HIGHLIGHTS of 'U.S. Tour 2001' - François Legrand

HIGHLIGHTS of 'U.S. Tour 2001'
Period : From April 10th to May 30th
Climbers : Yuji HIRAYAMA & François LEGRAND
Photographers : Olivier APPOURCHAUX & Kenji IIYAMA
Video Team : Mike CALL & Co. ( Pusher )
Sponsors : The North Face, Béal, Nissan, Cébé, Powerbar

François Legrand sends us a report from their seven week roadtrip in the USA, which seems to have ended with a "catastrophic scenario". Big Frank and Yuyi Hirayama intented to climb some of the hardest routes on the continent. "The big ones" in short: Necessery Evil 8c+ (To hot), Magic Line 8c (To cold), Just do it 8c+ (Finger problems), Super Tweak 8c (Finger Steak), Kryptonite 9a (Heel injury), The Crew 8c (Shoulder tendon). 8a.nu assume that there were some beautiful French spoken at the crags! In spite of all the difficulties Yuji seems to somehow been able to escape the curse that started on Necessary Evil. Check out Yuji's Scorecard.

We are back home, at last! These seven weeks far from home and from our little families felt somewhat long and at times even hard… In fact, although the experience has enriched us from the point of view of human relationship and "adventure", we have met hurdles which we had underestimated… if the bad weather and our fingers skin getting sore were not enough, we also had to face minor and major injuries, such as cuts in the forefingers, "steaks" - i.e. finger joint pain -, bad falls, a strained shoulder ligament and severe lesions to the fingers… As a result, we both got back injured and a little disappointed over circumstances not enabling us to make more "sports achievements"!

The experience has been a positive one, however, from a professional standpoint since Olivier and Kenji have taken a heap of - hopefully fine - photos of the whole trip: regions, towns and crags we visited, routes we red-pointed or at least made attempts at, meeting with humans and not only… Moreover, the video team seemed to be very optimistic about the "material" they have put together to make a high-quality videotape, which would be super for us all: for Pusher (the film production company) as well as for Us (the climbers) and You (our Sponsors)

And this is how our trip went:

We met, Yuji, Olivier and I, in Las Vegas on April, 10th. We spent a whole day getting everything ready, while recovering a little from the flight and jet-lag, and went for a glance to Red Rocks, where we had a short photo session. The next day we were off to Virgin River Gorge, ready to dive into what we had hoped would be our first major "achievement": Necessary Evil 5.14 c /French 8c+ ! Unfortunately it was so hot (40 °C !) that our fingers skin got sore at the very first go on the route! "Working" this route is especially demanding for the fingers skin, as the never-ending "Blasphemy Wall" - up to 40 metres! - is only slightly overhanging, but the ever-so-small finger holds and the often strenuous body positions make the "working" of this route even more time-consuming and exhausting (over an hour for one go!) The following day we were so exhausted that we could not try the route, so we climbed "on-sight" 'Fall of Man' 5.13 b / 8a and 'Don't Call Me Dude' 5.13 c / 8a+ in the same area. As days went by the temperatures increased, so that - even waking up at dawn, between 5 and 6 a.m., we could only make one go on Necessary Evil before it was unbearably hot and our fingers skin would not bear more tries anyway!

We thus fell back on its slightly "easier" version: 'Route of All Evil' 5.14 a / 8b+, surely not that much easier, given the few repetitions and the number of unfruitful attempts Yuji made on it!!! As for myself, I was glad to red-point it fairly quickly, despite a "flu" that would not let go of me (I already had it a month before starting on the trip!), but also frustrated I could not try the direct start more seriously. We met Liv Sansoz several times: she was trying the same route, too.

Then we went to Yosemite, where we had planned to climb the 'Magic Line' 5.14 b / 8c, perhaps the hardest crack in the world… Unfortunately, as we got there, we got caught in a snow storm, which is very rare for the season! We thus fled the Park so as not to be stuck in nearly 50 cm of snow… We fell back on a nearby crag, Sonora, where we succeeded in climbing several routes on sight, very long (up to 40m!) and overhanging: one 7c+, one 8a and two 8a+. Here we also ran into Chris Sharma, who had just got back from a seven-month trip to Asia. We took advantage of the weather turning fine again and the heat melting the snow very quickly to go back to Yosemite, where we had a very good bouldering session at Camp 4 in a wintery scenario - full sun with snow all around us!: there should be superb photos and video shots !

