I suppose a rainy day is the most appropriate day for me to write my first post so here's the recap of this past week...
After having spent 4-5 sessions on my projects at Rocher Canon, boulders started yielding. I have recently started filming my bouldering. Given my height (1,65 m) and my creativity (call me Mr HeelHook!), I know I can contribute new betas to bleau.info. Most videos there come from very strong climbers who use 7B+/7C betas to climb 7A or even 6A boulders. Plus, it helps me understand what goes wrong. Climbers and dancers are much alike on many levels (one of them being the extent to which we torture our feet). And of course, I want to be able to hear this phrase one day: "wow, grandpa, you were like a super hero!"
After having spent 4-5 sessions on my projects at Rocher Canon, boulders started yielding. I have recently started filming my bouldering. Given my height (1,65 m) and my creativity (call me Mr HeelHook!), I know I can contribute new betas to bleau.info. Most videos there come from very strong climbers who use 7B+/7C betas to climb 7A or even 6A boulders. Plus, it helps me understand what goes wrong. Climbers and dancers are much alike on many levels (one of them being the extent to which we torture our feet). And of course, I want to be able to hear this phrase one day: "wow, grandpa, you were like a super hero!"
Wednesday: I had been told Bonsaï (7A) was a hard and weird problem. I only found 5 public registrations on bleau.info, no photos or videos. I was too eager to try so no warm up. It took me an hour and a half of puzzle-solving to understand and master all the moves. The camera started rolling and I was ready to send it. Ready, my ass! It took me an additional hour to send and the battery went out a few minutes before that. Arggh! After realising I was forgetting to turn my hips by 4-5 centimetres to the left, I sent it effortlessly. This boulder has taught me 3 new handholds.
I had been wanting to try Le Cervin (5B, 40 blue) for some time but hadn't had the guts (6 meters). This time, I just went for it.
Tuesday: After two one-hour sessions and a near send a few days earlier, I was ready to send a classic 7A, Compressman. Definitely one of my favorite boulders. I gave it a try and I was able to go all the way up to the next-to-last move! I was quite surprised and gave it another shot. Same thing. My hips were too low so I didn't have the arm span to reach the hold. I locked my left arm at a lower angle and, this time, it worked like a charm. To fully appreciate the video, turn the volume up. This will make the sound of my slapping the rock even funnier.
The day finished with La Mare droite (7B). This is my 5th or 6th session on this boulder. If you don't know it by now, I am a patient man who doesn't like failure or quitting. I had done all but two moves in two sessions and since then, I had been working on the first move: you have to lock your left arm and jump to the right. Dynamic moves are my worst nightmare: I have almost no precision. I have now tried this move at least 60 times in 5 sessions, maybe even 80 times (I lost counting, to be honest; after 50 tries, it all becomes a blur). I gave it a first try and it worked! I fell on the second (and last) crux which necessitates another arm lock (my second weakest point). Five tries in total and the first move worked every time. I was optimistic.
I decided to work the second crux and my arm lock. On my second try, I was able to reach for the left hand in a static manner. You have to insert your fingers into the hold so a dyno is not a smart choice. I tried once more to be sure and again, I succeeded. Now I know I am gonna send it next time.
I'm off to Decathlon to buy a lantern (spot light). These next days, I want to finish some ongoing projects that include hard slopers so climbing during the day is not an option:
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