Climber describes moment she felt sand crumble in her hands durning sandstone climb
A brave climber has spoken of the moment she felt sand CRUMBLE in her palms as she scaled a rock.
Laetitia Gonnon, from France, said it was ‘very mentally challenging’ to climb the sandstone towers in Ostrov, Czech Republic.
The 24-year-old took the challenge on earlier this month having had a lot of experience in climbing.
She said: “It’s very interesting in terms of mental strength because you are scared, but at the same time you want to climb the tower.

A brave climber has spoken of the moment she felt sand CRUMBLE in her palms as she scaled a rock.
“You have to decide in a split second and once you’ve decided to go, that’s it.
“It is very mentally demanding because you cannot use a lot of protection.
“Sometimes, the first protection is 8 metres above the ground so you’re terrified of falling.
“To protect yourself from falling, most people use some knotted ropes to stick in the cracks.

Laetitia Gonnon, from France, said it was very mentally challenging.
“At least then if you fall, the knots should stay stuck in the crack and hold your weight. Hopefully.”
She added: “Sandstone is made of more or less compact sand and when you touch this rock, you can feel the little grains of sand.
“Sometimes you even have some of it staying in your hands.
“This rock is quite easy to break and is quite rare – there are only a very few places in the world where you can rock climb on sandstone.”

To climb the sandstone towers in Ostrov, Czech Republic. The 24-year-old took the challenge on earlier this month having had a lot of experience in climbing.