It's hard to believe it's all over?! I can say that I'm glad I did it, and that I achieved a lot. I was able to learn so much not only about climbing but myself. Would I do it again? I don't know. I have realized the place that climbing has in my life and largely where and what I want my life to be. I can say that I'm a bit more at peace and definitely more happy.
I think that in a way I have reset my life, mentally. It's been cool to go thru the process of letting go of so much. Stress, the past, who I am, etc. I achieved a lot of the goals that I set out to do. I still can't believe that I climbed El Cap! I didn't go broke, thank god. France was awesome, and I learned ALOT!
Climbing is still so important to me. However after doing it so much, I know that there are other things in my life that are also important. That I have more to focus on, achieve, and be grateful for. I have a better understanding of who I am, what my faults are, what qualities I want to continue to work on. New goals and aspirations that will breathe new life into my world. I don't know if this trip was the source of being able to do that, but I know that it provided the opportunity for it.
I did improve as a climber. I learned how to mentally be stronger. I climbed in so many places and did so many routes that I have always wanted to do: Tahquitz, Epinephrine, The Nose, The Sierras, The Buttermilks, Font, Maple Canyon, Serenity Crack and Sons of Yesterday, The Vampire. The list continues. I want to thank my awesome partner Kristina; who helped me learn, provided support, and was a great companion. I wish you well on the rest of your trip.
Where do I go from here....Well school starts Weds, MBA here I come. i will be doing Team in Training. I plan to climb a lot again, and hopefully help Matthew tick some of his goals:) I heart you. Learn how to write grants and hopefully make a difference in the world. Continue to improve as a person and a climber.
Thank you to everyone who has read my blog, I appreciate it. Glad to be home, can't wait to get back in touch with everyone!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Fontainebleau!! and France
So France! I went to the following places: Paris, Font, Champagne, Normandy. It was amazing, and I have always wanted to come this way. I was glad to be able to make it work. After a long ass flight and lay-over I landed in Paris. The driving was terrifying, the scenery beautiful. I was burnt from the time change and such, but made it to Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower day one. I had to take a nap in the grass some where and then again in the mini car that I had rented in a parking garage. I hadn't found a place to stay yet. Day two I went to the Louvre, Musse D'Orsey, Champs Elise, and Arc D'Triumph. I loved what I did there but I was ready to head out to the country and climb.
Font, interesting. It took a while to get acquainted to the area aka finding the boulders. For those of you who have been to Hueco, you drive up and the place is right there. Not so much in Font. You drive up to this massive forest, and you can not see the boulders till you drive to the spot you are climbing at and walk in. I was a bit frustrated and drove around after getting a camp spot. I found some boulders and they kindly offered for me to join them. They got me acquainted to the area and told me where some sports were. I got to climb there for 4 days. They have the problems on circuits, so the book just gave the list of problems, but not a star rating. That made it tough, because you may have 50 problems in front of you, but only 10 or12 may be worth climbing. It rained a lot those 4 days and I was forced to sleep in my mini car, because I had decided not to bring a tent. At that point my thoughts about Font were undecided. There were really good problems and then not good. I decided to make my opinion after I came back.
Off to Champagne, the land of Champagne! I got to drink real Champagne (it is only real if it comes from this area, everything else is just sparkling wine). They were very adamant about this as people have started calling non-champagne champagne. I toured two wineries, walked the uber famous Avenue de Champagne, drove the country-side, and finished in Reims. After touring the city I finally found Internet! This had been a long battle, and I needed to take care of some bank things.
From there it was off to Normandy and the Mont Saint Michel. This is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. It's a monastery set off in the ocean essentially. I had a great time, despite having some bank issues and almost being stranded there. My sister saved the day with Western Union, and I didn't have to spend the rest of my trip eating baguette and hating my life. I also toured the battle fields of WWII. I drove the coast up to Omaha beach and saw the area where D-Day's main assault took place. I also went to the cemetery, and emotionally lost it when I saw the mass of grave stones. I cannot believe the bravery that these men had. The thousands up to 5000 according to counts who were injured, missing, or lost their life. The courage it took to storm that beach via a water-front assault is extraordinary. God bless these men.
