Career Highlights

  • Karma 8a+ bloc (FR)
  • Salamandre 9a+ (First repeat)
  • La rose et le vampire: 8b, Buoux (FR)
  • Ordalie: 8c+ (First repeat) (FR)
  • Take it or leave it (Verdon) (FR): Multi picth - Pitches, 8a max/
  • 7c oblig. Chain of 4 pitches in the day
  • 2 first ascents in Haute-Savoie (FR)
  • Entre rêve et réalité: 8c, Forclaz (FR)
  • XV station: 8c+, Jourdy (FR)
  • Gillox et Roucky, Suet (FR)
  • Lot of pitches in the 8th degre (Until 8b Bourldering & 9a+ Crag) : Terradets (Spain), Verdon (FR), Magicwood (Switzerland), Fontainebleau (FR), Silvretta (Switzerland), Targassonne (FR), Albenga (Italia)
  • Lot of multi pitches Sport & traditionnal climbing: Verdon, Presles, Calanques, Taghia, Archiane, Glandasse, Bavella...

    Interview

    • Climbing

      What most people don`t know about me.

      I have a purple happiness drawer. Seriously, I draw my strength and motivation from a serious skiing accident in which I could have died and which taught me a lot about myself and life.

      When and how did you get into climbing and what kept you interested / fascinated in the sport?

      I have been climbing for about ten years. I started in a club near Paris. I immediately loved this sport and it quickly became a passion, so much that I built myself a pan in my room. I was fascinated by the sensations and having to think of nothing else while climbing, just do the job

      Who was your childhood hero and do you consider yourself a role model now? Does it influence you at all that other people look up to you?

      My hero was Indiana Jones, I was dreaming of adventure. I do not consider myself as a model but I would like to be one and I want to share my values to inspire and dream. The fact that someone watches me does not influence me. On the contrary, I want to be myself and remain so.

      What were the most important milestones in your life so far, both in climbing and in everyday life? Did you immediately recognize them as such or only later on?

      The highlight of my life is my skiing accident when I was preparing for my mountain guide exam. I stopped all sports for 6 months and spent two months in Nepal recovering. I knew this was a turning point in my life. I stopped devoting myself to mountaineering and devoted myself exclusively to climbing.

      What were your greatest failures / setbacks / injuries? How did you cope with them and how did you come back from them?

      My biggest failure is the fact of having stopped stopped preparing for the mountain guide after my accident. That's where I got my strength. This moment is engraved in a corner of my head and I became stronger thanks to that.

      What is your favorite climbing related story / experience?

      My best climbing experience is probably my traverse of the Chartreuse with Christophe Dumarest. We spend 10 days in autonomy, doing 1 or 2 major routes a day with walking junctions. It was a moment out of the world and very intense. We shared a lot and discovered so much during this trip. When you come back from this kind of adventure, you feel more alive than ever.

    • Training

      Do you have a strict training schedule for when and how you train throughout the year?

      I have a training plan for physical preparation for 6 years. I am followed by Thomas Ferry. From September I will begin the mental preparation.

      I climb several times a week in addition to these specific exercises

      What advice can you give to somebody looking to improve their training routine?

      I think climbing is above all a sport of sensation. In my opinion, the best way to progress is to climb on all kinds of surfaces (indoor, outdoor, boulder, rock...). You have to bring a lot of variety in your training to develop a great gestural repertoire.

      What do you think of indoor climbing gyms in relation to climbing on actual rock?

      In the beginning we had the climbing wall only to train. Today, indoor climbing is a separate discipline with special moves (running and jumping.... ).

      Nevertheless, the opportunity to climb in climbing gyms is a real asset for the rock. We can train in a fun way and recreate problems we have outside. If you can't go outside, it's important to be able to climb inside to stay fit and progress.

      Are you able to do a one-arm pull-up? How about a single finger?

      I'm able to do several one arm pull ups but not yet on a finger.

      How much of the success as a pro climber is due to show and how much due to actual climbing skill?

      First, we should define the success of a climber. Is it reaching his goals? Or is it to have a maximum of views on Instagram? Today, it is not necessarily the best climbers who are the most popular...

    • Psychology

      Is it possible for anybody to eventually perform a one-armed pull-up or get to the top of the Eiger/Matterhorn, or do you really have to be born for it?

      I think that some people are born with a talent but with work anyone can make it.

      How important is it to set goals in professional sports? What are your goals / targets you are working towards in climbing and in life?

      It is important to have goals in order to know where you are. By setting goals, we are finding a way and it is important if we want to progress and move forward in the discipline. They also allow you to question yourself.

      Short term: 2018 Season

      • Babel, Ali Baba
      • New route in the Alps
      • Continue to develop climbing in Haute-Savoie through these achievements

      Longer term :

      • Repeat international pitches: Dreamcatcher at Squamish, Tough Enough in Madagascar
      • Repeat the French classics: La Boule at la Saint Victoire, les Spécialistes at le Verdon
      • Big walls: silbergeier, la voie du poisson, delicatessen

      How to you deal with extremely hard climbing problems? Do you ever get frustrated and give up on them or do they motivate you even more?

      In climbing this is what I like to do the most: push my limits and get out of my comfort zone. I think there's nothing more satisfying than leaving a project with insistence and having given everything. So it's true that sometimes it's not easy, that the ego is attacked and we think it would be easier to make routesnat at a lower level.

    • Future of climbing

      Is there anything you would like to change about the current developments in climbing?

      Climbing today is in a great evolution. With the development of gyms, the sport becomes less elitist and more affordable, but we must not forget that it is a risky sport.

      What I want to change today is to promote the cliff and the adventure. Climbing is not just about competitions, one-armed moves or long throws. I want us not to forget the richness of practicing outdoors.

      Where do you think sport will go in the next few years? What will change? And what role will you play in it?

      This sport will continue to develop, especially with the arrival of the Olympics. The discipline will become more democratic and indoor climbing will become more than ever a discipline in its own right. My role would be to not forget the other side of the sport and these multiple faces.

      What I'm looking for in climbing is pushing my limits. I love getting out of my comfort zone - the ego is always jostled. What may seem painful is actually for me a real source of motivation

      When I climb in my max level, I'm in ultimate concentration and I think movement by movement, nothing else exist anymore. It's this sensation that gives me the most.

      I also enjoy sharing and spending time with my « Compagnons de cordée ». Rock climbing is more than just an individual sport. We learn in contact with other climbers whatever their level. To progress and to move forward, we need these exchanges, these moments of sharing. These moments are exciting, at least as much as the success of a project.

      Performance is a source of satisfaction, of course, but the walk to it is truly exciting and incredible. It is these values of climbing that I wish to show and that I establish at each of my sessions as a climber as well as a coach.