Hardwear Sessions

Watching my good friend, Jeff Mercier pretty much do the first spurless and third overall ascent of 'Jedi' was inspirational. It wasn't really any different to seeing Sharma send 'Realisation' or Trotter send 'The path'. You take a sick strong climber at their peak form and match them up with a truly incredible line that pushes them to peform at their absolute best. On my 10 week voyage, or as I like to call it 'Schooling'around some of the best mixed climbing spots of the world, I've met a bunch of people that have really inspired me. Just like Jeff.

Just a week earlier I was in Ouray, getting my arse handed to me in the International Ice Competition. But as I watched the rest of the competitors bust their balls on the final route, I witnessed some amazing efforts. If seeing Will Mayo drop a tool half way up and then continue from the ice and across the swinging logs for another five moves, still with only one tool, wasn't mad enough. Then up step Ms Ines Papert. She cruised her way sublimely from rock to ice to logs to tool board, only to miss the dyno for the finish by inches. Un-deterred she set up and dyno'd again, and again, and again and three more times. Getting within an inch or two of topping out.

Following her was the ever likable Ukrainian, Evgeny Krivoshietsev. His style is simple. Climbing fast, and... then a bit faster still. He reached the penultimate move on the tool board with ten minutes left to spare. Then his tool popped from the hold. Awwwweeeee, nasty.'I think now, I don't like the Grivel's so much' Evgeny explains to me, over a bowl of sugarpuffs.

I took this learning and dumped it into the filing system in my head. Meanwhile I continued my journey from crag to crag. Like Jeff, I too wanted to send 'Jedi' without spurs. But like Jeff I was also equally disappointed to find a lack of ice on the finish and hence a true ascent seemingly unfeasible. Co-incidently at the same time I also fell ill as the winter temperatures dropped below -40. Time to go to new places and leave 'Jedi' for later. More routes to climb.

After three weeks in Colorado freezing our bits off we headed to Canada, and again froze our bits off. After sending the 'Game' the previous season I was psyched to check out the 'Steel Koan'. It's arguably the hardest mixed route in the world at the moment. One of the shorter routes at the Cineplex. But as Will Gadd said to me 'it drains a man like a bath plug'. And the vedict after trying it. Definitely, it drains you. Its sustained, full on power after doing one of the biggest and hardest moves I have ever seen on any route, anywhere.

After several days firing other routes and belaying my buddy on 'Musashi', I managed to squeeze in a few runs on the 'Koan'. It was all too little, to late though. Resigning me to wait for another 9 months till I can go again and get it done. It was just one of those winters though. As I hung from the final hold on 'Musashi', looking at the broken ice curtain and the WI 8 moves that went with it, I figured. Its one of those winters. In fact we had only stirred the beast they call 'the unpredictable weather'.

With three days of climbing at Ueschinen under our belts during the next leg in Europe, we got hit by the reality of just how radically things can change. With the temperatures up from -5 to +8, the main question of the day was, who's gonna run between the falling ice pillars to get the ropes and quickdraws back? To be honest by that point my tolerance was pretty much done. After several nightmare plane journeys and five days trying to get my bags back to Geneva from Denver. I was relieved to get my own gear back and move on to the World Cup in Saas Fee. There again I watched from the sideline after my turn in the spotlight had ended, as Simon Anthamatten muscled his way past Evgeny's high point and into first place on the podium. But for me the last few weeks around Europe were tippified by new adventures at new crags.

Instead of finishing the journey as I had intended by going to the Tyrol to send Markus Bendler's route 'Law and order', the tropical weather pushed us to come up with more imaginative ideas. So we hit the Zoo, the Dry Spa and Le Sanglier. All places where you can climbed mixed routes in a dry style. Places where few people from afar get to go. And most of all, places that were totally new to me. Keeping it varied all the time with new venues and new people is the best way I think to get through these long climbing trips. And after 10 weeks on the road I'm already starting to plan for next year. 'Steel Koan', 'Law and order' the World Cup, bring it on.