I spent a little over a month there off and on last summer. I would highly recommend the place. Partners are always easy to find, and most of the people even speak english.

The crux can be hitching from Gap. I had times where I was picked up within 30 seconds of sticking my thumb out, and at least one 8-hour ordeal to get the 25km up to Sigoyer. From downtown, walk out a ways on the D994. Scribble out a sign that says "Freisineusse(sp?)" as well as "Sigoyer". That should inspire the through traffic to at least take you partway. Anyway, at Fres..., head left on the D47 and follow the signs to Sigoyer. Hopefully by now you're in a car with a climber. Otherwise, walk the mile uphill from Sigoyer to Les Guerins campground.

Les Guerins is a turbo plush campground by US standards. It has free hot showers, refrigerators, washing machine, and a woody in the barn for rainy days. Not bad for 3 bucks a night. Gerard, the farmer that owns the place doesn't speak any english, so it's always fun trying to pay for camping. He also sells bread and chalk, as well as really cheap ravioli.

According to the french, Ceuse is the place to be is southern France when the weather is too hot at Buoux and elsewhere. I was there from June to August and there were always plenty of people to climb with and bum rides into town from. ]]> Thu, 25 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=803 0 45.52361 -122.675 Paris now and I fly out the 11th. I'll make my way to london in a couple days.

I'm actually looking forward to being back in america. I miss 8 lane roads and big supermarkets and signs that point to things that actually exist and stores that are open at 9 at night and 1 in the afternoon and at all on sunday and monday. So I'll try to make it up to Seattle soon after I get back.]]> Fri, 07 Aug 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=802 0 48.8666667 2.3333333 Field in Sigoyer, climbing at Ceuse and Orpierre. Now I'm in Paris preparing to reintegrate into society.

Random french trivia:

They have Pier 1 Imports here, but it's just called Pier Imports. They actually leave enough room in the sign for the 1, but it's nowhere to be found. I think they use them as American traps, because you stare at this sign across the street trying to figure out if the 1 is just burned out or what, and after about a block of walking and staring, they have this open manhole for you to trip over and fall into. At least that was my experience. ]]> Fri, 07 Aug 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=801 0 48.8666667 2.3333333 Oh yeah, I took BIG WHIPPER number two the other day, at the hands of the same belayer chick from BW1. This time I was 5 feet above a bolt & 15 feet right resting on a ledge (and enjoying a giant sport loop) when I pulled off a hold. Moral: Orpierre rules, just dont eat your lunch below the cliff if you dont want to get clobbered by falling rocks. Oh, and dont worry, the french will probably bolt the hold back on. ]]> Fri, 07 Aug 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=800 0 44.4833333 5.9666667
Running with the Bulls in PamplonaJust a quick note to let you all know I'm still alive & no longer in danger of being trampled by livestock.

As far as festive festivals go, this one was pretty damn festive. First of all, you have no option but to party until dawn, as there is nowhere to sleep even if you wanted to. A typical day starts at 5pm with dinner and a bullfight. Then 12 hours of swilling sangria & calimotxo (cheap red wine & coke) with a few thousand wassailers in the street, then a quick run with some bulls to cap off the evening at 8am, and off to the park to sleep.

I'm now in barcelona recuperating, and I've got to say that I've never appreciated a bed quite as much as I do now.

Anyway, rockclimbing season starts back up tomorrow or so, so It will probably be a few weeks before I can check my mail again. ]]> Sat, 11 Jul 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=799 0 42.8166667 -1.6333333 I'm finally calibrated to this schteeep limestone. I got a 1 hang onsight (I dont think that's a term, but you get the picture) on this 7a+ (.12a) that I'll have to go redpoint when I get back to ceuse. Orpierre rules as well, by the way. It's a 45 minute drive, but if you leave the campground at the same time, you're climbing at the same time as you would be at ceuse, but much more rested. It's mongosso steep, with huge holds for the most part, and z-clippable bolts. "A rezt day for zee mind", as the austrians say. I usually tag #'s 1, 3 & 5 on redpoints. I onsighted a 6c+ (.11c), and have this 7b+ (.12c) down to two hangs. ]]> Sat, 11 Jul 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=798 0 41.3833333 2.1833333
So yeah, I'm in Berlin now, chillin at the Garner estate. I spent a week at Ceuse, which is possibly the best rock in europe. Moderately to way overhanging with big giant holds. You lose perspective for which way is up standing next to these walls because they are so uniformly overhanging. Everything looks straight up and down, yet the rope hits the ground 20 feet out from the base. The approach is an entire hour of walking up hill, and you gain like 1800 feet of elevation. You can watch planes flying around between you and the compground.

I'll spend a few days here and then go see about climbing some more stuff. July 7 is the day to remember as far as running with the bulls is concerned. I'll keep you posted as to whether I survive. ]]> Sat, 27 Jun 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=797 0 52.5166667 13.4 So phase two of the trip took me to Buoux, this little town in the s. of France with big rocks and a cheap campground. It's takng a while to get calibrated to this overhanging pocketed limestone, but for the most part, climbing is going well. All the english speaking climbers bailed simultaneously a couple days ago, so I headed south to marseilles in search of a sunburn.

Found it, and now I'm off to ceuse to Hook up with a guy with a car and climb those 900 foot walls at verdon. So far, Kester's trip is going just fine... ]]> Fri, 19 Jun 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=796 0 43.3 5.4 Apparently I am able to check e-mail from time to time over here, at least from this address.

Anyway, Spain pretty much rules, as does Morocco (and moroccan food). I'm pretty much fed up with big cities, and the french in general, so I'm off to climb some rocks.

I'm sure I'll be more poetic in my next email, but for now I'm just mostly beat and looking at 20 hours on the train to Marseilles, so I need to go buy a bunch of that $1 wine to ease the journey. ]]> Fri, 12 Jun 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=795 0 40.4 -3.6833333 I wasn't sure that I'd be able to send e-mail whilst on the road, but aparently it's not too much of a problem in the bigger cities. I'm in Madrid now at this cybercafe thing in the trendy section of town. It costs 500 pasetas (around $5) for an hour on this ald beater computer.

So far, everything is going great. I met up with my friend Laura (climbing paul's landlord) and we headed down to Morocco for a few days. It is a totally cool place, and everything you hear about everybody trying to screw you out of your money is true. You get off the boat in Tangiers and are immediately mobbed by all these 'guides'.

Anyway, I dropped Laura off at the airport this morning, and tonight I'll hop a night train through barcelona and connect on to Marseilles or Nice. It turns out that the best climbing areas are all within a couple hundred miles of marseiles. After a few days on the beach, I need to pull on some rock.
]]> Fri, 12 Jun 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=794 0 40.4 -3.6833333 France this summer with no car, so I'm looking for recommendations of sport crags that are within walking distance of train stations. Ideally, there would also be a cheap place to crash nearby (without camping), but that is secondary.

Can anybody help me out? ]]> Wed, 29 Apr 1998 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=131 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=793 0 45.52361 -122.675