School, the Routine, and Autumn Vacation

It's a good Wednesday for a Friday!

My schedule, miraculously, is such that I don't have classes on Thursdays or Fridays each week, and thus have a four day weekend. The weekdays are days for school, being-a-grown-up things, and training. The weekends bring adventures, great people, and time for peace. This weekend, starting tomorrow on Thursday, marks the beginning of our week-long Autumn vacation! I will be heading to Paris and Forêt Fontainbleau, meeting friends and new friends, and exploring a new city and a magical forest. Allons-y!

All my classes are two hours in length and occur once a week. There is often a short "pose" in the middle for the rest room and smoking. There is not, however, any time in between classes. . . .they all, for the most part in my university, start and end on the hour! I have one Monday, and three each Tuesday and Wednesday.  For the most part there is not homework. We tend to have one big project for each class and then final exams. All have final exams, but some also have essays, smaller tests, homework sheets, presentations, or combinations there-of. For the most part, the workload is significantly less than my engineering courses back in the states. A big part of this is subject matter, perhaps, but I feel like the structure and objective here are just slightly different, in general. I can't articulate the difference at this point, and I may return/add something to this point later on. . . .don't let the anticipation kill you. ;D

My week begins with a 10a philosophy class. I love the start time, it allows for morning activities; these include runs, great breakfasts, and sleeping in. The class discusses the birth of the world, and we discuss a text for each class. One must prepare a discussion for one of these texts before the class and submit a paper, optionally presenting the text verbally, as well. I'll be turning mine in for the last class, studying the argumentation techniques and ameliorating my French beforehand, as it is our only grade besides the final for the class. For the first half of the two-hour lesson, the teacher discusses the students' text from previous week. After a short break, the second hour resumes with the students presenting the next week's text. Discussions generally concern a deity or involve material's creation and whether or not it is conserved. I really like the teacher, as he is very clear, helpful, and kind.

Tuesday I have a course at 8:30, 12, and 14. The morning is French grammar for Study Abroad which I've been really enjoying. Cool people (with name-tags!), a genuine and knowledgeable teacher, and learning! I have my only class in English at noon, Aspects of Modern France. I was really excited to learn about modern French culture and current events and. . . .what I didn't realize was that Modern history runs from roughly 1350 to 1750. Of course! Modern. It is quite cool to learn about French history. I really like that we use a more analytical history method, looking at trends, how events shaped the world's experience, and how social structures developed within different eras and under different rules. I had my first exam in this class yesterday, an essay on class relationships in a feudal system. Felt pretty solid. The test papers are really interesting in that they have a lick-shut corner---like a stamp---that one covers their name with for anonymous grading. At 2p (after 6-7 seconds of break. . .luckily the classrooms are virtually adjacent!), I start my Philosophie d'Amour class. I'm kinda strugglin' in this one. I've started sitting closer to the front for this one, but it is difficult to concentrate and comprehend (mutually exclusive) for two hours after a solid two hour course. It is a methodology course and I think my French philosophy methodology techniques are sub-par. :) Workin' on 'em!

Tuesday evening I train. I go to La Piscine, the pool, which is essentially the university athletic recreation center. There is an incredible bouldering cave, campus wrungs (wooden strips of different sizes for laddering up with no feet), campus boards for finger training, and a full gymnasium for, well, gymnastics! Everything a kinesthetic athlete could ask for! (There's also a gym next door for weights for you bros and bras!) It's fantastic. Here I focus on power and technique. I boulder for about two hours. Then spend 1-2 more hours training my core, shoulders, back, and arms. It's legit. I have begun to start regimenting my training, which feels really good. It's still climbing season, so I limit my climbing training to two days a week, and sometimes work pushing muscles/cardio another day. The first day is for power, technique, and body conditioning. The second day is for endurance, lead technique, mileage, and legs.

Wednesday (AKA Friday) I begin at 8a. Rough. However, the class is Geographie des Montagnes, and I really enjoy the content of this one. It is my only lecture hall style courses and I essentially re-type PowerPoint slides. We learn about how people in the area have and do interact with the mountains around us. We discuss alpinism, skiing, tourism, explorations and topography, specific mountains, and other geography-y things. It's really cool. One thing I enjoyed learning was that in 1492, while Columbus sailed the ocean blue, Mont Aiguille was summited, too (for the first time!) This marks what many consider to be the birth of Alpinism, and was done under the kings' orders using rope-knot protection! I learned of this mountain back in October 2014, and it has been a goal of mine to climb it since. Hearing about this on the first day of this class really got the stoke up, and I've really enjoyed the rest of the class. Right after I have my French Langauge for Study Abroad class! It's great! FLE, Francais Langue Etranger A2/B1 (the numbers representing our language proficiency). I really enjoy this class and it is taught by the same professor as my pre-semester FLE class, as well, who I really like. After (yeah three in a row!), I finish the week with. . . .drumroll. . . .rock climbin', yo. This is my climbing class where I essentially. . .just climb. As much as possible. We have a cool gym with an overhung (semi-inverted) bouldering wall and many-angled lead walls, including a huge, prowling, warped roof system. Sooo cool. After crushing on plastic, workin' the legs, and a hang-board exercise. . . .it's the weekend.

