Best of USA!

Yosemite

yosemite

Top of El Cap with an incredible view on Half Dome Pic: Benoit Merlin

The vibes in the valley… although the high traffic, climbers or non, it’s worth to be there at least once in his life. But attention: take it in the right dosage!;-)

Highlight to me has been the life on the wall, by far. I climbed two times El Cap, once per “Nose” and the second time by freeclimbing “El Nino”. It’s somehow hard work, but sleeping on a portaledge, calculating water and food and entering in a symbiose with your partner, transforms the hard hauling etc into a pleasure. Here are some pics form the Nose (it’s a busy route, but you can’t miss that if you’re a climber) and El Nino, a 13.c route with more crimps then cracks. But no traffic and people on that one:

El Cap and the Nose

El Cap and the Nose, Pic: Francois Lebeau

Nose1

The nose and it’s beautiful cracks. pic took from the meadows by Tom Evans

nose4

Same route, same spot! Pic: Benoit Merlin

The simple life on a portaledge in the early morning

The simple life on a portaledge in the early morning

The hauling, a real pain in the ass!!! pic: Tom Evans

The hauling, a real pain in the ass!!!
pic: Tom Evans

Spending multiple night on that big peace of rock is unique! pic.: Francois Lebeau

Spending multiple night on that big peace of rock is unique!
pic.: Francois Lebeau

The Rostrum

A must! I’ve rarely climbed a multipitch with such a big variation: Offwight, chimneys, fingercracks, an overhanging roof, technical climbing on crimps. Simply WAOH! It’s also a very famous route, so the best is to go late, around noon, so you can fully enjoy the climbing way behind all the people left at the parking at 6am. The vibes up there are magical!

Morning vibes with friend Ryan Kelly Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Morning vibes with friend Ryan Kelly
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

At the end of the offwight Pic.: Francois Lebeau

At the end of the offwight
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Waiting on the belay station Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Waiting on the belay station
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Separate Reality and Power of Tales

You all probably know the famous roof of Separate Reality, another must and so cool to climb! I went foot first in the crux on the lip. Just one pitch below, there is another (very hard) crack to try: Power of Tales. I tried that together with Barbara Zangerl, but we both failed. Reason to try it again during my next trip!

Tales of Power Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Tales of Power
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

The "nice" finish of Tales of Power!:-) Pic.: Francois Lebeau

The “nice” finish of Tales of Power!:-)
Pic.: Francois Lebeau

Other things To Do in the valley:

Jumping nacked in the river after a warm climbing day. Drinking a fresh beer in the Meadows. Filling up your water tank at fern springs.

.... cracks everywhere!;-) Pic.: Benoit Merlin

…. cracks everywhere!;-)
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

 

Red Rocks

I’ve only climbed 3 days in red Rocks and one route I would absolutely recommend: The Original route at Rainbow walls. A 5 Star route, a little remote with an outstanding view on Las Vegas

Rainbow wall pic.: Benoit Merlin

Rainbow wall
pic.: Benoit Merlin

The original route goes all the way that logical crack dihedral. Grades are sustaining and hard...

The original route goes all the way that logical crack dihedral. Grades are sustaining and hard…

The climbing is excellent! Very easy to protect and some bolts. Highly recommended!

The climbing is excellent! Very easy to protect and some bolts. Highly recommended!

Wide open desert feeling, a 20min drive from Las Vegas, crazy... Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Wide open desert feeling, a 20min drive from Las Vegas, crazy…
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

A short additional #advertisement for my sponsor Budget rent a car:

If you also plan to do a road trip, please follow this link (http://bit.ly/2wGqgI2) and use code L820200 to book your car with a 15% discount

Towers around Moab

We climbed 4 towers in total while being in Moab. The experience has been unique on all of them, even if the climbing was just ok on some. But one route has had all! 5 star climbing on a totally rad tower in the middle of nowhere: Moses Tower and the route “Primerose Dihedrals” and just nearby, the tower “Zeus”.

Short approach to Moses and Zeus Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Short approach to Moses and Zeus
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Climbing Moses with view in Zeus Pic.: Nina Caprez

Climbing Moses with view in Zeus
Pic.: Nina Caprez

Just WOW! Phenomenal climbing on top rock Pic.: Nina Caprez

Just WOW! Phenomenal climbing on top rock
Pic.: Nina Caprez

Sunrise on the top of Zeus with view on Moses. Pic.: Nina Caprez

Sunrise on the top of Zeus with view on Moses.
Pic.: Nina Caprez

2 hours off road driving from Moab to settle down totally alone, a 30 min walk from the towers. RAD!!! Pic.: Benoit Merlin

2 hours off road driving from Moab to settle down totally alone, a 30 min walk from the towers. RAD!!!
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Indian Creek

Well, what to say about that place….one of my favorite places on earth!

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Simply breathtaking and the feeling of freedom is omnipresent… Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Camping on the spot "Superbowl" with my US friends, surrounded by orange walls Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Camping on the spot “Superbowl” with my US friends, surrounded by orange walls
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

The daily campfire Pic.: Benoit Merlin

The daily campfire
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

It has been my second time in the creek and it was so cool to see my personal improvement since spring! It felt very natural to me to place gear and also I did way better with my jamming, in all different types of cracks. I climbed a lot onsight and flash, always by giving all I had! One route I tried this spring, called “Death of a cowboy”, a 13-, I was able to tick after two more days of investment. Very proud about that!

A pure flash ascent of "Rubens Café", 12+ Pic.: Michael Pang

A pure flash ascent of “Rubens Café”, 12+
Pic.: Michael Pang

"Death of a Cowboy" DONE!:-) Pic.: Michael Pang

“Death of a Cowboy”
DONE!:-)
Pic.: Michael Pang

Big lesson how climbing large cracks by Sam. I got my ass kicked on that route called "Big Baby". An 11.... Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Big lesson how climbing large cracks by Sam. I got my ass kicked on that route called “Big Baby”.
An 11….
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Jumping around in "Attitude 0". No send, but high on my ticklist! Pic.: Benoit Merlin

Jumping around in “Attitude 0”. No send, but high on my ticklist!
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

We also spent lots of time watching paintings and visiting ruins of the Anasazis.

We also spent lots of time watching paintings and visiting ruins of the Anasazis. There are so many in the Creek! Pic.: Nina Caprez

The light is simply magic and unique in the creek. Pic.: Benoit Merlin

The light is simply magic and unique in the creek.
Pic.: Benoit Merlin

You certainly heard about Trumps plan to drastically reduce the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase  Escalate National Monuments. There are different options for donating money to help the cause. Here are two different links:

Hayden Found and Accessfund

Thank’s and hopefully we can all continue to keep rocking there!