Robbie's Blog

YAASSSSSSS!!!

So I’ve finally ticked my first 8c To be honest, probably from a severe lack of trying more than anything. I haven’t really been focussed on ticking 8c, I prefer to consolidate a grade before jumping ahead of myself. This style of attack at climbing improvement in my opinion is much better than simply throwing yourself at harder and harder climbs, so this 8c for me came at the right time. I had just climbed my 13th 8b+ of the last year (a good consolidation number ) and it was definitely time to step it up a notch.

The route, as most of you may know already, is called “2×30″ or “Dos por Trente” in Spanish. It takes an amazing line in the hardest sector at Siurana, El Pati. To give a little bit more understanding, you know where “La Rambla” (9a+) is? Well its directly right of that!

So down to the route then… Overall the climb took me 9 attempts. Doesn’t sound like very much, but it was actually about 4 days of effort. I couldn’t really have more attempts in a day since the holds (being so small and crimpy) just wore away at your skin. The first 10m of climbing is very easy, only about f6a/b ish up a small bulge for the first 2 clips then into a kind of bridging corner to gain the second bulge. Here is where it starts - from the top of the corner, you shake out and chalk up ready to do battle with the beast. The initial moves through the bulge are easy, pulling on good sidepulls to gain a couple of juggy undercuts that take you to another slopey jug and undercut before pulling into the first crux. The only issue with the jugs here is that they are more or less constantly wet, a really annoying factor to take into consideration seeing as the crux moves coming up are on very small quarter pad crimp edges that dig deep into your pads, ripping the flesh literally from your fingertips (tasty).

The first crux I reckon is about V6 (F7A) in grade. It comprises of 8 moves, all of which individually aren’t that hard, but combined become pretty spicy. The crux move in this sequence is a powerful lock around 7 moves in that relies on a hard press on a sharp crimp to gain a very small and painful left hand press a bit higher up - from here you can quickly shake and move out to a small one finger half pad crimp, then cross into an uncomfortable mono. The nasty bit about the mono is that you have to use it to smear your feet up on bad footholds in order to pull towards the next hold, a much better crimp up and right.

The hardest bit about this route is that although the individual moves through this first section and the upcoming section aren’t hard, they do drain power from you which is what then holds you back for the following crux. After gaining the crimp from the mono, you can shake briefly before pulling into a short sustained section of around 7 moves until the next crux. Again none of these moves are hard, but they are awkward to rest on and drain you a little before the meaty crux move coming up.

Finally we arrive at the mother of all cruxes! This I think is the hardest single move I have done on any route. The move itself is a powerful yard of a good side-pull for your right and a wide apart crimp out left. The issue is that the next hold is miles away, and you have only really bad feet that are exceptionally high to push off. This basically means a wild jump for the flat jug. It’s hard to grade a single move, but for me, combined with the sequence leading into it, possibly I would say another V6 (F7A) bloc. I fell on this move three times on link from the bottom before doing it (the time I actually did the route).

This single hard move is what makes the route 8c, without it I would say f8b or soft f8b+. The problem is the severe low percentage-ness (is that a word?) of the move. You could stick it first time or fall of 300 times! On 8a.nu, a few strong climbers said hard for the grade whilst others said soft. It’s a hard one to debate when it comes down to a very specific move thats low percentage even when disregarding height - if your small the holds further away but the feet are better, if your tall the holds closer but your feet are lower on smears and you have to jump!

To the chains from here the climbing is probably only worthy of around f7b+, but its not as easy as it sounds. The following moves after the jump are tricky of bad crimps and small footholds (a friend of mine fell of here on the link). Then after a rest from doing that, you do quite a tricky step up of another small crimp into a flat juggy sidepull (another friend fell here on the link). I am so happy that I didn’t fall in this last section otherwise I may have just cut the rope (only joking… I think?).

After getting the good sidepulls, you can chill a bit before an awkward move to another crimp and a pull through to the next good rest. Here it is almost (but not quite) over. You have a really amazing rest, but still one last section of f6c/7a climbing with some balancy climbing and a few throws to good (but not that good) holds. You turn the bulge, matching on a positive sloper/edge then rest up before the victory climb to the chains.

Wow! What a route I must say I am pretty chuffed with myself having climbed such an amazing line in Siurana. The climbing was brilliant even though the rock quality could quite easily be called choss in places I am a little worried about one of the footholds… it moves a little too much for me to be 100% happy with its solidity to the wall.

I am hoping to get footage and pics to follow of me climbing this amazing route (as well as others I have climbed and have yet to do) so stay tuned for those. What’s up next though? Well, I really want to start consolidating 8c like I did with 8b+. There are two 8c’s in Siurana that I really want to do, one called “El Membre” and another which a friend, Daniel Jung, has proposed I try called “Lola Corwin”. The only issue with these are that they are in sectors that currently neither Andy, Geek or Jonny are that keen to go to. I’m not bothered though, I’d much rather chill with them for the time being. Instead, I am going to test the water on 8c+ and work the moves on “Pati Noso” (8c+), the left-ward variant to “2×30″. This shares the starting sequence as well as the jump move, but instead of f7b+ terrain to reach the chains, it looks more like f7c+/8a, possibly harder if I believe what half the folks around here are saying :/

Anyway, psyched for whatever is coming up next! Here’s to 6 more weeks in SPAIN!!!!

