There was just me and Bob left for the last week in Siurana. We already felt like we were back in the UK as the weather wasn’t on our side and most of the crags looked like a waterfall. Even parts of the path towards El Pati had turned into a river. To amuse ourselves we drank coffee, San Miguel ‘Selecta’s’, played shithead and generally acted like tools. Luckily we found some dry rock on the Migranya side of L’olla. The routes here are really steep with no run off points and were perfect for climbing in the rain. They climbed really well and there were enough here to keep us busy for a few days.

When the rain cleared and the crags dried it was time to get back on Vacuna Matata. It was our last day in Siurana so the pressure was on. I had had a few sessions by this point and had fallen off after the crux move on one attempt taking the full ride of the run out. I went up to brush and re-chalk the holds and to make sure that it was fully dry. The moves in isolation felt hard, it was humid and there was still a lot of moisture in the air. I told Bob my excuses as to why I wouldn’t be able to climb it, and then set off with the ‘last day’ psyche. I somehow managed to pull it out of the bag and hopefully without causing too much of a scene with the grunts and hyperventilating. We celebrated with a couple cans of Doble Malta which we had taken to the crag. The beer did wonders for Bob’s trashed skin and he decided to do one last route as it went dark.  

     

                                                                          Mr Favress on Vacuna Matata

                                                                                                                             

The next morning turned out to be beautiful. The sky was perfectly crisp and clear blue and a low level haze created a cool ambience as we drove to the airport nursing our hangovers. I swapped Bob for Katy and Tash and we headed back towards Terragona in the direction of Margalef.

Katy was only out for two weeks so we decided to live it up in some nice digs by the river Ebre. We started each day sitting on the balcony in the sun with a nice view drinking our morning coffee. It felt like a proper holiday at that point, but instead of sitting by a pool we drove to Margalef each day on some seemingly relentlessly windey roads. They were kind of fun to drive once you got the measure of them, and knew the location of the nasty road sign with an appetite for wing mirrors.  

       

The climbing in Margalef is quite contrasting to Siurana and it took a bit of getting used to the ‘grab and pull’ style. To look at it isn’t as impressive as Siurana but the conglomerate rock lends itself to some amazing features and cool pockets, some of the very best I’ve climbed on. One of the highlights of Margalef was seeing some wild boar late one night on the way back from the Refugio. We saw two by the road then nearly knocked one down a few bends later. I had wanted to see one of these wild beasts for years. They are crazy animals to look at with their tusks protruding from their mouths; they seem like beasts that time forgot.

            

 

We met up with Rob Greenwood and his ‘euro’ style trousers (which to be fair where better than his Ron Hills) as well as friends from previous trips. Katy was looking strong from day one and making the pockets look like jugs (man her fingers are strong). It was good to see her flash her first 7c+ with minimal beta. Tash despite having a dodgy shoulder managed a 7a putting the clips in and Rob really did look the part in those trousers. I just onsighted and generally punted around.

Margalef was a great way to end my trip to Spain, thanks to everyone who came along for the ride. 

       

       

 

Towards the end of Caffs trip we were joined by self-proclaimed fat man Bob Hickish and Nige ‘golden feet’ Kershaw. Nige showed good of the couch form and like a typical Brit he was looking very strong on the shorter less pumpy routes. Bob played Caffs trick of coming out beasted from too much training (and too many holidays) and proceeded to eat anything he could get his hands on in an attempt to replenish his depleted body. That said he still looked bloody strong and got some good stuff done. When Caff left for sunny Wales we were joined by Valdi from Iceland who introduced us to some pretty special Icelandic spirits; luckily he only had a limited supply. My favourite quote from the trip came from Bob in his campest most high pitched voice- ‘’Ooh Valdi, can you wash and chop the courgettes pleeeeese?’’ and ‘’yaay matching!’’ was a close second.

                

                   Bobby Hickish                                                     Caffine Caff                                                       Golden Feet

 

 

After over three weeks of camping in the cold with seemingly relentless wind buffeting the tents (like Chinese water torture but with wind) and climbing most days I was pretty burnt out. I felt like I was turning into Caff and couldn’t function until I had downed at least three strong coffees in the morning. It was Hazel who came to the rescue with an offer of some digs in Cornudella through one of her many contacts. Hazel had just climbed Kale Borroka her first 8b+ and decided after weeks of dossing in her car she could treat herself to some luxury. When we arrived at the digs Hazel and Pete were already settled and a log fire was roaring. We all sat around the fire doing our Ian Hislop impressions whilst Bob somewhat vigorously bellowed the fire until Nige dragged us to the Refugio bar to celebrate.

