Petzl Rock Trip 2011. Getu valley. There must be more limestone here than the whole of the UK put together! But the really crazy thing is the variation in styles. There just seems to be everything plus more other styles you didn’t know existed. The world of slopers was totally crazy, but pretty close to on-sight hell, certainly for me anyway. And also not red-point heaven either requiring large biceps and shoulders that God forgot to give me.

 

Photo - John Evans. Treblinca (8b)

So we took a trip to Banyang’s Cave, some ‘normal’ climbing for a change, though a sea of tufas and stalactites is far from normal really. But basically in this cave a ‘hold’ is in fact a hold, as opposed to every large feature turning out to be an impossible nothingness! A Chinese style walk in through drizzle and knee deep mud led to my climbing heaven, monster tufa routes and a 20 degree overhanging wall with thin face climbing. The Frenchies had been before and climbed ‘Treblinca’, an awesome 8b on crimps that Jerome and Tony flashed. In true style they said it was ‘made for me’! No pressure then. I would have explained that I couldn’t crimp due to injury, and I had done sod all for ages, but I’ve learned now that moaning is just boring, no one wants to hear it, and if you do fall off it doesn’t matter anyway. And I’ve also learned not to save things, why bother, life is short, you might never come back and there are plenty of routes; crack on! So I set off in the mist and crimped my way up it onsight by the skin of my teeth. Not a big grade by today’s standards, kind of entry level for 10 year olds, but a big deal for me, because it means I can pull again after a month or so of prodding my finger and wrapping it up in ice.

 

Picture - John Evans. Loco Du Noodles (8a)

And now the Petzl Rock Trip really starts. In the past they have been big, but pale into insignificance compared to this one. Hundreds and hundreds of people are arriving from every corner of the word to be entertained all day on the rocks and all night with films, talks and music. Its always obvious that the trip is getting going - the parties start to get BIG.Paradise might just be here, though a little sunshine might help out………