Adventures of KatBurd

Two women, two American Alpine Club grants and two tickets to France. The legendary blue pocketed limestone of Ceuse is one of the most iconic sport climbing crags in the world. The style and quality of the routes is legendary, almost of mythical proportion among climbers. It is human nature to be inspired by the stories and experiences of others. This is the beginning of our experience, the story of KatBurd. The story of a friendship forged between two women who conspired to take on the world. France better be ready for this!

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Our in-between time

There is a cliché that goes something like: It is not the destination but the journey…. there is a reason we have all heard this saying a million times. Each of us has fallen victim to focusing on the end point, the future, reaching that end goal and moving on, focusing on the next end point and so on, chasing that temporary high of achievement. All this intent focused on success that will be coming soon, tomorrow, the next day, in a week or two, maybe next month.… but what about now? What about the time between successes, between sending, between vacations, between the big exams? What about the time between reaching our goals? All this time spent waiting is what makes up the majority of our lives. This “in-between” time is where we live, where we can create lasting joy, where our happiness is defined. How we spend this time is really what matters. Life is much more than fleeting goals and temporary highs of success (although this too has a place). Life is about the relationships we forge, the knowledge we acquire, the lessons we learn, the stories we create, the stories we affect and all the adventures along the way! SO don’t forget about your “in-between” time. Don’t forget to live all the chapters of your own novel, not just the cliff notes. If anything this approach gives us freedom to set higher goals and reach for the stars. At some point when we are old, gray and much of our story has passed, we can look back on our goals, aspirations and achievements. We can relive stories with friends. Stories of success and failure. We can rejoice in our achievements and take a critical look even at the goals we failed to accomplish. More importantly rather than resent ourselves, our old age, or any number of factors that prevented us from reaching these goals, we can sit back and smile. We can smile because we lived every moment of our “in-between” time. We can smile because we have achieve the ultimate goal, the ultimate measure of success: A full and meaningful life. We can die happy because we have not wasted any of this epic adventure. After all friends, it is all about the journey…see you all at the final destination :)

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Some things I learned

About mid way into our trip at Ceuse I found myself feeling discourage. Vanessa was sending I was not. I was feeling worn down, a little sick, low psyche. I thought: I should be climbing better, I should be climbing harder, I should be able to climb this, I should have been able to climb that, I should feel better, I should, I should, I should….and then I had a revelation…. More on that later.

  There was a route in particular that got into my head. The route was a 12a pourquoi pas?? My first go on the route I hung the draws, fell twice and assumed I would be able to do it the next time. The next time I got on the route I fell at the top…. Yes after the last clip. The climbing to the chains is not bad but, if you don’t know where you are going it can be easy to pump off and ruin your red point. Why did I get lost at the top and pump off? Easy answer: I didn’t take the time to figure out my beta the first time I went up. Lesson #1 from pourquoi pas? learned!

  The next time I got on the route something happened. Something terrible and frantic and discouraging. I fell at the beginning. I was so focused on the fact that I should be able to do the route, so focused on the end beta and I started climbing like a frantic maniac. I screwed up the bottom of the climb a section that had previously given no trouble. I climbed inefficiently lunging and learching my way through. Not ideal.

  It got worse… well at least it didn’t get any better. I continued to fall off the bottom. Not always in the same place even. For a day I let the frantic energy of “I should be able to do this” ruin my day. Why? Why should I be able to climb that route? Why should I let it ruin my day? The answer is long and complicated but in a nutshell… maybe if I am going to climb the route like an idiot, maybe if I can’t think about it rationally, if I can’t get my own ego under control, if I can’t appreciate the process, maybe I shouldn’t send. I thought about all of this long and hard the morning before and on the hike up to the crag. Vanessa knowing of some of my frustration cheered me on as I hung the draws but still I fell at the beginning. This time however, my attitude was different, calmer. I stopped and reworked the beta. I found a way the was 100% less strenuous than the weird cross through thing I had been doing. This time I didn’t feel frantic or frustrated, this time I enjoyed the climbing. I looked at the top again to make sure I remembered what to do and didn’t screw that up again… lesson one and when I got back on the route, I sent with ease. Haha!

  lesson 2 from pourquoi pas?: If it feels harder than it did your first go and you aren’t having fun anymore you are probably doing it wrong(and not just the climbing). Put your big kid pants on, take a deep breath, get your ego in check, evaluate your beta and think about it like a rational human being.