Thursday to Sunday I usually. . .climb. I occasionally go out Wednesday, Thursday, or Saturday night. The French really like to party Thursdays, because many go home Friday night for the weekend. Kinda tradition, I suppose. I usually prefer to rest up to get out into the woods. . .And it is here that truly live on the weekends. Here I spend my time experiencing France in exactly the way I wanted to: with stoked and awesome friends exploring cliffs, mountains, and our personal strengths and weaknesses. It's just been truly wild and wonderful, and I can't believe how much longer I get to do this. If I've been livin' in Almost Heaven all my life. . .I've found pretty damn close to the real thing.

And this weekend, things are only lookin' up.

Next week is our Autumn Vacation! Thus, I have no classes until November 2. So what's a guy to do? Well, buy a 1€, two-way bus ticket to Paris, of course! I'll be heading for the weekend to Paris on Saturday with my two Polish buddies, Adam and Łukasz. We're hopefully staying with friends of theirs' in the city Saturday night, then heading with a friend of mine to his house, south of the city, on Sunday evening! Crazy enough, I met him at my going away party. I guess I was the only one there who spoke French or something, so we hung out, went bouldering the next day at Coopers Rock, and decided to meet up sometime this year! With Nicolas, we head to Fontainbleau Forest Monday morning!!

Foret Fontainbleau is considered by many to be the best bouldering location in France, and one of the best and most historical in the world. Luckily, Adam has been there 6 or 7 times, knows some good spots (there's thousands of boulders), and has friends whos' crash pads we can borrow! We'll be camping for the week and climbing. . .a lot. :D I'm super stoked. It is peak season right now (Rocktober!), so there should be a lot of really cool people to meet and climb with. I think we may have a few people travelling up independently to meet us as well, which will be super cool if everything works out. At some point (when we can't climb anymore), we'll mosey on back to Paris and. . .yeah, be in Paris, man! Monday (yeah, have to miss class. . . .), we take the bus back to Grenoble!! It will certainly be an adventure, and I'm super stoked! Gonna be spending the next couple days preparing and gettin' the stoke up!

The next two days will be really nice as well. Tomorrow morning, I will run to Decathlon, a sports-store, and pick up some camping gear. Then I have a skype chat with momma! Hopefully I'll get to see the bros! :) Tomorrow evening. . .it's time for Halloween!! This year I am going as George Clinton from Parliament Funkadelic. I'm super stoked. I've always thought this would make an awesome costume but have never had dreads to dye all different colors. . .now's my chance! :D Friday, I'm gonna crush on some rocks or somethin'. Should be good.

Anyhow, that's what school is like for me, how my weekends usually roll, and the exciting events in the near future! Keep in touch, y'all! It's always great to hear from ya, and I'll keep reaching out to folks as I can! I seriously hope everything is wonderful for you. Let life treat you good, and soak it all in!

Votre ami,
Hy

A Weekend With Ceuse and Chartreuse

This weekend was unreal.

My schedule of classes, luckily for me, leaves my Thursdays and Fridays free. I have three days of school then 4 days of weekend, essentially. It's pretty crazy and I would never have expected things to work out so perfectly. It's marvellous.

On Tuesday, my friend Adam from Poland suggested the idea of visiting Nice and how we had some friends going. . . .and that Ceuse was on the way and half the distance. If you don't know, Ceuse Mountain is a world-renown limestone sport climbing crag 3 kilometers long in the south of France. It is host to some of the hardest routes and has vast expanses of unclimbed rock waiting for those prepared to take the world of climbing to the next level. . .

Well, I was decided on going before he was. As soon as he uttered the word "Ceuse" I knew what I was doing this weekend. I posted on several different facebook groups I am a part of and asked if anyone had a car and wanted to drive. Well, on Wednesday, I got a message. . . and we were going!! Adam, my friend Isabelle from Germany, and I were hoppin' in the car with Ania, also from Poland!

Then, the waiting begins. . . .Thursday came and I had my first big presentation (Exposé) in French for the semester. I had the option to choose any topic I wanted to talk about for 15 minutes and be graded on. Naturally, I chose to give a presentation on the climbing system, different types of climbing, and how to use all the typical equipment for a day out on the rocks. It was a really fantastic opportunity to force me to learn all of the different names of equipment and systems which is very important for safety when out at the crag. I think I got high marks. She said I did very well, she was impressed by my knowledge of the system and vocabulary, but that I need to work on learning more verbs to describe what to do with all the things! Great advice!

Le Tour Perret in Parc Paul Mistral

 After the Expose on Thursday I, for the first time, found someone from France to go climb with on the facebook groups. We went out to a place called Le Petit Desert in the Vercors mountain range. It was very fun and was an excellent opportunity for me to fortify my knowledge of climbing's technical language in French. And I got to lead 5 pitches on wonderful rock. . .great for one day of climbing!

Thursday evening involved watching football (the European kind) and hanging out at Parc Paul Mistral!

Friday was a rest day and, to my memory, was deliberately uneventful, save for preparation for. . . .

       :D  The WEEEEKEEEEEND!!!! :D

Yea! YEa! YEA! Saturday morning. I woke up to Travel by Lotus and was ready. I was stoked. I was so. freakin'. hyped! I just couldn't believe I was about to hope in a car to one of France's and the world's best rock climbing areas. I just couldn't believe it. And off I went!

