El Dard in the mist

The temperature has dropped a bit since we were out on Tuesday and, although today it was sunny at home down on the coast, driving up past Alforja it became more and more misty. We decided to stick to the coast side of the hills to avoid the mist as much as possible, but the crags were still clouded when we arrived.



El Dard in the mist on arrival



We went to one of the most overlooked gems in the area - El Dard. Most people who visit here only climb at the big three spots - Siurana, Margalef and Montsant - plus maybe a cursory visit to El Falco for a day. Although El Dard is classed as an Arboli crag, it's actually nowhere near the village itself and you drive past it every time you go from Reus to Cornudella to get to the 'big three'. It took me over a year after moving to finally make it here and climb the classic 7c crackline of 'El Marginao' (this is a must-do route and worth a visit to the crag just for it). Today I wanted to try another of the routes on the main wall which follows a slanting crackline running parallel to El Marginao but slightly to its left. After a quick warm-up on a 6c+ my fingers were still too cold to contemplate an on-sight but I was impatient to get on it so settled for just putting the draws in and hopefully a quick redpoint.

It turned out to be another amazing route - again, worth a visit just for it. Really nice laybacking up the thin crackline where it was important to slot your hands in with the right sequence and finishing with a high foot and long lock off a sidepull in the crack. As I hoped, it turned out to be quite a straightforward first redpoint and I finished the day on-sighting yet another quality technical 7b called Silverado.

Yarak (F7c+) at sector El Dard, Arboli

Another shot of the same

Total Insanity...the first 8 of 2011

Cloud inversion in the valley below

Yet another beautiful sunny day up at Siurana with a nice cloud inversion down in the valley to start with. We returned to the aptly named sector Solarium - very apt today, as by 10am it was already starting to warm up!


The sun creeping onto sector Solarium, Siurana.



I warmed up putting the draws in 'Hipocondriaca' (F7a+) for Tash to top-rope then got straight on to the brilliant 'Total Insanity' (F8a) that I tried last week. It's a superb quality route straight up the middle of the perfect orange & grey streaked wall, so typical of Siurana. Some nice straightforward technical climbing gets you to a good rest before the wall steepens up and the bouldery crux sequence comes, involving a big powerful lock off an undercut pocket with crap right foot and a terrible left hand undercut to get your left foot high so you can bump your left hand into the crack. I set off intending just to put the draws in but I felt good and it was starting to get warm so I decided just to go for it and everything went well. A satisfying dyno to the final jug with feet cutting loose left me with my first 8a of the year - pretty happy to be getting back into it after 2 weeks of eating and zero climbing!



The crux sequence on 'Total Insanity' (F8a)



Weekend in Riglos...