  And now for that revelation: You are in motherfucking France sport climbing at Ceuse, you have climbed a ton of routes, you have had a amazing time, you have met amazing people, you had never climbed 12b before this trip, you have never climbed this many days consecutively, you are wasting your time being a little bitch so suck it up and enjoy the process! This revelation brought my focus back to all the awesome things that had happened so far! I climbed 12b! That was a great success! I flashed a few 12as! Also a great success. I had my first day to send multiple 12s one of which I on-sited!! Not to mention all the awesome non-climbing related stuff that had happened. Here are a few blips from my journal:

  “It is amazing what better weather and a day of rest can do J Flashed a 7a+ (Melody Nelson) and worked on some other cool lines. Sent my first 12b!!!! “

  “We are hanging out with a great group of people! Bret, Drew, Eric, Rhys, Sophie, Kelly, Amanda and whoever else wanders into the trailer to play cards at night. The sunsets continue to be amazing and we are getting more and more accustomed to lazy mornings and late nights J “

  “The drive to the climbing was gorgeous! Wildflowers along the road, illuminated by the warm glow of the morning summer sun. A fairy tale land!”

  “Our days in Ceuse continued in happiness and delight. “

  So maybe I didn’t ever send the 12c project and had to deal with the disappointment of falling off the top but…… turns out there is something to learn from that as well. Sometimes you don’t reach your goals and that is OK. It is about how you deal with not reaching the goal that really matters. If you aren’t enjoying and learning from the process it is going to be a long miserable road. As Brett would say PMA (positive mental attitude) all day!

  We went to Ceuse, with an idea for a trip and with climbing goals in mind. All of that is well and good but these climbing goals were not really the purpose of the adventure. The purpose of this adventure was to work together as two women, to support one another, to overcome stereotypes, to push ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally. The purpose of this trip was to create a story of inspiration and adventure that can be shared with others. This goal we have reached. Amidst all of the sending and not sending an amazing tale unfolded. A tale about two women who went to France to rock climb. Two women forever changed by their experience who came home knowing a little more about their limits, their friendship and what it means to truly live their dream.

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Verdon and beyond!

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The best things in life are simple and free. Sunsets, mountain views, good company, engaging conversation, a friends excitement at sending their project, your excitement at sending your project, a late night sky full of stars. The list goes on and every day I spend here I feel more wealthy and more satisfied with the direction my life has taken. What an opportunity we are given to choose our destiny and build a life of happiness. In our moments of doubt, discomfort and sadness if we can recall these perfect and free moments, these moments of pure bliss, maybe then we understand what it is to be enlightened.

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Via ferrata- on top of the world!

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We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour.

Thoreau

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So turns out we might be terrible dirtbags.... We moved into a retro trailer complete with floral curtains, electricity and a working stove!

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Berlin

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La Petite Illusion

Yesterday was a good day for sending! The warmups all went down without incident and then Vanessa and I both sent the super classic La petite Illusion (7a+) on the Berlin wall. The climb starts on a short section of pumpy tufa followed by a series of steep pockets that take you up over two bulges to a headwall of run-out technical slab.

We finished off the day each sending a 7a on the right side of the biography wall.

All in all a great day, full of awesome routes for team KatBurd!

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We have had a crazy mix of sun, rain, thunderstorms and misty weather. The wildflowers on the hike up to the crag are unreal from all the precipitation and luckily the rock dries quickly!

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“Whatever you can do or dream, begin it. Boldness has genuine, power and magic in it” -Goethe

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Here we are

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We moved down to the campsite on the rainiest day we have seen yet! Thankfully we got set up without getting anything wet!

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Hanging out with Salt Lake Ron on our rest day in Gap we managed to navigate the market (even though everything was in French), ate some gelato, drank a couple of beers and wandered the narrow, meandering streets of this romantic old city.  

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Views from crag and campground

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Chapter Four: We climb and it doesn't suck

When you dream about a place for months and spend the time and effort to plan a trip to said place there is a moment of fear before arriving. Fear that it will somehow fall short of your expectations. Fear that all your time and money will be wasted. Fear that you won’t be able to climb hard. Fear that everyone will be climbing harder than you. Fear that you won’t fit in. Fear that you will not have a good time for this reason or that. Our first week in Ceuse has extinguished all these fears. Ceuse has topped my greatest expectations and wildest dreams.

There are people here climbing at all levels from pros sending some of the hardest routes in the world (Alex Megos and Adam Ondra have both sent projects since we have been here) to beginners just learning. The most motivating part is everyone is psyched for each other no matter their ability. In the last few days we have worked on routes with people from all over the world, speaking a mix of Spanish, French, Finnish, English and charades. Now that the jet lag has passed, we are starting to feel adjusted to the late days and the long run outs the climbing gets more fun, the falls get bigger and the energy grows! For two lades who have spent most of their time at Smith I can’t imagine a better style of limestone climbing than the Demi Lune wall. Vertical, technical, pocketed limestone, streaked in a palate of rainbow colors. Today we rest and tomorrow we head to the Cascade sector for some steep climbing!