        

 

 

After a few days in the digs coffee stated to feel like much less of a necessity and I was starting to feel ready for another project. A Muerte was off the cards as my finger still had a hole in it. I needed something without pockets and something a little less burly. Vacuna Matata 8c+/9a fit the bill. We watched Nicolas Vavresse make the first ascent in fading light on his last day in Siurana. The last go psyche got him through and he climbed it in style; it was pretty impressive to watch him run it out and still keep his cool on the delicate moves. Vacuna is a more direct finish to Chicane 8c+, and where Chicane traverses right Vacuna tackles the wall direct via two very cruxy moves and a spicy run out which is then followed by some sustained crimping. The route climbs like a slab even though it is slightly overhanging. You need to use good footwork to make the moves work. After working the moves I knew it was on I just need better conditions…

    

                                A Muerte wound                                                                                 Valdi Bob and Nige                                                     Adam Mulholland - Runner up in the wrestling ;)

 

I have just come back from a two month trip to Spain. Most of it was spent in Siurana with a couple weeks in Margalef at the end. I have never been to this part of Spain before and the scenery in and around the Serra de Montsant mountain range is impressive. It’s much greener and less arid looking than the other parts of Spain I have climbed in. Siurana blew me away when I first saw it looking down from the road towards the main sectors of Siuranella and El Pati. The wall of El Pati is the most striking feature when you first look across and is home to some hard stamina fests. Looking at it you can understand why La Rambla is such a sort after route.

Mina Crush and I flew out with team DMM: Caff, Cal and Ray. The driving force behind the trip was Caff and his La Rambla mission. The trip was kind of last minute for me but I managed to get a couple weeks beer free training in before departure. I planned to stay beer free for the first three weeks of the trip, and I confidently told caff this on the way over but that didn’t stop him sabotaging me by buying me a beer on the first night. Man those Estrelles are good. Thanks caff.

 

Day one and the La Rambla mission started. Myself caff and mina all had a play up to half height; mina looked strong, as always, and caff looked how I felt. I kind of decided then that I needed something much shorter. I didn’t really fancy my chances on a forty metre 9a+. My solution was Jungle speed which is given 9a but pretty soft at that, and anyway the quality of the climbing well outweighs the grade. The route climbs a cool wave like overhanging wall via some amazing moves on nice holds. It took me three sessions and lots of school boy errors (man I never learn) to get it done. I have to say I was a pretty surprised at getting such a good tick so early on in the trip. I did feel pretty complacent, but not as complacent as Caffs smug Ian Hislop impression.

Next up for me was a look at A Muerte 8c+. First time up to work out the moves and they all went pretty much first go. Hmmm this isn’t supposed to happen, normally when I try a hard route I get spanked and lower off with deluded optimism. Next session I felt good, third session I fell looking at the finishing jug three times, but by the fourth session I was feeling spent and ripped a monster flapper in my finger. Game over for now. It was time to relax, have some late nights and go onsighting.

Caff slowly let go of his la rambla mission and looking at the bags under his eyes I could see that he had come on the trip already burnt out. Still he had coffee and beer to cheer him up and after a couple of weeks the true caff form started to come through with him dishing out the Cumbrian banter and pissing up some 8a+’s onsight.  

 

By now you have probably seen or heard about CAC (climbers against cancer). Tom Randall has already blogged about it on here and it’s spreading pretty fast on Facebook. I just wanted to say a few words quick words about the man behind it all John Ellison.

John is a total legend and a good friend. I first met him many moons ago at Boulder UK in Blackburn. He took his daughter Charlotte there and we would all climb together and shout encouragement at each other. It didn’t take long for us to become friends. Hanging around John is always entertaining and fun. I don’t mind humouring him by laughing at his jokes, it’s hard not to when you see him looking at you with his cheeky smile nudging you and saying ’ey… ey’. To be fair his jokes are sometimes funny J. I have John (disco dad) to credit for teaching me some cool moves on the dance floor. There’s never a dull moment when John is about and it’s always great to have him around on a night out. If I mention John to my dad he won’t know which John I’m talking about until I say ‘you know, jolly John’.

