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Westminster and the Olympic Dream...
7 November 2011, 12:01 am

Hello! I have not written a blog in a very long time due to becoming absorbed in a whirlwind of university work, climbing and life in general. However, on Wednesday I attended a very significant event which caused me to reflect on the current position of competitive climbing, the future of British competitive climbing, and where I hope climbing in general can take me later in life. So I decided to switch my focus from writing about the function of the Latin quotations in one of Montaigne's Essais and discussing Chomsky's theories of language acquisition to talk about my recent trip to Westminster -  a bit about the event and the possibility of climbing becoming an Olympic sport in the 2020 Games!

Competition climbing has been shortlisted - alongside 7 other sports - as a potential event for inclusion in the 2020 Games. The purpose of the reception for the GB Team and BMC affiliates at the beautifully ornate Palace of Westminister was to promote our sport as one which encourages active participation at all ages and abilities, and one which has a wide variety of benefits outside of the competitive arena and aside from the superficial "glory" of winning a competition. Amongst the many influential people we had the honour of meeting were John Mann MP and David Rutley MP (Co-Chairs of the Mountaineering APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group)) and the Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson MP. I had met John Mann MP at a similar reception at Number 10 Downing Street in 2008, although I doubt that he recognised me! Also attending the Reception was guest of honour Dame Kelly Holmes, who we were all very excited about meeting. Anyone -particularly those involved in a competitive sport and especially those from the United Kingdom - would find it difficult not to be inspired by watching her performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Winning not just one, but TWO Gold medals in one Olympic Games is an outstanding acheivement in itself, yet what is even more striking is the journey undertaken in order to acheive this - the years of gruelling training, defeat and injuries which provide obstacles at the most inconvenient moments.

Attending the Reception were members of the Junior Team - Ed Hamer, Luke Tilley, Kitty Wallace, Buster Martin, Tara Hayes, Molly-Thompson Smith and Manager Ian Dunn. Representing the Bouldering Team were Shauna Coxsey, Dave Barrans, Jon Partridge, Diane Merrick, Helen Shilleto, Nick Clement and Tom Sugden, and I took on the role of representing the Senior Difficulty Team. Alongside the Teams were BMC officials and top officials from Sport England including Jennie Price (SE CEO) and Tim Lamb (SRA CEO).

Audrey Seguy, Rob Adie, Dame Kelly Holmes and me!

First of all a select number of us were given a tour of the Palace of Westminster, which was incredibly ornate and adorned with numerous historical relics, paintings and statues which appeared on every turn of the labyrinthine corridors and archways. Kings, Queens, Prime Ministers, Presidents and Popes - the history inside this gigantic building was mind-blowing! After making it through security to Portcullis House and being issued with an identity tag which consisted of a black and white photo (which rather amusingly resembled a CCTV image of a shoplifter) we began the tour. The long and very cold corridor which lead from the Portcullis House (a building opposite Big Ben on the other side of the road) and under the road into the Palace of Westminster resembled something you would expect to see in Hogwarts - stone and marble statues, paintings, beautifully sculpted arches and ceilings welcomed us through to a passageway which led out to underneath the world's most famous bell-tower - Big Ben. Admiring the scale of the tower and clock-face and learning of its history, we took photos whilst simultaneously scoping out the decorative exterior of the building - "Tufas!" exclaimed Kitty. Upon entering Westminster Hall, we were told of the recent visitors who had given speeches there this year - the Pope Benedict XVI and US President Barack Obama. Then we were lead through the crypt and into the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, which was restored after fire damage and was once used by Oliver Cromwell to house his horses!

We ventured into the Central Lobby which lies between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and noticed the four intricate mosaics above the 4 doorways which featured the 4 Saints of the United Kingdom's constituent nations - George, Andrew, David and Patrick.  The House of Commons was situated beside another lobby called the Members' Lobby (which you may recognise from TV news broadcasts) The room featured bronze statues of former British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George, and the archway leading to the Commons was left unrepaired after the bombing in 1941 to serve as a reminder of the evils of war. We saw a brief glimpse of a session occuring inside the Commons, and saw the Speaker and many MPs debating. Across on the other side of the Central Lobby was the Peers' Lobby, which lies in front of the House of Lords. If the Members' Lobby was ornate, this one was ten times more beautiful than that. Security was tight and despite our MP's very persuasive attempt to get us in closer, we were not allowed to get very near to the chamber doors.

Attempt at artistic photograph of Big Ben!

The Tour was over and we were taken through yet more winding passageways bursting with history and into a small function room. Assembled as a group, the climbing teams stood together as the speeches were read out. A welcome address from the MPs and Sports Minister and then an excellent speech by Audrey Seguy who addressed the room about the benefits that climbing as a sport can bring to people of all ages, abilities and from all walks of life. Audrey mentioned the health benefits that climbing brings to children and adults, the community aspect of climbing, and the respect that climbers develop for the natural environment. The past lack of recognition of climbing as a sport in the UK was highlighted as a problem that is very quickly diminishing - with the growth of indoor climbing facilities and the corresponding increase in participation. As participation in the sport has widened, the media coverage and public awareness of indoor climbing has gradually risen, but very little funding for sports development has been arranged in comparison with Olympic sports such as athletics and gymnastics. Audrey highlighted these issues and countered them with an extensive list of the acheivements of the GB teams - a very impressive array of results which can only be improved upon if the Teams receive the funding and support which they deserve!

Money isn't everything, but it certainly helps in the arena of competitive sport - with costs of travel, training, coaching, competition entry and physio to take into account! By increasing the money available to competitive climbing in the UK, the opportunities available to aspiring athletes would increase, and who knows where these opportunities may take them. In short, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy - more funding equals more participation, which means more chance of success, and with success comes promotion of acheivement and resultantly more recognition and more funding.



Back to Westminster, Dame Kelly was taking her time to speak to each Team member and find out more about our climbing backgrounds and acheivements. She is a keen climber herself, and told of her trips to Fontainebleau, Stanage and of her fascination with the sport. She came across as very friendly and quietly confident, and spoke very modestly of her acheivements in Athens when questioned as to whether or not she expected to win. "After the first race I was so shocked, and after the second it was simply unbelievable!" I vividly remember watching her races and screaming at the TV in 2004, aged 13. Even though I didn't know much about athletics, or indeed much about her past, it didn't matter - her expression both before and after was enough to show everyone how much it meant to her, and it inspired me to work hard for what I wanted to acheive. We didn't have an Olympics, but as young competition climbers we had our own battles. Three years later in 2007, when I won my first European Youth Cup in Kranj, Slovenia, I felt the same feeling of shock and disbelief when I realised what had happened, and the elation when I knew that a dream had come true. It was obvious to me that Kelly's joy did not derive from having beaten people, but from the personal journey which had taken her to the top of the podium. What made her success even more poignant was her struggle with years of injury and disappointment, and her fight to keep running competitively with the fear of injury constantly on her mind: "You have all those dreams and then something goes wrong, and I just thought everything's going too good, and it's just going to go away from me again."

I know from personal experience (and I know many other people who are currently injured and in the same situation) exactly what Dame Kelly means by this and can relate to her word for word. The power which injury holds over a person's self-confidence and self-esteem is incredible - the emotional pain often outweighs the physical, and having the strength of mind to pull oneself back from an abyss of injury is very difficult to acheive. Kelly was 34 when she won her two Gold medals, and is a prime example of someone with outstanding strength of character and determination to get back in the game after defeat and injury, and someone who - after years of being denied success - is not afraid of slowly taking her time to work her way back to winning form. This brings to mind a quote from Michel de Montaigne, a French Renaissance writer whose work "On the Verses of Virgil" I am currently writing an essay on. Despite writing about love, the following line could easily be applied to a sport or anything that requires a "journey" of some sort: " Plus il y a de marches et degres, plus il y a de hauteur et d'honneur au dernier siege" which roughly translates as "The more the steps the greater the height, and the more the rungs the greater the honour, of that ultimate siege." As competition climbing works its way closer towards the Olympics, many of the world's upcoming young climbers will be aspiring to fulfil their ambitions to succeed in what is truly the most "ultimate siege" in any sportsperson's dreams.

Yet what would the Olympics mean to the current GB Team? We talked quite a lot throughout the event about the possibility of competing in the 2020 Olympics. For the older ones amongst us, it seemed very surreal to be thinking about something which has always seemed so far-removed from our own little bubble of competition climbing - thinking of the usual sighs of disappointment when people ask if climbing is an Olympic sport and seem surprised when they are told "No, not yet!" Many of the Team admitted feeing slightly cynical about the Games in the past, wondering how the format would work out and how the rest of the non-climbing world (and indeed the anti-comp crew within the climbing society) would perceive our sport. Now, though, we felt as though competition climbing had built up so much force and influence (the IFSC now consists of 66 member federations and 10 associate members from 5 continents around the world) that we have no reason to feel inadequate as competition climbers, and that we need to work together positively to ensure that things go our way. If you don't ask, you don't get!

Dame Kelly's autograph

Dame Kelly also told us about the difficulty faced by many athletes as they reach the transition from school to university. She highlighted the fact that maintaining participation at this stage is tough when many are faced with changes in circumstance and the challenge of balancing education, work, sport and life alongside the physiological changes which frequently result in injury. Personally, I felt quite proud when she praised me for keeping up my climbing alongside university studies and for having to deal with 2 years of injuries which she called "great strength of character." I had never thought of it that way before, and I will admit that hearing it from Dame Kelly was very inspirational.

Wherever life will take us in 2020, we all agreed that if climbing made it as an Olympic event, it would make us proud to represent our country if we are still competing in 8 or 9 years time, and that even if we are simply enjoying climbing as a hobby whilst looking after kids/homes/pets and whatnot, we could feel proud that the sport we love has finally been recognised as one which fulfils the criteria to become part of the world's most prestigious sporting event. Proud that the younger kids we see down at the wall or at the crag today and the ones we encourage will have something amazing to aspire towards acheiving. Even if competition climbing doesn't make it in 2020, we can rest assured that one day it most likely will, and deep down we know that it is more than worthy of the Olympics. It might take a few more steps and a few more rungs, but as the sport keeps growing and the kids keep having fun, maybe in a good few years down the line the GB Climbing Team will be bringing the greatest honour of an Olympic Gold medal to a climbing wall near you.

At Heathrow, Mum and I visited the shop dedicated to "London 2012". On a stand were commemorative gold medallions for each of the Olympic sports. I read the sports aloud and sighed. Mum said "Maybe one day, there will be one for climbing." Watch this space...

 

 

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Been there, done that...got the T-shirt!
21 January 2012, 10:51 pm

Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I last blogged, mainly due to exams and Christmas getting in the way! I haven't been climbing too much over the last few months as my finger injury is still giving me problems, but I've been finding the time to relax and do other things like eating, sleeping and route setting!

After a busy Christmas and new year split between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Melrose, it was back to Glasgow to spend time with my family and climb a bit at TCA. I managed to get through to the new wall a fair few times during first semester and really enjoyed having a fantastic new facility to explore, so I was keen to spend some more time there whilst in my home city.

I had been offered the chance to do some route setting at TCA - which I was both excited and nervous about seeing as I had never really done it before! I had never used a drill or climbed up ladders much either, and given my clumsy disposition I was very anxious about being safe and sound and was eager to avoid falling off from a great height! However, I was helped through the route setting and safety procedures by Alan Cassidy, and gradually got more into the swing of things and was able to concentrate on the flow of the problems rather than worrying about not being safe!

Been there, done that and got the routesetter's t-shirt!

Lots of people say it's easy to set good routes and problems if you have been climbing for a while, as you will have acquired a large repertoire of varied movements and climbing styles, yet the hardest part for me was trying to make the problems accessible to people of all shapes, sizes and abilities.In a commercial climbing wall, the quality of the problems is extremely important, and I wanted to make sure that they would not only be "climbable" but also enjoyable and thought-provoking I.e. a bit funky!

My first session of setting involved stripping old problems and setting new oranges around v3/v4. I felt as though I was speeding up a bit with each problem I set, but equally I was trying hard not to compromise on the quality! I ended up with 3 decent problems which were forerun by Rob Sutton and Alan Cassidy - all in all a successful day of learning!

The next time I came in everything seemed to flow a lot easier and I got more into the rhythm of setting everything up and working out a sequence that flowed. I tried my best to think about keeping moves relatively small for shorter climbers, although at times I think I may have accidentally neglected to think about the taller people! I suppose it could be seen as payback for when I was a tiny little kid and I struggled with big reaches - I know how hard it is when you are limited in reach and you are faced with ridiculously large moves! At the MCofS GB Team training session on Friday 6th January it was great to see all the kids testing out my problems and hearing what they had to say - the girls enjoyed my crimpy yellow, the boys loved the slopey one and there were mixed views on the heinous mantle up the corner! I was satisfied with the range of different styles across these problems and I now feel more confident in my new skills :)

Training-wise I have been climbing circuits on big, finger-friendly holds and doing some core training and pull up workouts. I am really  looking forward to an end of semester trip to Spain depending on how our exam timetable turns out. I am also keen to climb well in the upcoming TCA and Ratho boulder competitions and the BUCS championships and CWIF in Sheffield, depending of course on the state of my injury at these points.

Off to do some work now then Ratho tomorrow! :)

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Two weekends in Sheffield - CWIF and BUCS 2012!
19 March 2012, 5:55 pm

I really should be writing my psychology essay just now rather than a blog, but I've had two very eventful weekends which I think merit a write up whilst it is all still fresh in my mind! I have just returned from competing in the Climbing Works International Festival in Sheffield and the BUCS university championships, both events that I have been looking forward to since last year. So when asked by the crew at TCA Glasgow whether I would like to be part of their team at CWIF alongside Alan Cassidy, Gary Vincent and Alex Gorham I was more than willing to take on the challenge. Also, the chance to represent Edinburgh University in the sport we love would be a great honour for the whole team at BUCS.

Everything in the few weeks beforehand had been looking up - my finger was feeling fairly well-healed and mentally I was preparing to train hard again for my upcoming trip to Spain and for whatever I might get up to in the summer months. As though I had jinxed myself through my newfound optimism, I had a new hurdle to overcome - an achilles paratendinopathy. Stubbornly, I had persisted with the ever-intensifying pain I was experiencing in my right heel when wearing my latest pair of climbing shoes. I shrugged it off as being mere discomfort that most people experience when first wearing a new style of shoe, rested for a few days and then carried on. Yet as the pain refused to subside and even simply walking one step in my shoes became unbearable I knew something a bit more serious was going on, and so I decided to get help from a physio! I was worried that my Achilles tendon was the problem, and certainly didn't want to risk a full or partial rupture!

Luckily, my problem was limited to the sheath of the tendon only, which was really inflamed and swollen from being aggravated by a very narrow, tight heel fit from the shoe. My right foot endured several episodes of acupuncture, ultrasound, massage and kinaesio taping to try and put it right. Whilst the immediate effect was a reduction in pain, as soon as I put climbing shoes on it would flare up again, and even everyday shoes were starting to aggravate the sheath. I was prescribed ibuprofen in the expectation that it would reduce the inflammation and help the healing process, and in the meantime Scarpa sent me a pair of Forces (a less aggressive shoe - one that doesn't bite heels!) in a bigger size, so I tried to get used to climbing with odd shoes without putting too much pressure on my foot. It wasn't perfect and my foot was still sore, but it was the best I could do for now.

It was the night before the big day at CWIF, and after a few organisational mishaps and inconsistencies Team TCA Glasgow had finally met up at EICA Ratho and were ready to leave for Sheffield! It was 8pm on a Friday night, and we were more than aware that in under 12 hours we would be getting up for the morning session of the competition - and we still had a 6 hour journey to Sheffield to make! Jen did a great job of getting us there despite how late we had left and the length of the journey. As per usual, I was relegated to the middle seat in the back as the littlest!

We arrived at Stu and Jules Littlefair's house at 2:30am and tried not to wake anyone up or be attacked by "the sleeping cat at the top of the stairs", of which we had been forewarned. Fortunes were reversed from being the middle man in the car to ending up on the sofa bed and leaving Gaz and Alan to sleep on the floor in the dining room! :p it was 3am by now and we were due to leave the house at 8am...sweet dreams!

 

Team TCA! Photo: Dan Bradley

The irritatingly chirpy alarm woke me up and reminded me of how little sleep we had had, time to get up and get energised for a busy day! We bundled into the car and set off for the Works, a short drive away and an opportunity for Alan to try and remember his way around his former home-town! The car park was almost full to the brim and the wall was a hive of nervous energy and excitement. I immediately recognised lots of faces, and it was this aspect of the weekend I had been most looking forward to, the chance to meet up with friends that I hadn't seen for a while since growing out of the junior team and through not having partaken in any events down south recently.

