Pain, rain and round three on the Iceberg...

It had to happen at some point I guess... After two weeks of perfect weather and five consecutive climbing days sending some of my hardest problems to date, my biceps finally gave in and I lay awake on Monday night unable to sleep thanks to the constant dull aching sensation in both my elbows. With the weather due to turn sour on Wednesday the last thing I wanted to do was take a rest day while it was still dry, but it would’ve been foolish to ask any more of my body when it was crying out like this.
So on Tuesday I broke out the prescription drugs i’d been saving for such an occasion and left my boots behind as I went out on a little exploration and left the others to do the hard work.
I’d gone out early to show Nick and Deb ‘Magic Bus’ and ‘Strappal’ at Buthiers, then headed out to a small crag near 95.2 that i’d noticed in the 7+8’s guide called Chateauveau. There’s a small prow at the back of the hill called ‘EOS’ that looks good but it’s one of those problems where the line is unclear along with the correct starting holds to use, so i’m not sure i’ll be going back to try that one.
By then the others had moved on to Gorge aux Chats so I wandered over to see what they were up to. Lou was having another crack at Sa Pelle au Logis, so I showed her the starting sequence that i’d used the other day and after a few goes she’d cracked it but was too tired to piece together the finishing moves. Still, she was happy with the progress she made.
Nick had managed to send Magic Bus earlier on and was now wandering around aimlessly as Deb had a rest in the van ready for a session on Magic Bus. So I showed him an arête i’d been looking at the other day. Nick quickly got it sussed and whipped up it. It’s a good job I left my boots in the car as i’m sure I would’ve pulled on and tried to follow him up it despite the pain, had I had them with me.
Lance and Lou decided to call it a day, and I moved on to Buthiers with Nick and Deb to give Deb some moral support on Magic Bus. She came really close to it and made the crux moves look like a walk in the park, but due to her stature she has to do a particularly powerful throw for the final jug and just couldn’t latch it consistently

Wednesday came, and the pain in my elbows had started to subside, but I remained cautious and only gave myself a light session in the afternoon.
The rain had arrived as predicted, in the form of the occasional passing shower, but despite this when Team Wolf headed out to Drei Zennen they found the majority of it still climbable and had a pretty good day.
I’d gone for another recce around Dame Jouanne and Manoury, finding some good problems (eventually – the place is a maze of huge boulders on a steep hillside), but turned up at Drei Zennen just in time to see Deb crush ‘Diversion’ the problem she’d started the other day. Nick had done a couple of other problems earlier on and capped them off with a send of ‘la Fosse aux Oreilles’, another nice tick. I then joined them on ‘Torments d’Armour’, but while they both got it done I couldn’t quite get there.
I had a quick play on a sloper problem called ‘Nostalgie (assis)’ but didn’t quite top it out. I’ll be back for that one though. Likewise Nick was trying ‘Multipass’ but had to leave it for another day. I’m sure he’ll get there though.

Today I woke up feeling pretty good – no pain in the elbows, a decent amount of skin and surprisingly the patio was completely dry!
After a quick discussion about where to go we set off for Franchard Isatis.
First stop was at ‘Sur-Prises’ for Nick. After I tried unsuccessfully to remember the beta that Neil had been using the other day, the man himself turned up and sent Nick in the right direction. The pair of them gave it as good crack while I tried ‘la Vacherie’ round the corner but it wasn’t long until a passing shower put paid to our efforts and we decided to move on.
I took Nick and Deb over to the Iceberg which despite not being in perfect condition, was looking climbable. Deb had a good crack at it but decided it just didn’t fit her body shape that well and left us to it and while Nick and Lou worked the standing start I began looking at ‘Iceberg’.
The traverse along the rail isn’t at all tricky in its own right but it does take that little bit out of you by the time you move into the Iceberg raccourci problem. I was getting through it and into the first couple of moves of the sit start i’d done the other day, but the sloper that’s used to move out from under the roof was feeling pretty slimy compared to when I did it other day and just didn’t have the beans to pull through. I’m quite capable of getting this done i’m sure, I just need to get the moves wired and find it in good condition when i’m feeling fresh.
After a few goes Nick got the standing start done but couldn’t quite link the sitter, so we packed up and while Lance and Lou headed over to Haute-Plaines, we went back to Buthiers for Deb to try and finish Magic Bus and for me to try out their new beta.
Unfortuantely the beta didn’t work for me, and Deb didn’t manage to latch the final move, but she’s got it wired now and despite the nasty rip in her finger i’m sure she’ll get it done before she leaves.
I had a quick play on Strappal which feels very fingery, but might just be possible with a bit of beta. It'll take some work though for sure.

Deb working Magic Bus -



The weather's still looking a bit iffy for the next few days, but as we've come to realise there's still plenty of climbable rock about providing it's not pelting it down, so there's sure to be more to come before Team Wolf leave on Saturday.
And what's more, Steph just couldn't resist the urge after her last visit and will be heading out again tomorrow evening.