Dom on a fun 'granite' like rail in the forest...

flying for the summit jug of a massive dyno 'Rainbow Rocket'

Return to Font.

Switzerland is an amazing place... the cobbled and shop laden streets of Zurich, and the beautiful mountains made for an incredible stay. I got to sample a few of the bouldering areas as well as seeing the source of the Rhine! Dominik (a friend from my travels in ZA) and I decided to check out a 'new' bouldering area in Spain... we made it to Albarracin and hiked around a bit to get a feel for the area. It was a clear and cold day, but since it was so windy we made the mistake of waiting till the following day to climb. The wind brought in a front that dumped a little over twelve centimeters (about 4 inches) of snow! So we spent the day doing 'tourist' type activities... we saw the cliff side dwellings of Cuenca and walked around the winding city streets of Teruel. We decided to wait a few days to see if it would clear, but the snow only melted do to the weather changing to rain. While in Switzerland we ran into some "Kiwi's" that we knew would be in Fontainebleau. After a few phone calls we decided to make the epic sixteen hour drive north to France. Here I am again in Font. and again I am reminded why this is such a world class destination!

Cliff side dwellings of Cuenca, Spain.

Frozen top outs made climbing impossible...

The weather made a turn for the worse...

Old fort surrounding the town of Albarracin.

One of the many narrow and winding streets in Spain.

Attempting a challenging mantle... Engleburg, Switzerland.

Chillin' and enjoying the day.

Myself settling with the stand start to a great line in Chironico.

A possible four star line hiding in the mist.

Barti on a fun line in Engleburg...

Cathedral in Zurich which is famous for the stained glass windows.

Dominik Seitz on a sweet line in Averstal.

getting to the blocs at Averstal...

Fontainebleau

The last two weeks in the forest have been spectacular! I finally met up with my friends and have steadily been working on my French; however, it is still quite poor. The sandstone blocs are better than I remembered, but the weather hasn't been that conducive to sticking to the slopers. It has been so hot in fact; that I have moved onto Switzerland! I am staying in Zurich right now with a Swiss friend from Rocklands. If one thought that my French was poor than my Swiss-German is even worse! I have climbed a few days at Averstal (aka: Magic Wood) and will be returning there, for the bouldering is excellent. That is all for now, but I will post more later...

ps- I keep getting emails from people and I guess that a photo of myself is in last months issue of Rock and Ice. I haven't seen it, but apparently a bit of my trip to NZ is in the mags (so check it out)! Also if you go to www.movementfilms.com and check out MC's "Big Game" video one will see that I am in that as well.

Ms. Floyd working on a fun line at Apremont.

Photo by EZ.

Brandon Hyatt about to top out the 'Egoiste'.

Photo by EZ.

Jim sending the 'Travaux Forces'.

EZ getting burly on the classic 'El Poussif'.

Photo by EZ.

Myself on the crux finishing holds of 'Sitting Bull'.

B topping out another gem in the forest.

Brandon on 'Crazy Horse'.