Sunday, August 30, 2009

29.08.09

Part 4 - SUCCESS!!!

After all our disasters so far we seem to have finally found our niche in the beatiful boulder strewn autumnal forests of Fontainbleau! This place is absolutely amazing and we haven't seen even 5% of what it has to offer... In 2 days we have been to 4 of the big famous areas: Bas Cuvier, L'Elephant, Cul De Chien and Roche Aux Sabots and I have climbed 50 problems so far, all of which were stella. There is a quantity of crags and problems here beyond any sense of reality... you really can't appreciate how amazing it is until you come here.I could gush about it endlessly but instead, here are a couple of pics (we have been so excited we forgot the camera's a few times so its only pics from Cul De Chien...)








Friday, August 28, 2009

Duncan & Robs Bogus (French) Journey!!!

Duncan & Rob's Bogus Journey (Or: How to not go climbing in France...)

24.08.09

Part 1 - In the beginning...

After the decadence of our previous 10 days in Sablet lounging by the pool, drinking wine (we went through 80 litres all up haha), eating amazing food and enjoying fantastic company Rob and I headed off to try and enjoy the limestone multipitch climbing in the Gorges Du Verdon. From the outset we were doomed...
We Trained our way to Marseille with all the girls, said our goodbyes then trained it to Manosque. Walking for hours in all the wrong directions with all our stuff we still could not find a place to stay until a lovely lady drove us to a campground were we huddled into my small 2 man tent, watched a movie then passed out. Waking the next mornng we walked the several miles back into town only to find that not only was Manosque the wrong town to go to in order to get to the town we need to get to (La Palud dans Le Gorges Du Verdon) but also that we could catch a bus to the right town but then still can't get to La Palud until tomorrow... which means it is going to take us 3 days to get somewhere that can be driven in about 5 hours... Good to see we are off to a good start!


24.08.09

Part 2 - Can you spell 'epic'...???

Oh my god, Where the f*ck are we? That is what I just said as opened this to write the rest of todays epic adventures and 5 million cars started beeping their horns outside the window of the dingy little room Rob and I have for the night right across the street from the Marseille train and bus station. Marseille I hear you say? But didn't you leave there yesterday? Hmmmm... yes we did.
Here's what happened. Rob and I left the lovely town of Manosque, a town full of lovely people that talked to us despite our terrible French (Je parle Francais une pur...) and helped us at every turn (one old man walked us all the way through town when we were lost, one woman drove us to the campsite for no reason other than to be friendly and one other older woman chatted for ages at the bus stop with us and interpeted the announcements for us), we headed to the quaint town of Peyrolles on the bus where we had been advised by the bus station staff we could catch a bus to LaPalud, albeit the next day. We got off at Peyrolles only to find the that there didn't seem to be such thing as a bus to LaPalud from Peyrolles and that the Tourism Office was closed on Monday's (note to self - EVERYTHING is closed in Provence on Sundays and Mondays... dont travel on those days in future!). Now, this was ok as we could catch a bus to Aix-En-Provence or Marseille and start again from scratch, BUT, oh look... no bus untill 7:30pm... it was midday... how do you pass a day in Provencal France on a Monday? Drink cheap wine and eat baguettes of course! So thats what we did... until the bus came, we got on, ended up in Marseille desperate for a bed and a shower. So thats how we have ended up in the WORST hotel you could ever pay $70 for, right on a main road outside the Marseille St Charles Train Station...
Epic. That's how you spell it.


27.08.09

Part 3 - From f*cked up to Fontainbleau...

From where to where??? I'll explain.
So waking up in our disgusting excuse for a room in Marseille we exited first thing and ran to the train station only to find that no buses went to the Verdon from there today... ghey. Right so, what to do? After some debating we bit the cheapskate bullet and hired a car. By 2pm we were on the road in our silly looking but perfect little Fiat Qudo and heading to the Gorges du Verdon!
We arrived that evening and after scouting town for some fresh baguettes and a beer we went to camp on the edge of the gorge. When we saw what we had gotten ourselves into we nearly needed a change of underwear. The Verdon Gorge is ENOURMOUS! Huge towering walls of grey and oragne limestone up to 500 metres high... scary stuff. So we camped the night on the edge of the gorge then in the morning, armed with photos of the guidebook from the local guide store and a brief description of how to get to our selected crag, we headed off to climb some big wall limestone.
True top form we got lost. We found a descent roughly where we thought it should be, down 150m of fixed ropes and into the gorge. But where were the routes??? We found one with nice shiny new bolts and decided 'stuff it - lets just do that one...' but it was a project that hadn't even been cleaned yet so after getting scared on the first half of the first pitch sliding around on loose rock I bailed off and we climbed back up the fixed ropes instead.... fail.
We drove around and realized our mistake. Wrong descent. So we had beers and sangria then retired on top of the gorge again for the night ready to do it properly tomorrow. But wait, whats that? Thunder? Lightning? Rain!!! Argh!!!! So long story short we got rained out of the gorge and had an uncomfortable nights sleep in the car again.
So what to do? Wait for the crag to dry out in a day or two and start again? Bail? Yep, bail. But where? We wanted to climb Mt Blanc but discovered that it costs a fortune to catch the cable cars up so that was canned... so... FONTAINBLEAU!!! We woke up early and after many a wrong turn and "oops, I think the map was upside down" type moments we finally arrived in the bouldering mecca of Fontainbleau just south of Paris and are holed up in a neat little hotel room. Tomorrow we will try and get out and do some bouldering... lets hope our luck has improved...



