Archiv des Autors: ninacap

I’m standing in the sun, surrounded by well-dressed people. It’s my childhood friend’s marriage, in Switzerland. I’m watching people laugh; sip on a glass of tasty wine; kids are playing around. They are running on the green grass, climbing up trees and some are playing in the dirt. I close my eyes and images go through my mind from the place I was only a couple of hours ago.
My mind is switching back and forth between here and Lebanon. I can also see kids playing around there. Their attitude is the same and I realize how true those little human beings are.

As an adult, my last mission in the Middle East has been tough but very enriching. While bringing climbing to Syrian refugees and Lebanese youth affected by the war, together with the non-profit organisation ClimbAID, I realized once more the meaning of freedom and liberty.

I went to Lebanon for the second time as a volunteer to help ClimbAID. A year ago, Beat Baggenstos, the founder of the organisation, had the idea of building a mobile boulder to bring climbing to Syrian refugees and Lebaneseyouth.
Climbing is a powerful activity with plenty of facets. It shapes the values we share and defend: the sense of sharing, trying your best, dealing with fear and the overwhelming feeling of freedom while living fully the present moment.

When I arrived, we had to deal with a broken axle on the Rolling Rock and, resolving a problem in the Middle East is very different than in Switzerland. So the project was somehow hanging in the void and I was getting jittery. Just before I left, I was in great climbing shape from spending many month’s outdoors rock climbing. I think when I’m in that mode, my mind is not very open to seeing what’s going on in the real world. Spending time on rocks, focused on trying one’s hardest is not very relevant and it doesn’t resolve any problem on this planet.

Once the truck fixed and on the road again, we moved towards different refugee camps in the Beqaa valley. The beautiful feeling of bringing my own experiences from rock climbing here took over me.

I like to think that my climbing values are adaptable anywhere on this planet. I supported the team in teaching youth to climb harder, to climb together and to help each other. We encouraged Muslim girls to climb and to move (more or less) freely, to laugh, to cry, to show their vulnerabilities and to overcome them in a beautiful way. Climbing is simply great and I feel very fortunate to have the freedom to go out and share this activity all over the globe.

During one of the climbing sessions on the Rolling Rock, we asked a kid what it meant for him to climb on this colourful truck. He told us that before the war he had been used to climb in the mountains, but now there is no access anymore because of mine fields. And now he’s very happy to be able to climb a bit, even if it’s not in the mountains, because he really loves it.

That’s just one of the many stories that touched me. In those situations, (not far from the minefields) I see myself like in a movie but then I realize that it’s reality and “chicken skin” overcomes me. Honestly, when I’m living those moments, I can’t really explain what’s going on in my heart and head. I simply live them. Later comes the time needed to reflect and analyse.

Maybe these moments at the edge are making me who I am. I’m not reaching out to them, they just happen. I can’t control circumstances, but I can sign this contract with myself to be ready when things take a sharp turn. That’s the same in climbing and maybe that’s why I never panic or lose my mind.

Aside from our sessions on the Rolling Rock, I took time to explore the country and to go climbing in Tannourine, one of Lebanon’s best spot. It always takes time to switch from the Muslim rules (especially concerning clothing) into a Christian place like in Tannourine where you can climb in shorts and tank top. It had been very warm, 26 degrees in the shade, but I climbed pretty well, since it had also been very dry. It was very cool to redpoint Tannourine’s first 8b and to climb some other 8a’s. Lebanon’s climbing community takes the weekend and sometimes some days off during the week to go there. It’s always very enriching to talk with my friends, especially about the refugee situation.

If you think, Lebanon is only a 1/4 as big as Switzerland and has 6 mio people living there. 1/3 of them are refugees, which makes it the country with the highest concentration of refugees in the world.

Looking at those numbers does change the perspective from what the word “tolerance” might mean to us in Europe …. Despite being having so little space to share among so many, people somehow manage to live and work together in Lebanon. This year, ClimbAID’s base was a house in the middle of the Beqaa valley. Somewhere in Chtoura, surrounded by typical concrete buildings, colourful agriculture fields and by many refugee camps. Refugees live in sorts of huts, made of wood and tarp. Some seems quite sturdy, others much less so. Syrians are often employed by the local landowners. They work all day in the fields. But life somehow brings everyone together. As foreigner, you would not be able to tell apart who is who among the kids. They all love climbing, failing, getting better, and topping out. In the end, we’re all the same.