After making a stop off at Versailles and seeing the exorbitant wealth that sent France into guillotine madness, I returned to Font. This time, the skies were clear, I knew where to go, and the climbing was much better. I got worked hard-core the first day bouldering and had to muster myself for the next 2 days. I will say that Font is a special place, and yes my friends there are slopers! I don't know if I would go back. I don't think that I would. I got to spend 7 days total climbing there. I felt good about that.
I got back up to the airport the next day with a 3am start, shoot me. It was a long trip back with flight delays and waiting on the run-way. Matthew graciously picked me back up from the airport. I was thrilled to see him an be home at last.
 |
| Notre Dame |
 |
| Love locks over the river Seine |
 |
| Do I really need to say what this is?! |
 |
| The Louvre, amazing! |
 |
| Arc de Triumph |
Font, interesting. It took a while to get acquainted to the area aka finding the boulders. For those of you who have been to Hueco, you drive up and the place is right there. Not so much in Font. You drive up to this massive forest, and you can not see the boulders till you drive to the spot you are climbing at and walk in. I was a bit frustrated and drove around after getting a camp spot. I found some boulders and they kindly offered for me to join them. They got me acquainted to the area and told me where some sports were. I got to climb there for 4 days. They have the problems on circuits, so the book just gave the list of problems, but not a star rating. That made it tough, because you may have 50 problems in front of you, but only 10 or12 may be worth climbing. It rained a lot those 4 days and I was forced to sleep in my mini car, because I had decided not to bring a tent. At that point my thoughts about Font were undecided. There were really good problems and then not good. I decided to make my opinion after I came back.
 |
| Chateau de Fontainebleau, home of Napoleon |
 |
| People that helped me find my way. |
 |
| Beagle siting! |
Off to Champagne, the land of Champagne! I got to drink real Champagne (it is only real if it comes from this area, everything else is just sparkling wine). They were very adamant about this as people have started calling non-champagne champagne. I toured two wineries, walked the uber famous Avenue de Champagne, drove the country-side, and finished in Reims. After touring the city I finally found Internet! This had been a long battle, and I needed to take care of some bank things.
 |
| My rental, not a good sleeping area...ug. |
From there it was off to Normandy and the Mont Saint Michel. This is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. It's a monastery set off in the ocean essentially. I had a great time, despite having some bank issues and almost being stranded there. My sister saved the day with Western Union, and I didn't have to spend the rest of my trip eating baguette and hating my life. I also toured the battle fields of WWII. I drove the coast up to Omaha beach and saw the area where D-Day's main assault took place. I also went to the cemetery, and emotionally lost it when I saw the mass of grave stones. I cannot believe the bravery that these men had. The thousands up to 5000 according to counts who were injured, missing, or lost their life. The courage it took to storm that beach via a water-front assault is extraordinary. God bless these men.
 |
| Mont Saint Michel, almost the end of my trip... |
 |
| Area around the Mont Saint Michel and jelly-fish that didn't make it thru the tide. |
 |
| Omaha beach, one of the D-Day landings. |
 |
| US Omaha beach cemetery, may they rest in piece for the price they paid. |
 |
| Point du Hoc, one of the craziest assaults made by rangers. |
 |
| Coast around Point du Hoc. Gives you an idea of what they scaled. |
After making a stop off at Versailles and seeing the exorbitant wealth that sent France into guillotine madness, I returned to Font. This time, the skies were clear, I knew where to go, and the climbing was much better. I got worked hard-core the first day bouldering and had to muster myself for the next 2 days. I will say that Font is a special place, and yes my friends there are slopers! I don't know if I would go back. I don't think that I would. I got to spend 7 days total climbing there. I felt good about that.
 |
| Versailles, home to the world famous Marie Antoinette. |
 |
| Grounds of the palace, even I got tired walking around this place, huge! Also a UNESCO world heritage site. |
 |
| How they mark the boulder problems in font, circuit one's that is. It provides the number and color of difficulty. |
 |
| Awesome v1 prob |
 |
| I got schooled on this boulder! |
I got back up to the airport the next day with a 3am start, shoot me. It was a long trip back with flight delays and waiting on the run-way. Matthew graciously picked me back up from the airport. I was thrilled to see him an be home at last.
