French National Competition, L’Argentiere Le Bessee, France

Lappin' and Nappin' in Usine, France. Stephanie catches up on much need rest and Marc takes a spin on one of the best mixed lines in the world.

We got fired up that there was going to be another competition that we could go to in France since the Val Daone competition in Italy was canceled and we got on the road with our rental car and drove from the Scarpa Boot factory in Asolo, Italy to meet

Stephanie Maureau, who was already invited to compete in the final. Gordon and I drove through Chamonix and under Mont Blanc and then on for another couple of hours to the southeast to arrive at her parent’s house. They were more than accommodating and made us feel at home. Of course we ate the best cheese from the region and had some incredible genepi, local drink made of the flowers in the hills right behind the Maureau’s chalet.

The competition was in L’Argentiere Le Bessee, meaning that we got to drive up through the stunning mountain pass village of La Grave, one of the world’s premiere backcountry skiing locations.

The format of the competition was such that Jeff Mercier and crew put up a new dry tooling crag that was still under construction when we arrived. The key to any good dry tooling area is that the rock is usually bad enough that nobody else wants to climb it. The holds are drilled pockets and the feet are poor at best. The climbing is generally great though since long dynamic moves give rise to hard climbing on steep overhanging terrain.

Unfortunately, there were only 8-9 routes and there were nearly 40 competitors, half of which were the Russian team that got there early and clogged up the routes. They cued up 4 and 5 spots in advance for a climb while climbing on another route, which made it impossible for others to get in on a climb.

As usual, however, Alexy Dengin and Ludmilla were more than hospitable to Gordon and I and let us climb with them. The climbing was fun, but overall. In general the competition was supposed to be about fun and climbing, but it became difficult when there was too many people at the party, so to speak. Poor organization made for a semi-dangerous situation by having so many people in too close proximity and with large amounts of rock fall. Some of the competitors were snatching my water without asking and trying to take over our route even when we were on it, making for some hard feelings as evident by on-line postings. It’s funny that some people take it so seriously, but when there’s money on the table some people seem to turn into a ruthless competitor.

They should have given a time allotment or managed the climbing to some degree since some people didn’t even have a chance to climb the routes. It might sound like sour grapes, but it’s hard not to when one travels so far and invests themselves into the process only to have to experience such a poor process. Mostly, it fostered a lot of poor sportsmanship. I was able to get what I needed out of the day and climbed hard and climbed well, although after they closed the preliminary time allotment.

We stayed and watched Stephanie win the women’s finals and then left, not even going to the party afterward where they were playing slow reggae. The next day we got up and went climbing at Usine, perhaps one of the best mixed climbing experiences I’ve had. The cave is unreal. The guys from France have a great thing going at Usine and have had some great climbing competitions hosted in the cave, complete with DJ and lights! Seems like something that we could do at the Hall of Justice in Ouray, Colorado at some point.

I’m definitely inspired to put climbing routes up like what is in Usine, but Jason Nelson and I were already on the same mind set. The traditional way of climbing in North America is to climb on slopy little holds and pray that your tool doesn’t skate out. Perhaps this is seen as “alpine” or something but is not the style of climbing that I like. Rather, I prefer to do long moves on good holds and minimal foot placements. I’m not sure how people will take to this style back home, but there’s got to be room for everyone.

Aside from the experience at the competition, we managed to keep a good attitude and pull off some shenanigans:

LWimages RAW - Usine from Lukasz Warzecha - LWimages.co.uk on Vimeo.

I'm looking forward to more climbing at the Zoo in Chamonix and the next, and best, International World Cup at Saas-Fee, Switzerland, 2011 !! So send your good vibes from the other side of the pond.