Well two weeks flew past in a moment and I find myself back at home, in a snow-covered, ice-stricken Slovenia. What a pleasant trip it was... I haven't enjoyed the climbing itself like that in a while, well probably because I was super psyched to make it out after half a year of barely any rock climbing :) this, and feeling very relaxed (I passed the exams, it was time to chill out) made for a perfect set-up. Submitting to the daily routine of a climber, the one that never gets boring: eat, sleep, climb, repeat :)
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the lower sandstone band of Siurana |
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rolling clouds and wind turbines of Catalunya |
So yeah Siurana was a total blast, so much that I'm really hoping to come back ASAP - there's still so many routes I want to try. In the middle of my stay we made a little trip north into the heart of Catalunya, passing Lleida on the way to some other super crags like Santa Linya and Oliana. I was psyched to check out both but since I'd been to Oliana before, I really wanted to see Santa Linya. It is praised as a crag that holds more 9 grade routes than all the rest of Catalunya together, and is home to some famous climbs. My experience was good, the cave is amazingly big and awe-inspiring. The climbing however turned out to be a little too straightforward, gym-style endurance long routes, in some places there's chipped holds. The routes have great moves and there's a lot to go at, but it's super demanding physically. Pretty much a like a natural gym :P the cool thing is there's always a bunch of super motivated people hanging around, trying projects, so you will definitely catch up some nice friends and get good beta :D
It definitely is the embodiment of the famous Catalan 'a muerte' climbing philosophy.
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COVA GRAN! |
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Santa Linya village |
My picks were Rollito Sharma, 8b/b+ and Trio Ternura 8a onsight. I fell on the last move of Rollito Sharma extension which is a super pumpy 8c and had a good try on Digital system, another cool 8c, plus a good onsight try in Ruta del Sol, 8b. After two days and with some foggy, wet weather we decided to bail back towards Siurana, making a stop in Margalef. I felt more psyched on that!
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looking rather lost in the big cave |
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getting pumped on Rollito Sharma |
Margalef is another famous crag which is essentally even bigger than Siurana, but features a completely opposite style - pockets and once again pockets with intensive pulling all the way. If you're strong, you're gonna love it. We opted for a day in the sun in the classic sector Espadelles, where I did some good onsighting - Toni Kaneloni, 8a(+) and La Riera, 8a+. Even Adam Ondra made good use of the conditions sending First round first minute!
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the dam of Margalef |
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Espadelles in the sun |
Back to Siurana, it was on for the last three days, time to go A muerte! In the meantime, Daniel and Wiz had completed their projects, congrats guys! Daniel topped out La Rambla, signing himself into the elite club of guys who climbed 9a+, and essentially on what may be the most iconic route of them all. I was feeling good on Patinoso and had come pretty close to it, but decided to leave it and prefer some more onsighting. Projecting such a route (with one distinct, tricky crux move) for me is sometimes annoying, especially when you're on a trip and limited with time and there's so many other routes to go at. I managed to complete other routes: Negociee, 8b, and an onsight of the old crimping testpiece Ramadan, 8a+. I was also happy to have sent some routes I had tried on earlier trips but wasn't strong enough: classics like La cara que no miente and La bestiola, both 8a+ and soo good routes.
The last day put a finishing touch on the trip with some great sunshine! Miha thank you once more for the cosy bed, half of the pictures in this blog are also shot by him :)
To friends who are in Spain right now - I am envious of you but hope you get a lot of good routes done! Venga!
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me on an 8a onsight |
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Daniel in the start of La Rambla, 9a+! |
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El Pati! |
What I appreciate most about this trip is that it was simply a great time of relaxation and doing something you love. Things like this change your perspective about life and let you realize what is important. I like to go away and not having to worry about anything, but at the same time I'm thinking intensively about what else I want to do when I get back. Ideas come to mind by themselves and I'm psyched for what's to come.
I have still a little bit of studying to do, but after that, hmm... maybe do some routesetting at the Center? Or just have a few good sessions? Go out, get drunk, climb projects in Mišja Peč, fix my bike, enjoy the Ljubljana life, get a license as a climbing instructor, shoot movies with Boris, see some fresh climbing movies or read a book I'd heard about, maybe do a multipitch in the Osp wall, PLAN THE NEXT TRIP, do coaching with a bunch of cool kids, get a campus board session down, take on a yoga course and improve on my flexibility and WHAT NOT... It's all out there waiting :)
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on the move... |
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