A master peace of film, enjoy!
Nominierung Bündner Sportpreis 2012
Seit Gestern ist es offiziell: Ich wurde mit sieben anderen Bündner Sportlern für den Sportpreis 2012 nominiert. Wenn Ihr mir Helfen wollt, diesen wichtigen Preis zu gewinnen, dann könnt ihr online für mich voten unter diesem Link:
http://www.sportnacht-gr.ch/Die-Nominierten.2147.0.html
Merci für eure Unterstützung!
Three weeks of amazing moments
The Arc’teryx, “Verdon Project“ was the brain-child of fellow Arc’teryx ambassadors, Keith Ladzinski and Andy Mann. They wanted to discover this beautiful place with two athletes of the brand. I was super psyched when they asked me to participate in the project, along with Jonathan Siegrist. I felt that with these guys, I was finally able to share all of my love for the Verdon and pack them into 3 weeks of photos and video. The Gorge has always been an important place for me and I have spent some of my most unforgettable moments here!
So three weeks ago we met up in Les Salles Sur Verdon at our cute gite and we started to climb on rive gauche. Unfortunately with all the rain, all the tufas were wet, so we changed styles and took to the old school vertical routes.
I was able to flash my first 8a there, Graphique, and did my first 8b, Les Braves Gens, on my second go. What an amazing climb!
When our feet began hurting too much, we went climbing in the huge cave of Galetas, and the balance between exploding biceps and swollen toes was perfect. I did a super cool 8b+ there and Jonathan finished on the extension (8c) and the whole experience was great! You can access the cave only by canoe, which enriched the long days spent there. Our’s had a hole or two in it, which made things interesting, especially with all the camera gear!
On rest days, I made the Americans comfortable with French traditions. We visited lots of old villages, tasting local goat and blue cheeses, crèpes, and for most importantly, the good wine of this country.
Jonathan loves climbing history, and so we had to try Les Spécialistes. A steep, powerful, and mythical 8b+. For me, it was the hardest route I’ve ever tried in my life. There couldn’t exist a more untypical-Nina-style route. A real challenge! Jonathan made an incredible ascent in the final hours of our trip. I was close, but the red-point will take me a little bit more time then only two days. Another good reason to come back!
The essential climbing in the Verdon is most definitely the huge multi-pitch walls. So to conclude our trip, we did an incredible 180m 8a+ route, called Dame Cookie. For this, I have to say a huge “thank you” to Bruno Clement (aka Graou.) He’s one of the most original people I know and he’s always bolting non-stop in the Gorge.
It was also Graou who bolted this five star route in 2004 and since then there has only been one more repetition. It was by chance that a good friend of mine, Nico Potard, was working on the route the same day and so everything was well cleaned and tickmarks everywhere. Thank’s Nico!
Beside this multipitch, I also tried Take it or Leave it, an 4 pitch vertical line with a very bouldery 8a pitch in the end. No chance for me to do the moves, bienvenue dans le Verdon!;-)
Working with Keith and Andy, and of course climbing with Jonathan, was just great. We were really on the same wave, we decided every morning where we wanted to climb, or do, which made the whole trip perfect. Also it was really easy to handle the rain. The Gorge offers so much climbing that you can climb in any weather condition.
I’m super psyched about the work we did, the footage, the images, the climbing, and the new relationships…the Gorges of Verdon are always magical for me!
A special thank’s to Arctery’x for their support and for their good spirit!!!
The colours of ‘la piedra parada’
I’m back from an incredible trip in Argentinia. It was this kind of trip I’m loving so much! Why? Because I was sharing a big adventure with lovely people in a fantastic place. The main goal of our trip was to bolt routes for the next Petzl Roc Trip, but beside that, our program was full of climbing, fishing, horse riding, eating a lot of barbecues…. I will share my impressions of this trip and I hope to meet you there end of november!;-)
Photos: M. Fuselier and G. Vallot/Petzl
Ma grande soif de grimpe!
Since the last Petzl Roc Trip in october in China, I didn’t touche a lot of climbing holds. During the winter, I love skiing and training indoors and I like the sensation when the world around me is waering a white snow mantle.
In the beginning of february, my desire for a pure rock trip was bigger then ever. Spontaneously, me and Cédric, we were packing our home made camping car and we were driving direction south and sun!
Our first stop was in Margalef, but it was still to cold there and so we were driving to Oliana for a couple of days. I love the climbing there and it was so nice to feel the sun on my skin while I was climbing hard. Perfect conditions! Cédric was trying hard ‘Chaxi’ and me I was alternating between ‘Papy Mullat’ and ‘Mind Control’.
I was falling of a couple of times on a big move in Papy Mullat and I so I gave up this project for a while and I was working only on Mind Control. After only 4 trys I was able to clip the chain and it was an incredible feeling!
For Cédric, he also had to keep away his project for a while because he had serious skin problems…( At the moment right now, he’s driving back to Oliana for this route…venga!)
After a super diner with a good bottle of Rioja, we joined our friends from Grenoble and Fontainbleau in Margalef. The atmosphere was incredible and we’ve had so much fun together. Everyone found his project in his level max and it was so cool to beeing surrounded by the cheers of ‘ALLEZ, ALLEZ and to feel how hard everyone was trying to redpoint theyr routes. Like I told you before, I’ve had like a big manquo of rock climbing. I think that I was like a crazy little girl, climbing the most possible from early in the morning till soon into the night…It was such a big satisfaction for me to feel again the power of rock and nature…
Unfortunaly, my high motivation was making me a little bit fable I guess. After ten days ‘a muerte’ I felt sick for five days. But anyways, I was surrounded by our music box Quintin and by my personal top-chief cooker Cédric and so this lazy time passed really quickly.
