Progress?
Finally got on an 8a the other day and you know what? Didn’t feel too bad. The route in question is Over the Moon Direct, a bit of a classic at LPT (where else?). Sussing the moves was definitely helped by having beta provided by Keith, who has been working the route a fair bit. However, being a bit shorter (and stronger!) than me, he’s able to walk through the lower crux and struggles a bit more on the final section, whereas I found the opposite to be true. I just about managed all the moves in isolation though, so quite pleased. The tough moves low down involved a big crucifix-style span to catch and move off a crozly pinch. I could fairly easily replicate this on my garage board, which got me thinking… is it very sad to train specifically for a mere 8a in this way? Probably, but what the hell. I’m not getting any younger!
Fiesta!
Well, that was a pretty good trip by any standards – 4 days of sport climbing in top Spanish venues and the main aim of Fiesta de los Biceps getting a good honest Welsh Crushing! This route has been on my wish list for a good few years and had aquired fairly epic qualities in my mind, thankfully the reality proved to be more amenable… But still quite scary! Nice to see that Britain’s greatest also felt it a worthy route (see Steve McClure thoughts here)
I would agree with Steve’s grade rating – I have seen the steep 6th pitch given variously 6c+ and 7a, but i’m sure off the deck it wouldn’t rate more than 6b+. It is however, very steep and very exposed and it’s fair to say I was shitting it! How those holds stay put i’ll never know – many are roughly the size and shape of rugby balls, supported by just the point at one end. There’s no option other than just yarding on them, telling yourself that everyone else has done the same.
This is the view looking up at the route with Alun finishing the first pitch – pretty well chalked line as you can see!
This is me seconding the fifth pitch (I think):
And nearing the belay…
Alun looking pleased with himself!
The next photo is the super steep pitch near the top… We suddenly felt a bit dumb for not bringing any pruissiks! The other climber in the photo is Max (or PJ?), friends of Alun’s from Barcelona who were climbing a route that crossed ours and finished with a F7b roof at the top of the Visera:
Alun’s comment: Look at the rope below me – there was hardly a breath of wind on the day, and yet that rope is hanging free, 10s of metres away from the cliff! That’s how steep it was. Also, what Jo politely doesn’t mention was that, upon starting to second him up this pitch, my left arm cramped completely and just locked up involuntarily! After a couple of minutes of mild panic where I thought I would have to climb the pitch with one arm, the blood started flowing into my cold muscles and things got better. I still had to dog my up to the belay though – a clean ascent of La Fiesta still awaits me. Jo, of course, had no such troubles, so at least Team 8amyarse got the tick!
Unfortunately, back at Rodellar base camp, our big-number ambitions had to be shelved for another year as the rain came pouring down… one day I will climb at Las Ventanas but this time we had to settle for Siurana, no great hardship in the scheme of things! We ended up totally trashed with shredded skin and, despite both of us onsighting/flashing 7b and onsighting a hatful of 7as, for our efforts we were rewarded with a display that confirmed (as if it were needed) that we reside well and truly in the realms of bumbly-punterdom: this is a photo of Max casually cruising a F8b, first redpoint… Bastard!
Team 8amyarse.com spring trip
Every spring for the last couple of years, Jo (8amyarse.com’s North Wales representative) has made the trip over to Catalunya for a long weekend of sunny bolt-clipping. Two years ago, we conquered the Cavall Bernat (see the celebratory video here), and last year we had a succesful trip to Rodellar, just over the border in Aragón, with Jo ticking a 7b+ and me redpointing my first ‘proper’ 7b. This year, Jo is coming back out here for more – as long as the airports aren’t shut again by volcanic ash! Although last year’s trip was great, we were having so much fun in Rodellar that we actually bailed out on one of our initial goals, which was to go to Riglos, a short drive from Rodellar, and do a route called La Fiesta de Los Biceps.
‘Biceps’ is reknowned as being one of the best routes in the whole world (quite literally). It is about 8 pitches long, and the final five pitches overhang at about a consistent 20ish degrees. The beauty is that the rock at Riglos is large-stone conglomerate (my non-technical term for it) which basically means that there is an abundance of enormous jugs, allowing ‘Biceps’ to get to the top at a relatively amenable grade of 7a. Everybody I know who’s done it, and everything I’ve ever read about it, all agree: it is a must-do route!
The only worry I have is that once you get past the first overhanging pitch, there is no way down, so in actual fact it is quite committing. However Jo tells me that he is redpointing 7b+ fairly easily at the moment, and I have been onsighting 7a consistently over the last few months (and have also bagged a couple of soft 7b+s), so hopefully between us we shouldn’t have too much trouble. Go to this link here to see tons of photos of the route (and, if you’re Spanish is up to scratch, read about it too).
My other goal on the trip is to have a go a a route called Pince Sans Rire in Rodellar. It is an uber-classic 7b+ that climbs two perfect tufas, up steepening rock. Apparently it is a reasonable proposition for 7b+, “but only if you’re fit”. WTF?! We’ll see, I reckon Jo will tick pretty easily, but maybe not me. There is also a nice 7c called Egocentrismo that Jo had his eye on last year. Apparently he thought it looked quite amenable, whereas I thought it looked nails. I guess we’ll find out!
Jo arrives on Friday morning earlyish, so the plan is to drive direct to Rodellar, have an easy afternoon on Friday and set up camp, go to Riglos and tick Biceps on Saturday, have an easy day on Sunday, then try and tick some things on Monday. Jo flies out on Tuesday morning. I’m knackered just thinking about it!