest!
The constant pinching was endless, each move was another dose of pump often resulting some good air time and bulging forearms. "Can somebody untie my not please....?"

Irmak Thompson feeling the pump after On-sighting her first 7c+ Photo: Wiz Fineron

On the harder climbs the tufas would get much smaller, more like little blobs creating some really cool three dimensional sequences on steep angles. This was great fun to climb.
Again i found my self avoiding the crowds, scouting out areas that seemed to be less busy. This was nice, i like having the crag to your self but it did mean i was very limited... I realized this and it had come to the stage where it was pretty hard to avoid the crowds so i just had to toughen the hell up and get on with it. This was a good mentality and i think it worked... 

We were also lucky enough to be apart of the 'The North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival' which was great fun. The Cheap Ass that i am, i was pretty skeptical about paying the 20 euro entry fee, but in the end i definitely feel like it was worth it! A few good days full of climbing, music, slideshows, videos and coming 2nd in the Big Marathon Competition was a bonus! Managed to win a new North Face backpack! That 20 Euros was definitely worth it! Seeing the prize for first place made me wish we tried a little harder.... A Sleeping bag!!!  Maybe we shouldn't have done so much sitting around melting in the heat! Oh well.

Wiz Fineron climbing Dont Call Me Greasy 8b, Kalymnos. Photo: Irmak Thompson.

Towards the end of October the season here was coming to an end. The herds of people were getting smaller and the local restaurants and shops began to close down. It was time for yet another important decision to be made and for me this is always going to be hard. I hate making decisions. Where to go next? hmmmm....  The plan from the very start was to be in Spain for the winter but i felt like it was to early to go there now. So where do i go for the next month?...

Toward the end of my time here i was getting used to having so many people around and began to climb better and more confident and i manage to do many great climbs. Here are some of the harder ones...

>Fun De Chichunne  8a (flash)

>Daniboy 8a (flash)

>Sardonique 8a (2nd go)

>Angelica 8a (2nd go)

>Gaia 8b

>O Draconian Devil 8b

> Dont call Me Greasy 8b

>Lucky Luca Extension 8b+

 In the back of my mind i still wanted to be stronger (always stronger) so this is where my master idea came from... "Lets go train hard for the next month and get strong for Spain" So this was the plan. I got in contact with the master of training him self, Alex Megos and before long i arrived back in Germany psyched out of my mind and ready for a long and brutal training cycle.

Together with myself, Alex, and Melissa, Team Motivation was ready to attack the Gym hard!

Dont Call Me Greasy 8b. Photo Irmak Thompson

Ive been here in Germany now for about five weeks and its been great! Waking up every morning in a lot of pain (good pain) but with a smile on my face and ready to train again! This was the pattern  of everyday. Wake up, big breakfast, chill, then train our butts off in the evening! Psyched! I am stronger than Hulk now so watch out.
Just want to say a huge Thank You to Alex and his family for having me for the past five or so weeks! Its been great and i have had a really great time. Hope to return soon. Thanks guys!

Feeling beaten and ready for a few days off, its time to get the brain thinking again and organize the trip to Spain. Pretty damn psyched for some hard Rock Climbing now!

Next stop Margalef, Spain!!!! Psyched!

The learning curve - Europe Part 1

I have been in Europe now for over three months and wow, have I seen a lot, done a lot, and learned a lot! I am going to try and focus this blog post more on the places I have been, the journey, and the many important thing that I have learned along the way, instead of purely on hard out climbing. But we shall see how it goes. Hopefully you guys will learn something too.

I started my open ended European tour in no-wear else but within the magical southern Alps of France. What an amazing countryside. After a day of confusing train rides and multiple hitchhikes the huge cliff band of Ceuse was in site. Driving to the campground gave me an amazing feeling, making me realize how amazing this place is! I remember saying to my self "wow, I could see myself living here..." Clean blue skies, awesome French food, amazing climbing, and the odd sky diver plunging towards the ground. What more do you need!

        Ceuse, the crown of the mountain! Photo: Wiz Fineron

This was my local crag for the next four weeks (almost) and man was i excited to get started! Ceuse, home to some of the best sport climbing in France. How could i not be excited!