I am very thankful to Beat from ClimbAID who pushed me out of my comfort zone from time to time. To all the volunteers as well, who believe in the project and throw themselves in, heart and soul. I feel grateful to get to meet so many people who are willing to share their own experience of climbing with others. I also want to thank my partners and sponsors who support me on projects like Climb AID and give me the opportunity of becoming a better person.

Thank’s Budget rent a car for offering a nice car to the team for that years trip!

Here is a link with a 15% discount for your next car rental by entering that promo code: L820200

I am back from five weeks in Leonidio. A rich and enlightening stay! The climbing itself is quite a treat for any style and grade level. But with sea all around, the landscapes alone are worth the trip.

I went all out in these majestic cliffs. During the winter I had felt that 2018 would be a year for climbing for me. Just climbing. So I put the cold months to good use and headed into the season in good shape. The investment is paying off. It was a real pleasure to hit the cliffs and feel the good climbing sensations coming back. Leonidio does have a lot of routes that suit my style but there is nothing quite like feeling strong and balanced. My spirit is free, my health impeccable, and my motivation for sending hard routes at its peak.

I don’t think I have ever on-sighted as many routes in the 8s in so little time before. And my legs are surely paying the price in bruises and scabs!!

I was based in Leonidio but moved quite a bit around. I went to a mythical marble cliff near Athens (both figuratively and literally…there is a temple there!). I also went down to Kyparissi a few times to check out this chill out little Ceuze.

Some partying and lending a hand to help build a new climbing shop made for quite a complete life. Everyday, the same ritual: oranges, lemons, and pomelos freshly harvested, and a bath in the cool turquoise waters. A pure life in a pristine place.

But beyond climbing, I would also like to share something that often struck me during my stay. In today’s world, it feels that we are told so often how to measure out success in life. One should have goals, study, get a job, make a good living to support a family and set a safer future. One should consume all sorts of things to take good care of oneself and the look of others.

I have always felt that I could not fit there and that my life could not fit in any of that. I never really think too hard where I would end or if my life would be called successful. Climbing led the way, from my first motion until today. I just know that I am healthy, passionate, and these are the two most precious things life gave me.

In the climbing community, I am used to hang out with people who often share some of my perspective. We have found happiness in a few simple things, like pushing our physical and mental limits. Buying a new car never quite makes the picture.

In Leonidio, I was fortunate to meet people from all walks of life who are there because they don’t fit. Or because the measures of success on the continent don’t suit them. I met people who had chosen to live in caves, to leave everything and come back to something of a natural state. Many had left overwhelmed by the pressure from their bosses, parents of peers.

Greece is often known for its somewhat chaotic organization, and of course as a European country in deep economic crisis. But it seems to me that the Greeks are not less happy in fact. Maybe because they heart is full of kindness and sharing part of common sense. I was very touched by the community of Leonidio.

Climbers or locals, everyone had a very open mind, without much of a judgment for one another. It felt like everyone had room to breath and be himself.

I spent quite some time hanging out with Germans from Berlin and my Austrian friend Bernd Schlögl. We explored the area, opened and cleaned new routes together and pushed each other in our projects. That collective energy is a real boost!

There are 4 ascents I’m proud of:

THE ultimate “Megakante” I climbed on my second go. An 8b line among the finest, above the village of Leonido.

In the Hada sector, I made the first ascent of “The Swarm”. A long and steep new 8b from Bernd, which I helped cleaning and figuring out betas.

Two lines in Elona: “Goliath” the 60m long king line of the sector. I tried that one on-sight and fell only one meter from the chain. I red-pointed that one a couple of days later. And my first 8c in 3 years called “Hanuman”. Such an excellent fight and I have to say that I missed that feeling of overcoming so much!

