Out and about in Russia and South Africa

It wasn't all climbing in France over the summer. I went to climb Elbrus with the UIAA Global Youth Summit and had a great time, although getting up at 2am and ploughing up the first slopes in the strong cross wind wasn't the most fun. Dawn came though and it was magnificent as sun rise brought light to the many high peaks around. The train of climbers plodded higher and it wasn't until 5000m that I felt it was tough for a while. Every step was an effort. At the col at 5,300m we hit sunshine and having a sandwich helped no end. With a new lease of life I went on to the summit. It was too misty to see much but never mind - the highest peak in Europe was climbed :)

Last week we got back from South Africa where we had the UIAA Youth Commission mtg in Capetown. The hospitality was excellent and after the meeting it was possible to visit Rocklands and Cederberg to snatch some climbing - and later some animals in Pilanesberg game reserve. Thanks to Mark Johnston for the images!

Back to chez Arran site

With the House and the Apartment both rented out, we're relegated to less luxurious accommodation in the next-in-line place to live. Not sure what to call it yet, maybe the Gîte? Or maybe we'll think of a naming system that doesn't seem to confuse people so easily - answers on an email please  ;-)
The good part about living in unfinished digs is that you want to get out a lot, so we've been doing a lot more climbing and other stuff lately than we've had time for ever since we moved in last winter. Anne's quickly back to climbing 7c and I'm up to 8a+ again so things are starting to pick up nicely, just in time for a trip to South Africa in a couple of weeks time, which we're really looking forward to.

I also grabbed an opportunity while Anne was back in Blighty to check out some higher mountain crags. My plan was to reduce the approach time to the Pic Rouge de Belcaire - one of the Bassiès crags - by running much of it, but the plan was soon thwarted once I realised that much of the approach was up a 1:1 hill! Still, the crag was definitely worth the effort as the rock there is amazing - even though I completely failed to find the route I was trying to climb!

I was looking for a route called Friscounette - 7 pitches up to 6a and mostly trad - and I climbed about 7 pitches or so up to about 6a, but I was a bit puzzled by the lack of equipped belays, even though I did pass the occasional peg or two.

When I got home I did a bit of googling and found out it started somewhere completely different, so I ended up braving the 2+ hour approach again. Heaven knows what I may have been on the first time but the real route itself was probably even better, with one particularly memorable pitch (see picture) up nothing but granite chickenheads. Amazing! Very much recommended for anyone after a long route of about E2 5b and who doesn't mind a bit of a steep hike-in in return for great climbing and a 360 degree panorama of awesome peaks from the 2, 650m summit.

Back to chez Arran site

It's not just us who think so!

Every morning (well almost) we wake up, look out the window at another gorgeous day in the making, and say to ourselves: 'It's another sunny day in paradise!'  It really is going to take a very long time to get bored of being around here.
So it's good to know that it isn't just us who seem to have been smitten. Matt Heason and his family are good friends and were staying here for most of August, helping us with some of the chez Arran redevelopment work while climbing with us and trying to wear out our pool - on this latter objective they tried hard but I'm pleased to report they didn't succeed as it's still operational even into October, although it's getting to the point where you have to be REALLY hot before you want to brave it now. Having said that it was 28 degrees here today!

Anyway, Matt said some very nice things about his time here on his blog at http://www.heason.net/News_&_Blog/Blog/2009/09/01/Chez_Arran/, and compiled this great photomontage:

Thanks Matt, and look forward to your next visit.

Back to chez Arran site

The Apartment is born

Late in August the Apartment was nearing completion. There was no particular hurry because the first booking wasn't until mid-September. But then we received an email: was it available for booking the first week of September?

Let's go for it, we decided, and worked flat out for four days to get it ready, finishing literally five minutes before our first Apartment guests arrived! Their verdict was hugely positive, which was quite a relief given how tired we were by then.

Since then we've made it even nicer, adding all the little details we didn't have time to finish the first time!

Back to chez Arran site

The pool's the best

It's been a long time since the last blog entry, partly because we've had such a busy summer but mainly because we had problems with adding photos to the blog while it was hosted on the chezArran.com site, so now it's on blogspot like all of the others.

Many things of note have evolved this summer, and hopefully we'll be able to blog about many of them very soon, but pride of place must surely go to the pool, which proved an unmitigated success among guests and us alike!

Typically reaching 28 degrees on August afternoons it was even warm enough for me to hop in without fear of hyperventilating - and I'm the world's biggest wuss when it comes to getting in cold water. Almost like being in Thailand.

Matt and Sophie Heason were staying here for most of August, and Matt at least made a point of plunging every single day of their visit.

But even into September when we were concerned the water temperature may start to plummet, the pool was put to extensive use by Sophie and Holly (left, thanks to Al Murray for the great photo), who seemed to think it weird that their parents preferred to go climbing!

Back to chez Arran site

Finally we have a kitchen...

It was a very exciting moment at the end of last week when we succeeded in tiling the kitchen floor and aquiring a an ikea kitchen, all in 5 days! After a while moving around a half rennovated house feels tedious, but now I really feel I'm sitting in a real live kitchen for the first time. The circle of spots looks cool on the ceiling and our origional wooden table that was left in the house fits in well. Must admit I'm not a big fan of grouting floor tiles though, must buy knee pads.

So what about the climbing? Well I have a little project on our village crag which is 5-10 mins walk from the house. It's around 7c+ we think but haven't been able to track down a topo to the place as yet. It's around 25m and overhangs by about 4-5m. It's great when in the shade, just have to balance the diy with the climbing time in the right conditions. John onsighted a more overhanging one, not far from a bees nest - they seem tame though. Yesterday at Genat crag a French climber gave me a lizard, which was pretty tame and by far the best climber there. There is a fantastic 7b+ called Crossroads which is highly recommended if you go there. Now John is back it's much easier to get out climbing. I met a local, Patrick, at the crag the other day so he could be someone else to climb with. We have been resisting the temptations of 'the cave' (Sabart) - the very long 30+ metre roof - in the hope that we can get fitter first. 'Ganage' is core body strengh, so I discovered from Laurance G Haston. Actually I think it would be best to just get on it because the moves are so wierd and funky and the strengths needed more akin to repeatedly doing front levers.

And would you believe it - in Ikea in Toulouse we met Paul Reilly and his wife Lisa. Hadn't seen him for years, he was from Bristol and now has a house in St Antonin Noble Val. An incredible coincidence. Robyn Erbesfield also has a place there and can be seen teaching large hoards of American kiddies there from time to time. Well that's it for now. Back off to England for a couple of days - will post some pics of the climbing around here soon.

Back to chez Arran site

Comes the grim reaper!

With all this work on the house, interspersed of course with plenty of cragging action, we returned one day to realise that the garden out the back had been having a bit of a grow. Quite a lot of one really, the grass was above our knees and some of the weeds were nearly head height.
Off to buy a petrol strimmer (it's a big garden!), which promptly broke within five minutes use. But wait! What's this lurking beneath the ivy in one of the outbuildings? It was a scythe, and a big and very sharp one at that.
Now my only experience of scythes came from pictures of the grim reaper and from a classic line in Blackadder, but I couldn't help getting excited at the idea of going all agricultural, so out I went one fine morning.
Three hours later I had aches in places I didn't know I had muscles and I had sunstroke. But I'd scythed my way through what seemed like acres of rampant undergrowth and I could collapse in an armchair knowing that a)I could feel smug about goung all manual and traditional, and b) it would be much easier next time when I'd been back to the shop and replaced the strimmer!

Back to chez Arran site