The drive down was really fun and involved playing with knots and carabiners in the back seat while checking out the beautiful landscapes and cities on our route. The first time we saw it, the wall. . .I was amazed. It was a beautiful, perfectly smooth-looking wall which circumvented a tall, majestic mountain.

First view of Ceuse Mountain

Oh. Yeah.

Getting closer!

We could see the wall for almost 45 minutes before we actually got to the base of the mountain. . .there was much anticipation and excitement mounting! We finally arrived at the parking area after some adventuring and set off up the mountain! The ladies looked at the map while Adam and I asked some climber guys for the good way up the mountain. Well, "In guys we trust," we decided and followed the climbers advice, hoping it would lead us to the trail on the map the ladies suggested. In retrospect, we should all have looked at the map. . . or just known that the women would be right. We lost the "trail" that we

Making it up the mountain!

were on while trying to take the "shortcut trail" we were looking for. This turned into bush-whacking strait up the mountain in an attempt to merge our path with the road we knew was somewhere around halfway up. . . .well. . . .yea. We didn't find it. We hiked and hiked (Straight up this mountain following animal trails) until we found this large boulder and were like, "maybe we can see where to go from on top!" We started to climb around the boulder when Isi says, "The TRAIL!" HA! Just above the boulder. . .what luck! We lost a lot of time in that hilarious escapade up the mountain, but I feel we learned something in the process. . . maybe. Anyhow, we finally reached the crag after some serious 2nd/3rd class hiking.

The climbing was fantastic. I lead first a 6a called Le Petit Monstre. It was a technical slab climb and a stout introduction to Ceuse grading. Pretty fun and mentally challenging route for me. My friends got warmed up on some top rope action and all, after some work, got the send! I next moved to another 6a, Carte Noire, a very classic, technical Ceuse line. I just couldn't believe what I was climbing, honestly. The moves were beautiful. There were four bolts of over-hung pocket pulling (move fast) which led to 6-7 more bolts on a wonderfully featured just-under-vertical wall. While climbing this route I was overcome by. . .peace. I just danced, felt, and was. The holds were small and sharp, the feet were solid and abundant, the view and exposure was unbelievable, and it just. . .felt so damn good!! I think this is my favorite pitch
(of about 40!) that I've done in France, so far.

First time taking on-the-rock pics for me

Isabelle following Carte Noir, 6a

After, I got an a 6a+ Papyrus, another classic. It was great, the same rock and even smaller, cooler feeling holds. The beginning over-hung section was fantastic. Moving into the face above I got caught up in a funky sequence, pumped out, and blew my send. Afterwards, I cruised the rest of the beautiful line, and loved it as well. There's just something about not sending a climb that messes with me and I certainly lose some satisfaction from it. The feeling of on-sighting a climb is very magical to me, and it is a shame to lose that one opportunity for the feeling. I try now to replace that dissatisfaction with a new fire to return for the send. I will be back.

This is the view from the anchor of Papyrus, 6a+ (5.10c)

The day ended beautifully. We pulled the ropes and watched the sunset overtake the landscape as the first stars came out. Together, we hiked down the mountain in darkness with abundant laughter, sore bodies, and a feeling of awe as to what we experienced this day. . .Ceuse is a magical, beautiful place, and there is no doubt I will be back. Very soon. That night, the stars filled the sky like I've never seen. I suppose it is that way in the mountains, when one is so close to the sky. I truly saw the Milky Way for the first time and learned how to find the North Star using the Big Dipper. After the journey home, I fell asleep with a happy heart.

As the sun sets over the mountains. . .

Sunday began with friends. Adam and Isabelle joined me for breakfast and we made French toast. And I'm talking like, legit style. We busted out the baguettes (French toast, right?), had vanilla-sugar and cinnamon, not to mention the real maple syrup we got. . .with coffee. Oh yeah. Breakfast was primo. As I like to say. . . "Un GRAND petit dejeuner." And with bellies full, we set off on the day's conquest. . .

Let's get hikin'!

Today we hiked Mont St. Eynard in the Chartreuse Mountains, 1,167 meters above the city. We rode our bikes to the base of mountain and got hikin'! We were following a GPS on Adam's iPhone (Google maps, essentially) that showed us a trail leading up. Well, we followed the trail and all was going great. It was a really fun hike, we found a stunning meadow, and the fall leaves were fantastic. As we hiked up a small ridge to where the mountain begins to become very steep, we started to move diagonally across the mountain, as I expected. However, after 20-30 minutes of this traverse. . . .the trail ended. Adam checked the map and we had been walking for this whole time completely on the wrong trail and into what the map considered the wilderness. Ha. Smooth. Once again, bush whacking. Realizing there was no hope in joining our former trail, we began hiking straight up the mountain towards the nearest one we could find, which we proceeded to follow to the top.

Two photos from the top. Notice the cloud line underneath us. . .

The top of this mountain was amazing and offers the best view of the city I have seen thus far. Visibility was low today, as the valley had trapped a cloud in the city. Fortunately for us, we had hiked significantly higher than this cloud, and the view above it was fantastic. We stayed on the summit for maybe an hour, relaxing and snacking, taking in the view, snappin' selfies, seeing an antique car parade, and enjoying our company.

We followed the left-most ridge on the way up.

And then. . .

"In Google we trust."