All in all, I’m very happy about my performances and the way I approached them.
The climbing game is so simple and I am so thankful I can find such happiness in it….;-)

One again, I’ve been travelling for 5 weeks with a rental car from Budget.
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Yosemite

Top of El Cap with an incredible view on Half Dome Pic: Benoit Merlin

The vibes in the valley… although the high traffic, climbers or non, it’s worth to be there at least once in his life. But attention: take it in the right dosage!;-)

Highlight to me has been the life on the wall, by far. I climbed two times El Cap, once per “Nose” and the second time by freeclimbing “El Nino”. It’s somehow hard work, but sleeping on a portaledge, calculating water and food and entering in a symbiose with your partner, transforms the hard hauling etc into a pleasure. Here are some pics form the Nose (it’s a busy route, but you can’t miss that if you’re a climber) and El Nino, a 13.c route with more crimps then cracks. But no traffic and people on that one:

El Cap and the Nose, Pic: Francois Lebeau

The nose and it’s beautiful cracks. pic took from the meadows by Tom Evans

Same route, same spot! Pic: Benoit Merlin

The simple life on a portaledge in the early morning

The hauling, a real pain in the ass!!!
pic: Tom Evans

Spending multiple night on that big peace of rock is unique!
pic.: Francois Lebeau

The Rostrum

A must! I’ve rarely climbed a multipitch with such a big variation: Offwight, chimneys, fingercracks, an overhanging roof, technical climbing on crimps. Simply WAOH! It’s also a very famous route, so the best is to go late, around noon, so you can fully enjoy the climbing way behind all the people left at the parking at 6am. The vibes up there are magical!

Morning vibes with friend Ryan Kelly
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

At the end of the offwight
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Waiting on the belay station
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Separate Reality and Power of Tales

You all probably know the famous roof of Separate Reality, another must and so cool to climb! I went foot first in the crux on the lip. Just one pitch below, there is another (very hard) crack to try: Power of Tales. I tried that together with Barbara Zangerl, but we both failed. Reason to try it again during my next trip!

Tales of Power
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

The “nice” finish of Tales of Power!:-)
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Other things To Do in the valley:

Jumping nacked in the river after a warm climbing day. Drinking a fresh beer in the Meadows. Filling up your water tank at fern springs.

…. cracks everywhere!;-)
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Red Rocks

I’ve only climbed 3 days in red Rocks and one route I would absolutely recommend: The Original route at Rainbow walls. A 5 Star route, a little remote with an outstanding view on Las Vegas

Rainbow wall
pic.: Benoit Merlin

The original route goes all the way that logical crack dihedral. Grades are sustaining and hard…

The climbing is excellent! Very easy to protect and some bolts. Highly recommended!

Wide open desert feeling, a 20min drive from Las Vegas, crazy…
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

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Towers around Moab

We climbed 4 towers in total while being in Moab. The experience has been unique on all of them, even if the climbing was just ok on some. But one route has had all! 5 star climbing on a totally rad tower in the middle of nowhere: Moses Tower and the route “Primerose Dihedrals” and just nearby, the tower “Zeus”.

Short approach to Moses and Zeus
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Climbing Moses with view in Zeus
Pic.: Nina Caprez

Just WOW! Phenomenal climbing on top rock
Pic.: Nina Caprez

Sunrise on the top of Zeus with view on Moses.
Pic.: Nina Caprez

2 hours off road driving from Moab to settle down totally alone, a 30 min walk from the towers. RAD!!!
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Indian Creek

Well, what to say about that place….one of my favorite places on earth!

Simply breathtaking and the feeling of freedom is omnipresent… Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Camping on the spot “Superbowl” with my US friends, surrounded by orange walls
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

The daily campfire
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

It has been my second time in the creek and it was so cool to see my personal improvement since spring! It felt very natural to me to place gear and also I did way better with my jamming, in all different types of cracks. I climbed a lot onsight and flash, always by giving all I had! One route I tried this spring, called “Death of a cowboy”, a 13-, I was able to tick after two more days of investment. Very proud about that!

