Switzerland Road Trip 2015

 

Back in September we enjoyed our first family holiday together. It turned out to be an epic adventure for all of us. I could say more but hey, lets move on... I was psyched for this trip as I had been putting in some effort to regain fitness and build a good foundation level back into my climbing. This trip would be the ideal opportunity to see how I was climbing on rock and
get a feel for where I was in relation to past performance. We drove to Roslare and took a ferry to France. From there we drove east to Switzerland, Ticino. We choose Ticino as we hoped it would have better conditions for bouldering than Fontainebleau at this time of year. Plus it would be a great excuse to show the kids the alps and drive through France! We based ourselves in the village of Claro near Bellinzona. Beautiful natural plunge pools to swim in and walks up the steep mountainsides kept me happy in between exploring the many local bouldering spots. We soon found our favourite climbing area which was in many respects dictated by it's child friendly environment, Chironico. This area is a granite paradise. The kids loved playing in the beautiful and peaceful forests which made it easy to enjoy each day out.

 

 

The weather on our arrival was hot, around 26 degrees and humid with it. Not ideal for bouldering but great for evening thunder storms! Despite the greasy conditions we got stuck in and on the first day I found a problem that caught my attention straight away. It was a really powerful roof with every move requiring a lot of precision to stay on. Despite making solid progress and doing all the moves quickly in two sessions I never managed to complete it as unfortunately the weather turned bad and this problem never dried out. It was eye-opening to realise that I could make such big moves and climb through these sequences while keeping tension. It definitely felt like I was accessing a whole new level of climbing.

Eager to see how other hard problems felt I jumped on a steep compression style 7C on possibly the hottest day of our trip. Once again, after a few goes I had done all of the moves and was making some big links. Eventually I had to admit defeat as sticking this one slippery crimp in the mid-day heat was proving impossible for me. We walked around the back of the boulder in search of shade and found an amazing looking steep overhang with a mantle onto a slab to finish. It looked great and before long Dave had it chalked up and the pads were in place. I thought I might have a chance at flashing it so I took my time in examining the possible sequences that might let me connect the spaced holds. It looked really reachy. Grand, no pressure then!

A few minutes later I had my first 7A flash. Once I surprised myself by making the second huge reach I knew I could hold it together to the top. I didn't expect the last move to be so hard though and sticking with it and digging so deep at the end made it all the sweeter.

 

After this the weather turned bad for the remainder of our stay in Ticino. Heavy rain each day leading to floods in fact. Finding dry rock became the name of the game. We were forced to change plans and spurred on by my 7A flash we went on the hunt for other 7A's that could be climbed quickly and were out of the rain on dry rock. First up was a steep wall climb called Hopper. It climbs a 30 degree wall using some small but positive crimps with the final move requiring a dyno from the smallest crimp to a narrow slot. On my first go I climbed straight up to the final throw but didn't hold the last hold as I aimed a little to the left. After that go I took a few attempts to reach the same highpoint. This move felt hard for me as I kept loosing contact with my left foot causing an exaggerated swing. Finally I decided I knew my exact sequence so I sat down and waited for full arm power to return, cool hands and visualised hitting the slot. I pulled on and sent it perfectly. This climb taught me a lot about being patient and not wasting yourself on the same move over and over again. Letting my skin cool really made a difference with the contact on the holds too - it's funny, I'd never really paid attention to that level of detail before in my climbing.

The next target was a classic roof problem climbing out of a cave called Los Cursos. This problem starts with one power move from undercuts in the roof to a pocket. I knew walking up to it that I could flash it, I just had that feeling about it. I pulled on and threw for the pocket, immediately tensing off the remaining undercut to keep my feet in contact with the roof. the next move was a hit or miss stab into another slot. This time my fingers latched the lip and I held the cut loose. I knew it was over and I could enjoy it to the top. Amazing piece of rock and lovely movement. My second 7A flash! 

 

After this the weather really got bad and despite our best efforts at finding or creating dry rock we couldn't manage any more successful sessions. In between the bouldering and the rain we had some lovely days out exploring the Swiss alps. The kids took their first cable car and I put on a brave face despite being terrified in the tiny rickety tin box! Leaving Switzerland, we made time for a detour to Fontainebleau and Paris which just reminded me of how much I love it there. Can't wait to go back, I think I know where we'll go for our next holiday.

 



Cable car brave face

No brave face needed by Matilda! Loved every second!

 

The hills are alive with the sound of music :)

 

Paris!!

 

Coming home I had mixed feelings about the trip. 5000km for 5 short bouldering sessions felt a little unrewarding but like lots of things, the outcome could have gone two ways. I could have been disappointed I didn't finish the 7B+'s and 7C's but in the end I was excited at the potential I saw in my climbing. After all, having taken over 3 years off climbing with having the kids and only putting in 12 weeks or so of foundation training before the trip - to come home with 2 7A flashes and a third that I learnt a lot from is a great result. To be honest I thanked God every day that I was able to just get out there and climb - especially on rock! Now psyched more than ever to build on this level and enjoy more travel fun as a family.