Sy (Ardennen)

I decide to spend this Easter climbing with two friends. I finally get a chance to use my outdoor climbing gear. The pandemic has been tough on organizing any kind of trip, but now things seems to be relatively calm. This will also be my first time climbing outside in Europe, lead climbing I mean. Sy is a small village from the community of Ferrières. It is situated on the river Ourthe. The main climbing site named Sy-Vieuxville is located East of the village (upstream of the river Ourthe). I kept a detailed log of the whole trip, or at least as much as I could remember every evening.

Friday, April 15, 2022

I headed over to my friend's house in the morning. It's a 12 min walk and it is still quiet. I didn't really have the time to shop extensively for this trip. I wanted to but I had a busy week. It's spring. So, I expect to survive the cold. Plus, my friend has a good tent and a few other things I can borrow. So, I expect to do OK in the night. It’s not a long drive to Belgium.

Typically we should be able to do this journey in under 3 hrs. But we had a caravan hitched to the back of her car and so we drove much slower. We stopped thrice to get coffee and food. I needed that. I hadn't really eaten all that much in the morning. We arrived at the camp site. It’s evening now. It didn't take long to set up the tents and organize the bags. I must admit, I'm really cold now. I should have focused more on packing.

It’s a bit hard to sleep in the tent and I am getting bored. I never imagined that I would end up without internet. I regret not downloading a few episodes of something on Netflix. I was (also) too lazy to get my power bank along. I’m just paying for my laziness right now. But anyway, right now, I'm tucked away in my sleeping bag. I'm using my backpack with some clothes as a pillow. It's a bit hard to be honest. I'm using my jacket as a blanket above my sleeping bag.

Sleeping in a tent

Sleeping in a tent is a revelation. It didn't feel very cold at first. So that was good. But everything is all over the place now. I don’t remember how many times I have woken up this night. I left my phone and glasses near my bag, which I used as a pillow. But they have moved away somewhere and they are both hard to find. My head lamp isn't lighting things well enough to search. My bag or pillow has moved away too. It is difficult to manage anything in this tight space.

It wasn't too cold in the beginning of the night. The ground is pretty hard. That combined with the confining sleeping bag is simply too restrictive. I undid the sleeping bag and used it as a blanket instead. This worked well for a bit. I had more space to find a comfortable position on the ground. However, this didn't last long. It got cold in the night (early morning?). I had two other insulating things from friend, but it’s really hard to work everything out in the dark in the confines of the tent, so I gave up. I zipped up the sleeping bag again. This restored some of my warmth. I also readjusted my jacket over my sleeping bag. This helped me get through the night. I could feel vibrations on the ground every now and then. Not sure what it was, I'm guessing it's a distant train. Or I totally imagined it.

Saturday, April 16, 2022

The morning is beautiful. It's crisp. My fingers hurt from the cold. But it's much better than the night. I hope the sun comes up, I haven't brought gloves or other warm clothes to withstand worse weather. Not even a rain coat. I'm so annoyed with myself. Of course, the grass is wet from the dew and my shoes got wet immediately. Also my socks. I feel miserable. We started out in the morning anyway. Picked up some food and packed all the gear. We decided to use my rope and quickdraws. I asked for it. I’m really eager to climb on my equipment.

First day of climbing

The day is really warm., especially in the sun We spent morning until late afternoon climbing. I led 4 routes and climbed really hard. We only chose routes that were graded around a 4. This is rather low compared to my usual climbing grade in the bouldering halls or top roping gyms. However, it still felt challenging. Climbing outside is intimidating. I had to always be cautious about doing things safely. This is a popular climbing site and most of the rock is quite polished from decades of people climbing on it. The rock is really polished as a result. For me, this trip is about two things. First, to build confidence leading routes, and second, learning to clean routes. The cleaning of routes is something my friend and me had been practicing the week leading up to this trip.

