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27 March 2009, 11:53 am

Slack is just one of many words you could use to describe my blogging activity of late, there are others, particularly ones from France, but I feel slack gets the point across without being too harsh.  As usual, there are no real excuses, but I will give some anyway because a) it makes me feel a little better about being slack, and b) it gives me something to write about in what has otherwise been a pretty uneventful time.

In short, I have been super busy with numerous different projects and since multitasking is definitely not one of my strong points, I have found it difficult to fit them all around one another.  Writing a blog dropped right to the bottom of my pile of priorities, it became a do it tomorrow task and as the famous saying goes, tomorrow never comes.

Apart from my usual activities of climbing, training, lectures and personal work, I have recently been organising a lot of the logistics for an upcoming North Face trip I am running.  The Summit Series road Trip runs from the 1st of April until the 10th of May and will take us through 14 countries to the finish at Melloblocco in Italy.  Along the way we plan to climb a selection of the best, classic Fr8a’s in Europe as well as holding lots of slideshows, masterclasses and other events during our rest days.

The schedule is manic, and pretty much works out at one climbing day, one event day, one climbing day, one event day, all the way to Mello.  I would never have imagined the amount of work that is needed to organise something like this.  In the past my trips have always been fairly spontaneous, you know the date you leave, and after that, everything just sort of happens, but for this, simply because of the very tight schedule we need to keep if we are to complete it as planned; we need to have every day planned to perfection.  Hundreds of emails have gone back and forth between many different people, and whole days just seem to vanish into a blur of forwarding, Cc’s and attachments!

When I have been able to justify time away from the computer, it’s been a tough decision between time on the rock, and time training.  Obviously the rock is where I would like to be every day, but especially in the UK, days out at the crag can seem like frustrating wastes of time and money if the weather is bad.  I love being outside, and in a perfect world, I would climb outside every day, but since climbing is more than just a pastime, I need to be both realistic and professional and make decisions that I feel are best for my personal progression.

Training certainly helps me progress and since it is not weather dependent it often seems like the right choice.  However It is surprisingly easy so get sucked into a circular cycle of training for training sake, and at times I have had to check with myself that there is a specific aim to work towards.  Without an aim or a goal, is there really a point?  Possibly I guess, maybe the aim is simply to get really strong and ripped?  But if that was my goal, I’d probably just take up body building.  At least then I’d get to cover myself in baby oil and wear a shiny thong....

Last time I wrote about French Duke at Earl Crag.  It took me a while to return to for round two on the route, much longer than I had originally planned and unfortunately the weeks between seemed to have caused a significant drop in the skin-rock friction coefficient. Despite feeling much stronger than my previous session, I failed to reach my high point and after 3 or 4 attempts I decided to cut my losses and try something else.

Paul from Hotaches was out with me getting some footage for their next DVD and so rather than just calling it a day we drove to Ilkley to try to film a little circuit.  It was a fun afternoon with a lot of climbing and by the time we had finished, I felt tired and a little beat up but very content.  We filmed a few problems including Desperate Dan with the direct start, Baby Spice, Ring Piece and finally Cindy Crawford.  I was trying to highball CC but was stopped by a powerful lock out to the arête a few moves from the top.  You are pretty high at this point, and committing to hard moves when you know you are not firing on all cylinders is difficult to do.

The difference between success and failure on the grit is very slim and 9 times out of 10 comes down solely to conditions.  After climbing lots on Gritstone over the last 6 years, It seems to me that to find success, you need a healthy dose of either luck or patience.  Planning in advance is almost impossible, you just need to be in the right place, at the right time, and the magic will happen.

Embracing, rather than fighting the warming weather, I began to make a few trips to Wales to climb in Parisella’s cave.  This seemed like a good trade off all-round as it was still real rock, yet the problems are all powerful and often endurance orientated so would also work as training.

After re-acquainting myself with the place, I recently had a pretty good session climbing a nice set of problems both old and new (to me).  The highlight of the day was split between climbing The Wire, and Bell Pig, two very different problems but both pleasantly satisfying.  One of the best things about the cave is the almost never ending opportunities for links, when you complete a problem, there is almost always something you can climb into or out from it.  I would like to spend a little more time in there when I get back from the trip, and if my endurance is as good as I hope it will be when the roadtrip is over, maybe I can do something really long and hard.