After checking the weather for the umpteenth time last week and deliberating over where to go (Terradets or Vilanova de Meia multi-pitching, Bruixes sport etc), with the winter heatwave set to contine we finally decided on Riglos. So early Saturday morning (5.30am to be precise!) we set off. About half an hour into the journey and heading down onto the Lleida plains we hit the fog. Lleida is notorious for having horrible fogs which just sit over the entire plains for days on end and never lift....which is what we drove into! So driving slowly in the dark through the fog with about 50m visibility and with drizzle in the air we were wondering whether we'd made the right decision!! Anyway about 20kms from Riglos and with the sun just coming up we finally emerged from the fog to an amazing sunrise. We quickly had breakfast in the car park and walked up to the base of El Pison, the tower we were going to climb that day (walking right past a dirty Spaniard just wiping his bum!!). We started climbing just as the sun was coming on the rock (~9.30am) and it started to warm up. We did the route 'Carnavalada' (F7a+) 300m - one of Leo's 'Asgard project' routes. Three nice easy pitches led to the crux 7a+ pitch. This was the only pitch on the route on the classic Riglos potato rock and it was superb. An almost totally smooth wall apart from these huge slopey potatoes sticking out occasionally that you had to yard between...fantastic! Tash on the first crux pitch up the 'potato patch' on Carnavalada - doesn't really show the steepness! Me on the upper half of Carnavalada. The rest of the route was good and on really solid rock, climbing one of the big vertical channels to the top of the tower with occasional cruxes pulling through awkward bulges. It was amazing sitting facing out belaying Tash up and watching the Griffon vultures swooping past and circling in the updrafts. On top of El Pison tower with vultures circling and the snowy Pyrenees in the distance! Here's a video from the top of El Pison with the Griffon vultures for all you twitchers out there:- The final 60m free-hanging ab back to the ground The descent from the tower was easy enough, with some abseils and some scrambles down the gully with via ferrata cables. Only one hairy moment when two guys just topping out on the tower knocked some massive stones down which went ricocheting down the gully we were just about to go down! We made it down about 4pm and wandered around getting some photos in the evening sunshine - still really warm even at 5pm!! Tash with El Pison tower  The Mallos de Riglos towering over the church and village      Tash looking at tomorrow's objective - the big steep tower on the right. We stayed in the refuge (totally empty so we got a 6 bed room with toilet, shower etc to ourselves for 16euros each - bargain) Next day we were up early again and started climbing at 9am before the sun was on the rock - but already it was warm! This time we were heading up La Visera tower (of Fiesta de los Biceps fame). We did a combination route starting up 'Chinatown' (F6c+) but switching to 'De Naturaleza Salvaje' (F7a) after 5 pitches to join and finish up the last pitch of 'Fiesta'. This way we stuck as much as possible to the steep potato rock which is so fun to climb on. The first 6b+ pitch on the black Chinatown bolts was absolutely stunning - swinging out onto and climbing the arete on huge potatoes - has to be one of the best pitches in Riglos!!! It's hard to describe how unique and amazing climbing on this rock is - it looks so loose and unconsolidated from below but when you get on it the rock is just so solid with huge stones and boulders protruding from the mudstone. And so steep too so the exposure as you get higher is just crazy - looking hundreds of metres down between your legs into space to the floor below - awesome!! Tash on the incredible 6b+ arete pitch of Chinatown!!! After pulling through the next short but seriously steep 6b+ roof pitch we split from Chinatown and headed out rightwards onto the steep pudding stone headwall. First an amazing pumpy 6c+ pitch (harder than anything on Fiesta!) and then another 7a to join Fiesta at the huge boulder belay (one of the most incredible belay positions ever, sat on a huge boulder sticking horizontally out from the wall with nothing but 250m of space below you!). By this point Tash had pretty much run out of steam and these last two pitches were a bit of a fight as she struggled on the steeper climbing and it turned into just an effort to reach the belay going from bolt to bolt. At one point she took a bit of a swing between bolts, much to the amusement of some onlookers!! But at least she made it eventually ;-) All that remained was the final 6a+ pitch of Fiesta to reach the top. All in all it made an incredible sustained expedition up the Visera tower - easily of comparable quality to Fiesta. The end of the short and steep 6b+ roof pitch The fantastic 7a pitch on 'De Naturaleza Salvaje' heading across to join Fiesta de los Biceps Again, we got down to the village about 4pm and set off back to Reus. And the icing on the cake was driving back and hitting the same fog on the outskirts of Lleida - it turned out that they'd been sitting underneath it all weekend :-) Mallos de Riglos with El Pison tower on the left and La Visera on the right - you can see the routes we did if you hold your mouse over the picture!!

Carnavalada - 300m - F6a+, 6a, 5+, 7a+, 6c+, 6c+, 6b

Chinatown / Salvaje combo - 250m - F6a+, 6a, 6c+, 6b+, 6b+, 6c+, 7a, 6a+

What a difference a year makes...

Well the winter heatwave has continued throughout this week and we've had several days climbing up at Siurana. I can't believe what a contrast it's been to this time last year when we had a metre of snow up in Siurana and the entire road was blocked off from right down in Cornudella. This year it's been consistently 15-18°!!!

Siuranella this week.

Siuranella this time last year!