After a brisk warm up it was time to face the weird and wonderful creations that the setters had concocted for us. A few of the easier problems were tricky but I managed to do most of the lower end ones. My heel was sore but I was trying to grin and bear it for the most part, but this meant that on a lot of the technical problems on the slabs and vertical walls I had to weight my right foot more than I wanted to, and occasionally I would just drop off to avoid the pain. I did fairly well on the few steeper problems but in all the technical problems had let me down. Gaz, Alan and Alex had been climbing very consistently over the course of the day but like many others had dropped some problems due to silly mistakes and slips. In this kind of strict time-limited competition which has well over 150 competitors climbing at one time it isn't difficult to lose concentration and rush things. The team had dropped some points due to not getting round all of the problems, but in general we had had fun and learned a fair bit about our own climbing. Highlights for me were using a sneaky finger jam on a tough steeper problem and power screaming to grab the last jug on a tricky crimpy problem!

Whilst the rest of the team went out to Stanage I stayed back and caught up with a lot of friends that I hadn't seen in a while and watched some of the later group climbing. Afterwards we went out to an amazing Turkish restaurant where Chicken Shish seemed to be the dish of the evening! The Sunday was spent (most of us in agony from the exertion of the day before!) at Stanage again for a few hours before heading back to the Works to watch the finals. Many attempts were had at Brad Pitt by the boys but unfortunately to no avail, and I decided to rest my heel and take photos and video of the day.

Back at the Works, the crowd was filling up the buiding. Lots of familiar faces in the finals and massive support from the crowd. I managed to find a speck beside Ailsa and Kitty right up at the front, so much so that we were squished against the barriers! The finals were quite a spectacle - so many strong climbers and mostly British! I was really inspired by the performances of the finalists and thought the problems looked amazing. We are very lucky to have such a world-renowned event of high quality and multinational participation here in the Uk, and I can't wait to get involved again next year (and hopefully without injuries!)

All in all a hectic but fun weekend! Thanks must go to TCA Glasgow and Bristol for funding this and giving me the chance to participate!

BUCS

This weekend was BUCS weekend and it was time for me to once again return to the Works. This time I was travelling down (on a very hot and uncomfortable bus) with some very good friends from my University, many of them in the EUMC. Myself, Clara, Valerie, Clement, Ryan, Chris, Sam, and Eddie (along with Ted and Chris who were volunteering as judges for the event) made up Team Edinburgh. Last year we came 2nd to Sheffield as a team and this year we were keen to try and go one better! However, there were mixed feelings towards the competition on the way down - my heel was still giving me grief and I had been ill from taking medication specially prescribed for it all week, Chris had a finger injury, Ryan had had flu all week and Eddie hadn't been bouldering in a while! :p With these negatives in mind we had to work very hard indeed to try and stay positive for the competition - after all, we were there to have fun and spend some time on the grit on Sunday but our main goal was to bring back some medals for the University!

 

Team Edinburgh University @ BUCS 2012 Photo: Chris Prescott My heel had still been hurting through the week since CWIF and the medicine had made me feel ill. The night before leaving an idea popped into my head, one that involved cutting the heel of my shoes. I had already split it a fraction and carved some of the rubber into a looser shape but it was still causing me pain. I got some scissors and cut right down the heel, not far from the bottom, and tried them on. The lack of contact with the shoe meant that my Achilles was relatively pressure-free which meant no pain! It was still slightly sore but much more bearable than before. I was so happy that already I started to feel better about BUCS.

Hungry and tired we arrived at our hotel and set off to find some food. Chino's fast food shop on London Road provided us with all the calories and meat feasts we needed in order to perform like proper athletes the next day. Pizzas, kebabs and curries - food of champions! Back at the hotel we relaxed in front of the tv and discussed tactics for the event, before staying up later than we should have watching the Mask of Zorro....

The next morning was basically a repeat of the CWIF weekend before - a case of deja vu! Up early and travelling to the wall for 8am, we had one small problem in that we were not entirely sure of the way to walk to the Works. 45 minutes later and we had made it with just under 15 minutes to go before registration was due to close. Fortunately we had an hour to relax before climbing began. We scoped out our problems and split into pairs to go round together. I was working with Clara, and we started off on some easier problems before testing ourselves on the competition wall. We had two and a half hours to complete 25 problems, but I knew from last year just how tight for time we were and the rushing around at CWIF had me well trained for this year's event! Eventually time started catching up with us and with half an hour left I still had about 8 problems to try, luckily most of them easier ones which by now had no queues. A mad dash, some stressing out and and a few more points later we were finished! I ended up flashing every problem on my first attempt apart from one which I got second go, and the other two I didn't complete but earned 2 bonuses. More than anything I was happy with how I had climbed in comparison with the weekend before - splitting the heel of the shoe had made such an unbelievable difference that I wished I had done it earlier and before CWIF! I had a good score but it would be a nervous few hours of waiting until the second group had finished climbing to see whether I had done enough. The rest of the team had performed fantastically - top scorer being Eddie and Ryan just one point below my score, particularly impressive considering he was very ill in the morning and almost didn't compete! Sam, Chris, Clement, Clara and Valerie had also climbed to their best and had a great day of tenacious climbing. Everyone was very supportive and worked well as a team, which is exactly how we had wanted it to be.

 

Me and Clara just hanging around...Photo:Chris Prescott A few of us stayed at the wall or went back to the hotel for a bit whilst others went to Burbage. I had to stay at the wall in case of a tie as I had scored the highest from the first round in the women's event, and later on the organiser and route setter of the event Mark Pretty (Zippy) gathered the scores from the girls he thought had been looking strong. "I think you have won Nat!" I was very happy to hear this and couldn't believe that I'd managed to win after the setbacks of the last few weeks. I was very lucky that I found a temporary solution to the heel problem as otherwise I definitely wouldn't have won - there were some very strong women in my category, including ex-junior GB Team members, a GB Bouldering Team member and generally lots of very impressive climbers.

Problem 25 - hard!! Photo: Chris Prescott

The next focus was the team ranking - how had Edinburgh fared overall? We added our top 3 scores together and thought we might have a good chance of getting onto the podium as a team again. After standing on the podium (made of bouldering mats!) I received my trophy and gold medal. Then the team results were read out along with the scores. "3rd place, Sheffield!....." we knew then that we were either 1st or 2nd..."2nd place...Edinburgh!" we had matched our team placing from last year and also defeated our main rivals from the year before! Congratulations to Leeds who took 1st place, 4 points ahead of us. Me, Ryan and Valerie stood on the podium with silver medals and collected some t-shirts for the rest of the team.

Ryan topping out dramatically

Absolutely exhausted we headed back to the hotel and had a very lazy dinner of fish and chips - we needed to reward ourselves for our efforts after all!

The next day we set off to Stanage (my second home over the last two weeks!) to climb for a few hours before being picked up in the minibus in town to go home. My body was still aching from the day before (and possibly still from CWIF?) so I wasn't feeling too psyched to try and push myself too hard, but it was nice to be climbing on rock again after a long while and be outside in the sun ( the day had brightened up considerably since the morning, luckily!) everyone pottered about and at the end of the day it was nice to catch up with the rest of the mountaineering club who had come down on a separate trip to the Peak. They had to endure two nights of camping in the rain when we were in a lovely hotel :p

Eventually it was time to head back into town and through a series of events involving uncooperative taxi-drivers, helpful tea and cake stall owners at plantation car-park and a spot of luck we somehow managed to get back into town for 6pm ready to head home. McDonald's provided us with yet more fast food to round the weekend off and at 11:30pm we arrived in Edinburgh completely exhausted. Well done guys, here's to next year!

2 and a half weeks til SPAIN!!!!! :D

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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The road trip begins!
6 April 2012, 11:14 pm

I'm currently on my way to Spain via Fontainebleau with Paul and Scott Gowens and Iain the guitar! We have arrived at the Eurostar terminal and are waiting on a very delayed train over to France. I am also knackered after a few very hectic and hyperactive weeks and after an awesome send-off night out which left me having only 3 hours sleep before the start of the drive! Can't complain though, too much good stuff to look forward to :)

Luckily it has been fantastic weather for the drive down so far, hopefully this will continue as we cross the channel! Tomorrow we will be spending the day in Font and we are looking to go to sectors such as Bas Cuvier, Elephant and Cul de Chien.

I am really excited about returning to Siurana a year after my first holiday there - I can't believe time has gone so fast! I don't have any specific aims in mind, I just want to relax and have fun after what has been a very busy year at university filled with essays, exams and injuries!

The last few weeks I have been trying to get my fitness up on routes but also learning to enjoy climbing again - it feels great to be able to go to the wall and climb whatever I want without feeling any niggles or pain! My heel is - healing - and my fingers feel more sturdy than normal, so I have been having fun climbing with the Ratho crew (you all know who you are!) making funny videos and even getting out to Back Bowden.

I also went mountain biking in Glentress for a day which was a good distraction from  

Training and essay writing! Iain promised not to break me and I returned unbroken save for a few bumps and scrapes! I found it to be pretty exciting and scary at times, but really fun and a good supplement to my climbing. I was very tired by the end of the day but am keen to go back again sometime when I return from Spain!

The trip to Bowden was during a rare day of good weather before the snow/hail/wind and rain arrived! Me, Iain S, Ian P, Jason and Neil travelled down and the team had a good day of bouldering, eating and banter. I managed to flash two font 7as which I had never achieved before in a day (only done one 7A in my life before this!) Everyone was doing well and the only thing holding us back at the end of the day was a lack of skin and light!

Here's to a good trip - about to board the Eurostar!

Edit: in the hotel in font now! I am extremely tired after the first half of the journey but all three of us are excited for our "rest" day from driving of climbing tomorrow!



Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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"Pren Nota" 8a - Update from Siurana :)
30 April 2012, 3:20 pm

Hola from Siurana!

With just one climbing day left we are trying to decide on the best plan of action for tomorrow. In the last two days me, Robbie and Ross have all completed our projects which means a relatively relaxed last day with no pressure! Last night we were woken up by the biggest thunder and lighting storm I have ever experienced - no matter how good our skin might have been today it was definitely destined to be a rest day! Just now we are sat in the cafe waiting to order a Spanish omelette bocadillo (a Spanish omelette in a baguette, basically!) and chilling out before our final day in the valley!

It has been a great trip for all of us. The campsite has quietened down considerably and our little patch is being increasingly invaded by alien tents :( We certainly made an impression on the campsite - Calum's special extra thick hot chocolates still live on in the cafe and one member of staff is still a bit grumpy after a certain water fight involving two of our crew accidentally splashed her. Personally I appear to have found a friend in the campsite's caretaker who turns the thermostat up each night for me before I go in the shower...shhh don't tell anyone! There has been a fantastic atmosphere in the camp and at the crag and a very international one at that. Although things got a bit competitive with the table tennis game on the iPad and the football games in the camp, no cat-fights started, even when we were sabotaging each others' tents by putting things on top of them! We have met up with friends old and new and will for sure meet up/bump into most people again at a crag in the middle of nowhere at some point in the future!

The last two days have been very productive for the remaining 3 Scots. Robbie completed his 8b+, Ross ticked his 8b and I finally succeeded on my project from last year Pren Nota 8a. My route takes on a very aesthetic line on small but positive holds through a beautiful blue and orange striped scoop of wall that starts off vertical and gets gradually steeper. In the beginning of the trip I felt fairly fit, I had managed to tick Marijuana 8a on my third attempt and had done some good onsights in the 7's, so I felt ready to take on Pren Nota once again.

The first section of "Pren Nota" 8a

There are some specific features of this route which made it challenging for me - there are two sections that require a high step mantle which I always find quite difficult (long legs and no triceps make it awkward :p ) and the positions which the mantles are in are quite exposed. Last year I never made it past the first one as I was too scared of falling off awkwardly with my feet so near my ears and being high above a bolt! This year after doing more bouldering and being exposed to weird and wonderful volume problems at Ratho I found the move much less daunting and found a method which suited me. After climbing a lot more on rock last year I was also more confident with being above the bolt and could focus purely on the climbing. However, when working the moves higher up on an early attempt I came off and swung into a bulge, hitting the side of my knee hard into the rock and narrowly missing the kneecap! Although it was very painful I wasn't too bothered by it at the time and was proud to show off the massive egg shaped bruise, but on my next attempts I definitely had something at the back of my mind telling me I could get hurt if I fell!

Heading into the steep bulge!

Unfortunately I fell victim once again to a stomach bug not dissimilar to the one I had in Ceuse and felt too ill to climb. Long days spent at the campsite playing the Logos Quiz followed and after 5 or 6 days I was ready to climb again. I suspected I would feel weak with not having climbed in a while and still felt a bit ropey (excuse the pun!) I think my frustration at being ill must have translated into aggression on the rock, as on my first attempt back I made it through to the final clip before the chain - a heartbreaker section on small crimps with bad feet which spits off so many people on the onsight or red point. I was disappointed as I was so near yet so far from the chains. I was still getting pumped and felt as though my power endurance just wasn't up to scratch. I reworked the top section and got a good sequence in my head ready for next time. Just as I was ready to go for another attempt I watched as some climbers were stripping their quickdraws out of the route - ahhh! I would have to wait until someone else put them in again or go up myself the next day. At least putting the quickdraws in would enable me to work the top section again and get a good warm up before the siege.

About to take on the 2nd mantle!

It was a cold and windy morning when I tried to put the quickdraws back into the route and climbing the moves felt quite alien. I seemed to find moves hard that I hadn't found difficult before and additionally some of the clips were very hard to put in. I tried not to get psyched out and told myself that it was a good opportunity to re-familiarise with the moves. After a good hour or so of rest the sun had come out and the wind had died down a little - perfect! I listened to some music and got ready to climb after crossing the scary ledge for what would hopefully be the last time! I felt quite relaxed as I started up and found that I was recovering quick and not grunting or huffing and puffing as much as I was previously. I was totally relaxed and not bothered at all about coming off. I focused on the moves and soon found myself past both mantles and before the final section trying to gain some composure in anticipation of the fight. I had climbed much quicker than usual and left the rest sooner than normal. The awkward clip was made and soon I was into the crimps, I felt strong but still shook out between the moves just to be sure. I grasped the final ledge and clipped and couldn't believe I had done it. I had fallen high up so many times and let the fear and pressure get to me, but finally I had overcome my demons from last year when I could barely get past halfway because of fear. Stripping the quickdraws was a bit of an epic as I was exhausted both mentally and physically, I don't think it had sunk in at that point!

Eyeing up the top crux...

Robbie has made a great video and took lots of awesome photos, some of which you can see here. It was very tiring making the video and having to re-climb the route but it was well worth it :) yesterday I watched as Robbie ticked his 8b+ and Ross his 8b - which has inspired me to try and complete a third 8a of the trip called "Memorias de una Sepia". I tried it yesterday and worked out all the moves and am hoping to get it done tomorrow. We will also be getting some more video footage and pictures - watch this space!

Looking slightly demonic nearing the chains...

We still need to find some way of getting to the airport on Wednesday. We have made a sign which is up on the front door of the cafe/bar asking if we can hitch a lift with anyone to Barcelona. The funniest thing is that Robbie started writing BARCALONA before I stopped him and told him it was spelled wrong, but the camp owners stuck it to the glass and on the other side of the door you can still see BARCAL. No wonder no one wants to give us a lift! :P

Just hanging around!

Hasta luego!

 

 

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Malham, Goredale...and Midges!
24 July 2012, 9:12 am

Last weekend we made yet another trip down to that old haunt of ours - The Yorkshire Dales! It gave us a strange sensation of "déjà-vu" as me, Robbie and Will Carroll drove down on the . Almost one year ago we had climbed and camped together surrounded by the stunningly beautiful landscape of the Dales. Our aim for this year's trip? To spend 3 days focussing our efforts on completing some new and exciting routes whilst avoiding rain and midges. Unfortunately, it is near impossible to avoid midges at this time of year in the UK, yet on every other front I'd say we were fairly successful in achieving our goals.

Ready to go!

We set up camp upon arriving at Gordale Campsite and settled down for the night, dreaming of a dry Malham Cove. Unfortunately our dreams were shattered as the rain continually pelted down onto our tents throughout the night. We arrived at the Cove to find the majority of the normally glimmering white and grey rock covered in slimy black streaks. However, luckily there was one section of the crag that appeared to be bone dry - the Upper Tier or "upstairs" as it 's known locally (and ever more increasingly by those who frequent the crag and get to know the local lingo!) We warmed up "downstairs" before setting off for the Upper Tier.  

 

A bit wet...  

I had only ever climbed at this sector once before about 5 years ago and recalled the precarious path along which you have to meander in order to safely reach the tier. Despite the slippery wet grass we all made it in one piece and chose our routes. Me and Robbie had our sights set on Herbie 7c+, a typically technical Malham test piece. Robbie had a good onsight attempt and I geared up for a flash go. It looked very bouldery in the mid section and I wasn't sure how I would feel on the route. I hadn't climbed outdoors much since Spain and certainly hadn't been on form when it came to flashing and onsighting. However, at the wall recently my attempts on new routes - despite being few and far between in number - had been quite successful. I recently onsighted my first indoor 8a which gave me high hopes for this trip. My only other concern was my left arm, which has been suffering from a minor tendon tear over the last month or so.  

I started up the route and surprisingly managed to pull off some hard moves before falling at the crux. I worked out the rest of the route carefully despite my usual impatience to do so and rested before attempting it again. Robbie had completed it second go and claimed it felt a lot easier once the moves were figured out. I hoped this would be the case for me too!  

