After having climbed Sang neuf, I had 1 climbing day left. Sébastien Richard suggested that I could try to link Sang neuf 9a with the 25 meter second pitch of Home sweet home 8c/+ and I accepted the challenge.
After a rest day I climbed Sang neuf 9a again but this time I did not stop at the chain, but climbed on to the chain of Home sweet home.
This new route is now called Sweet neuf: Sang neuf & Home sweet home combined. ?
Climbing Sweet neuf 9a+
This 15 meter project in Pierrot beach (Vercors, France) was bolted by Quentin Chastagnier.
I had first tried the route in April 2016, but had had to abandon it due to extremely cold weather. At that time my mother had filmed me while I was climbing, so that in case I came back, I would remember the movements.
And the hard work I had done last year payed off! I came back this year and did the first ascent on September 4th.
Climbing Sang neuf – 9a
2nd place for me during the 3rd Lead World Cup of the year in Briançon, France.
The qualifcations and semifinal went well for Jain Kim (KOR), Janja Garbret (SLO and me since we topped all 3 routes.
The final route was nice and pumpy and I was glad I smoothly passed the overhanging section. Clipping the last quickdraw before the top cost me a bit too much energy and I couldn’t grab the next holds as precisely as I would have liked. I fell one move lower than Janja who won the competition. Jain became 3rd.
Congrats to Romain Desgranges, Sean McColl and Stefano Ghisolfi for being the male medalists.
On July 23th I won the gold medal during the Worldgames in Wrocław.
The podium with Janja Garnbret (SLO) and Julia Chanourdie (FRA) was decided by countback to the qualification round, because the 3 of us fell at the same move.
When I fell I wasn’t tired yet, but the way I tried to go on was just impossible. I knew this, but I could’t change anything about it since I hadn’t noticed a hold on the left. It was placed on a big volume and was impossible to be seen by the climbers from underneath during the 6-minute observation time.
But it turned out to be enough for the victory and I’m grateful for that! 🙂
It was a nice experience to be at such a big event and to meet other top athletes from non-olympic sports.
Somewhere in the middle of my preparation for the upcoming season, I took a little break from training and headed to France for a few days of rock climbing.
I had hoped to get a lot of sun on my face while being in the south of France, but instead I had to battle a lot of cold and windy days, wet holds and even a heavy thunderstorm right when I was climbing. Most of the time my down jacket was one of my best friends. 😉
Amazed by this rainbow which came after the storm
Despite the difficult conditions, I was able to do some hard climbs and I could return home with a thankful heart.
I didn’t do any onsight climbing during the trip. Every time I tried a route, I worked it out first and then did an attempt.
In Saint Léger du Ventoux:
In Les Auberts:
Check out this nice article on Grimper.com (in French) by Seb Richard. Thanks Seb for the pictures!
L’émêché 8c in Les Aubert, Drôme region
Climbing Le Concept in Saint Léger du Ventoux
On April 23th I won the Belgian Championship in my home gym Klimax in Puurs. Celine Cuypers took the silver medal. The bronze went to Laure-Anne Stevens. Congrats!
The new Belgian Champion on the men’s side is Simon Lorenzi. Loïc Timmermans and Nicolas Collin were 2nd and 3rd.
There were amazing performances by the paraclimbers as well, with for example Pavitra Vandenhoven and Elodie Orbaen being strong as always!
Nice article and pictures on the Climb2Climb website (in French).
This is the upside down version of a poster made by Peter Cuypers (Celine’s dad) in 2011. Same girls, just a little older now. 🙂
… to meet up with Solid Rock Climbers for Christ.
After the training camp in Canada, my North American journey was followed by a trip to the States.
I stayed in Bend, Oregon, where I did a presentation and a clinic at the Bend Rock Gym and met a lot of great people.
Thank you Solid Rock for the support and the prayers, it means a lot to me.
Climbing at Smith Rock with Calvin Landrus
A few things I’ll remember about the amazing week I’ve had:
A lot of sweet people.
Encouraging talks: about everyday things and, more importantly, about our faith in Jesus.
Climbing at the Bend Rock Gym and meeting its owner Jim Stone.
An article in the local newspaper about my visit, so nice!
Lots of snow: everyone was telling me how exceptional it was, but I loved it.
Going to Smith Rock and doing some climbing there, in the snow! What a beautiful place.
Being introduced to the American culture. I hope I’ll go back one day. 🙂
Thanks to Calvin Landrus, director of Solid Rock Climbers for Christ, and to Jim Stone for inviting me.
To find out more about Solid Rock Climbers for Christ, go to www.srcfc.org.
And if you happen to be in Bend, go climb at the Bend Rock Gym!
Smith Rock from above while flying back home.