My first challenge was to mentally prepare my self for the one hour slog up the steep hill from the camp to the base of the cliff. I had heard mixed comments about this from many people, so the only way for me to find out my self what it was like, was to get on with it and do it. Over the course of the the next three and a half weeks I walked up and down this thing like a mad man. The first week was maybe the hardest as it was really warm and i was pretty unfit, but after a while i found my rhythm, plugged my iPod in and i was off! You end up getting so used to it that you are at the cliff before you know it. I cant say it was easy tho! Music really helps.

The climbing here is amazing! Long sustained pocketed, slightly overhanging limestone was something so different for me as i had just come straight from the Blue Mountains, Australia were i was so used to climbing on short, steep and powerful routes. It didn't take me to long to get my endurance up to scratch and quickly started working through some of the more classic routes of the area. This was my first stop of many to come here in Europe so i didn't rush in to jumping on to anything super hard to quickly...I new that there was plenty of time for that in the following months. I took my time and tried to work on my flashing and on-sighting more than anything. This was a good way for me to get some good mileage and try and gain some fitness. It meant that i climbed in a lot of different sectors, really getting the full experience of Ceuse.

 I quickly learned that the so called "easy warm up routes"were not the best to warm up on as they tend to be on the more vertical to slabby angled walls , meaning they were very technical and thin. Not so good for the fingers. Luckily Ceuse has a bit of everything so its never hard to find a steeper, jug pulling route to warm up on.

You could call it a warm up..... swinging around waiting for the shade at Sector Biographie PHOTO: Irmak Thompson.

I quickly noticed that here in Europe, your never climbing alone at the crag. I had heard it gets busy here but wow, i wasnt expecting this many. I didnt evan know this many people climbed! :) For the first week or so the camp was absolutely full, but this was good. The place had a good vibe to it.

Personally i found it quite hard to get used to climbing with so many people around, coming from NZ (and even in Australia) its very rare to turn up to an area and it being chockablock. Evan now after more than three months in Europe i still feel like i am learning how to adjust to this madness. Its different.

Having the mind set of not worrying about rushing in to trying anything too hard had it pros and cons. It ment that i did a lot of climbing and got pretty fit, which i really enjoyed but i also began to notice that i was falling in to a trap. A trap where i became so comfortable with just climbing things that i new i should be able to do with in a few tries. Maybe this had something to do with there being so many people around, i didnt have the confidence to try something at my limit and go through the first stages of projecting.? I also felt like every day that i walked all that way i really wanted to be able to walk back down knowing that i have achieved something. Projecting something super hard for me was an intimidating thought because the possibility was there that i would leave disappointed and with nothing done...? At the time i was fine with it, just climbing lots and having fun but now looking back..... I mean come on..... gees... If this ever happens to you just slap your self in the face and just get on with it. Confidence is a major part of climbing, so you cant let these thought get in the way.

The camp... shared with the untidy Aussies, kiwis and the German! Photo: Irmak Thompson

I don't feel to fussed about it all as i have a suspicious feeling that i am going to be staying here in Europe for a fairly long time (luxuries of a European passport) so after a lot more rock climbing and some more hard out training i am 100% psyched to return to Ceuse much stronger, and now with the classics out of the way i will be able to focus all my energy on the harder stuff! ATTACK! After all i am here traveling around Europe climbing (living the dream) so you cant feel too down about things like this. Im only 18 so there is plenty of time to get strong... except actually, no i really want to be strong NOW! 

After almost a month of being in Ceuse we all found our psyche levels slowly decreasing. Due to the sun being on the cliff for most of the day there was a lot of sitting around until about three pm. This was the crux of everyday, trying to build up everyone's psyche to get of our butts and face the walk for another time. Going climbing wasn't the problem, everyone was psyched for that but just thinking about the walk made us all fall asleep in our chairs! Most of the time we were all pretty good but towards the last few days we were having far to many rest days so something had to change! Our good friend Jonas was always talking about the Frankenjura... The sentence "short walk ins" was enough and with in 24 hours we had made our decision and were saying good by to Ceuse.

Ceuse is an amazing place to climb but it is important that you approach it correctly! Having a deadline of when you are leaving is important otherwise you will fall in to a trap of " ah...its ok ill just chill for today and climb tomorrow" with this mind set you never get anything done. This is one of the main things i learnt during my time there and will make sure i apply next time i return.