A pure flash ascent of “Rubens Café”, 12+
Pic.: Michael Pang

“Death of a Cowboy”
DONE!:-)
Pic.: Michael Pang

Big lesson how climbing large cracks by Sam. I got my ass kicked on that route called “Big Baby”.
An 11….
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Jumping around in “Attitude 0”. No send, but high on my ticklist!
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

We also spent lots of time watching paintings and visiting ruins of the Anasazis. There are so many in the Creek! Pic.: Nina Caprez

The light is simply magic and unique in the creek.
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

You certainly heard about Trumps plan to drastically reduce the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase  Escalate National Monuments. There are different options for donating money to help the cause. Here are two different links:

Hayden Found and Accessfund

Thank’s and hopefully we can all continue to keep rocking there!

A simple climbing video.

Sharing an outstanding adventure is somehow easy. You take a picture from a big wall, from an icy mountain, or from a simple outdoor shot while bivvying.

Everyone can relate to that, our eyes and brain can make the connection between the picture we see and to the emotion it brings up: adventure, rad !!!

But how can we communicate about a more personal emotion on a more run-of-the-mill climbing experience? That’s the challenge I wanted to tackle by filming my way on the historical route “To Bolt or not To Be”, American’s first 14.a, located in Smith Rocks.

So when I first touched the holds of the route, it moved something inside of me. That was in October 2016. Earlier that year, I had had to deal with a crazy infection, which almost killed me. For a while I was far away from what I normally do, climbing hard and pushing my limits. Instead, I was struggling with simple things like walking up stairs and that was very hard for my psyche.

But I wanted to get back to my old self again and so I put a lot of energy in recovering. I came back, step by step.

And six months after my illness I was standing on the bottom of this route, intimidated.

I gathered all my courage and at first barely made my way to the top of this 40m route. It looked like I had no chance, but once back in France I knew that I wanted to climb that route and I managed to focus my mind and heart on that climb over the next few months.

In April? 2017, I returned to Oregon and I felt ready. It gave me a big satisfaction to see that my work had paid off. I was in my little bubble, determinated but joyful at the same time.

Climbing a 14.a on small crimps is not a big adventure, certainly not by today’s standards. That’s obvious. But to me it meant a lot. With that climb and the preparation I had to but in before I was able to close a “not so fun” chapter in my live. The chapter of a weak and unhealthy body, struggling and questioning myself a lot.

With that film, I just want to share that experience. My intention was not to make a huge story out of it, but simply to show a healthy and happy climber on some small crimps.

A big thank’s to Ian Yurdin for the long catches and the good time at the cliff.

To Sean Heaverstock for the support and motivation.
To Mikey Schaefer for the warm housing and the rad photographs.
To Julien Nadiras for his excellent work on field and creative eye.
To Arcteryx for making that film happens.
And last but not least, Mathieu Rivoire form Illustruscope for his excellent work by editing that hard peace.

Hanging out with me can be really tough, especially when I want to go big.

This season I hadn’t had the chance to express myself fully. I injured my ankle after which weather and timing kept me to climbing maybe well, but nothing remarkable.

To fix that, I came to Yosemite Valley on Oct. 11 for a second time. Compared to my visit in the Spring, the walls were all dry, which got my head spinning in excitement.

My boyfriend Benoit and I had no real plans. The only thing he wanted to climb was the Nose and so we did. It was our first big wall together and you can imagine how much we sucked … the climbing went really well as I lead and free climbed a big part of the route, but the hauling and putting up the portaledge cost us quite some energy, both physical and mental.

After three days of effort we reached the top, but somehow the feeling we had after being on the same route as perhaps hundreds other parties per year wasn’t as fulfilling as we were expecting.

The upshot is that I was really surprised by my good climbing shape. Unfortunately, that also makes me even more « insupportable » as it brings back that really selfish climber who only thinks of hard climbing and performance. Suffice to say that Benoit had a hard time being around me !

I teamed up for some days with climbing machine Barbara Zangers and we gave some shots at a few hard single pitches. I also climbed the ultra classic multipitch route « rostrum » with my local buddy Ryan.

