The last couple of weeks in Albarracin was spent clearing up some ticks off the list and being tour guides for Gav and Lisa who came out for a short trip in Gav’s van. I managed to tick Innashakra 7c which finished up all the things that I was keen to do. Leah had managed her project and all the other problems she liked the look of so we were all set. This meant that when Lisa and Gav arrived we had done everything we wanted to do and were in a prime position to be tour guides for our visitors.
Tick List above 7a (in-case anyone cares)
1. Aeroline 7c
2. Innashakra 7c
3. El Circo Del Sol 7c
4. Escaramuza 7b+
5. Thieves (right-hand side) 7b
6. Ojos Negros 7b
7. Aristronauta 7b
8. Space Cowboys 7b
9. El Ermitano 7a+
10. A Oscuras 7a+
11. A Ciegas 7a+
12. Gorillas 7a+
13. Psicokiller Boulder 3 A 7a+
14. Psicokiller Boulder 3 D 7a+
15. Boulder 17 B 7a+
16. La Rave 7a
17. Parking roof 7a
18. Esperanza 7a
19. Peninsula Traverse 7a
20. Peninsula mini-roof 7a
21. Arrastradero mini-roof left 7a
22. Arrastradero mini-roof right 7a
23. Troviscente 7a
Gav wasn’t sure how he was climbing as he hadn’t been on rock for a while and it turned out he was well on form. We went round pointing out the good problems and going through the beta and then stood back while Gav ticked them off after one or two goes. To Leah’s delight he still couldn’t do all the moves on her new line confirming (sort of) that it is indeed 8a.
Leah on her new line "Fuerte a Muerte" 8a
After a couple of days of being in Albarracin with the new visitors we decided that we definitely couldn’t take being there anymore. It’s not that Albarracin isn’t good, it had just got to the point where we’d run out of things to do so we convinced Gav that some sport climbing was the way forward (he didn’t take much convincing) and we made plans to head to Gaz and Kates house in the Costa Blanca.
Gav and Lisa headed up to Techos to try a couple more problems while me and Leah got the van
sorted and started the voyage towards Gandia main crag. The plan was to meet at the crag, sleep under it and climb in the morning and then go to Gaz and Kates house at the end of the day for our first shower in ages!
We woke up and had a cuppa in true British style and then made our way up the hill to the Gandia main crag. It was our first taste of proper sport climbing on the trip and after such a long stint bouldering, it tasted good. We wanted to take it easy so we did a couple of 6b’s and a 7a all of which were really nice. Gandia seems like a good place near to our HQ to get some mileage in as the grades are fairly low but the routes are around 20-25m long. After Gandia we missioned over to El Bovedon to check out a crag with routes that are a little spicier. It’s the most unforgiving crag I have ever seen! The whole thing is at about 50-60 degrees overhanging and covers some ground completely horizontal. Grades are wide ranging but mainly 7c and up through the roof section so there is plenty to go at in terms of projects. We tried the slightly softer option of a 6b that traverses from the right-hand side of the cave all the way into the middle and is about 25m long. The holds are good but the angle is relentless and by the end my bouldering ways were showing their true colours and I was pumped out of my mind. It’s a cool route though and I’m looking forward to trying it again in a few weeks as a test of my (hopefully) improved stamina.
The savage beast that we are stuck with
Whilst Gav was out we went to Gandia and Bovedon again for some more mileage days and to Bellus which turned out to be pants. Then the rain closed in and our fellow Brits decided to head towards home and try to find some good weather on the way. Since they’ve been gone we’ve been helping out in the house trying to get it finished and we’ve had two sessions at Murla.
Preparing a gourmet snack before heading up to Murla
This crag is a brutal, short crag where the routes seem to consist of two 8m boulder problems on top of each other with no available rests on the way. We’ve picked a 7c+ to project which Leah has now done on top rope in one go so is planning on leading it next session and I’ve done it in two halves but feel fairly strong on it now I’ve got some kind of sequence sorted out. The route feels really hard so it will be interesting to see how it compares to others of the same grade in the area and it will also be interesting to see how horrendous anything from 8a upwards at Murla feels!
Toodle-pip!
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