ROBZ OUT

Hey Guys

Things are definitely heating up now! The weather has taken a bit of a change, from being pretty darn cold to swelteringly hot. Of course its always possible to climb in the shade, but what we’ve been finding is if you climb in the shade in the evenings, after the rock has had been heated up for the whole day, it still isn’t perfect conditions. I would gladly be getting up at 6:00 am to catch the perfect temps, but thats not so easy when your belay partner is Andy “still on bar night shift sleeping patterns” Latta (thats a long middle name!).

It’s not so bad though, I was happy the other day to tick of yet another classic 8b+ called “Renegoide”. Only a couple of days after ticking the burly, boulder beast “Mr Cheki” (8b+) at the same crag. This route was very much a different style to the other climbs i’ve done already. “Renegoide” takes a nice orangey blue line up a slightly overhung face (10 degrees at most), climbing on small half-pad crimps that are more or less razor blades most of the way. It reminds me of climbing on the main wall (justice panel) at Ratho, very sustained, little or no rests and what would no doubt make Neil Mcgeachy, the king of endurance, pee his pants in excitement!

The day I did “Mr Cheki”, I had a very brief play on the moves just to sort out in my head what I was doing. The next day I got stuck into it. I was surprised that after some skin had grown back, the holds felt so much better and I actually made a 2 halves link on my 2nd try. This was no doubt going to go quickly, the only issue being that my skin was getting ripped apart by the sharpe edges and nodules that you bear down on. I decided that a rest day was in order to try and regain some skin for a better attempt - that night I even pasted on a layer of anti-hydral to try and dry out the skin a bit to give it more bite on the nasty crimps.

Andy and I came back to the crag, this time with a friend of ours, Michelle (Danish) who I have to thank for the excellent photos she took. After warming up on a nice 7b, I went for “Renegoide”. That day turns out was the hottest day this year and the rock felt like it was melting! Equally my skin felt like it was melting on the rock, but incidentally, the moves still felt really good. During the crux move at around half-height, I could feel my fingers peeling away from the rock, the holds were so small and slopey here that the heat really wasn’t doing me any favours. I pressed on regardless and made it to the rest just after the crux moves. I felt really good physically, not pumped or tired, just hot! I was wearing a beanie as well which didn’t help the heat situation. Stupidly I didn’t cut my hair before leaving the UK and its becoming an increasing nuisance whilst I’m climbing… much better to just hide it under a hat

I pressed on into the second and third crux, still feeling really solid, finally making it to the last few tricky moves. I rested on some small but positive crimps, eyed up the remaining moves and committed to the 6m run-out to the next clip. In the video below you’ll see Alizee Dufraisse climbing “Renegoide”. The point in which she clips the chain and lets go is after the run-out, unfortunately, she didn’t realise that the route isn’t over here and that the two clips there are only 3/5 up the wall! But thats a fair mistake, I did the same thing first time up there.

So after making the scary run-out, I then continued to the top (another 15m of 6c-ish climbing). Not hard, not blow-able really, but a little scary technically after having climbed the lower part and not wanting to fall now of course. There was a moment pulling through the bulge at the top when my hand hold broke in one place at the same time as a foothold broke… this was at the end of a 6m runout as well… I may have peed myself slightly

Finishing off at the top of the wall was a great feeling again, especially after climbing something so different in style to the other 8b+’s i’ve done over the last year… Numero 13 - TICKED!

Andy and Michelle decided to go for a 7b onsight after my climb. They fought valiantly, Andy making it more or less into the final hard moves, but unfortunately to no avail. Michelle and I discussed the importance of failure on routes i.e. it’s only by failing do we really learn. This got me thinking about my own performance in the day, had I really learned anything from “Renegoide”? I have because I had previously failed and overcome it, but I still felt that the day wasn’t entirely satisfactory, I needed to fight something harder and get beaten up a bit!

I decided to try and onsight an 8a I had heard was quite good. It was called “Un rato en cada Postura”. I route read it from the ground, spent some time visualising the route, then went for it. In my opinion, this was my best performance of the trip. I fought for it, tooth and nail! I wasn’t going to let go unless I really had nothing left. I made mistakes, but I pulled through them, it was a good onsight attempt, but i didn’t succeed. I fell staring a jug in the face and moving to a good crimp where my foot popped on a bad smear. I was boxed out my nut and deserved to fail, but I was happy to have given it my all. I pulled back on, did the next move, grabbed the jug and climbed the remaining f5 climbing to the chains 5m above me. I felt even better after reading comments on 8a.nu, usually referring routes as being “soft”, but instead this was all “HARD!”. Always a confidence booster that

So after a good day at Can Pigui Pugui, I decided I need to up my game. I got on the 8c at El Pati called “2×30″ and managed to do it in two halves - bottom to crux and crux to top! This is fantastic and it was only my second time on the route. The crux is bloody hard, a dyno of a good sidepull, bad feet and a tiny micro edge crimp to a good flat jug, but i’m psyched now and I know i can do it I am also psyched by the route at Can Pigui Pugui “El Membre” (8c) after I’ve done “2×30″ and potentially “Pati Noso” (8c+) if I have enough time, but we’ll see

For now, I’m going to relax, maybe eat a nice omellette bocadillo whilst watching a film and climb tomorrow!!!

ROBZ OUT