Angering the gods!

We have now moved further south and are in the Costa Blanca area. We're currently staying in a friend's Villa (Thank you Harry and Peter) and enjoying hot showers! We loved the area in Northern Spain and still have loads of climbing left to do there, however, we felt we'd better explore south. After all, we can visit the North again on our way back up!

We may have jinxed ourselves with all these posts of great weather and photos of blue skies! It couldn't last forever and we had a few days of rain last week and some big storms last night. Managed to get a very angry photo of a storm flexing its might over the hills.

SHORT VIDEO OF STORM ON YOUTUBE

We plan to stay here for a few more days and then head further South.

Cake Update….

The cake point battle looks set be a tough contest this trip. Following my success on the 6b+, my next climbing day I was full of good vibes and managed a nice 6b onsight to give me a total of 4 cake points, and a 4-2 lead!

I was in the lead for a whole day… With Jase’s brilliant send of El Marginao he earned an additional 3 points so has a total of 5 cake points. So the contest continues with Jase in the lead 5-4 (just – perhaps if I let him eat all the cake I may stand a chance of winning).

The Outcast...

Or in Spanish El Marginao – the route I’ve been working. Success! At last, I finally clung on till the bitter(sweet) end and clipped the chain – what a great feeling (no video though – sorry)! I only just managed to latch the hold at the end of the crux sequence and let out a very loud, but slightly too girly scream! Was absolutely wasted and still had to climb the steep (but easier moves) to the chain. I’d had a lot of trouble managing to clip the chain in previous practice attempts and was quite concerned how I’d managed it when completely shattered at the end of a red point. In the end, absolute stubbornness and really jamming my hand (it hurt, but adrenaline masked the pain) into a crack stopped me
falling.

This is a video of me on an earlier attempt – an example of what happens when you don’t latch the hold!

YOUTUBE VIDEO

It is such and amazing line and definitely the best sport route I’ve ever done! I can’t wait to get on the F7c+ crack too!

[ON RIGHT: the chain is at the top of the pic and final bolt at my shin! The video shows how far I fell from this move! I fell a lot further from the chain on a previous practice!!!]

{stills from video, hence mediocre quality}

Van Ice Box

Although the weather has been incredibly stable and sunny, it has turned a bit cold again! Got a new record of -5C in the van and -10C outside the van at 9:30am! On the plus side, conditions are great at the sheltered crags – feels lovely in the sun.

Rest days…

Some rest days have been spent on the bike and others have been spent doing very little. We are currently staying in a really sweet van spot – all round views, loads of sun and a great place to sit on the bouldering pad and drink beer. These shots are all taken from our current parking spot!

The black bottle in the foreground is washing/showering water heating in the sun. We have surrounded with the silver reflectors and it gets lovely and warm on a sunny day – so warm we have to cool it with cold water sometimes.

El Marginao

We are currently staying in the Arboli area – a pretty area with lots of great climbing. It’s not as popular as Siurana, but does have better easier/medium routes. About a week ago we checked out a crag called ‘El Dard’. We weren’t expecting much, but were very impressed when the main wall came into view! The massive and overhanging wall soared from the ground and was punctuated by soaring crack lines. The crag sports some stunning lines starting at f7b. The route of the crag has to be El Marginao (f7c), which is a massive leaning and overhanging crack splitting the crag in two (spot Claire standing under the route!). The route looked stunning and I really wanted to climb it! Although a big challenge, the route was good because it was long, sustained and steep. In general the holds are big and there isn’t too much crimping involved (good for my injured fingers!). However, those who know me will know that cracks are not my strong point, especially when very overhanging, pumpy and often on open-handed holds. An ideal project to ‘train my weaknesses’ on!

I climbed the route initially moving from bolt to bolt and take regular rests to work out the moves. This went pretty well until I got to the final bolt before the chain (top) and realised that the last section was quite run out – about 5+ metres. I tried repeatedly to climb to the chain, but kept getting ejected into space! Wonderful... a 5 metre run-out and the crux right at the end of the route! After many falls I worked out the crux moves and made it to the lower off, unfortunately I was so tired I couldn’t hold on any longer! I couldn’t hold the big holds, I couldn’t hold the chain and I certainly couldn’t clip the chain! There I was… right at the top of a 36m route, with a 5+ metre run-out with nothing left. The inevitable happened… I relaxed, felt the air rush past my body, tried to stop my stomach coming out of my mouth enjoyed the 35-40ft flight downwards (no video - sorry!). I was happy to feel the rope go tight and Claire overcome by the laws of physics got dragged a few metres up the route. With nothing left, I bailed of the route and vowed to return.