That somehow calmed my nerves and allowed me to realize what I really wanted: to perform on El Cap, together with the person I love. Bigwall climbing with one’s partner is a real challenge because it is hard work and it brings so many intense emotions.

I wanted it badly and Benoit agreed to be on my side. I chose the route El Niño mainly to, avoid the crowds in « Freerider/Salathé ». These two routes, with a common start and the Nose, look like two highways from the ground.

El Niño is on the West side of El Cap and it is not an aid route, so there are only (strong) freeclimbers on it. The route starts straight with two 13.a’s and a 13.b, followed by lots of 12s and sprinkled with 5 other 13s . It’s not the typical crack route, but rather more crimp and technical climbing, overhangs and overall loooong run outs.

I got really scared when I worked on the first hard pitches. The bolts were placed on weird spots and far away from each other in some hard traverses. I was really lucky because two strong climbers from Sweden were working on the route as well. There was chalk on the holds and some quickdraws in those dangerous spots.

That day I tried twice the three hard pitches, but was far from sending.

10 days later, after tackling the question of how egoistic I should be allowed to be, we packed our haulbags with food and water for 8 days on the wall. At night, we went bivouacking at the bottom of the route where we surprised team Sweden, ready for a push. It so happened that we all wanted to try the route on the same day and more or less around the same time (6am) to climb those first hard pitches in the cool morning cool. It was end of October, but the heat was unbelievable!

Stefan and Alexey climbed before me and they sent and so I did, Benoit belaying and jumaring behind. We were all on a big high, but quickly calmed down when it was time to haul our heavy bags. Benoit and I had to repack ours, because we realized that it would never ever takes us 8 days to climb those 28 pitches.

But still, the bags were so heavy and that first day we almost cried because everything went wrong during the hauling! The bags got stuck everywhere, we had to cut some rope at some bolts, and in general we had such bad luck that we agreed that the Karma wasn’t with us. We put up our portaledge at belay 7 for the night and I was ready to give up and go down next day.

I felt very bad because it was way too “freestyle” for my taste. I also felt bad because I took Benoit with me in this difficult wall, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to climb much. I became somehow … realistic and it seemed to big for us.

Spending a night on a portaledge on El Cap has somehow its own magic. I had a very deep and good sleep and when we woke up next day the world seemed to be changed. We were looking under and above us and this deep sensation of feeling lucky overcame us.

We both were joyful, we laughed a lot and it seemed logical that our way was up and not down.

Because of the tricky hauling, we suffered once more up to pitch 10, the sure ledges,. We arrived there around 2pm, the sun was burning hot and the next climbs to do were 13.a and 13.c.

Team Sweden had sent those pitches early in the morning, in the shade and cooler temps. They only had to haul and to move on. We chilled all four of us on that ledge, trying to make some shade with sleeping pads.

And then my psyche came back and I was ready to climb hard again. So we did. Both of the pitches were really bouldery and after a long effort to work them out I sent both of them on my second go, the last one into the night with a headlamp. Benoit was so stoked and we put up our camp in the middle of the wall, no ledge, just 3 bolts, a portaledge, two big haul bags, a poop tube and our little persons up there.

Day 3 was the biggest and most exhausting to me. I climbed 7 pitches onsight that day, including the very hard Endurance Corner and the 13.a roof called Black Cave. I have no idea how that worked out, I guess I was in a high. After the first hauling that day, our bags felt a little lighter so to be more efficient I climbed, fixed the rope and while Benoit was jumaring, I was hauling. So when he would arrive,I had already set up everything, and was ready to climb the next pitch.

The same day I climbed some crazy chimneys and cool pitches like the Slalom. They were all in the 12th grade and once more I was very happy to follow the chalk traces of force Sweden, always two pitches ahead.

That third night, we slept all four of us on a huge ledge right under the second roof called the Cyclops Eye.

Benoit and I are not really experienced in big wall and we were quite convinced that we sucked at it,. However, watching team Sweden, we realized that we actually were doing quite all right. I guess that the hauling is hard work no matter the experience you bring with you.