After meeting up with Kenji and quickly visiting San Francisco, we drove a whole day to reach Bend (Oregon), where we spent ten days with Jim Karn and Brittany Griffith. I was in Smith Rocks for the first time and agreed on the superb quality of the rock in this legendary crag: its hugeness, splendid and varied routes, a breathtaking view… and the unbelievable geologic outspur of Monkey Face, a monolith of pink, red and even violet gres, about 70 metres high, the top of which - being larger than its base - perfectly resembles the head of a monkey! Indeed we spent most of our stay on the east face of Monkey Face trying 'Just Do It' 5.14c / 8c+. This long (40 m), slightly overhanging (it comes out 5 m from its base) route is extremely technical and took us a long time and a good deal of strength to fine-tune our own methods of climbing it and wore the skin on our forefingers out before we could make some "serious" attempts at it. On the third day, during my - only - second serious attempt, I pierced the pulp of both index fingers on the minute crimps of the route's crux… I was desperate as from now on it would be impossible for me to try the route without protecting my fingers, and holding those minuscule holds with taped fingers seemed impossible to me! In the end I got used to climbing with Strappal all over my fingers and I managed to climb very high on the route - to the last move of the hard section - despite the horrible weather!!!

As a matter of fact, we were not that lucky under this respect, as after the suffocating heat of Las Vegas and the snow in Yosemite we got frozen on Monkey Face! The weather was mostly fine there, but always cold - between 5 and 10° C. - and windy. We climbed on the monolith, in the draught and shade of the east face. When belaying we would get cold and not even climbing the first part of the route (30 m of very technical 8a+) would make us warm; even with warm clothes (Wind-Stopper trousers + windsheeter + bonnet) we would shiver and risk cold-bites. Yuji too, got very close to red-pointing the route, falling in the same spot on his best day, and was thereafter hindered by problems of sore finger skin or bad weather. We were thus extremely disappointed over failing to red-point the "most superb line in the U.S." as we got on with our trip, in order to stick to our plans…

We drove a whole day to Salt Lake City (Utah), to the headquarters of Pusher (our video team company), which hosted us and took us to their "favourite climbing spot", Logan Canyon. We climbed several routes to get used to the style - the routes are not very long but super-overhanging with big holds - which is completely different from anything we had climbed so far in the trip: a couple of 7c/7c+ and also an 8a+ ("Slugg Fest") for Yuji. Then, as we only had two days left, we focused on the main route in the crag, Super Tweak 5.14 b / 8c, the reference route for this grade in the U.S. It is a good test bench for power - the start and exit sections alone are graded 7c - endurance in the middle section and continuity to put it all together! After a good "working" session, the crux seemed feasible; my first attempt confirmed this impression of ours, as I fell at the very last move, having made a few minor errors that I was sure I could avoid on the subsequent go. Instead, while repeating the final section for video purposes, I got a huge "steak" to the middle finger in a violent move on a mono, which made it impossible for me to make further attempts. Luckily, Yuji kind of reversed the situation, red-pointing the route on his last attempt, just before dark, thus putting an end to our previously unfruitful attempts.

A short drive led us to Colorado where we were going to spend two wonderful weeks in Rifle, Boulder and The Fortress, the new extreme crag hosting the famous route 'Kryptonite', graded 5.14 d / 9a, perhaps the hardest route in the U.S. which has not been repeated yet after Tommy Caldwell's first ascent in 1999.

Our first visit to The Fortress was somewhat odd, we really got the impression we were playing the pioneers. First of all, we wandered endlessly to find the right pathway leading to the crag, which is normally long and exhausting anyway: a one-hour ramble, the last quarter of it being extremely steep and slippery! We then had to discover the equipped lines - 7 in all, 2 of which are projects! - in the impressive bar of cracked limestone: nearly one kilometre in length, up to 100 metres high and very overhanging!!! There is so far only one route below 8a, which does not allow for proper warming up, not even for climbers who are good enough to be able to climb harder routes! Yet the potential is huge, also in the middle grades but mostly in the hard ones and there are lines for the future, up to 70 m long with more than 20 m overhang! Our roles of pioneers strengthened with our first ascent on Kryptonite: we found the route very dirty and damp here and there. We had to clean and dry as much as we could before being really able to climb the route … and while trying its moves we also broke off many fragile holds which had not been strengthened by the climber who equipped it… to the point that we wondered whether it was in fact the right route!!! We checked that very evening, carefully scrutinizing all the photos of Tommy on Kryptonite which we found in the American climbing magazines: yes, it was the right route!

