Vingrau / Tautavel

The original plan for the weekend was to climb at Vingrau, a huge cliff known for its bulletproof slabs and classic multipitch. However, though Vingrau gets sun in the afternoon, it is also exposed to the wind that rips down the Pyrénées, and the comination of 3* temperatures and 35km wind made climbing there, at least in February, impossible. Instead, we went across the valley and climbed at Tautavel. The first day we climbed in a neat gorge, the second day on a lovely south-facing slab. We stayed at a rural "gite" that took us hours to find in the dark.

Thanks to Fabrice for all of the pictures of me.

This is a few of us on Saturday morning in Montpellier, getting ready to take off:

Here are some pictures from the gorge on the first day. We did some climbing here, but it was on easy slabs in the shade. This place must be an amazing summer crag.
And here are a few photos from the gorgeous slab on Sunday. Fabrice took a cool sequence of photos of me making an accidental attempt at 7a+. I made it to the third bolt before I called it quits.
And here's the view from the crag, looking down the valley.

It was a magnificent area, and I'd love to go back when the weather is a little more favorable at Vingrau proper.

I'll be out of town next Wednesday, so this is the last blog post for two weeks. I'll be back in March with more news and photos and part II of this week's playlist.

Speaking of which:

"The Journey Home, Part I"

1 These Old Shoes - Deer Tick
2 Love Me Through - Port O'Brien
3 This Wind - The Tallest Man On Earth
4 That Western Skyline - Dawes
5 Mona And Emmy - Frontier Ruckus
6 Ticket Taker - The Low Anthem
7 Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
8 Ancient Questions - Mount Eerie

Download here.

Every one of these recordings comes from a Daytrotter session. Daytrotter has been putting up some amazing stuff lately, notably sessions from Frontier Ruckus and Mount Eerie, both of which are featured here. Check it out.

See you in two weeks!

Ready To Listen

Last weekend, as planned, I went climbing. I even took some pictures! Saturday was at La Clape and it rained on and off all day until about 4, when the weather decided to chase us off for good. Sunday at Seynes was brilliant, though. It was sunny and probably in the 60's. Turns out that sometimes February in France is about like July in Montana.

Here's Adrien, warming up on a 6b that would be one of my better climbs that day.


Here's Fabrice, making his way out of the muscly start of a 7a+ onto the impossibly blank "slab" to the chains. Behind him a shirtless hardman is working a famous 8a+ called "dinosaure".


Here's Fabrice again, making the second clip of a two pitch 7b/7a+ called "Masculin Feminin". 35m of madness linked together.The rock at Seynes is absolutely impeccable. Seamless, bulletproof, overhanging limestone that seems to have been crafted with French sport climbers in mind. We were super lucky to have good weather, and I'm hoping the sun will be back today (I'm going climbing at Thaurac this afternoon) and this weekend, for the Pyrénées Orientales.

In other news, this week's playlist is called "Ready To Listen". Two new tracks bookmark the playlist, and as per usual there's a story going on in there.

"Ready To Listen"

1 Harmonix - Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
2 Fever Brooks - Other Girls - Perfect Cities
3 Water Turns Back - Cloud Nothings - Turning On
4 Obstacle 1 - Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
5 Oh What A Feeling - The Organ - Thieves
6 This Modern Love - Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
7 Goodnight Laura - Spoon - Transference

Download here.

Enjoy!

Edit: Fixed link. Sorry! Mediafire's been flaky lately, I'll make sure to do more testing next week before I post the link.

The Moment

A few points of news:
- On Wednesday I was finally able to get my "Carte de Sejour", meaning that after living in France for approximately five months, I'm legally allowed to be here. Valid beginning the 20th of August, 2009. In other news, the ID photo is great.

- It was sunny all weekend and I went climbing at Saint Bauzille de Montmel, ticking off a couple of 6b's. I would have liked to climb Wednesday afternoon, but I had to get the card. I have found a partner for Wednesdays, though, and I'm excited to get out and climb during the week.

- It rained yesterday, and today the sky is clear and blue. I might go to the Zoo. I am generally in good spirits.

- On Saturday I am going to La Clape, which is a massif of limestone near Narbonne, an hour to the South. On Sunday I'll be at Seynes, another nice area about an hour to the Northeast. On Wednesday I'll be climbing with Florence, and the next weekend I hope to be in Les Pyrenées Orientales, climbing some multipitch. I'll try to take some photos.

- Despite my bloggy tardiness, I did make a playlist the week. This week's show is even more narrative and a little less music, somewhere in between college radio and "The News From Lake Wobegon". I'm not sure how I like it, and I think maybe next week I'll be a little heavier on the music. Let me know what you think.

The Moment

1 Love Cry - Four Tet - There Is Love In You
2 Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend - Contra
3 Osaka Loop Line - Discovery - LP
4 Little Secrets - Passion Pit - Manners
5 Lover Of Mine - Beach House - Teen Dream

Download here.

-Edit: fixed link