After all this time, I finaly got around to do one of Val-David’s classic route!
I have been bouldering at the bottom of these cliffs for over 6 years now to realise that I have been ignoring all of these beautiful routes we have in the area, probably because of their style. Most of the routes are face, crimpy, technical, old-school and mixed. That would probably describe exactly the opposite of my style of climbing!!
Fortunatly for me though, my Friend Jason Ng convinced me to go climb one of these amazing routes last week-end. After doing Shogun, 5.13b, I am now motivated to go and climb all of the other face 5.13s at Val-David and work on my old-school skills. That way I can feel like a real local!!
Shogun, 5.13b, Val-David photo by Nicolas Charron
About Fred Charron
Name: Fred Charron
Date of Birth: July 24th 1986
Originally From: Ottawa
Current Location: Montreal
Started Climbing in: 1998
I started climbing in 1998 at an early age of 12. Unfortunately for me there were no junior teams or other kids of my age to climb with at the time, but I still managed to go to the gym a few times a week.
It was only in 2005 that I finally decided to step it up, train harder and started competing. My ultimate goal has always been to make the national team and to compete at next level. I finally placed in this year’s Tour de Bloc ranking, earning my place on the 2012 Canadian team.
On that road, I have been very present in the competition circuit, not only as an athlete but also as route setter. I have been head route setter for over 20 events in the past 3 years, from local to national competitions. I guess route setting is my way of giving back to the climbing community. Being the head route setter at Allez-Up climbing gym allows me to teach others the movements of climbing, which I envoy very much.
I also started the junior team at Allez-Up with my brother in 2010. Working with kids is very important for me. I think maybe deep down I am just trying to create really strong climbing partners for the future! I wanted to give to the kids what I didn’t have when I started climbing.
My goals are simple. I will keep on training as hard as I can to keep pushing my limits on plastic and on rock. I want to travel and climb as much as possible. I will keep competing, learning and contributing to the sport and the community for as long as I can!