Baguettes and Rose in Peyrolles


In our little car finally!


This is literally what we tried to use as a guide... this photo...


The streets of La Palud Sur Verdon


Looking into the gorge before our epic


Rob during the fixed rope descent


What do you do when its railing and your stuck in your car? Drink Sangria!!!


Where to now???


Half wild Verdon goats... better climbers than we are... sad but true...


Road tripping through the south of France to Paris wia the edge of the Alps

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Baguette, Camembert... Jacque Cousteau!!!

21.08.09

What did you do today? I woke up to fresh coffee, climbed a mountain, went rock climbing, ate amazing food, walked through vineyards, swam in the pool, had dinner in a beautiful little French village, drank wine and smiled and laughed all day with amazing friends... not much more to tell really... just the same old usual daily routine here :P


Poolside

Hard life...


Dinner time in Sablet!


Bday girl and bday cake


The view from the top of the Dentelles

Summit Team


Me climbing in the Dentelles


Monday, August 17, 2009

17.08.09

After my first apprehensions about Europe my fears of not really enjoying it here have been well and truely negated. After having a great time in Salzburg including a nice day of sports climbing at a great little limestone crag called Plomberg, Nina and I headed West on our way to Switzerland. We stopped off for a night in The Zillertal Valley where I went for a boulder at Kaseler Alm. Then it was through Innsbruck and into Switzerland. Arriving at Magic Wood I set up my nice little tent that I bought and settled in to the camp. All the crew arrived by the next day and with Nina, myself, the Slovenian Crew , Lily, Jon, Bernie and more it was an amazing few weeks of bouldering in the forest. Magic wood is amazing, it is a beautiful alpine valley with a glacial river and pretty pine and blueberry forests full of amazing gneiss boulders, truely and amzing place. The bouldering was spectacular, the scenery amazing, the people fantastic.... good times!Then two days ago it was trains and buses from the Swiss Alps all the way to the south of France! Sophie picked me up at the Avignon train station and drove me out to their beautiful family home near Sablet in the Provence region... rolling hills of vineyards and olive groves, pretty old villages and their house is a beuatiful renovated old home one a hill with a massive pool with a diving board with stunning views of the farms and cliffs around us. Plus it is over 35 degrees and clear blue skys... a true mediteranean summer... so its beer, wine, cheese, baguettes, pate and hordes of pretty girls in bikinis by the pool for the next week... I love my life!
The campsite view in the Zillertal

Me bouldering in Kaseler Alm, Zillertal


MAGIC WOOD!!!

The MW Crew... much love :)

Me bouldering in Magic Wood

Do YOU highball??? Bernie in MW

Tobi and Nina, classic 6C in MW

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Willkommen nach Österreich

31.07.09
Austria! Mainland Europe at last!
After a horrible night staying awake all night in London's Stansted Airport I landed in Salzburg yesterday morning tired but excited, especially after seeing the alps from the window of the plane.
My friend Nina was waiting at the airport to pick me up and after breakfast it was a whirlwind tour of the city of Salzburg where we managed to take in all the sights and wander around most of the centre of this beautiful old city including an amazing church built in 747ad called The DOM. I even managed to crash my bicycle pretty badly on the way home just to spice up my day haha. That night it was 1 litre beers in a big old private brewery, awesome day.
Today Nina and her father, Wolfgang, took me hiking up in the Alps to climb a little peak called Taghaube. Amazing. Great hike up a nice little peak with amazing views of the Alps and the glaciers below us. The Alps here in Austria as super pretty... add yet another place to the "Places I want to live" list haha.


London´s Stansted Airport at dawn



Looking over the Saltach River in Salzburg



Mirabell Garden in Salzburg



Statue in Mirabell Garden


Statue in Mirabell Garden



The streets in thecity centre



Inside The Dom, a church circa 747ad



The roof of The Dom



Looking over Salzburg



Looking over the city towards Festung Castle



Wolfgang and Nina heading off on our hike



Nina



Looking down on the clouds rolling in near the summit



Looking down over the valley from the summit



Wolfgang and I on the summit of Taghaube



Nina near the summit




Looking up from the Austrian Alpine Club hut, Taghaube is the peak on the far right