Projects and injuries

Hey all

Well in the last Blog i mentioned that I had found a 8a project and was working on it, i have since then had another 2 sessions on it and good progress has been made, i have linked upto the 6th bolt where there is a hard stopper move that i have come off at a few times due to having a stupid way of doing it i now have a much easyer way. So next time on it i hope to get past this and get a new high point. I have also linked from this point to the top with 1 40 second hang on the rope. So linked in 3 parts with a super short rest at each point. I am now confident that it will go given a bit of effort and time. It has been good as johnathan has joined me on this project it is his first 8a he is trying and he has done super well doing all the moves and linking to the 5th draw on his 2nd redpoint attempt.

We have both been discussing the route and have come to the conclusion that trying to project a 33metre super overhung endurance route is absoloutly exhausting. Both of us have bene feeling it in our stomachs.

However bad news is that the way i was trying the hard move was really tweaky on my knee and i have strained it a bit so will be taking a rest from this route for a few days to let it recover, my new way doesnt hurt it like the old way but still requires the use of a heal hook on the bad leg :(.

 Cheat stone are the only way to start

Missing the frist clip is a nescisary evil less drag and saving energy

 Steep start leads to a steep finnish

 Setting up for the Hero cut loose jump to a jug

 Johnathan pulling hard

 Johnathan on the i feel like a hero jump

Other good and bad news is that lucy has a 7b project at the crag next to where my project is yay, and she managed todo all the moves on it first go up then on the second linked the whole middle section yay. Bad news is that she has tweaked a finger on her left hand just after so is having to rest for a few days :( Its not looking to bad it is similar to what i did in bristol a year or so ago where you pull really hard on a 2 finger poicket with the middle 2 fingers where your ring finger is strait and pullin and your little finger is curled shut it stretches the muscle groupe that controles these fingers. Time will tell.

in other news tala has found a new Boyfriend who is being a bit ambitious and keeps on trying to hump her see photo :)





Climbing here has been good in addition to trying Dr feelgood i have managed to onsight a few 7b's and got a quick ascent of a really sustained 7c so pretty happy to be able to project and still get other things done.

Tray Trying hard
 

Living the dream breakfast in the sun

Autumn @ Albarracin

Hello everyone!
It's Lucy here!!
Had such a great time at albarracin thought I would do a blog to tell you all about it!!
When me and simon first arrived it was still pretty warm, so not the best bouldering conditions but were still able to get some great climbing in!!

Firstly the people.....It was pretty much just us when we first arrived then a friend of ours vaughan from NZ that we met in magic wood turned up, which was pretty random was good 2 c him! Then Rosie and Tom from Bristol turned up who had also come to Albarracin from Rodellar, even though they r from Bristol we had never really met them before Rodellar was really good to get to know them! these guys dont boulder as much as they route climb but they r still super strong and sent some good stuff whilst they were there, we had great fun climbing with those guys!

When Rosie and Tom left Michelle and Adam rocked up, they r from birmingham and we also met them in Rodellar! They are totally amazing we had alot of fun climbing and hanging out with those guys! There were also some really cool guys there that we met, chris from south Africa, Tor from Norway & Greg from Southampton, these guys introduced us to burger mondays, basically a barbeque every monday! Every1 got involved was fun :) There were a couple of americans thrown into the mix aswell, cassie and matt, they were on an epic trip, going bouldering all over the world, switzerland, spain, south africa, all across the US and many more! It was matts birthday while we were all in albarracin so i made a card that had the sillhouete of a boulderer cut out along the edge and got every1 to sign it! and made him a birthday peanut butter and jelly pancake!:) And Jason & Claire came over from bristol for the last 10 days that we were there which was so cool! had a wicked time climbing and chilling with them, they even let us use thier washing machine in the apartment they stayed in and have a bath!!! was such a treat thank u guys!

