I have just spent the last 2 weeks climbing in the mecca of Limestone that is Catlunya, Spain :D Of course that doesn’t really narrow it down much does it? I have been climbing at some mega impressive crags such as Terradets, Oliana and Santa Linya!Lee Cujes on "Energia Positiva" (7c+) belayed by Sam Cujes

On arrival I didn’t really have a plan – I thought I would try and get some public transport to Terradets and work it out from there… I had heard there was a refugio and hopefully that would be open. Totally by chance however, a good friend (Henward Nind) was climbing at Siurana and I messaged him to say I would be climbing at Terradets if he fancied meeting up… Long story short, Henward let me stay in his van and we have been climbing together for the last 2 weeks!

Me onsighting "Latido del Miedo" (8a)

One of the main reasons for coming out now was also to meet up with two really good friends from Australia, Sam and Lee Cujes. They were also in Kalymnos when I was there, but this is the end of their 2 month trip to Europe and it might be a while before they are back L Unfortunately, Lee suffered a tweak in his right shoulder on one of his final days climbing in Kalymnos and this seems to have stuck with him throughout his trip to France and Spain. Thankfully though things seem to have eased out a bit and he is back in crushing mode :D Sam and Lee have both been climbing at Terradets with me the last week and a half and it’s been awesome hanging out with them and occasionally invading their apartment at Villanova de la Sal (Tell everyone!!! It’s lush!!!).Getting my trusty Shamans on for the next send :D

So we have been mainly at Terradets this trip however we’ve had half a day at Oliana and half a day at Santa Linya. Oliana was absolutely amazing, I can’t wait to go back there ASAP! I tried the mega classic 8b+ “Humildes Pa Casa” and was blown away by its awesomeness! It is without a doubt in my top 2 routes I have ever climbed… up there with “Tom et Je Ris” in Verdon. Unfortunately I didn’t get to actually send the route L we arrived at Oliana quite late and the next day it rained so I only got one attempt at the climb – I am planning on coming back one day with Lee and we will do this beast together!!! YEAH BOI!!!!Lee high on the redpoint send of "Energia Positiva" (7c+) - Fun Fact: He actually jumped on me after clipping the chains :P Two guys hanging of a static didn't feel so secure :P

Santa Linya again was only half a day and the crag was pretty damp. There had been a massive rain and pretty much everywhere was wet, so we headed to Santa Linya, the one place steep enough to stay dry. Unfortunately it was still very humid inside the cave L I tried an 8c called “Ingravids Serps” which I managed all of the moves bar one on my first try and it felt very do-able in a short time if conditions had been better. I then turned my attention onto an 8a+ in the cave called “Irak Attack”. I had planned an onsight attempt of the route but was weighing up whether or not I should given the bad conditions – but hey, if you wait around for good conditions you’ll never climb anything. I gave it a good burn and got high on the onsight but mis-read the sequence and fell off the crux… I lowered, untied and in a fit of annoyance/arrogance I tied straight back in and re-climbed it to the crux, this time not going wrong and sent it :P Felt like a return to my endurance training back home :P Probably not the best tactics ever and I apologise for my lack of discipline (especially to those I coach – please don’t do as I did here – it’s called being an idiot).Sam looking way too strong on "Energia Positiva" (7c+) - LOOK AT THOSE GUNS!!!

When it wasn’t wet we’ve been climbing in Terradets. I have been here only once before but never actually climbed, just sat and watched :P This time round I was climbing almost everyday and have had such an amazing time :D I was blown away by the quality of every route here, nothing is bad, nothing is below par, it’s all awesome!

I heard so much about Terradets being the ultimate crag for onsighting in the 7c-8a range but I really had no idea until trying it out for myself. There is literally dozens of routes in that grade range all over the wall… there is one section where I’m sure there are at least 4 classic sustained 7c+’s in a row!

On my first day I onsighted the two classic 7c’s “Avant Match” and “Occident” followed by another 7c+/8a “Primea Linea” and then finished off by redpointing the extension of “Avant Match”, a bouldery 8a/+ which I fell on the final move on the onsight. After such a great first day, I didn’t really know what to expect for the rest of the trip. I feel really in my element when I am going about the wall ticking off routes I know I can do onsight or 2^nd go, it’s one of my favourite styles of climbing because you can get so much climbing done J Even at the ends of the day when my fingers were tired and bleeding, I was still going for more on easier routes.Me onsighting "Millenium" (8a) - I found the start quite tricky as you can see :P

I continued to tick off more routes in the 7c-8a range with some more classics such as:

One of my favourite routes of all of these has to be “Redbull” (7c+). This was a tough little number and had me a little scared at one point when I climbed too high on the tufa and had to make an awkward cross-through to a pocket from way too high up :P When I went for this I was only warming up at the time and I thought it was only 7c. Of course it’s actually probably the toughest 7c+ at the crag and in my opinion probably as hard as some of the 8a’s!

Higher on the onsight of "Millennium" (8a)“Millenium” (8a) was an interesting one too. I did this at the end of the day and was already a little tired. I had to put the quickdraws in on this, which was a bit of a pain (why can’t all crags be equipped with in-situ draws damn it!). There was a scary moment at the third bolt where I had found it really awkward to clip the rope through the gate of the quickdraw… I thought I had clipped when in fact the rope had got stuck on the gate and I was in risk of decking! I heard Sam whisper my name calmly as she had seen the rope not go in… I knew that the rope hadn’t clipped in correctly… but then I heard the faint ‘click’ of the quickdraw as the rope slid into place (PHEW!). I continued on the climb and managed to get a good rest at half-height. The next section was really technical on tiny crimpers and bad feet (reminded me of Malham). I took my time on this section, making sure that each hand was freshly chalked and as dry as possible to get a good grip on every slopey little edge. Thankfully I managed to get myself through this section unscathed as well. Next thing I was heading into a large booming bulge that terrified me to bits! There was no chalk at all on this thing and I hadn’t the faintest idea of what to do… but then suddenly I saw some undercuts… they were flat and I needed to get my feet as high as possible to get some power behind them. Climbing "Xarop de Basto" (8a)When I did this, I managed to make a long stretch over the bulge and reach a positive flatty (the thank god hold!). I could relax now and cut my feet to mantle over the bulge and into the final head wall… little did I know that the hardest move was just ahead! I rested for a bit on some good holds and scoped out what was remaining of the climb. I knew that the chains were after the next bolt, but the holds in between were small pocket things and I couldn’t fit my chubby meat hooks into them. I saw a small left hand pocket that the very edges of my fingertip pads just stuck to and the right hand one was slightly better but much lower down… I could see a hold high up for my right meaning I was going to have to pull hard on my left and lay one on for this thing… I built up the courage and went for it… I remember the moment so vividly as I pulled on the small slopey left hand hold, expecting it to rip any second, but nothing happened, I kept moving upwards and with a scream I caught the right hand hold which turned out to be a good edge! YASSSSSS! I was in :D I pulled over and mantled out the top to clip the chains – SUCCESS!!! This was probably one of my favourite moments onsighting a route – I really feel like I climbed it well the whole way up and took every challenge as it came, responding to the situation effectively!