So to ease our ascent, we went a bit lighter on ropes, but still holding on to what seemed necessary for our well being : a stove, good LYO food, some desserts, and creams to repair our shattered hands at the end of each day. Some things we had on the Nose we left on the ground like extra clothes and our thermarest mattresses.

Oktober is also a really good season to climb El Cap in my opinion. For one, temps are cooler (or supposed to) and the amount of daylight is perfect. We climbed more or less from 8am to 6pm and it was enough to maintain sufficient power over multiple days.

On our fourth day I climbed again all the pitches onsight, including the really cool « Dolphin » pitch which goes straight through the second big roof. Then we all struggled on the very last pitch called « Lucy is a Labrador », the last 13.a of the wall, 5 pitches under the top.

That one is often wet from what I heard and so it was this time. Alexy, Stefan and I had to give several goes to pass the boulder problem with totally wet hands. But we all did it, because of the team spirit, the loud cheering and the personal obligation to give it all so close to the top!

It was such an enjoyable moment and instead of climbing in the dark to the top of El Cap, Benoit and I we spent one more night in the wall at one of the radest places on the wall, the Igloo, an enormous bloc high up there.

That night was ours, the shared suffering was over and the joy overcame us. I felt so grateful to have freeclimbed my fist route on El Cap with my partner. I know that one day, I will be telling the story to my kids!

Back in the Meadows, after climbing the last 3 easy pitches and walking down from El Cap, ,I asked Benoit if it had actually been fun for him. A cold beer in hand, he answered: “You know Nina, everyone is looking for a different satisfaction in life. Me, I’m not looking for a performance or for the athletic aspect in what we did. Being up on such a big wall during 4 days with you was fun. Really.”

Now we’re on the road! It get really cold in the Valley and so we’re cruising south with our fat rental car on some crazy off roads. Stay tuned for futur adventures.

Budget Rent a car is my official sponsor since August and they offer to anyone who needs to rent a car a 15% off.

Click on that link and enter the promo code L820200 and that’s it!;-)

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My recent stay in Lebanon has been a moving experience. A mixture of emotions and mind opening moments about how life could be under different circumstances.

Last year, Beat Martin Baggenstos from the non-profit association “ClimbAID” asked me if I would be interested in supporting a project called “A ROLLING ROCK” dedicated to climbing with vulnerable youth in Lebanon, in particular Syrian refugees. Hearing his invitation and seeing the opportunity to help develop the sport in the country, I jumped immediately on board.

In 2014, I had made a similar experience in Israel and Palestine, climbing in a humanitarian hotspot and meeting people dealing with difficult situations and tensions on a daily basis. I came home totally “boulversée” and started questioning myself a lot.

Clearly, we climb for different reasons and it’s important to us. For me climbing has this magical power to help us disconnect and live fully in the present.

But does climbing help resolve wars or conflicts? Does it help poor or ill people?

At first glance, the answer would be no, but I started to believe that we can contribute to overcoming great and important challenges by sharing what climbing teaches us.

And so two weeks ago, I left for Beirut alone, with the beautiful excitement of not having a clue of what will come and what you are going to experience. I can’t really explain what I was expecting from this week in Lebanon, which has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world. 1 out of 3 is a refugee.

I rented a car at 3 am in the capital, Beat picked me up and after a one-hour drive joined the three other team members from ClimbAID in Zahlé, Central Beqaa. After a short night, we got ready for our first boulder session in a small refugee settlement in Bar Elias.

I was very excited to see A ROLLING ROCK with my own eyes, after such a long period of fundraising, construction and shipping. The truck is a real eye-catcher and well-designed for some real climbing.

I have to admit that on the first day, I got teary eyes from time to time. I felt overwhelmed by the place, the authenticity of the people, the traditions, the food, the smell, the chaos on the roads and market places, and of course by the tough reality of the war in Syria, less than 20 kilometres away.

The session we did that day was apparently one of the best ClimbAID had so far. It was certainly due to the small size of the camp, which consisted of 4 large families.

We made separate age groups because climbing with kids is not the same as with teenagers. I quickly learned that the participants need a lot of supervision, because the excitement and energy is so high that everything can become very chaotic very fast.