I have climbed quite a lot over the last week and my body is feeling tired for it so I think it will be wise to take a rest up until the roadtrip begins.  (un)fortunately, I still have many jobs to do for the organisation so its safe to say I wont be sat around twiddling my thumbs!

Source: James Pearson

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FREE RANGE TURKEY_dispatch #6
25 April 2010, 7:30 pm

from camp4 collective on Vimeo.

Yesterday the crew explored a totally different venue and resource off the coast of Olympus, the deep water soloing!  We are continually blown away by the culture & climbing potential here in southern Turkey.  

EDIT:

CAMP4 COLLECTIVE

Source: James Pearson

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Help Zalia
31 May 2010, 9:55 am

Help Zalia!!!

Appeal by Anna  Piunova (mountain.ru):

...A dreadful accident happened about a week  ago in Turkey with Zalia, a daughter of Salavat Rakhmetov, famous  boulderingist, he won World Championship 2005 in Munich at the age of  38.

Sure, you’ve heard about him.

Salavat lead the pitch, his wife  belayed, when huge block of rock fell down directly to their 5 y.o.  daughter, she’s still unconsciousness, in intensive care in a Turkish  hospital, she has pulled through four surgeries (amputation of a hand,  sewed big toe on a leg, stuck in the spokes of a broken arm and a leg).

But  she needs one more heavy operation - damaged crashed skull fragments  fell into the brain.

Doctors are waiting for swelling of the brain  reduces to allow the operation for removing these fragments.

The  problem is that her medical insurance expires tomorrow, and she’s still  not transportable because of the injuries.

Hospitalization can last  from two weeks to a month. And the cost (w/o surgeries) will be  approximately $74,000.

Rent of a special aircraft for the  transportation of Zalia home is about $49,000.

In total she needs  $123,000.

If she’s alive.

So let’s try to co-ordinate and to  find money for Zalia. It is not so easy.

But all our children grow up  near the cliffs.....

Your possibilities to help Zalia (please  choose the most economic and most trustful option for you):

1.  Possibility:

(we propose this for all internatinal donations,  because it’s the best working and by far cheepest option for those)

You  can donate, to a PayPal account that was also established to help with  foreign donations.

For more information and donation, this way visit  the site:

http://sharmenhope.com/zaliya/

2.  via WESTERN UNION:

we propose this for all internatinal money  transfers, for people who can not donate

The data for Western Union:

RAKHMETOV  Salavat (Kipaevich)

63 & 8470; 8399932

28.04.2009 -  28.04.2014

Moscovskaya oblast, g. Odintsovo

ATTENTION: When you  have received the Western Union transfer code, send it to the reference  person Anna Piunova: info@mountain.ru

3. Possibility:

national  and international Banktransfer (SWIFT) to Salavat’s bank account. It  seems like this is not possible from all countries.

For Euro Donation

SWIFT-code:  SABRRUMM011

SBERBANK (OPERATONS DEPARTAMENT)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Acc.&  8470;42307978100020001331

Name RAKHMETOV Salavat (Kipaevich)

-For  USD Donation

SWIFT-Code: SABRRUMM011

SBERBANK (OPERATONS  DEPARTAMENT)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Acc.& 8470;42307840900020002150

Name  RAKHMETOV Salavat (Kipaevich)

4. Possibility:

The turkish  search and rescue team (AKUT) opened an account for Zalia

this  account is useful for money transfers from turkey. At the moment it’s  not possible to donate from other countries than turkey to this  YTL-account!. A €-account will be opened maybe later. The money will be  given here in Antalya directly to Salavat by trustful climbers. A copy  of the bankstatement of this bankaccount will be given to Salavat.

NAME:  Hakki Gokceoglu

BANK: Garanti Bankasi Konyaalyi Subesi

Sube  Kodu: 412

NR.:6666748

IBAN: TR53 0006 2000 4120 0006 66667 48

5.  Possibiliy:

(we propose this for all internatinal donations, from  tuesday on, because it’s the best working and by far cheepest option for  those):

A PAY PAL account directly on Salavat’s name will be opened  on tuesday. We will publish the data for this as soon as posible

Thank  you for your heart and take care

links:

http://mountain.ru/article/article_display1.php?article_id=4496

http://www.lezec.cz/clanek.php?key=8679&nazev=mountain.ru__shani_pomoc

http://sharmenhope.com/zaliya/      

Source: James Pearson

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The Little Devil...
23 July 2010, 7:56 am



1 hour on the metro and bus / 2 hours in Berlin airport / 1 ½ hours to Frankfurt / 1 ½ hours in the airport / 11 hours to Singapore / 1 hour in the airport / 10 hours to Sydney / 1 ½ hours in the airport / 1 ½ hours to Melbourne / 6 hours in the airport / 1 ½ hours to Hobart.