Oh OK, that way!

The descent. The "de-proach." I'm sure you can guess what happens next. Well, we follow the path back down the mountain until we reach the point of intersection of our original path (the one we lost earlier in the day) and the new, saviour path. The original path, on Google maps, was certainly a better option as it went straight to where we wanted to go! Perfect! Yet. . . .there was no path. Well, "In google we trust!" We decided to just start walking through the woods following the GPS trail until we found something that resembled a trail. This actually totally worked. However, the trail we found. . .should certainly not be on Google maps. This thing was crazy. It was VERY steep (3rd/4th class) and for the most part, if you fell, you were going to roll down the mountain (that would be devastating, it was extremely steep) or fall off (what we realized after having climbed below them to be) two 150 foot cliff faces. And our path went right between the two of them. There was a lot of, "Hey, you really don't wanna fall here, OK?"s going around. It was seriously nuts and really, really fun. 2nd level fun. Finally, we found our original path and again found ourselves in the field. Woo! Embracing our inner children, we subsequently decided to roll down the hill. And oh my gosh! Was this fun or what?!? haha! I haven't rolled down a hill in a long time! And dang, I went seriously fast!! I got my technique down, or something, because I was flying! After this (yes, there's a video), we finished our decent, hopped back on the bikes, and now I find myself full-belly on my bed, strait chillin'.

Yep, folks, that's how you have a hell of a weekend.

Much love,
Hy

Climbing Beginnings

A day on the rocks, Mas d'Oris

Essentially all I knew of the climbing here in Grenoble before coming was this quote I found on Mountain Project: «The amount of climbable rock in the area is staggering.» When I arrived, this was apparent. The city is surrounded on all sides by tree and cliff covered mountains composed of limestone. They are not so different than my hills at home, but steeper and with distinct shape. They are beautiful and easily seen from most everywhere in the valley, save for the heart of the city. There are three mountain ranges: the Chartreuse to the North, the Vercors to the South East, and the Belledonne to the South West. The Belledonne are granite and are the gateway to the French Alps.

La Prairie at Fontaine

«The city itself has a number of cragging options.» Another quote from Mountain Proect which I found quite apparent upon arrival. This aspect of the city, you may rest assured, has been taken advantage of. At this point, I have ridden my bike to the three general areas and climbed at seven different walls. I bought the Isere Valley topo (guidebook for Grenoble, the Chartreuse and the Vercors which border Grenoble) my first day in the city and found the rocks soon thereafter. I was ready to go! All I needed was a climbing partner. For several days I searched, literally asking folks that looked like climbers if they were. In this manner, I found several! I met two guys from Poland---Adam and Lukasz---and we, on our bikes, have been climbing together since the first week! Recently, more people---German friends---have been coming and it has always been a great time!! We've made a group chat, La Pierre du Diable – 9c+, of which the number of members has been steadily growing. Much excite!! I have also made a climbing group, Bonne Grimpe – Grenoble. Essentially, the chat was becoming a little over-bearing and it was easy to miss information. Now I am starting a little friend club of folks that might want to go climb! I am also a member of several climbing clubs on facebook that I can use to meet new climbers in the area, students and not.

A beautifully colored limestone wall.

The actual climbing here has been significantly different than back home on sandstone. The limestone crags are smooth-feeling for the most part with deep pockets (holes in the rock), small seams (for your crimping pleasure!), a generally overhanging nature, and interesting coloration where the water runs. It feels smooth and is very slick when wet (I have unfortunately found that out a couple times!). I have also climbed on extremely featured walls that have so many holds it's difficult to choose! Sometimes the feet can feel a little insecure because of the smooth nature, and it has taken me some time to adjust to this mentally. I am also having a somewhat difficult time getting onto very crimpy routes, as I peel off the holds I feel I would usually be able to stick. I have done several technical climbs that I found very fun and challenging and I am excited to get moving into higher grades where I feel the quality of the climbing will feel better. I have been steadily moving up in grades and the hardest thing I've climbed is 6b+, 5.11a. 

A common anchor.

Can you find the second quickdraw? ;) Runnin' it out in "Terrain d'Aventure"

The protection options are interesting. Everything is bolted. I find that the bolting here is sometimes kinda sporadic and I often find routes with very run out sections or what I would consider poor bolt placement (not the best landings). I always bring my tricams, as they go everywhere and make this less of an issue. Bolting is also just something one has to consider before getting on a route, as who knows when they were placed there and by whom. The bolts come in two forms: bolts with traditional hangers, or glued in rings. The rings are interesting but I think they're bomber. . . . I have climbed twice on what the topo calls «Terrain d'Aventure.» This essentially means they are really tall, done in multiple pitches, they cannot guarantee the quality of the protection, there are possibilities of rock fall, and that the routes have an air of, might I say. . .mystery. What I've learned is to always, always bring traditional protection options on these climbs if ya got it. Also, be prepared to rappel off. But, with that said, they have been exciting adventures and I have learned the most from these two days!

A pulley system I built. Also, a good example of how I rig multi-pitch sport anchors. 

I trust it.