I did get up to other activities other than climbing aswell, Me and michelle did afew long bikes rides on our 'rest days'. We did a really nice circuit that I originally did with simon 1 day that takes you in a big loop along these long winding roads surrounded by huge outcrops of rocks and trees then back through gea de albarracin, through the village and back to the car park which was approx 20.5 miles. It was pretty much up and down hill all the way so u could cycle hard/rest, cycle hard/rest kind but with a 3k continuous hill at the very end, was a proper sting in the tail, hardwork! was awesome! It was so beautiful when going along the roads surrounded by the rocks and trees, michelle said it looked like jurrasic park so we were cycling along singing the jurrasic park theme tune!! (well lalalala-ing it!) was very funny! on 1 of the evenings following the jurrasic park bike ride we watched 1 of the jurrasic park movies! Having that tune in your head just gives you and urge to watch it!! haha :)

Also whilst in Albarracin I discovered I have a candida imbalance in my belly, which is pretty much a yeast intolerance. So without going into to much detail I totally changed my diet as I was eating all the wrong things! As a result I feel like a totally new person, it really is unbelievable the difference it has made so far, so I am loving it! It is hard as there are alot of things I cannot eat now but it is totally worth it! Im lighter and happier now and loving life even more!

One of the highlights of my week whilst in albarracin was the fruit and veg market on wednesday mornings, the guy that runs it is super friendly always giving us freebees, it was fun going there buying lots of yummy veggies and speaking bad spanish at them and learning more bad spanish in the process!
Climbing wise I was really loving the bouldering, I wanted to get a font 6C whilst there but to be honest there was just so many amazing problems around font 6B I was going for alot of them and just really enjoying it!! i did get sooooo close to a 6C on the last day, wasnt even going to climb that day as was so nackered but did the '1 last go' thing, which so nearly paid off! did all the hard moves then lost concentration as thought id done it and slapped to the left of the really good sloaper I had to go for and fell! ahhhhh! was frustrating but was actually really happy to get that close as I was destroyed after 6 weeks of bouldering!!! good times :)

Simon also did super well climbing wise, he was crushing font 7a's real quick and got 2 7b+'s, Amazing!
So after 6 weeks of pulling extremely hard in Albarracin we are now in Margaleff! Did my first 6B+ onsight yesterday shortly followed but my first 6C onsight which felt pretty reasonable so was happy with that! Have already seen many hard lines Im inspired by for potential redpoints but there are just so many good lines here I think Im just gonna do lots of onsighting for now! I really am spoilt for choice here its a fantastic place! Thats all for now but watch this space for news & pics from margaleff!
Much love!
Lucy

(please see below for some of my fave piccys from Albarracin!)

Saca la bestia

Saca la bestia


Morning boys and girls its been a while i know what can i say ive been lazy.

well we are now in margaleff having been in albarracin for the last 6 weeks, its been an amazing time there with loads of hard boulders being crushed, Lucy got some 6b+ and i got some 7b+ so each of us pushing hard. We are both totaly destroied aching everywhere and feel like it is a good time to leave before we start hurting ourselfs, we have had 2 rest days so far and this morning it has rained so looking like 3rd one which is badly needed.

It was pretty cool on the second last day there i saw a huge wild boar running through the fields as i walked tala in the morning. It was over my waist height and around 2 metres long and huge, was pretty awsome to see one and makes you think as didnt realise they were around the area or that they were quite that big. pretty awsome though.

We have met some cool friends and been reaquanted with some old ones from days gone by, been goot to see you again Burger mondays will be remembered, We met chris and greg there who are on a very similar trip to ourselfs doing a year bouldering around europe theyre are in Albarracin for 2 months then off to font, they have a good Blog here http://operationbeastmaker.blogspot.com. Also met up with 2 americans who are starting on a 2 year trip with 3 months in europe Cassie and Matt have a blog here http://matthewandcassie.blogspot.com if you want to get inspired to go on a trip yourself theres lots of good entries to get you Psyched

Big thanks goes out to Jason and Clare who came to visit for 10 days and let us use there bath in the appartment they were it, amazing to have the first bath in 11 months!!!. especialy when its so cold outside.

Arriving in margaleff was a nice experiance as we have left the land of freezing cold, thermal leggings,down jackets and sub zero temperatures to find margaleff very warm. its going to be interesting to get back on routes having not tied into a rope for around 3 months now. we both feel bouldering strong but lacking endurance so think here will be good as there are lots of super hard but short routes.

