3 weeks in and a constant ass whooping with the grades of the problems; most of the strong climbers in the valley prefer routes. Hence the boulders developed by them are stamina fests, this is not my usual short powerful 5-10 move problems and I have been falling off and struggling on 7b’s to 7c’s, I definitely didn’t think I would bag an 8a before we left this beautiful valley. However, on a sunny day in Val di Mello I found something just my style a seven move 8a called Il Vento. By no means did this go easily, the angle of the boulder to the angle of the dipped ground coupled with a very low toe hook and a poor smear to start is a recipe for dabbing.

 Lake Garda

I have been a bit lax on the blog front; after Melloblocco we spent 2 weeks travelling Italy with friends, taking in some sites around Venice, Pisa and Lake Garda. Then after 2 weeks relaxing we arrived back in Val Masino raring to climb. Only we were met with nine days of continuous rain, and after going stir crazy hiding in the van, the weather finally improved with the arrival of our ‘Targasonne’ friends Jason and Claire.

After a relaxed start to Italy with my parents at Lake Como a few days with good food, good company and a hotel stay, my parents departed for the airport and we set our replacement sat nav for Mello. The aim being to arrive a few days before the infamous festival, giving us time to look around, we had a walk through the valleys and got our bearings and managed an impromptu climbing session on a classic, Jesus Christ Superstar.

Ever since we were snowed out of Targasonne on our first visit it has always been the plan to pop back in on the way past on our route to Italy. When we arrived conditions were perfect, the snow had been and gone so we got a few solid days of climbing; I was able to visit sector Taz, an area which we didn’t get to visit as we were chased out by the snow. 

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.