Fiera finals pics

Sean sealing the deal by completing bloc #4.




Sean sending bloc #3 on his last go (without any rest!)

Sean McColl 3rd in Fiera di Primiero!!!

Sean McColl during semi finals in Fiera di Primiero.

Yes! Last night Sean finished 3rd at the bouldering world cup in Fiera di Primiero. Finals were so exciting and Sean gave an impressive performance in front of a large audience. I believe Sean is the first canadian to ever podium in a bouldering world cup. Again, Sean was crushing in finals!! We celebrated very late and had a blast in Fiera. I have a ton of photos from finals that I will sort through later and will post on Sean's facebook trip page. Check it out!

I'm back in France now. I just finished an 11hr drive from Italy. I was surprised to discover that I have already driven over 5000km in less than 3 weeks!!
Fontainebleau tomorrow and Canada on Tuesday. The trip is almost over...

Fiera di Primiero WC

Jj Mah making great progress on Qualifier 3.

Qualifiers are now done in Fiera. It rained for most of the day. Fortunately the tents above the walls were just big enough to keep everything dry. Like usual the blocs were sick hard and it always felt like you were climbing poorly! Im here with fellow canadians which is more fun. Sean McColl advanced to semis (14th), Jj Mah (50th), Ghislain Losier (54th), and Marshal German (58th). More to come after semis and finals today!

Team Canada in Vail, CO

Team Canada at last weekend's bouldering world cup event in Vail, CO (USA).

Next up is Fiera di Primiero in Italy June 13-14. A few of the canadian men will be there to represent!

sunshine in Bleau

A great Fontainebleau photo (©2008 Guérin).

This is taken from Jo Montchausse's website. Jo is one of the authors for the guidebook to Fontainebleau and he also makes bouldering gear. (http://i-bbz.com/accueil_a.html)

Fontainebleau

A new 7b traverse in Font. at the Hautes Plaines du Franchard area.

I'm now in Fontainebleau for a few days to boulder before heading south to Italy for the last leg of my trip. I had about an hour of climbing yesterday before it started pouring. This morning it was still raining but by midday I was out warming out at Roches aux sabots, Isatis then went back to this new area with mostly traverses. Really good lines and fun to climb. Maybe the style is reminescent of Halifax bouldering. I had a good day climbing. I flashed this 7b that is the intro to a new traverse testpiece put up this winter that is rated 8b+/8c!! Like v14 or something. Nuts! I should be able to climb the next 4 days as the weather is looking promising (knock on wood).
On a side note "team canada" is competing at the bouldering world cup in Vail, Colorado today. I'm looking forward to the results.

Burgundy

Tonight we have a "premier cru" from Fixin (Burgundy).

This morning I left rainy Bellinzona and drove 5hrs back north to Beaune, France. First off Beaune is Burgundy's wine capital and is situated just south of Dijon and north from Lyon. Things are looking up for me. I'm resting in a small hotel overlooking the famous vinards and enjoying some wine. I'm also looking forward sleeping in a bed and getting some rest to prepare me for Fontainebleau for the coming week. After that I will head back south to compete at the World Cup in Fiera di Primiero. If the weather can cooperate for the next week I will be psyched again to climb and compete. bonne journee! GL

rain

I'm sitting in my car in a campground in Bellinzona, Switz. And it's raining. Yesterday I drove from Grindelwald to Magic Woods. After running in to check out the boulders I was very disappointed. Maybe I was just expecting too much from all the hype. So this morning I left (that's right) Woods and drove down to Bellinzona to climb at Cresciano and Chironico. The later I had not seen and got some enjoyment from that. But now it's raining and I'm debating what to do. There's no way I'm staying here for 10 days before Fiera. Maybe I will drive back up to Fontainebleau and climb there before the next WC?? 7 hour drive though! Anyway, I'm kind of stressing from all the disappointment I've had in the last few days plus the lack of good food and sleep. GL

Grindelwald WC finals

Kilian Fischhuber finishing finals #1.

The Grindelwald WC is over and tomorrow morning I'm headed to the famous Magic Woods in Averstal, Switz. I can't wait to see all the problems. The semis and finals were impressive to watch. The routesetters really know how to produce a real show for the audience. There was probably around 500 people watching the finals. I'm already looking forward to the Fiera WC in 2 weeks.

Grindelwald World Cup

Akito Matsushima from Japan on problem #3.

I'm in Grindelwald, Switz. and yesterday I competed in my first bouldering world cup. It was great but at the same time nerve wrecking! I was so nervous. The first 3 problems I got to the last move but couldn't top. The last 2 were much harder. But I managed to get all 5 bonus holds which put me in 51th place (out of 65). I learned quite a bit and I am looking forward in seeing the semis and finals later today.
I had a rough start to my trip as my luggage didn't arrive with me which meant I had to drive back to the airport (4:30am from Font) on Thursday to pick them up at the 6am flight from Montreal then turn back and drive 7hrs to Grindelwald. I still got to visit my friend Jo in Font. and eat lots of pain au chocolat (10!). GL

Dover Island

Dave Voltan on Exciter.

Today a group of us made a day trip to Dover Island. The weather was great. My buddy Dave Voltan from Toronto was in town and he came out for the day. He had never climbed here so he was in for a real treat. Quite a few problems have been "removed" by the ocean during storms this past winter. It's amazing to think what the ocean is capable of!

Final preparations...

3 more days before I leave for europe. It has been 3 years since I was over the big pond. There has been a lot of planning to realize this trip and I can't even believe that it's going to actually happen. I fly into Paris Wed. morning then I will drive to Grindelwald, Switz. for Friday's world cup event. I am a little nervous as this is my first time competing in such an event. Switz. is one of my favorite countries I have ever visited so I am looking forward spending time there. I plan on bouldering in Magic woods between the Grindelwald and the Fiera di Primiero WC in Italy. A bigger team Canada will be present at the Primiero WC which will be great. Anyway, I will try to update this blog through out my trip via cell phone and laptop.
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