I psyched myself up and went through the crux in my head. It involved a powerful move from a poor open tufa-like splodge up to a wide blocky jug (for want of a better description...see Robbie's blog!) I calmly cruised up the bottom section, finding it easier than before and gaining confidence with each upward progression. I pushed on into the crux and squeezed the tufa and set my feet ready for the big reach to the block. I tickled my hand closer and closer before I latched it enough to swing my feet free and continue towards the top tufa section. One of the last moves involved a long span out to a poor slopey tufa and it took a lot of composure to be summed up before finally committing and carrying on to clip the chains. I was very pleased to tick this route 2nd go, I have heard to much hype about it and it felt great to tick a classic quickly.  

Meanwhile Will was making steady progress on his new obsession - Obsession 7b+! I had tried this route once or twice 5 years ago and knew exactly how tricky it was. Will managed to pull off one of the craziest moves I have ever seen whilst working this route, a sort of controlled barn door cross- through which both amused and inspired everyone watching.  Me and Robbie were now looking to try L'obsession 7c+ upon recommendation from a climber at the crag. I watched Robbie on the onsight and prepared for the flash attempt. No matter how much Robbie tried to convince me that I could flash it, I still wouldn't believe what he was saying and settled with my normal happy go lucky approach when attempting to flash or onsight a climb.  

With the moves in my head I started up and found a rhythm of hand and foot movements that just appeared to flow. Lots of high feet and low locks on tiny holds, my strongest kind of move. I was soon past the crux and thought "oh" as I reached a good hold and shook out. Robbie mapped the next sequence out for me, but as I am terrible at multitasking by means of listening and following beta whilst en-route, I only absorbed some of the information and so battled on short-sightedly up the white wall. I could see all the holds but was unsure of the sequence to follow. Pumped and insecure, I stubbornly tried to work it out my own way but eventually tired out and dropped off. I had reached just below the second last clip and was throughly exhausted but quite proud of my efforts! I worked the top bit briefly then came down. I decided to leave it until the following day for my second go, as my skin was wearing  thin and my arms were eternally pumped! I watched Robbie climb it second go and he assured me that once again it was "easy if you now the answer" I.e. if you know all the moves well enough!  

 

Pulling through the crux of L'Obsession Photo: Will Carroll  

The next day was a big day for me, as I was being filmed by professional filmmaker Jen Randall for her upcoming movie about female climbers pushing themselves to their limit whilst having fun and living the dream in the process! It was a beautifully sunny day, which was warmly welcomed by everyone despite making the rock appear as bright and blank as a sheet of paper as the sun's rays were reflected off the cove. It was difficult to see the holds and my perception of where the holds actually were was distorted slightly in the blinding sun. I began my second attempt on L'obsession after a brief warm up whilst Jen and Dom were setting up the cameras. Will was also busy getting into his usual dangling-on-a-rope position ready to take some photos. I had intended to go up the route again to film it in sections if I ticked it second go, and there was no pressure to catch it on film, so I thought I would focus purely on getting the route done first. I got through the crux fairly smoothly and rested before the sustained top section. I visualised the top sequence, although my memory of the very top was slightly cloudy. I battled on regardless, I felt more in control than I did on the flash up until the few moves before I had fallen last time. I completely blanked and messed up the sequence but kept fighting until I was too pumped and confused to go on. I fell off, annoyed that I hadn't worked the top out properly beforehand.  

The final touches to the cameras and rigging had been made and after a short rest I decided to go for it again in full view of the cameras. I must admit it did add a bit of pressure to the ascent, yet I have become accustomed to on-the-spot pressure over the years through competition climbing. I knew what to do now and there would be little room for excuses on my third go. I felt strong on the crux and had the sequence dialled. I looked at the next section and knew what to do - I had to climb quickly and efficiently if I had any hope of getting through the tricky bit. I left the rest position rather prematurely in my over-exuberance to carry on and felt slightly pumped in the first few moves. Somehow it all came together and eventually I found myself pulling onto the top jugs right beside Jen and her camera. I had completely forgotten about the cameras being there right up until that point, I had been so focussed purely on my climbing!  

It is a great feeling when something you envisage in your mind comes to fruition, and both these routes at Malham are examples of occasions when I managed to focus on the climbing and get into the "zone" without any external influences distracting me. To top it all off, Robbie ticked an 8a second go and Will completed his project Obsession 7b+. In all a great day for the crew! Thanks must go to Jen, her Dad, Dom and Will for taking the time to film and photograph me, and to Robbie for his support and encouragement.  

 

Jen in position! Photo: Will Carroll  

After a homely pub dinner with James, Catherine, Chris, Cathy and Nicola, the trio headed back to Gordale campsite to rest up before climbing in Gordale Scar itself the next day. I first visited this crag last year but never climbed on it - an amazingly gusty ravine complete with waterfalls, bulging rockfaces and of course, tourists! Me and Robbie had our sights set on Supercool 8a+, a route for which I had heard a lot of praise. Robbie went up and scoped it out, putting the clips in and giving a good onsight burn up until the tricky mid section. It was freezing cold and windy yet it was my turn to step up to the wall. The sheer face loomed over me as I set off, I composed myself under the first bulge. I pushed on, half listening to Robbie and half focussing on what would happen if I fell off. I have a peculiar dislike for certain formations and textures if rock, if it is bulgy and sharp, I am much less likely to go for things as I am always wary of swinging into bulges, especially after a fairly scary fall in Spain this year (I was fine, just a badly bruised knee!) To add to the fear of the bulges, the exposure of the rockface is rather daunting with high winds sweeping around, which in my case uplifted my chalk bag and tipped chalk everywhere, causing a tornado of chalk to fly into my face! Just what I needed to add to my disorientation, much to the amusement of Robbie! My flash attempt was decent until I refused to commit to some hard moves just over the bulge. I came down, composed myself and then had another go.  

This time round, probably due to having hung about up there before and through getting used to the experience of being high up in a windy valley, I focused on the climbing as though I were in a competition. Much like on my successful climbs at Malham, I managed to focus purely on the moves and reached over 3/4 of the way up, coming off on the last hard move of the route. I struggled to find a sequence to get past this large span and eventually gave up. Robbie's beta was not much use to me and a lack of footholds made things a bit more tricky for me! I would love to get back on this route at some point and hopefully work out a suitable sequence that works for me. It was inspiring watching Robbie climb the route third go, a route which he too has been planning to complete for a long time now.  

 

Cranking hard on Supercool. Photo: Catherine Speakman  

My final endeavour of the trip was a 7b+ called Revival - a truly epic line which traverses across flakes and spikes before eventually meandering up a technical headwall. Will had given a sterling performance as per usual in trying to complete it, falling at the crux but looking smooth and calm all the way up. It was now up to me to get the quickdraws out and then we could leave! The first section was slightly daunting in that there were many loose blocks and a lot of tourists not too far below. I climbed cautiously and traversed across the lip of the roof until I came to the crux. I did a bizarre cross over move on poor footholds and stuck the crucial press move before coming to an easier section on good holds. I thought it was all over! Then came the last moves up to the chain. I saw an obvious undercut and then not much above it leading to a big juggy break. I hung around and kept calm. I took the undercut, tried to stand up, then came back down. I needed to shake out a bit more and then reposition. I went for it. In a stroke of luck I just so happened to grab blindly for a good side pull which was previously invisible to me. I pulled up, stood up and clipped the chains. What a relief! My first completed route at Gordale, and a quality one at that!  

Finally we could head back along the path to the car to leave for Edinburgh. It had been a busy few days and we were exhausted. A stop off at Westmorland farm shops services, however, was enticing enough for us to delay arrival at home that little bit longer. After a delicious dinner we set off again and arrived home, complete with midge bites and good memories. Here's to next year!

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Dealing with Injury - Blood, Sweat and Tears!
26 July 2012, 9:37 pm

Dealing with injury

There comes a time in every athlete's career when forced rest as a result of injury becomes a necessary evil, and a reconsideration of his or her approach to training is vital. There is a lot to be learned from the phrase - if a little cliched - "listen to your body."  It is far too tempting to become blinkered by grades, circuit reps and dead hangs in the pursuit of improvement and to ignore the short and long term damage that training through injury can inflict on our bodies!

In this blog I would like to discuss my experiences of injury over the last 12 or so years. Partly because I believe it may help others to overcome the frustration of having to endure injury-related interruptions of climbing, but also as it could additionally be used as a kind of 'therapy' for me.

My first ever injury occurred when I was about 11 or 12. I didn't do much bouldering back in the day but for some reason I was fascinated by this filthy 6C boulder problem at GCC. Tiny blades for handholds and poor feet, I was eager to complete this project and relentlessly threw myself at it until I could do it. Unfortunately, my over -exuberance caused me to damage the collateral ligament in one of my fingers. I took it easy for a while and one evening, quite by chance, there was a woman offering taster massages at the wall. Desperate for help and advice, my Dad asked if there was anything she could do for me, and after a 10 minute massage the pain appeared to disappear! I had been lucky and escaped a long term injury. Through being attentive to what my body was feeling I had done myself a favour in preventing it from getting any worse. I was young and stubborn, but I had learned a lesson that constantly throwing myself at a hard problem was a very bad idea, especially considering how young I was.

 

Me at the tender age of 10! Somehow - whether it be by luck or through circumstance, I managed to stay injury free for the next 5/6 years. The next obstacle - a femoral hernia - came about not specifically through climbing, but more so through having a genetic predisposition to hernias. In April 2009 I underwent surgery to repair it and had 8 weeks of forced rest. This was the longest cessation of climbing I had had so far, but at the same time I considered it a welcome break from training. I had exams to focus on and so believed it to be a blessing in disguise to a certain extent! However, just 6 months later, whilst competing in a round of the European Youth Cup in Munich, I felt a popping sensation whilst halfway up my second qualifier.  It wasn't particularly painful, but I recognised the feeling. The hernia had returned and I was booked in for yet another operation. The verdict? 10-12 weeks off. I was heartbroken as it meant I had to miss some important events, but I eventually took it in my stride and used it as an incentive to get stuck into training for the World Youth Championships in Ratho. I had just under 3 months to get back to full fitness for this event after my time off, and achieving 10th place in this competition meant almost as much to me as when I had won in Kranj, purely because I had had to fight so hard to keep motivated and pick myself up off the floor!

 

On top of the EYC podium in 2007 In the run-up to the WYC I had acquired my first finger injury in years. It was a partial pulley tear and gave me more pain than the hernia ever did! Remarkably, it took a year for this to heal fully, and to my mind was the most difficult to overcome mentally. It seemed to pale into insignificance in comparison to what some people have to endure in life, and was positively laughable to the non-climber who would generally consider a finger to be one of the least crucial of the body parts, considering there are 9 more digits (including thumbs here!) at our disposal. To a climber, however, an injury to this small yet crucial body part often means frustration, forced rest and shattered dreams.

Back to fitness at the WYC

I stopped using the term 'training' and resorted to 'climbing'. I resigned myself to pottering around and gradually built my level up over the year. I had sporadic rest periods and equally sporadic emotions. When the same injury occurred again in the same finger on my opposite hand just as the initial one was healing, I just couldn't believe it. What had I done to deserve this? Immediately it felt as though the world was weighing in on me. I must be getting old, falling to bits, burning out. Another good few months of aimlessness and misdirection - not knowing what to do and what not to do. It sometimes felt as though I was making it up, and as though other people didn't believe I could be injured again. Although I enjoyed hanging out at the wall, it sometimes became too much to be around climbing when I couldn't partake in it myself. Talk of training, trips and projects only deepened my disheartened sentiments .

Eventually I switched my focus towards outdoor climbing and learned to transfer the anger and frustration of injury into positive aggression on the rock. I had the best trip of my life in Ceuse last year, and with it both my finger injuries disappeared. Reading into it a little too much, perhaps,  it could have been viewed as some sort of spiritual release as pain left the body whilst I gained the strength and confidence to fight against my predicament. Whatever it was, be it pure coincidence (or magic!) , I welcomed my newfound state of fitness and confidence.

Dolce Vita 8a+, Ceuse 2011

I worked hard, I pulled harder - I was in training for the BLCCs and everything was going well. One day I decided to try a tricky problem with some friends and executed a powerful move from a pinch up to a good crimp. Suddenly I felt and heard a popping sensation in my left middle finger as I moved upwards. I dropped off the wall and stared in bewilderment at my swollen finger - tender and red with pain. I frantically manipulated it, naively expecting it simply to be a friendly 'twinge' or 'tweak' - those terms that climbers use when describing what usually turns out to be a fairly fleeting and insignificant pain. 'Twinge' in this case was very much a euphemism. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, I thought. It will be fine. Shaking slightly, I attempted to climb. It was excruciatingly painful to bend let alone put under weight, so I ran upstairs to get ice and advice. A pulley tear again. I immediately thought of the competitions I had coming up and wanted the ground to swallow me whole. Not again, not more disruption!

That was October last year and the injury has only begun to settle down this summer. In the meantime I battled against a tendinopathy on my heel, which came about through wearing tight climbing shoes. It was agony to stand or walk in rock shoes, and even normal shoes were uncomfortable. I competed in CWIF with odd shoes that were oversized - not ideal but I was determined to climb! My fingers were getting stronger and at least on the bright side I could pull myself up properly without weighting my feet! I struggled through the CWIF with my gammy feet, but fortunately in the week before BUCS I had the genius idea of splitting my shoes down the heel. It wasn't perfect but made my footwork improve by miles as I could wear my normal shoes. I managed to win BUCS despite having had a very interrupted few weeks of climbing and had overcome yet another hurdle.

At BUCS...complete with cut shoe and cow tape!

My most recent niggle has been a partial tendon tear in my left forearm, just above the elbow. It is by no means excruciating but I've been very cautious about overstraining and causing more damage. After my trip to Yorkshire this weekend it feels much better, perhaps due to the lower intensity of climbing on rock or the magical powers of limestone!

Those closest to me will know that over the years I have really struggled to come to terms and cope with these injuries. I have tried (and sometimes failed) to put a brave face on and not dwell on them. The lingering niggles were the worst - never feeling serious enough not to climb, but always making themselves known and preventing me from trusting and enjoying myself. Like so many other people, every time I recover from an injury there is always the uncertainty as to how far you can push yourself and when. Despite the relief of being injury free, I found myself being too scared to build myself up again with the possibility of being brought right back down once more. Last October I met double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes at a reception in London, and whilst carrying out a bit of research on her career I read a quote of hers which really resonated with my experiences of injury - "You have all those dreams and then something goes wrong, and I just thought everything’s going too good, and it’s just going to go away from me again.” This made her success even more poignant - the struggle with years of injury and disappointment, and her fight to keep running competitively with the fear of injury constantly on her mind. After an almost constant stream of injuries, I found it hard to motivate myself to commit to hard training again, partly because I was fearful of hurting myself, but also as I was reluctant to build my hopes up and get too focussed on a goal which could be destroyed or delayed by injury at the most inconvenient moment. It is easy to get caught up in a vicious circle of negativity in which the worst is always expected, and it's this circle which needs to be broken in order to progress with training. At times I felt as though there was so much inertia in my climbing: I had been so accustomed to doing things and going places and being so active that when this lifestyle was taken away from me I felt slightly lazy and, to put it bluntly, worthless. I think this is very common amongst athletes and indeed anyone who is prevented from leading the busy lifestyle they normally lead - it is difficult to acclimatise when momentum is lost and your usual rhythm is distorted.

I have come to realise that I have developed an efficient coping strategy for dealing with injury, purely by distracting myself from the pain and rewriting my brain's negative perceptions of being injured.

Rather than focussing on the negatives : pain, no climbing, fitness loss, and no competing, I instead take each one and turn it into a positive : pain - my body will get stronger upon healing, the pain is telling me to change something. No climbing- I can focus on other aspects of life and help others to climb their best. Fitness loss - after time off I will be extra motivated to push hard, which will take me further than I would have gone had I not been injured. No competing - I can be inspired by watching others compete and perhaps notice and learn things that would otherwise pass me by. I can learn to enjoy climbing indoors and on rock with no pressure.

The social side of climbing: having fun on the rocks with friends!

Any aggression or frustration is channelled into positive energy for completing a climb or an exercise, not matter how intense it may be. Pulling hard on a project or warming down after a session, the energy for climbing is flowing and the psyche remains intact! Everyone is likely to be affected by an injury of some sort at some point in life, and for me the best advice is simply to change your focus and know that "this day too shall pass". I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason and what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger - if not physically, there will almost certainly be a strengthened mind to carry you upwards, whatever your goals may be.

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Looping the Loup!
8 August 2012, 9:56 am

I am currently lying on our air bed enjoying the last few hours of the evening sun before we cook dinner. This has been our first week of travelling and climbing in France. Time has passed so quickly that it's hard to believe we have been out for that long. It certainly doesn't feel like we have done that much, but driving and general moving around has eaten up a lot of our climbing time. However, we have still been having fun living the dream in Alex's big orange van - swimming in rivers, visiting

pretty villages and pulling hard on French limestone.

