Dieting and cycling are taking a toll on my body. It's been a month I've been taking my bike to Font', cycling for 40 minutes at a time, with 5-6 kilos of equipment on my back. This, combined with the reduced amount of food I've been receiving because of my diet, does not allow me to perform at 100%. For some reason, I am able to cover the same distances in the same amount of time or less but each time, it is getting harder and harder.
Of course, sacrifices have to be made. I needed to get my weight down and this goal is being achieved. For the past four days, my weight has been stabilised at 57 kilos (from 60.5 at the end of August) and I am hoping to reach 55 kilos by the end of this month. After that, crimping will be more pleasant and I'll be sending crimpy problems much faster.
On Friday, I went to Roche d'Hercule to try out a nice roof. There are at least seven distinct problems on that roof and I just needed to get a bite of all that. I started with Rince-Doigts (7A). After reading the problem, I hesitated between two betas. As always, I opted for the less feasible one and missed the flash. A second try was all it took. Not really a 7A.
My favourite one was Rince-Mi (7A). I tried to send it statically but the two-finger holds were too painful. I decided to dyno my way out of the roof; it took me another 20 minutes to master the move. This said, I didn't mind this delay because I loved the exit.
Idée Courte (6B+), Idée Fixe (6C+) and Idiotie (6B) were easy flashes. Traversing the exterior side of the roof is ugly due to its slabby nature that does not allow you to use your feet effectively. I didn't enjoy those moves. You are holding huge jugs at all times but the foot placement is simply ugly. The videos are here, here and here.
Trop Beau pour Toit (7A+) seemed like a piece of cake. The first part is the same as Idée Courte but you then traverse to the left. I misread the description and introduced unnecessary "eliminants" (the finger holds under the roof) and the problem quickly became too hard.
Abribus (7A+) is a right-to-left-to-right-to-left-then-up-the-roof loop. There must be about 35 moves in it and I was tired. I gave it 3 tries but kept falling after three-thirds of the problem.
On Monday, the rocks were wet. We went back to Apremont but we had to wait for a few hours. I started with a nice mantle, (Tank, 6B+). My topo gave it a 7A+ and I wanted to confirm the grade. Sadly, the bleau.info 6B+ grade was correct. I flashed it without breaking a sweat and while the rock was all wet.
The only boulder dry enough was Hueco Départ (7A). It took us 8 tries. The sitstart is very easy but the third move is pure compression at around 7A+. The last part is supposed to be a 5B but I would give it at least a 6B/+. Plus, you do not have the right to fall because there's a nasty, sharp rock calling out your name.
Next day I woke up and was dying to wrap up some old projects. Destination: Franchard Cuisinière. I started my warm-up with S'il Vous Plaît (7A). That boulder almost drove me crazy last time I tried it. Every single team member had sent it except me. Although its rather morpho nature makes the obvious beta (dyno to the right-hand jug) difficult, I would not give up. During that first session, I had put almost 50 tries in less than an hour. Some call this perseverance but let's be honest: its real name is OCD. This time, I knew what I needed to do: dyno my butt toward that three-finger left-hand crimp. It only took me five tries and got me all pumped up for the next project.
Undertow (7A)... what a hellish nightmare! It must be how Hades used to punish naughty climbers. I had already spent 3 sessions on this rock and each time, I had to start from scratch. I don't know why, I just couldn't figure this out. This time, motivated by my previous success, I gave it my all. About 8 attempts in, I got it! Unfortunately, the exit was as ugly as an exit can get.
I finished my day with La Mouche (7B+). I sent the last move back in May and the rest of it around June so I was optimistic. This time I pulled off all but the last move, which I had done on my first try in May.
Wednesday: I woke up at 7 a.m. to get to climb all day. Destination: Isatis. Unfortunately, it had rained all night and everything was soaked yet we were able to work a few boulders. Respect d'Intention (7A) was tough but after an hour, we finished all the moves. Then this nameless 7A with one of the ugliest exits I've seen. After that, I finally got to try El Poussah (7A), a classic. Given that the intended right toe hook was out of my reach, I tried a straightforward approach. I now have to learn how to hold on that right-hand sloper without my right foot slipping. Humidity didn't help but either way, I need another 50 tries to master that move. But I'm rather confident. I just saw a video of this boulder and will change my beta next time: I will use a left foot for the first move so that I can free my right foot.
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