Starting out on "Non-Stop" (8b)Henward was also doing well and getting used to climbing on steeper ground, something he is very adamant that he is bad at. I tell him that he needs to give it time and learn the technique and flow for climbing on steeper ground… he just moans some more and asks if we can go to vertical crags… I stare at him blankly… “no…” :P Despite his incessant moaning, he was doing bloody well and going from strength to strength throughout the whole trip. He ticked another 7b in his first few days, then did another 7b, then a 7b+ (his first of his year long trip!) – quit complaining Sully (he looks like Sully from “Monsters Inc.” with his mad turquoise fleece which is obviously for girls :P )Pulling through the steepness on "Non-Stop" - Photo by Lee Cujes

Definitely one of my biggest challenges this trip was a tricky 8b called “Non Stop”. 8b usually doesn’t take more than a few attempts but this took me a couple of days to close. I think this might be for a number of reasons though:

1. When I first tried the route I noticed a massive scar where a hold had been in the midst of the crux – most likely something has broken off and made it a bit harder
2. On my closest attempt at the route on my second day trying, I snapped off the crux hold making the route (without a doubt)… much harder!

The second break was slightly annoying but also ridiculously funny :P I couldn’t really be angry with it – I was actually amused more than anything as the whole route was a massive a pile of choss. I was surprised that the hold hadn’t fallen of earlier despite the sika (I am obviously too fat). The amazing thing though was that after the break, I found a new sequence, totally wild and whacky with a mental sideways dyno maneuver. I can only relate to this by watching some crazy Daniel Woods or Chris Sharma video… The sequence worked of course but was very hard for me…                        Campussing through the roof of "Non-Stop" (8b)

Astonishingly, I sent the route on my next attempt that day! It wasn’t without a heck of a lot of trying. I threw for the hold with everything I had, the swing almost ripped my arms out of their sockets and truthfully, I thought that if I actually took the fall I might have ripped a hole in the space time continuum… there was a lot riding on me sticking this move as you can see :P I screamed like I have never screamed before and when I realized I was still on the wall – I screamed some more in sheer surprise, happiness and slight fear as well as I didn’t want to screw up the end! Luckily I didn’t mess up the finale and I ticked the route :D YAY!!! It was a great feeling to come back after getting spanked a bit on this one.

Liam on "Red Bull" (7c+)There was one other 8b I tried at the start of the trip called “Golpe de Gas” – I am still unsure whether or not I was trying this route the right way. I had to try it in the sun which didn’t make things any easier but for all the life of me I couldn’t do the final bulge crux… Not being able to do the moves on an 8b has not happened to me in a long time – I am not going to say it wasn’t frustrating but I accept that maybe I need to get a bit better at tiny slopey crimps and bunched up feet for this one. I was mega impressed to see that Karin Magog crushed this back in 2008 (according to 8a.nu stalking) – all I can say is “oh my god, what a beast!”

In the last few days I have managed a few more onsights in the 8a range and even managed a cheeky 8a+ onsight today with a route called “Formula Weekend”.  I didn’t expect to onsight this all the way as the top of the route was completely wet. Over the last few days it has been raining pretty heavily, luckily most of Terradets has remained dry however the top outs are pretty much all wet. “Formula Weekend” is 8a to the first chain, then there is a 4m long roof and a bulge which turns into slopers. The 8a felt pretty steady for me, I never felt like I was going to fall but there was one moment just before the chains where I had to pull pretty hard on a small damp crimp… I was a little unsure on whether or not my fingers would stay put on the wet crimp but thankfully they did :P The remaining roof section for the 8a+ was damp and the bulging sloper was not sodden wet with drips coming off it! I just went for it to see what would happen… before I knew it I was grabbing wet slopers and mantling to finish on top :P WHAT!?!?!?! A pleasant surprise :P It actually didn’t feel that hard, but I think I was quite lucky with reading the sequence correct and that my hands didn’t slip on any of the wet holds.The previous crux - out of interest, the right hand crimp I have here is what broke off... which changed the sequence for me so I had to dyno through with my right hand off the undercut to catch the hold I have with my left hand in this picture :P

Lee and Sam were having a good trip too, of course Lee was held back slightly by his shoulder. Despite this he was still trying 8a and getting 7c+’s sent. Sam was trying a 7a+ called “Pasta Sin Agua”, I did this one my last day – OH MY GOD – it’s fierce for 7a+, definitely as hard if not harder than “Jam Session” (7b).

This is actually much smaller than it looks like in real life :P The broken hold!!!On my last day I really wasn’t too bothered about doing anything in particular. I had had an amazing trip and had ticked the best routes at the crag, I was just happy to spend my last day climbing with friends… but that’s not to say I didn’t do anything :P I had one last route that I had attempted the day previously which I had not completed, an 8b called “Democracia”. “Democracia” is situated just right of the very steep cave where the other 8b “Non-Stop” is and it’s also the right hand variant finish of the 8a+/b “Anarkista”. “Democracia” includes the same first half as “Anarkista” and then a new upper section that veers out right where “Anarkista” breaks left. I was pleasantly surprised to repeat the first section of the route without any issues and onsighted the 8b section until the main crux (which was very hard!). It was here that I got stuck into redpoint mode for the last time this trip. It took me a few goes to figure out exactly how to do the crux in the most efficient way possible, it had a pretty intense technical sequence involving a long reach to grab a three finger single pad crimp which you had to do a cross-through match with your right hand into a positive two finger pocket situated just above (quite awkward actually as your left hand gets in the way of your right crossing through). After this you did another big cross-through off the two finger pocket to grab a really bad tufa pinch! Finishing off "Non-Stop" (8b)This thing was proper filth and required me to figure out exactly which finger had to be placed where on the tufa – pinky, ring, middle, index and thumb were all placed individually during the cross-through so I could get the right amount of friction and strength to complete the next move. Once I had the pinch there was a tricky twist and I grabbed a very bad polished edge that would only be quarter pad at most – from that I step my feet up (making the tufa feel a bit better) and cross again into a good slanting slot on the upper section of the tufa. From here to the top it’s probably still about 7c in it’s own right so still very droppable I guess! The horrible thing though was that the last crux below the chains was wet as well so I had to climb this pulling on slippery wet crimps and pockets… LOVELY!!!A site I will never get tired off - This was the first view I got off Terradets area almost 5 years ago that I saw... So B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!