ClimbAID’s goal is not just to keep the participants busy for a little while or to play around. They follow a clear set of goals, which is to stimulate the psycho-social development from age 12 onwards, to show them the spirit of climbing and how it shapes our life. In climbing, we learn how to work together, to push each other, and ourselves. We learn that we are in fact often dealing with the same problems, and that there much to learn from each other’s experiences. We put all our energy in the present moment and live the amazing feeling that we all experience when we overcome our fears.

My open and personable character helped a lot. Even if I don’t speak Arabic, I had what felt like very spontaneous connections regardless of gender or age. When I climb, my body speaks a language that everybody understands and I was able to motivate young women to climb, something that cannot be taken for granted in this cultural context.

For the next three days, we left the Beqaa valley and went up to the mountains for some excellent rock climbing in Tannourine. On the way there, we experienced the vast and dazzling cultural diversity of Lebanon. We passed charming Maronite Christian and Druse villages in the mountains, and in North Beqaa saw the celebrations for Ashura, an important Shia Muslim holiday. At all times – obviously perceived as a tourist while driving a mini with pink sunglasses – I felt safe and was enchanted by the hospitality of the Lebanese people.

Tannourine offers everything that a rock climber is looking for. An outstanding place with very high rock quality and so much potential! It was very refreshing to hang out and to work on hard routes with the friendly and hard climbing Lebanese crew. I was very interested to hear their point of view on the situation in their country and of course I wanted to know their point of view on the fact that 1/3 of the population is Syrian or Palestinian refugee.

With pumped arms, we enjoyed together a simple and delicious Lebanese dinner and then went wild camping between fig trees. The second day was even better on a slightly higher sector: a beautiful overhanging orange limestone, with perfect and solid holds, called Shawarma Cave.

Then we left for the coast where we jumped from cliffs into the turquoise green water, did some sightseeing in the impressive city of Tripoli and enjoyed once more the Lebanese guest culture with its amazing food.

Back in Beqaa, we had a sharp reminder of reality. We wanted to hold a climbing session in another refugee settlement, but had to cancel it because we couldn’t guarantee a safe session. It was too chaotic, kids were jumping on the truck, some fighting with sticks. These kids have so much energy that it is sometimes challenging to control and channel it – especially, when after a long week of waiting ClimbAID’s colourful A ROLLING ROCK returns.

On the way back, we stopped to buy fruits and veggies in a small market and Beat started to chat with the shop assistant, a well-educated Syrian man. With tears in his eyes, he told us that there is nothing left in his country, that everything has been destroyed. His and his family’s story touched us deeply. Despite the destruction, his only wish is to go back home.

In those moments, you realize how desperate and sad the life of refugees must be. You feel how disconnected they are and how lucky we can feel about having a safe home to consider as ours.

Once more, I realised how privileged I am and how lucky I can feel to have the life I have.

We all have our own history, problems and sorrows to deal with. But stepping out of my comfort zone and joining the ClimbAID team for one week put my own problems into perspective. Sharing the values that I experience through climbing, surpassing myself in situations I’m not necessarily very comfortable with, is a privilege. I love spreading the positive energy that climbing gives to me and hope that through ClimbAID’s project in Lebanon, A ROLLING ROCK, the teens and kids in the Beqaa valley can experience a bit of the same.

With A ROLLING ROCK, ClimbAID wants to bring colour, movement, and joy to vulnerable youth around the Beqaa for many months ahead. Please consider donating to their endeavour via:

Wire transfer: Postfinance / CH02 0900 0000 6172 4147 1 / ClimbAID, Neugasse 85, 8005 Zurich

PayPal / Stripe: Donations@ClimbAID.org

A big thank’s to the Climb AID team for hosting me with arms wide open, to Jan Bakker for the climbing pics, to Scarpa for their great spirit by offering more then 40 pairs of climbing shoes for the project, to Budget car rental for offering cars where ever I need them (by clicking on that link, you can enter this promo code L820200 and benefit from a 15% discount on your next car rental), to Espace vertical for offering climbing hold for the boulder and to all the donaters for supporting the project!