Aided by my lack of sleep over the last 72 the travelling time itself was not such a big problem and I slept for a lot of hours on the various planes. However the entire journey was probably the worst I have ever had due to my blocked sinuses from my illness the week before. Every time the plane took off and gained altitude it felt like my head was going to explode! Each time this feeling lasted for around 2 hours, and really was agony, so much so that I was almost sick from the pain.

Every flight was the same, but each flight I took was one closer to being there, and finally I arrived in Hobart, met my friends and drove to our accommodation - a small cabin down near a beach on the south of the island.

The next week was to be a non-stop whirlwind of epic proportions involving monstrous hikes, monstrous cliffs and monstrous monsters... but unfortunately I can’t share too much of it with you at this time due to exclusivity commitments with Sender Films – but rest assured, all will be available in glorious Technicolor detail later this year... Check it out

What I can share is as follows...

After escaping from the Jungle, stumbling into a fine dining restaurant stinking to the high heavens and covered in dirt, taking a few rest days, partying to surprisingly good drum and bass and enjoying the company of new friends, everyone felt like the time had come for a little more climbing... and what better way to end our trip than with a quick ascent of the Tote!

Situated at the end of Cape Hauy, the Tote is accessed by a pleasant 2 hour stroll (a walk in the park compared to the last few days) through lush vegetation along an ever thinning peninsular. Towards the end the trail turns rockier and steep cliffs develop on either side leading to the crashing waves hundreds of feet below. Eventually you get to see what you have been waiting so long for... and it does not disappoint – The Totem pole is simply majestic, and if truth be told, a little intimidating!

We had begged, borrowed and stolen all the info we needed to be able to access the route – essentially an awkward scramble down took you to a ledge level with the top of the pole, where 2 shiny bolts made the ab to the base and the following swing across the chasm a very pleasant experience – that is until the first big wave rolls in leaving you soaked to the skin! The last thing to remember is for the second not to detach from the ab-line, for reasons that will soon become clear...

The first pitch in its own right would rank as a 3* route anywhere in the world, even if you do have to climb the first part of it over wet rock with soggy chalk. The rock quality is excellent and strange, often in cut ripples and flakes are a joy to climb. The crux comes at around 2/3 height and is a surprisingly balancey affair that keeps you on your toes. This leads into pleasant jugs to the prominent belay ledge and the first chance you really get to appreciate where you are and what you are doing.

The second pitch is simply superb and in my opinion is possibly the best route I have ever climbed – I can’t remember another pitch that made me smile this much. For almost 40m you climb one of the most striking, perfectly situated arêtes on the planet; the rock quality is amazing, the holds impeccable and the moves fascinating. Protected for most of the way by slightly spaced bolts which can be supplemented by trad gear as you approach the top, the route feels go-ey enough to be really enjoyable, but never dangerous.

On arriving at the ledge just below the summit, you are greeted by a further 2 shiny bolts making belaying a breeze. After bringing up the second and quick cruise up to the summit to pose for the necessary hero shots (well it would be almost rude to come all this way and not stand on top of the damn thing) the final exciting chapter is ready to begin. Fixing the ab-line you have patiently dragged up the whole way, an exciting 20m Tyrolean lands you back on the mainland with huge grins still firmly plastered to your face.

A day later I was stood in Hobart airport waiting for my plane back to the mainland and contemplating the events of the last week. Tasmania had been an incredible experience that had tested me in new ways and taught me many new skills. The main objective of the trip had been a great success, we did what we came to do, and got out alive – but the thing that had made the entire trip worth it, was those few hours of bliss climbing the Totem Pole. What a route!!!

Source: James Pearson

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Australia The Movie - EPIC
18 August 2010, 6:06 pm

Thanks Cedar...

from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

Source: James Pearson

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Moving Forwards
13 September 2010, 12:08 pm

Some of you may have noticed that jamespearsonclimbing.com recently went on permanent vacation.  My website was always held just a little out of my reach by some friends back in the UK, which is part of the reason it had not seen an update for over 2 years!  It was looking tired, was well past its best, and finally... well lets just say it died.

