Siurana

Wow - Greg and I are finally in Catalunya. So far we have made the drive out to Siurana twice - the roads are all super windy and steep. It takes us about an hour to get to the parking lot. This morning Olivia threw up on the way up the road from Cornudella de Montsant to Siurana - Greg and I also felt quite sick. The weather so far has , as expected, been quite hot.

Yesterday, our second day in Spain, we went to Can Marges Lower to do a little 5.9 slab climbing. The rock at Can Marges is filled with water dimples, and the climbing can be quite thin at times. I'm always amazed at how terrible I am at slab - I even had to take once on the 5.9. Liv and Greg both got on it to start off our trip. After a little slab, we went back to the Moorish village that sits above the clifis. The village has the most amazing views - you can see right to Arboli and Montsant. After walking around a little, we went do to another slab sector called Sector _____ India, where we got on a 10a slab. Greg and I worked the climb for a bit, but neither of us could figure out the ending sequence on "Apache" (6a+).

Today we woke up early (7am) - perhaps too early, as we were pretty tired getting in the car. We had planned to camp at Siurana tonight, but that didn't end up working out. After our hour-long drive to the car park, we hiked in to L'olla, walking past El Patti and "La Rambla". L'olla is a short, overhung crag, maybe 30 feet tall and 30 degrees overhung with tufas and pockets. After having seen Obe do this (8a+) tufa climb in Dosage 5, I was hooked on the area. Upon getting there, though, I was quite intimidated by the difficulty of the lines. I got on the 8a+ today but putting up draws on 13c is HARD! I think we are going to try to get a stick clip soon, wich should make it easier to work routes. Anyway, feeling sick and tired, and a little defeated, we headed back home for the day.

Tomorrow it looks like we'll be heading to Margalef to check out some of the easier 4, 5, and 5+ climbing in the region. Hopefully I'll be able to put some photos up soon.

Greg and I made it to Rumney for a few hours yesterday. It was hot and very humid, so we decided that it would be best to let Greg get some experience leading sport routes outside before we leave for Siurana on Tuesday. Dr. No and Techno will have to wait till the fall it looks like...

It has been a long time since I have updated this, but I hope to start again. Greg and I leave for Catalunya a week from tomorrow, and I'm super excited! I've been climbing really well in the gym, doing laps on the two 13b/c routes... hopefully I'm prepared for some of the mid-length routes. I doubt it will help for the pure resistance 50m+ routes, but what would. Surprisingly I haven't lost any power - I can static 1-5-9 on the campus board now, which was one of my goals for the summer.

This Friday and Saturday I plan to head to Rumney - I've planned to do so for the past 2 weekends, but weather and familial obligations have prevented me from doing so. If I make it up there, I'd like to finish up Dr. No (13d/14a) and jump on Technosurfing (12b). Other than that, I just want to touch real rock again! It seems like its been forever....

Great Barrington

Greg and I left for GB early this morning from NJ. We'd never driven up from home before, and thought it would be about 2 hours - turns out the way the GPS had us go involved lots of backroads, and it took about 3 hours. 

Anyway, it was Greg's first time there, so I showed him all the classic moderates. He sent Hairy White Thing (V3/4) and tried a few other climbs. Sounds like he liked the gneiss. 

Before we went over to Hairy White Thing, I gave a few burns on Filter (v9), and on my first go fell going to the jug. After Greg sent, we went back to Filter and I finished it up in a couple more tries. After that I gave Fotowa a few burns, but my left pointer and ring fingers started bleeding. On the way out we stopped by the Speed Boulder so Greg could see it, and I figured I'd give Castalettes (V9) a few burns. I'd previously thought that this problem would never go for me, but I sent on my third burn today - super stoked! It was a good day, and we took a better route home and made the drive only 2 hours.

Just a week till Hueco!!! Stoked!

Woah - My trip to Hueco is coming quick! With the recent snowstorm in the northeast it is looking like I won't be getting outside much. So far this has meant long sessions in the gym, core workouts, and weighted campusing. Maybe I will get out to Great Barrington after Christmas - I hope at least. 

Olivia's parents recently offered to let me stay with them in Falset, Spain this summer, which I'm hoping to do (hopefully for at least 2 weeks). Falset is about 40 minutes from Siurana and Montsant, where there are world-class crags! Unfortunately it will be super hot in July, but at least I'll be climbing! Anyone ever been to Siurana/Montsant/Falset? Any tips? I'd love to check out Albaraccin if I can somehow get my hands on a car, too (or if there is a way to get there by train?)

Da Gunks

Wow - Thanksgiving went by WAY to fast. I had a good time while I was home, though. Hit the gym on tuesday and worked a sport route for a little, nearly decked a couple times, but had a fun time overall. I haven't trained endurance in months, but surprisingly I felt good on routes. Anyway, Saturday Greg and I headed up the new paltz to meet Mike Arthur and Mikey Rhosler. Well they were their usual selves and didn't wake up till 11am, then missed the exit to new Paltz - we didn't see them till 2pm. 

Anyway, we were climbing by 1030am, and Greg got on a bunch of the moderates and had a good time. While we were warming up by the Gill egg with Jeff and Andrew, I met Chris Sierzant - you might've seen him on the cover of urban climber? Hes a cool guy in person, and definitely strong. I guess he was in the area for thanksgiving and wanted to see what the northeast was all about. I told him he had to see some real new england bouldering, and to check out GB - that pebbly conglomerate at the gunks doesn't compare. Anyway, we worked our way down the carriage road and I finally ended up at The Art of Nothing (8pts) with Jeff. We worked this a little, and I missed the good part of the lip a few times before giving up. This was the only problem I realllly worked all day. Even Lovely was a sheet of ice - bummer. I might work that in the future, though. Oh, and Bismark is a pile - i'm never getting on that.

Every time I go to the gunks (read: carriage road) I'm reminded that the only line I really love there is Crouching Dragon (11pts).  Mike showed up and almost sent first burn, falling off the last move. Second burn he matched the lip and fell. a few more tries falling off the last move and he gave up. I wish I could not warm up and nearly send an 11.

Great Barrington, frozen

Jeremy, Sam, Chelsea, and I headed out to GB this morning to meet Adrian, Gary and Murph. I've lately decided that GB is without a doubt the best bouldering area I've been to in the northeast. Anyway, it was forecast to be a chilly 27 degrees today, and it was definitely colder with the 15mph winds. After warming up we headed right up to the Phen Phen wall to work The Echo (v9) and Filter (v9). I gave Filter three or so burns, and came up with some good beta to avoid the penultimate hard move. The lockoff feels easier to me, but setting up the foot is definitely difficult. Gary was able to send on his second go using my beta. Anyway, I gave up on Filter for the day to work on my real goal, The Echo. Jeremy and I epiced on The Echo for a long time, and I must have fell off the jug in the seam 5 or 6 times before finally sticking it. Jeremy also sent, matching the left hand and going up to the seam. Next we headed to Fotowa (v9) to burn our tips a little more. I got about five burns in before my left index finger started gushing blood. This line should go in a couple tries when I'm fresh. Anyway, super stoked on GB, can't wait to return. Photos by Adrian Cighi.

Me on Fotowa, photo by Adrian Cighi
Me on Fotowa, photo by Adrian Cighi