My experiences have dictated that I practice many different technical skills. I have built anchors, done multi-pitch rappels and belays, built a pulley system, climbed ropes, cleaned routes and sport anchors, taught people how to lead, clean, and belay, and placed traditional protection. Besides basic belay and leading technique, I think that is close to an extensive list of the skills I've needed. It has been exciting to use the skills I've learned in the past and put into practice some I've read of but have not used in the field. I am always researching and analysing my techniques to optimize my methods and to do things in the most efficient and safest manner possible.

With each outing I've learned a lot. Looking back, I've now climbed outside 13 different days. In the beginning, I was simply trying to get out and have some fun with new people. At this point, it has become more of a self-pushing, learning and growing experience each time. Disclaimer: many of things I will say I've learned I already knew, I just now have a solid understanding of. I will begin each lesson with *CAPITAL WORDS. *ONE OF the biggest things I've learned is to always wear a helmet. I very happy I bought and brought mine, and I truly think it is more important to have it on when not climbin' for protection against falling rocks and bodies, though I always climb with mine, as well. *I ALSO always tie a barrel knot (double overhand) in the bottom of my rope. This, I feel, is more bomber than a figure-8 or overhand. It just simply will not go through a belay device or come untied. It is now the knot I put at the bottom of each of my rappel ropes and at the end of the rope when I lead or top-rope, so as not to lower the climber off the rope after climbing. *USE A properly dressed single overhand knot to attach rappel ropes with 1/2 meter of tail. Do not use a figure 8. One can do another overhand on top for backup. *I NOW have a new method for cleaning routes in which I back myself up with the rope, as well as being in-direct to the wall. When I untie myself from the rope to clean, I leave the rope through a quickdraw at the top until I am finished threading the rope into the anchor. I pull enough slack through the quickdraw to re-thread the anchor and clove hitch the rope to a locker on my belay loop. Thus, I am in-direct to the anchor and also still on the rope, so when I untie I still have the rope as a part of my system. Redundancy. *I HAVE also developed a new method for going in-direct to the wall (anchoring myself into an anchor so my belayer can take me off belay). I have purchased a 2 meter length of dynamic climbing rope (9mm) that I am always tied in to. It has a locker on a figure 8 on the end and another locker clove hitched in the middle. (UPDATE: this system is slightly different now, optimization persists. . .) The idea is that I can attach in with the biner on the end and then adjust my distance from the wall with the other. I like this method because I am using a dynamic component to attach myself directly to the anchor, thus drastically mitigating the load on the anchor in the event of a factor two fall on the anchor. I can also be attached in to two points.  *I NO LONGER tie a knot in any sling I use to attach myself to anything. DMM released a video showing slings failing under certain conditions and any knot drastically weakens the strength of the cord. Thus, when I do a rappel (I always do an extended rappel with a back-up prussik below the belay device, unable to reach the belay device), I do not tie a knot in the sling I attach to the belay device. *DO NOT tie the ends of the rope together when rappelling, as this makes the ropes wrap around each other. *JUST DON'T rappel off of bolts. The rope will get stuck or damaged and this is just dumb. *MAKE SURE there are no language barriers and that the difference between rappelling and lowering after a climb is always extremely clear before anyone leaves the ground. When in doubt, leave your friend on belay. *ALWAYS DO a buddy check before leaving, checking the knot is good and threaded through both harness loops, the rope is threaded though the belay device properly, the carabiner is properly locked, and that both harnesses are on correctly. *ALWAYS BRING your trad gear when going into adventure terrain. 

 

Where I go for my climbing class each Wednesday. . .last class of the week!

Looking forward, I am excited to develop more skills, become a better climber, and continue to develop ideas for climbing systems optimization. To develop my skills, I follow several websites that regularly release tips, stories, and offer technical skills (rockandice.com and climbing.com, primarily). I have begun to research different sites in French in order to refine my knowledge of the technical language of climbing in French. This will come also from climbing more French people. I also consistently search online for techniques on rope management, knot-lore, and self-rescue systems. Always be prepared! In order to become a better climber, I have begun to start training. This involves running, a lot of push-ups and core exercises, and I have a climbing class one day per week. During this class we literally just burn laps on lead in the gym. It's pretty fun. This week I will ask my teachers for advice they have in accomplishing my goal. . . .I want to lead and finish a 7a by Halloween. That is a pretty difficult grade, and reaching this goal will be a stretch. The hardest thing I have finished at this point is 6b+. I need to stay determined, always climb with good technique, start down-climbing more, and perhaps add in some finger strengthening routines. Let's do this!! Finally, a very big goal of mine in coming to France was to develop ideas for ways to optimize rock climbing equipment and perhaps even begin to design my own prototypes. I have begun to do this by designing my own personal anchoring system. :) I will keep searching for problems to solve and I am excited to do some brain storming after each challenge or setback to see if I can make the situation better, somehow. . . .

This is my first prototype for a personal anchoring system. I have since moved away from many aspects of this design, but it was a good start. Keepin' on engineerin'!

And with that, climb safe my friends!!! I hope you enjoyed!

-Hy

Essential Gear for Sport Climbing (Build Your Sport Rack)

This is a list of all the gear I find necessary to go single or multi-pitch sport climbing.

Gear:

-harness

-belay device (ATC Guide or Petzl Reverso 4 style) with 2 locking pear-shaped carabiners, the extra for belaying from the top

-prussik for backing up rappels, attach to belay loop using extra carabiner      with belay device, I use 6mm, maybe 1m long loop.

