"Exploring the French Climbing National Team's Training Base | Preparing for the Boulder World Cup"

Chris and Alex were on a training trip and decided to visit the training facilities of the French National Sport Climbing Team. They embarked on a journey to Voiron, where they could immerse themselves in the world of climbing. Alex, in particular, participated in the simulated bouldering set up there to prepare for the upcoming bouldering World Cups.
Alexander Megos
Edit: Chris Hanke

[@p0t4t0nastick]

Interesting video, thanks. Was really surprised hearing about Germany's situation in regards to climbing facilities. Here in Austria we have Innsbruck, but in Vienna it's a similar shitshow, with overcrowded bouldering gyms. The cam was a bit hectic at times, tell Chris to stay with the non-alcoholic beer until your done filming next time :D

[@Hopesfallout]

Sad to hear that you've got such limited training facilities given how Germany is a massive country. In a way it's what happens when the sport is left to commercial interest only. I feel like Innsbruck's Kletterzentrum really hit it out of the park. A commercial gym but massive and well-rounded because of tons of public financial support.

[@EliahLaurin]

KI as a regular customer is still not the best. There is no such thing as a community because its too big and there are too many tourists who only stay for a few days

[@giacomocasanova2893]

@@EliahLaurini like the community. just go with friends

[@johnnylevek9757]

​@@giacomocasanova2893 you don't like the community, you like the community that you go with

[@Fred-oz3tw]

i dont find it suprising. my gym is really crowded all the time aswell. you cannot properly project a climb, because if you are ready for the next go after like 5 min you may wait another 5 min till everyone in line had their attempt (may not even is the same boulder, just the same wall). so either you wait 10 min everytime or you rush in after 2 mins, when the wall is suddenly clear. i find this exspecially hard on slabs. i'm just to hectic on those, because i struggle to calm down after rushing up to the boulder because it is "free" to climb. i eventually decided to go up to the moonboard and just get strong...

[@Hopesfallout]

@@EliahLaurin I highly doubt you'll find a lot of inherent "community" in any large gym. Though nothing stops you from building your own, which is how it'd usually work, no?

[@brian1264]

Would have liked to see Chris attempt some of them as well!

[@alexandermegos8129]

We will organize that next time 😊

[@davidbecker54]

Love the analyzation at the end, more please! Super educational to hear what you're thinking about when trying world cup boulders

[@allyhvis6046]

Video idea: your stretching & mobility routine. Please! :)

[@alexandermegos8129]

It'll come one day! Thanks for the comment!

[@godslafco]

the pop into the toehook 15:47 was such a sick move. UGHH.

[@s8piral]

Very interesting video! I also appreciate the honest, not overhyped tone. I have slways preferred climbing videos that focus on the process and not just the result. I mean, a lot of climbing is failing to climb the route/boulder, so I think that is an important part of the sport that needs to be shown. Half of what is interesting is the struggle and process, which is really inspiring. Also, it's important for us regular climbers to see and not have an inflated concept of reality, when most/many climbing videos only show the send.

[@ScratchRick]

Wow! Im amazed you dont have access to climbing gyms! Why not come visit me in the US for training? 😅 We have many gyms nearby! ❤

[@JustinConnor89]

Do it

[@ScratchRick]

@@JustinConnor89 haha, let's do a social media campaign to get Alexander Megos to come visit us in the US!!

[@coolguyASDQWEFEWFADSFAS]

This is my main criticism of "comp style" bouldering (other than the randomness it introduces). The barrier of entry is extraordinarily high, the price of a single comp style problem is thousands of US dollars for the holds, and then you need the specific setting, and also the space for it. If you think Germany is bad you should see places outside of Europe and the rich cities in the USA - the situation is dire. I was in Germany last year and the gyms are insanely good compared to what we have. It's kind of sad how the government supported massively funded teams with access to specific styles are dominating, I think it detracts from the overall competitiveness of the sport because the pool of people who can even practice the niche comp style is so low compared to the wider climbing population. I don't think they should get rid of comp style but I would love for a classic format to exist more akin to outdoor bouldering. You can become a v16 boulderer on a small homewall, but you can't become world class comp climber without the facilities.

