It's been 90 days

Hey all

Its been another loveley week here in siurana, and dare i say it a bit to hot, its been peaking at around mid twenties each day so to hot to climb so we been getting late starts lounging around in the sun and eating breaky then and seaking out the shade,

We have a new member of team bristol here aswell in the form of dan whos driven out to visit jason and clare we welcomed him here with a traditional spannish paella and good red wine, After a eppic 900+ mile drive in one stint from calais he seemed pretty happy. Second day here we had a little slip up with making a stir fry using a new Chilli sauce that we got, i put about a tea spoon in then when eating found out that it was so hot we could only eat half our plate full, looking on the bottle which is super small it says 120 servings as soooooo hot its evil,



Had a awsome rest day yesterday chilling down by the resivour and swimming for as long as we could before freezing, tala is getting lots more accustomed to water and was really excited when we were all playing in it. Couldnt quite get her to commit to getting in fully although she seemed to enjoy splashing around and eating water.

Had a fun session on thursday afternoon we decided to check out a crag that we though would be shady in the afternoon but got it wrong it was in the full sun when we got there :) whoops so chilled out on a few easy routes. and did a super run out but super interesting 6c up a large crack and arete that featured a 5+ metre run out at the top. really intersting and really photogenic as a large ledge overlooks it from where Lucy managed to get some really assetic shots, theres a few below shes going to put up more later. Jason was funny he got the the very top and did a big jump to the last hold messing around and posing for the camera then looked down once he grabbed it and looked decidedly nervous when he noticed how far he was above the last bolt, would have been a 40-50 foot fall if he slipped :) exciting times







After everyone had done the 6c the rope was still up and we were thinking of calling it a day then on a whim decided to top rope the 7c that shares the same loweroff as some non commital training at the end of the day i quickly ended up at the top having climbed it In 2 sections with 1 fall. Dan had a play after putting the draws in as jason decided to try and flash it, he got to the middle of the crux then fell as my beta didnt suit him. I then decided to give it a go and sent it first go super stoked as never got one that quick. Thin skin and sore fingers and good times. Back to the van for a pre prepaired green curry then off to visit our friendly neighbours and have a beer round there fire.

Tonight is our last night in suirana for a while so were going to have a fire and a few beers this evening and enjoy the setting sun and lasting heat. shoud be good, we got a nice pig thigh bone for tala so im sure she will be happy to hang around and chew that for hours.

Were thinking of heading to rodella later on in the trip has anyone been there can we pick your brains do you know if its ok to stay there wild camping in vans as we have heard that its heavely monitored in the village/ climbing areas? also is there a font/ water suply there anywhere? comments please.

Adios

Si

Pockets & Crimps

Hey there!

My first blog in ageees!! since my last it has mostly been climbing going on! :) Had a good time in margalef although found it to be very strenuos on the fingers! pockets pockets and more pockets. I decided that i liked the look of a small crag there which was very short as an introduction to margalef, it had 3 5+s and a 6b. easy?

A little thought

I saw a sticker today with a important message on it so thought ild share it. Have a read and have a think. What have you done today and who have you done it with has it created memories your remember?

Mangy Dog

We have finaly found out the reason for Tala chewing and scratching out her hair. It isnt stress, it isnt alergies to her food, Malting or anything else we have thought of or been sujested. We went to the vet yesterday and she has mites that live in the hair folicals and then cause them to fall out the spannish call it Sarna, In english we call it Mange. So we have a loveley liquid we have to bath her in a few times, its very much like nit and scabies lotion and smells really potent. Then no more Mangy dog

And a picture of tala in all her glory CLick it for a bigger photo tell me if you dont smile and laugh when you see it

Siurana and Margalef

Hey all

Lots of climbing going on since our last post we have climbed for a few days in siurana then the rain came back and we headed off to Margalef to seak sheltered climbing in the giant overhangs.