-nylon runner for extending rappels

-10-15 quick draws, some extendible or extra long (not all the same length)

-personal anchoring system (some options are: 2m dynamic rope and 2 pear-shaped locking carabiners; two nylon runners with 2 D-shaped locking carabiners(do not use dyneema!); use quickdraws (not recommended); purchase a pre-built anchoring system) This is necessary for multi-pitch while establishing rappels

-2 double length slings plus 4 D-shaped locking carabiners for building an equalized anchor (x2 for multi-pitch)

-dynamic climbing rope with middle mark

-crag pack and/or rope bag

Head:

-helmet

-headlamp

-warm hat

Body:

-base layer
-synthetic shirt

-synthetic warm layer

-rain jacket

Hands:

-chalk bag

-gloves for in between climbs

-hand warmers for chalk bag during cold days

Legs:

-synthetic, stretchy pants

-base layer

Feet:

-wool socks

-sturdy hiking shoes/boots for approach and belay

-rock climbing shoes (nice to be able to wear socks with shoes for cold days)

Some variations are certainly possible and I do not make any claims of exhaustiveness. Climb safe, y'all!

A Brief Overview of First Two Weeks in Grenoble

I've been living in Grenoble, France for two just under two weeks. I've learned the layout of the city using a map and my bicycle. I've found many wonderful people from all over the world, including here in Grenoble. I've rock climbed and hiked mountains. I've played and listened to great music. I've tried many types of wines and cheeses. I've been to the highest point in all of Europe. I've been busy.

And I love this place.

This may prove to be difficult, but I would like to start from the beginning and walk through my time here, then afterwards will discuss some of the aspects of France, Grenoble, and my new life that I find intriguing.

So here we go!

I woke up exhausted from travels my first day, but full of adrenaline and excitement! I had used a pillow case stuffed with jackets as a pillow, and wrapped myself in a tapestry for blankets/sheets. I did this for a couple nights before I suited myself up with some proper bed-clothes. Classy. I had no food, so I got dressed, showered (not necessarily in that order), and headed out to adventure and explore. I walked through the campus on a beautiful path lined with trees, fallen leaves, very chill looking benches of stone, and. . .French people! I found the beautiful campus and rented a MetroVelo, the cities' very cool public bicycle rental service! I have rented the bike for 3 months and it is my primary means of transportation. I also have a map and have used the two, following landmarks and tram-ways, to explore the city. I intend on getting a 3 month tram pass during the winter months. 

 

After getting my bike, I went to find the primary gear store close to my home. . .and bought the climbing guide-book (topo is what we call them) for Grenoble and the surrounding areas. I've used this to find seven different climbing areas, thus far. I was very hungry at this point and went downtown for food, to Notre Dame (I did not know it was called this at the time). Grabbed lunch, then went to go buy some food/necessary items for living comfortably at Casino Geant (not a casino, as I had previously thought was very odd to have on the main strip). With pots, pans, toothpaste (oh yeah), and baguettes in hand, I went home! Home. ha. I saw a big party on campus on the way, made some food, and went out. I stopped for a moment when I heard. . .English! There was a group of students from my residence walking together, and I joined them for my first night out on the town!! Good friends! Met so many people and had a very nice time. And that was, essentially, day one.

A bolt!

I spent the last few days of my first week searching for climbers, seeing Grenoble on my bike, finding different rock climbing areas using my topo, and going out with friends in the evening. I never stopped doing anything, and since I've gotten here there hasn't been a day that wasn't filled in some way, learning, seeing, doing, meeting friends. On day two in Grenoble I literally just rode my bike semi-randomly asking people if they were rock climbers and getting their contact info if they were. It was a crude system, but I'd basically look at their shoes/backpack/bike/clothes, in that order, to judge if I thought they climbed or not. And it totally worked! But no one was really down to go, unfortunately. Well, I just had to go find some rocks. So I checked my topo, looked up the route on my map, and headed out! And I found them! They were beautiful, tall, limestone, and unlike anything I'd seen. It was a really serious hike up the mountain and it was a really fantastic time for reflection, exploration, and personal time. I really, really enjoyed hiking to find them. It honestly just wouldn't have been the same with someone else there. :) In a good way. 

An amazing apple I ate at the top of the hike, Grenoble in the background. The Alps in the background, and pre-Alps on the left and right. And below is a beautiful panorama from the hike. :)

^^^^The rocks!

 

I went on my first “pub crawl” which was really fun, took this photo on the right that night. It was for international students. I met tons of people also here studying abroad, as well as some locals. At one of the bars, there was actually a stage with microphones. I asked about it, and they said it was open to musicians so I got to play on stage and jam for people my third night here. So fun! I met some wonderful people that night that I've continued to chill with since. I've also met some friends on campus jamming and stopped to talk and chill for a couple hours. Super cool, I found more people to play music with! One evening I was walking home and saw a picnic/party on campus with a slackline there and stopped to check it out. I ended up meeting two guys from Poland that brought the slackline and we've been out climbing 3 times at four walls together now! Super awesome!! Very cool dudes and I'm super stoked I ran into 'em. 

