For this first weekend post-confinement, the climbers have reinvested the cliffs. The rooms climbing remain closed until further notice and the clubs are always in a sleep state, but individual practice is again permitted. In Britain, on the Slab of beginners, a cliff that falls into the ocean in Pen-Hir, the climbers found their sensations, after two months of confinement . (JEROME VAL / RADIO FRANCE)
There were a lot of people on the rock climbing last weekend, the first of the déconfinement, as in Pen-Hir, on the Crozon peninsula in the Finistere. The harnesses, carabiners, ropes, helmets : all the material emerges from the bag. “Finally !”, breathe Mary, who began his first ascent in the last two months. “It’s good to have a beautiful view from up there and enjoy the sun”, explains the young woman. She is assisted by Paul, a regular of the sandstone cliffs that form the peninsula of Crozon : “It was very beautiful in Brittany during the containment and we did not have the right to climb. This weekend, we therefore jumped at the chance !, welcomes-it. I imagine that the inhabitants of Marseilles we are the envy of a lot of power to climb while the Creeks are closed to you.”
The emotional reunion with the rock
Rock climbing is allowed back since last Friday, but taking his precautions. “We take it on very easy, “recounts Thomas. This is history re-doing the manipulations, and to redo the routine, to be sure you do not hurt yourself. We are back to progressive.” Because after two months of inactivity due to the confinement, the recovery too difficult, can weigh heavy. “I climbed a Saturday and I hurt all over, it is awful”, explains Thierry in unpacking his equipment.
The recovery, it is very hard muscularly and emotionally.Thierry, a climber.to franceinfo
“The fact of not having climbed for two months and resume live outside, it is huge with fear. There’s the apprehension of getting back on the rock, trying to find the catch… a lot of things that make that emotionally, this is hard”, explains Thierry.
“The problem, it is the hall, there was contact”
While the health rules are very strict around the déconfinement, the practice of climbing can also be impacted, as it is a group sport. It is necessary to ensure, be several to minimize the risks, and sometimes the climbers cross over and graze on the walls. For the moment, it is manageable, but Alexandra, who came into the family of Quimper is asking questions : “The level of manipulation, it is true that there are a lot of contact : the outlets that we touch, the strings, the contacts are permanent. I do not know the extent to which clubs will be able to reopen in September.”
This is actually a question of importance to the French Federation of mountain and climbing, which has about 110 000 members. “When one is hanging from the same anchor in the middle of the cliff, it is complicated”, says François Dorval, president of the club of Plougastel Daoulas in the Finistère. “But we can find other ways to practice not being glued to each other. The problem is the room, ours is small. We must use the same equipment, there are the contact. It is necessary that we reflect on all of this : maybe limit the number of participants per session and multiply the sessions. And if we see that this is not possible, it will not be possible.” Nobody knows today when will reopen the rooms of climbing.