[@middle-agedclimber]

So true. Sadly we're constantly diverging from a sport for all.

[@alexandermegos8129]

This is true. Well said

[@die_pero]

I think the world of bouldering competitions - unlike lead competitions, which, on the other hand, still remain affordable for rock climbers - has now gone its own way, totally disengaged from outdoor climbing, which is why amazing rock stars like you struggle in the bouldering World Cup circuit. I understand that the needs of the show have inevitably changed the competition, avoiding overly static or overly hard movements having to strike a balance between difficulty and spectacularity, so I do not feel like condemning the new comp-style. As for wooden holds, they are my favorite and yes, I would love to see them in competitions, and maybe, exactly because they do not allow for the grip and friction typical of modern large volumes, that would be a way for a (partial) return to cleaner and simply HARD moves in comps. Btw, thank you for the content, in your genuine videos we can appreciate you both as a person and athlete!

[@BoyaClimbs]

I like what competitions have become. It’s expanded to include pretty much every movement that is possible, and takes an expansive range of skills to win. There’s no need to mimic outdoor rock imo because there’s already plenty of opportunity to find challenges and success there - some of the most successful professional climbers only climb outside

[@andrew8445]

We still got things like Mellow for that, but whatever they have to do to climbing to get viewership and grow the sport is a plus in my mind. If you enjoy it less, I hope two people took your place and the sport continues to gain new viewers

[@die_pero]

@@andrew8445 I enjoy both, competitions and outdoors, I was just answering Alex's question "What do we think about new comp-style boulders"

[@ryanbarron5696]

I think the biggest problem with just hard boulders is since all the pros are so strong and the nature of route setting for them, either all the athletes would top or none of them would. Or at least those extremes would happen more often.

[@alexandermegos8129]

Thank you for the comment! I also understand why tut comp style went in this direction. Finding a good balance between spectacularity and still being able to separate the field is not easy. Let's see if wooden holds will get introduced in comps one day 🙏🏼

[@allyhvis6046]

Alex, I've always wondered how different are men's and women's comp boulders difficulty-wise. I would love to see Janja compete with the men, maybe then she would have some actual competition. Lol. Best of luck in the comp season!

[@callmetarif]

She has competition

[@michaelkurrels1221]

she just got 2nd in a world cup. she's still probably the best, but she's not blowing people out completely.

[@bernardopicao267]

@@michaelkurrels1221 she stills always tops everything bar some tricky coordination that anyone can drop. The strength based boulders are too easy for her, I definitely think she could comfortably compete with the men.

[@user-sc9ud8wh3t]

​@@michaelkurrels1221 she looked like she could barely stand well on injured foot and had almost zero ankle mobility. And only boulder she didnt top was slab that required just that.

[@babsds0]

​@@bernardopicao267 She could keep up on some of the more technical or co-ordinated problems but when it comes to more physical boulders she isn't even close. She and Yoshiyuki did a video together a while back where they tried the same problems set for them by world cup route setters if you're curious how she compares to the top men.

[@nicko2995]

Always love your videos, they keep inspyring me over and over to become like you

[@josebenjumedarubio5666]

can you do a video on the daily stretch routine you have? also if you modify your stretches depending on what you've done on the day it would be great to know. Thanks a lot for the videos alex and chris!!

[@epincion]

Thanks Chris & Alex, a very interesting video. I'd heard about the French centre in Voiron but never seen any detail. Watching you do those 4 WC comp level problems was great. Hopefully you got some more from there and also the Petzl HQ. I agree about the food and drink in France being the best.

[@andrewconnors6359]

The 1-foot hop and the mantle in boulder 4 look *so insane*

[@janjan8752]

Ich lieb den Kontent, Danke für die geilen Videos 💪❤

[@treecuttertam]

Alex and Chris, you lads are a pleasure to watch. Keep up the great work and I hope you keep making such chill videos. There must be order.

[@bradythompson4664]

Love it all!!

[@raftaa]

Again a nice inside view in the world cup training. Thanks a lot! Looking foward for some outdoor action. Guess it's not the time though.