Johns attitude towards life has always been inspiring and when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer just over a year ago his reaction didn’t surprise me too much. He decided to fight back by thinking of a way to raise money and to help others in the fight against cancer. John has already given a lot of his time to others by helping out on the comp scene at local, national and international level. He has already raised close to £20,000 and with CAC he hopes to raise much more. John has invested a lot of time and energy into this project despite his illness and I think it’s a brilliant idea and really hope it goes big. Read his story here. All we have to do is buy a T-shirt (or a few) and spread the word. www.cac.org

                                                                 

So I’m back in England after spending a month in the Jura. I have come back empty handed, well empty handed in the respect that I didn’t climb Action Direct. I have come back feeling pretty bronzed after what felt like the most sun I’ve had in years. If you’re going to go on holiday to get spanked by a route you might as well top up your vitamin D at the same time.  Also to compensate for my lack of climbing ability I’ve brought lots of very nice German beers back. Bring on the beer belly! The trip basically consisted of me flailing around on Action waiting for skin to heal and hoping for cooler temps. Between all that I tried very hard not to drink too much beer (weakness) and got my arse kicked by smit at mini golf! This seemed to make Smit very happy but I did manage to claw some self-respect back by becoming the overall shithead champion. Yes!

Now that I’m back its hard to know what to do next climbing wise, I certainly don’t fancy getting on anything hard. Maybe a trip to Pembroke this weekend is in order. It will be a good chance to catch up with some mates, hangout in the pub and do some nice trad plodding.

 On Friday night Paul Smitton and I are setting off to go to the Frankenjura in Germany. We are going to stay there for nearly a month. The plan is to drive through the night so that we arrive at Gasthof Eicher or to us brits Martha’s campsite at around midday. I hope she remembers me and gives me a free slice of one of her amazing cakes!

I think when we get there first thing first after the long journey will be to reacquaint ourselves with some of the region’s world class beers. The Germans really know how to make a good beer and the kellerbeers around there are just amazing. If you ever find yourself in the Jura make sure you try some of the dunkles (dark beer) they are tip-top and it’s great way to finish the day.

So I have one main goal for the trip and for me it’s a big one. I’m going to try Action Direct. Action needs little introduction as it’s one of the most famous sport routes in the world and its creator Wolfgang Gullich is one of the biggest legends in climbing. I’m not really sure why I first got involved with this route, when I first tried it three years ago I was a total punter on it. I did manage all the moves eventually but each move was so close to my limit that I would be powered out just doing one on its own. I just want to say thank you to Katy for belaying me on that trip, she’s got a lot of patience!

The style of climbing that epitomises Action isn’t usually my cup of tea, my natural style and strengths are more geared towards easy angled technical crimping. This year could be different, I feel that I’ve done some pretty solid training and I’ve tried to work my weaknesses. I feel as strong as I ever have done which probably doesn’t mean much but either way I’m ready to give it my best shot. All I need now is a strong head, good conditions and a copious amount of luck….

Ps: Muel if you’re reading this you can be the hardest while I’m gone ;)  

This is my first proper blog. It's a total ramble but I just want to say thanks to FiveTen, Arcteryx and the Bigstone crew.

 

I have been receiving free shoes off FiveTen for years now and i've never really done anything for them. Ok I may have been caught out by 'a man with a camera' a couple times at the crag and the photo's may have ended up in the mags but that's it. No effort on my part, just going climbing!

 

FiveTen have always been my favourite shoes and I can't see that changing. I really like the smell when you open a new box and you get the sent of new rubber and glue. Mmmmm! Don't get my wrong I was a bit of a scally growing up in Bolton but I never got into glue sniffing. It's the combination of the glue and rubber that smell nice and it's the rubber that for me really makes FiveTen special. You just cannot beat Stealth rubber when it comes to friction and smears. I know I wouldn't be able to trust any other shoe on a scary grit route. Also I think for british limestone routes it would be hard to beat the Anasazi Whites, they are a class shoe.

 

As for the Arcteryx kit I know what my mate Twinny would say about it using his best Bolton accent....'smart'.  It's also super light and keeps you toasty. For me the best bit is that you can go to the pub straight from climbing and look like you have dressed for the occasion. :)

Right first real blog done, maybe it's time to join facebook . . . .

 

 

Kabaah is an extension to Mecca which was 1st climbed by Mcclure.

My accent was the 3rd after Paul Smitton. Here are some photos taken by Ben Bransby.

4 Bangers from Mr Pasquill.