Tuesday 10 January 2017

Happy New Year!


This year for the first time in my life I wasn't at home for New Years. Instead I was in Catalonia, Spain on a 10 day trip with Jim Pope and 6 others. We were staying in Margalef where we planned to spend the trip. However, because Margalef is in quite a low valley it was very misty and cold for most of the time. Therefore, we ended up climbing in Siurana twice, Monstant once and the other 4 days freezing in Margalef. It was however a very good, fun trip and successful.

Me standing on top of the dam at Margalef 
The first day started off well as I managed to send an 8a+ called Absolut which had a nuts jump to a two finger pocket. I then went on to flash an 8b called Photo-shot. Photo-shot is an amazing route and if you happen to go to Margalef I would highly recommend it. The hardest route I sent was an 8c called Los Ultimos Vampiros Hippies at Margalef. This is also a really cool route with a dynamic stab into a mono as the crux move. I also ended the trip well despite being ill, as on the last day I sent an 8b second go after blowing the flash on the last hard move!

Sitting in the comfortable car whist watching Jessica Pilz send 8b. 
In total I managed to send 10 routes from 8a to 8c during the 7 climbing days. However, what made the trip even better was the amount of climbing I did alongside the climbs I sent. I tried many harder routes, up to 9a+, which have got me very psyched to train harder and return for. I loved the trip and hopefully I'll be back soon.

Jim Crushing an 8a+ in Siurana