[@drewford4132]

I enjoyed that video. it was nice to hear your insight on each boulder as you did them. Your way strong and totally capable of all the comp boulders, its a matter of you having practice with coordination problems and learning beta quickly and efficiently. Hopefully, you get to spend a lot of time in gyms like this. Good luck!

[@loganwassill7003]

That jump on the slab! The coolest thing I’ve seen in a while. Done with so much grace 10/10

[@AndrewTrainorActor]

Fascinating video, thanks Alex!

[@TheUnknownFactor]

Love this type of video, showing the off days and the "doesn't go on the first attempt" is way more inspiring IMO :-)

[@18751]

You did great. Keep at it and you will be on the podium at upcoming competitions.

[@user-bx4zq7fx7e]

These videos are so epic

[@Johnny-zs6vo]

Great video, love to see spray wall action as well 10/10

[@svenwalzlein5577]

Amazing Video and i realy like that you did show us how you train and afther it to explain us what u did think and wanted to try with your attempts. Keep up climbing Hard

[@jonasjohajohanson9517]

As always, great educational and entertaining content. Thumbs up! Speaking about the French, I‘d love to see you visiting Bleau to climb some of the old classics!

[@santiagoochoa3208]

So good video !!!!!!

[@duuplo]

Wooden holds gang 🔥

[@justforfunmax7353]

Kopf hoch und weiter hart arbeiten! Wettkampfzeit ist deine Zeit! Viel Erfolg.

[@felixvoytier9631]

Great video, hoping for more similar content

[@yannickmarschall1378]

Nices Video! Ich hätte auch gerne comp style Boulder in unseren Boulder Hallen oder mehr davon… man sieht das immer bei euch Maschinen und würde das immer mal gern selbst versuchen 😅 Liebe eure Videos, immer lustig und lehrreich 😊

[@timkubitz5489]

ich schau deine/eure videos echt gern. Man bekommt richtigen Einblick in euren Alltag. Finde auch super das ihr euch nicht allzu ernst nehmt und trotzdem auch die ein oder andere interessante Information weitergebt. Weil du gefragt hast was man verbessern könnte ist mir als aller erstes das Audioaufnahmen aufgefallen da gab es die ein oder andere Übersteuerung bzw. Störgeräusche (finde den Timestamp leider gerade nicht) ... die Musikwahl ist aber top gewesen :) Ich glaube euer Format könnte mit dem ein oder anderen grafischen Element (Logo, Intro, Transitions, Schriften für Infos etc.) viel dazu gewinnen. Falls ihr dabei Hilfe braucht melde dich, ich bin Grafiker ;)

[@mattmarcroft8931]

Great film chaps! I am surprised you had to haul 9 hours to get to the best training facility, but worth the trip - looks great. Best of luck with the rest of the Boulder season, and the lead season to come. BTW, both of your English is perfect, I doubt you need any subtitles 👍

[@AllegraClimbingPsychologist]

Super interesting video! I also think it would be cool to have more wooden holds in world cups. Not only because it prevents skin damage, but also because they test more finger strength. I just routeset an entire pocket route with wooden pockets only and it was a blast! 🙌🔥

[@drstrangelove85]

Camera work at the boulders is still better than at IFSC comps.

[@graxh8500]

Mega Video :)

[@ding0865]

I'd love to see a follow along type video of your stretching routine :p

[@hidden_sense9839]

WIth the lead wall in the sun, are you refering to Augsburg? I hope with the new bouldering building it hanges for the better for you! The new lead wall on the side is apparently planned for just hard routes and hopefully the training facilities get much better. Regarding your question about comp style: Persnally, I think it is both fun and interesting. I like comp style boulders in the gym too. It's just something different and I feel at some point there might just be more climbing disciplines. A thought I had for quite some time would be to have a kind of outdoor bouldering world cup (or at least international tournament): There are lots (and lots) of unknown and undeveloped bouldering spots around the world ( I know two absolutely massive ones myself and I can't say I've seen the world), where hundreds to thousands of unclimbed boulder problems exist. A team could go there and define a qualification, a semi and a final circuit in advance before the comp. That would help develop new bouldering spots around the world, show beautiful places in the world and also give the local climbing communities a push (since these locations are mostly in countries that have no huge climbing community). Of course, you basically can't have any spectators on location, so doesn't seem like a huge financial success. I'd watch the heck out of any worldcup like that though.

