Show your Support
Saturday, 30 March 2013
To Cervia and Beyond
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.
The next day plans were made to accompany Xevi to a new area Fussimanya after a flash tour of this impressive area, he concentrated his attention to pointing both me and Ixi to classics of our grades, including his own personal projects. After a successful day and several ascents including El Jambe 7b+ I finished of the area with an ascent of Boquerom, using Xevi’s suggested beta which turns out to be a harder and excellent extension to the 7b+ classic.
Third day on we were set to meet Xevi at another local area La Comarca, so we spent the night in a brilliant setting close to the crag and in the morning bundled ourselves into ixi’s home and drove the remaining distance, across very bad dirt tracks. Waiting for Xevi we started to work our way through some of the classics including Guerilla’s crack 6a, Samsara 6b, and we found ourselves at the amazing boulder that was Fisical Brothers. Xevi arrived just in time to talk me through the high top out of Ayurveda 7b+. With time getting on and with an invite to Xevi and Nuria's for a traditional Catalonian supper we finished off the day with some entertaining slabs. Then retired for a great evening with friends, fantastic food, a hot shower, great hospitality and a serious game of after dinner jenga.
After one last day of climbing together in Savasonna we all parted , Easter holidays have arrived and so has the rain, Xevi and Nuria are spending their holidays in Albarracin, Ixi’s on a slow drive home to Germany via L’odeve, and we are waiting out the rain on warmer ground before heading up to Targasonne to revisit some unfinished business.
Adios Spain ,Bonjour France.
Monday, 11 March 2013
Auf wiedersehen Albarracin
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.
Friday, 15 February 2013
The Sunshine Cometh
Yesterday we awoke to a massive contrast of weather, overnight it went from days of barely breaking 5 degrees to a morning of 20 degrees plus! Nicer than a British summer : ) without a cloud in sight and the sun beating down it felt like Spain really should feel; although there was no sea or sand in sight. Kay, now happy as can be with the new found warmth, was surprisingly up for spending Valentine’s Day trudging around the forest climbing the day away. I do feel this was only classed as acceptable after I had proposed the idea of going out for a meal for the evening and spending the night in a hotel. The prospect of someone else cooking tea followed by a shower was more than enough to excite us both!
La Cornisa, 7b
Friday, 8 February 2013
More Friendly Faces
Cosmos… On my last post I said to ‘watch this space’, well I hope no one’s holding their breath. After another hour of effort I was shut down again (plenty of time left for another shot another day though), 2 minutes later the friendly faces of Andy, Hannah and pooch River walked round the corner. Having lived here for the past few months (Lucky buggers) we are now abusing their local knowledge of the crags, and it’s great to have a couple of mates from back home to climb with.
La Fuente, 8a
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Albarracin
.jpg)
We are currently re-visiting Albarracin, it was an easy decision having been here once before, we spent 5 days here a couple of years ago and the climbing was brilliant. Armed with a re-vamped much more developed guide book we have some new areas to explore, as well as some unfinished business to attend to.
Friday, 25 January 2013
Dry Rock and Sunshine : )
_2887x743.jpg)
With and underdeveloped guidebook for the area we picked our way through the 12 sectors. A lot of the problems I was psyched to try seemed worn, sandy and missing a hold or two; others were simply too highball or committing for a single spotter. This hasn’t stopped me getting a few good ascents. One of which even had a name, Spanair (strange for this area).
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Sunny Spain... Who Said That???
After heading south to Spain to avoid the bad weather, we went to the Spanish locals winter crag, El Cogul.
_3896x1469.jpg)
A massive contrast from where we had just climbed in Targasonne, from hardly granite to soft crumbly sandstone. Not to worry thought should be just like back home. We had a few days of getting to know the area and then the rain caught up with us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Follow me..
