It's so HOT right now...

Well the heatwave continues, as it seems to be doing in the rest of Europe. Today it was in the mid 20s driving to the crag and reached 34° on the way back this evening! Needless to say, we headed for the shade in Margalef, but even then it was super sweaty. It seems such a shame to be cowering in the shade so early in the year, but I'm guessing the temps won't stay this high for too long. We went to sector Ca La Marta and had the place to ourselves for most of the morning, which was nice. I stupidly 'warmed up' on some tiny and very bouldery 7a's on the right hand side - the first of which involved pulling on tiny pockets up to a crux pulling on a mono - not great to start the day off, but start as you mean to go on, I guess?! So to continue the theme I jumped straight on a 7c and messed up trying to do the crux too quickly when I slapped for a pocket and missed it. Doh! It felt really easy on the redpoint so I was a little vexed to waste the onsight, to say the least, but it was an amazing route - perfect rock and great moves at the crux over the bulge.

After warming up, Tash managed to onsight another 6c+! Next up I got on an 8a that I've wanted to try for ages - 'Twist as Lola'. First go up this it felt HARD, particularly at the bottom thanks to a few tufa holds being wet, and I was close to sacking it off. But when a load of other people arrived and jumped on the other routes I wanted to try, I decided to give it another go. This time it felt much better and I managed to work out all the moves and link some sections but a) I was too tired and b) it felt really sweaty, so I didn't have enough left for a redpoint. Sunbathing and skimming stones down by the river for the rest of the afternoon was a much better idea!

Beach weather at the boulder...

Last time we went to the Totxo de morera boulder up at Montsant I stupidly suggested it might be a good place to go when it warms up, because the south face is so steep that it's shaded all day. Bad idea. After a quick warm-up on the shady west wall this morning, I put the draws in the good steep 7a on the south face for Tash, but it was already getting sweaty and even this felt harder than it should. Afterwards I had a go up the 7c+ to the left of the 8a I did last time we were here, but just below half height there's an obvious hold that's broken and it's now significantly harder - I couldn't do the move and had to dog past it. But the main problem was that it was just so hot and sweaty. This heat wave is getting ridiculous now - the car said 28° when we were driving back today! Far too hot to be climbing anywhere but the shadiest crags, and it's only the start of April!

After stripping the draws from the 7c+ I did a few other 6c's round on the shady west wall and then stripped the draws from the 7a, as Tash was struggling on it in the heat. Sunbathing seemed to be a much better alternative today...

Mini cloud inversion looking out from the Totxo de la Morera boulder this morning - hot hot hot!

'From here to the moon and back'...

Having gone with the easy option yesterday, there was nothing left for me to do at L'Aparador today apart from get on 'De aqui a la luna y volver'. With some very suspect rock towards the bottom and no chalk anywhere I was a bit nervous about getting on it. The route goes straight up the steep and very blank looking wall, in between two very obvious and well-chalked crack lines. On these two routes there are plenty of chalked holds visible in the cracks all the way up, and they go at 7b+ and 7c, so I was a bit concerned at how hard this one was going to be, given that there aren't really any holds to be seen at all!

After a quick warm-up on Rauxa (7a+) to get the draws in for Tash to try, I set off. As expected, the bottom section was a little nerve wracking due to the rock quality, meaning that I probably got more pumped than normal overgripping all the holds! Thankfully this band is short-lived and after three or four clips you get to much more typical solid Siurana limestone. The rest of the route is stunning, with superb technical climbing and is steeper than you normally expect in Siurana, meaning it's going to be pumpy to link together. It's given 8a+ in the guide but, although it's difficult to know until I've done some overlapping sections and found the resting places, I suspect it may be hard for that - even pushing 8b. There were two sections of climbing that took me a long time to work out, and even then the sequences were desperate and runout. But it's an incredible route and in the shade all day so it'll be a good project to have for the next few months or so with the temperatures on the increase. So we'll see how it goes...

Another shady day in Siurana...

After a few days resting tired skin, fingers and forearms we went up to Siurana this morning. The temps are still pretty high, so we were in the shade again at L'Aparador - one of the better hot weather crags, with amazing crack climbs up to 40m. However, as I've done most of these and wasn't feeling ready to commence battle with the one remaining 8 at the crag (due to the lack of chalk or even any sign of it having been climbed before), I settled for a much more convenient alternative - the 7c+ that shares a lower-off with one of the 6c's on the left. Warm-up on the 6c going up; put the clips in the 7c+ coming down - easy!

I also had a quick play on the route on the way down, and worked out one or two moves - it felt steep! After a rest belaying Tash I had a 'no expectations' redpoint, but wasn't really warmed up properly and hadn't worked out the moves as well as I thought so spent a lot of time dithering and completely powered out well before the crux. I came down and had another rest and then did it next go. A strange route - 6 bolts long and with only about 6-7m of actual hard climbing, but the moves were excellent and just what I needed (i.e. bouldering on a rope to get me a bit stronger!).

On the way back we checked out the La Capella crag - home to Ondra's latest addition and another permanently shady crag, useful for the next few months. The 9a 'Jungle Speed' looks like the most do-able route of its grade I've ever seen. If I hadn't just seen a video of someone on it the other day then I'd have guessed around the 8a-8b mark! It is steep, but the holds all look big enough that I reckon even I could pull on them - the footholds/body positions must be atrocious to bump the grade up that much! Ondra's new possible 9b didn't look so easy unfortunately. Thankfully there were also plenty of nice looking 8a's to try when we eventually get round to visiting.