[@DanielDobbelstein]

Could watch such videos nealry the whole day... Besides the time I have to sleep and to climb. 😅

[@abdelcassoul]

The split you hit at 14:19 litterally made me go O_o

[@jefedelgobierno]

Crazy how you got that leg up on the yellow slab!!

[@arctichill23]

Great video! Just have one editing suggestion for the 4th boulder (the coordination move). Alex said "I did maybe 20 tries or something", but the editing here made it seem like he got it on the 3rd attempt! Would be great to see an editing sequence that better captures the process of "getting it" (maybe with some close-up shots of the footwork).

[@josebenjumedarubio5666]

i enjoyed this video yes

[@lorenzocambria7089]

Your videos are great ! I love them. I really like the fact that you dont take it too seriously, and it's nice to get some tips about the climbing technique, and your tought about your performance. Personnaly I dont really like the new comp style, maybe because I'm 50. New comp style is another sport. You dont find theses kind of moves on real boulders. It might be somewhere the possibilities to jump from one boulder to another. It actually could be fun too do. Yes wood hods could be really nice, especially for the skin, but big volumes made on wood would be very expensive as I guess difficult to do. Mix both coul be an option.

[@aldenator101]

Need that rusted setup in my lawn. That’s the problem living nowhere near a climbing gym 🤠

[@Asuma231]

I love your sense of humor XD

[@thewateringwiz7118]

I love when my gym uses wooden holds and I agree that comps should use them more

[@faebyang2526]

Haha als Anfänger tat es richtig weh als alex meinte dass es in deutschen gyms keine harten routen gibt😂 ❤ much love doe find die vlogs super

[@franmartinruiz3662]

I really like this training videos. I feel like comp style boulders in world cups are great, but those coordination and dynamic moves might have taken too much protagonism. About the wooden holds, sounds like a great idea, specially in low percentage moves in which each try takes a lot of skin out. And finally, I think your videos would benefit a lot if you had this cameras that eliminate the movement of the camera man, although they might be too expensive and I do not know if its worth it. Eitherway, keep up with the videos :)

[@ZoltanNeverRests]

I hope the simulation for men is next video... keep them coming!

[@callemufic6176]

it would be cool to see a stretching routine or something since we see some of it in your videos!

[@ex_molly715]

Alex in my city let's goooooooo

[@paulgennaro2001]

We want to see you guys in Bishop! Or back in bishop for Megos rather. Or revisiting jumbo love.

[@MrVelork]

Nice video! hate the modern comp style where you get jump movements on the majority of the boulders and love to see the power based ones that are few and far between

[@misterchrissiv9544]

I would love a Video on the mens boulder as well! If you climbed them 😄

[@angelojumped]

Came for the climbing, stayed for the wunderschön humor

[@theotaaku]

I hope you at least try the intended dynamic beta on the problems. 😅 I thought that would be the point to actually train on a facility with good comp problems.

[@hs5264]

I have a different perspective on comp climbing than most: I grew up in a geographically flat area with no rocks to climb on, but many trees and buildings to climb. I developed fairly good movement ability, but no finger strength. I later got into rock climbing, and I will never be able to catch up to youth climbers in terms of finger strength, but I can do comp style problems with the best of them. Those who say that comp climbing is unfair towards those without resources, or that it is random, or that it is not climbing, have a misguided perspective--for many people it is the most accessible form of climbing. Comp style bouldering is fundamentally not better or worse than other styles. It's just different. It takes different vision to be able to find comp style movement outdoors (either on buildings or on rock), but it exists. It also takes different vision to set comp style boulders indoors, but you don't have to have a huge budget. I have set such climbs for my local gym using ancient, small holds. The main reason there is not greater availability of comp style climbing is simply because not enough people have mastered the techniques yet. In fact, many of the "moves" for comp climbing are still being invented--every year we see some new fashionable ones on the world cup circuit. Eventually, all the moves will be discovered, mastery of the technique will spread across the globe, and every gym will have a spattering of what we now call comp climbing. In the meantime there is an arms race between elite setters and elite climbers to create and master new kinds of movement, and it will take time for the results to filter down to typical gyms (and crags). Also, whatever you think about climbing on comp style boulders (you are allowed to like or not like any particular style of climbing--it's all for fun, remember), I think it is true that it makes for better watching on the whole, especially for non-climbers. And for that, it is beneficial to the sport of climbing.

