Meeting with Antony Lamiche, the new name of modern bouldering.
Photo Stephan Denys & Oscar Durbiano

We meet Antony in a late afternoon of mid August in Ailefroide, the bouldering area near Briançon, recently revalued by the printing of a detailed topo. He just came back from a working day as a guide, but he can’t stay away from his beloved boulders. And further, he has to try the Venom, the last creation of La Sportiva, custom-built for bouldering. The temptation is therefore too strong to resist to a couple of hours of gymnastic evolutions. We take advantage of it and admire him in action on his home boulders.
For the ones who don’t know him, Antony Lamiche is the only boulderer in the world who has climbed “flash” (to climb first try a move without having ever attempted it, but after looking at somebody climbing it, ndr) a boulder move as famous as Mandala, unanimously recognized as 8a+. Further he has climbed several problems 8b/8b+ all over the world, and an incredible 8c traverse near his house and still to be confirmed. Therefore we are in front of one of the best modern boulderers, may be still little known because modest and with a reserved character, but definitely at the top of the specialty.
A little later we chat a little with our French friend, to get to know better the person and to introduce him to the readers of La Sportiva Magazine.

When did your passion for bouldering start?
A few years after the start, at the beginning of the Nineties. In those years people climbed a lot on the crags, and the period of the artificial walls was beginning. Bouldering wasn’t so important, also if in Fontainebleau thousands of people climbed regularly on the boulders spread in the forest outside Paris. In our area there were already a few boulder problems, including some extreme moves, like Surprise de Chef, 7c. We understood straight away the great potential of the place, but the right stimulus was missing and the crash pads (portable bouldering mattresses, ndr) didn’t exist yet. In short, the times weren’t ripe yet.

And when did they become it?
In the second half of the Nineties. To that period dates back the explosion of the bouldering phenomenon, with the definitive affirmation of the bouldering competitions. Every year the number of the competitions increased in an exponential manner and, consequently, also the interest for the activity. In those days the first crash pads were designed and new bouldering areas were discovered everywhere.

The rediscovery of an old game in a modern way?
It was simply about looking at things in a different way. At the beginning climbing meant only crags, while little place remained for the other specialties. In the course of the time, and with the increase of the number of the climbers, the horizons have widened and the value of other ways of climbing has been enhanced. Thanks to this evolution several bouldering areas have been discovered, a few also just in the backyard.

That’s what happened in your area, with Ailefroide?
Exactly. We had a big bouldering area in the backyard but we weren’t able to look at it in the correct way. We preferred to climb a lot on the artificial wall, may be a few traverses, but still with the goal of improving the results on the crags or in difficulty competitions.

When did things change?
Around the end of the Nineties, with the definitive affirmation of bouldering competitions. Every year the number of the competitions increased in an exponential manner and, consequently, also the interest for the activity.

Do you remember some significant episodes about that?
Regarding Ailefroide, I remember that Babar (François Lombard) let me notice the possibility of a sit start of the problem Surprise de Chef, a mythical boulder put up by Alain Ghersen in 1986 and rated, with standing start, 7c. I tried the move a few days, until I sent it, with great satisfaction. The first 7c/8a of the area was born. A few years later I connected a 7b+ traverse to the sit start of Surprise de Chef. I rated this new sequence, until now unrepeated, 8c.

What is it about?
We are speaking about 27 moves. The first part is an endurance traverse, from the left to the right, evaluated 7b+, that reaches the sit start of Surprise de Chef.

The second youth of Ailefroide?
It was a very beautiful period. There was a great passion, a lot of curiosity and creative freedom for everybody. We looked for and brushed new toys for four-five years, having a lot of fun. Today the things have changed a little, especially because the most evident boulders have been climbed. But it still remains place to look for other moves, it is sufficient to look for them. In this search context, last spring, I think I have climbed the hardest move of the area, Le balai des tracto-pelles, that I rated 8b.

What is an 8b “bloc”?
Two extreme moves on a prow, followed by a 6b exit. It is a very aesthetical boulder, about seven meters high. I long looked for a move like this, that could become a little the reference point, a valid example of the “bloc” grade, as hard as it is supposed to be. Unfortunately I see that, even today, there is confusion about this issue.