I have also learned a new phrase in spannish "Saca La Bestia" means "unleash the beast", i think its inspiring to shout at people when theyre trying hard but the spannish guys i have said it to has started laughing and fallen off the rock, But hey its better than A friend who was shouting "Casa la Bestia" or "house of the beast" :)

Been missing you all back in bristol and will try to put up more posts and musing i have a few creative ideas i want to write about and put up so stay posted. No photos this time as bad interenet here some comming soon.

Si

Bouldering in the sun

Hey all

Well were currently in sunny albarracin doing some bouldering, its super good here at the moment weather is about perfect being high teens low twenties durning the day so hot in sun but nice and cold in shade perfect for climbing hard. We had the first frost yesterday morning and its due to hit 0 over night tomorrow and the day after!!

We had a good first couple of days although a bit hot when we first got here, then were joined by Rosey and Tom for 4 days where we commenced crushing the boulders here, well tom did anyway what a machine he is.

Its been fun bouldering as a group its a lot more social and fun + allows you more time between each attempt so you rest more and as a result climb harder,

I had an interesting conversation with Tom about why we climb and what we get out of it and why we climb particular styles (Sport, Trad, Bouldering) this has made me think more about what i actualy enjoy and take from the climbing experiance as it was getting a bit stressfull and hard work over the last few weeks before we arrived here, My realiseation is that i Climb Primarily for Fun and to be outside. And that another thing that i really enjoy about the climbing is the problem solving element of it. Which in bouldering is working out a sequence for a short hard set of moves and in routes i really enjoy onsighting and having to make quick decissions when under pressure.

Lucy has been climbing super well and yesterday managed to fight her way up her First 6b in The psicokiller sector here then as if to back it up that she has now broken into that grade here she got a second one later in the day!!! what a star she is.

My finger has been coping ok with the harder climbing i just need to make sure that any problems with small left hand holds i avoid which i have been. although its a rest day tomorrow and my finger has swolen a bit today and feels fairly tender so its a well needed rest.

Plan for tomorrow is to head to the town where every wednesday there is a fresh fruit and veg market and stock up on some qualaty produce, i have also decided to put up a few blog posts with key details about some of the places we have visited with regards to parking/Sleeping, water, Food, Wifi etc maybe help some of you with arranging a trip in future, first one is going to be for here probably tomorrow when i get the camera out and take some photos.

Well a few shots of team bristol in action below hope you enjoy them, Spot the new prototype bouldering mat that rosey is using in one shot.



Tom crushing




Chilling



Crushing



Proto type bouldering mat



Lucy pulling hard



Jump

Photos from riglos and fiesta de los biceps

 At the top of pitch 6

 Looking down from top of pitch 7

 The village from up high

 Rupert leading the final glory pitch in the sun

 Nearing the top

 The white line on the left is the line we took

 Almost there

 Top of the last pitch

 Down from the top

Succes

Well in the last post i mentioned that me and rupert were heading to Riglos to climb the 270m Fiesta de los Biceps and i can report it was a success abet a hard and emotional day on the wall,

As we drove towards the Village or riglos you can see the amazing looking towers towering above the village from miles away, as we drove closer i though i could see a faint line snaking its way up the face near where we wanted to climb i dismissed it as silly but alass as we drover closer it became more and more defined. As the face is so steep the chalk on the holds never gets washed off so there is a faint line of chalk providing a light snakes trail all the way up the cliff. See photo ( our objective is the red line.)

As soon as we got the the village we rished upto the base of the tower to look and though it doesnt look so high it will be fine. We had heard that Leo holding had done it in 40 minutes then base jumped off the top so figured that 2.5-3 hours would be a good estimate of time for us :) deciding it was way to hot as 3pm to do anything we retreated o the shade of the bar and sat hoping someone would climb sonething so we could watch. Plans were made and a start time of around 8am was agreed on.

In the morning we grogaly awoke to pitch blackness at 7am looking at the stars and drinking coffee we though it may be a little early but not to be held back we started the walk and got to the bottom in time for the sun to be comming up and good light.