I had one attempt after my first working go/onsight and failed at the first crux again – I thought this crux could be potentially very problematic for me now, not only because of the difficulty but also my skin was beginning to get pretty torn up from resting on some bad pockets and jamming my fingers into slots lower down on the route :P On my third attempt I felt pretty good and managed to get all the way to the rest before the crux without too much bother… here I rested for a while, eyeing up the crux and waiting to feel that moment when your forearms are recovered just enough to make a beeline for it… I felt it was about ready… I shook out one more time with a chalk up on each hand and then went for it! I moved fast, the cross-through to the pocket was solid and I didn’t hesitate in the next move to the pinch but I made sure I positioned every finger in exactly the right place… SQUEEZE!!!! I crushed the pinch into oblivion and made the next move to the small crimper which I took without any thought of failure… I position my feet and made the next move to the good slot and suddenly felt very fresh and not at all like I had felt on my previous dogging attempts (I love this feeling!). I kept going and got a cheeky kneebar rest before the final crux which was still slightly damp… I sat scrunched up in my kneebar relaxing my grip off the two sloper hand holds I was shaking out on… at the corner of my eyes I saw Lee and Sam watching me and I gave them a little wave :PMe pretending to be a photographer for a day :P I was not completely confident that I had this in the bag and I needed to relax for the final section - I always climb best when the situation isn’t serious – sometimes it’s a good thing for me to talk to myself or give a little wave from a rest to friends just to alleviate some of the pressure. On the last section I moved quickly and got all the holds pretty perfect… they were all a little wet still and didn’t feel completely secure but I wasn’t about to give up… I just moved confidently and put trust in myself to do this... I moved out right and grabbed a weird awkward pinch which splayed my fingers a bit, I crossed again into a wet crimp and then made a big move to a wet jug – DONE! It was sealed, I had done the route, I pulled a few more jugs and clipped the chains – YAASSSSSS!! It was a really good feeling to tick something challenging like this on my last day in Terradets :D

My last day wasn’t just my success though – Henward ticked his first 7b+/c with a very boulder route on the left side of the crag “Tarambana” and Lee ticked “Mallorca es Funky”, a very powerful 7c+ up one of the steepest sections of Bruixes wall. I even finished the day off doing another 8a+ called “Flix Flax”. I tried to onsight this one but made a silly mistake low down which cost me the onsight – I then did it 2^nd go.The Lone Ranger!

That pretty much concludes my climbing trip then :P The last night I had dinner with Lee and Sam ad we said our goodbyes... I hope to see them again soon! Henward gave me a lift to the airport and I had some problems with my tickets but got home eventually :P Now I am comfortable in my own home and looking forward to setting and coaching over the next few weeks... Got a busy build up to christmas now... I am always psyched to be on climbing trips but it is nice to come home and get back into a routine again - I have missed all the kids I regularly coach and I am looking forward to seeing them all in action now that I am back! Hopefully they have all been training hard and not slacking :P

See you at the wall!

Since my last blog post, I climbed a few more hard routes and even got my very first "First Ascent"! When I left you last, I had tried "El club de la Lucha" (8b+) and was going back for the send on the following day. On arriving at the crag, I warmed up by doing the first 5 moves of the route (just climbing up and down), then went straight for it. Initially I wasn't feeling 100%, but I decided that I would just press on anyway and give it a good blast.

Onsighting an 8a at "Cabezon de Oro"I mucked up the lower section of the climb resulting in a forced down climb to get another shakeout below a roof. I don't know what happened really, I think it was a lack of knowing where my feet should be going, luckily the climbing in this section of the route wasn't actually that hard and I could recover well enough to continue into the meat of the route. The climbing from then on was very sustained with little or no rest for around 15-20m. I climbed quickly only stopping to shake at one point mid-way and then again just below the chains. The scary part was deciding to skip a long extended quickdraw before entering the redpoint crux which resulted in an 8m runout with not so easy climbing to the top :P Luckily though I never fell and to the relief of both myself and my belayer (Jules) I clipped the chains before letting go :DOur awesome villa!

What next? Well, I decided seeing as I was climbing most of the hardest stuff at the crag within a few goes, that I might as well have a look at one of two unclimbed projects at the crag. The one that caught my eye in particular was a route called "Tendon House". It was first bolted and attempted by a climber from Madrid and had seen some interest from locals but was yet to have an ascent. The route takes a wildly blank yet still very steep wall for 25m before you clip the chains. From the ground the route looks very similar to a 9a in Gorge du Loup called "PuntX" which if i'm honest scared the living daylights out of me :P Locals at the crag estimated the route to be a possible 9a given that it had not had an ascent and I wasn't inclinded to argue based on what it looked like from the ground..."Tendon House" (8b+)

Upon inspection, it turned out very differently... I found a lot of hidden pockets (drilled) and sika crimps blind from ground view (unless you know where to look). I had a bit of difficulty with the first crux close to the ground at first, but deciphered a brilliant sequence through it which made it little more than about V7 on it's own. After this, you took a quick shake out on some small holds and from there you where firing up the wall on positive mono pockets for another 5m. The climbing itself is not hard, it's just whether or not you can stand hanging from one finger and pulling quite big locks between each of them.

There was another crux coming up which involved a powerful move to a sika undercut crimp, but once that was over you were back on mono's on slightly less steep angled wall. 

I had two tries to work out the moves - my second involved a brief attempt but I failed in the first crux and decided to work over the moves once again. The next day I came back and sent it first try with the locals watching. I pretty much cruised the whole route with the exception of one move right at the end... a hard lock off from a left hand mono, high feet on smears to a good mini jug. I missed the jug short of half a centimetre on my first pull and managed to hold it coming down and rest again on the two lower mono's... I tried again giving it a bit more umph this time and succesfully stuck the hold and topped out!The world's hardest 8a - "Ultimo Aviso" - I think it helps if you 7ft tall!

The locals were excited to see the project sent and eagerly awaited my grading of the route. I climbed it on my 3rd try, and based on how it felt when I climbed it and the breakdown of boulder problems on the route I felt it would justify anything above 8b but not as hard as 8c. I reckon that in some areas, this might get 8b. Somewhere like Frankenjura or Margalef where this style of climbing is common and people are used to it, but for Sella grading, I think this would be consistent with the other 8b+'s of the crag.