We began the long and arduous (perhaps too strong a word!) journey from Edinburgh to France by first taking the train to Sheffield. We were then picked up by Alex Barrows and began the drive south, stopping off in the van not far from the eurotunnel in anticipation of an early start to catch the 6:30am train across to Calais. We stopped off at La Balme, which was way too hot to do any climbing, so after a day spent there we continued on to Gorges du Loup.

On our first day I managed to tick an 8a second go, Super Mekanik. I had tried this route once or twice 4 years ago when I came to Loup with some foreign friends (the Baby Bichos!) It was too bouldery and powerful for me back then, but this time I felt so much stronger and was pleased to get it done. My next project was Sika 8a, another route I had tried on my previous trip. On my retro flash attempt I managed to get up to about 3/4 of the way, messing up my sequence and getting too pumped! After a rest day I tried again and managed to fluff the second last move about 5 times before finally ticking the route on Monday. I worked the next section of Sika 2 8b, a route I would like to get back on before the end of the trip.

My sights had been set on my next route since first trying it 4 years ago - Deverse  Satanique 8a+, a true classic of the crag and a route which gives the Deverse sector it's name.  I had one attempt to try and retro flash it, falling just after the crux and getting very tired and pumped. I worked the moves and the next day I managed to tick it 3rd try! I was really happy to get it done after years of wanting to go back and sort out my unfinished business!

At the end of the day yesterday I worked an 8b called SataniX, which starts up the same line as the 8a+ and then flows straight up a tricky tufa section onto a crimpy vertical section. I really enjoyed climbing the moves, despite feeling knackered and in need of a rest day! Tomorrow I will try and red point it - I think it may take some time but to tick my first 8b in Loup would be amazing! Robbie helped me work out the top section as he is trying Hot Chilli X 8c, which also follows the top vertical line.

We are all having a great time despite finding the climbing tough, although I think the boys are finding the freezing cold river more of a challenge than the climbing - I seem to be much better suited to enduring cold water temperatures. Maybe I should take up swimming? :p

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Pushing the grade - my first 8b!
23 August 2012, 1:46 pm

It's just over a year ago since I climbed my first 8a outdoors. Having focussed primarily on indoor training for the majority of my climbing career up until that point, it felt like a big achievement for me. When you first break into a grade it inspires confidence in your ability to climb more routes of the same level, and since completing my first 8a in Siurana last April, I have now climbed 12 in total. Whilst climbing in Ceuse last year I broke the 8a+ barrier, which both took me by surprise yet also made me wonder whether I was capable of climbing just a little bit harder...

Due to studying at university and through having to endure persistent niggling injuries, my training had to take the back seat for the last year or so. I had had rare and precious intervals of being fit to train, and I really had to make the most of these without pushing too far. Sometimes the motivation wasn't there and if I'm honest, I was mostly floating around the wall trying to have fun and not get frustrated at my lack of focus for training. I had no specific goals and no dates to achieve them by, which is a peculiar notion if you happen to be a competition climber who is used to having their motivation and aims dictated by a calendar of events on exact dates throughout the year. It is possible in a competition to know beforehand the hour, let alone the date, in which you will need to perform. However, on rock it is a completely different story. You may have a trip planned with a start and end date, yet there are many more variables which can interfere with your performance. Weather, conditions, other people's plans and gut instincts come into play, and picking the right routes and the right moments becomes more difficult. The choice is yours - whether to take it easy or push it to the limit.

Personally, I find it a lot harder to get into the "zone" when outdoor climbing. It is fairly easy in a competition to get psyched up and ready to go - the impetus to succeed is right there in the heat of the moment. You only have one chance and the computer has decided for you when it's time to step up to the wall. In order to win, you have to focus NOW! At the crag I can sometimes take on a happy go lucky, slightly blasé approach to climbing. I could try really hard and go for it, or I could quite easily just sit about and wait for the "right" moment to get on a project. There is no time constraint in this game other than that which you decide to place on yourself. As a result I think I have had a tendency to rest on my laurels and think "I will climb grade x when I'm ready. I'm not 100% fit just now. There's no rush. Maybe next year...or 5?"

Having just returned from Gorges du Loup, I would say my approach to red pointing changed dramatically. I went out feeling fairly well-rounded physically - not too strong but not weak either, not too fit but fitter than I've been in a while. Additionally, I think the fact that I had visited Gorges du Loup previously 4 years ago filled me with confidence - I knew what to expect and I knew I was a lot stronger and fitter comparatively than I was at 16. I went out with the intention of climbing 8b. I had gained enough mileage in the lower 8's that to shy away from trying an 8b would just be silly. I gradually worked my way through the grades in the first week and a half, climbing two 8a's and an 8a+, the bottom of which was also the start of an 8b I had set my sights on - Deverse SatanX.

The first section of the route provided flowing movements on good blocky/tufa holds, a short 7b in difficulty. The mid section was the trickiest for me to work out - moving across from a shouldery pink tufa onto some undercuts and side pulls on a crozzly tufa system, before coming to an awkward rest on The Mushroom hold. Luckily a sneaky knee bar provided a more comfortable stay on The Mushroom, and interestingly - although Robbie and I both used a knee bar in this rest position - I favoured right knee and Robbie the left, along with a toe hook on a lower tufa. From here to the top involved some more technical climbing on crimps, but also featured some powerful shoulder presses on tufas, which almost always exhausted me by the time I was nearing the crimps.

Part of Robbie's route map (far superior to mine!) of Deverse SatanX 8b

The night before we were due to try the route again, Robbie and I drew our own route maps and rehearsed the sequence in the field of our camp. We must have looked like martial arts enthusiasts - eyes closed, limbs moving in all directions yet our movements were always executed with poise and control (if only they worked that well on the rock every time!) The route still felt difficult and there was a day or two when I seriously started doubting myself. I simply wouldn't be able to link all of these moves together, there is too much to think about!  I kept at it and gradually with each try I was inching closer and closer. So near yet so far. In three consecutive attempts I fell off one hold higher each time, working out a better foot sequence after falling. With every attempt I felt I would need to give so much more in order to overcome the difficulty of the route. However, one day everything fell into place and I somehow found myself at the chains, clipping the rope in and sighing in relief. Maybe I had waited for the perfect moment, or maybe I just believed that little bit more in myself. It was one of those glorious moments when something which felt so hard along the journey to completion eventually felt within my capabilities, yet still required my absolute and undivided attention. It hadn't quite hit me yet, but I'd just completed my first 8b. After a good few years of setbacks with injuries and a feeling of stagnation I had finally moved forward and pushed my climbing to a level I had always wanted to achieve. Onwards and upwards!

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Scottish Youth Climbing Championships 2012
17 September 2012, 9:02 pm

Back in the day - all of 10 years ago - I would have loved to have taken part in an event which offered both competition and fun in equal measure, and one which was delivered as professionally as I experienced at the SYCC on Saturday. When I was about 8 or 9, the only local youth competition that I had to look forward to was the BRYCS, (the ancient form of the YCS) and meeting up with fellow young, keen climbers was a rare treat. David + Robert discussing their route

The outstanding facility that is EICA:Ratho didn't even exist, and was merely a seed about to be borne in the minds of its creators. I'm not in any means attempting to play down my early years, as I believe they were a great education in both my climbing life and life in general, but I have to admit that a young me would be very envious of the emerging youth scene here in Scotland. Envious isn’t the word now, however, as I am excited by so much potential and proud to see it developing on home turf. There is definitely a feeling in the air that something big is about to happen in climbing, brought about not only by the news of the 2020 Olympic Lead Climbing bid (which is fantastic, don't get me wrong!) but rather a sensation that something a bit closer to home at grass-roots level is gradually working its way upwards, past the crux and about to reach the top...Calum Forsyth demoing

I arrived at EICA:Ratho bright and early on Saturday morning, but unfortunately not early enough to accommodate for the numerous excitable kids and parents who welcomed me as I was rushed over to warm up for demonstrations. That was something I made a mental note of - none of the kids seemed particularly anxious or pent up with nerves. Boys were running around chasing each other, girls were gossiping, and parents were chatting amongst themselves amidst the hustle and bustle of their children.

Jodie Brown confidently leading her final routeThese differing approaches to competitions fascinate me, and I think the ability to be having fun with your friends one minute and then the next be putting on a straight(ish) face the next as you are faced with a gutsy few minutes of climbing is a very admirable quality. Bleary-eyed and certainly not bushy-tailed, I put on the straightest face one can muster at tooearly o’clock in the morning and completed my demos, a straight face broken only by Calum’s mischievous whispers of “Do it for Stoats Nat! And Scarpa! And Petzl! And Blurr!” I apparently managed to make the routes look deceptively easier than they felt for me and even found a (rather unnecessary but novelty) kneebar on one of the routes! I filled the rest of my day after demos with judging, taking photos, giving out Stoats bars, encouraging the kids and being inspired by lots of amazing performances.

David Miedzybrodksi on his final routeThroughout the qualifiers there were some very spirited performances from the younger kids in the competition. I watched as 11 year old Connor Moore breezed his way up the black 6c+ that I had demoed, making it look all too easy until a tricky dynamic move just shy of the top. Fresh from climbing his first 7b project just a few days ago, Connor was looking on top form and would be hard to beat in the finals. He topped his second route with ease and showed great focus throughout the day despite having to pose for this portrait with his younger sister Katie!

Katie + Connor eating tic tacs :PKatie takes after her big brother both in nature and in climbing – she is dynamic, strong and determined, and always bubbling over with excitement to be climbing in a big competition. Katie topped her first qualifier and did very well on her second which put her through to the final – Team Moore had had a successful morning! The Harland-Sendra brothers Sam and Leo had also proved themselves worthy competitors in reaching the finals, and were one of many sibling duos taking on the walls at this competition. The Miedzybrodskis, The Bosis , The Freireichs, The Davidsons…climbing must be in their genes!

Perhaps the award for Most Tenacious Climber of the Morning should go to 8 year old Stephanie Millar, who refused to give up on her second route and hung in there until her arms eventually gave in. These younger climbers very rarely seem to need any lessons on determination, something which really inspires me to try harder when I am climbing!

Kirsten Taylor on her final routeMy protégées Kirsten Taylor and Jodie Brown did themselves proud in the qualifiers. Despite her recent ankle sprain Kirsten did very well in persisting with climbing as best she could, but understandably she was a bit distracted and more cautious than normal with the pain in her foot. I have no doubt that she will get back up and climbing again soon as she always has done after a setback – her willingness to do her best  and take part alongside her friends is certainly something to be admired. Rebecca Kinghorn, Emma Powell and Kirsten Gray were leading this category and it was particularly exciting to see Kirsten returning from injury looking so strong on the wall.

Eilidh Vas Payne battling it out for glory on her final route!Jodie was her usual gutsy and resilient self and showed how far her leading has progressed in recent months, onsighting 6cs now and putting her Dad to shame!  Just kidding Dave!  Her routes were those that I had demoed, so I had a rough idea as to how she would fare on them. As usual and as is particularly evident when climbing in a competition, Jodie surpassed my expectations. On the tricky, techy green 7a+ she moved past the first crux and fought hard on the tough upper section before succumbing to the pump. On the black route the slopey pinches caused her more difficulty but I was proud of her attempt nonetheless.

YUMMY STOATS GOODIES!!!!A few more Stoats bars and photographs later and I was watching the older boys and girls on their second routes. William “4^th in the World!” Bosi,  Angus “I’ve grown almost as tall as Nat :O” Davidson easily topped both routes alongside Irish bouldering legend Dom Burns, causing everyone to hedge their bets on an exciting final! Equally as close-run is the Youth A girls category, with Rachel Carr, Eleanor Hopkins and Rebekah Drummond, who have all been climbing at a very similar level recently, so I was expecting a neck and neck, (or neck, neck and neck?) situation all the way through. I hope these girls continue to pursue their competitive climbing career through the next few difficult years of school and life in general, which seem to result in a high drop-out rate for girls in particular. Stick with it is what I’d advise, but when academia comes along it is difficult to concentrate on one thing when your mind is on two, three, four, five or maybe 20 things at once!

Rory Cargill winning his category (Youth C Boys)In the oldest categories Calum Forsyth miraculously transformed from EICA worker to competitor and back throughout the day and still managed to give it his all on the wall! Who could miss his bright orange/pink/now yellowish stripe on top of his head and bright orange t-shirt to match? Juggling Jess McCaskey performed well on some tricky routes and kept the ever-waning Junior Female flame burning – where did all the girls go? Please come back!

It was time for the finals and after preparing the prize hampers which were kindly donated by Stoats I was ready to sit  down (with camera and iPad in hand) and watch the best young climbers in Scotland battle it out for the podium positions. Passing through isolation assured me that the mood was just as hyperactive and energetic as it was in the morning, and I was looking forward to a good show. The youngest were the first to emerge from the loony bin/isolation and seemed tiny in comparison with the 20+ metre “Justice” wall. Matthew Fall, victor of Youth D BoysWhat they lacked in stature they more than made up for in spirit as they tackled the 7a+ route. Little Leo climbed well through the first groove until a tricky section on pockets caused him some trouble. Ben Freireich powered his way up towards the top to clinch Gold and Leo placed 3^rd after a strong young climber from Durham. Katie Moore fought past some big moves and also took bronze – a strong category for the Scotland South Team!  Katie’s brother Connor walked out calmly from isolation and topped the route with the poise and control of a climber who is capable of doing a lot more. Watch this space! The supremely talented Matthew Fall also topped out and due to his faster climbing style took Gold - it was 1^st and 2^nd and 3^rd Place for EICA: Ratho climbers, with Euan Farmer taking Bronze. Rory Whyte from Glasgow put in a stellar performance but unfortunately injured his finger whilst on the route - GET WELL SOON RORY!!!

On the same route Rhiannon Freireich took Gold once more (her trophy cabinet must be at breaking point just now!) and EICA’s Holly Davis took a worthy 2^nd place on what seemed to be a very long and technical route. Rebecca Kinghorn placing 2nd in Youth C GirlsGirls Youth C is a category which makes me wonder what these girls will be capable of when they enter Youth B and potentially start competing abroad in European and World events. Emma Powell, Rebecca Kinghorn and Kirsten Gray are all very promising young climbers who were up against a crimpy 7b route on the “Justice” wall. Rebecca climbed smoothly and in control up towards the top and lowered to rapturous applause. Kirsten Gray climbed to a shouldery press move, struggling to find the power to overcome it. Emma Powell climbed quickly and efficiently up to the crux and made it look frighteningly easy – she even dyno’ed for the last hold and caught it! Emma is a fellow Lyon Equipment team member, so it was great to be able to support her at this event.

Boys Youth C is an equally intriguing category, with the up and coming Sam Harland Sendra, David Miedzybrodski and Rory Cargill being the top climbers in Scotland (and some of the best in Britain) for their age group and showing bags of promise. On the day Rory fought through to the slopey crux of the route shared with the two older girls categories – which looked about 7c/+ - to victory, closely followed by David and Carson Carnduff from Team Ireland, another incredibly strong climber who can frequently be seen training at Ratho. Sam unfortunately didn’t make the podium, but it won’t be long until he is up there again soon, no doubt about it!

Boys Youth C Podium (Rory Cargill 1st, David Miedzybrodksi 2nd, Carson 3rd)

Then it was on to Boys Youth B – a very exciting group to watch, including 4^th in the World William Bosi, multiple British Champ Angus Davidson, European Youth Bouldering Champion Dom Burns and fellow strong Irishman Jamie Rankin. With each boy getting gradually higher in succession it made for a nailbiting final, and William proved himself worthy of his new world status with an impeccably smooth top-out of a filthy technical masterpiece! Girls Youth B was dominated once more by the ever-smiling Eilidh Vass Payne and followed by Megan Saunders and Emily Eadie. A well-deserved win from Eilidh, even if she did steal my shoes!

Youth B Boys Podium (William Bosi 1st, Angus Davidson 2nd, Dominic Burns 3rd)

By now our necks were sore from looking up but spirits were high in the arena as Youth A entered. In the girls Rachel Carr pipped Eleanor Hopkins and Rebekkah Drummond to 1^st place, putting her bouldering power to good use on a particularly bouldery route.  GB Team member Connor Byrne came up from England to take gold in the male category, followed by Scott Keir and Jack Gomersall (in his fantastically Orange Edelrid trousers) on the horrific green route shared with Youth B boys.

Youth C Girls Podium (Emma Powell 1st, Rebecca Kinghorn 2nd, Kirsten Gray 3rd)

Finally, the Juniors – all 4 of them across the male and female categories – put themselves to the test. Jessica McCaskey had a comfortable win, matching the efforts of the younger girls in the A Category and falling in the top slopey section.  Calum also won by a good margin despite finding a loose hold on the Boys B and A route – the combined strength of these boys was obviously too much for the T-Nut to handle!

Youth B Girls Podium (Eilidh Vas Payne 1st, Megan Saunders 2nd, Christie Macleod 3rd)

The Speed climbing provided a great spectacle, with fastest climber of the day being the unbeatable Alexander Bosi, who looks set to achieve some sub-13 second times very soon!