[@tiamat87]

Im not a fan of what bouldering (especially competitions) had become. I do love watching climbers on the rock, filming about their new project with the entire process or some funny moments. Loved watching your Rotpunkt videos from Patagonia for example.

[@andrewskerratt8353]

I think they should make 4 Lucid Dreaming replicas at all world cups. All wooden holds, make the first boulder v13 and the last v16 😁

[@PhazeTerminale]

Hi, nice video thanks! The sound quality is sometimes a bit ennoying, mostly the noise behind you. I don't know if you can do anything about this. I also was a bit sad that you didn't share climbing with the french team or talked to the route setter or anything else about sharing with the locals. Wish you the best for the lead season 😊

[@peterclimbing]

Again super sick video! But why do you put extra subtitles on it? KZbin has auto generated subtitles which everyone can turn on/off as they'd want to.🙂I'd rather watch the videos without the subtitles as your english is good very understandable for me.

[@aliyaclare]

Measures the distance from each curbside tire to the curb, "There must be order."

[@bluemeaford]

Wooden holds in comps ✅✅✅ Boulders should be a mix of slab, dyno and ol skool. And watching your climbing practice - was better than bratwurst and beer.

[@SuperGambler92]

Would be also great to see the male comp boulders. :)

[@benjaming4mes]

wooden holds would be super neat to see in competitions. I am curious, one of the boulders you said you were happy to cheat the coordination move because it looked hard. why not give it attempts?

[@lukasvilim8499]

❤

[@josebenjumedarubio5666]

and they also have pain au chocolat JAJAJAJA your face when you said that was so disgusted

[@arrowblast6]

Nices video👌aber fängt jetzt nicht die lead saison an? Oder ist das einfach generelles bouldertraining?

[@robberthonetcf]

I'm not a big fan of dynos, but I do like problems with complex betas and powerful moves. I do miss crimps in competitions though. What do you guys think about the idea that crimps aren't enough to challenge the top athletes anymore?

[@denislejeune9218]

Alex, we also have "chocolatine". More contentious than grading in climbing.

[@michaelheinstein9455]

A bunch of us from a US gym in the US are visiting Berlin first 5 days of July...what bouldering-only gyms should we visit? Also, comp style is great, we are setting a lot in the style in our commercial gym. Super fun even at the lower grades. Good luck with training!

[@CallmeNianja]

Berta Block, Kreuzbloc, Ostbloc, Suedbloc and Bright Site. Berta is really huge and the headsetter also sets regularly for comps. The other gyms are also nice but you have to be aware of the time. I can't recommend going in the evening because it's going to be super full and cramped. If you have some more time to travel around, I can recommend Mandala in Dresden and Klunker in Cottbus. Mandala ist like the birthplace of indoor bouldering in Germany and Klunker may be small but the setting is great.

[@MultiJnkl]

Love the french Style music! Regarding the subtitles ahh Dont u use the KZbin subtitles than we Could turn them off ;)

[@LaiGnaw]

We need podium finish in Innsbruck Alex. Its all or nothing

[@billy44talent]

The font at the end would make a a great subtitle font

[@Tobistob]

14:21 dude… WTF! 💪😂

[@reporterawesome]

15:45 so nice

[@Treevago]

I want to get that yellow shirt so bad but I don’t think they sell it anymore on his website?

[@Rockmaster867]

Nice video! Just a little thing. Towards the end there was a lot of noise in the microphone

[@kavali6320]

Macht einfach immer weiter. Zeigt von allem ein bisschen und vom Klettern etwas mehr, dann passt das schon 😉.