After doing "Tendon House", I was psyched to do some easier routes and more mileage. On one day I climbed a new 8a bolted by some cool Spanish guys we met at the crag, an 8a+ called "Romocop" which in my opinion was the best 8a+ I have ever climbed, then finished the day off onsighting another 8a called "Paula" bolted by Armando (Sella's answer to Jesus). And the next day I flashed "Tirali Valent", an incredible 8a+ up a slightly overhanging section of the wall and small but positive edges all the way to the top :D

In the last few days I climbed a few more routes in the low 8's and high 7's. I climbed a couple of new 8b's, one which I was one move off the flash and probably would have done so if it had been slightly cooler. This was called "La Criatura" (8b). It is the most fake, manufactured/sika'd climb I have ever been on, but despite this, it was actually quite nice :P I also did another 8b 2nd go called "Maestro Suriyoda", another route that I think a flash would have been possible with cooler conditions. When I climbed this it must have been 30 degrees and it literally felt like a sauna as I climbed! I had built this up in my mind as a really hard route as I had seen Armando battling with it for a good few weeks... On the send though it felt OK with only the easier upper section (7b-ish) feeling like I was in risk of falling off, thanks to the high temps. 

Dyno method to crux...On the second last day we headed to Cabezon de Oro. This crag is utterly amazing and I only wish I could have had a couple of extra days there. I onsighted a fabulous 8a there called "Columneta" and tried one of the best lines I have ever been on, an incredible 8b called "Clemencia". The crux move can be done as a dyno, but I managed to do it with a very high drop knee and using a terrible 2 finger undercut intermediate. This made thngs more controlled but it was still at least a V7 boulder with 8a to finish!Dropknee method to crux...

And finally, the last day we headed to a smaller crag called "Castellet de Calp". Now... my honest opinion of this place was - Total Crap! However, I can't speak for everyone as the rest of the group actually really liked it :P I thought it was short, sharp and choss... not what I came to Spain for. Despite this though, I dealt with it as it was my last day and did every hard route at the crag including 3 x 7c+'s and 2 x 7c's. For the record, "Red Bull" (7c+) and "Chasing the Dinosaur" (7c) were actually not too bad, but none would be worthy of 3 stars if you compare with other crags in the guidebook... which does make you wonder whether they actually think about what they give stars to when writing the guide?The move!

Anyway, was such a great trip and despite having ticked sector Wildside bar a few routes, I will definitely be back. It seems that there is a lot more to go at in the surrounding area as well and I am super keen to get back to Cabezon de Oro as well as the facing crag which apparently is like to Oliana!?!?!?!

Right now, all I can think about is getting back on the rock... Ceuse here I come!!!

Thanks also to Stewart Stronach for the photos at Cabezon de Oro and Amanda Lyons for the photos at Sella, Wildside :D

Nat has gone back to Austria already, but not before a brief stop in France meeting up with friends, visiting her old workplace for Entreprises and stopping off in Mallau to watch the Boulder World Cup. She had a great trip out here and now she is looking forward to the rest of her work placement in Austria (Landeck) and hopefully joining us for a trip to Ceuse in the Summer :D

So today this week has been yet another eventful one for Team Scotland! I have been joined out here by two others, Amanda and Jules who are keen to push their own level as far as possible. Amanda has been getting stuck into some quick redpoint mileage and has thus far dispatched a couple of quick 7b+'s and is now working on a 7c. Jules only just arrived and today was her first day climbing. Jules is hoping to work an 8a out here, she had already tried one from her last trip called "La Putita de Millau" so was keen to get on this. Amanda Lyons bending her way through the crux of "Yo Somos Olimpicos" (7c)

In the morning today, I decided that the 8a seemed easy enough at the beginning to justify warming up on which resulted in a successful onsight for me :D Turns out that if you don't go direct at one section it is only 7c+, fair enough as it felt too eays for 8a, but this is where things start getting a bit weird and I don't really see the point in giving it 8a if it is easier to climb 1m left of the bolt as opposed to straight up...

"Dosis" (8b+)

End of the tufas on "Dosis"After warming up, I got on with my redpoint attempt on "Dosis" (8b+). First go I mucked up the first crux as it was so cold and I couldn't feel my fingers. The moves through this section are really powerful between one small but positive crimp, a bad sloper and a small pinch (tufa). With my numb fingers I just couldn't feel anything I was holding so opted for a return to the ground, 5 minutes rest and a re-attempt. This time I crushed the boulder crux and made it through the the tufas out right... It was only once here that I realised my kneepad was too high on my leg for the kneebar :O I quickly moved through the next sequence to a higher (better) kneebar that would fit and finally I could shake out a bit :DOn the upper section of "Dosis" (8b+)

The next part of the climb was a techy sequence between pockets and a slopey right hand tufa which involves one or two quite powerful committing moves. Luckily I didn't much these up and managed to continue with my upwards progression into the rest before the final crux.

This last section scared me considerably as it involved some big moves between some not very good holds with bad feet! I had issues figuring this bit out on my first time up the route, but now at least I had a decent sequence sussed. After a good shake at the rest, I blitzed through the moves and before I knew it I was clipping the chains - WHOOP! 

"Dosis" for me was the ultimate Wildside route, it literally had everything you could want - Slopers, Pockets, Crimps, Jugs, Tufas, Technical climbing, Bouldery climbing, Endurance climbing, etc... It was a real adventure and the first time I have felt nervous climbing a route on redpoint this trip for the sheer fact that I knew there was multiple places I could fall off if I just wasn't positioning my body accurately.

"Pinoreta" (8c)

As well as "Dosis", I have also done a few other excellent routes in the last few days. I climbed the stunning line to the right, "Pinoreta" (8c). This was the last hard pure line to climb at Wildside for me before I start either moving onto link ups or projects if I want to try something harder.

"Pinoreta" is a beautiful sheet of orange rock scattered with long sections of water polished tufa and a short bouldery section at the start on pockets and crimps. The route itself is split into these two sections, the top probably raking in at about 8a from the rest point (a massive jug!). The bottom crux is weird and I am not sure entirely of the boulder grade? It could be anywhere from V6 to V8 - hard to tell. It involves a pretty cool set of moves:

• Big rock over on a high tufa to make a flat undercut hold
• Heel hooking a tufa to reach a good 2 finger pocket
• A precision jump to catch a small finger slot in the wall above
• A few more moves of sustained climbing until...
• A hard cross through move followed by slapping a bad sloper then jumping for a jug!