And that first Friday, I had my first class! First morning pic to the right. I took what's called FLE Intensif, Intensive pre-semester french for study-abroad. It was a really good way to start things off, one class for a week with homework each night to get my head back in to school mode. The class was interesting and I met many other study abroad folks, as well. In the class, we discussed argumentation techniques, practiced writing and giving presentations, acted out skits, learned about French media, worked on vocab, and reviewed/learned verb conjugation, grammar, and articles. I feel like the class helped me a lot and I'm glad I took it. 

 

The first weekend, on Sunday, I took a trip to Chamonix, France, organized by the university. And it was totally paid for for everyone in the FLE class!! It was incredible! The bus ride, a tour guide, and a ticket on the Auguille du Midi to Mont Blanc. We stopped by this large, beautiful lake, Lac du Bourget. It was pretty amazing, and it turned out to be the largest and highest natural lake in France! After that we drove to through the mountains, following a strangely light-colored river, to Chamonix. I found out later the coloration was due to glacier melt. We arrived in Chamonix and got some grub, checking out a cool local gear shop while I was there. I also learned the difference between different types of ice/mountaineering axes, which I've been interested about.

Then it was time to hop on the Auguille du Midi, a massive cable car system that takes you from the valley floor to a half-way point on the mountain, and then up. . .up. . .up. . .all the way to the very top of Mont Blanc. It is fantastic, intimidating, and an unfathomable feat of engineering. I truly don't understand how they did it. Lots of dedication from devoted climbers and engineers, I figure. They literally built this massive facility with stores, elevators, a museum, a restaurant, a heli-pad, lots of viewing platforms, access to the top of the mountain, as well as a diving platform for wing-suit BASE jumpers, of which I saw 3 jump. I was living in a dream up there, having the time of my life. I was SO dang stoked!!! I was on top of a mountain! And I didn't have to climb there! Ha! It honestly just made me burn to climb it, seemed a little unfair. I made a goal that by next summer before I leave, I want to summit. It is actually a pretty good first mountain to summit because you don't have to climb back down, you can ride down on the telepherique. We'll see what happens. . .

The trip to Chamonix was fantastic; it really helped me gain appreciation for my school and how much they do for the students, especially for us study abroad folks. The school sponsors tons of events/parties/picnics for the students on and close to campus. We have free concerts and Salsa dancing lessons (which I had a freakin' blast doin'!) at the EVE (Espace Vie Etudiant, 'Student Life Space'). I got to see a really fantastic jazz band at a study abroad event, all students, doing some really classic jazz numbers, getting DOWN and keepin' it funky fresh. I'm excited to see them again and find out what they're called. It may be just a feeling, but I really feel like this university just fosters good vibes all over the place. The campus and beautiful and they really strive actively to make it a fun place to be. 

This past week I spent a lot of time trying to just get myself organized and acclimated to what was going on. I also rock climbed a lot. So yeah, I've been pretty in my element here. 

School is actually here, now, which is crazy. I've been through some courses, thus far, and it seems pretty cool. I have two weeks to officially decide on which courses I want to keep the rest of the semester. It's a really cool system for study abroad folks!!

I will wrap this blog up. Now that I have done this 'catch-up' blog, I feel a lot better. I was letting this blog stress me out because I had a lot of expectations for it and in waiting so long to get it started I feel like I lost a lot of the emotion and detail that I would have had from having started earlier. It's nothing to worry about now, I'm just glad I got back on it! :) 

SPOILER ALERT:

From now on you can expect to find more often, shorter blogs on more specific topics. For example, some blog topics to look forward to may include: 'Adjusting to Life in Grenoble', 'My Early Climbing Experiences,' 'Shopping and Feeding Myself,' 'Schhhoooooool!' and 'Transportation Systems.' There may be slight adjustments to the titles, but these are some topics I want to discuss. 

Hope you have enjoyed this blog and that it helped catch ya up! I know I've heard from/reached out to some of you back home! Don't be a stranger and shoot me a message! There's a lot of folks that I would love to talk to from home and I can't reach out to everyone. :) I'm six hours ahead, think of that if ya wanna chat. Hope y'all are doin' great!!!! 

Climb on!

-Hy :)

 

The Journey to France!

I made it! It has been quite the journey and a very long day, but I safely made it to my room in Residence Ouest in Grenoble!

The journey started in Morgantown. I bid my final farewells to some of my closest friends the last two days and final morning, then did some final packing up at my house in Morgantown. Before I left, I had to set up the drum set and rock out for a few, which felt really good. Hopefully that's not the last time I sit behind one of those for too long. . .

I left my house and went to my grandparents where I was meeting my mom and dad and had a very nice breakfast and visited for a couple hours. Dad, mom, and I then hit the road towards BWI, the international airport in Baltimore, MD. No traffic at all! It was great. We cruised, jammed to tunes, chatted, and had a really smooth ride. I arrived at the airport and we didn't get lost, just kinda walked right in, checked the bags, and said farewell to the 'rents! I really appreciate them coming out, it was great having them there to see me off. I was on my own then. I found where my flight was coming in and then had the last American cheeseburger with fries I'm going to have for a year. Mmm, yea. It was good. From now on it's just French cheeseburgers, I suppose. . .

Over the Atlantic, Baltimore to Iceland

The plane ride from Baltimore to Iceland was long, almost 6 hours, and I very unsuccessfully slept most of the way, so I wasn't really feeling top of my game when I arrived in Iceland. I had about 45 minutes to catch my flight, so I moseyed on over and hopped right on. Very smooth, again.