 Here are some of the great climbs i did:

>Bourinator 8a (2nd go)

>La Couleur Du Vent 8a (2nd go)

>Petit Tom 8a (2nd go)

>Carte Blanche 8a (onsight)

>Sueures Froides 8a+ (Flash)

>L'ami De Tout Le Monde 8b  (2nd go, so close to the flash)

>Slow Food (right) 8b

      Sunset at Ceuse. Photo: Irmak Thompson 

Goodbye Ceuse! Hello the Frankenjura! 

Next up was Frankenjura. After a long drive we arrived in the forest covered land. Strangely there was no rock in sight..... Hmmmmm are we in the right place...? But yes, hidden within the beautiful, green forest, are some of the hardest sport climbs in the world. Some may say they are not the most inspiring looking lines but they definitely climb well for sure!

Unfortunately from day one we were very unlucky with the weather, having it rain almost every day for the next two weeks! Luckily the weather had been really good for a while before this so the rock was still dry thanks to the steepness of these crags! (if you call this lucky)

So the first few days were good and i managed to get some good climbing in. It felt like i was at home again.... short pocketed climbs and with mostly no one else at the crag! it was great, It felt like the confidence that i may have lost climbing in Ceuse was back and i was buzzing with psyche! Lets go climbing!!!

Most blue sky we saw the whole trip....Nice day climbing at Elderado.

The first few days were great! Confidence and psyche were high, and having a vehicle made it easy to find the dry crags. 
Unfortunately this had to come to an end after a few days as our good friend "the german" had to return to 'the normal life', having to start uni soon, so we made our selves at home at the awesome Oma eichler camp ground!
From this point on the weather became worse and worse, so we were very lucky to have such a nice place to stay. Our days were spent watching movies, internet, eating (lots), and walking in circles going crazy... I want to go rock climbing!!! I was lucky enough to have some contacts in the area, so i let my good friend Alex know that im around and he quickly invited me over to his house for a couple of days to do some training. You dont know what training is until you train with this guy. Amazing strength and the will to try hard! Inspiring. I NEED TO GET STRONGER! I continued to go back and forth from camp and his place a couple of times as i had a new found psyche to train hard and man did i want to get strong! Awesome boulder sessions at Cafe Kraft to crazy strength training to ring sessions at home and a mid night beast-maker session was how we were doing it. The Psyche was high! Every time, I would retern back to camp a broken man, waking up the next morning in agony but with a smile on my face. The feeling of pushing your body to the limit is amazing and for me... addictive! Pain means your getting stronger! (hopefully)

Eldorado

Hanging around at camp getting miserable and complaining about the weather was obviously not gonna get me strong so something had to be changed. Pretty much everyone else at the camp felt the same and were all heading to Kalymnos, Greece together in a few days so after a bit of umming and arring i decided to join. F@#$ it... lets go climbing. I really enjoyed the little bit of climbing i experienced here in the Frankenjura and definitely knew that i would return, making the decision much easier to leave. On the other hand, the camp mum baked some very amazing cakes.... this was hard to leave behind.

Here are some climbs i managed to get up in between the rain:
>Vogeln Verboten 7c+ (flash)
>Ekel 7c+ (2nd go)
>Heise Finger 7c+ (2nd go)
>Out Of Berlin 8a (flash)
>Simon 8a+ (2nd go)
>Witchcraft 8a+ (3rd)

So yet another decision had been made and before i knew it i was flying in to the beautiful islands of Greece.  This is what i love about Europe.... Its so easy and cheap (most of the time) to travel from country to country, all with amazing climbing to be done.

Still more to come, so stay tuned for part two...
Enjoy

Australia and beyond!

I have been in Australia now for almost four months and a lot has been happening. Everything from moving out of the tent in the bush, to beautiful crisp days in the mountains, to bouldering in the Grampians, and to finally booking tickets for the next step of my trip.

