Brrrrrr ¡Qué frio!

It is so cold her in Catalunya at the moment and since La Fabelita went down I've been on a little bit of a down phase both in motivation and strength.  Well timed really, it's Christmas and I'm heading back to Scotland.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Central heating, Ratho, TV, climbing DVDs, hot meals...

So the caves of Northern Spain will have to wait till 2010.  The motivation, that has been absent in the last couple of weeks is already starting to creep back in.  I have a few 8c targets to get my teeth into in January, weather permitting and then hopefully from there, there will still be some room for improvement...

On the inspiration front, Chris Sharma sent Neanderthal 9b the other day.  It would be amazing to be able to climb to the top of the Santa Linya cave from the centre of the cave.  The easiest way is 8c+... question is can I squeeze a plus out of the tank?  


Another way to the top is from the end of my most recent send, here Dani the animal shows us how at 9a...

Cheers POD

Moving into the redpoint crux on La Fabelita 8c (Photo: Pete O'Donovan)

This is a nice photo taken by the original Catalan climbing convert, rucsac empresario and all round great guy, Pete O'Donovan of me on La Fabelita 8c which he has given me for this blog. 

It's so amazing being able to climb on great routes like this everyday I go climbing.  Even though I'm working 6 days a week to be here and only have the possibility of frustratingly short sessions, which makes the projects seem to drag on, I can't complain too much.  It beats the climbing wall anyday.

La Fabelita is done!

Mid 1st Crux, the crack traverse (Photo: Lynne Malcolm)

On Friday all the stress and strain of having a redpoint project finished.  I managed to get up La Fabelita, 8c. My second of this my personal magical grade.  I pretty much did it twice, having redpointed through the hardest move of the top crux on my first attempt.  The second was one of those last minute affairs.  I had to leave the crag at 2:45 to go to work.  So when I pulled on, still pumped, at 2:40 I was in a bit of a rush!  I seemed to get less and less pumped as I climbed.  In the end I climbed smoothly through the whole thing saving the wobble for the last couple of easy moves.  What was the the last 2 months fuss all about?  I lowered off, accepted the congratulations and sprinted to the van, late for work, but happy.

At the halfway rest psyching up for the crux (Photo: Lynne Malcolm) 

As with all these things one project only leads to another.  This weekend has been hard on the body.  Sizing up the new project; Rollito-Sharma Extension 8c, trying to tick Irak Attack, 8a+ while recovering from the hangover from the vino.  The cave is full of overly motivated types, ticking everything and your own personal travails are just that, but that is how it should be.  Its hard not to feed off the energy of Mrazek, Sharma and the man who might be more psyched than Robbie Philips, Joey Kinder.

Ouch, that mono hurts! Moving into the crux section, the mono move isn't actually the hardest!

This weekened has been a rare holiday, 3 day weekend rather than 1, yes!  Today we went exploring and I like what I see.  The Pyrenese in winter has a lot of posibilities...

Fabelita Part 2 & Terradets Mileage - Pron: "Millyajj"

In my element at Terradets (All photos: Lynne Malcolm)

The winter conditions seem to be attractring the world super-powers down to Santa Linya.  Dave Graham, Tomas Mrazek, Chris Sharma, and Joey Kinder have all been getting outshined by team Ratho: McGeek, Buzz, Ally Swinton and Robbie Phillips who have also been spotted crushing the cave in recent days.  With the added enthusiasm of having finally sorted the beta out on La Fabelita I was able to head down last week before classes on a couple of occassions to test it out.  This change of beta was what was needed and I now find myself comfortably redpointing to the final deadpoint, redpoint crux, each time.  The countdown to the send has begun.   

Also at Santa Linya, Lynne crushed her project, Devora Hombres which is basically the hardest 7c+ going and surely marks her as being one step away from becoing the first Scottish woman to climb 8a.  Neil McGeek lived up to 50% of his potential by sending his first 8b, Santa Linya.  Get on Rollito Neil!  As for Lynne's other half, well he spiv-ed the top of Fuck the System and needs to go back up there at least another time but there is no shaddow of a doubt he'll be claiming his first confirmed 9a in the next few days.

Some 9a climber/weirdo and his dog in the back of my van.

The real issue for me now is skin!  The top of my route has a deep-but-sharp mono which tears a huge hole in my finger more or less every time I try.  Tape doesn't seem to work, so my goes are now limited to 1 or 2 a week.  The great news about this is it allows me to do a bit of mileage, my favourite past time.  With this in mind we headed to Terradets.....