The awards ceremony followed and the kids were still full of energy, in contrast to some weary-looking parents and coaches! Our 1st placers were very keen on their Stoats hampers, and I doubt they would be willing to share it out with friends…or maybe that’s just me and Robbie? Joking aside, a big thank you must go to Stoats for providing us with the hampers and samples which were given out throughout the day. One of the funniest moments of the day must have been when David Miedzybrodski attempted to jump onto the podium and just missed it, stumbling and falling over! I think Robbie needs to give him some podium-climbing training!

Youth E Boys Podium (Ben Freireich 1st, Joseph 2nd, Leo Harland-Sendra 3rd)

Yet another well-organised and well-attended youth event run by the MCofS and EICA:Ratho – congratulations to all of the kids who took part and hopefully learned something about their climbing or perhaps a little life lesson to carry with them along the way. If not, at least they had fun doing something they love. If lead climbing does win the Olympic 2020 bid, then Scotland’s ever growing hotspot of youth climbing will have something even bigger to aspire towards…

 

Geek: Do you need a brush Busby?

 

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Grenoblog no.1!
2 October 2012, 8:36 pm

I am now four days into my 10 week stint in Grenoble, France and already it feels as though I've been here for considerably longer! I am working for Entre-Prises Climbing Walls France and have had a great first few days getting to know the team and learning a bit more about the company. Anyone who has an interest in indoor climbing will be aware that Entre-Prises is a leading manufacturer of climbing walls and holds - if you head down to your local climbing centre you can be sure of finding at least one hold or maybe even a wall that Entre-Prises can take credit for. When I was younger I was supported by EP-UK and received holds for my home wall in the garage, and Entre-Prises has always been an organisation that I respect and know a fair bit about.

I arrived in Grenoble on Saturday evening after a pleasant journey with no hiccups and was filled with a mix of excitement and a bit of anxiety as to what was awaiting me. One of my colocataires (housemates) Fabrice (a French tutor)came to meet me at the station with his girlfriend and took me to my new home. It was strange being thrown in at the deep end and having to speak solely in French, but after the short car journey (stopping for pizza on the way!) I was starting to feel more at ease. We arrived at the house and it was even nicer than I had imagined, and we settled down to eat our pizza before heading off to watch a film at the cinema.

The next day was a Sunday so there wasn't much to do other than try and get my bearings and of course pay a visit to the local wall! I didn't climb as I felt tired from the day before and wanted to be reasonably fresh for work. I also figured out where I would be meeting my lift the next day, just 15 minutes down the road. In the evening I met my other housemate Yoann, who I sort-of knew beforehand as he is a member of the French speed climbing team! We had been to a few of the same competitions but had never spoken in person before, and it was quite by chance that I managed to find a room in his house. It was great to be able to talk to a climber in French and get some more practice before starting work...



 

I got up earlier than necessary as is compulsory when one starts something new or has a big day ahead of them! I walked to the rendez-vous point and met Fred a few minutes later. Luckily we recognised each other from Facebook photos (and also I doubt there would be many people waiting to be picked up from this particular point - I did get some funny looks from people in cars!) It took us half an hour or so to arrive in St Vincent de Mercuze and unfortunately the cloudy weather prevented me from seeing the mountainous Massifs which were all around us. After a good chat about climbing, Scotland, Grenoble and all things Entre-Prises we arrived at the offices. I was welcomed by a donkey and a pony which were outside in the yard!

 



Friendly donkey...shy donkey...I think I scared it! :(

It was amazing being at the centre of one of the most influential climbing companies in the world. I walked through the door (which had a hold as a handle) and was given a brief tour of the premises by Fred. There was the workshop complete with a small training board and lots of boxes of holds (although the holds are no longer produced in France) and lots and lots of climbing posters and paraphernalia decorating the walls and desks. The staff members in the small team of 12 people were all really friendly, and I still have to meet one or two! I was immediately offered a cup of tea and was being told all about the company and its history. I sat in the office with two other Natalie B's - that's right, I'm the third Natalie B to arrive at the EP-France offices! I was given nicknames such as "Natalie la jeune", "Natalie sans 'h'", "Natalie la grimpeuse" et "Natalie la troisième" in order to distinguish me from the other NB's! I was starting to feel very at home and was gaining confidence with each word spoken.

 

It took a while to get my office set up and my computer accounts ready, but I was too busy being distracted by the collection of random objects around me. I had my own hold on my desk (from the Club 3 set, by the way!), as everyone in the office does. I decided to use it as a pen holder or Stoats bar holder! I also had a pop-up model of a climbing wall on my desk and my own box of green tea (how did they know I love green tea? :P) Eventually I started working on translating the Sales Texts for the database of holds ready to be put into the next brochure. This involved translation from French-English and vice-versa and also some text production in both French and English. I am fortunate in that I happen to know a lot of the EP holds very well, but I was also able to make good use of the latest brochure and the EP website to help me in writing the descriptions. I had worked fairly efficiently and managed to finish the French-English translation by lunchtime. I got to know the rest of the team a bit better as a group of us sat around the table eating lunch and I was offered apples, yoghurts and all sorts of edible things as I had only eaten a small pasta dish that I had bought in the UK - the shops weren't open on Sunday I wasn't able to do any shopping! :P I wasn't bothered but it showed me how friendly and welcoming everyone was. After lunch it was back to work, and my climbing hold vocabulary was expanding already, as was my knowledge of the entire EP range! With over 100 holds/sets to work my way through I was kept busy for the rest of the day, feeling quite tired by the end of my shift through so much concentrated effort in two languages! I already had offers to go climbing on rock and indoors and I felt very warmly welcomed into the team. I got a lift home from Léo this time at about 6:30pm and once again it was good to be able to get to know a different team member and talk about climbing and non-work related topics. After a brief visit to the supermarket (I now have a quilt and more importantly - FOOD!) I went back to the house and chatted with Yoann and Fabrice for a while before heading to bed. All in all a great first day in the office!

Casual climbing stuff on my desk...as you do!

Stoats Hold-er!

Today was a slightly shorter day and a beautiful one at that. The views this morning were spectacular as we passed through the Chartreuse and the Belledonne Massifs. I had met Fred once again at the crossroads (in the little Entre-Prises van!) and settled into my desk upon arrival. I found out that I now have my own company email address (not giving it to any of you as I know you will spam me! ;)) and my own phone. After a mini panic due to the Excel file having been saved in a weird location (we had problems with my account the day before and things were a bit mixed up) and me thinking I had lost all of yesterday's work, luckily everything was safe and tucked away in a different folder and I continued my work on the database. Fred and Leo went off to climb in the afternoon and I stayed and worked until 4:30pm after having a picnic in the sun with Meta, Jean-Charles and Christophe (on a really cool table with Entre-Prises carved into it!). I got a lift home from Francois and decided to check out the local wall properly and go bouldering. After making what could possibly be the worst omelette in the world - Robbie would be very disappointed, for he is the King of Omelettes! - I headed off to Espace Vertical 2. 20 seconds or so later I was there, and luckily for me now that I am in the Entre-Prises team I get free entry to the wall, as EP are associated with the centre and all staff are entitled to free entry. I found this out yesterday and am very grateful for the fact that working for a company I really admire also helps me to continue training whilst I'm abroad. The bouldering wall was better than I thought it would be and I enjoyed moving on the wall after not having climbed for over a week (quelle catastrophe!) Tired and now with less skin on my hands, I made the awfully long journey of 100m or so back to the house and chatted to Fabrice for a bit. It's good to have so many different people of different ages, occupations and nationalities to practice speaking with. I now have omelette-envy after Yoann made himself a much better one than I created/destroyed earlier, and am looking forward to my 3rd day at work tomorrow, a meet-up with Alice later in the week (fellow Edinburgh University student on year abroad) and a climbing session on rock at some point over the weekend with Meta and maybe some others from Team-EP.



L'Equipe EP-France: Florelle, François, Fred, ?(not met yet! :P), Jean-Charles, Meta, Nathalie B (1), Mickaël, Nathalie B (2), Yves, Claude and Léo! (and Christophe who is missing...)

It is amazing how quickly you can adapt to new surroundings if you are somewhere with friendly people who share a common interest. Maybe it's because I'm used to going abroad a lot and constantly meeting new people through climbing, but I also know that I'm very lucky to have been able to come here in the first place. As I was told before I left for Grenoble, I certainly have "landed on my feet" after all the changes and confusion that occurred when my initial placement fell through! J'ai de la chance…à plus!

You can't get rid of the guy below...he even speaks French?! :P



Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Grenoblog 2!
7 October 2012, 8:19 pm



Grenoblog 2!

 

It doesn't feel like I've been here for just over a week - the last few days have been so jam packed full of exciting activities that I've lost track of time, I've barely had time to think! I definitely feel very much at home here and am surrounded by a great bunch of people in an amazing environment. The weather started to brighten up on Tuesday and it's been a few glorious days of sunshine, picnics at lunch, climbing on rock and wandering around the beautiful town centre admiring the mountains and absorbing the culture of Grenoble.



 

On the way to the meeting point to get a lift to work...not a bad view?  

 

On Wednesday I completed my third day in the office. The Entre-Prises office is not like your normal office in many ways and I can easily spend 8/9 hours there without feeling restricted or frustrated. The chat in the office is amusing and light-hearted, and gradually I am starting to tune in more to the jokes and plaisanteries of the small office community. There is the famous (within EP, anyway) Christophe Sharma - the French version of Chris Sharma who climbs 6b, the mixed bag that is the music of Jean-Charles and the lunchtime tales about amusing climbing incidents and general chatter.  There is always talk of climbing and being in the office doesn't seem such a bad thing when one has the opportunity to climb outdoors and the Vercors, Belledonne and Chartreuse Massifs are surrounding the workplace! At first it was difficult for me to be able to understand a fair bit of the lunchtime chat, as natives speaking their language together understandably have a far faster pace of speaking than when they speak to you as a learner. Day by day I am starting to become more attuned to the language - I'm like a little radio receiver trying to tune in to the correct frequency. It is also difficult when learning a language to be able to understand what someone else is saying properly and then to be able to muster up a response quick enough before the conversation has progressed to a completely different level. Again, this is something that I have been getting accustomed to, and something that I hope will continue to improve over the next 9 weeks!

 

Work-wise I completed my task of translating and creating sales texts for the new EP brochure, and moved on to carrying out some marketing research and a translation of a job description from French to English. One of the reasons I decided to work in France rather than study at a university was because I believed it would give me a broader spectrum of learning about life in the workplace and give me some transferrable skills for the future if the opportunity arises. I have mainly been working with Excel producing large spreadsheets in a mix of French and English - I knew those computing classes in school would help me someday! I am also completely immersed in French for around 9/10 hours each day, which at first caused a few headaches but now I'm more used to it, thankfully! It's been great learning about how a business is run and bits and pieces about Sales and Marketing in particular, as Fred works in this area and is a kind of 'chaperone' for my time here. I am jokingly and I think, affectionately called the baby of the EP family, being the youngest in the office! :P I am keeping a sheet of vocabulary at my side and adding to it each day whenever I hear a funny or useful phrase spoken by one of my colleagues - the result is a rather bizarre mix of odd phrases which I certainly would never have learned in school or University...and a few climbing terms too! On Thursday I completed my work from the day before and was given the obligatory T-Shirt - I am now a fully fledged member of the EP team it would seem! I sent a message to Colin at EP-UK to tell him that I was being well looked-after and he responded admitting to be very jealous of my adventures - sorry Colin! :P

 

Little bit of home on my desk...

 

On Friday I went climbing on rock for the first time since my arrival in Grenoble with Meta - a really friendly Dutch girl who also works with EP. Meta has lived in France for 10 years or so, and it's great to be able to talk to someone who has had to learn French as a non-native and share experiences. As the two younger girls in the office (as well as the two older Nats) we stick together and she makes sure the boys aren't being trop méchant or swearing too much! :P We met outside Espace Vertical 2 - the local wall - at 9:30am and had a leisurely drive up to the crag - La Goulandière - which included annoying diversions, but equally it meant we had to take an even more beautiful and touristic route than normal. The views of the Vercors and the  surrounding landscape was breathtaking, and I didn't manage to take any photos that did it justice! We arrived at the crag after a tiring half hour walk in and I was taken aback by the size of the routes - 35-40 metres of perfect limestone, some parts riddles with mini tufas that resembled the pipes of an organ. We warmed up on what was probably the most aesthetic and enjoyable 6b I've ever climbed - it was as though someone had intentionally created this route with a specific sequence in mind. Some bizarre but wonderful rock formations greeted me on the way up - threads, colonettes...a real mix of interesting holds that I'd never encountered before! I then made a bit of a mistake in trying to onsight a 7c in the full heat of the sun, but I was proud of my efforts in reaching the crux whilst placing quickdraws, then falling and working the rest of the route. I forced myself to figure out a good sequence in case I return. For the rest of the day we focussed on easier routes, and I managed to onsight a fantastic 7a called Lolo Blues which was around 40 metres long! After taking a photo of me at the crag with the intention of making Colin at EP-UK even more jealous, Meta completed her 6a and 6b with ease and we moved on to a 6c round the corner. It involved a leap/bridge from a massive slab of detached rock onto the main headwall, and as I neared the top I was met with some seeping juggy pockets which made my hands all mucky. The next section was nails and had no chalk whatsoever, and due to my poor routereading I had also missed a good crimp just up and left of the slab I was trying to slither up. In the end I was so knackered from trying to hang on to the wet holds that I fell off :P Not my best performance but conditions weren't great (that's my excuse anyway! :P) We finished on another two 6b's and after having climbed 5 routes at 35-40 metres in length we were rather knackered! The journey home was filled with more sights and some chat about life in France and in the office. My first day on rock here and one that has whet my appetite for more. I may be going to Ceuse and St Leger this weekend - watch this space, weather dependent!

 

Part of La Goulandiére...was hard to get a decent picture...

 

On the Friday evening I met up with a Grenoblois friend who spent a semester in Edinburgh last year and was a well-loved member of the EUMC (Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club). Mathieu recommended a little bar to go to  and we spent an hour chatting about Edinburgh and Grenoble and arranged to climb the next day at a different wall called Ablok - a bouldering only centre about 25 minutes walk away. I got a bit lost but eventually made it and was blown away by the quality of the wall and the setting. Again I was entitled to free entry through my work at EP which I'm very grateful for! I managed to do a lot of the blue problems but none of the reds, and enjoyed the technical, balance-orientated nature of most of the problems. There were no ridiculously big moves that were impossible, everything was all concerned with subtlety of movement and a bit of cunning! Afte a good few hours there I walked back home, exhausted. After being woken up in the middle of the night by explosions and seeing a car burning on the street beside us, I had a lie in and woke up fairly late before walking into the town centre for the first time to meet up with my friend Alice, a fellow Edinburgh student. We went for a hot drink at a lovely cafe and I was presented with a BOWL of hot chocolate  amazing! She gave me a great tour of the town (she has been here 5 weeks now!) and we graduated from talking English at first to communicating fully in french, which worked very well and was good fun. It was nice to meet up with someone else from Uni to see how their experience of studying abroad at a University compared to my work, and we came to the conclusion that there are pros and cons for each. Otherwise, we are just happy to be able to make the most of such an amazing opportunity to spend time abroad as part of a University course. We took some photos and agreed to meet up sometime soon for a trek in the Vercors or a drink somewhere.

 

 Ablok! (just a very small part of it...)

Relaxing after a bowl of hot chocolate!

 

Tomorrow marks the start of my second week (well, 4 days! :P ) of work and adventures. I have also just decided to participate in a round of the Coupe de France in Valence on the 28th - it will be a whole different kettle of fish to what I'm used to but it will be a fantastic experience for me! I have three weeks to get a bit fitter and stronger and I will see how it goes. I am soon to be a member of the L'ALE Escalade club in Echirolles, so that I can be provided with a licence to compete in France.

 

Finally I would like to say a big well done to all those who competed in the BLCCs this weekend, especially the Scottish crew and of course my partner in climb/crime/other half Robbie! :D

 

La belle ville de Grenoble!



Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Grenoblog 3
15 October 2012, 6:08 pm

I'm now into my 3rd week of 10 here in Grenoble, and so far the last week has definitely been the most full-on - I've barely had time to breathe! It's getting much colder here now and this morning we woke up to snow-topped mountains over in the Belledonne Massif and across the Chartreuse. This weekend I was in the Serre-Chevalier valley and around the Briançon area, and I am still in awe at the beauty of this area of France. On a separate note entirely, I have also just got back from the supermarket and I can announce that Brie of the Week is Brie and Green Olives. Last week was Brie and 5 berries, but I forgot to mention it...

 

My work at the EP office is still just as enjoyable if not even more so than it was in my first week. I am now doing more creative things such as producing bigger texts for the new brochure in English and doing lots of varied translation work for both Meta and Fred in the international sales and marketing department. It sounds very big when I call it a department, but at EP France it is just Fred and Meta in their office, who work very hard in multiple languages and also find the time to help me out with the work they give me!) Today we also had some EP workers from the UK and Spain, so it was strange to hear a mix of French and English today in the office and at lunch, but also nice to see everyone crossing the language barrier. It's still very much a friendly, almost familial atmosphere and it is especially apparent at lunch when jokes and climbing chat take over. The French certainly do enjoy making the most of lunchtime and eating a big meal - I still worry everyone by not eating as much as they would :P Today, however, Meta, Léo and I went to the supermarket to get some stuff for lunch, and we came back with some raspberry tarts for me and Meta - they were a good buy indeed! On the way home Fred said that I will be appearing in the next EP newsletter, watch this space!