The crux of "Dosis" - Going to the sloper!That is the boulder crux of "Pinoreta". The 8a top out is mostly technical bridging between two slopey tufas, but there is a rather hard section right at the end of the most difficult part of the climb where you have to stab for a good sika crimp quite high up. This move for me wasn't hard on its own but required good precision and accuracy as well as enough energy in your left arm to create the force necessary. To avoid unnecessary pump for this move, I missed the previous clip (which I would have clipped from my right hand, holding on with my left). This meant that after doing the move, I would be around 4m runout and to get to the next clip you had to climb still another 4-5m of climbing that wasn't entirely easy. When I did the move on the redpoint, all thoughts of falling went out of my head, I was focussed and determined asnd climbed this section as confidentally as ever before. Thanks to Dan for capturing the ascent on video. The guys said afterwards that from skipping the clip I did it might be worth an E11? :P

Ramon (local) getting the first clip in on "El Club de la Luchas" (8b+)

So what now?

After doing "Dosis" yesterday, I tried another 8b+ called "El Club de la Luchas". Nat had a go on this before and the climbing looked awesome! It is very sustained with little or no rests for most of the way, but the good thing is at least it isn't too overhung meaning a bit of weight through the feet and you can reduce the pump slightly. The climbing revolves around a long blue bumpy streak created by waterflow down the wall which has resulted in awesome sidepull slopers nearly the entire way up the climb! It certainly is very different to anything I have done before and I am really excited to get back on this today and hopefully finish it off. 

After "El Club de la Luchas", I still have another 12 days left! There is one or two 8b+'s left in the sector, one called "Septiembre" which does look really good! Also another called "El Ultimo Mono" that looks amazing, but a bit dusty as if nobody has ever climbed it :P I now this isn't true as it is regarded as a top 50 in the guidebook, but maybe it has had less traffic this year?Jules preparing for her first attempt at "Yo Somos Olimpicos"

There is also some good looking 8a-8b's I have yet to climb which look great and I would love to practice my onsighting and see what I can get up to with them.

And of course there are the link ups :D But there is so much good new climbing to be done!

I was keen to see how Nat would get on with something much harder than what she has ever tried before. Nat doesn't push herself that much, she will go for things when she feels like it, but often she chooses to do things that she can tick within the day. This is a cool approach and means she gets a lot of climbing done, but I know she has the potential to climb a lot harder if she got stuck into a proper project! 

So yesterday, I chose an 8b+ for her to have a go on. The route I thought she would like was called "El Club de la Lucha" which translates as "Fight Club"! The climb takes an obvious blue water streak up a slightly overhung wall. The climbing is immensley technical on small slopey edges and slopers. I have not tried this route before, but according to comments on 8a.nu and from reading the guide, it appeared to be both popular and sustained rather than cruxy. 

Nat gazing upwards at her next project!Needless to say, Nat went for it and got high on the onsight making it to about half-way before falling mid-way through the crux. She quickly got back on the wall and cruised through the crux moves before falling again another few metres higher... After working this section out she continued to climb higher again falling just shy of the chains... Nat came down slightly dispondant as to how hard it felt, but all I can say is that if I had been as solid at climbing 8b+ first try as she was on that, I'd be thinking I had a bloody good shot at doing it second go.

Nat doesn't have much experience with redpointing as she often just does routes onsight or 2nd go... In time and with a bit more work spent trying harder routes, Nat should be capable of climbing 8b's and 8b+'s with relative ease after work and I have no doubt about it that 8c is well within her ability...

During the last couple of days I have been doing a bit more mileage mixed with trying an 8b+ called "Océano". Now, I didn't really choose this route based on it's asthetics or quality... It has few ascents on 8a.nu and from discussing with locals, not many try it as it is regarded as a tough 8b+... there are much friendlier routes in the area at the grade to try so people prefer to go for them :P The main reason I was attracted to this route was because it linked in with the 8c I climbed the other day to make an 8c+ (or 9a according to some?).

I wanted to check the moves out to see if I could climb them and whether or not it would be possible for the link. After one go to check out the moves, I went for a redpoint attempt and fell off the very last hard move. It was close but I still felt that the move I was doing was very tough and I wouldn't be able to climb it from the 8c. After a 3rd go I fell at the same place and decided that a new sequence was in order. After a bit of working out and trying different methods, I discovered a much nicer way of doing the move. By now my fingers were pretty trashed and I wasn't feeling as though I could pull it off, but owing to the fact that I am in Spain and seeing the VENGA/VAMOS/AMUERTE attitude of the locals, I decided to go for it :) 

Nat and Tin-Tin!

As I came up to the crux move, I set myself up into the new position and went for the hold (a positive tufa) that I had prevously fallen from. I stuck it solid and continued with upward progression to clip the chains :D

I know I could do the link for sure, but if I am honest, I am inspired by so many awesome lines here that I don't want to leave with just a few ticked/attempted. I will see how the next week goes as there are a few more routes I really really want to climb, and afterwards if nothing else piques my fancy... then maybe I will go all out for the link :)

At the end of week 1, Nat and I have accumulated a good tick list:

Robbie:

• Todos Los Caminos (7b+) - Onsight
• Extranjeros (7b+) - Onsight
• Océano (7b+) - Onsight
• La Casa de los Tullidos (7c) - Onsight
• Celia (7c+/8a) - Onsight
• Meditaranneo (8a) - Flash
• Watermark (8a) - 2nd Go
• Ergometria (8a) - 2nd Go
• Océano (8b+) - 4th Go
• Espacio Tiempo (8c) - 6th Go

Natalie:

• Todos Los Caminos (7b+) - Onsight
• Extranjeros (7b+) - Onsight
• Oceéano (7b+) - Onsight
• Ya Somos Olimpicos (7c) - Onsight
• Celia (7c+/8a) - 2nd Go
• Meditaranneo (8a) - 3rd Go
• Watermark (8a) - 2nd Go
• Ergometria (8a) - 2nd Go

When I arrived at the airport at 9am, the plan was to go sort out the hire car, drive to accommodation, sort out stuff then return to pick Nat up from the Airport at 10pm. On arriving at the airport and seeing the car people, it turns out there is a law of no hiring out cars to people who have held a driving license for under a year... I didn't realise this and apparently it is in their terms and conditions (Chapter12 - Article 15 - Paragraph 9 - Section D - Point C).

So I waited about for ages until Nat finally arrived and we grabbed a €90 taxi to our accommodation in the pleasant little village of Finestrat. Finestrat is a beautiful little village perched high in mountaineous outcrops of Alicante, far flung from the horrors of Benidorm :P It's like being in any other climbing area I've ever been to in Spain - Siurana, Rodellar, Santa Linya, Margalef... It has the same rustic, rocky feel to it that I have become so acquainted to. It certainly is good to be back in Spain!