We’ve since returned and I’ve had much better attempts on the route. I climbed to the last bolt yesterday and even managed half of the crux sequence – so nearly there! (see video – This is the top 2/3 of the route) It’s going to take some determination, but I think the route will go (I might exclaim a 'bit' after falling off).

VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

The Battle of the Cake Points Begins

So far this trip I’ve been taking things easy with my climbing due to my previous shoulder injury trying to climb but not to re-injure or make anything worse. Finally with my shoulder remaining stable I decided it time to stop Jason eating all the cake and get on the cake point ladder. In our latest (of many) guide books I found a nice looking crag with lots of routes that suited my style of climbing. A near vertical wall with crimpy edges, good bolting and a nice 6b+ route to get me started. The route was the hardest climb I’d attempted all holiday so it was a pleasant surprise that after working the moves on the route a couple of time I managed to lead it on the first redpoint attempt.

With my first cake points on the board I also had enough left in my arms to take a look at a 6c project on the same wall. This one is noticeably harder but perhaps on my next visit I can add some more cake points to my score.

[Not sure what Jason is looking at!]

Cake points and injuries…

Claire and I are currently battling it out in a hotly contested ‘cake point’ contest. Cake points are gained by climbing routes of a certain grade. Claire gets cake points for climbing routes at f6b and above and I get points for routes f7b and above. The minimum route grade for cake points is based on our recent onsight grades, and takes into account injuries! Claire gets one cake point for climbing a f6b redpoint (after practice) and 2 cake points for climbing it onsight/flash (first go). Then at f6b+, 2 cake points for redpoint and 4 for onsight/flash and so on. Therefore the onsight/flash gains double the points of the redpoint. I get one point for a f7b redpoint and so on.

Six weeks into a road trip we aren’t exactly racking up loads of cake points… Claire has 2 with one f6b+ redpoint and I have 2 with a f7b+ redpoint. We have been climbing quite a lot recently, but we are both using the old excuse of injuries! Claire’s 18+ month old shoulder injury is still nagging, but the good news is that it is definitely improving and Claire is starting to climb harder and more frequently. I just have the lame excuse of some sore pulleys in a couple of my fingers, which is only minor but seems to be niggling and stopping me from pulling hard on crimps!

So we are currently level pegging and things are sure to hot up in this thrilling contest of woman and beast! (May the best woman win – erm sorry I mean person obviously. Claire =)

Margalef

We are currently in Margalef staying by a beautiful reservoir – these shots are pretty much taken from the van. The climbing in is on a conglomerate rock is often involves pulling on small pockets. Since are fingers are not used to this intensity we are gradually warming into the climbing… So far we are very impressed!

Obscene decorations…

The main purpose of blog is to keep friends and family up to date with our travels, however, I can’t resist getting onto a small soapbox…

Most climbing destinations we visit are frequented by many climbers, and it seems that the large majority travel and sleep in vans. There are obvious places to park and the quiet, flat and picturesque spots are sought after. Margalef – where we are currently staying – is particularly busy in this holiday period and this puts some strain on the local ‘environment’. Without putting it too bluntly, people have natural urges and there are no toilets. I thought most people knew how to be considerate, however, it seems not! It would be nice if people at least stepped sideways off paths, but most annoying is people’s complete ignorance of how long ‘papel higienico’ takes to biodegrade! I’m not just talking about leaving it lying around… A few times I’ve seen it literally draped around trees and shrubs – WHY? Admittedly, the pink garlands contrasted beautifully with the dark green foliage, and it is Christmas, but does one need to decorate the local flora with the remnants of their visit. Perhaps their proximity to the path resulted in an unexpected interruption and their sudden frenzy to preserve modesty resulted in them flinging papel higienico in all directions!? Whatever the reason, it’s not on!!!