8c

Well i am back from spain again, but i had a fantastic last week out there. Lots of climbing with lots of friends and chance to spend some time with my wonderful girfriend Kate. We had Gav Symonds and Yann (of The Arch fame) out and also had a few days with Leah Crane on the crag. Everyone was psyched and had a great trip Yann did the classic Ergometria, followed by Leah who also ticked another 8a in great style and Gav managed to on-sight his first 8a, Columneta........he looked really strong on it even with the Knowledge that i had fallen off it a few years before. Another first of the week was Charlie Woodburns first flash of an 8a. He climbed superbly with beta from Gav and myself to bag the excellent Watermark.

I managed to clear up a project from my last visit. I took me four sessions to climb Malsonandro 8c, this route was onsighted by Ramonet.......effort. The cave of El Bovedon is host to some steep routes and this is at about an angle of 60 degrees!!! A cruxy start leads to a series of massive and powerful moves to a poor shake. Following is the crux, a four move boulder problem which basically has to feel easy when you get there. After another shake another 10m of climbing via a big mono move near the top leads to the belay. This is my 3rd 8c and second this year, time to try something harder i think. Starting up Malsonandro 8c

I also ticked a couple of cool 8bs, the loooonnnnggggg Satori at Forada was quite easy and the shorter La Criature at Wildside was quite hard.