Boo hoo, the trip is over!
We ended the trip as we began... clambering on the beautiful boulders of Fontainebleau in the forests south of Paris. In all we spent 12 days in Font and enjoyed 8 days of climbing. The Bouldering (with no ropes and just crash pads) was a welcome change from the sport climbing and gave us a good mental break from the mental pressures of falling off all the time! Although we still fell lots, is was generally short distances onto comfy pads!
Ideally, the best weather for bouldering is cool and crisp; below 10C and low humidity makes it much easier to hold the often very sloping holds. When the weather is hotter the rocks feels greasy and the palms sweat lots making it much more effort to hold on. Unfortunately, and rather predictably, the summer weather was hot and humid! Most days were 30C and humid! The morning and evening were pretty balmy too! However, we did have one (relatively) cool day with a chilly max of 22C. This was the sending day, and I manged to get a 7a+ and a 7a.
Claire climbed her best ever and managed a handful of 6a's and a couple of 6b's, which was great considering the friction. Claire's shoulder is definitely improving and, although still not better, she is still seeing a steady increase in strength.I was pretty pleased with the 8 days. I managed nearly 20 6a-6c's and one 6c+, two 7a's and a 7a+.
We stopped in at Ceuse for just over a week, and enjoyed the world famous climbing. We both agreed that the climbing in Ceuse is the some of the best we’ve done anywhere. The rock is exceptional and the routes are brilliant – so many great climbs. There were, however, a few downsides… The more popular routes are quite polished, which can make some moves more challenging. However, this didn’t generally spoil the routes too much. The biggest challenge with climbing at Ceuse was the walk in. The crag sits at around 1800m, some 500m climb above the parking area. The walk was a 2 mile (doesn’t sound much) steep walk, which took around an hour. It was quite an effort, especially in the heat, but it was a lovely walk. The flora and fauna at this time of year are stunning; so many wild flowers and lots of bugs (see ‘Bugs’ post) and lizards to look at (the lizards were a little camera shy though)!
We also spent some time with a lovely French couple – Fabien and Amelie. We met Fabien and Amelie in Spain and they told us to get in touch if we went to Ceuse. They live in a beautiful house, with stunning views, just below the crag of Ceuse. They were extremely kind and let us use their shower and internet, and invited us for a great dinner one evening.
We (reluctantly) left Spain and began the final part of our trip through France and home. We stopped for the weekend to stay with Adrian, Delphine, Liam and Luka in Toulouse. We had a lovely stay and were lucky enough to time our visit with Delpine’s fancy dress birthday party. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any costumes in the van, but (fortunately) their neighbour had many costumes. Claire went as a clown and I ended up in a grass skirt – not for the first time! We ate, drank got merry and danced lots! The Sunday was spent relaxing and recovering!
We choose to leave the van for one night and headed for an adventure in the Pyrenees. We loaded our packs with food, clothing, and a sleeping bag and trekked off into the wilderness. The Pyrenees are particularly beautiful at this time of year, with the many wild flowers blooming and most peaks still capped with the winters snow. Another advantage of hiking in May is it is still very quiet – we saw only a handful of people. One disadvantage is that the snow is still lingering on the Cols and we had to do some creative side-stepping to avoid the deep, wet snow.
When passing one lake we met two French guys, they were particularly friendly and offered us an aperitif! We don’t normally drink on a hike, but thought it rude to decline! We joined them and they poured a generous helping of Pastise and took a ‘Sigg’ bottle to add some water. A red liquid poured into the Pastise and the French guy looked particularly embarrassed. He’d mistaken his bottles and poured red wine into the Pastise. We hurriedly tossed the mixture aside and we were soon drinking Pastise with water. We chatted in broken ‘Franglais’ for half and hour and continued our hike.
We arrived at the refuge early afternoon and made ourselves at home in the great (free) ‘winter’ room. The ‘winter’ room consisted of three rooms: one for storing shoes and packs; one for cooking; and a bedroom with room for twelve on bunks equipped with mattresses and blankets. In the summer the refuges are fully open and serve food and drink and have many more rooms available (this isn’t free!). We were joined by two other German guys. They were friendly, but one of them snored loudly!
We left early (8.30am) the next morning to avoid the impending afternoon storms. The hike back went smoothly, but we didn’t meet any friendly French guys, but we did meet a marmot!
Cavallers is an area by a large dam and reservoir high in the Spanish Pyrenees. It is a beautiful national park with many crystal clear streams and rivers, and majestic, towering peaks. The area is home to many granite crags and boulders with lots of (mostly) slab climbing and great bouldering. We climbing a little on the slabs, but unfortunately seepage rendered many routes un-climbable. 
We spent one day bouldering and played on some great problems in a pretty wild flower meadow.
Collegats was one of the first climbing areas to be developed in the Lleida region of Northern Spain. It is a dramatic canyon, which has been carved by a large and furious river. The climbing 
ranges from great multi-pitch routes to equally good single pitch climbs. We only climbed single pitch routes, but some were 45m – quite an epic journey! We went to sector La Pedrera which is only accessible via a tyrolean traverse. This involved crossing the torrent of a river on a single steel cable. We used of climbing harnesses and steel Mallions to run on the cable and hauled ourselves across the 30m span. It was very exciting and particularly hard work when wearing a heavy pack – the stomach muscles had to work hard to stop our bodies folding backwards under the weight. Sector Pedrera was very stunning and sported some massive endurance routes on a slightly overhanging wall. I was pleased to onsight a (45m) 7a+ and (38m) 7b.
Abella is a tiny village nestled in a dramatic mountain environment. The surrounding area is festooned with massive limestone fins. Not only are these fins stunning, but there are many climbing routes. We were both feeling tired here, so did a little easier climbing and went for a great walk and swim in a (relatively warm) stream!
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!