 Life is good. Or at least when it's a climbing day!

Half way up El Latido 8a, despite the ground looking like it's and inch below my feet!

I had one route in mind for Terradets, El Latido del Miedo 8a, which is pretty much the classic line at a crag of classics.  I have been to Terradets once before and this route had been soaking so I was psyched to have an opportunity to go back for the onsight.  When we got to the crag the conditions were perfect, a cool breeze and a little sunshine lifted the psyche levels right up.  I warmed up with an onsight of another mega-classic, Occident 7c+, which was steady-away and comes highly recommended.  The onsight of Latido went pretty smoothly and I was happy to add another onsight 8a to my ever growing list (141 8's in total - I'm such a trainspotter).  Later I  had a punt at Millenium another 8a and fell within a couple of bolts of the top having fought my way through the horrible slab crux only to make an amateur reading mistake when it could have been in the bag.  A warm down on Orient 7c made the day complete and one of the most tiring I've had in a long while.

With some ticks in the bag my focus again is returning to La Fabelita this route is so amazing and will be another step forward for my climbing.  Role on Wednesday morning!

Another view of El Latido del Miedo 8a

Poc a Poc... Pure Barry

Little by little, as it is said here in Catalunya, I am making some progress on La Fabelita.  This has been a very frustrating week for getting on the project though.  Wednesday morning saw 40-odd school children close down the cave to climbers for the morning while they learned about neanderthal man.  I think it would have been much more educational for them to watch and cheer me on on a redpoint but it wasn't to be.  Then on friday, my only other midweek gap in my schedule, I was forced into Llieda for a meeting which was about as useful as sun-tan lotion in Glasgow.

Anyhow, the weekend finally arrived and the climbing conditions were "barry" as we say in Vilanova.  Finally the cold has arrived in La Noguera.  Although it might have been nicer to have had it a few degrees warmer I can't complain too much as the friction was muy bueno.

Tired in the summer, and we weren't even working, imagine what its like now.  The three of us are almost dead! L-R Tom, Ellie & Me

Saturady and Sunday have come and gone with progress made all round.  Lynne nearly, so nearly sent Devora Hombres which is the hardest 7c+ this side of Disblia.  I moved my foot a little higher using my Fabelita sequence I pinched from Tom, only to finally discover a method that suits the fat and weak a little better!

As for Tom, well Titan, has been making daily gains on the sickness that is Fuck the System 9a.  Today was incredible though, he fought his way through his high point and now has very little to do before the route goes down.  It is such an inspiration to watch and belay him on this route and makes me want to try my own projects with the same determination he puts in.  Nice! 

Tom Bolger, a little bit strong, OK, very strong, but we don't want him getting a big head!

On the inspiration front too, Andreas Bindhammer sent La Novena Enmienda 9a+ today in the most static, slow and incredible piece of climbing I have ever seen.  This route climbs from the bottom to the very lip of the cave, not a cop-out like my route which stops at half way.  I'd love to imagine myself doing this route one day, even if its only in my dreams. 

Frustration

Redpointing is hard on the head. One minute you are making progress and think things are going to go down quickly, the next it's all going tits up!

Or at least thats the story with La Fabelita this week. I'm happy with the sequence, especially with some new improved foot beta making the technical crux alot easier, but i still can't get through to the working end of the route. I just have to tell myself that its a hard route and these things take time. But I want it all now, there are far too many routes at the cave to get stuck on one!

I did manage to ease the load of the to do list slightly on Saturday by crimping my way up the more Malham-esque Blomu as far as the 2/3 height belay. This far is 8b, but really just a cop out. The full thing goes to the top of the crag at 8c+. A project for the future.

La Fabelita...

Santa Linya is on the cards alot more now the temperature has started to take a serious nose dive here in Lleida. Having finally dealt with the demons of Rollito I was searching for a new project and was attracted to a line up the very steep (it's all steep) right hand side of the cave. Here abouts there is a trio of 8c, 8c+s which share a common start and a cool ramp line which loks more like 7c than 8c. Anyway, it turns out the holds are all a little unhelpful and making upward progress requires a very complicated series of up, down and sideways moves which makes for one of the coolest sport routes I have tried.