Hold back the tears, all is not lost, for out of the ashes a phoenix will rise!

This was just the kick up the arse I needed - my life has changed significantly over the last 6 months, and so what better time to launch a new website.  James 2.0; the engine uprated, the bodywork polished, new and improved, I hope you will agree.

Everything should be live in the next few days, but for now here are a few screenshots just to tease...

Big kiss

James x



Source: James Pearson

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The best line?
22 September 2010, 7:34 am

What makes "the best line"?

This is a question I often ask myself but still don't really know the answer, or perhaps it is just that my answer changes with the seasons.  Is it the moves, is it the features, is it the location, the aesthetic beauty, or the fact that it pushes you towards excellence.

Here are a couple of pics of my current contenders.  They are wildly different, but impossible to choose between...  Let me know what you think.

The Amazing Ichi Ban, Zillertal, Austria

The Totem Pole, Tazmania - Does it get much better?



Source: James Pearson

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Back in the Balearics
2 October 2010, 10:52 am

Its THAT time of year again... Mallorca

End of September... the sun is getting lower in the skies... the sea is warm... the air is no longer scorching... time for Psicobloc, Spanish style.

Im back in Mallorca for 10 days, climbing with friends, getting some air time, taking tapas and Cervesa, loving life...  Once I get a stable internet connection i will upload some of the lovely piccies from the trip, stay tuned...

James



Source: James Pearson

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Psicoblog
9 October 2010, 10:30 am

My last trip to the island was with a big group of the friends – Climbers, photographers and Cinematographers.   We climbed most days spurred on by each others energy, repeated many of the hard routes on the island, filming them all and releasing the footage as regular Psicoblogs for your viewing pleasure.  This time it is a little different... The island is still beautiful, the routes just as incredible and the sea just as warm, but it is only myself and my girlfriend, with a little help from Mr Psicobloc himself, Miquel.  

The conditions were mostly very good, we only had to brave the dreaded sea-grease on a couple of occasions and the temperature of both the air and ocean was close to perfect – I really think it pays to come a little later in the year.  This was the first (proper) time for Caroline (after a mini excursion to Lake Annecy earlier in the year) and she turned out to be a complete natural.  After following me up a few routes to warm into things, she was soon questing off on her own, psyched for this new style and on sighting most of the hard routes the sea cliffs have to offer.

I can’t give you any video masterpieces, or professional, creative photos to drool over... but I can share a few of our holiday snaps, which look pretty pretty, show a little of the magic, and make me smile if all else fails.



Source: James Pearson

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Cave Life!
15 October 2010, 10:21 am

Scary...

Every now and again you meet someone special...  Someone that makes you take a step back to try to look at things from a new perspective.

Usually, our lives make perfect sense to us, or at least we have an idea about the road we are travelling.  We become happy in our routines, and content with our comforts; life ticks on by and we smile.  Its easy to think that ours is the only way that makes sense... maybe because thinking the contrary would mean we have to accept that our life is ultimately senseless?

A few days ago I met a man who lives in a cave!  He has lived there, mostly alone for the last year and a half; and when I say cave, I’m not talking about a little hollow, but a big deep cave, accessed only by a crawl through a long small tunnel, complete with hypnotic underground lake!   He would spend days and weeks alone, accompanied only by his guitar – and so you would be forgiven for thinking that he simply enjoys the solitude, or doesn’t like people.

Home Sweet Home!

The reality is actually quite the contrary, and he was one of the most social, warm, and welcoming people I have met.  For him, life is simple - he enjoys each moment, it doesn’t need to make any more sense than that.

The Front Garden - Not Too Bad...



Source: James Pearson

[north_country_boy]

Cave Life!
15 October 2010, 10:21 am

A few days ago I met a man who lives in a cave!  He has lived there, mostly alone for the last year and a half; and when I say cave, I’m not talking about a little hollow, but a big deep cave, accessed only by a crawl through a long small tunnel, complete with hypnotic underground lake! 

Old Gregg?

[grimer]

Is he one of the people in the photo? Let me guess. The one that everybody's staring at?

[account_inactive]

You mean the guy with the tourniquet?

[peewee]

Cave Life!
15 October 2010, 10:21 am

A few days ago I met a man who lives in a cave!  He has lived there, mostly alone for the last year and a half; and when I say cave, I’m not talking about a little hollow, but a big deep cave, accessed only by a crawl through a long small tunnel, complete with hypnotic underground lake! 