What do you mean?
On the basis of the experience I collected during my climbing travels, I have seen that some boulder grades represent the combination of different problems. They are more traverses that real boulders. To explain it, a 7c traverse plus a 8a move don’t necessarily become a 8c bloc, but more a 8c traverse. This kind of grading is more similar to the crag’s than to the boulder’s grading. To go back to the previous statement, the traverse of Surprise de Chef is a 8c traverse, and not 8c bloc. This is a fundamental difference, that I‘d like to pinpoint and about which we should reflect, to avoid to make confusion about the issue.

How would Antony Lamiche define a boulder move?
For me “bouldering” means searching the pure technical and physical difficulty of the movement in climbing, synthesized in a motoric sequence that doesn’t exceed 5-6 moves. This is a little like the principles of Gymnastics. Some things, some sequences, are possible only because they represent the combination of several components that require at the same time the involvement of a series of factors, that produce, contemporaneously, the result. The interesting thing is that everything must work together, at the same time, otherwise you have to start all over again. It is a simple and complicated issue at the same time: to manage the own explosive power best, in function of the psychophysical and motoric capacities.

Is this the essence of bouldering?
I think so, but not the only one. There are other very important factors. For example I adore the socializing aspect of the activity. The possibility to climb in-group, together with nice people. From this point of view bouldering is much better that climbing in the crags. In the wall you are with your climbing partner and you meet other people only at the foot of the wall, if it’s a popular crag. But while climbing you are alone. In bouldering there is much more interpersonal exchange and everybody takes advantage of everything.

How many problems are there in Ailefroide today?
I think 300-350, many of which from 7a to 8b, simply because they are the ones we usually climb. But the potential is much bigger, that means the problems could become thousands, if somebody begins to climb the easier lines, from 7 downwards, also if there are already several ones.

It seems to me that the frequentation of the place has increased a lot, compared with the past.
Certainly. In the middle of July, in concomitance with the Bouldering World Cup of Argentiere la Bessée, we have organized a meeting, where hundreds of people participated. For the occasion we have also proposed the new guide of the area, describing the last climbed problems. It has been a great success, still today, in the middle of August, there are a lot of passionates climbing around, after the meeting.

Beside Ailefroide, which are your preferred bouldering areas?
Buttermilk in Bishop and Hueco, both in the USA, for the rock and the landscape. But also South Africa, for the huge available possibilities. Then it’s clear that there are a lot of beautiful places in France, Italy and Switzerland. But the rock I like most is the granite of Bishop, because it is more complete and richer of climbing typologies. Something that for instance doesn’t happen with the grès in Fontainebleau.

Why?
Holds typologies and climbing style. May be because I don’t feel totally at ease on sandstone.

What do you think about the boulders of Fontainebleau?
Well, they are simply wonderful, but feature basic problems that don’t put them at the top of my preferences. For example, friction is too influenced by the meteorological conditions and therefore, by the variability of the environmental conditions. To climb best in the forest around Paris you must either have a lot of time at disposal, to wait for the right moment, or be a local, and therefore rush to climb when the best conditions arrive. Something that doesn’t happen in Bishop, instead, where you can be sure that if you go in the right period you can climb everyday, with optimum environmental and friction conditions.

Lately you became famous on the specialized press for the “flash” ascent of Mandala, a well-known extreme American boulder. What is it about?
Mandala is a famous boulder of Chris Sharma in Bishop. It is a mythical boulder, tried for years by the best American specialists and climbed first by Sharma, who, in that occasion, preferred not to give it any grade. Jerôme Meyer told me about the problem, he had sent it 2001, and he told me that the sequence suited my characteristics very well. In November 2002 I happened to be in Bishop with other friends, taking advantage of a climbing trip organized by Petzl-Charlet. One morning, planned as a rest day, I went to look for the famous move and I found it under siege by Daniel Dulac and Stephane Julien, who were rejected by the first section. I looked at them for a while, trying to find with them a climbing method, because we didn’t know the moves, until I felt the desire to try it too. I stuck the first movement straight away, and then the second. After a few seconds I found myself on the top, almost without believing what had just happened to me.

Surely a great performance. But I know that there has been something else regarding Mandala…
In fact, after having climbed the original move, I started to work on the sit start, a project that nobody had realized yet, but that was possible, although extreme. Unfortunately, after a few days, the exit pinch of the key move broke and the thing made the project even more complicated. I succeeded in climbing the move on the last available day. Also this move hasn’t been repeated until today.