Cleaning climbing routes

I chose to lead a lot of routes today. We climbed the routes in the first crag. I led two of them and my friend led the third. On this route, I climbed last and also cleaned all the gear. When we climb we place protection on the rock along the route up. The rocks are bolted and there is hook every few meters. I clip a quickdraw on each bolt and run my rope through it. Of course, the last person to climb has to collect all this gear from the rock on the way down.

The complicated part in this process is to untie the rope you are tied to, re-threading the rope through the bolt at the top, and then getting lowered down the rock (by my belayer). This process requires you to switch safely between the different points that I am connected to at the top. It’s not very complicated, but at 20-30m above the ground, every new task adds a new level of stress. There is some rope management involved and this is quite hard with all the different things clipped to the last bolt. I got to practice cleaning the route on this one. It wasn't too scary, especially the way the route was bolted. There was a ledge to stand on and do everything. It felt quite secure and I made all the knots correctly. So it was fine.

Things to improve

One thing I should be doing but didn't was counting how many quickdraws I used. I usually found myself lost when my friends asked me this very same thing. This is useful information to the next person leading the route. But more importantly, it speaks more about my general awareness while climbing. There is a lot I need to keep in mind. Next, I was relaxed during most of the routes. this morning Even in tricky situations, I could calm myself and control my breathing. I felt very stable on the rock. I could trust my feet.

I did feel a bit stressed about falling on some moves. I would actually be a much better climber if I can feel comfortable about falling. Losing this anxiety will make me trust my equipment more, and climb in a more relaxed and stress-free manner. I'm currently over gripping holds, wasting precious energy in the process. I also limit myself from advancing as a climber because of my fear of trying new or difficult things. I don't mean to become an adrenaline junkie, but the training wheels on my bike have to come off if I really want to ride the bike.

Breaking for lunch

This site is beautiful. The crags (a rock or mountain with many routes to climb on) are along the river. I washed my hands and face so many times in the river today. There were a lot of people canoeing in the river. I wouldn't mind doing that on a nice hot day too. I had a piece of baguette, cheese and chorizo for lunch. It was really good. Light but still filling!

Building safe top rope anchors

We continued climbing. We moved over to another crag. It took us some time to hike between crags, especially since we went to a crag further on and then turned back to the previous one. Everyone was pretty tired. Me included. But I pushed on. I led two more routes. Since I led more routes in the beginning, it was usually my friend climbing last who cleaned these routes.

On one of the climbs, I did something unsafe. I got admonished by my friend for setting up the top rope on a single bolt. Usually, anchors are built on a chain that connects two bolts. Two bolts because the load is shared by two points of contact and there is an additional secured point in case one fails. It was a difficult climb and I didn't expect the final chain to be connected to only one bolt.. Usually, the chain has a ring between the two bolts. The top rope is set up using carabiners on the this ring. Though it irritated me to hear that at that time. I apologized for my mistake. It is something I should check. I feel I can still improve my climbing awareness a lot more in these aspects.

No Ravioli wasted

Later in the evening, my friend insisted on making the ravioli we bought yesterday for dinner. I protested strongly, since I wanted to have a nice restaurant meal rather than cook ravioli in a kettle. It was getting cold in the evening too and there was no gas to cook with. I was exhausted and I dreaded the cold night. I didn't really explain this to him and I was rude in rejecting the idea. Eventually, my friend conceded to going out to eat. But I said that we could make the ravioli tomorrow. He makes a good point about wasting food. I agree with him. I don't want to be so callous as to throw away good food. We decided to cook it tomorrow. I’m determined to see this happen. But in the meantime, we had dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday. It felt nice to sit in a comfortable chair in a warm room.

The cold again

I had a shower at the camp site when we got back. It felt good. Since it wasn't too late yet, but still too early to sleep, my friend and I took a walk along the river. We didn't stray too far and it was still cold. It felt good to finally crawl into the sleeping bag. I can really feel (lying on the ground) how cold it actually can get.

