Cervia

Parking at the bottom of the track we walked up to the church to see if Ivan could take the tiny gravel path to the main parking for the area. We got instantly distracted by the boulders near the parking and walked the circuit, scouting out what the crag had to offer. We spotted a few gems but unfortunately they required about ten crash pads and + 10 spotters all on one really big boulder. Retiring for the night we drove Ivan up to the church and settled down. The warm weather was a great change to Albarracin and we spent the night sat out admiring the church side sunset. The next day psyche was running low so we potted around for an hour or so, before moving on to a warm shower and a hotel stay for my birthday.

Can Boquet

Armed with GPS co-ordinates from Ixi, our sat nav sent us up the opposite side of the hill and we soon ran out of road; one suitable for Ivan anyway, we retreated to a local campsite and orchestrated another plan of attack from the other side of the hill for tomorrow . Tomorrow came and success we found ourselves at the top of the hill, following the topo we began a four hour search for what we thought were the first few areas. Defeated and demoralised after only finding 3 or 4 boulders worthy of a climb we began our descent and search for a sleeping spot. Part way down the track we found the tell tale signs of a climbers van, so we pulled up to investigate. After only ten minutes chatting to a local we found one area and had solid directions to the others. Along with directions to a very ideal scenic sleeping spot. We spent the next two days exploring the 2 biggest areas sector Nou and Classic, I climbed the first 7c of the area Croquetman and the first 7a of sector classic AleBop , exploring we found a smaller area called Granato and I spent the last few hours climbing Rock Games, a very nice 8a in a great setting.

Savasonna

1st day in Savasonna we did a scout of the area, and as we were admiring a boulder a familiar pad and hoody was walking up the path towards us, Ixi once again our German friend from Albarracin. After climbing for about an hour a local named Xevi turned up looking for Ixi, the plan was Ixi would meet a different local for some advice on the area, but car troubles meant he couldn’t make it so Xevi was sent in his place. He was an excellent substitute, he spent the next few hours throwing us at problems, introducing us to new boulders and demonstrating all the classics of the area with ease.

Ok, so we ended up staying in Albarracin a bit longer than we expected, 5 weeks in fact! Almost enough time to send all my projects for the area. With the weather making us feel like home (4 out of the 5 weeks typical English weather!) we've managed to climb pretty much every day, this was a major struggle some days as the snow is somewhat off putting when you can't feel your fingers and your toes feel like ice blocks! But perseverance is the key, more hunting for dry problems and brushing snow off top outs to allow for a dry ascent in the morning soon became the norm. 

After 5 weeks of friends, BBQ's and copious amounts of climbing it's time to move on; so here's a few of the best photos from our time here, some of the best ones are courtesy of our good friend Ixi who's photography skills and crag knowledge will be missed, until we meet again in Germany...! Also our good friend Andy aka 'Squiff' has just launched a website of his climbing activites; and with another 2 months left in Albarracin we expect even more great ascents : ) check out his climbing here.