Old Gregg?

Yes sir, thank you sir.

[groundmagnet]

Cave Life!
15 October 2010, 10:21 am

A few days ago I met a man who lives in a cave!  He has lived there, mostly alone for the last year and a half; and when I say cave, I’m not talking about a little hollow, but a big deep cave, accessed only by a crawl through a long small tunnel, complete with hypnotic underground lake! 

Old Gregg?

Yes sir, thank you sir.

I wonder what the man in the cave showed to the fuzzy little man peach James, sounds a little funky to me

[peewee]

Cave Life!
15 October 2010, 10:21 am

A few days ago I met a man who lives in a cave!  He has lived there, mostly alone for the last year and a half; and when I say cave, I’m not talking about a little hollow, but a big deep cave, accessed only by a crawl through a long small tunnel, complete with hypnotic underground lake! 

Old Gregg?

Yes sir, thank you sir.

I wonder what the man in the cave showed to the fuzzy little man peach James, sounds a little funky to me

Ooooooold Gregg's mangiiiina

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Mallorca Sport - Another 8b onsight for Caroline
20 October 2010, 11:08 am

The psicobloc on the island is good, no scratch that, it is great – in my opinion the best in the world!  However, if you feel like a break from the water, then Mallorca has world class bolt clipping that you need to check out.    For the last couple of days we have visited a few of the premiere sport cliffs on the island, including Les Pertxas, Gorg Blau and Fraguels.  The limestone is very very good – bright orange walls and caves covered in flowstone and tufa’s, and most of the routes we climbed have been exceptional quality.

Caroline on the top of Commando Madrid, just before the final boulder

As time was short, we have both been onsight/flashing routes rather than working projects, which has allowed us to tick a whole load of super classic routes in all different styles.  The highlight ascent of the trip was Caroline’s onsight of Commando Madrid – the most famous 8b on the island.  She fought hard, dug deep and stuck it out to the chains, with just a tiny scream or two to help her on her way.  Voici quelques photos...

The Commando Madrid Cave at Les Pertxas

Source: James Pearson

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El Forrat!
26 October 2010, 4:51 am

Today we woke up in Barcelona – thanks to the flights being much cheaper than those to Montpellier, and the hospitality of a good friend, Jaume Oliveras (add a link). We were scheduled to take a train at 5pm back to the land of frogs and Foie Gras, leaving us the whole morning for either sightseeing or training...  There are days I like to pretend to be the cultural type, and since this is my third visit to Barcelona without seeing anything arty, today should have been one of those days.  But it just wasn’t to be, the second choice won, which should speak highly enough about the quality of the training venue!

I am struggling to find the words to describe both how awesome and unique El Forrat is, you really need to experience it for yourself.  Combining simple and effective shapes and structure, with Gaudi-esc sculpted madness; El Forrat is the brain child of an eccentric, obsessive genius - Manolo “El Heavy”, and every square inch has been created with an almost unheard of level of passion and love.  

Thanks Manolo for a great session, we’ll visit you again soon J



Source: James Pearson

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Progression
27 October 2010, 5:54 pm

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to excel at whatever sport I happened to be psyched on at the time.  Inline Skating, Rugby, Skiing – they were all the same... I was fairly good to begin with, and I improved quickly with practice.  I loved each of them, and a big part of what I loved was being good!  This may sound a tiny bit arrogant ;) but it is really not meant to.  When I say “good”, I dont mean it in an “im better than you” way, but instead to describe feeling like you have a high level of control over your body and mind, and you can make them do what you want.  If I saw someone else doing something, I knew it was possible and figured that I should be able to do it too.

Obviously the real world is not quite as simple as that, and there are many things in life you will only achieve through practice, training or good luck – usual it’s a mix of the three.  Take football for example.  At one point I decided I wanted to play; I tried out and sucked, practiced and sucked, got frustrated and sucked, and finally gave up, still sucking just as much as I do to this very day.  When I play, it feels like I have two left feet in boots several sizes too big for me, I hate feeling so out of control and disconnected and thus, I really don’t like football.

Climbing also came naturally, and for the first few years I progressed fast and continuously, which fed me everything I hungered for and kept me a happy little chappy.  As more years passed, things slowed down as one would expect, but improvement was still there, walking hand in hand with my motivation.

