The Forest

For the first time in a long time I felt psyched to climb.

Something had clicked in my body, I have been trying a lot of different treatments (chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, diet, physio) so maybe it was a combination of everything but suddenly the pain was gone and I felt great. My muscles felt engaged, my legs and feet felt attached to my body and I could move properly. It sounds dramatic but it had been so long I had forgotten I could feel like this again.

We had a trip booked to Font, which was perfect timing. Originally I was thinking I wouldn’t even be able to climb on this trip but not only was I climbing but I was feeling better than I had in a long time. We just picked an area and headed into the forest with no guide book and no expectations. We simply chose what we liked the look of and what inspired us. Inspiration usually comes in the form of slabs or arete’s for me and we had a great time re-learning how to smear and trust our feet again.

My taste of climbing was short but sweet. Unfortunately on day 3 in Font my foot popped off a problem and it flipped me upside down and into the mat head first giving me really bad whiplash. I was only a few feet off the floor and even after all these years of highballing I have never taken a fall this bad. These things happen though and you just have to suck it up! I still had a great time exploring the beautiful forests of Fontainebleau, even with a stiff neck!

On a positive note I know that this is only a minor set back and in a few weeks I hope I will be back to where I was. I have just enjoyed a weekend of sunshine, gritstone and CWIF psych and I was really inspired watching the girls competing in the finals. My motivation is the highest it has been in a long time and it feels great.