Another day "au boulot" in the Vercors with Engué: 

"La fissure en arc de cercle," Face Est du Gerbier (400m 6b/c or 5.10d) 

Engué and I met a few weeks ago thanks to Christophe (most good things in my life here in France I can trace back to either Darin or Christophe) and we have been going steady ever since. Hillary has termed him my latest man crush, and I won't say she's wrong. Engué passed the ski test earlier this spring in order to be accepted into the aspirant guide program and is now busily preparing for the climbing and mountaineering exam in August. With midweek availability, appreciation for obscure and adventurous routes in the prealps, and an endless supply of local hazelnut candies, Engué has turned out to be the perfect match. At the risk of taking this metaphor too far, I have been looking for a climbing partner with more experience than myself who can school me in the ways of the high mountains, and after a couple decades of exploring the hills around Grenoble Engué definitely knows his way around better than I. Thus far the main skill he has passed along is the art of "French freeing" i.e. pulling on gear to get through cruxes, a technique that I'm sure will serve me well throughout the rest of my climbing career. 

After an hour of bushwacking and talus scrambling, 15 pitches worth of climbing, a summit ridge traverse and another hour and a half of hiking back down to the car, I was pretty ready to call it a day and polish off a roll of French imitation Pringles. Two days later and recovered from the residual "climbover," I'm already looking forward to the next day of schooling with Engué.

p.s. Monsieur Gustave Goodwin arrives in Geneva for a three-week visit TODAY!! So stoked...

"au boulot" = "at work" or "let's get to work"

Engué leading pitch one (5.10a) of the endless grassy corner system.

Following the 5.10d crux of pitch ten.

Racing across the summit of the Gerbier on perfect stone and trying to
get down before an early evening thunder storm.

Looking back along the ridge, with the east face to the right and Grenoble behind.