Eventually however, the world stopped turning and I found myself walking through a very big plateau.  I could see mountains all around and wanted to be up there, but just couldn’t quite find the way.  Working my strengths got me nowhere, so logic suggested I move on to my weaknesses.  The path now seemed so clear, and I began running towards the Peaks with fresh enthusiasm; what I didn’t realise is that this particular path lead right into a deep deep gorge!

Progress was slow and frustrating, which I guess comes from starting to try something your body has never done before, and to make matters worse, my strengths started to become not so strong!  I was actually going downhill, getting worse at climbing simply from trying to get better.  This really sucked!

Thankfully, one of my other personal traits is being a stubborn bastard, especially when it comes to punishing myself.  I tried my best to fight, got knocked down time and time again but somehow kept getting back on my feet to fight some more, spurred on only by a blurred and bloody vision of paradise.  Then one day, not too dissimilar from all the rest, I got a visit from an angel...

Everything changed, things became clear and I began to move in the right way.  It took time, effort, and a helping hand, but a few weeks ago I made it out of the gorge and am heading towards the foothills.  The journey is far from over, in fact, it’s barely just begun.  But now I can see the sun, it’s just started to rise and I know its going to be a beautiful day

Source: James Pearson

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Climbing Denim
12 November 2010, 7:06 pm

Drum-roll please...

Ladies and Gentlemen, after many, many years of waiting, hoping, and praying, they are finally here... well almost.

I am sat typing this message in a pair of TNF climbing jeans that I have been lucky enough to get my grubby little hands on, and I have to say, they are fu@&ing sweet!!!  A mix of thin blue denim and 2% elastane, perfectly baggy with seams in all the right places, these are hands down the best climbing pants I have used - no word of a lie.

Now before you all rush out to break down the doors of your local outdoor store, I have to tell you that these fine threads are still only in the prototype phase, and wont be in production until 2012 at the earliest.  Now I know that is a long long time to wait, but believe me, it will all be worth it.  Especially when we make a few tiny tweaks to the design, like double thickness over the knees for those spikey knee-bars.

Thank you TNF for giving me what I want - wow, doesn't that make me sound like a spoilt brat!

Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks for photos of the jeans from my upcoming Chad expedition...

Source: James Pearson

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RealBigPimp.in
13 November 2010, 11:34 pm

As promised what now seems like a long time ago, my new website is ready!!!

Unfortunately there were unforeseen issues with my original domain name, jamespearsoncliming.com, which postponed the re-launch considerably. I leave for the communication black hole of Chad early tomorrow morning, so rather than make you wait even longer, a good friend of mine has kindly lent me a rather odd domain to use.

Jamespearsonclimbing.com has temporally become realbigpimp.in, so go take a look at all the new content, dressed in shiny new clothes.I will still be maintaining this blog for the near future until everything on the new channel is up and running smoothly.  Let me know your thoughts and feelings, and Ill take a look at them after Chad

Until then...

Source: James Pearson

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Chad - The Expedition Reports...
4 December 2010, 9:19 am

Hello to you all,

I've been a little quiet recently, and for once I have a very good reason...  For the last 3 weeks I have been in the middle of the Ennedi desert, amidst a sea of sand and sandstone towers, in north eastern Chad!  The expedition was part of The North Face's annual expedition program, which every year sends teams of its athletes to some of the most random and remote places in he world, in search of something magic.

This adventure in particular was the brainchild of Mark Synnott and had been lurking in the dark depths of his mind for the last 10 or so years.  Based on some stunning pictures from a photostream on flickr and some information from local hero Piero, who has been guiding out of the Sahara for almost 40 years, Mark decided now was the time to drop the clutch and head off on an adventure.

The team consisted of Mark and myself, Alex Honnold, Tim Kemple, Renan Ozturk and Jimmy Chin. The information available online regarding travelling in Chad is varied to say the least and not one of the team knew what to expect.  Ideas ranged from kidnap and torture, to a beach holiday without the ocean - and so it was with a large amount of uncertainty that we boarded the plane from Paris to N'djamena...

The result was an expedition to never forget!  Lost among an endless expanse of desert towers, in what felt like the most remote place on earth, yet almost always in view of other humans, we battled through the sand climbing some of the most memorable and iconic routes of our lives.  The scenery and sunsets were enough to make believe you were on another planet.

The guys from Camp 4 worked their magic, and by their own admission captured some of the best stills and video they have ever shot.  In a place where dropping a camera would likely capture a cover-shot this may not come as so much of a shock, but some of the crane shots and time-lapses are more than just eye-candy - they are works of art.

