Spain: Terradets, Bruixes

infinite rock around Terradets

It started to rain everywhere, and we had a forced rest day where we spent 8 hrs in a cafe in Tremp, mostly binge watching streamable shit.  We discovered an abandoned railway stop with an awning to keep the tent dry. This has been a classic (sketchy) free camp spot for climbers for a long while.

Our next stop needed to be steep, because given another day it was still raining. We showed up at the Bruixes cave. My friend Lucas told me about this spot, one of the best for Tufa climbing in Spain. Many of the world class areas in Spain don't feel that unique for myself, being fortunate enough to live in Lander. If you visit Margalef, you'll encounter steep, powerful pocket climbing, or if you go to Siurana you get good edges and pockets, and technical face climbing. These styles are prevalent at wild iris and sinks, and while the walls in these classic Spanish areas are generally steeper and taller, I wasn't in the kind of shape to experience that difference, which really only becomes apparent on Grade 8 (13b and up) routes. What I really wanted to experience was tall endurance climbing on Mediterranean flowstone, something really special that climbers often need to travel great distances to find.  we weren't in shape for that either, but that didnt stop us from sampling some of the best 7as and bs at Bruixes.

Erik in awe at the living wall. We don't have alot of Tufastone in america, so for us Bruixes was really special. You pretty much have to climb 5.12 all day if you come here. The routes are typically 30-40m and don't let up at all, Tufas often give way to perfect sculpted edges and great vertical face climbing at the top of routes.

the cave at Bruixes. routes here basically start at 8b+
Many routes in spain with names along the lines of "fuck the system", maybe there's one here. anyway I share the sentiment thoroughly...

selfie on the approach. still feeling sick. 

we found free camping in an abandoned train station, where we pitched our 20€ Spanish tent. 

Spain: Margalef

the village in Margalef

the Laboratori

I was feeling sick and worn down after getting wet and cold every day in Slovenia. Team Steve House tends to work us pretty hard, and I wasn't going to kick the illness if I kept doing 4am alpine starts and 1000m vert on approach everyday. 

Erik and I decided to go to Spain to sport climb in the sun for 10 days. This is something I've always wanted to do, but put off because: I'm not good enough yet, or any number of other excuses.  Really there is no excuse, cost of living is cheap there, rock is pleantiful, Food and wine is incredible, and there are routes for everyone, from quality 5.9 to world class power routes to pumping enduro lines where you need a 100m rope. And all of this on a wider variety or rock types than I had imagined. 

Next time I hope to do some training first; going straight from alpine mode to full on try-hard-face is not very easy, and I had to (of course) adjust my expectations, let go of my ego, and just have fun exploring new places. 

We started out in Margalef, since it was one of the first stops on our way through Catalunya from Barcelona.

a guy trying First Round, First Minute.

First Round, First Minute and La Ley Innata at the Laboratory

A good crag to check out, if you on-sight 8a most of the time...
40 m enduro pitches, cobbles and tufas.

Pared de Espadelles with a few people trying sortof hard: (hangdogging the shit out of stuff)
one of the best sunny walls, 20-30m routes, way above town and stays out of the fog. 

Conglomerate cliffs lining the valleys.

Erik after our first good day of climbing

Tufa on cobble at espadelles

Romanesco Broccoli

Breadland.

Wine country, cheap wine, really good wine

A church in Munich before we flew to Barcelona. 

Slovenia: Kristan North Face

approaching a 400m face. high quality limestone, confusing routefinding, and lots of blank snow-on-slab cruxes. The compacted and transformed snow from october made for perfect neve conditions on the face, sticky one swing ice. some of it even took good screws. 

 

once on the face, we soloed steep neve through improbable passages and traverses to work our way up.

we finally got out the rope for the crux, a 10m traverse on blank rock slab.

Anze led a huge simul-block through an ice runnel.

leading a surprisingly hard slab pitch on the ridgecrest. photo Anze Klaric

photo Anze Klaric

 

on the summit

photo Anze Klaric

  

the mountain next door, a wierd sea of choss and neve.

 downclimbing to "the dick" photo Anze Klaric

rapelling off of "the dick".

Anze rapelling next to "the dick"

a phallocentric composition proudly displaying:   The Dick!

Slovenia: Vršič - Šitna glava ridge

Anze Klaric with the Alpine selfie.

This was the part of our Alpine Mentors trip where we got to pretend to be Slovenians, with the help of actual Slovenians, by climbing some really incredible Slovenian mountains. By this time I was sick, but decided to suck it up and get out anyway.  I was paired with Anze Klaric, the youngest member of the Slovenian mentorship program at 20 years old. He's a talented climber, but was also getting over an illness so we had similar goals in mind: Hard climb, minimal slogging on approach. Between coughing fits and spitting phlegm we managed to get up some really good routes, and it was a joy and an honor to climb with him in his home range. Lets just say that our senses of humor aligned well also: many a dick joke was made...

  

scrotum clenching overhanging choss on the crux lead.  Anze Klaric.

you can go around the roof at 5.2 or up at A3.  easy choice here. Anze Klaric

gendarmes. photo Anze Klaric

an interesting corner-groove that Anze led. It proved to be surprisingly technical.

  

following the corner.  photo Anze Klaric

 
 
 

photo Anze Klaric

photo Anze Klaric