I might pull my finger out tomorrow and see what the final 8 on the L'Aparador wall is like - hopefully as good as the rest of the routes...

An almost perfect day out in Margalef...

With the balmy weather and much longer days now we decided to pack a picnic so we could make the most of the evening sunshine and have a cold beer after climbing (yes, it was in a cool box and yes I am getting very old!). We went over to Margalef to try out some new shady sectors. First up was the amazing chorreras sector; home to two walls covered entirely of dripping candle wax like tufa:

The rock at chorreras sector - not unusual you say?!...

...it is when the routes are no harder than 6c!
Here one of the awesome 6b's in the chorreras sector, Margalef © Fredrik Nyberg

I did all of the best routes on the wall to warm up, including three 6b's and two 6c's - all on this amazing rock. When we first arrived, we were the only ones at the crag and it was so nice to just tick away with no sound but the birds in the trees. Unfortunately it didn't last long. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, the Spanish climbers are starting to really grate on me. We normally don't have a problem as we're climbing mid-week and the occasional climbers that we do see are German, French, Brits or Eastern Europeans out on holiday who speak at normal volume and act respectfully. But for some reason the Spanish are something else. I hate to stereoptype and generalise but this is one case where it seems to be possible. It doesn't help that they tend to climb in big groups, but it's still no excuse. I've had plenty of days out bouldering in big groups in Font or the Peak District but we never take over the crag and spoil the atmosphere like the Spanish seem to. Today, the first others to arrive were a group of five - relatively small for a Spanish group - but it felt like a whole army. They immediately started singing at full volume and shouting to each other despite being stood a matter of metres apart and right next to us. Would you really do that if you arrived at a crag with only one other couple there climbing in peace? They continued like that the whole time we were there and it got worse when another group of six arrived not long after. They then excelled themselves by deciding to stand all over my bag and then sit down on it while they were watching someone climb and shout encouragement at him continuously for about 15mins, so we couldn't hear a word each other was saying and had to communicate by pointing while we were climbing! It was just ridiculous. I've had busy and noisy days with the Spanish at the crag (like last weekend at Raco de Missa when a huge group of Spaniards dumped their stuff directly on top of ours and completely surrounded us while we were sat down having a break), but today was another level. We finished the routes as quickly as possible and then beat a hasty retreat round to another sector in the hope of finding some peace and quiet away from them. The only positive was the comedy value that one of them provided with his haircut and fetching purple leggings:

The next sector - Culample 4 - was just round the corner. This was another excellent area, with much longer routes up to ~30m, and thankfully a lot quieter! Here I did a 7a then an amazing 7a+ called 'Fanatic' - one of the nicest of the grade I've done in Margalef - starting on a slab and finishing up the overhanging headwall, as well as a great 7b ('La funcionaria asesina'). Tash also managed to onsight a 6c+ here, in addition to the three 6b's she did at chorreras - so a good day for her.

I finished off with a go up an 8a called 'La Guardia'. The top section of this felt desperate on first acquaintance, and I spent a lot of energy working out a good sequence, as well as losing a lot of skin. But with a rest day planned for tomorrow I decided to try redpointing it, despite feeling absolutely destroyed. After a bit of a rest I managed to get through the lower crux but ran out of steam just below the top. A great route and I'm keen to come back to this sector to finish it off, as well as do some more onsighting. So only one thing remained...beer & picnic down by the lake!

Beer and sunshine...happy days!

Ticks and treats at El Pati...

Now that the 1st of April's out of the way I can explain what really happened today. Nothing as exciting as a 9b but still a pretty good day. It was really warm and we did go to El Pati and Tash did finish off her project there with no drama at all - 'Viagraman' (yet another 7a for her!). I also finished off something I'd been on once before in November last year - a 7c+ called 'Prisa mata'. The route starts off pretty poorly, with the rock on the easy lower wall being quite rotten (I knocked a few big holds off on the way up). Then you get to the roof and have to extend the draw under it to avoid horrific rope drag and pull on some very suspicious holds through the roof until you can clip the next draw over the roof. Clipping this draw you're hanging with both hands off a hollow jug which feels like it'll break off any day, and facing an almighty and painful swing into the slab below if it does! Not nice. But despite all this the route's worth persevering with, as once you get onto the upper wall where the hard climbing is the rock is immaculate and the moves fantastic. It follows a thin crack at first requiring a subtle combination of laybacking, pinching and classic finger locks, then continues up the wall above on some hidden pockets and undercuts. After putting the draws in I did it first redpoint today, but it was pretty close!

Afterwards, as we'd both finished our routes so quickly, we decided to treat ourselves (well...Tash treated us more precisely!) to some pastries from the bakery in Cornudella which we ate in the sunshine down by the lake underneath Siurana. Not a bad way to start a Friday! :-)



My first 9b!!!

With the temperatures so high at the moment we had to climb in the shade again, and Tash had some unfinished business at El Pati so that's where we headed. Unfortunately I've been here so often in recent years that I haven't got much left to do. There was one route I hadn't been on though, so took the opportunity today seeing as the draws were in it - must be someone else working it? Plus my new photographer was in tow, and he wanted to get some new pics for the sponsors - cheers Pete!

Anyway, it has a bit of a reputation as solid 9b so I wasn't too sure how I'd get on, but surprisingly I didn't find it too bad. I can't really call it an onsight, as I'd watched some kid called Adam Ondra while he was trying it for ages, so I guess it was more of a flash. Either way, I was pleased to do it so easily and shows that the extra training has paid off.

Me at the crux of 'Golpe Estado' (9b) - this move on its own is at least V3!!!!