The climb itself starts with 2 reasonably easy pitches of 6a then 6a+ which we linked into one long 50m pitch to save time (and keep us on track for a 3 hours ascent). rupert started and with a sterling effort did 50 metres with 9 bolts!!! quickly up with him and noicely warmed i swap the bag im carrying for some quick draws and its my time to lead this time the hardest picth at 7a. I start off and quickly gain ground then come to a fairly blank cooking corner where the bolts sudeenly get really close together. Thats the crux i though to myself and set off bad crimpy slopey holds here reach up getting worse get my feet high look left and see huge foot hold. Left foot on my feet now really wide apart and im in a stable bridged position looking up i can see a good hold comming up a few more tenuous moves nd im there at the end of the crux looking up i can see my next good hold a metre and a bit up, it looks huge between me and it are 2 misserably small crimps grabbing them i setup and lunge it there smiling and only a easy run ahead to the belay.

Ruperts up and were ready now to face the ever steeping face above us. the next pitches are as follows, 6c, 6b+, 6b+, 6c+ then the finnishing 6a+. Rupert pushed on then im up with him swapping leads it all goes by in a blur of big holds and every growing exposure, we can see Vultures circling magestily below us as we inch upwards. The sun is now on us and we can feel the tiredness setting in. I finnish seconding the last 6b+ pitch with the bag on on super steep climbing its so strenious im pumped and spent as i arrive at the belay knowing i now have to push strait on to the second hardest picth, Rupert takes on look and asks if in still good to do the next pitch i say yeah but give me a breather for a few minutes. Rupert then drops the bomshell that hes been thinking and decides that he doesnt like multi pitch climbing and wants to be off the climb now so he doesnt mind leading on and i can rest whale he climbs. Calling him a hero i pass the draws and lead over to him. Pushing on with all the encouragement i can muster hes away and yarding easly up the super steep pitch above us. All to soon and all to easely hes up the top. i begin and with the bag and tiredness playing a part in soon pumped out of my mind hanging on the rope half way up the pitch. With load of encouragement im back on and make it to the top.

After the next easy pitch and a bit of a scramble were sitting at the top, after our speedy ascent in no less than 5 and a half hours :) get in were fast. AFtre a tireing walk back down we are met with a cold beer and tapas spanish style many thinks to lucy for being te treasure that she is for prepairing it. All in all a amazing day super exposed super fun but not something i want to repeat to often.

We have some amazing photos from the climb but they are on ruperts camera and im awaiting them byemail theyle be up ASAP once i get them.

Mental madness

Well Since my last post about my mental battle in Tres ponts i can say that i went back to fight my battle and allas came away empty handed but having learnt alot on the journey. Mainly that i may believe i am a brave climber but when i come across things that intimidate me (namely large overhangs and large runouts ) Ithen i need to focus my attention on it more and make sure im happy or if not happy comfortable with what im doing I think that i need to take the fall before i try and redpoint the climb or il be worrying about it all the time about what could happen and climb like a spanner, also that i should climb the whole sequence quite a few times so i am happy with what i am doing and know that my way is the best way for me, If im not happy with any of the nmoves i need to try all other ideas then commit to the one thats best. but hey a good learning experiance now to find something once we get to rodellar i got a few ideas on possible projects will elaborate more when i know what i like the feel of,

Lucy had a stunning performance that more than made up for my messing around, as we first got the the crag she saw a beautiful Tufa line that made a short bouldery route called "Pan De Puta". Having taken a few days to work out the moves she then took a rest day and switched to linking in having wore herslef out on our second last day and not quite made it she decided to rest all the next day and have one last ditch attempt just before we leave and it gets dark so she could be as fresh as possible.

After a frustraiting day of waiting around she deicdes the time has come, i scamper up the ajacent route and get the camera out, she ties in a gets ready. Pulling on she cruses upto the crux, powering through the bouldery crux sequence she looks relaxed and ready to crush the last bit, she inches up the tufa get into position then makes the clip she has been strugling with. YOu can see the look of relief and suprise in her face. She then looks to be prematurely celibrating looses focus and gets her feet wrong then shes off. After getting oh so close.

Not to be put down and with darkness fast aproaching she decideds to have another go 30 minutes later she back on. But with no time to recover it was a good effort but no where near the first. From this she then retreats from battle proud, tired and looking forward the the tapas james has promised us.

A great end to the trip been gopod climbing with you James

Well earnt Tapas

the crux oif Mites modern

chilling in the car park

Lucy pulling hard