All will be released in good time, after each of the guys takes a well earned rest with their families for Christmas.  The 4 day jeep ride home was the straw that broke the camels back and we all boarded or planes home feeling completely worked, half dead, but ultimately content.  Although I am desperate to see the finished piece, I can forgive the guys a little time to wind down and relax before the madness resumes in 2011.  In the meantime I am going to release a selection of the expedition blog you might not have seen from NeverStopExploring.com along with some simply beautiful stills.

Here is dispatch 1, courtesy of Alex, who managed to hold his bowls together long enough to type a few words like only he can...

Coming on this expedition to Chad was kind of unnerving. Nothing was really known and all the information I found on the internet made it clear that Chad was not a good place to visit.        The whole team met up in Paris, which is always a good start. The only problem was that I had horrible food poisoning and spent the majority of my travel and flights sitting on the toilet vomiting or curled up in agony. Not such a good start for me. But amazingly we all made it to N'djamena without a hitch. Our outfitter met us inside customs and helped us chaperone all our oversized bags out of the airport. We spent the first night in a hotel in the city, then packed up our jeeps the next morning and set out for the desert. And that pretty much brings us up to present. We've driven for 2 days across Chad. We've seen a lot of camels, a lot of nomads, a TON of sand. Let's just say we're all a bit dusty. Everything has gone perfectly. Good food, good company, everyone is in good spirits.        Tomorrow we should make it to the Ennedi, where we will hopefully find some decent climbing. Our outfitter is a climber himself so he has a lot of good ideas for things we should climb. Lines that he's scoped over 15 years of visiting the desert.        We're all thinking of folks back home. But psyched that this is going as smoothly as it has, and pretty optimistic about doing some amazing new routes.   Alex Honnold



Source: James Pearson

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The Expedition Reports - 2
9 December 2010, 10:02 am



The Second of our Expedition reports came direct from my pen.  The drive was long, so very very long, and after 4 days we were all eager to know what we had come so far for... our first tasteAfter finishing our rather long drive, and getting our first glimpse of rock, we pulled into an amazingly shady spot on the back side of a giant brown rocky castle. Piero obviously knew of this spot from previous journeys as he came directly here, no detours or backtracks, simply straight to the point.

Having a guide in this place is essential and Piero’s endless knowledge is worth its weight in gold. This place is like a maze- a giant, spread out, incredibly open maze, that looks the same in every location, has perilous traps waiting to catch the unweary, and is hotter than hell for all hours of daylight.  After eating a feast of tomato plus tuna our eagerness got the better and we ran from camp like giggling school kids to make a group free solo of our new local cliff.The next few events past something like this: Shoes on, chalk up, break a hold, crumble a foot, look scary, climb down, begin to cry!  OK, so the crying part may be an exaggeration, but the rock was really shitty, genuine choss. We salvaged the day by scrambling up loose gullies to bag the summit which was a f***** stunning place. By the looks the the cairn on top had been enjoyed by brave people unknown, at some point in the past.

This place is stunning, perfect vistas for 360 degrees and the most beautiful sunsets/rises one could ever with to see. At the end of the day Piero drove us to the first area he thought had potential which did not disappoint. After walking for less than 5 minutes I saw the best line of the trip so far: A line that was instantly obvious was become my focus for the near future.  The rock on the upper half looked like it could be fairly solid, but to get here requires climbing over two steep roofs made from rock resembling wheat-a-bix! With 3.5 days drive to the nearest city the consequence of any injury out here doesn’t seem to fun, and so before Europe, I told myself that self preservation would be the order of the game. Unfortunately, part of being a trad climber is convincing yourself that the rewards justify the risks, and by the time we return to camp the wheels had already been set in motion,

Some days things just work, and sometimes they don’t, but fortunately today was one of the former. Written beta about the route is neither necessary or needed as the video and stills will speak thousand of words. What I will say is that the quality fo the climbing was wholly unexpected, and combined with the location and the formation, made for a phenomenal first taste.  First route of the trip. First ascent of the tower. First rock climb in the ennedi! So, so, psyched :)James PearsonCheck out RealBigPimp.in for more shots...All Pictures copyright Jimmy Chin, Tim Kemple, Renan Ozturk (Camp 4 Collective)

Source: James Pearson

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Caroline Climbs Guerre D'usure - 8C
14 December 2010, 7:04 pm

There are more Expedition reports on the way soon, but first I wanted to share the news of Caroline’s ascent of Guerre D’usure.  Guerre is a very technical, resistance 8c at Claret in the South of France and is her 6th route of the grade.