Over the Atlantic, Iceland to Paris

This flight was more interesting. I sat next to two other guys that were independently going to France on study abroad, as well, so we chatted a bit and I scooped some good beta from one of them who had been there for a year already. It was daylight for most of this ride and I really loved seeing out the window from my seat. . .the clouds were fantastic. They were right below us like a big mossy bed; not something you see every day. I more successfully slept on this ride, which was shorter (only 3.5 hours). I then arrived in Paris!! It looked so. . .much like an airport. I had a solid ten minutes of anxiety as my bags never appeared. . .but then I realized I was standing at the wrong bag line and mine showed up rather quickly on the correct conveyor belt, which was good. :) I'm so smooth.

A video outside Garre de Lyon

I then made my way to the nearby train station and found Jim there (one of the study abroad folks from the plane), who I followed around Paris on the metro because he knew how it worked. It was really awesome running into him, as it made the process a lot easier. We split ways and I made my first junction from the RER to the metro, where I met a French guy named Alex. He was pretty cool, a climber, and we chatted and he helped me make sure I got off at the correct station. And then I was utterly lost. I was trying to find the train station to take me to Grenoble at Paris-Gare de Lyon. Well the whole thing is one massive labyrinth of stairs (oh my, ALL the stairs), corridors, gates, busy folks, and not a lot of direction, in my opinion. So I was standing there looking lost. Very lost. So then this other French guy (whose name I couldn't understand) who spoke no English at all came up to me and started asking ME for help. I politely explained to him that I had no clue what I was doing, to which he politely explained he could obviously see, and we teamed up to go buy our tickets. How grateful I was! He spoke no English but all the French, so we, after quite a while, managed to find the ticket booth.

First meal in France!

After I got my plane ticket, I went outside for my first time. Wow!! Paris looked amazing. I kinda just stood there and took it in, turning around in circles. Very cool. I walked to the nearby strip and found a brasserie where I could eat my first french meal!! Damn! It was goooood. I sat outside so I could people watch over my meal. They brought out a table cover for me and some nice silverware, so I felt quite fancy. I ordered my first ever legal beer (pelforth brune. . .mmmmm), the water came out in a wine bottle and glass, and the food. . .oh yeah. I got a chicken quiche, which also came with a salad and some delicious bread. It really took me back, you know. In eighth grade in Ms. Santoro's French 1 class, we used to have CFE (Cultural Food Experiences!). They were pretty cool, and usually she just brought in stuff to make crepes with. But one time we took a big field trip with all the French classes to Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh and ate at an authentic (very authentic) French restaurant. I got a quiche. So, it really reminded me, today, of my first ever experience eating French food. I'm glad the circle came around!!

A La campagne, from the train

After my meal, I made the train in seconds flat. It was pretty cool. And they don't wait on you, that's for sure! I had a window seat on the train ride and was really excited to take in the French countryside the whole way. . . .But that just didn't happen. I was so exhausted. Even when we were within ten or fifteen minutes of Grenoble. I wanted to look outside but all I could do was sleep. And sleep I did, the whole darn way. :)

Et voila!! Bienvenue a Grenoble, Hyland! The mountains!! The rocks!! It's great. They're tall, man. Real tall. Many of them I can't see the tops of because the clouds get in the way. I remember waking up on the train and the first thing I saw was an amazingly huge rock face that towered above the city. . .I think I found a project for one of these days. It took me a while to find a map, but when I did I hopped on the tram and made my way towards my residence. This is where the only thing went wrong the whole trip. . .when I hopped off the train, I'm certain I dropped my water bottle on the floor and lost it. I'm a little upset. I've had it for over a year, I had a lot of stickers from Utah on it, and it also had my bracelet I got from my Adventure WV LEEd class. Definitely a serious bummer to lose those two things, especially the bracelet. And the bottle. I'm going to contact the public transportation office and see if someone turned it in or something, tomorrow.

And then I arrived at Residence Ouest, signed in, and went to my room. I'm in building D on the first floor, room 018. I loved being on the first floor my freshman year of college in the dorms, so hopefully I feel the same way here! I can see the mountains from my room, still, as well. So hey, I can't complain. :) The room is pretty small, but it's enough. I have a lot more room than the amount of stuff I brought can fill. The only thing wrong with the room, however, is that there is no seat on the toilet bowl!! It's pretty silly. I hope they can put one on there for me, but I already tried it out and. . .well. . .it'll do. Tomorrow I think I will go out on the town and purchase some things, look toothpaste, bed sheets and a pillow, thumb tacks, tape, etc. . .some of the stuff I didn't bring that the room doesn't come with to make it more homey.

Overall a very positive experience and I'm really happy to be here. :) I haven't met anyone yet (one of the people down the hall did tell me my music was too loud, however. . . ), so hopefully that begins tomorrow and I can start to do some stuff! I think I'll go find the local gear shop, as well. . .Anyhoo, I think that about wraps it up! Good journey, learned lots, and spoke lots of French! I'm gonna be fine, I think. Day one down, ready to tackle day two tomorrow!

Cool didgeridoo poster I found, Gre

French countryside during the train ride

During take-off! Let's gooo!

!

Outside the plane door

In line to board the train