November 24, 2018 to December 1, 2018
Returning from a vacation is hard unless you live in Chamonix in which case you are stoked to be home! Ten days of rock climbing in the South of France and Liguria, Italy was sublime, but I was eager to ease into my Chamonix rhythm again and dive into some Chamonix interseason adventures. My rhythm varies, but it has a general theme; reading, studying French, “working”, and getting a minimum amount of climbing and aerobic fitness in the mountains. Luckily, the mountains are literally in my backyard. Athletically, here is how a week here might unfold.
Saturday (November 24), I ran to Les Tines and back. Chalet de la Floria is my favorite intermediate perch, offering captivating views without major vertical gain. Pausing here for a few quiet breaths, I descended towards Les Tines with a pit-stop at Le Paradis des Prax kids park for 50 pull-ups on the swing-set.
Sunday I loaded my pack with 10 kilograms and hiked on varied terrain gaining about 500 meters in total. As ski touring season approaches I will taper the running and have a steady diet of weighted uphill movement. Après-run, I did push-ups, pull-ups, and finally, shoulder exercises on my homemade pulley system. Climbing has taught me many things, among those, creativity and resourcefulness. The pulley system is a good example of that. Need more weight? Add climbing gear!
On Monday I went to the zoo. Not the kind you are thinking, but we still bumped into some dry tooling animals. Le Zoo is a climbing crag in Sallanches and dry tooling is mixed climbing without ice, a good proxy for winter alpine climbing. Thanks to a quick post on the Chamonix Rock Climbers group I got the basics and Google did the rest. The approach was slightly nuanced, but we solved the riddle thanks to the resources below. Easier routes start on the right-hand side, so we began there, increasing the intensity as the day progressed. The routes were drilled extensively and pick placements were marked with pink spray paint. By the end of the day, my picks were tinted pink! Other mixed crags I’ve visited had little drilling if any, but I suppose the climbing might be hard to impossible otherwise. So, this may not be the best place to perfect technique for pure alpine mixed climbing, but it doesn’t hurt either. It was a great way to escape the rain and hang on our tools. We stayed dry underneath the overhanging rock.
Jeff Mercier Blog
UKC Climbing
Camp to Camp
The Vertical Kilometer trail taunts (and tempts) me from my apartment window. Tuesday, I ascended the VK and trotted around the Aiguilles Rouges. The VK trial gains 1000 Meters (or 1 Kilometer, ~3000 feet) in elevation and 3.8KM in distance. In 2016, I ran the VK trail the day after I summited Mont Blanc and made a video (below). The conditions were much different on Tuesday with snow and ice near the top. As I often do, I got carried away. I glanced at my watch and realized I had 45 minutes until French class near Galliands. Rushing down the icy trails at night would have been a bad idea, even with a headlamp. So, doing my best to look disheveled, I pleaded with lift workers in broken French for a ride (it was closed to the public). They made me work for it but thankfully obliged. I sprinted to my lesson immediately after my feet hit the ground.
Hump-day was a laid back with yoga and foam rolling followed by a bouldering session at the Centre Sportif Richard-Bozon. This was my first visit and admission was only 5.50 Euro. The routes aren’t memorable, but they are good enough.
The trails leading to Plan De L’aiguille are closed until January, so (Thursday) I figured, “what the hell” and I strolled up the Vertical Kilometer trail for the second time this week. My casual pace intensified the last 300 meters of elevation when I noticed a bloke gaining ground four “zig-zags” behind. It wasn’t a competition, but don’t tell that to my ego. I arrived at Plan Praz in the lead with my pride intact. Thankfully, the sunset atoned for the hard work. This time of year the sun has a special way of painting the mountains.
Friday’s mission was more contrived and an exciting addition to my Chamonix interseason adventures. The Frison-Roche route on Le Brevent is a classic, and it eluded me this summer. It’s not too arduous in dry conditions, but reviewing the weather forecast, it seemed unlikely because of the inbound snow. Like knowing the stove is hot but you touch it anyway, I had to find out for myself. Always keen for flighty missions, my buddy Patrick joined me for some mountain madness. We gained ~1300 meters (4000+ feet) to the base of the route while plundering through thickening snow via VK trail (my third time this week). Hauling equipment this distance makes you foolish, so I tied into the ropes and climbed. Vigorously brushing off the snow from the rock produced numb hands, but not much else. Eventually, I discovered the holds, but ice made them difficult to grip. Not knowing if my insurance policy covers stupidity, I clipped a carabiner into a bolt after 15 meters and asked Patrick to lower me. We stumbled towards the ski piste and descended towards Chamonix crossing into the facade of darkness the last thirty minutes.
“Big ‘ol vert week”
I’ve put serious mileage on my legs since arriving here. Mountain movement, especially running uphill on toes, engages certain muscles and neglects others (link to Trail Runner Mag article describing the phenomenon and what to do about it). So Saturday, I was excited to be in the gym to reset and strengthen my “alpine chassis” (legs and core).
My leg routine has many shades, but it depends most on what aches, pains, or soreness I feel. Typically, I self-diagnose by watching copious amounts of YouTube until I identify the issue and find the exercises that appear to offer the best solution. I’m no physio, but trial and error has worked well for me. Thankfully, I’ve never had a major injury. Without going into detail on the exercises I targeted the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and hip flexors. Yep, I work on my butt! These muscles get considerable stress from running, hiking, and moving uphill with a pack and they need some attention.
Since reading the book Training for the New Alpinism a few years ago my core routine has been consistent. I’ve done Scott’s Killer Core Routine (or a similar variant), outlined in this book at least once a week for the past two years. Through consistency of practice, I’ve graduated to the weighted and more challenging versions of the exercises. Although my belly is slightly puffy from French baguettes and mini-quiches, I’ve never been limited on a climb because of inadequate core strength.These Chamonix interseason adventures have truly pushed me to become a stronger climber.
Naturally, I finished my workout pulling exercises and grip training in preparation for mixed climbing.
Thanks for reading. Please post a comment or question. I would be excited to respond.
