We went to Murla with John and Fran for Leah to try her 8a+ again. While we were there I tried an 8a next to it with John which feels like a real goer but has a ridiculous jump move in the middle that might be a bit of a stopper. Over the next few days we visited the crag and I tried to work out some kind of sequence for the route and Leah had more attempts on her 8a+.
Unfortunately time defeated us as we had to be down to Benidorm to meet up with the European Berghaus sales team for an activity day that they were having on 19th May. We left the routes for a while and started the slog down to Benidorm to meet up with the people that made the trip possible (it’s the least we could do).
It was an interesting day that seemed to go pretty tits up from the word go. Luckily for us all we had to do was turn up and be sociable so none of the responsibility was on us although the organisers at the Orange House did their best to involve us in the shambles. While chatting to the folks from Berghaus Leah suggested that maybe they wanted to by us dinner and they invited us back to the 5* hotel in Calpe for a meal. Bonus!
We got to the hotel “Sol-y-Mar” at about 8:00pm and the meal was served shortly after. It was a 3-course beast and the main course was a steak. I can’t actually explain how good a steak feels after such a long period of chorizo and pasta or tuna and pasta for dinner, I felt like Sypher in the Matrix.
After the meal we headed back to the house in Oliva so we could get back to some climbing the next day. We went back to Murla and both got shut down over and over again, after a few more days Leah managed the 8a (after giving up on the 8a+ for a while as it was getting a bit demoralising). Then after a few more goes I managed to stick the dyno in the middle of the route! I thought I had it in the bag and started racing to the top to beat the fatigue, I started to feel the pump kicking in and as I through for the top holds I knew I was done in. I fell from the top! I literally could have touched the chains and I fell. To say that I was miffed would be a bit of an understatement but at least I knew I had it in me. After a rest and belaying Leah I had another go and to my horror exactly the same thing happened again! I couldn’t believe it but I was goosed and had no chance of going up again so had to retreat for yet another rest day.
Success on the dyno in the middle of my second 8a
After a day off we went to Gandia for a light day that turned into a few 7a and 7a+ onsights which took quite a lot out of me. We went back to Murla the next day anyway and on my second go I did the route. I was really chuffed and so glad to tick another 8a on the trip when my goal was just to get one, not to mention the fact that we now have another 2 months of sport climbing in other areas.
Two days later Leah managed her 8a+ marking the end of our projects in this area and the start of our preparation for the BBC’s at the end of June.
No comments:
Post a Comment