Mid crux, the crack and ramp feature proves alot harder than it looks and is shared with La Fabela 8c+

I have been working on La Fabelita which is the entry level version of the 3 routes and goes at 8c. Thanks to Tom I have been able to skip all the hard, frustrating work of figuring out a sequence for the ramp, as I was more or less able to adapt his hard faught sequence to suit me. Unfortunately the power endurance needed to link together all the moves is not quite there yet but training on the route is so fun and will be a great tool for me to progress to mastering 8c a bit better. After 3 days of trying this route my back and abs are ripped apart, my middle finger has a blister from the huge yard on a mono that marks the start of the redpoint crux and I'm psyched out my tiny little mind.

The poor rest at half height, not the no-hand kneebar effort on Pata Negra, La Fabelita 8c

Approaching the redpoint crux in the amazing last light of the day

About to be swallowed by the dark!

I did however find the energy to climb all the way to the top of the cave via a long steady 8b, El Arqueo Logico which was a spicy warm up on my 3rd day on, but a really recommendable route at the grade. (I had done the finish from an easier start the previous day which, perhaps 8a+).


Hats off to Tom as well, who is going like a steam train at the moment. He sent Digital System, 8c, third go this weekend. In my mind this further cnfirms that Ramon is talking out his arse in giving Guilty-Perpetua 8c, the guy just has no idea how good he is, simple as that!

Rollito-Sharma Part 1

The last post talked about me having too many projects. Although this remains the case, I ticked an intermediate project of mine, the fantastic Rollito-Sharma 8b+. Every now and again certain routes turn into personal nightmares and Rollito has been one of those for me. I don't know how many goes it took me in the end but it could have been done in 2 and took more than 15 attempts. For what reasons did I lack the killer finish with this route? I can't put my finger on it. Somedays it was hot, somedays I had a cold, others I felt fine but some strange mental block held me back. Whatever it was, it was a real battle. The problem is I really want to do Rollito-Sharma Extension and Ingravids Eskerps (and its extension). Both of which require me to be a bit more definitive on the crux of Rollito which they all have in common. A little change of scene then battle will recommence. If only I could do it as nicely as Daila in Dosage V!

Too many projects, classes and not enough blogs...

Well I haven't been able to blog very much since I arrived in Catalunya. This is partially due to trying to climb as much as possible but also to the absence of an internet connection at home. When I'm at work, which seems to be taking over all my time now the school year is in full flow, I simply can't be bothered to sit at the computer and think about writing English after hours of trying to explain grammar points that I don't even get right myself!

Since Pata Negra I have been searching for the next big project while ticking a few classics along the way. In Rodellar I followed up with Botanics and Phillipe Cuisiniere, both given 8b+ but neither worth more than 8b. It's a bit of a shame that such routes are so well known and so soft as it gives the impression that Spain is just full of soft touches.

Las Ventanas still has a few routes for me to try!

It certainly isn't as I disciovered when I tried climbing at Disblia, an amazing cave near the village of St. Llorenç de Montgai. This site is about 10mins from the house and is set to be my training ground. It's hard though! I've been working Cadena Perpetua an "old-school" 8c of Dani Andrada's. I've been on it 4 times now and each time I feel like sacking it off. It just seems so unlikely that I'll get it done. I'm going to try and take on Dave Mac's mentality and have more belief and try to enjoy the process of working something close to my limit but I'm very impatient by my very nature.

This trad-like adventure got me thinking of home

With access to Santa Linya still delicate and the weather still a little hot for the cave Rollito-Sharma (and maybe the extension, which I find really really hard) is turning into a long-term project, but only for lack of attempts. We've also managed a few trips to Margalef's Cova Boix, where I'm attempting to stuff my oversized fingers into the little pockets on an 8b+ but again it'll be a siege as this kind of thing does not suit my fat fingers and heavy body!




¡Ramon es mutante!

Tom has been ripping it up at Disblia too. Having done Cadena Perpetua earlier this year he added in 2 harder starts, first came "Arresto Perpetua" which adds an even harder start (than the one I find impossible on Cadena) which he believed to be more like 8c+ and certainly very hard 8c and then came "Guilty Perpetua" which adds a 3 bolt 8b+ to the start and which he thought was harder than the 8c+'s he has done. With a bit of persuasion he gave it 9a only for Ramon to say that he had already done this link and thinks it to be 8c!!!


Ramon seems to be on another planet I don't think he even knows hos strong he is. If Guilty Perpetua is anything less than 8c+ then Cadena... must be more like 8b+ max making Pata Negra more like 8b and further down grading every single route in Rodellar and I don't think I will never climb 8c ever. Cheers Ramon! LOL

Mission Accomplished! 8c

Since I pinned the poster of Ben Moon on my wall climbing Azincourt at Buoux I have dreamed of climbing 8c. In those days that was the hardest route in the world (give or take) and I never actually thought that 8c would be achievable for me. Still, I could dream! As the years have gone by 8c has become less and less cutting edge and more and more of a real possibility for me to actually climb. Having climbed a few 8b+ routes I knew it wouldn’t be beyond me to achieve my personal magical grade.