Climbing in the mountains is an interesting thing. It’s like a mirror to yourself and you can’t hide real emotions. That makes you feel alive.

This spring I hurt my ankle and when I was able to walk again, the only desire I had was to move in the mountains. I started a progressive rehab on my weak ankle and leg and the best option was to walk and climb in mountaineering shoes. That’s what I did.
Chamonix is an incredible playground for people like me. It’s so exciting to go climb on its perfect granite, surrounded by vast glaciers, seracs and crevasses, at 4’000m.

I made the best of my injury and climbed many of the classics I always wanted to do. From very easy ridge climbing to more solid crack climbs. Most of them are a combination of a beautiful approach, an outstanding bivi and a outstanding climb. The ones I would definitely recommend are  « Fidel Fiasco » at Blaitière, « la Reprise » at Flammes de Pierre, and « Sale Athée » at the Moine.

It was very interesting to see how different my climbing was after my little crack climbing internship in Indian Creek. I’m a total jam addict now and I can move freely in splitters.

One route which really showed the progress is « Madalton » at the South Face of Aiguille du midi, a perfectly horizontal 6-meter long roof crack. I tried it last summer and I got my ass thoroughly kicked! And this time I climbed smoothly and almost effortlessly trough the big 7b+ roof. Such a great feeling to feel the improvement!

We all have to admit that this summer hasn’t been the best for extreme alpine or mixed climbing. The Mont Blanc massif has been severely affected by the big heat waves in June and the permafrost started to get hit early this year. Lots of rock falls, accidents in classic routes where entire belay stations came off. Not really a year to go push hard at the edge. I spent lots of time observing the « Pilier d’Angle » where the route « Divine Providence » is. The enormous seracs under which we crossed last year with Benoit were falling down at a dramatic rate. Lucky for us that got on it last year.

Back to rock climbing. My good friend, Arnaud Petit, asked me earlier this summer if I would be on board to check out a big overhang on the Grand Capucin. He’d had a line in mind for long while and wanted to see if it could be free-climbed.

Ten days ago, he called me and we went up there with on mission « overhang ». We climbed up to the middle of the wall through an existing route to reach the top of the crucial overhang section. He first sent me down on toprope, equipped with a ton of gear and a drill machine. I spent two and a half hours in the 40m pitch to check out the moves, clean some holds and drill 4 bolts where you can’t protect with gear.

It was so exciting to open that pitch and to see that everything worked! It was the first time that I opened a multipitch route in such an alpine environment.

It was a long day and once back in the valley, our motivation was very high to go back as soon as possible and open the entire line.

GOPR0

A new window opened a few days ago. We packed our stuff in Chamonix for a three-day mission on the wall. Luckily, it had been snowing the days before so we did not have to carry water up the wall. Loaded like Sherpa’s, we left Chamonix with huge smiles on our faces. The approach was hard with 35kg backpacks and I was happy that to have gained solid legs earlier in the season.

We climbed back up to a little ledge in the middle of the wall where we left a bag with our bivi stuff. From there, we traversed into our line and started to open “ground up”. That’s always very exciting! I love picking the line with your partner at the belay station and then leaving for the unknown. I was totally fearless, the commitment was complete and I was totally in my element. Arnaud has 20 years of experience in opening routes, so he taught me a ton and I was happy to take in and put it into practice.

We spent two nights on a very smartly picked bivi ledge. It’s funny to see how simple life is when brought down to essentials. We had good food, fantastic conversations about life, and from time to time the company of people rappelling down.

On the last day, we opened on our way down, which is very different from opening ground up. The fear factor isn’t so high, but here, the pitches were harder overall and so we were more occupied by checking whether this new line is possible or not.

I was very impressed by how steep and straight our line is. It has the character of a steep sport crack line… but in fact, we opened a 12 pitch long route with grades up to 8a, at 3’600 meters, in the middle of the Mont Blanc massif! The name of the route « l’or du temps » (for English speakers, this means the gold of time, but sounds like outside of time) means a lot to us and perfectly captures the disconnect with reality that you will experience up there on the Grand Capucin.