Sunday, April 17, 2022

I slept much better today. Though I was sweating until 2 or 3 pm. I could sleep for a few hours after that. It did not feel as bad waking up. The ground was frosty, but the sun was already out. It feels so nice to be in the sun. I just had two instant coffees sitting outside my tent. I didn't get my socks wet today and I'm already in my climbing clothes. So I'm ready to go. My climbing gear is packed too.

Humbled

We went to the crags downstream today. I was in better spirits. I chose to lead the first pitch. This crag was much higher than the day before. I was climbing well in the beginning. This was a 5a, a bit of a challenge. At about 60% of the route, I hit a road block. I was beginning to get stressed. I looked up and it was really flat. I couldn't find much to hold on. My arms were getting tired. Worst of all I didn't see any bolts and I had already climbed about a little more than a meter above the bolt. It was scary and I couldn't really climb down. I gave up on finishing the route in one go. I slowly climbed down by holding on to the quickdraw. I called out to my belayer and just sat in my harness. This is a key example of the fear of falling. I would have actually been quite safe taking that fall (I wasn’t more than a meter above the last bolt).

Anyways, I bailed on the route after trying one more time. It was a humbling experience. I felt so low. My friend top roped until where I had climbed and led the rest of the route. She noticed that we were climbing route no 6, but that this route shares an anchor with route no 5. So indeed, the direction I was climbing (upwards) was totally wrong. I didn't read that right at all. Nor was I listening when my friend was telling me about it before I started. But this was a rather positive learning experience. I got to experience how I behaved in a stressful climbing situation in a relatively safe setup. I am happy to get a little more familiar with this feeling.

However, I didn’t want this to affect my confidence. So I top roped this route again. I got to practice cleaning the route this time. The view from the top was really beautiful. It’s a strange feeling to enjoy something beautiful while still being very concerned for your safety. Letting go of my worries for a minute to take everything in is strange but mesmerizing feeling.

Building my confidence back

Next my friend led the route along the edge of the rock. She led it confidently. My other friend went on next, but he was in a fix. I couldn’t really understand what happened, but he said he didn't feel comfortable climbing further today. Next up was me. I was determined to not build a mental block. My confidence was shaken and I needed to get it back. I climbed confidently. My breathing was steady and I felt good in the rock. This route had good hand holds. I have strong shoulders and if I can get a good hold, my feet don't worry me much. Anyways, I had a good climb and felt really confident again. I also climbed last and hence, I cleaned the route too. It felt a bit scary to clip myself in, remove gear, tie a new line on my harness and remove my old one. Practicing this many times this trip has really boosted my confidence.

Lunch break

After all the ruckus this morning, we decided to take a break for lunch. It is already two in the afternoon. I had a piece of baguette with cheese and chorizo. I usually eat less in the first half of the day. I lay down for a while on a mat over the grass. It was nice to feel the sun on my face. I dipped my feet in the river and splashed some water on my head. It felt refreshing. I also enjoyed lazing about watching people canoe down the river. There were plenty of mountain bikers too. And lots of campers. It's really fun to be around the campsite. It has such a good vibe. After lunch my friend proposed the idea of leaving this evening itself rather than tomorrow. I was OK with it. In fact I preferred it. But we did not make any plans. We decided to climb first and decide later based on how we feel.

The multi-pitch

We went back to the Cathédrale (45 m) after lunch. A multi-pitch climb is multiple climbs stacked one after another heading further up. My friend proposed climbing a multi-pitch. She is a lot more experienced and I was eager to try it since I had the opportunity now. Basically, we would climb one pitch which is about 20-25m high and follow that up with another 20-25m climb (or “route” or “pitch“). I decided to proceed with this setup. I evaluated the risks and it seemed reasonable. I had been belaying from below the whole trip and I felt confident doing that. Climbing up after my friend, would be OK, since I would always be secured by the rope from above. This made me feel really safe since I would not even fall half a meter in this setup. Of course, I expected to feel intimidated belaying someone from 25m above rather than on the ground, I trusted my equipment to hold me safely. Another thing to note is that in a multi-pitch the climber and the belayer are tied to either end of the rope. We take the rope onto the subsequent pitches with us. This makes it a little complicated to get back down if we cant finish the route.