Margalef is awsome the drive in takes you right past the laboratory which is home to copious amounts of hard climbs in the high 8's and 9's. some of the times the whole road is covered by the large roofs,

Moving on from albarracin

Heya all

We have now left Albarracin and are now situated in siurana which is just south of lleida in cataluna. Not been climbing yet as still super achy from 2 weeks bouldering. And i have come down with some kind of flu thing and feel sicky and super achy so not a great combination, however we do have nice sunny days so perfect for resting and having fun.

Albarracin

Hey all

we are currently in Albarracin which is around 2 hours inland from valencia up in the highlands, at around 1200m its a super cool setting here above a medievel fortified village with big castle walls, you go a few miles up a little road away from the village and up into the forrest then you come to a sprawling expance of barren wilderness, a few fields where you can park, lots of rocks and trees and not much else. The bouldering is all on deep red sandstone boulders, its truely special here so many massive overhanging roofs and cool features. the climbing is super athletic and physical.

We also have 2 lodgers in the van in the form of clare and jason as there van blew up its engine on the way to meet us here so we have them in the van for the time being till they figure out whats going on with there Van, heading on to margaleff next where they plan to get a tent and head on on foot if there van is religated to being taken back to england. Fingers crossed something will happen and it will be fixable,

Our first day we warmed to the style and did a fair amount of volume + exploring managed to get super cool compression 6c+ then called it a day and save some skin for the next day. We met a cool american dude called Logan whos been here a few weeks and is super psyched to always climb. we arrange to meet him and climb + get the local knowledge of wheres good.

Next day we head to a 30 degree overhanging wall full of jugs and pockets, having warmed up here me and jason get to work on a 3 metre horisontal roof with 2 7as going strait through the middle of it, I almost flashed the first one getting to the finnishing hold but not controling the swing as my feet cut loose only to find this is the hardest move :) a few goes later it goes. i have a play on the next one but find it much harder and my stomach and back have ran out of strength so we decide to come back on another day to send it, We hard off to another sector with a few good verticly technical problems, here to is a super technical 7a. we figure out all but one of the moves quickly then faf for a bit trying to figure out how to go from 2 poor crimps to a side pull really far above us, Jason gets the move and we then proceed to all send it one after another, result. Day done we have a bit of an explore and find so many other amazing problems enough to last far more time than what we have.

Day 3 here is a rest day so we laze around in 20 degree sun till 1ish then head into the town find the local bakery and get the best fresh baguetts washed down with some pate and olives, moving on we explore the old town for a few hours and are enthrauled with the narrow streets and wonky architecture. after enduring scorching heat for then day we finnish with a cool beer in the local bar. heading back to the van we have a communal meal of stir fry with rice. fully satisfied we have a friendly game of poker that goes on late into the night a good end to a amazing day.

Day 4 starts off with a light dusting of snow and sub zero temperatures following the arrival of a cold front. Getting a late start we wait for the sun to melt the snow and dry everything off, gatthering our matts we head to techos 1 one of the further sectors hoping the weekend crouds would be in areas closer to the road. after taking ages to warm up in the arctic conditions we jump on another roof with a 7a+ going strait through the middle of it, very few but hard moves. Step onto the wall take a large flat edge reach to a small gaston crimp on the roof get feet up, reach for a small crimp way out in the roof, other foot up then jump really far to a mahoosive jug after around 15 goes im painfully close to getting it but again run out of core strenght and retreat to the van for tea and biscutes,

Ive been wandering and exploring when taking tala for her morning and evening walks theres so much good ravines and valleys to explore here you could spend hours poking around.

Its due to get to -6 tonight and -8 tomorrow night so snuggleing down to a warm evening in the van more updates soon.

Simon
xx

And words from me..........

Albarracin is AMAZING. Beautiful strong climbing on red boulders, Without a doubt the best bouldering I have done outside! am having a great time hanging out and climbing here with clare, Jason and Logan. There are loads of awesome problems here, some real good 5+'s and 6a's. have also been trying a 6b+ and 6c that r really cool problems, am hope 2 send them before we leave! Has been pretty cold today and alot of snow but is meant to be a bit better weather tommorow so should hopefully be a good sending day :) cannot wait!! Take care people

xxx Lucy xxx