 

I climbed twice indoors last week, once on Monday when I did routes at EV2 with Meta and François, and then on Wednesday at Ablok (bouldering centre) I found the style of the routes to be very different from those at home - smaller moves with more balance and thought required. At Ablok I managed to do two red problems - the problems are divided into coloured difficulty ranges - which was an improvement on my zero red score the week before. I saw some very well-known climbers there and got talking to a few of them, all in all a good few days training!

 

On the Thursday evening I decided to rest and went out with some friends from Edinburgh University, who also brought some other Edinburgh people with them and some new friends, so it turned out to be a good night out. We went to a small bar in Place Notre Dame and then Lucy and I went off to a snowboard garden party in the Parc Mistral, where we met up with some other Edinburgh students. There were many stalls filled with snowboarding equipment and some videos of snowboarders, but the funniest thing was watching people attempting to dance to the music. It looked to me as though there were quite a lot of climbers there too, you can always tell a climber from the way they look! It was a good laugh, then it started to rain very heavily and seeing as I had my medical consultation in order to get my French competition licence the next day, I decided to leave a bit earlier (getting home looking like a drowned rat: note to self - never say "I don't need my umbrella" when in Grenoble...

 

On my day off, I unfortunately had to get up early to go to the doctors for the examination, but it didn't take long and I passed with flying colours. I even got a print out of my electrocardiograph results! The doctor managed to guess that we have a wood fire at home just from the scent on my clothes, I was embarrassed and apologised, but she claimed that she loves the smell! Maybe a market for Parfum Feu de Bois? That evening at 7pm I took the bus from Grenoble to Briançon to go climbing with my Swedish friend David for the weekend. I was disappointed to have to leave so late as it meant it was getting dark by the time I was getting out of the city and I couldn't see any of the landscape which I guessed would be amazing! Never mind, I knew I would be able to see it properly when I would be returning on the Sunday.

 

Heart in working order!

I arrived at around 9:15pm and it was FREEZING! At around 1300m in altitude I should have guessed it, but it was a bit of a shock coming from the normally fairly muggy Grenoble. It was very fresh indeed, and I was glad when I  could jump in the car when David met me at the bus stop. I walked into David and his family's home and it was wonderful - like an alpine chalet with wooden beams and ceilings and a balcony. I was introduced to his wife Camilla, who I had met briefly in Ceuse, and his son and two friends from Sweden (and their lovely and very excitable dog, too!) Camilla cooked spaghetti bolognaise which was delicious and we had cheese and fruit for dessert. The topics of conversation at the table made for amusing listening and participation, and it was quite nice to hear Swedish language being spoken, of which I know a little bit and can sometimes understand what is being said. In a mix of English and Swedish and very little French the night went on and eventually it was time for bed, of which I was glad as I was very tired after the journey.

 

We had planned to go to St Leger or Ceuse over the next two days, but due to weather and time availability we thought it would be best to stay local. On the Saturday we went to Les Freissinières, just past Briançon. The valley was breathtaking, and David filled me in on all the best climbing and ice climbing spots. We made a bit of a blunder on the walk in (David had never been there before) and took about 40 mins or so to get up a 15 minute walk in, but it was very good exercise! I was also starting to get a cold which made the walk more taxing but we made it to the crag eventually! At the foot of the cliff we met some friends of David and Camilla's and it was good to be able to speak a bit of French at the crag again. Their friend Fred was with a group of Club Alpin Français kids who looked very strong - this was one of their weekly crag jaunts to a local area! Fred helped us pick out some good routes and we started on a 6a, then we went on an ungraded route (about 6c we thought). I rested a while and decided to go for a 7b+ round the corner which we were recommended. I would be putting the clips in and trying to give it my best go on the on-sight. It followed a dihedral corner and then crossed the arete and into a flat section just below a roof - I thought it looked ok but the corner looked like it could have some hidden surprises! I started calmly and eventually found myself over the corner section and resting on the flat bit. David's encouragement was very helpful as I tried to keep a cool head. I find that when onsighting, it is very much about keeping your calm and not panicking if you misjudge something or if you are slightly out of your comfort zone. There were some very technical moves but I overcame each one of them slowly but surely, and finally I could see the final roof and slab just before the chain. One last hard move, I took a deep breath and went for it. I was well recovered and hit the move first time, and then creeped my way up the slab to finish and clip the chain. I was happy with a 7b+ onsight, a grade that can be very difficult to onsight, yet I am always happy with whatever route I onsight as even in the lower grades there can be moves which will spit you off if you get complacent! We had been lucky with the weather - quite hot in the sun and just a bit cool in the shade.



 On a 6c at Les Freissinières

For the rest of the day I tried a desperate 7c with two massive moves that I couldn't get past. I tried it twice and still couldn't get past them on the second go, so decided to give in and do some easier mileage. We finished off on a 6c and then took the - much shorter than before - path back to the car. We walked past crags where there have recently been some 9a's and other hard stuff bolted, and we even saw a well-known French climber (according to David, anyway :P) Apparently there are 5 or 6 climbers in that valley that have climbed 9a, crazy! That evening we had another great meal cooked for us by Camilla and we settled down to watch a movie before bedtime. It was a very long day and we were knackered...



6c at Freissinières

The next morning the weather looked just as good and we decided to go to Mont Dauphin, Secteur Raph to do some onsighting before catching the bus at 4:30pm. Mont Dauphin is a bizarre island of conglomerate rock surrounded by limestone cliffs - it really was quite a strange formation, but as I had never climbed on conglomerate before I was eager to give it a go. The valley was beautiful and just opposite us was a waterfall that seemed to be coming out of nowhere, just rolling off the edge of a flat plain. I warmed up on a 7a and quickly started to fall in love with the type of climbing on the conglomerate formations. There was a massive pebble/stone sticking out like a volume in one place, and lots of fiddly pockets complete with thousands of footholds. It was quite difficult to source the holds but eventually I got used to spotting where they might be. I topped out and felt very much warmed up, with some help from the sun too! I rested for a while and decided to go for a 7c which david said was good and reasonably onsightable if I climbed the way I did the 7b+ the day before. I tied in and started up the via ferrata (the start is about 8m of via ferrata/an easyish scramble until you reach the proper start). It was quite scary/strange to switch onto the lead rope after completing the via ferrata but once I put the first quickdraw in I was on my way. I knew it would be harder putting the clips in too but I was willing to take on the challenge. The sun was out and I climbed the first bit slightly quicker than normal - it was 40m long and vertical to slightly overhanging near the top, so I knew I had to move reasonably fast. There were a few tricky sections at the bottom but afterwards there was usually a poor rest which allowed me to get something back. If there's one thing I'm not too bad at, it's finding good body positions to rest in! The holds may not have been great but I did my best to take my weight off my arms and onto my feet. Peu à peu, I was edging towards the final section. I was managing the pump better than I expected but was starting to feel generally fatigued and a bit trembly - I must have done a LOT of moves by then! I kept breathing and tried to keep thoughts of success or failure out of my head and just focus on each individual move. I started to get more pumped in what I think was the crux just near the top. I powerscreamed and crossed over a bit awkwardly to a hold, thinking I would be off as I had no idea how good it was, latched it and managed to curl my fingers around a good minijug inside a pocket. I was surprised to say the least and looked up - the chain was in sight - the next clip! The top looked tricky and there was no chalk. I have a tendency to fluf f the top of routes, especially on the onsight, as I get tired and nervous and in my frusttration sometimes just give a half-hearted effort. it's easier to give up trying than to lose a fight sometimes, but this time I was stoically determined. I tried to climb up to the chains but couldn't see any holds. I climbed back down to recompose myself and then convinced myself that the only way was to get my feet high and bear down on some small slopey crimps...I did it! My first 7c onsight, putting the clips in at the same time as well! I was shaking with fatigue and nerves and had to rest before cleaning the gear out. I lowered down and David was very happy for me. Thank you so much to him for the support and belays! Afterwards I did another 7a and then decided that was enough for the day, so we went back to the house for lunch and then it was back on the bus home...

 

Eyeing up the route/camera

The views from the bus were fanatastic and I was able to reflect on what had been a great weekend of climbing. It was intense but I am so glad I went, especially considering I was feeling a bit rough with the cold on the Friday I left. I am now looking forward to the next week, some more climbing, more work and more fun!



 View from the bus

 

 

 

 

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Grenoblog 4 - Encore in the Vercors!
22 October 2012, 6:57 pm

I seem to be spending my life in the Vercors these days, not that I'm complaining - it's easy to see why I could find myself going back there, and in the case of this last week, going there twice in one weekend! The cold, crisp mornings of the week before disappeared and the fresh cover of snow on top of the 3 Massifs rapidly melted away almost overnight as temperatures soared, just in time for my 3 day weekend on rock!



The Vercors from Pierrot Beach

I had another enjoyable week at work and trained on the Tuesday night at Espace Vertical 2 and the Thursday evening at Ablok, where I met Léo from work and also quite unexpectedly bumped into a friend of mine and Robbie's who we have encountered at various crags on our travels around Europe. Frédéric offered to take me climbing at the weekend, so all in all a productive trip to the wall!

First though, the main event of the week was an adventure in the Vercors with my workmate Meta, where we had the intention of completing a 250m long multi-pitch route called "La Dame de Coeur", graded at TD+, très difficile +. With 8 pitches up to 6c, I was looking forward to completing my first multi-pitch sport route. Meta picked me up at 9:30am and we made the drive to Presles in the Vercors, admiring the scenery and chatting about anything and everything. We arrived and got kitted up ready to climb - taking the bare minimum of equipment. After a brisk walk downhill to the foot of the route we were met by another party of Dutch climbers who were starting up the first pitch of our route. They were not intending to do the same route as us which meant things freed up a little bit.



La Dame de Coeur

The first pitch was an easy scramble up a 6a. I seconded up after Meta and met her at the belay, where she taught me how set up a proper belay of my own. She had already gone through it all with me on the ground, and I already had a good idea of what to do, but it was necessary to be shown on the wall just to make sure. I was impressed with myself in that for the whole day, we had conversed solely in French - which adds to the potential for confusion when learning how to do something you are not sure about in another language (don't worry, I was almost always aware of what was going on and checked if I wasn't!) Meta lead the second pitch to allow me another chance to see her belay set-up and then it was up to me to lead the third and hardest (by grade) pitch on the route - a 6c. It had a powerful start on pockets with some big moves on a steep section, then eased off a bit. I made it to the top where there was a big ledge, conveniently comfortable for setting up my first belay (and for posing for photos and eating lunch afterwards!) I made the belay fine and admired the view as I brought Meta up. The panorama of the Vercors was amazing and I felt very at ease despite being about 100m+ up. I was excited at the prospect of having to climb another 150m of rock which loomed above us before we would reach the top. I also saw a lizard on the ledge as I was making the belay and he gave me the thumbs - or claws - up in agreement, so I knew my belay was safe...



The next pitch, at 6b, turned out to be the sac à sable of the route! I started up on lead and pulled on some layback/sidepull slopers at the start of a crack. It was steep with not much for feet. What lay ahead was an amusing mixture of contortion and perplexity - I jammed, twisted, kneebar-ed, chimneyed, backstepped, bridged and used just about every trick in the book whilst generally climbing like a sack of spanners. I made it though! Once my heart rate had settled and I was no longer in the splits position things calmed down and I made my second belay. Safe! I was relieved to hear that Meta too had found it a tad tricky for 6b - "C'était un peu pourrie ça - pas 6b!" ie "That was a bit minging - no way 6b!" Although it was a bit awkward, I rather enjoyed the challenge of climbing something a bit out of the ordinary and completely different. I may yet become a crack climber! 4 pitches remained - all of which were supposedly easier than what we had just done - luckily for us!

 

Each pitch seemed to increase in quality - we even had a friendly 5c to look forward to just before the finish. I lead one more pitch and then it was up to Meta to complete the final 6a to the top of the crag, 250m up. We could see a wall of grey rock reaching up about 20m above our heads. The end is in sight, we thought. Meta started up and eventually was just at the apparent apex of the curved rock. She's there, I thought, that's the top. Oh no, there was another 20m of rock on top of that!  A 40m pitch was our last hurdle, it seemed. I seconded up, and although knackered absolutely loved it. It was a great feeling to have summited amidst the panorama of the valley. I felt the sense of height as I saw a rockface just across the valley which I remembered seeing on the walk down to the crag and thinking - that is massive! I hadn't actually seen the size of the crag we had climbed up, but that gave me a rough idea. We were both tired, but had enough energy for the walk down to the car (no need to rappel, thankfully!) and a good French chat in the car. I arrived home to a dinner cooked by my housemate, which was very welcomed as I was very low in energy!

On the Saturday I rested in anticipation of climbing with Frédéric the next day. I wandered around town in the sun, bumped into Alice from University, bought a French SIM card and some postcards and stamps (not sending one to everyone, be warned!) It's amazing to be able to wander around a picturesque town centre with your H&Ms, McDonalds and at the same time be in the middle of the mountains! I have found that I am very good at navigating here because I can use the Vercors, Belledonne and Chartreuse Massifs to guide me. The Dent de Crolles is particularly useful as a navigation tool!

On the Sunday I met up with Frédéric and we decided to go to La Balme (de Yenne) where I had already been this year with Robbie and Alex in the summer. It was much less hot this time round but also very strange to be back there again and see our little van site where we stayed for a night. Sentimental feelings aside, it was a productive morning in which I ticked a 7a which had spat me off in the summer (due to the heat and Robbie and Alex's insistence that I try a kneebar - which didn't work for me! :P ) and then I onsighted a classic 7b+ called Cathédrale - a long, pumpy route filled with tufas and big juggy pinches which get less juggy near the top! I was really happy to onsight this, but afterwards we decided to head towards Pierrot Beach (another crag in the Vercors/Presles region as some of the harder routes were wet at La Balme. After about 2 hours in the car (we took a wrong turning!) we arrived at Pierrot at about 5pm. By now I was feeling very tired and the rock was still in the heat of the sun and unbelieveably hot. We warmed up on a 7a and then Frédéric attempted his 8b+ project, getting fairly high and inspiring me to try somehard routes here (just not today, as I was knackered!)



Good view of Pierrot Beach

Instead of trying an 8a+ which looked good, I fancied my chances on a 7b+ which I wanted to onsight. It wasn't too long but looked thin in places! I began to climb and felt re-energised - the sun had gone down a bit further and I was in the shade. I made it to a good rest and checked out the next few clips - a definite crux! I chose a sequence and went for it - no hesitation, just fight. I got throught that section and did the same for the next. Composure and aggression. The moves went fairly quickly and I was at another rest not far from the top. The next section looked tricky but more technical than physical. Luckily I was right, and although having to disturb a rather large spider with an even larger web, I made it to the chain - my second 7b+ onsight of the day! I was content but tired, and ready to go home after giving Frédéric another belay. We drove back to Grenoble listening to some old school Groove Armada tracks, which was a great soundtrack to the drive through the valleys, the lights starting to turn on and the outlines of the cliff edges just visible against the pastel-painted sky.



Presles!

My day wasn't over just yet though - I got back home and within ten minutes was welcoming Lucy into my house for dinner. Lucy is a fellow Edinburgh University student of French who has got into climbing here in Grenoble! She has even bought her own climbing shoes - watch this space! We chatted (in English - a nice change considering how immersed in French I otherwise usually am!) over a tuna slop (my speciality) and agreed to meet up again this week for a jaunt to the cinema.

Today I started back at work, just another day in the office - mountains all around us, lunch outside complete with Clairette de Die champagne (ok, sparkling wine!) and chocolate gateau, and then a little detour by a circus complete with llamas and donkeys on the way home in Crolles. It's nae too bad here like!

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Grenoblog 5 - Coupe de France à Valence!
29 October 2012, 7:52 pm

How time flies when you're having fun! I am fast approaching the halfway point of my stay here in Grenoble and I still can't get my head around how much I've done and how much there is still left to cram into the next 6 weeks or so. Yesterday I took part in the first round of the Coupe de France, which took place in the Mineral Spirit Polygone hall in Valence.



Quel beau mur d'Entre-Prises! ;)

Firstly though, a brief description of the run-up to the competition since my outings at La Balme and Pierrot Beach last weekend. I decided to take a night off on Monday to recover from my craggy adventures of the Sunday, and settled into my 4th week of work chez Entre-Prises. On the Tuesday evening I had a training session at Espace Vertical 3 in the centre of Grenoble with Fréd and Léo from Team EP France. It was my first visit to this centre and I was impressed by the routesetting and the walls in general - they weren't very multi-faceted but were great for training continuous movements and endurance. After accidentally walking into the men's toilets and promptly running back out again, I started to warm up and we managed to rattle through around 8 routes each starting from 6a and up to 8a+. I was pleased to flash a 7c and 7c+ (although I tried not to watch Léo I inevitably saw some moves when shouting ALLEZ ALLEZ!! as is custom in France and nowadays every wall in the world it seems!) It was the first time I'd really pushed myself on some hard indoor routes in Grenoble, and thanks to Fréd and Léo's insistence that I needed to fall off something horrifically hard, I decided to try an 8a+ which looked rather tricky! We read the route together (always more of a challenge in French but good practice for chumming up to foreigners in comps!) and it appeared to have a weird crux fairly low down which turned out to be a bit of a nightmare! The rest of the route was still taxing but much less contorted than the crux, so after having a few attempts at the moves and failing I continued to try the rest of the route. We were knackered after a long day at work and an intense session...but I felt satisfied that I'd put in a good effort in the run up to the big event.

