Myself on El Chorreras o la belle Inconue 8b/+ in Rodellar
poto: Eddie Martinez
The next few weeks we spent between Terradets, Santa Linya and Oliana. I finished off 2 hard 8b's that I'd tried and failed on the previous year, Democracia at Terradets and the amazing 40m pitch of Marroncita at Oliana. I also did my hardest on-sight to date Millenium 8a/+ at Terradets. I spent almost 2 hours on the route working out the slab crux and the tricky upper wall making sure I got it right after putting in so much effort to get there. I was mentally and physically totally drained after this experience. With Ruth liking the style of Terradets as it’s not too steep she flashed her hardest route to date, Orient F7c/+. Turning my focus now to redpointing I quickly did Rollito Sharma 8b+ in the back of the huge cave of Santa Linya and was really keen to get on an 8c. Soon after this the good weather ended just before Christmas and the snow arrived prompting us to make the decision of leaving projects and clips and drive south to the Costa Blanca.
The month we spent down there was mostly a frustrating time driving between very damp cliffs. It wasn't until the last few days when the Wild side sector of Sella finally dried enough for us both to do the routes we had come down here for. I'd seen Espacio Tiempo the April before and had picked it out as an 8c that might suit me. It’s a 28m power endurance route on crimps and thin tufa's up a slightly leaning wall. Ruth was keen to get on the F8a Mediterraneo, and she found herself clipping the chains on her second day trying it. The 1st 2 days I spent on Espacio Tiempo I couldn't even get to the chains as it had a section near the top that was totally soaked. After a windy day it had dried enough for me to get the top section worked out with a really tenuous move up a faint groove just after a kneebar to get to the last clip. The next day it was strangely wetter again at the top and my redpoint attempt was ended trying to get into the kneebar after my hand greased off the wet tufa. I resorted to taping a rag onto the tufa above the hold and this seemed to keep it dry somehow. My 5th day on the route I clipped the chains and was psyched I'd just climbed my 1st 8c! I found the route mentally easier than Cry Freedom but maybe that was due to the fact Espacio Tiempo was wet to start with and I put no pressure on myself to do it because of this. Also all the hype and history surrounding Cry Freedom that I'd grown up with meant it felt like a massive undertaking trying it.
We returned to Catalunya to finish off and retrieve clips from routes before returning home. The route on my mind was Los Humildes pa Casa 8c (roughly translates to the humble go home) at Oliana that I'd tried briefly before Christmas. Ruth was desperate to get back on Formula Weekend, maybe the best F8a at Terradets. Los Humildes pa Casa is a massive 50m pitch with the 1st half being a 7c+ to a good rest where you can look up at the single tufa pipe going on and on up the barrelling grey wall above. I had been there the winter before and belayed Steve Mac when he redpointed it and thought it looked amazing. For me it’s one of those awesome lines that is just crying out to be climbed and is definitely one of the best sport routes I've ever done. It was great to finish the trip on such a high with this route. Ruth also managed to get her route done and so with the weather forecast looking worse we decided to head home.
My tick list for the trip:
2 8c’s
1 8b+
3 8b/+’s
3 8b’s
7 8a+'s
8 8a's (3 on-sight)
21 7c+'s (18 on-sight)
By Neil Mawson
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