On Monday we went up to Siuranella central. I got on a really thin, technical and bouldery 7c+ with a cool dyno move that I'd tried before xmas. I put the clips in the start where the crux is and then lowered back to the floor. I then did the hard bit first go and collected the draws I'd left hanging in the 4th draw so I could finish the route but forgot that there was one blind and tricky move right at the top...which I couldn't remember how to do and blew obviously! By this point it was getting pretty warm so I just decided to sack it off and save some skin for tomorrow.

Sunshine at Siuranella central.

Tuesday we went to a really nice sector called Solarium on the Siuranella cliffs. I'd been here before and on-sighted the two good 7a+'s and a 7c but couldn't remember what the other routes looked like. Turns out there's an amazing 8a called Total Insanity. I put the draws in and eventually worked out the crux move (moving off a good undercut pocket but with the worst feet ever and the tiniest left hand undercut). Had a good effort and got through the crux 1st redpoint but was pretty tired and the extra xmas weight let me know it was there so I dropped the last hard 'dyno' move to the finishing jug. It should go next time anyway.

Thursday we were up at Siuranella again - this time Siuranella south. I just had an easyish day of onsighting, doing a 7a+ and a 7b. Tash didn't fair so well and got shut down on the classic 6b+ 'Like a Cuc'.

The heatwave looks set to continue this weekend so we might go away for some multi-pitching...

Volvemos a España with 5 kilos excess baggage!!

The post xmas weigh-in confirmed what I already knew...that I'd put on a lot of weight. I didn't expect it to be 5 kilos though!!! In less than two weeks!!! I guess that's what you get for eating to excess every day for two weeks solid including 3 course 'Come dine with me' dinners for the last 5 days. Hopefully I'll be as quick to lose it??

But with all this xmas goodness that we managed to bring back with us it's going to take some willpower!! (Note the TWO large xmas cakes and muchos Cadburys!)

Thanks to everyone who contributed (Mums) - Spanish cakes just don't cut the mustard!!

Roca de les Hores, Montsant

First day back climbing on Saturday was a bit of a shock to the system! I got quite pumped on a 7a+ at Roca de les Hores at Montsant and then even more pumped on a sandbag 6c after it and that was game over! Still, it was nice to be outside in the Spanish sunshine again...18°! A bit of a contrast from Grindelwald where it didn't get above zero day or night!

Sunday we decided to continue with the tourism theme and went to visit Miravet castle which is a bit south of us on the banks of the Ebre river. Nice day out and really warm again.

Miravet Castle

Come dine with me in Grindelwald...

So the new year started with an early night and a long drive on new year's day to Swizzel-land - more precisely Grindelwald for Tash's Mum's 'significant' birthday - basically a big family holiday with a 'Come dine with me' theme in the evenings.

Not much to say about the journey except it was long and I-spy got a bit tedious. Highlight was dinner in a French meat restaurant (a nice bleeding steak) and a night in a Formule1 - happy memories of Font every time I stay in one ;-)

Day 1 - Sunday. I hired ski boots so I could walk like a robotic John Wayne and also try out my brother's old snow blades on the slopes around the chalet. Not bad for a mess around but they didn't cut it compared to Tash's hired skis. So instead we decided I'd use Tash's brother's skis next day.

Day 2 - Skiing. An early morning and we were pretty much on first train up to Kleine Scheidegg.

(Left: All the gear and absolutely no idea on the train up to Kleine Scheidegg)

Right: Awesome views to Eiger north face from Kleine Scheidegg - looked like a path! Albeit a very cold path.

My first run and first time on skis since I was 10 years old was a well chosen (by Tash) narrow and icy blue run. There was no space to turn and I couldn't even snow plough to stop so I decided to instead use the banks of the run to bump into and help me fall over if I needed to stop. Eventually got the hang of it and within an hour or so I successfully got down a red run with more confidence and proper parallel turns. This was short-lived as I then went on to make backward progress and ended up pretty much sliding on my back all the way down a different red run with kids spraying snow and ice in my face as they turned majestically just to rub it in. My knees felt really sore at this point too and I thought they were going to snap at times - I don't think I was turning properly! After this we skiied all the way down to Wengen (beautiful little chalet village).