An initial “easy” wall leads to a boulder problem through the mid-height roof.  After a small shake and chalk on a positive finger edge, roughly 20 intense moves find you again at good holds and the belay.  Caro made the route look deceptively easy on her 4^th try.  Hopefully we should have some nice pictures soon...

To see the line, here is a picture of Luis Vera I shamelessly stole from 8a.nu



Source: James Pearson

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The Expedition Reports - 3 - The Wine Bottle
19 December 2010, 7:30 pm

Many moons ago I tried to climb a sandstone sea stack off the South Devon Coast.  The rock was terrible, the protection was hammered in 6" nails, and I got shut down hard.  The route was graded E1, but for anyone who has climbed on any of our fair Isle's more adventurous cliffs, grades don't really mean so much when the rock is disappearing under your hands and feet.

I have climbed a bit of choss since that day, and become more acquainted with its peculiarities.  I like the creative process of trying to protect a pitch where the rock is barely solid enough to allow upward movement - it brings together all the things I have learnt about trad and wraps them in up in one complex, ugly, but undeniably alluring bow.

The second route we climbed in the Ennedi was like the sea stack on steroids!

Here is my partner in crimes eye witness account of the adventure.  Take it away Mark!

Enjoy...

Today was a day that I will never forget. A few hours ago James and I stood on the summit of the Wine Bottle, one of the coolest towers I’ve ever climbed. The summit was tiny, about the size of two dinner tables, but what made it especially sweet was how deep we had to dig to get up there.

Two days ago we were randomly questing across the desert, trying to find our next objective. It was actually kind of hard, not because we couldn’t find anything, but rather because there was so much to choose from. We came around a corner and there was the Wine Bottle. Just as the name implies, it’s shaped like a bottle: fat down low, then it abruptly narrows down into a slender 100 foot “neck,” topped with a bulging spout.

There was pretty much no discussion – it was such a stunning objective that everyone took it for granted that we had to climb it. There was one little problem, namely that the neck looked super sketchy: steep, loose, chossy and distinctly lacking in cracks or any obvious lines. I circumnavigated the tower, studying it from every angle, and finally decided on what I thought would be a good line.

Honnold was not inspired by the choss factor, so James and I geared up. James took the first pitch up to the base of the stalk. It looked short and easy but ended up being a 60m rope stretcher on bad rock with very little in the way of good gear. When I joined James on the ledge, we shared a look, and it went without saying that I was fully in for it.

There was a line of holds, but as I soon found out, the rock was dangerously loose and virtually every hand and foothold was removable. After ten feet of free climbing I resorted to aid. Thirty feet above the ledge I slung a “chicken head” and gently eased my weight onto it. As I was placing my next piece, the chicken head blew, but miraculously the sling still hung onto some barely adhered left over chunk of sandstone. Scared silly, I drilled a bolt, only to discover that the rock was so loose I couldn’t get it to tighten down. After it fell out, I pounded a piton into the hole, then decided I’d had enough.

Now it was James’ turn and I was interested to see what this master trad climber could make of the pitch. He free climbed to my highpoint and made a few tentative moves above, then decided to take a hang on the manky pin and think things over. For a brief moment it looked like he would bail too, but then James dug deep and set off again. He pulled some hard moves above the bad bolt and I knew that he was committed – it was too hard to downclimb.

Ten feet higher he set a couple shaky pieces, hung off them, and placed another sketchy drilled piton. After equalizing the pin with the bad gear, James free climbed out around a corner into a shallow groove. As he worked his way upwards, a steady stream of loose rocks rined down onto the ledge. More bad gear and hard climbing followed, but James somehow kept his cool and eventually reached a solid crack, which he jammed to the summit. When he topped out, his yell of triumph reverberated across the desert.

I managed to follow James lead, barely, and soon we were sharing a high five and gawking at our surreal surroundings. The Ennedi Desert stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction, and it really sunk in just how far in the middle of nowhere we were. Unclimbed spires stretched to the distant horizon, and we could only marvel at how many other classic first ascents like this one still lay out there waiting… (The Wine Bottle 5.11+, A0 R/X 90m)

Mark Synnott

Source: James Pearson