Wednesday was a day of rest climbing-wise, and after work I met up with Lucy from Edinburgh and a friend of hers for dinner and then a cinema session, where we saw the latest film of the French classic Astérix et Obélix. Lots of friendly jibes at the Brits which went down well and some funny Franco/Anglo accents which made it fairly easy to understand. The calibre of the jokes was along the lines of "What do you call a handsome British guy? A tourist!" :P On the Thursday I decided to rest and climb the next morning at Ablok for a final boulder session before the competition. I bumped into one of my new French friends Léa and we climbed a bit together (unfortunately not for long as I had already been there for a while before she arrived and was exhausted!) We agreed to meet up the next day and go to the cinema (yes, again!) to see a chick-flick called Elle s'appelle Ruby. All rested and raring to go, I returned to my house to settle down before the rude awakening at 5:25am...

"Tu as vu déhors?" Yoann, my housemate asked me as I walked out of my room. I looked outside and there was a thick covering of...wait for it...SNOW! Perhaps the most exciting news from the last week is that it SNOWED (I know how much everyone loves snow announcements, whatever age you may be!) and the irresistable prospect of building a bonhomme de neige suddenly distracted me from any pre-comp nerves. There was, however, a slight concern that we wouldn't make it/would be late for the competition. I was due to be out 7th on my first route, and it would be a shame to have a rushed warm-up in such cold weather! Yoann, Élodie (Yoann's girlfriend) and I marched out into the snow at 6:00am and jumped into the car. As we tried to clear the windows of snow, a massive barrier of thick, white snow fell into the car on Yoann's side, which prompted an uncalled-for snowball fight inside the car - a good(ish) warm up I must say! The snow was getting heavier and we couldn't see the roads - a bit scary, but Yoann assured me that I would be fine, as I had my doudoune (down jacket) and that would be sufficient in a snowstorm if we got caught! Hmmm...

The banging dance tunes on the radio at 6:00am received a mixed response from my brain - one half ready to go and climb but the other still in bed about 100 miles away. The familiar Polygone climbing centre awaited us as we bolted it out of the car towards the....cold climbing wall! It was just as cold inside, but my mind was telling me "What are you complaining about...this is HOME! This is just like RATHO!" I mustered up the courage to look at my routes and start "warming up" in the fridge of a warm up room. Don't get me wrong, but breezeblock - complete with gap-ridden doors - isn't the best of insulators! My first route looked very long and intimidating, until Yoann pointed out that it finished halfway up - phew! It was at this point that I met the one and only Sheila McCarron - a fellow Scotswoman who until this point I had only known through Facebook and internet chatrooms (it's a long story, I won't go into it!) It was great to hear another Scottish voice and to finally meet the face behind the name and the voice (of Bercy, as the World Championship announcer!) I also met her wonderful kids Julianne and Sophie - both exceptional climbers who were also competitors in this weekend's event. I warmed up and as soon as I got to the tie-in point I had a sudden realisation that I'd forgotten what it felt like to be on a wall competing, I hadn't done a lead competition in almost two years! I started to doubt myself, but as soon as I stepped on the wall it all started coming back to me. It's a strange feeling - to be so pent up with nervous and excited energy and then to be able to simmer down to a reasonably calm level whilst climbing. It's something that definitely comes with experience, but I also think  it comes easier to some than others. Being able to block out a massive crowd and music and a throbbing head full of thoughts certainly isn't easy. I felt calm on my route, and as almost everyone before me had topped I was reassured that there were no sneaky traps along the way. It was also comforting to know that I was climbing on a beautifully crafted Entre-Prises wall, which was embellished with Entre-Prises patented Imprint panelling and constructed in 2001. Ahem, moving on! I topped out and went off into the crowd. Thankfully Yoann and Sheila made me aware of the fact that I needed to collect a slip of paper from the judge to give to my next route judge, I also didn't realise I was running pretty much straight onto the next route in around 20 mins or so (don't do this at home kids -or abroad for that matter- always check the format of the competition! ;) )



First route gurn! Photo: Sheila McCarron

My second route was much longer and steeper but the holds seemed positive. Only one person had topped before me and it looked fairly tricky at the top. I pulled on and made it to the last few holds, I rested for a while and pushed on, matching the volume and getting resin-rash on my arms and then throwing for the jug - I made it!  I was relieved to have completed the first two qualifiers - along with 13 other girls from the 45 I went into the semi's in equal 1st. A long wait ensued and I started eating my entire bodyweight in food, much to the amusement of Élodie, who remarked that I had "brought the fridge along in my bag". Normally I don't eat much in competitions, but I was hungry! I belayed Yoann on his routes, he topped his first and put in a fine effort on the second. For a specialist speed climber, he did great in transferring his skills onto the difficulty wall. I know I wouldn't transfer so easily into the speed events, that's for sure! In the meantime I met Charles from Planetgrimpe.com, another friend on Facebook who I had never spoken to in person until now. I have done lots of translations in the past few years for PG and it's always good fun to translate interviews with some of the world's top climbers.



Second qualifier! Photo: Sheila McCarron

The semis arrived and they were - bizarrely - in flash format. Normally I have climbed in semis which are onsight, so it was a nice change for once to be able to watch people! Nobody had topped yet and I was out 15th - the first of the 1st ex-aequo girls to climb as I don't have a French placement or ranking. I warmed up alongside young Julianne who was due to be climbing at a similar time in the youth event. I walked out of the freezing warm-up area and tied-in. There was a long, dodgy clip just under the roof which I attempted to hit and grab but felt a bit like a kitten failing epically to paw a ball of string, so I changed my tactics and decided to be bold and run it out another move! Oooh, scary! It was at this point when I stood on the Entre-Prises logo (a fully-permitted feature on one of the inserts, I hasten to add!) as there were no other footholds. I felt a bit guilty for having literally stepped on the company's name (and was duly (albeit jokingly!) reprimanded by Fréd today!) but it was, I feel, a necessary evil. I was resting in a corner and decided it was time to emerge - a few powerful moves later and I was onto the vertical headwall - complete with filthy crimps and very high-placed footholds. Il faut serrer! I pulled hard and made an awkward balancey move to an intermediate feature on the panel, and then bumped up again in a heartbeat to latch the second hold...and again...I caught the last hold. It was all very delicate - I wasn't exhausted but it was a tenuous section for the fingers and feet. I lowered down and Sheila came up to me and said "That was beautiful!" I don't think I've ever been told that one of my climbs was beautiful before, but it was certainly a good feeling to be the first to top and to have so much support from others. My belayer asked me which region I come from - I replied "Scotland" initially but then remembered that I do indeed have a "region" in France. After all, I was climbing for the ALE Escalade club in Échirolles, just on the outskirts of Grenoble. He said "C'est facile pour toi, hein?" It wasn't easy but I was glad to have overcome a tricky bit. It was strange to be competing abroad but also on 'home turf' in a weird sort of situation. It felt good though, I didn't feel all too foreign, and was introduced to everyone and their pals by Sheila and Yoann. Some familiar faces from youth competitions, and some stars from the senior competitions - I met Cecile Avezou and saw Alex Chabot!



Semi-final! Photo: Sheila McCarron

I knew for sure that i had made the finals and watched the rest of my group with interest. 6 other girls out of the 26 topped out too, and top 8 go would go through to the final. At this point I was happy to be able to say that I had made the final of a Coupe de France, but also wanted to do my best in the final. After some more food and trying to resist the temptation to wander around the gear and clothes stalls for fear of spending money, I entered isolation. It was bizarrely relaxed and light-hearted in isolation here compared to at British events, Julianne had made finals too so it was nice to have a friendly face around and I also got chatting to one or two of the women in my category. We went out to view the route, and I was pleased by the choice of line and the holds (Not EP though, disappointed!) and remembered having climbed on this part of the wall in the World Youth Championships in 2009. I tried to remember what to think of when on the wall, but then realised that really, the only thing you can think of is the next move! Not what the person before you might have done, not what you have done before and not someone else may do after you - it's all in the moment! I wasn't particularly nervous, I was very tired though. I was out second due to my non-ranking and was pleased to hear the Voice of Sheila calling out my name and describing me as a Scottish-Francophone ( a Scottish person who speaks French, or in my case, is trying my best to! :P ) I tried to focus on my pace, as I knew with the new ruling that if anyone reached the same point as me, it would go down to time taken to reach said point. This was the first time I had competed in a final with this new ruling in mind, and I really wasn't sure how it would pan out. I moved briskly through the bottom, paused briefly under the roof, then thought FAST! I started moving very quickly, and took quick shakeouts between moves. I clipped from a few strenuous positions but kept fighting. Something which I am prone to experiencing in competitions or on any route is summit fever - getting over-excited or maybe even slightly deranged near the top. I often have fairly low expectations on routes and sometimes when I surprise myself it turns into a bit of an "Ok, that isn't bad, I can't go much further" kind of game. I sometimes think I give up too easily, even when it feels like I am going for it it always feels like I could go 10% further. This time I kept going with a decent level of tenacity, I hugged the blobby volume (more resin-rash! Thankfully I had also taken my bracelets off for more friction!) and threw for a good crimp, then looked to the next big pinch - which seemed miles away, I threw for it and touched it, completely powered out! I had reached about the 6th hold from the top, which I was pleased with, but I also knew I could have paced myself a bit better. I watched as some of France's best female climbers very nearly topped out, inspiring me to push harder and maybe even take part in the next round in Chamonix in two weeks! Cecile Avezou was the well-deserved winner, followed by the young and supremely talented climbers Salomé Romain and Julia Chanourdie. I was placed 5th, narrowly avoiding 6th by having climbed to the same point just 8 or 9 seconds faster than Candice Gauthier - I really thought I had taken too long in the first rest! I was very happy with my result and grateful to be able to have taken part in such a prestigious event.

I met up with Julianne who had just climbed her junior route and eventually finished 3rd! A fantastic effort in her first Coupe de France, along with her younger sister Sophie who also made finals and finished in 8th place! At the end of the finals (and after goodness knows how many hours of awakeness) it was time to return home to Grenoble - we hoped, anyway. As long as the snow wasn't 10m deep we would be fine. We walked out and the snow had all disappeared, yet it was still freezing - cue the chorus of "brrrr's" resounding from Yoann, Élodie and me. "Brrrr! " appears to be a word/noise which transcends all language barriers - universal speak for "I'm rather chilly!". The drive back to Grenoble included multiple playings of Gangnam Style on the local radio - an amusing end to a fun-filled day of climbing.

I've definitely caught the competition bug again, so here's to the next round in Chamonix in two weeks - if anyone has a spare room/couch/floor/kennel or rooftop going for a night, let me know...:P

 

 

 

 

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Grenoblog 6 - Pierrot, Pockets and Projects!
4 November 2012, 6:08 pm

I'm now officially over half way through my stay here in Grenoble - 5 weeks down, 5 to go! Last week was a short working week due to Toussaints/All Saints on the Thursday, so I had a 4 days off to fill with climbing!

After the Coupe de France last weekend I was exhausted, and even a few days later I was still very tired. I decided not to climb for 3 days in order to recover - getting up at 5:30am and having a full-on day of competition with 4 different routes and getting back late had certainly taken its toll on me. However, as a reward for having  done so much and barely having stopped at all since getting here, I took it easy, ate a pizza and thought about what to do over the next 4 days!

As it happened, Frédéric (a French guy who Robbie and I have met several times on our tours of the world's finest crags) was keen to go climbing on as many of the days we had available as possible, although the weather was looking rather dubious in places. We initially decided to try Pierrot Beach on the Friday, and St Leger the next two or three days. However, when we arrived at Pierrot on the Thursday morning, it was completely sodden with rain. Black streaks everywhere, we headed back down to the car towards...St Léger!



St Léger

 

I had been informed by some members of Team EP who had been in the area recently that conditions were good, so we were looking forward to climbing in one of the best areas in the world for a few days! 2 and a half hours later, we arrived at La Baleine sector and it was soaked! Although the sun was cracking the flags/rock, the seepage from the rain a few days ago was coming through strong. Back to the car it was, and another drive to the main sectors. The valley was beautiful, and the sun was out which made it even more enticing to get on the wall and climb! By the time we got up to the main sector it was nearing 3:30pm, so unfortunately we only had time to do one route each - an amazing 6b+ with odd features in sector Nabab. It was a bit disappointing to have been rained off and to have sort of wasted a day, but I was just happy to have visited a fantastic crag and to have had a day of lots and lots of walking in the sun! We decided not to come back to St Leger as the weather looked too iffy to risk staying there a few days. Mention was made of Buoux, Gorges du Tarn...but in general everywhere was threatened with rain and bad conditions, and crags in Grenoble were still drying out after the 30cm of snow had melted! That evening we decided it would be best to stick closer to home and visit a local crag to Grenoble called St Ange. It would be much less risky, we thought...

It was a beautifully sunny day and the drive up to St Ange was spectacular, with a panoramic view of the 3 Massifs and being almost at eye level across the valley with the snow-topped Belledonne mountains. However, as Frédéric didn't have the topo with him, we had used the map to guess the location. This was a bad idea. We were lost. We asked an uncertain tree-feller if he knew of a "falaise St Ange." We were driving around a forest up windy roads...whilst simultaneously running very very low on petrol! Luckily there was a can in the back, but after the tank was filled a bit more we were met with a car refusing to acquiesce to our request to get moving. Eventually, once the petrol had levelled out a bit the car started, but we were still lost and GPS was failing us. We looked up at the mass of rock high up ahead of us, guessing which bits could be St Ange, but I had seen pictures and was unsure as to whether we were in the right place. After finding what could have been the car park, we decided to give up and go to Pierrot Beach, stopping off to pick up a topo on the way.



Pretty hanging houses!

 

Finally we had found a crag which was both accessible and dry(ish!). It was the safest bet, just over an hour away in case of epic rainfall. The weather held out, and although it was 2:30pm ish by the time we got there (after checking out the waterfall which comes from the caves deep within the crag) and we managed to warm up quickly on a 7a before Frédéric jumped on his 8b+ project, Hérésie. He looked strong on the moves and deep down I thought it looked like a route I would like to try. In all honesty, the grade scared me - I had never touched an 8b+ before and had only managed my first 8b a few months ago. However, there's nothing like bad conditions and gopping wet tufas and pockets to provide an incentive to get on something that's dry, even if it seems a bit out of your limit! The route looked fun and Frédéric assured me the holds were good and that I would like it...



Hérésie starts in the middle of this image and runs through the blank white bulge and straight up to the orange crozzle at the top. It's steeper than it looks though!

 

Hérésie is about 25/30m long and follows a steep section of rock at about 40 degrees overhanging! It is chipped so I wasn't expecting it to be one of the most organic of routes, but as long as the moves were interesting I didn't mind! Can't really complain as I've climbed enough on artificial routes in Gorges du Loup this summer! As the comical sign at the bottom of the crag says "TROUS EN FORMATION"(literally holes in formation - a road sign warning when the surface is uneven after winter) it's not exactly a secret that this crag has fake holds - it is even home to a bolt-on hold on one of the 7c+s!

I pulled onto the boulder problem at the start - small crimps for hands but poor feet, I took my time to do each move and find good positions. The moves were quite stretched for me, but soon I was at the cool-looking tufa section. It was a bit damp, but I figured out a knee bar and worked my way up to what looked to be one of the hardest, biggest moves on the route. Each hand had a positive pocket, and two poor footholds quite far below under a mini scoop of wall. The next hold - a good undercut flake - was fairly far away. I limbered up and started to swing, twisted my right knee and threw for the undercut, just latching it and swinging my feet up after it - WOW! It was such a fun move and I was pleased to have caught it on first attempt. I clipped and crossed over for the next good pocket with my left hand, feet up high on two tiny bobbles and then threw up dynamically for a three-finger (two if you have sausage fingers, sorry Robbie :P ) pocket with my right hand, poised a foot on a tiny edge and prepared to move - bloc! I took on the rope and tried to figure out the best finger orientation for the pocket - back three was the successful candidate! I made the thrutchy cross over to a gaston crimp with my left and prepared for the shouldery press/jump to a decent juggy flake. I clipped and rested, crossed over to another back three pocket with my right and did a massive rock-over and lock-off up to an undercut 3 finger pocket, egyptianed and threw for a good sidepull with my right, feet cutting loose and then grabbing the good jug with my left just above and matching. This is the best hold on the route, as it turned out, and you have to make the most of it!



My new coach...