First up is the story of how i have changed from a total dirt bag climber/bum to lets say just a climber/bum (for now). It all started about three weeks after i set camp in the middle of the bush here in the Blue Mountains. Just another normal day out at the crag was followed by a nice hot shower and awesome dinner, at a very comfortable and welcoming home. Now that doesnt sound like the life a homeless dirt bag climber does it...? NO!! Well this is all thanks to a very nice family that we met at the crag after watching there daughter cruse up some very impressive climbs on Wave Wall. We got chatting and later found out that she was only 8 years old and had just ticked her first 27/7c!!!! WHAT!!! Her name is Angelina Scarth-Johnson, check her out on the classic www.8a.nu .

After sharing stories they soon began to feel bad for us and probably couldn't stand the smell of us for much longer so soon invited us over for a warm shower and some dinner. This then led to us house sitting for them over a weekend, and then not to long after that, we were living there. In there barn was a huge upstairs room with a pool table, power and eventually a makeshift bed topping off what has felt like a five star accommodation to me. 

   Our home for the past four months!! Thanks a lot to the Scarth-Johnson Family!!

Other than living in a nice warm house and having amazing meals cooked for every night i have also been doing a bit of Rock Climbing surprisingly. Nice clear but cool sunny days have allowed for many amazing days out climbing here in the bluies. I have spent most of my time just climbing locally here in the Glen ticking off many awesome climbs. One of my favorite climbs was a route called 'Inertia', a steep roof climb with awesome 360 degrees campusing moves on good pockets! Its one of those climbs that the first attempt on it feels desperate but once you figure it out it goes smoothly on the second! It made me feel strong at least :) (not much of a campusing kind of a guy)

                                    Wiz Fineron on Tripe (30/8a+)           Photo:M Jackson

Nothing to different has happened on this trip to the mountains compared to my previous visits so i wont bother boring you with the same old stories etc so ill cut to the chase…

                                   Wiz Fineron on Search And Destroy 32/8b+  Photo: Melanie Jackson

        Wiz Fineron on Double Adapter 31/8b       Photo:Roman Hofmann

          Wiz Fineron on Better Than Life 32/8b+    Photo: Roman Hofmann

Other than climbing many awesome routes here in the mountains i have had the chance to explore some of the nearby bouldering spots also. All thanks to a good friend and fellow kiwi crusher Roman Hofmann. Winter is the best time for bouldering here so i took the opportunity of having a car and a guide to check them out and see if i could pull my self up some boulders. First up were the hidden sand stone blocks of sydney. Hidden in unlikely areas of suburban sydney behind peoples houses were some really nice and hard problems. One of my favorite areas was called 'The Frontline', an area with many rounded sandstone blocks with splatters of chalk everywhere you look. A problem that stands out as one of the best here would be "L' Homme Obu" (V11) A Fred Nicole line i believe with some big moves on perfect rounded sloppy edges through the cave. Unfortunately after having a really good first day, by the time we got to this problem i was already pretty tired so we decided to climb the first have of the problem which is given V8 and then the second half which is V9. Having done these pretty quickly i decided to put my last bit of energy into the link. After a few attempts and a lot of skin i had to walk away empty handed after giving it all i had and falling off with my hand in the finishing jug…

    Wiz Fineron on L'homme Obu V11/8a       Photo: Eddie Fawk

It was disappointing at the time but not for too long as we returned a few days later and it went pretty easily first go!

Another bouldering spot i checked out was a more local area called XXXX (4 X). A good little bouldering area with good rock and a fare amount of hard problems! After a few warm up problems, i was drawn to this very steep arete with what looked like some very nice moves on awesome blue mountains rock. I was given the rundown of the beta and quickly became super psyched. It looked pretty hard but i had a good feeling about it so i decided i would give it a good flash attempt. After chalking it all up i quickly put my shoes on (except it wasn't so quick as there lace ups…) and got on it! It all went pretty smoothly up an till the last move where i found my self blowing chunks with my fingers wrapped over a very small and sharp crimp, trying to find the power to go for the last move. After a couple of failed slaps for the hold i managed to stay holding on and improvised, cutting loose and throwing a heel hook high above my hand giving me that little extra strength to reach the hold before easy climbing to the top. Desperate!

Standing on top of the boulder in the dark, i felt exhausted. I have never really tried that hard i think... I was soon told that i had just become the first New Zealander to have flashed a V11/8a boulder!!It was pretty exciting but i was so tired it took a while to sink in. Super stoked but smashed.

