Simon Wadsworth Climber/Film Maker: Time is starting to fly

We’ve now been back from the comp in Cuenca for almost two weeks so I thought it was time for an update. We got back on the Monday and were completely shattered from the weekend and ended up going to bed at 9:00pm and sleeping right through ‘til the morning!

Having had a day of rest and with clear blue skies we were pretty keen to get back to climbing here in Albarracin. Unfortunately my skin was ravaged from the comp and I needed another day off for it to grow back. We went back to Manushakra for Leah to try and finish it which was very frustrating and it took a lot for me to not climb. Unfortunately it didn’t go for Leah so we headed back to the van for some recovery.

Some local wildlife!

On Wednesday morning we woke up to more good weather and made our way up the hill to Manushakra again, this time I tried Innashakra a fair bit and then tried Manushakra but couldn’t get to the top of either. Leah succeeded on Manushakra 7b+ and I succeeded in getting immensely frustrated. By the end of the session my skin was (once again) ruined which meant more resting to come.

Thursday morning came quickly and my skin actually didn’t feel too bad so we decided to go to sector Sol and try one of our projects. The problem is Circo del Sol 7c and it’s got some really cool moves on it (knee-bars, mono’s etc). Surprisingly we both got it done in quick succession and on only our second visit. My second 7c of the trip I’m really chuffed and it gave me a little more confidence after recent shut downs. Afterwards Leah wanted to finish off Respect which she started before Cuenca and did it really quickly. It started to rain so we ran for cover back to the van.

Friday was indeed time for some more skin recovery and neither of us climbed much at all but we went for a walk, played some hacky-sack and chilled out in the sun. It’s a hard life.

Working hard in Albarracin

Saturday was the beginning of the sending train. We went to a sector called Techos to check out some problems and got sucked into a recce at a bunch of sectors. We didn’t climb much at all but made some mental notes for things to come back to. Afterwards we went back to the van and chilled for a while and I said I would like to try the 7a roof behind the van. I tried it when we first got here but felt weak as anything and failed miserably. Today was different, I got it on my third go and was psyched. Leah suggested going to check out a 7a+ called El Ermitano. We both had in done after about 25 minutes and were keen for more so we went to Aeroline and did another 7a+ called La Rave. A good evenings climbing for both of us and probably my best consecutive ticks ever!

Waking up on Sunday we both felt good and wanted to continue the momentum of Saturday. We went to sector Sol and did a 7a+ arête, Aristranauta 7b+ and then Ojos Negros a 7b+ traverse that we failed on last year and did second go this year. Once we finished, it started to rain a bit so we went back to the van feeling pretty pleased with the day and nursing trashed skin (yet again).

Some more local wildlife

Monday was shopping day which was dull but the supplies were not! We had a good days rest and then had Spag Bog for dinner which was amazing!

Tuesday was back to climbing at Penninsula where we had a couple of 7a+ leftovers from last year. Amazingly they both went without a hitch although the top out of the second one was a bit worrying to say the least! That evening we cracked out the Cobb (oven) and had a giant bagel that we bought from the supermarket and I mean GIANT!

The traverse at Penninsula 7a+

Yesterday I had another good day at Arrastradero doing Esperanza 7a and Escaramuza 7b+ which I flashed with Leah’s beta. It’s my hardest flash yet so I was well stoked. Afterwards I wanted to try Innashakra again it’s 7c but it feels really hard. After working out all the moves I was too tired to finish it so it was one to come back to. I wasn’t too put out because I’d still had another awesome days climbing and it’s not going anywhere.

Surprisingly, today it was to be. We went over to Innashakra and on my third proper go after warming up, I sent the monster. I was so pleased to have done it, although I now need to do Manashakra as well. Unfortunately there was seriously heavy rain last night so it was too wet today but soon it will be mine!