 

I threw up left for a good sidepull pocket, built my feet up and heelhooked the jug to reach up for a pinchy pocket with my right and clipped. I rested on the rope here and then worked my way up through the next bit - a big move to a gaston, match feet, grab the crimp and then leap for a good slot and match the mini-flake beside it. Now came the redpoint crux - 4 powerful moves on undercuts with awkward clips that may have to be missed! I took the good crimp, egyptianed up and right for a good sidepull, got my feet up high and powered for the undercut, smeared my feet on nothingness and pulled for the next undercut pocket...and failed! I worked this a few times, eventually getting it and throwing over for the next good flake with my left hand, feet daintily poised on tiny bobbles, I grabbed an intermediate pinch on the tufa with my right and launched again for a juggy one-hand pocket with my right. Left foot high, I slowly released my left hand ( I am kind of in a Crucifix position at this point, shoulders out of sockets stuff here!) and take all of my weight on my right arm, using the momentum to power over the top for another one-handed crack-like jug which I ended up jamming my hand in. I worked the next move - a difficult cross over up to an undercut, then high feet and up to a slopey sidepull and a deep egyptian up to a good edge. The thing about these holds is that although they are positive, there is little or no room for both hands and consequently no time for hanging around! The top section was tricky at first but then I found a method which worked better for me - cross to the next jug and reach up to a crozzly pocket with your left hand, high right foot and balance up to the next slotty pocket with right hand, clip, grab intermediate sidepull and throw for sidepull crimp, bring right foot under and heel hook a good edge with left foot to throw up again with left hand to an undercut pocket (back 3 again!) step up slowly and balance to reach a good sidepull, build feet up and jam left hand into another v-shaped pocket, grab intermediate crimp, bump again to another one then left foot high and step up to the finishing flake and clip!

It was an amazing route, and I felt chuffed to have been able to do all of the moves on an 8b+. I was knackered afterwards, as it was so physical - lots of powerful, shouldery moves at the limit of my reach! What I had going for me was my ability to get my feet very high use my core strength and momentum to overcome the distance. The crozzly tufa rock at the top was so different to the smooth, glassy limestone at the bottom, it was really fun to be climbing on two different styles of rock and route in the one climb. Sadly after that one attempt the night was starting to fall, so we vowed to return the next day to get back on it...

On the Saturday conditions were sublime - we warmed up on THE classic route of Presles Legoland 7a. It even has a lego figurine at the bottom of it! Beautiful moves that seemed to flow into each other (no, it wasn't chipped!) and interesting holds. Afterwards I had my first run of the day on Hérésie. The moves felt more familiar and I managed to link a crucial 12 metre section in the middle. I still struggled with the throw to the undercut at the start, and needed to perfect the kneebar (Gorges du  Loup taught me well though!) and even the top section felt much better. My skin was starting to shred, yet despite this, we each did another 2 runs on the route. I never thought I would manage to even work my way up to the top 3 times in one session especially after having climbed the two days before, but somehow I managed! With each go I learned something new and took my time on the moves (see I do listen to you Robbie! :D ) and although I was exhausted by the end of the day, I was still keen to return the next day (today) to try again...



Ouch!

 

This morning I awoke with the back, biceps and shoulders of someone who has been launching between holds on steep ground - achy and stiff, and in need of tenderising! Yet I wasn't giving up - we drove once more along the scenic route to Pierrot (which I think I know by heart now, that's saying something knowing me and my directional abilities whilst on the road!) and arrived at the crag about lunchtime. We warmed up on Sanguine Joli Fruit 7a+ which I managed to onsight depsite finding a particularly big move in the roof tricky. Unfortunately the crag seemed wetter than the day before (seepage rather than rain) so we were restricted once again to trying the 8b+ (which was also slightly unclimbable for the first two or three clips). I had another run on it and pulled through the clips until the tufa and kneebar, and found a better position for my knee. I worked my way through the moves but struggled in some sections where pockets and flakes were seeping. Still, each move was completed and a bit more confined to memory. I was tired and Frédéric wasn't too keen for climbing in the rain, which started as I was half-way up. When I lowered, the clouds from across the valley were starting to surround the foot of the crag - how atmospheric! It was 3:30pm and time to head back to Grenoble. After 4 days of climbing my skin, muscles and brain were very tired indeed, but I can't wait to return to Pierrot once conditions get a bit better.





View from Pierrot across the valley, and the bottom of the waterfall...

 

Aside from the climbing, I have also been working for the French climbing webpage PlanetGrimpe.com and helping to translate articles and interviews for their new English language site, of which I have been put in charge! It's a lot of responsability, but it is great experience for improving my language skills (merci Charles!)

Back to work tomorrow with Entre-Prises, in the run-up to potentially competing in the next Coupe de France round in Chamonix next weekend (condition and cost dependent!)

Roll on week 6! :D

 



Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry

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Grenoblog 7 - Competitions and General Hijinks!
18 November 2012, 7:17 pm

I have been so busy lately that I didn't have time/forgot to blog/felt bitter after losing what I'd written twice after not saving it properly to write about my 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th weeks - so here is an update on my recent adventures in which I have been mostly climbing, competing, working and...laughing! A few weekends ago (it all rolls into one at the moment!) I was off to Chamonix to compete in my second Coupe de France round in Difficulty and last weekend I was a bit closer to home in Echirolles to compete in the Coupe de France in Speed and the Isere Departmental Championships! More recently, I have been at the crag, at a mountain film festival, lurking in a cave and cutting about town at the Christmas market drinking mulled wine and eating Tartiflette and competing in another departmental event. What a life!

The week before Chamonix I had two boulder sessions at Ablok - I had heard that the wall was short and steep, and I trusted Yoann when he said it was going to be bouldery routes: "C'est du bloc!" I trained at Ablok with Yoann on the Wednesday where I was duly informed that I have no power in my legs and I was reminded that I have a tendency to do an uncoordinated flop rather than a controlled leap when I need to move dynamically upwards or sideways. I went again on the Friday with Fred from EP and we tried a problem which featured me making a hilariously cumbersome step out left to balance myself, not the most elegant I've climbed but at least I was trying! We tried another red which started on two slopers (EP Honeycombs ;) ) which taught us a lesson in not following what other people do. I did it the static way which seemed tenuous, then after a few tries using that method Fred decided to just jump - much easier! I had climbed a lot better in this session and the highlight of the day was finishing a red project which involved some power-screaming and grunting!

On the Saturday Yoann and I travelled to Chamonix via Co-Voiturage or car-sharing. I was due to be staying the night in a gite with fellow Scots Sheila, Julianne and Sophie alongside the Briançon team and was looking forward to a good weekend at the foot of Mont Blanc! We arrived in Chamonix valley and unfortunately Mont Blanc was completely covered in clouds and mist - there were some impressive glaciers though! We watched the end of the junior event at the wall and were inspired by the gutsiness and determination of the kids. Back to the gite it was and I was kindly fed and watered by Sheila and club ICE Briançon. I was also persuaded to try a glass of Briançon's finest red wine despite my best efforts to say "Nooo I am competing tomorrow!" I was also shown up by the girls in my card playing skills - apparently I can't add up to 21? Not time for bed yet though, the obligatory dance practice to the tune of Gangnam Style ensued, which resulted in an amusing video which will never EVER surface! At least I hope not...lights went out (after flashing the boulder problem to the top-bun bed without stairs - V3 at least? Nearly lost it on the mantel..) and off to sleep...



The next day we rose bright and early and arrived at the wall. Again a great atmosphere, and my first two routes went well, topping both and not feeling too tired. After a long wait, my semi-final was marked up and it looked like a route that I would enjoy. Lots of crimps on steep ground and volumes everywhere! Unfortunately, I once again didn't put my long legs to good use and instead of taking an crucial rest in the corner of the wall I powered straight through and tired out, falling not too far from the top but also too far to make finals - I was placed 9th and the top 8 went through. A silly mistake had cost me a potential place in the final, but next time I will know better - that's the fun in competitions, you always have something to take away with you, be it a prize or a lesson learned! We didn't stay and watch the finals as our lift (thanks Clément and Meije!) was leaving and it made sense not to get back to Grenoble too late. We had a lively journey home, made even more amusing when we saw a sign saying BIENVENUE with a bit of the E missing so it read BIENVENUF. It was funny at the time...

During the next week I had a session at EV2 with Fred and Jean-Charles from EP. We tried a variety of routes which tested our brains just as much as our strength! The routesetting here is so different to what I'm used to, lots of sequences within sequences and subtleties galore! I managed to onsight a 7c+ left me knackered for the rest of the evening, and I only just managed to complete the most technical 7a+ ever (with a LOT of route-reading mistakes). Thanks to Jean-Charles for shouting "ERREUR!!" whenever I was about to do something stupid so I could correct myself!)

The following Saturday I competed in an event called "Nuit de la Vitesse" in Echirolles - a night of speed climbing which included the Coupe de France in Speed and the Championnat Départemental Isère for speed (Isère is the department of France which I live in for anyone unclear) I have dabbled in a bit of Speed climbing at Ratho and even won the British Speed Climbing Championships (but not very speedily!) so I was wondering how I would fare here. France has a very strong speed climbing set-up and is gradually gaining more and more interest as a discipline, thanks to the work of Sylvain and Jerome Chapelle and of course Mr "Scoot" himself, my housemate Yoann! I really enjoyed the evening and met more new people and recognised some from the other competitions. I was honoured to get a club L'ALE Escalade t-shirt from young Margaux, French speed champion and 3rd placed in the European Youth Speed Championships in Gemozac a few weeks ago! I climbed as quick as I could up the 13m official speed route but I didn't manage to put my legs to good use once again and felt like I was always relying on my arms - my best time was about 14 seconds, not bad for a lead-climber with a reputation for being slow (on the wall, I hasten to add!) :P Afterwards there was a fun mini-comp on the slab walls where I didn't do great but still had a good time trying to scamper up as fast as possible. We left quite late and went for an after-competition feast at McDonalds with some of the Chambery club. Congrats to Margaux and Margot from L'ALE for coming 1st and 2nd in the Senior event and to Yoann for coming 2nd in the Men's. I found out last week that I was placed 7th in the French Speed Cup and 3rd in the Departmental championships - not too bad at all :)



The day after I went to Pierrot Beach with "the other" Fred who I know from previous climbing trips. It was unfortunately a bit too wet and we were both tired and had sore skin after the speed event. I onsighted a 7a+ and worked an 8a+ and a 7c which were way too wet, but it was good to be out on rock again. I also took some nice pictures!



In week 8 I went out two evenings to the Grenoble mountain film festival - Les Rencontres du cinéma de montagne de Grenoble! The first evening I went with Lucy and Cecils from Edinburgh. It was unbelieveable - over 3000 people had turned up for the event, pretty much the entire climbing community of Grenoble and the surrounding area were there. I've never seen so many climbers in my life! We ended up having to sit on the steps as it was so packed, but it was worth it to see a range of exciting adventure films featuring climbing, alpinism, skiing...a bit of everything! My favourite film of the evening was by far Nico Favresse and Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll's film Jungle Jam - featuring their first ascent of a new multi-pitch route in Venezuela. It was hilariously funny and had me in stitches at almost every scene! I really admired the attitude that the team had for climbing - it's no good if you're not having fun with friends, so enjoy it! I also liked listening to the musicality of the Belgian accent which I've acquired a taste for!

On the Friday I had a session at EV2 with Fred (EP) which certainly tested my forearms - they had inflated threefold and even when belaying I was still pumped! I tried an 8a+/b which was very very powerful but not miles off, and a 7c+/8a which I couldn't really figure out in the middle. I got a bit stuck in a corner and couldn't get back out again. Seems I'm not having much luck with corners recently! I struggled a bit throughout the session as I had run out of lenses - climbing in glasses is completely alien to me so I was either climbing short-sightedly or a bit disorientatedly - either way not climbing in a very co-ordinated manner!

In the evening I went once more to the film festival with Mathieu (Of Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club fame!) where there were even more adventure films  - featuring climbing and mini-voiling in Ceuse and Riglos, mountaineering and the story of Lionel Daudet who toured around the circumference of France, sticking to the frontiers and using only non-motorised methods of travelling! It was also nice to see some images of Patrick Edlinger all along the walls to pay hommage to the great climber who sadly passed away a few weeks ago.

The next day I went shopping in town and met up with the Edinburgh Girls to do a tour of the Christmas Market on its opening night. Lots of tartiflette eaten, some vin chaud drunk and plenty of gifts bought - all in all a very Christmassy evening! A magic moment was when Kate came out with the most Scottish phrase ever to be heard in Grenoble (or at east since I've been here!): "Was it pure jumpin' here earlier like?" Brought a tear to my eye - amazing! :P



After lots of food I woke up the next day ready to go back to Pierrot with "the other"  Fred and his girlfriend Aurelie. We made the usual trip to the Boulangerie beforehand and arrived to an almost fully dry crag! A quick warm up and I was ready to try and do Pan Bagnard 7c, the route I had tried the week before when it was wet. I managed to do it straight off and felt happy with how I had climbed it. Feeling strong, I had a go at Extreme Noise Terror 8a+ and finally worked out how to do the one niggly move that has been stopping me. A big shouldery throw with a high egyptian. I went for an attempt to complete the route and got past the crux, felt calm, until...my right hand slipped from a still-damp tufa. Oh well, next time maybe! I was very happy to have made so much progress with that move, and am keen to get back to the crag before I leave to finish the route. Afterwards, we did a bit of caving in the dried-out waterfall behind the crag - so many tunnels with amazing rock formations!

This week I climbed with Meta (my EP wifey :) ) at EV2 where we had to battle for a free line - so many climbers on a Tuesday night! I chose to do lots of mileage to keep moving through the routes as it was very busy! I also met Marlee who I had seen at the Chamonix competition, so it was nice to bump into her here! On Thursday Meta kindly invited me back to her house for soup where I met her adorable daughters - Femke had even made me a Percy Pig picture with the stickers I had given her! Afterwards we headed to Ablok for a boulder session but both of us were very tired so mileage was on the cards. I was due to be competing in the Departmental difficulty event on Saturday, so I didn't want to push it too hard either.

On the Friday evening I went to a Soirée Britannique (British party!) organised by Alice from Edinburgh and some of her friends. It was a very fun evening with Pimm's, trifle and Toad-in-the-Hole on offer. I met lots of new people from different countries and even ended up joining in on the conga line! I didn't leave too late as I had the competition the next day, up at 6:30am!!!!

Feeling as fresh as a daisy (or rather as fresh as a daisy that has been trampled on) I arrived at the climbing centre in Crolles, a pretty town not far away from EP's office. The wall was built by Entre-Prises and although it is an old gym I really liked its features (can't go wrong with a bit of Imprint panelling ;) ) My first 4 qualification routes went well and I topped them all, finding the last route (about 7a+/b) tricky at the top but not getting too pumped. I helped Margaux with her German homework - very hard to describe a German text in French, I found out! I went into the finals alongside a lot of L'ALE Escalade club members and isolation was good fun - Sylvain and Jerome bullying poor Yoann into submission and throwing his kit out of the iso area (which was taped off) to try and get him disqualified - awesome coaches! :P ) It was a long wait and card games, gymnastics, skipping and a bit of climbing helped take our mind off the waiting. Eventually we went out to view our routes and Margot and I read ours together. It looked do-able, but there was a section we weren't too sure about near the top. Back into iso and it was time to climb - I knew I had to climb fast in order to win due to the new time regulation, as I knew Margot would top out. As a member of the French Speed Team and a former member of the French Junior Team in Difficulty, I had seen Margot climb and knew she would be tough competition in the final. I also have a lot of admiration for the mental strength of speed climbers -it's not easy being head-head directly with another competitor, so I knew I had to keep confident in this situation.



My turn came and I knew I had to climb fluidly and not hang around, but equally I didn't want to rush and make a mistake. My tactics worked out well and I topped the route fairly quickly. I had made one or two small errors but in all I was happy with my climb. I watched Margot who came out after me and as I expected she easily topped out and I had no idea who had won - it would be a close call! We didn't know until our names were read out on the podium - I had managed to win, but not by much I don't think! I won a nice trophy, a 15 euro voucher for Au Vieux Campeur climbing shop, a day ski-pass for Les Sept Laux, some Crimp Oil and a GriGr2 (which I gave to young Margaux, as being sponsored by Petzl I don't really need it!) Yoann won the Men's Senior category, so our house is home to the two Isère Difficulty champions! We also (quite randomly) got a frying pan off Sylvain and his wife - now we can eat well! Another fantastic French competition with a fun and friendly atmosphere - so glad I got my licence to compete here in France, I have learned so much!



A trip to the supermarket to buy some celebratory drinks and dinner followed and we watched the live feed of the Legends Only event in Sweden, sponsored by Entre-Prises!

Today I went bouldering at Ablok and had a great session - I managed to complete my first grey problem (by the skin of my teeth!) and had fun joining in with the locals and getting inspired by some well-known climbers.

I realise I haven't talked much about my work with EP in this post, but I'm saving that for another post later on. I've been having a lot of fun in the office and even had fits of the giggles the other day and couldn't stop! Lots of funny stories including chicken bones, apples, rats and genies. I will tell no more. It's Top Secret!

Also.....IT'S SNOWING!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Blogs from Natalie Berry