          Wiz Fineron Flashes Garths Arete V11/8a           Photo: Roman Hofmann

I hadn't done to much night climbing before, so maybe that made it seem more exciting. :)

That all pretty much raps up whats been happening here in the Blue Mountains so hope you enjoyed it!

     Wiz Fineron on Moonshadow 33/8c           Photo: Roman Hofmann

Here is the tick list :
>TuTu Sullied Flesh 29/8a                       >Cheesemonster 30/8a+ (2nd go) Nowra
>Tsunami 29/8a                                        >Tripe 30/8a+
>August 1914 29/8a                                 >Point break 31/8b
>Middle Earth 29/8a                                > Pooferator 31/8b
>Fabricator 29/8a                                     >Double Adaptor 31/8b
>Cagney n Lacey 29/8a                           >Search And Destroy 32/8B+
>Microwave 30/8a+                                 >Better Than Life 32/8b+
>Temptation 30/8a+                                 >Moonshadow 33/8c
>Inertia 30/8a+ (2nd go)

Next up was a fun but wet three week bouldering trip to the Grampians. It all started off great with two weeks of awesome accommodation (Thanks again to the Scarth-Johnson Family), great weather, and lots of good climbing. I had been to the Grampians before but only for sport climbing so i was excited to change it up a little and check out the bouldering. I had heard its meant to be pretty good there... ;)

    Hiding from the rain at the 'mostly dry' Kindergarten       Photo: Melanie Jackson 

We spent most of our time climbing in areas such as The Cave, Andersons, and the Kindergarten, as these are the areas with most worth while lines to do. I have to say tho, i did find it a little hard bouldering when there was world class route climbing just around the corner! Especially at Kindergarten as you can practicly see Taipan Wall. Beautiful!
Some good bouldering was done for the first ten days or so, ticking off many amazing problems and also seeing some pretty hard stuff go down, as the presence from Team America and more, shook the Grampians with their pure strength combined with the odd tantrum over the bad winter weather. :)

 

Wiz Fineron on Last Action Hiro V12.     Photo: Aureliano Ramella

Unfortunately our luxury accommodation soon came to an end as the rest of our new 'family' left for home, so we unpacked the tent and got back in to dirt bag mode!  An extra ten days of climbing was the plan but after the first night in the tent there had already been a lot of rain and word was out that there was more to come! There sure was!!! Every day until our very last i don't think it stopped raining once so many morning were spent sulking in the warm nearby cafe. The delicious brownies definitely cheers us up tho! We did notice a pattern in the weather tho as at about 8pm or so the weather would clear and we could see the stars again. This gave us enough time to have a couple of quick night session at the Kindergarten making us feel a little happier about our selves as we had managed to pull down on some semi dry rock.

                       Wiz Fineron on So You Think You Can Dance V11. Photo: Melanie Jackson

Luckily the weather gods chose to be nice to us for once as on our very last day climbing it cleared up and a fare bit of wind was around which meant most things dried up pretty quick. We took advantage of this dry rock and started off back at the Kindergarten. Of course this was one of the only dry areas, meaning almost every climber around was there. This made the atmosphere pretty cool.
I had been trying a climb called So You Think You Can Dance for a few days now and had got pretty close but was running out of power up high. My knees were getting trashed from all the knee bars so i had to walk away from it for a while. Luckily a friend had brought his knee pad so i got psyched for it again and began trying. After a few tries i managed to do it, feeling pretty happy as it was our last day.
I then continued the psyche by quickly working out all the moves on the long and powerful problem 'Point And Shoot'. After a quick brake and refuel, i jumped back on it managing to climb it pretty smoothly, giving me my second V11/8a boulder of the day. I was feeling strong! Petty it was the last day.

Grampians Ticklist:
Etch-a-Scetch V11/8a
Dead Cant Dance V11/8a
So You Think You Can Dance V11/8a
Point And Shoot V11/8a
Last Action Hiro V12/8a+

I am now on the other side of the world adapting to the very long and pumpy sport routes of Ceuse, France. It is the start of my travels here in Europe so i am very excited to check out the amazing climbing areas it has to offer. Thinking Spain next!
Living the dream!

If you have made it this far i congratulate you! Hope you enjoyed it and didnt get to bored. :)