I don’t know what it is about 8c that captured my imagination so much more than 8c+ or even 9a which, being a whole number higher, just seems that much more unattainable. What ever it is 8c has filled my thoughts an unhealthy amount. Whether it was in the library when I was meant to be studying for medical exams or down the wall training, my mind has always been occupied by the dream of climbing this grade. I nearly did one a couple of years ago, True North at Kilnsey, but this still remains an ongoing project after 2.5 years of almost perma-wetness, hold breakages and the general fatigue of trying a project so far from home stopped that one in its tracks.

The amazing roof of Las Ventanas de Mascun, Pata Negra quests straight through the middle!!

Then this April I came to Spain with Jonny Stocking and during what was largely a wash out of a trip I got on Pata Negra, probably the most famous 8c in Rodellar. The route tackles a 30+ metre unrelenting roof, climbing upside down almost all the way. It is sustained but never super desperate and I though it sounded like the perfect first 8c. Especially seeing as it had been onsighted!

Lost on the roof of Pata Negra, 8c

I was surprised by how hard the sections felt back in April and after going up once decided that I was unlikely to do this route without masses of training. On my return home it started to fill my thoughts more and more. Maybe I could do it afterall? And then, (on a brief return to Spain for the job interview that brought me here now) I heard the bad news…. A Spaniard told us of how a hold had broken after the 1st of 3 boulder problem “cruxes” on Pata Negra, this added a further new crux where a relatively easy but sustained section had been and he said it might not be possible anymore!

Working the moves on the first boulder problem

Still, when I decided to move to Spain I knew what I was going to get on first, I wanted to do 8c so bad and I wanted it to be a “King Line” and I knew of few quite as stunning as Pata Negra. I arrived in the second week of August and got straight to it. After a few sessions of working out the most efficient methods on each of the boulder problems and unlocking a dyno to a small tufa that made the “impossible section” still possible I was ready to start redpointing. Having spent most of 2009 nursing a very sore elbow the fitness was low. The first few days of attempts were more about building up the fitness to climb a route harder than any I had achieved before.

Then all of a sudden on the next visit I stuck the jump move for the first time from the ground, I kept going. I reached the good kneebar rest close to the end of the roof, then the 3rd crux “el paso de ombro”, the shoulder press move (which is probably the iconic move of the route) was done, I fell just after, but I knew it was on. Then the lurgy hit! 3 days on the sofa made me a little lighter but added more to the frustration than anything else.

Close up of the same boulder problem

After another visit and another few days away from Rodellar I returned with a plan. I had been trying the route in very hot mid 30s heat most of the time which was unbearable but largely unavoidable given that most climbers seem to be allergic to early mornings. This time however I was going to persuade Lynne to get out of bed early so as to benefit from the cold morning air. She agreed and to my surprise she did manage to get our her van when I came knocking at 7.10 the next morning. After a gentle warm up I was tying in under the route just before 9am, the sun was just coming up over the hill but the rock had not felt so sticky in all the time I had been trying the route.

Hitting the first crux holds perfectly I knew I felt good, landing the jump felt easy, the sustained traverse into the kneebar like a doddle. Unusually I didn’t feel the need to stay there as long as ususal. Into the shoulder press… a formality. The redpoint crux, right at the lip now all that stands between me and my dream. This time the holds felt better than they ever had. I put in the huge drop knee and slapped the crimp that usually felt so far awy…the 2 finger pocket, cut the feet loose, “YES”, still there, sloper, crimp, lunge for the jug…"I’m still on!" I scream for focus. Its only 7a ish from here but I don’t want to lose it now. I clip the chains. “Its over. I have climbed 8c!”

Kicking back with Dillan after a cerveza too many in celebration!

Afterwards the feeling of lightness that took over my body was incredible. I felt indestructible. I just wanted to climb everything. Nobody could understand it. Why would I want to climb anything else after doing the project of a lifetime? But I did. 10 mins later and a 7c+ onsight in the bag, then an 8a, then 7b+, another 2 7c+s. I felt like I could just keep going and going. If only every climbing day you felt that good! Alas the day had to come to an end and the hangover has definitely begun. Typing this I’m still tired 2 days later, wondering when I’ll next feel like I did that day.

Once is never enough!