Utah sporty sport
So after going to Male Canyon, we headed to the Uintas (pronounced Wintas) to do some alpine sport climbing. If there is such a thing:) At any rate, it's fairly moderate there, only up to 5.12 and not tons of 12's. None the less the climbing was beautiful. The rock is quartzite, and forms these horizontal cracks and ledges. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures there:(
I wouldn't recommend taking a trip there. It was fun and the climbing was cool, but there just isn't enough to really make a trip of it. The mosquitoes were awful too! We had to eat in the car to keep from being attacked by the swarms, yes swarms of them. The other thing is that there are few areas that are really developed. We went to this one spot in the guidebook that is supposed to be awesome called Stone Garden. I'm sure it is, but the directions that were given in the book were not correct and we ended up at some crag we didn't know. As well, the routes are soft. Some are true to the grade, but many had to be down graded. For instance we did an 11c that had been down graded from 12. Fair for 11c, hard, but def not 12.
I got to see a moose there, I miss them from Alaska. Also went for a really pretty run. From there we headed to American Fork. Hard limestone sport climbing. Also the last destination before I head back to CO.....
American Fork, definitely the land of hard sport climbing. I got worked man. I think that the climbing is super fun, overhanging and pretty juggy. I think it's better than Rifle, and I am prepared to feel the heat for that comment. I just think that the routes climb better. Yes there is still polish and such, but I think that's true for limestone that gets climbed often anywhere. I finally got to see Matt and Chui again. I missed them both very much. Matthew kindly drove out to pick me up and return me to CO. Although I didn't climb my best at AF, I am definitely getting in good sport shape. Consistently climbing the hardest sport grades that I have climbed. I am really enjoying it after so much trad climbing. The simplicity of clipping bolts is great.
Although I have one more stop in France, this is the end of my trip in the States. Hard to believe after so much climbing!
I wouldn't recommend taking a trip there. It was fun and the climbing was cool, but there just isn't enough to really make a trip of it. The mosquitoes were awful too! We had to eat in the car to keep from being attacked by the swarms, yes swarms of them. The other thing is that there are few areas that are really developed. We went to this one spot in the guidebook that is supposed to be awesome called Stone Garden. I'm sure it is, but the directions that were given in the book were not correct and we ended up at some crag we didn't know. As well, the routes are soft. Some are true to the grade, but many had to be down graded. For instance we did an 11c that had been down graded from 12. Fair for 11c, hard, but def not 12.
I got to see a moose there, I miss them from Alaska. Also went for a really pretty run. From there we headed to American Fork. Hard limestone sport climbing. Also the last destination before I head back to CO.....
American Fork, definitely the land of hard sport climbing. I got worked man. I think that the climbing is super fun, overhanging and pretty juggy. I think it's better than Rifle, and I am prepared to feel the heat for that comment. I just think that the routes climb better. Yes there is still polish and such, but I think that's true for limestone that gets climbed often anywhere. I finally got to see Matt and Chui again. I missed them both very much. Matthew kindly drove out to pick me up and return me to CO. Although I didn't climb my best at AF, I am definitely getting in good sport shape. Consistently climbing the hardest sport grades that I have climbed. I am really enjoying it after so much trad climbing. The simplicity of clipping bolts is great.
Although I have one more stop in France, this is the end of my trip in the States. Hard to believe after so much climbing!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)