Margalef has never been one of my favourite climbing palce because the style is really physical and also kind of painful with all these pockets. But in the end, Margalef is not only ‘Laboratory’, Margalef has huge 40 meter walls, colonettes, crimps….it’s one of these crazy canyon system and every wall is unique and I think that I felt in love with the charm of the village and the facility of live there.
After two weeks, Cédric had to drive home with the Grenoble group Rackam and Quintin and I picked up my good friend Babsi in Barcelona.
We both found really cool projects in the sector ‘Finestra’ and it was so nice to be with her for once more. She’s always super psyched and she never gives up! Babsi climbed a cool 8b and I did ‘Aiztol’ a really physical 8b+/8c.
One of my favourite sector was ‘la cathedrale’ and ‘Erabella’ and the huge flat colonettes on the left of Erabella. Fantastic walls, un-typical climb and perfect conditions in the shadow. I flashed one 8a+ route on this flat colonettes and I did the biggest full-body fight since a long time. I also on-sightet an 8a+ on ‘la Cathedrale’ and I was also soooo close to onsight my first 8b, also on this wall.
In the really end we were moving to Siurana for two days but the weather was just to cold and it wasn’t so much fun. Well, I think that I was also really exhausted. I was trying hard the route ‘Patinoso’, an 8c+ in Siurana that fits me really well. But I was to lazy to try it seriously and so we were ending up on the beach with big cocktails, a tons of icecreams and shopping in Barcelona!;-)
Now it’s time so start a new adventure. Tomorrow I will leave to Argentinia with the Petzl Crew. We will bolting routes for the next Roc Trip, I’m super super psyched!!!!!!
Thank’s a lot to Nicolas Renard, alias ‘grand chef’, Vojtech Vrzba and Jarno Zwiebel for the nice photos and for shure Pierre Délas, So Toutepetite, Babsi Zangerl, Coquillette, Rackam and Quintin, Enzo Oddo and my lovely boyfriend Cédric for this wonderful time we spent together in Spain.
Mind Control, enjoy!
Sadness and happyness
One week ago, I recieved a call from my mom while I was on the way down to Spain. I had to learn with sadness that a good climber friend of mine, Günther Habersatter, has found his death in a avalanche. I’m really sorry for his wife and his three children; Günthi was my rope partner when I was redpointing ‘Silbergeier’.
Climbing with a big sadness is hard, but in another way, climbing makes us really happy and I realized once more, how much we have to appreciate every single day.
I was beginning my trip together with Cédric and our lovely home-made camping car. After two days of climbing in the freezy Margalef, we moved to Oliana, our favourite crag of Catalunya.
Cédric choosed a new 9a+, Chaxi, and I starded two new projects: Pappy Mullat and Mind Control. I put a lot of energy in Pappy Mullat, a route with one big move and after 10 trys, I was still not able to redpoint this one. No sent, but a good endurance training for Mind Control.
For me, Mind Control is a perfect line. The climb is like a voyage and the key to successe is to stay calm and to feel comfortable with all this air unter your ass.
Some days ago, Daila Ojenda sent the route in a perfect style and just after her, Joe Kinder did it in the same way. It was so cool to watch them climbing and I wanted to do the same. The last year I did one work out of Mind Contol, this time I needed 4 more and on my first serious try, I clipped the chain 45 meters high up from the ground. Soooooo nice!;-)
The grade of Mind Control is really not extreme. If somebody will downgread, why not. But honestly, grades are so unimportant. I’ve had the chance to climb such a fantastic line and I feel so alive and my body is full of energy and power. I can realize my dreams, what else counts in live?
The little clip from the ascent will following soon, stay tuned! (We don’t have the best connection)
Trophée Mer Montagne
La Trophée Mer Montagne est une course d’amitiée qui a eu lieu à St. Gervais, Mont Blanc, organisée par le marain/montagnard Eric Loiseau. L’idée de la Trophée c’est de réunir les gens de la mer avec les gens de la montagne. 16 équipes, formés par un marin, un montagnard et un enfant de la station, se sont battus pendant 4 jours dans des disciplines differents comme de la ski de rando, slalom, derby, bi-athlon et course d’orientation.
Les montagnards/grimpeurs, représenté par Daniel Dulac, Aymrique Cloué, Erwan LeLann et moi, ont eu un peu du mal à suivre Luc Alphan, Aurélien Ducroz et Julie Duvillard en Slalom. Par contre on a bien gasé sur les ski de rando et le marins nous ont bien montré comment il fallait lire une carte à la course d’orientation.
4 jours de ski, bonne nourriture, bonne rigolade et bonnes fêtes. Un ‘must’ pour une petite grimpeuse comme moi qui adore la neige!
Et la grimpe? Les deux derniers mois j’étais en mode entrainement et ski. Une bonne préparation physique pour une longue saison de caillou que commencera dans une semaine en espagne, venga!!!!
Voici-donc quelques magnifique photos de Gilles Morelle.
Vidéo de notre expé spéléo en Vietnam