(Left: Wengen village)

From Wengen we got the train back up to Kleine Scheidegg. A few more red runs from here and I was feeling a lot more confident and we finished the day with an amazing long run called Arven right the way back down to the valley bottom to end an awesome day.

Left: Evidence that I did go down some reds!!

Day 3 - More skiing. Another early morning and we were on first lifts up to First (pronounced Feersht). The runs were perfect for me - totally empty and really wide. But as it was 9am they were also really icy and I had a really hard time even getting down the first blue run. I had a proper Kilner-esque strop at one point when I couldn't get my skis back on after losing control and rolling down the slope. As the snow softened up I found it alot easier and I got more confident. A few more blue runs and a couple of drag lifts later (one of which Tash fell off!) I was going well again and we headed down an amazing long red run all the way back to the valley. There were hardly any people at all on the run and I could go fast without worrying about hitting anyone else.

Left: The brilliant long red run down from First to the valley (it wasn't all as flat as this - and that's me!).

We skiied straight onto a waiting bus at the end of the run to get down to Grindelwald and then got a bus to Mannlichen lift (no queues!). 40 mins later and we were at the top of the lift (it's a very long bubble lift). From here we went straight down another amazing long red run right back to the valley and then got the train up to Kleine Scheidegg again (we definitely got our money's worth from the lift passes!). From KS we took yet another brilliant long red all the way back down to the valley to end another awesome day (this run we'd bailed out from the day before as I thought it'd be too much for me!).

In the evening we were cooking our 'Come dine with me' dinner - soup, lasagne and chocolate fondants. It was decided not to score people's evenings but despite stiff competition if I was forced to I'd have to say we won :-)

How can you not win with a dessert like this?!

Day 4 - Tobogganing. Hired toboggans and got the Mannlichen lift up with Tash, Jess, Tim and Jenni. Absolutely lethal. Although we were following toboggan runs, at no point when we were crossing ski runs were we under control. I came so close to completely wiping out a skiier. The day before Tash had been cursing a little kid who'd nearly done the same to her!! We went down the top half of the run twice and then carried on down the 'officially closed' toboggan run towards the valley.

Left: The beautiful toboggan run down from Mannlichen.

Right: More tobogganing fun!

Left: A quick stop for a beer and glühwein half way down and we were off again. Tash was pretty tipsy after her massive glühwein but at least it gave her more confidence!! ;-)

Anyway the reason for the run being closed became apparent lower down as we ended up on a road which was basically just sheet ice. The snow banks meant that it was just a huge bobsled run - totally out of control and using the banks to ricochet down the road hoping no cars came up in the opposite direction!

Tim over cooking it on one of the corners.

We made it back down safely though.

And in time for a spot of curling - great fun but not as easy as it looks on telly!

Day 5 - After surviving three days of winter sports with no insurance (due to unforeseen circumstances) and a cloudy day forecast we decided to cut our losses and just have a day spent down in the valley. Walked around Grindelwald, looked at the ridiculous ski-wear on sale (and the even more ridiculous prices), watched people on the nursery slopes and laughed at how much better than them I now was ;-)

Day 6 - another super early start to get a flight from Basel at 8:30am back to Barcelona in order to get back for work that afternoon. As predicted, only 3 kids turned up!!

All in all it was a pretty fantastic week - so many thanks to Ros & John for everything!!!

And it got me really psyched for more skiing....bring on some Andorra action in the next few months :-)

A new year and a new blog...

Well I've been meaning to write a blog for a while now, so with the coming of the new year I thought it was a good time to start. Also, after getting bored of long-term redpoint projects last year (on completion of Kalea Borroka) then my climbing and other activites have tended to involve going to new places and trying new routes at different crags so I felt that I had a little more to write about than just my impressions of a single climb in my UKC logbook. So hopefully this blog will be more about my adventures, outings and overall impressions of new and exciting places for all my fans to keep up to date with......but we'll see......it might just turn out to be a complete bore-fest!!!