After galavanting around San Sebastián Chris and I returned to Valdegovía, both of us psyched to get back on our projects- for Chris that was an 8b+ (5.14a- yeah he’s really strong) with the name of “Olatz” which is evidently a female Basque name. I got back on El Legado, the 7a+ (5.12a) I had given 4 goes on before.
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Yes, this blog has been posted about 2 weeks late, but I’ve been super busy climbing and enjoying life in the South of France. Thanks to a few summer thunderstorms that have slowed us down, this post has finally taken priority over going wine-tasting and eating more goat cheese..
Continue reading “San Sebastián rest day!”
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In Spanish, “psicobloc” literally translates into “crazy bouldering” which is probably the best way to describe deep-water soloing, a scary but exhilarating form of climbing in which the climber ascends without a rope (aka: soloing), but does so over the ocean so the water serves as protection in the event of a fall. Perhaps the most revered location to practice DWS is Mallorca, one of the four Balearic islands in the Mediterranean sea off of the coast of Spain. As I explained in my other blog post about the sport climbing on Mallorca, my friend Nat, who just so happens to be a super strong rock-climber, has been living in Palma, the main city in Mallorca. So, when the opportunity presented itself to go to Mallorca and crash on his couch for a few days while sampling the islands climbing, I couldn’t resist. Nat graciously agreed to host me and show me both the sport climbing and DWS.
Continue reading “Mallorca- psicobloc!!”
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| View from the road leading to Gorg Blau, a climbing sector in Mallorca located in the mountains |
My four day trip to Mallorca, one of the four Balearic islands off of the eastern coast of Spain, started off with me getting lost in my bright blue Fiat Panda rental car on my way to find my friend Nat. Luckily, this rental car experience didn’t start nearly as badly as the one I had in Portugal, where it took me a good five minutes to figure out how to put the car in reverse (I’m a good stick driver, I swear). This time I hopped in and, feeling like a boss, pulled out onto the freeway with major ganas to eat a bocadillo (“sandwich” in Spanish and quite the popular lunch item) meet my friend Nat at his apartment in Palma and leave as soon as possible to go climbing. I met Nat almost three years ago at UC Davis, my university, at the climbing wall in our school gym, where my love affair with climbing began. Still, we never really climbed or hung out together too much apart from sometimes climbing together at the gym. When I first arrived in Barcelona some casual facebook browsing led me to the discovery that Nat was living in Mallorca teaching English and, more than anything, climbing overhung limestone tufa. Continue reading “Mallorca- Sport Climbing”
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| A few days after my surgery. You can see my wheelchair in the background; I’m so glad to be rid of those space boots. Recovering from the surgery in the end was the easiest part of the entire experience |
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| Vista from Berga with Montserrat seen in the distance |
Apart from visiting some of the premier climbing destinations in Europe, I have climbed at smaller local crags that are closer to Barcelona. Here are a few of my favorites.
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Note: This is an old post, whose content was created for fun, with minor proof-reading. Please read this post keeping that in mind
The author sending hard in Margalef My friend Colleen Kamoroff has flown all the way from California to visit me in Spain and to have an adventure of her own. She allowed me to share with you, my glorious readers, (mom, dad and some random people from Russia- thanks for reading!) her experiences thus far. Before anything, I’d like to share a collaborative haiku we made which, I think, summarizes my experiences in Spain quite well: Jasna climbs a rock and without further ado… here is Colleen’s blog post
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