Just spent a few days at Ager. We stayed at 1300m just above the climbing sector, this was pretty much the view out of the van - absolutely stunning! The climbing was pretty awesome too. Solid, compact and high friction limestone, with really good lines up cracks and corners. It had everything; walls, slabs and overhangs!
Just spent a few days climbing at Os de Balaguer. A really peaceful gorge, situated by olive and almond groves. The climbing was mostly vertical with a few overhangs thrown in for good measure! There are some great routes there, but some a are little dirty/loose, so were good practice for trad climbing in the UK!
Claire and I celebrated our sends of the 7a and 8a with some lovely Champagne. We even bought some ice to get it to a suitable temperature! We might have chased it up with some Whisky too - felt a bit rough on the morning after!
Cutting loose in Siurana with a massive run-out! Don't fall here (last bolt at base of photo)!
Found a great spot to wash in the river near to Siurana. It was very peaceful and looked very inviting. It was sooo cold though!
Focusing before a red-point attempt on Marihauna.
I’d done the crux of Marhauna - my 8a project - but still had work to do. Only yesterday had another climber (looking super solid) fallen from above the crux. I was quite pumped (but not stupidly so), and had to climb the three bolts of 7a+ climbing to the top. From the undercuts I positioned my feet and made a big throw to a ledge. Now for the awkward bit… The last hard sequence was a teetering mantle onto the ledge! I reached high for a poor left hand side-pull, threw my left toes high onto the ledge and teetered on using tiny holds for balance. A small respite – I was in balance on the ledge! Just some technical moves on small crimps to finish. It’s not easy climbing and I was a little pumped; however, I knew I could finish the route and stayed calm. A few minutes later I clipped the chains on Marihauna – my first 8a!
The route went on the 7th go. I was particularly pleased to get it because I’d felt like giving up on the 5th go! I’d given it everything on the 5th try and got so pumped and fallen from the end of the crux. It felt so hard to link, and I couldn’t believe I’d have the power endurance anytime soon. However, I decided to come back a day later and try to climb with a very relaxed attitude. I realised I’d been trying to hard; I needed to climb with full commitment, but stay relaxed and not over-grip. It sounds obvious, but it’s hard to do when climbing right on the limit. It worked… on the 6th and 7th (successful) attempt I felt relaxed and arrived at the crux feeling calm and confident. A slight error in body position threw me off the crux on the 6th go, but I didn’t make the same mistake on the 7th!
It was such a great feeling; I’d climbed my first F8a. It didn’t sink in straight away, but I’ve been really pleased ever since.
Dan came out to visit us for three weeks and his girlfriend, Lisa, joined him for the last week of his trip. Dan bought a pimping van for the holiday and drove from the UK to Spain in pretty much one hit!
After some rest I decided to have a go at redpointing the route. I wasn’t convinced I’d get far, but gave it a shot. I struggled and fought through the series of powerful moves, and somehow reached the last two moves of the crux sequence. I was very surprised to be there, but had nothing left. I made a long reach up and twisted my hand backwards into a Gaston undercut. I now had to summon some body tension, reach a poor side pull and move my feet. I screamed at the top of my voice, didn’t find any body tension and came flying off. I was annoyed I’d got so close, but equally surprised I’d got anywhere near that far. It was late in the day and I was very tired, but decided to leave the draws in and have one last go…
My back and shoulders were aching horribly and another go seemed futile. I decided to give it a go anyway and embarked on my last attempt. The whole crux sequence went badly; I was so tired and every move felt right on my limit. I struggled on, my body positions were all wrong and my footwork severely lacking – mostly due to my very tired body. Somehow I managed to reach the last two moves of the crux again! I had nothing left, but somehow summoned enough body tension to grind my toe onto the shiny foothold. After a massive fight I’d reached the jug. I was wasted, but managed to struggle up the last half of the climb to the chains! F7b+ and F7c in one day!
A F7a+ at Raco de Finestra.
Lately the weather has been really hot - we’ve had daily max temps of 31C! This has meant lovely warm evenings, but very sweaty climbing conditions! We’ve mostly managed to stay cool by climbing in the shade and dunking ourselves into a freezing cold reservoir.
At last Juan is back and has a new heart. I went on an epic 15 hour journey to retrieve him. I left Siurana at 7.30am and began with a 22 mile hilly bike ride to Reus. Then took a train to Tarragona and a further (very slow) train to Valencia. In Valencia I needed to get the metro to a connecting station, but unfortunately by bike wasn’t allowed on the train. This meant a 4 mile dash across the centre of the city. I managed to acquire a tourist map from some English tourists and rushed off to catch a train leaving the other station in 15 mins! Normally, 4 miles in 15 minutes would be easy; however, the Valencian road system was a labyrinth of one way streets! All the streets seemed to be no entry, so I got a little creative with the Highway Code and just made it. I spent a further 35 mins on the train and finished with an quick 11 mile ride to reach Juan…We received the long awaited message yesterday that our beloved Juan is finally repaired and ready for us to collect – woop woop.
Jase left very early this morning for an epic journey involving 25 mile cycle, 3 trains and another 15km cycle (almost like some weird triathlon!). He then has to drive all the way from south Valencia back to Siruana hopefully with all parts of the engine staying where they should be.
I currently have my fingers crossed that we will all be safely reunited sometime this evening.
