How did your passion for climbing come about?
"I started climbing at school. The teacher was passionate about it, and when he saw that a youngster had talent, he wouldn't let him go. I joined his club with my sister. At lunchtime, he'd come into the courtyard and pull me by the ears to take me rock-climbing. He would even take us with him and his family to Thailand during the vacations to climb. One day, the hold was too far away and he told me "there are no small ones, only weak ones". I didn't cry, and I still don't know why... it made me want to stay even more! He passed on his passion to us. He was the climbing daddy of us all."
What's your favorite climbing spot?
"The Céüse cliff! Sometimes when I start to see it from the road, tears come to my eyes. I can't explain it. It's my big crush. I really like cliffs in general. When I make too much plastic, even a 6-metre cliff makes me happy 😄"
What do you think makes a perfect climbing day?
"Sleeping well, getting up without an alarm clock, a good breakfast (balanced ... or not). Being with people I like. Going to the cliff (without too much walking 😛... except Céüse, she's allowed), seeing that it's going to be sunny and knowing that I'm going to get a tan.
Making plans, sightseeing, hard routes or easier routes, whatever. I like it when people gossip at the foot of the routes, but I feel guilty in the evening because we've been talking too loudly. I like that!
Honestly, I just want to climb. Even the moulinette is ok (ahah)."
Apart from climbing, what are your passions or hobbies?
"No time to have another passion (ahah) but later I'd like to get back into tennis and surfing. I think my only passion apart from climbing is eating (Oops!). I'm not working at the moment, but I love my job as a nurse. The only problem is that I love people. I don't like bandages, I don't like injections and I don't like people who go into cardiac arrest without warning."
Do you have a ritual before lacing up on a complicated/competitive route?
"I visualize myself just before I go. I don't really have a ritual per se, but when I'm stressed I listen to Jul ( Marseille BB!!) just before I go. I also have a notebook where I've written down my intentions and what I need to focus on, and I read it over and over (singing JUL in my head).
Otherwise, in competitions, I always reread the route for 40 seconds. Often I have a checklist of what I didn't have time to do when I read it (... in other words, all the time... ahem)."
What does the phrase "live your sport better" mean to you?
"For me, living my sport better means being in tune with the values of my activity and feeling good in this community (for climbers, this translates as "eating seeds" according to other humans on the planet). It also means learning the rules and the evolution of the activity. It means sharing your passion and convictions with others (you have to know how to share seeds). It's about being a consumer one day, a player the next.
We're lucky to have a lifelong passion, and it's just as important to be able to practice it in the best and most sustainable way possible. Whether it's preserving our bodies or the rock.
In other words: Vive la moulinette à 80 ans dans un site autorisé avec des prises pas trop crades!!!"