[@doublevgreen]

it really is sad how limited germany is by the german alpine club. it almost feels like the german alpine club just hates strong climbers and wants to make their journey as hard as possible

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

Can you elaborate a bit more on the gym situation in a seperate video? You also mentioned this problem in the setting video, but as someone who is an amateur and only familiar with the Saxon Alps and the gyms in Hamburg (one DAV gym several big commercial (bouldering) gyms and a smaller gym). As a pro your expectations are obviously alot different. Do you wish there were (more) dedicated training spaces for the DAV team?

[@mouzgeilpapx]

γεια σου ρε αλεξ τερας ,

[@Gehirnautobahn]

I love seeing videos of outdoor bouldering and all that stuff because I do it myself. But when I see boulder competitions I don't feel as connected to the whole spectacle because it is completely different from what im doing. I want to see people pull hard on tiny holds not jump around like in a parkour competition.

[@robberthonetcf]

On another note, you keep improving with each video. I think a better microphone would be the next thing to really step up the quality of your content.

[@alexandermegos8129]

Yeah that's what we thought so too 😅

[@theappealtoheaven]

7:00 Those boulders were replicas right? I think of Brixen or innsbruck? Maybe some women routes? They looked really fun to climb.

[@paulheimweh]

Ich kletter fast nie an Plastik, liebe es aber Comepetitions zu schauen. Nun ja...ich glaube, erstmal ist die Comp Welt auch ne Geldmaschine und die Show spielt dabei auch eine Rolle. Wenn man also nen Burden of Dreams Style Boulder dahin schrauben würde, wär das total langweilig anzuschauen. Zu nerdig wahrscheinlich. Was mir in letzter Zeit aufgefallen ist, ist dass sich schon zu oft wiederholende Muster in den Moves abbilden und das ist ein paar Routesetters auch schon aufgefallen und dann versuchen sie innovativ zu sein. Das sieht dann aber oft auch nach Versuchen aus. Ich mag dieses herumspringe nicht so gerne weil es ein Spring Parkour Mix ist und ich bin eher alte Schule wenns ums klettern geht. Ich glaub der Style hebt sich immer mehr ab in eine künstliche Form und Competition Boulderer werden wenig an harten Boulder am Fels zustande kriegen und Outdoor Boulderer können nichts mit dem Comp Style anfangen. Holzgriffe oder überhaupt verschiedene Materialien fände ich generell gut weil der Fels je nach Ort auch ständig unterschiedliche Texturen bietet und so wird das halt noch authentischer. Ansonsten frag ich mich wie die Schultergelenke wohl nach paar Jahren aussehen von Competition Kletterern. Das sieht oftmals echt nicht mehr gesund aus und wo bitte springt man denn in der Natur ständig Griffe an und dann auch noch einarmig. Super Mucke übrigens bei euch. Ich zieh mir eure Videos immer gerne rein.

[@Cookie_Monster42]

My main critic about your video? You forgot to mention french wine. France does not only have baguette, fromage and Pain au chocolat. Most of all it has worldclass red wine!

[@nipplehead]

Alex is the most Chaotic Neutral person

[@martintranker7151]

14:19 Wait! - I can step up 3 Meters above my head.

[@dei4tube]

Megos strong

[@valentinhausberg9318]

To be really good at compstyle Boulders, you have to practice it every week. Sad to here Germany has not the same options like France or Japan or USA. There all have understand what it cost to build a Team looking forward to olympics. Or constantly winning ifsc cups. Without this preperation its hard to get a medal. But your Rockclimbing stuff is what i like way more!!!!! So doesnt matter for me 🙂

[@Juanperez-nm9kj]

Huh that’s why Japan and France always have new talents I guess 🤔

[@msig206]

JAYzus Christ hahaha love it

[@charina_custodio]

Measuring the curb and the car is such a German thing to do. Precision German engineering

[@FranzHerbelburg]

lesgo

[@Julian-mx7eh]

Wait I thought this was a cooking channel

[@johnnyd.j.6068]

crazy to hear Germany has no comparable climbing facility