It would be too physically demanding to climb two days in a row at The Fortress, especially for the legs, thus we would climb there every other day, and spend the days in-between at Rifle, where the walk never takes more than two minutes. Rifle is the most well-known climbing spot in Colorado, but a little less in-fashion than a couple of years ago. This spot offers such a variety of routes: in the shade or sun, couennes or never-ending routes - up to 50 m! -, from slabs to roofs through more or less steep overhangs… but the style is always very technical as the rock - excellent limestone nearly everywhere!!! - offers a wide range of features - reglette, holes, under-clings, jug-holds, mini-dihedrals or ridges… - often requiring complex body moves and at the same time unveiling sly solutions the real grade of the route depends upon: foot- or heel-hooks, knee-bars - knee-pads are then most helpful - no-hands rests… All this makes climbing "on sight" often difficult and "after work" particularly interesting. Unluckily, I got injured on the first day while warming up: a foot hold broke and I had a bad fall, Yuji who was not at all expecting me to fall, had paid out a lot of rope, so I took one of those real long falls, during which I hit my heel against a small ledge! I could not wear climbing shoes for over a week, which was a bad handicap, especially on Kryptonite which is particularly demanding on the right foot - there is a fundamental heel-hook. I even had to wear sandals on the long walk to it, and it is not pleasant, especially on cobbles! Finally I had to cut holes in the rubber of my climbing shoes to be able to get my heel in.

Meanwhile, Yuji started making serious attempts on Kryptonite and succeeded in on-sighting "Sometimes Always' and 'Cryptic Egyptian', both 5.13 c / 8a+ at Rifle. We also went to Boulder, where we got invited by our friend Christian Griffith who led us in the discovery of his secret garden: the marvellous Eldorado Canyon with its incredible red rock strayed of yellow and green lichen! We also visited Robyn and Didier Raboutou and their children Shawn and Brooke, the latter being 1-month-old! Back to The Fortress and after three more days of attempts, Yuji red-pointed Kryptonite while, once again, I made a near miss. I was still relieved that "we had succeeded" in making the second ascent of this formerly un-repeated route , though Yuji - and I had had the same impression - seemed to be doubtful about its grade! Yet, the following day I wrote a new chapter in the "catastrophic scenario"… I did not succeed in the extra half-day I gave myself for a last attempt at Kryptonite, falling on an even higher move and that very afternoon, during my last go on "The Crew" 5.14 b /8c to take our quick-draws down, I got a severe injure to my shoulder tendon!

This was far too much, all I could do was give in! I immediately realised that I would not be able to climb for the rest of the trip. I was deeply disappointed as I was looking forward to our next and last climbing spot, Mount Charleston - close to Las Vegas - the climbing style of which I cherish and where, consequently, I had great expectations of finally succeeding in some real good performance.

Back to Las Vegas one and a half months after our landing on American ground, I was trying to dissimulate my disappointment as much as I could, not to de-motivate Yuji, who was now left alone in feeling "under pressure". He tried, as planned, to repeat 'Ghetto Booty' 5.14c / 8c+ - the route I had red-pointed the previous summer and that no one had so far repeated. He made several good attempts in "working" the route, to find his own ways and feelings up the route, everything seemed to be going just fine… He thus decided to attempt to put it all together but during his first "real" attempt he got injured, too. He had fallen at the first crux - the most overhanging one - and was dangling in the void… He had to climb up the rope to get to the next quick-draw. He thus pulled hard on the rope but when he let go the rope formed a loop which two finger got caught in and were crushed, as he put all his weight on the rope. The result was a severe sprain of his right hand middle finger. He immediately put ice on it, and repeated the operation several times a day thereafter, but the pain persisted and he could not climb during the last four days. We took advantage of the situation to do what the hellish rhythm of our plans had not allowed us to so far: rest, go shopping and enjoy the "follies" of Las Vegas - going to the casinòs, having fun and watch shows… this helped us to forget a little our worries and to miss our families a little less, as we were getting homesick a little bit more every day!!!

The challenge was enticing, but ambitious too - too much, perhaps?- thus uncertain! Although the overall result of our expedition is disappointing in comparison to what it could have been, we lived a wonderful human adventure, during which the actors often opened themselves up, at times they also unveiled… which has certainly created or strengthened our friendships. This experience has also been very rich in teachings from a professional standpoint: the initial idea, the building of the project and related dossier, the search for sponsors, logistics and organisation, co-ordination, the filming, the communication, the planning… though we have made a few errors which we regret a little. …

In the end, I do not really have regrets, aware as I am that I have reached my physical, mental and nervous limits… at times I have even gone beyond them?!!! Now we cannot wait to get better to take part in the competition season and go on another trip next year… With You, maybe ? ! ! !