Anxious

Since I'm not familiar with belaying from above, my friend would have to lead both pitches. I felt confident when we started. I belayed her from the bottom. I was worried about one issue. I was using my other friends belay device as opposed to my own. He has a semi automatic belay device that locks the rope when it is loaded suddenly. A simple analogy would be to think of it as a seat belt. The issue I had with this device was that sometimes the rope would catch and I had to release it. I did make some mistakes releasing the rope. I noticed that I released the catch with the wrong hand. This is not good, but I hope to correct it and be aware of this. The second point of concern is that I was committing foot faults i.e. I let the rope go over my calf. This could flip me upside down if I had a fall. I do almost always notice and correct it immediately. We also yell and point this out anytime we noticed each other doing it on a climb. But all of this made me anxious and I knew that the anxiety was the biggest thing I wanted to avoid halfway up.

The first pitch

Anyways, back to the climb. My friend completed the first pitch and anchored herself in and called out. I took her off belay and she put me on belay. I could climb this first pitch with ease. I collected all the quickdraws she had placed for protection on the way up. We would be using this for the next pitch. I started getting a little nervous at the top. We were about 25m up. I'm secured with a nylon sling and a carabiner. Now I have to lead belay her from this point as she climbed the next 20 or so meters up to about 45m (in total). My feet were killing me after staying so long in my climbing shoes. I was also intimidated with the height. I knew that I had no bailout strategy. Especially, if my friend was in trouble. This made me anxious and uneasy. We took a minute to relax midway. I realized that I was mildly uneasy and I tried to slow my breathing. My friend pointed out to me that my mind just wanted to get out of this situation. I realized that I should move away from that line of thinking and deal with the situation. Rather than trying to escape it.

The second pitch

After a minute, I clipped all the quickdraws on her harness and she started climbing again. I was scared for her. Especially, when she was struggling. I was also jittery, I kept trying to adjust the slack in the rope. I didn’t want her to have a big fall (so less slack). but I also did not want to limit her mobility (so more slack). I didn't want her to feel anxious as a result of me. So I tried to encourage and motivate her at every clip. It helped calm me down too. I felt relieved when she anchored in.

I still wasn't done though. I had to still climb this pitch while I'm belayed from above. I felt scared unclipping my safety. All I'm supported by at this point is the rope that I'm tied into. I started climbing. I was scared, it is the first time I've been climbing so far above the ground. The climb wasn't hard, but I didn't want to create any problems. I went at it really easy and I even sat in my harness for one of the tricky moves. I was on something similar to a top rope situation and I knew friend had me secured. I felt safe in the gear, but I nevertheless was anxious to finish the climb. I climbed on, collecting all the gear on the way up. The last part of the climb had step like features and I could climb up to my friend easily.

It felt good. We took a few pictures on the top. We had to sit down and take the pictures since we were still tethered to the rock. It was a short drop on the other side to the trail below. My friend belayed me down a few meters on the other side. I could then stand on level ground and take the trail leading down. She then rappelled down and joined me. We removed all the gear and organized ourselves. I coiled the rope and then we hiked back down to the bottom of the crag.

This was such an exhilarating experience. It broke so many of my mental barriers. I truly feel relieved and happy I went on this trip. I'm so grateful to one of my friends for taking me along. Also for providing me a tent and most of the other camping stuff. I'm also happy to spend the entire weekend with my friends. I really enjoyed this.

Ravioli for dinner

Back at the campsite. We took some time to rest and make plans. We decided to drive back today. I was on board. Having a full day to rest would be very welcome. I was really tired from all the climbing the last two days. I would certainly prefer sleeping in my own bed as opposed to the tent. The caravan owners texted us on how to turn on the gas. So we could (now) cook in the caravan. We cooked the ravioli. It was awesome. We spent the next two hours packing everything up. We decided to leave in the night. We hitched the caravan to the car and we headed back to Utrecht.