How many moves for this new monstrosity?
Nine. Three moves for the sit start of Mandala to reach the original problem that has six more holds. Of these nine moves five are really hard and for me have represented an important goal, both physical and mental.

Other future projects?
A boulder in Chamonix, that I try now and then when I am there, but particularly great lust to travel, to visit new areas, like Meschia and then Switzerland and Austria. I’d like also to go back to the United States.

Your point of view about the importance of the evolution of the materials in modern bouldering.
In the last few years modern technology has allowed remarkable improvements of the materials for bouldering. Just think about the importance of the crash pads in the evolution of the phenomenon. The design of these portable mattresses has allowed exploring new motoric frontiers, because they contribute to drastically reduce the injury possibilities in case of an anomalous fall. Then we have the new climbing shoes, that allow using best each asperity, thanks to the technical characteristics that improve best friction and technology of always more performing compounds. At this regard a good example is the Venom, the new climbing shoe realized by La Sportiva.

What do you think about this new model?
I find that the particular construction structure of the shoe, that combines different materials, allows improving some winning characteristics, like the toe hook, typical in the technique of the modern bouldering. Great also the precision of the toe that gives exceptional sensitivity and support, also on the worst micro edges. It is a real climbing “tool”, a tool that allows to improve particular aspects, that had been neglected until now, because they are not so important on the crag, and the crag climbers have represented the largest part of the market until yesterday. Today things are changing and the specialized companies, if they want to go with the times, must adapt to the evolution of the market.

Which La Sportiva models do you use for your activity?
At the moment I climb 50% with Katana, 40 with Mantra S and 10% Testarossa. But now the percentages of use are going to radically change, thanks to the prototype of the new Venom, that I find exceptional.
For ice and mixed climbing instead I use the Trango Ice Comp, also if the future of the discipline is doubtless going toward the Mega Ice, the latest “tool” proposed by La Sportiva and tested last winter with incredible results.

Besides bouldering, what do you do for a living?
In my professional life, besides being a climber, I am also climbing instructor, alpine guide and ski instructor. It seemed to me a natural choice, as I was aware that I wanted a job bound to the mountain and sports world. On the basis of these considerations, in 2001 I made the alpine guide selections and in February 2002 I became ski instructor. In the meantime I worked as a climbing instructor in the Argentiere Club, experience that I concluded in September 2002. In 2003 I was partially engaged as ski instructor and alpine guide. I spend the rest of the year climbing, thanks to the sponsors who support me in this adventure.

You have always had the mountains in your blood, if nothing else, just for the fact that you were born in the heart of the French Alps. Are you also an active mountaineer?
Until 2000 I had to complete the list of the alpine ascents necessary to enroll the Ensa (Ecole National Sports Alpins, ndr). I love the mountain and I practice all its facets with great passion. In this context I have discovered the ephemeral ice world and piolet traction (ice climbing technique, ndr) and I have been fascinated, so much that I participated to the Ice World Cup for a couple of seasons.

What do you think about ice climbing competitions?
It is a new reality, that allows giving visibility to the phenomenon of ice climbing, and it should be interpreted like that. I am particularly sensible to the exigency of communicating new forms of sports activities bound to the mountain world, may be because I grew up in an geographical area, the Briançonnais, ever since attentive to make the best of the environment and the sports activities that can become forms of alternative tourism. Argentiere La Bessée every year organizes the famous ice-climbing meeting, that this year reached the 13th edition. I discovered ice climbing at the end of the Nineties, repeating classical routes and several ice falls in our area. After two years I went to Petzl, that had just acquired Charlet Moser, and I became part of the team put together to participate to the just born IWC (Ice World Cup, ndr) circuit. In 2001 I got a third place in the general ranking of the IWC. I had a lot of fun during the competitions. In the future I think that I will still make a few competitions, but not all of them. This because it isn’t my intention to invest too much energy to try to become the World Champion, it isn’t my objective. I prefer to concentrate on other things that give me better feelings.

What do you think about modern mixed climbing?
It’s fun, but I prefer pure ice. Mixed climbing is interesting to refine the progression technique. It is a little bit the same relation existing between artificial wall and natural climbing wall. Training on artificial holds has contributed in a determinant way to improve the climbing quality. But it isn’t my preferred game.
Oscar Durbiano