Say whose at Ceuse? - France

Ceuse is a worldclass crag. It is the united nations of climbing bums, and attracts the best of the best. There are people here we have met from Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, New Zealand, England, Italy and the US. Everywhere you look there is another sponsered climber decorated with a climbing label. Mamut shoes, Mamut shirt, Mamut chalkbag, Mamut shorts, Mamut harness.... – there goes the Mamut girl. And Boreal shoes, shirt, chalkbag .... there goes the Boreal girl. There are lots of photographers around too, to keep the mags up to date with the latest onsites and flashes the climbers are making.

It is not every day that you rub shoulders with elite from around the world, but here there is a 6a (18) climb beside an 8a (30) climb at an area called Demi Lune. So, I warmed up on a 6a and right next door, the strongest girl in NZ, Mayan warmed up on an 8a! All around there are sculpted men and women with muscles rippling up the walls. Some rest after every move when they reach a bolt, and some pull on the drawers all the way up. Others climb more fluently and elegantly. We fell in love with a tiny little unassuming German girl who had no ego, and made no fuss after she cruised up an 8b (32) with pure style. The almost naked sculptures groaned and moaned at every move on the same climb, none of them making it to the top. Then, the little girl with her baggy daggy pants and shirt on, asked politely if she could have a go, after which they looked her up and down and with mock politeness replied “sure”. They were truly taken aback when she sailed through the moves smoothly, swiftly, silently; no sweat. They were breathless... we were breathless... impressive!

Its fun, but humbling climbing besides these people... Imagine playing tennis in the next court to Federa; or having a kick of soccer in the field next to ManU. These are some of the worlds best climbers, yet there is so little celebrity in the world of climbing. Chris Sharma (probably the best climber in the world) would have no worries walking down any busy street; but Federa would be lucky to get out his door.

We put to bed our star grading in Ceuse, mainly because every climb deserves 3 stars, and always the next climb is just as good if not better than the last. I kept overhearing everyone new to the area say, that anything they climbed was awesome (the Americans), or superb (the French) or so cool (the Aussies) and I havent heard a single complaint. Everything we did in Ceuse was worth doing, so we just stayed on and kept climbing. The walk in to the crag is quite taxing though; an hour or more up quite a steep hill, and an hour or a bit less down; committment; but we gave ourselves a break by bivouacing for a few nights at the crag itself. The climbs were also a little run out at times which tested the fear barrier. I am teaching myself to stop screaming when I take a lead fall, and to start “enjoying the fall”. It is easier said than done! After a bit of practice, instead of screaming and worrying all the other climbers and belayers at the crag that someone was hurt, they started to wonder what was so funny....