Sella - Wildside

So far we have had 4 days climbing out here, just under a week. It has been an interesting experience so far with both Nat and myself having to adjust to climbing on rock again. Nat has had less time between her last rock climbing adventures whereas my last sport trip was back in August (terrible I know!). But it has all been coming together slowly...

On our first day I climbed a popular 8a called "Watermark". I almost did the extension (8b) 2nd go but as I was pulling the moves after the crux, my foot slipped on a very polished foothold and as I fell my desperation to maintain grip on the crimps I was holding came to no avail. 

Each day I have been here I have been using the abundance of 7b+'s and 7c's at the crag for warming up on. The climbing in these grades is really fun, there are no really hard or tweaky moves, all the holds are positive but there are sections of more bouldery styled climbing separated with good rests which makes for a nice warm up.

On the second day, I decided to try an 8c called "Espacio Tiempo". This literally translates into "Space Time" - cool name if you ask me :P I was keen to try this for a few reasons:

1. Upon reaching the crag, you notice there are 3 main sectors - Left, Middle and Right. The right side is easier angled (but still steep). The left side is again, easier angled but more sustained than the right. And the middle is just a very steep bulge with sustained moves on incredibly overhung terrain - this is were "Espacio Tiempo" is...
   
   

2. The climb itself covers a wide range of stylesof climbing - Slopers, Crimps, Tufas, Kneebars, Bouldery, Sustained, ect... You want it, it's got it!
   
   

3. I spoke to a local at the crag (a man we have come to call "Jesus" for the simple reason that he looks like a Spanish Jesus) who told me there is a link up between "Espacio Tiempo" and another 8b+ "Oceano" which gets 8c+ (though some guy took 9a for it?). I would definitely like to try this!

The first time I tried it I did every move first go without too much trouble, but it was noticeable that there was little rest between each section and it would be hard to link. I had two tries on Day 2, the second of which I managed a fairly big link through the first crux and into a good knee bar before "the crux" (the hardest move on the route).Alvaro Arenas en "Espacio tiempo" 8c

After a rest day we came back and I had another scout out of the route, trying the moves again, assembling a better sequence for the upper half and generally tidying up my lower sequence. 4th go I shocked myself falling off the last clip from the ground! I fell more because I was so shocked of my performance - I wasn't actually that tired...

We came back yesterday and I gave it a redpoint attempt after warming up on a spectacular 7c called "La Casa de los Tullidos". I fell again right at the very top but only because my foot popped thanks to a rushed placement. I decided to clean up my foot movements up here for a better, more efficient sequence. On my 2nd go of the day, 6th go in total, I climbed from the bottom all the way through my previous high point into a good knee bar and stuck the final crux without much trouble. Clipping the chains felt good and that was my 2nd ever 8c and the first (hopefully of more) for 2013...

I was a little worried at first how I would climb this trip. I have had an unfortunate finger injury plagueing me since the start of 2013 and it has forced me into a much more gentler training regime. I know however that technique always triumphs over strength and that it was always possible to make a good trip out of this even if I wasn't firing on all cylinders. I am now confident that I can make more from this trip than I had expected with this early triumph and hopefully I can move on from this to some bigger and better ascents over the next few weeks :D

Natalie on a giant hand!

I was really inspired as well by some words taken from the world first 9a onsighter, Alexander Megos. I don't know him well, but I have met him a few times on my travels and have seen him at the competitions a lot over the years. His words really inspired me to take a deeper look into my attitude towards climbing and performance:

"Something I have learned in my climbing years is that time management is really important, but the most important thing is fun. It’s not worth training hard for a good result in a competition or to climb a hard route, if on the other hand you lose the fun which climbing should be. It doesn’t matter if you have climbed the route or you’ve won the competition. When you feel like chilling or doing something totally different, just do it. Sooner or later you will find your way back to climbing because it’s simply the best sport on earth"

Alexander Megos

If all my young padawans are reading this back home, write this down in your diaries and reflect on it whenever your feeling down during training, at a competition or with a project climb. 

Anyway, I'm gonna finish of my rest day today and tomorrow - VENGA TIO!!!

"I'm pumped, the crux is here, what if I fail? I'm so tired, maybe I should just take a rest on the rope?"

I knocked them out quickly with my mantra and foucssed again. What was wrong with giving it your all and failing. I think I would feel worse if I knew I could have tried but didn't. It got to a point where I was just pumped and not recovering, so I pressed on into the crux, ready for battle! An amazing thing happened suddenly, I was climbing, I was pumped but I wasn't receding. Thoughts were all positive and I felt like I was going to do this. Before I knew it I was through the crux and mantled on a small foothold with some small crimps to rest on. I was 35m up and 5m above me was the chains, I could just about see them over the bulge. I knew I still had one major crux to go, not as physical as the last one but still very droppable, and as well as that, to get to the crux you had to do quite a bit of techy climbing on small smeary feet and crimps in the blazing sun.

After another 5 minutes I pressed on, reaching through the smeary feet section and into a quick rest on two pockets before the last crux. My mantra continued to echo in my head and like before I was confident and positive in what I had to do, "Just Climb"... So I did just that. It was hit or miss for a split second, but those words got me through it. I only just sketched my way up the last 5m of "Project Moro", but it doesn't really matter, I still clipped those chains!

As I clipped them, a sickening feeling hit me and I suddenly realised that I had climbed more or less 25m of 8b+/c terrain whilst being totally boxed, in the sun and under constantly restrained stress... I heard whoops from across the valley as English friends celebrated my top out.

I think that was my biggest battle in climbing yet :P

PSYCHED

ROBZ OUT

P.s. Ross also climbed "Pati Pa Mi" (8b) later that evening after attempting it in the blazing sun - sometimes conditions help :P

There are some specific features of this route which made it challenging for me - there are two sections that require a high step mantle which I always find quite difficult (long legs and no triceps make it awkward :p ) and the positions which the mantles are in are quite exposed. Last year I never made it past the first one as I was too scared of falling off awkwardly with my feet so near my ears and being high above a bolt! This year after doing more bouldering and being exposed to weird and wonderful volume problems at Ratho I found the move much less daunting and found a method which suited me. After climbing a lot more on rock last year I was also more confident with being above the bolt and could focus purely on the climbing. However, when working the moves higher up on an early attempt I came off and swung into a bulge, hitting the side of my knee hard into the rock and narrowly missing the kneecap! Although it was very painful I wasn't too bothered by it at the time and was proud to show off the massive egg shaped bruise, but on my next attempts I definitely had something at the back of my mind telling me I could get hurt if I fell!

