We had to escape the suffocating heat of the Italian pre-alps. Somewhere high, with wind, open valley, rock, raging torrents and a festival atmosphere. Welcome to TAB2005. Now in its 15th year this regular event in the French climbing calender is organised by Francois Lombard in the village of L’Argentiere la Bessee.
TAB takes place over 4 days and is a mixture of culture, competition and chilled out bloccing. We got going Thursday evening with some performance art and an amateur video show projected against the climbing wall. Friday started early with the open climbing competition. It was going to be a long day, it was hot despite the constant wind and the final was scheduled for 8.30.
The weekend signalled a move to Ailefroide. The boulders are strung out along the length of the valley and it never felt busy. Saturday night we were treated to a night time flood lit exhibition climb with DJ on the Surprise boulders. We had all the top french guys out, Daniel Dulac, Tony Lamiche, Gerome Mayer et al, but where were the girls?