Interview Mathieu Bouyoud
Interview: Mathieu Bouyoud
Interview by Laurent Zoutte, translation French to English by Marie Sunde.
You're
coming back from a stay at the Gorges de la Dourbie. What made you
want to go climbing there?
Last
summer I met Pierre Soulé who encouraged me to come to his
playgroud. I didn't dispose of more than one week and I didn't want
to lose time for transports. The Valley of la Dourbie is superb, a
new topo (Boffi and Cantobre) was edited, I don't regret the choice
of this destination.
You ticked some nice routes, especially in la Verrière. Did you like it? And do you want to mobilize to succeed other projects?
La Verrière is a beautiful resistance site, on tufas, easy to access, to discover little by little as there are route combinations. I had the advantage of the beta of a very strong female climber, Charlotte Durif. It's she who allowed me to considerably reduce the number of tries. I wish to come back to meet the opener and follow his advices in the 8c's.
It should be pointed out that next june a new Roc trip in Millau will be proposed by the always very passionate organizers! It will be the occasion to discover a new crag with beautiful routes.
Beberechos, 8c, La Verrière, Gorges de la Dourbie - Photo Y. Bouyoud
It
isn't common that a demoiselle advises a strong male climber on his
beta! How did you experience it? Would you maybe have preferred it
had been the contrary?
At
the club «Chambéry escalade», we often train
together, girls and guys united, on plastic and on rock. This allowed
me to see that there's not only one way to get across a climbing
move: less by strength and more flexibility for the girls, more
muscling for the others. I already met Charlotte at Rodellar, she
seemed to me very strong in on-sight climbing; Charlotte has her very own
method, capable of staying very long in a continuity route. I wish
for her to link the full of «the Milky way» at the Balme
de Yenne; it's a route that's made for her, I hope she'll call on me
for beta.
What
does it give you to climb with Charlotte rather than with a guy?
I
think I gain a lot of time listening to the advices of a person, girl
or guy, who knows well the site we're climbing on. A very motivated
person on rock may communicate his enthusiasm, that's the case with
Charlotte.
The
person you share your day with, does he have an effect on your way of
climbing and your motivation to succeed a route?
It's
certain that the fact of being two on the same project allows one to
motivate oneself mutually and to progress faster in a route. To
change teammate also allows me to change style of routes (long and
continuous or short and more resitant).
What
is your preferred feeling among those brought to you by climbing?
I
like the moments where I have the feeling that I dominate the route
that I'm climbing, and that nothing may happen to me.
VO2 Max, 8a+/b, Cantobre, Gorges de la Dourbie - Photo T. Durif
How
do you see the next season: rather rock or rather competition?
And
what motivates you the most in the middle or the long term?
The
next season will be rock and competition with the same investment. In
the long term I obviously wish to increase my level on rock. I also
still have equipment projects: in the high part of the Balme de Yenne
there are opening possibilities left, at Mount Peney I have started a
difficult route of several pitches... briefly, to be the first
to go through a new line motivates me enormously.
In
competition the objective is simple: to give the best of me to be
selected for the international encounters.
Do
you dispose of an «adapted» planning of your schedule?
And what time do you devote to climbing?
I
don't have the advantage of any organized schedule. Every week I train
two times with the club «Chambéry escalade» on
plastic, in the weekends I also climb on rock every time the weather
forecast is mild. When it comes to content every year it's about the
same thing: volume routes in autumn, bouldering in winter, then
volume and quality routes for the two following seasons.
I
think you're in last year in high school. After you had your diploma,
do you picture going abroad to live other experiences and climb in
other contexts?
I'm
in last year and I picture continuing my studies (maybe a school of
commerce), hoping to still have the time to climb. I still didn't
find the solution to devote myself only to
climbing.
Paul Robinson has drawn up a list of boulders
that he pictures doing in 2008. Do you have the same kind of approach
or do you climb intuitively, according to the desires and
opportunities of the moment?
I
don't draw up any precise list but I have a multitude of difficult
routes left to do near my house. Other than that I still go climbing
intuitively, the new projects will certainly be born with new encounters and new crags.
Cantobre, gorges de la Dourbie - Photo T. Durif
We
hear a lot about strong climbers your age who do extraordinary
things, if it is on rock or in bouldering. You're about the same age
as Daniel Woods who's currently spending a year in Europe. How do you
situate yourself compared to them?
I
never met Daniel Woods, but I got the chance to see Adam Ondra
climbing last year at Santa Linya. He's very young, his level is
astounding, he's from another planet: two 8c+'s in one day, I stayed
on my ass and I could mesure all the work that's left for me to
arrive at his level. It's a pity, the lack of time and the language
barrier didn't allow me any exchange with him.
What
do you lack to really break through in climbing?
I
obviously wish to pull it off and succeed in climbing but nowadays I
don't have enough time to train.
Don't
you think the young French climbers lay too much in competing to gain
ground in climbing?
To
be strong in competition, you also have to be very strong on rock;
it's just to take a look at the present performances of the Spanish
Ramon and Patxi to be convinced.
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A la Chambotte - Photo C. Bouyoud |
The
sponsors who support you, will they be ready to follow you to give
you the means to succeed hard routes elsewhere than by your front
door?
The
brand MILLET
as well as the enterprises CILAO
and Jegrimpe.com
currently have confidence in me; the first of these brands assured me
of its support for a travel project connected to climbing. Unable to
leave within the immediate future because of exams, I hope to profit
from it the next years.
In
the ranking proposed by 8a, you're currently #4 in France (just
behind Charlotte), and #21 in the world ranking. Which importance do
you give this ranking?
I
don't pay very much attention to the ranking proposed by 8a.nu, but
it would be lying to say that I don't feel any satisfaction by being
in a good place. I watch very attentively the list of routes done by
such-and-such great French or foreign climber. Being back from a
weekend I know for instance if my trainer David Laurent has succeeded
the last route he equipped, it often becomes one of my new projects.
Which
significance do you give the ranking established by the FFME?
As
many knows the federal rankings are effected mathematically through
competitions on artificial walls. You have to be in shape the day of
the comp, be capable of managing your stress, do your max on-sight
Difficult conditions to unite on the same day, this represents a
challenge every time.
On
rock it's certainly different: if one is not in shape one
day, it's enough to leave the try for later or simply let the route
«mature».
The
8a.nu ranking is based on the sincerity of each and everyone and the
performances are made in a natural environment; one finds the best
competitors in the best places, it's not random.
What
are your main qualities in climbing?
Continuity
is my main quality, which is not always an advantage to me in
competition.
Your
main weakness?
Strength.
And
in life?
My
parents blame me for not being very talkative, but other than that I
think I'm tolerable.
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