Unfortunately I fell victim once again to a stomach bug not dissimilar to the one I had in Ceuse and felt too ill to climb. Long days spent at the campsite playing the Logos Quiz followed and after 5 or 6 days I was ready to climb again. I suspected I would feel weak with not having climbed in a while and still felt a bit ropey (excuse the pun!) I think my frustration at being ill must have translated into aggression on the rock, as on my first attempt back I made it through to the final clip before the chain - a heartbreaker section on small crimps with bad feet which spits off so many people on the onsight or red point. I was disappointed as I was so near yet so far from the chains. I was still getting pumped and felt as though my power endurance just wasn't up to scratch. I reworked the top section and got a good sequence in my head ready for next time. Just as I was ready to go for another attempt I watched as some climbers were stripping their quickdraws out of the route - ahhh! I would have to wait until someone else put them in again or go up myself the next day. At least putting the quickdraws in would enable me to work the top section again and get a good warm up before the siege.

It was a cold and windy morning when I tried to put the quickdraws back into the route and climbing the moves felt quite alien. I seemed to find moves hard that I hadn't found difficult before and additionally some of the clips were very hard to put in. I tried not to get psyched out and told myself that it was a good opportunity to re-familiarise with the moves. After a good hour or so of rest the sun had come out and the wind had died down a little - perfect! I listened to some music and got ready to climb after crossing the scary ledge for what would hopefully be the last time! I felt quite relaxed as I started up and found that I was recovering quick and not grunting or huffing and puffing as much as I was previously. I was totally relaxed and not bothered at all about coming off. I focused on the moves and soon found myself past both mantles and before the final section trying to gain some composure in anticipation of the fight. I had climbed much quicker than usual and left the rest sooner than normal. The awkward clip was made and soon I was into the crimps, I felt strong but still shook out between the moves just to be sure. I grasped the final ledge and clipped and couldn't believe I had done it. I had fallen high up so many times and let the fear and pressure get to me, but finally I had overcome my demons from last year when I could barely get past halfway because of fear. Stripping the quickdraws was a bit of an epic as I was exhausted both mentally and physically, I don't think it had sunk in at that point!

Robbie has made a great video and took lots of awesome photos, some of which you can see here. It was very tiring making the video and having to re-climb the route but it was well worth it :) yesterday I watched as Robbie ticked his 8b+ and Ross his 8b - which has inspired me to try and complete a third 8a of the trip called "Memorias de una Sepia". I tried it yesterday and worked out all the moves and am hoping to get it done tomorrow. We will also be getting some more video footage and pictures - watch this space!

We still need to find some way of getting to the airport on Wednesday. We have made a sign which is up on the front door of the cafe/bar asking if we can hitch a lift with anyone to Barcelona. The funniest thing is that Robbie started writing BARCALONA before I stopped him and told him it was spelled wrong, but the camp owners stuck it to the glass and on the other side of the door you can still see BARCAL. No wonder no one wants to give us a lift! :P

Hasta luego!

 

 

 

I’m coming to a close on this years Spain trip. It’s all gone so fast, it seems like only yesterday that I was heading out with Andy in the plane and now it’s almost over L. I’ve had a really great time climbing in Siurana this year both in terms of personal climbing and with my friends those new and old.

 

This year’s trip has certainly been an educational one for me. Although I ticked the hardest grade I’ve ever climbed, I definitely got my butt spanked on a few other routes of different styles proving yet again that being proficient at a grade is incredibly hard. Style comes into play massively as well as confidence and mental strength – an area that I am going to be training specifically from now on.

I climbed another 8b+ yesterday (my 14^th at the grade), this one called “El Mon de Sofia”. This route is relatively new to Siurana having only been bolted in the last 2 or 3 years and was previously deemed as 8c? in the older guide. The locals give it the awkward grade of 8b+/c, so either it’s a hard 8b+ or soft 8c.

 

Moving on from grades for now – the route takes a spectacular line up the blank looking faces and bulges of El Pati (left-side). It starts up the same first bolt as “2x30” then branches immediately out right into fun compression moves on a weird bulge feature. Once your at the top of this you can sit down and relax on a nice little ledge (to here it’s probably about f7a).

 

Above you now is a daunting barrel wall with a tough little crux starting on the first move and ending at a rest one move before the second crux. The issue with the first crux is that a lot of the holds are permanently wet! The rock seems to soak in the moisture really easily and a lot of the holds feel like damp sponges from which your hands could grease off instantly without warning (something I got a bit of experience in whilst red-pointing).

 

Although the holds are damp, they are all positive. The main difficulty of this crux lies in the feet and the one awkward, slightly dangerous, clipping position that you have as the first clip halfway through the initial moves of the crux. Funny thing was I never fell of this section, but I was always very wary of the potential to. The first clip was right above a ledge, which if you fell clipping would more than certainly send you straight into. The next moves where tricky and off balance, then you had one last slap for a wet crimp before you pull yourself up into the two wet side-pull jugs that you rest on (LOVELY!).

 

The rest here was good, you were standing on one good foothold and a smear for your left with a good side-pull jug for your left and a slopey side-pull crimp for your right that you laid back off. I could definitely recover more or less fully but it certainly wasn’t the most comfortable of rests.

 

After resting up, you head straight into what I would call the meat of the route. Although probably not physically the hardest moves, it’s a very sustained crux with lots of little technicalities and slightly lower percentage moves than you would like, especially seeing as when you get through them you still have to deal with the hardest moves on the route! The second crux involves a couple of soapy but positive crimps, the last of which you have to do a hard pull to reach a big damp gaston jug in the steepest section of the bulge. You gaston with your right hand from which you can then clip, match, then re-adjust to an undercut which gives you the position to reach up with your left hand to a really good slot. From the slot you step your left foot up on a little button then push and pull as hard as you can to make the big move to the next soapy crimp up and right. You are now entering the hardest section of the crux, a powerful move to a small sharp crimp with your left, then a stab with your right into yet another small crimp, gaston left, press, then up and right to a small flat edge, left to a thumb sprag crimp and press out right to a jug… WOOOOOOHHHHH

 

You’re now in the “Please don’t blow it territory”… although you still have the most physically demanding move still to come, it’s right after a massive rest so theoretically you should be ok. Unfortunately, conditions where not on my side the first time I arrived at the rest. It was stiflingly hot and humid, and when I made the hard move to the shallow crimp, my fingers rolled off it like they were covered in butter! Thankfully I didn’t let that happen second time round :P

 

After the crux move you still have some tricky moves to go, nothing that you should fall off but there is definitely foot popping potential still there and the second last move is quite a big lunge for a flat side pull that’s hard to catch (that was scary!).

