- lock both arms at various angles for more than 45 seconds without breaking a sweat;
- comfortably lock with one arm at a-90-degree angle (20 seconds for right arm, 12 for left arm);
- do chin-ups with 38 kilos attached to a harness.
All this without a single weight lifting session; it came from intensive bouldering.
The downside of my training has been that my entire body is aching. My left shoulder started complaining a lot in mid-January and by mid-February, five of my fingers were hours away from serious injury. After watching people around me get injured, I got scared and decided to take some time off. Two weeks without climbing is a heavy task to undergo. I felt my sanity fade away so I kept going to the gym just to do sit-ups. Meeting my buddies was crucial in keeping it together and probably the only thing that helped me through withdrawal.
Sunday (March 9) was my day back home (Bleau). After 3 days of climbing indoors, I felt confident enough to go back and see whether my training had paid off. First stop for the season: Rocher Canon. We started with Zermatt Express raccourci (7A). I got all moves but still wasn't comfortable so I couldn't send it. Then we went to Chasseur de Prises (7A). Last year, I just couldn't get the initial left toe hook. This time, I got it twice in a row (after 15-20 tries).
We finished our session with Lévitation (7A+). I fell just before the exit but was too tired to try again.
Saturday: new sector, Franchard Point de Vue. We started with Grains de Poussière (7A), a classic 12-meter trav. It took me quite a few tries to find the best beta, I sent it in two parts but fell twice around the middle, on a slippery left heel hook. The back-and-there version is a beautiful 7C+ that I will be working on for the next months.
We moved on to Burning Man (7A). The moves were not very difficult but we both fell one move before the easy part. We were too exhausted to link it although I think the real problem was motivation.
Despite the failures, we got compensated by the beautiful view from the top of the hill. Nothing but trees as far as the eye can see.
We started the day with Lévitation (7A+). We thought that we should send it during warmup, while we still had all our strength. I started working on the exit but kept falling. After 10 tries, I sent that part but got very pessimistic. I tried to send the whole thing twice but made too many mistakes. Once again, I had to let it go.
After that, I went directly to Zermatt Express raccourci (7A). I had done all the mov's a week earlier and knew I would send it easily. I got it on my first try!
Zermatt Express (6C/7A) is a variant where you need to pass the angle and finish with an arete up onto a 5-meter slab. It took me 4-5 tries to find a beta for the mov' you see at 0:25. I was trying to bring my right hand on the leftmost sloper. After consulting with a friend, I took my heel hook off the rock and got my body in a vertical position. As soon as I got that mov' right, I sent the trav on my first try.
While the others were trying Chasseur de Prises, I took a break to get some of my strength back. So on our way back to the parking lot, we stopped at Pareur de Femmes (7A) to give it a last try. I had found the right beta and sent all the moves during the day but the key hold had gotten a bit moist from all the tries therefore we had to stop trying. I got my hands moist, got some chalk et voila! Got it right on my first try :-)
I have selected five 8A and two 7C+ projects for the following months so I've got a lot of work ahead of me. I'm waiting impatiently for spring break so that I can spend two whole weeks on my projects. For the time being, I will be climbing at Bleau on Friday and weekends. The new season has started, the sun is shining and I am more excited and optimistic than ever.
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