Big day in Gietroz!

Back in Chamonix once again for the summer. Now we just hope for good climbing wheater and that the three day long slush storm will come to and end. So please King Bore, take a sleeping pill (or just decapitate yourself) and let the summer gods take over.

Me, Andrew, Kelly, Eva and Bjarne all went to Gietroz or “The Gorge” as it’s more commonly referred to. This is a steep overhanging crag and a lot of the routes tend to have strenuous moves between undercuts, in other words a good place for people with biceps like Arnold Schwarzenegger (spelling?).

While gearing up at The Gietroz parking lot we couldn’t imagine what at big day it was going to be, but when we got back Eva had managed to do Reve de Singe, her first 8a, I had managed to onsight “In Absentia” 7b which Bjarne also did a few minutes later on his second go. A really good day all in all!

Onsight attempt on "In Absentia" 7b

Bjarne on the same route

Eva on "Reve De Singe"

Trying the worlds hardest 7a+

Ågesta ultimate bloc ripp down session 2011

Sorry for the lack of activity the last month. The fact that I have been running a blog without owning a computer with internet has made the whole thing a bit more troublesome than it should have to be. Climbing without climbing shoes might be a good equivalent. However, I’ve now bought a CANON G12 POWERSHOT CAMERA and anyone who knows anything about anything is aware that you can’t go through life without having one of those in your possession (Read: gadget nerd and simply slave to the consumption society). Ok with that said lets talk about stuff that matter J.

I’ve spent about 3 weeks in Stockholm in May and maybe I didn’t get quite as many days of climbing as I planned but still a few really good ones! What struck me the most was the high quality of the routes on mostly technical granite.

Recommendations

Megadans, Skevik 7c

Non-stop, Skevik 7b

Freaky Deaky, Nacka Kvarn 7b

Totalvägra, Nacka Kvarn 7a

Lutande Tornet, Nacka Kvarn 7a

We also spent one day bouldering in Ågesta over which area they recently released a new guidebook. The guide is nice with clean graphics, pictures and funny little anecdotes. The only and quite negative thing is that it doesn’t offer any English translation not even for road description.

Enough said, now enjoy the prodigious quality of my Canon G12 Powershot pictures.

A super nice boulder, couldn't find it in the guide though. About 5a-b.

                                               

Michelle looking cool.

Me trying to look cool

Barbahög 6b+, a realy nice highball

You got to love the highball action:)

Stockholm has lots of small little crags spread out around the city and most of them are easy to reach with public transports, a week pass including busses and trains is about 30 euros.

Back in Sweden!

So after almost five months in Chamonix I am back in Sweden to check in with family and friends again! It's always nice and mellow to come home! As always I couldn't wait more than one day before I was eager to get out to the blocks around my home town and try my new won powers. And as always I get so screwd on the boulders at home. This time I went to the classic Hulta-block a.k.a "the boulder sent from heaven" with my little red home made crashpad (read: thin sleeping pad with a badly sewn cover). I tried a few problems and realised it wasn't a good warm up to have driven for 22 hours from chamonix to sweden yesterday, so without any luck I went home again and more or less slept for 15 hours.
However I am soon going up to Stockholm to meet up with my brother and try the sport climbing up there, so psyched!

First Mission Complete

My goal this winter has been to train enough to be able to step up my climbing level a bit, I wanted to project an 8a because it has always been the magical grade for me (and for many other climbers I guess). But the big goal has of course just been to become a better climber.
Since I practice most diciplines in climbing including big routes in the mountains it has always been important for me to have a high lowest level. Even though I now have managed to do two 8a:s it doesn't make me a solid climber at that level, non of the two routes came easy and I had to struggle really hard both physically and mentally to be able to do them. I still won't jump on harder trad multipitches than 6c+, maybe 7a.
I guess all I want to say is that I'm freakin stoked to have done an 8a but climbing is such a lovely an complex sport that you're making a mistake if you take a grad for granted.
I keep on struggling with my  7as and 7bs and I'm going to be almost equally stoked when I send them.

Here's a movie about my fight on the Vampirella projekt filmed and edited by Bjarne Sahlen.
Also check out his amazing videoblog, which is getting a lot of attention!
Endlessflow.posterous.com


Carl Granlund is climbing "Vampirella" 8a from Bjarne Sahlen on Vimeo.

A lot of text

The last few months, I've been projecting routes. This is something I have never really done before, at least not to the extent that I have done now. The most I have spent on a route before is one day, two at the most. Since the outdoor season started in february, I have just been focusing on two routes. In other words, during the 16 days that I've had outdoors so far, I have spent maybe 11 of those on these two routes. I did one of them just two weeks ago and I am as close as you could possibly be to send the other one.
I have to say that I have found something new in projecting routes that I, to some point, also have found in bouldering. It's some sort of love and hate game.
You find an inspiring route that you just dream to be able to climb, you think it might be possible but it's going to be really hard and take a lot of time and work. In the beginning you feel no stress and you get happy for every new move you can do, you puzzle out new sequences and change old beta for new beta. After a few sessions you have done all the moves and maybe you've even done big parts of the route in one go.
Fourth or fifth session the anxiousness and frustration of being close and having spent some time on the route sets in a little bit. Maybe you've even done the route with just one hang? It starts to come down to redpoint (sending the route). You know you're strong enough and that you have the stamina for it, but still it's on your limit enough that a tiny foot slip, a bad hair day or smallest distraction can be enough for you to fail on your redpoint attempt. Every time you go home without the send it gets more and more frustrating, because you know it means another day of dragging your ass out to the same crag, hanging up the draws again and probably do the same warm ups just to MAYBE send the route. Then one day, often the least expected one, you send the route. The award and to some point relief is bigger than something you've probably ever achieved so far in your climbing carrier. In the end it didn't matter that you spent five days and twenty tries more than you expected. You did the route that you didn't even know if you could do from the beginning, the battle is over, you won, you conquered and no one can take that away from you. No matter grade it's a different satisfaction doing a route that you had to work hard for as opposed to a route you've been able to do in a few goes.
It's a bit like ski touring, instead of taking the lift you walk and really earn your turns!

The Vampirella project

I've had my eyes on this line since I first got to Leverogne in Italy! It's the most estetic line I have ever seen and it's going up in the middle of a bowl shaped formation. The hard part involves about 12-15 moves of technical and bouldery climbing including to BIG crux moves. The pictures below shows the last big move which has pulled me off about 10 times now. I'm holding a bad left pinch and a small right crimp and then it's a big move out right to an okay right pinch, it's not a crazy hard move but it involves a lot of coordination. Hopefully it goes down next time! Last hard move before grad 5 climbing to the anchor Next time I'll do it! :)

Random stuff!

A lot of work and bad wheather the last week here in Chamonix has kept us from going out sending our projekts. So with nothing in particular to tell and wright about, I thought I might as well upload some random pictures from a few bouldering sessions around chamonix with friends Jonny Baker and Will Sim.
Me on a delicate problem on the new (upper) sector in Medonnet.
Jonny crusing the 7a-extension of the classic boulder in Medonnet
Me trying the same thing
Trying the completely chipped but fun 6c-boulder in the forests of Bosson