 

“El Mon de Sofia” took me around six or seven goes in total spread across three or four days. For me, this was more of a challenge than “2x30” for the sheer fact that there are just so many places to fall off. It’s not as sustained but the potential to fall of at the top is a lot higher. On “2x30” you could fall of at the crux a load of times, lower off, have 10mins rest, then get back on it (one time you’ll do the crux and go to the top). With “El Mon de Sofia” it felt like I could fail in the middle crux a lot as well as fall in the final crux!

 

Doing this route in the last week of the trip after having a long period of relatively no tickage was a big boost in confidence. I had lost a lot already from having failed on “Pati Noso” (8c/+). In all honesty, I kind of gave up the ghost on that route a long time ago. It was trashing my skin every time I got on it and I felt like I wasn’t getting to go climbing much because of that. I am intending on coming back next year to finish it off, this time I know what I need to do to do it, all I have to do is come back, armed with another year of training and smash it to a pulp!!!

 

This trip has been a massive eye opener once again into the world of the mental processes involved in climbing. I have seen many climbers fail due to pressure, whether it’s on one specific route, or a number of routes or just expectations. I have come to realize that in order to achieve the best results and climb to your best abilities, you need to have a strong mindset that has been built to deal with the pressures you put on it. I know I put a lot of pressure on myself, I am very open about wanting to improve and achieve higher and harder year after year. I think being like this does leave me open to personal performance demons, but this is something I can train for sure.

 

In the last few weeks I have been working hard on a presentation on mental training that I will be providing for youth competition climbers when I get back. Work on this has allowed me to spend a bit more time than I usually do thinking about this side of the performance table. I am already putting steps in motion to develop a really good mental training program both for the kids I coach and myself. I have known for years just how important the mental game is, but sometimes it’s easy to forget to train it when you get so caught up in the other aspects of climbing that seem more important (but really aren’t).

 

Stay tuned on the training blog as I will be writing up some mental training blogs soon enough.

 

On one last note, I tried the 8b+/c direct to “El Mon de Sofia” called “Project Moro”. It shared the first and second crux but takes a much more sustained line than “El Mon de Sofia”. I actually think it might be one of the best routes I have ever tried! After the second crux you get a good rest on some flat jugs, then head straight into a technical crimpy section before reaching another OK rest (shared with “2x30”) which sends you into the crux, a powerful sequence on undercuts and crimps finishing off finally with a very techy, sequency finale with little rest right until the lip of El Pati, 40m in the air! AMAZING!!!

 

I’m gonna climb tomorrow if it stops raining soon and see maybe if I can do the variation either then or in the following days of the trip… We will see…

PSYCHED!

 

ROBZ OUT

 

 

 

 

After two days rest, my hole had still not healed and out of haste and my ambition for 8c/+ glory, I taped up and went for it. After warming up on a 7b+, blood was leaking through the tape and I was forced to take further rest. Two days later and there was still no improvement. It’s been pretty tough dealing with this bad skin injury, it doesn’t seem to heal like normal cuts. From chatting to other climbers in the campsite, I reckon the puncture was just really deep and that it will inevitably take a lot longer to heal.

 

After another couple of days rest (bringing us to yesterday), I decided to get back on “Pati Noso” and see how the skin held up. On my first attempt of the day I fell on the last hard move, pulling the easiest move of the final boulder problem to the jug. My foot popped as I stepped up to grab the hold – another frustrating attempt. The pinkie held out a while but from pulling on the crux shards (they can’t be described as holds) my cut was oozing plasma. I wiped my tears (because I’m a big boy now) and went on for a second go.

Amazingly I felt even stronger on this attempt and I was gunning for it now until… disaster struck! I pulled on a small spike low down after the two initial cruxes and my right index finger burst open, showering blood on everyone below. Funnily enough, I didn’t even notice it happen and continued climbing until I realised that there was a serious lack of friction coming from my right hand – so I dropped off with my head in my hands wondering why this is always happening to me.

Looking back on it now, I feel a bit ashamed with the way I was acting. As somebody who is always striving for perfection in climbing and constantly pushing their boundaries, it’s sometimes easy to lose grip on reality. I put so much pressure on myself to achieve, to hit higher and harder grades and it’s easy to forget that there is more to climbing than just ticking of numbers (even though it’s a highly motivating factor).

 

Someone who really inspired me here was a new friend of mine, Felix, from Germany. He is only a year or two older than me, but he’s been climbing since he was very young, competed on the world stage and has a long history of being a top climber both nationally and internationally. The way he approached climbing was refreshing and pretty inspiring to see. He really seemed to enjoy just going climbing, being at the crag, having fun on the routes. He put little pressure on himself to succeed yet he still came out and cranked 8c+, 8c as well as numerous 8b+’s and two 8b onsights/flashs. It was humbling to watch, as I built pressure barriers for myself on “Pati Noso”, he just cruised it practically dancing his way to the top.

 

As I was inspired with his approach, he too was inspired by my dedication and focus to training and improving. Felix was ranked 2^nd in the World in Beijing behind Magnus Midtboe a number of years ago, so he has already lived the training lifestyle and now I think he puts less pressure on himself to achieve, but just as Sharma says in the “King Lines” movie - You have to want to achieve in order to do so, but not so much that it causes you to fail due to pressure (a concept I have struggled to put to practice recently). But in the end, that’s what it’s all about really… when your balancing at the edge of your peak performance, so do you have to start juggling with more variables. Just like in real life, if you juggle with more balls you’re bound to drop them, but only by challenging ourselves with more do we get better!

 

Anyway, right now I am nursing my skin back to health and eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Welsh friends whom I am coaching with this week. The first week of the coaching trips this year is with some top Welsh kids and the second week is with the Scottish kids that I do 1:1’s with back in Edinburgh – it will be good to see how they are progressing with all their hard work and training.

 

The campsite now is buzzing with Scottish accents. All my friends from back home have arrived and are dominating the crag. Neil Mcgeachy and Jonny Stocking arrived last week whilst the rest, Calum Forsyth, Neill Busby, Gary Vincent, Stuart Burns and Mhairi Thorburn arrived earlier this week. Also Jonathan Field arrived last night and today a friend from Ireland, Lucie Mitchell, arrived today. And tomorrow my Welsh friends Simon Rawlinson and Liz Collyer are arriving – WOOP WOOP! IT’S ALL HAPPENING IN SIURANA!!!

 

Even if I’m not climbing much over the next week or two, I certainly won’t be short of company :D

 

ROBZ OUT