Albarracin ... Go There

 

So I left Siurana in an absolutely battered state. On the last day there I had attempted to do some easy climbing on a multi-pitch 5+ and was suffering shooting pains which emanated from my elbow and powered itself all the way to the back of my shoulder ... time for a rest I thought( and time to train those antagonists). So it was probably a good thing that upon arrival to Albarracin it rained for 3 days and it was pretty cold, not too cold for bouldering but pretty cold for camping !! We kept ourselves busy by checking out the sweet village and it's Moorish fortress wall and by paying homage to the brilliant Neolithic rock art(Hunter Gatherer Graffiti).

Finally the clouds parted and we got to play on this magical forest's beautiful sandstone roofs and boulders. What a savage place. A lot more steep stuff than Font has and not a single polished foothold !! There are many sweet problems with the subtleties and technicalities of Fontainbleau problems, but then there is an amazing array of steep roof problems too, some even 15 ft long with really well defined(large) holds. The hard lads from the Co-ops would absolutely crush this place because climbing here really felt at times like bouldering in the Co-op outdoors. The rock is kind to skin and the amount of brilliant looking 7a's in mind boggling. If you like Dyno's this place has some amzing problems in store for you too !!

 

It was such a sweet enviroment and I was surrounded by so many problems shouting ''climb me'' that I couldn't be arsed trying to push my grade and spending the whole time on one problem, so I opted for millage and had a serious amount of fun in the process. I did climb two really sweet 6b's, one was a quality technical egg boulder with a lovely powerful crimpy sit-start and the other was a classic Albarracin roof problem that was probably my favourite problem that I have climbed to date, big moves, heel toe cams, slapping slopers and a Font style rounded top out. I am going to be visiting this area a lot in the future as it has so much low ball stuff that I can fall off without getting hurt, enough stuff for a lifetime of holidays and visits :) Right now though I am home and rested ... so ''Operation Chillax'' begins later with a training session in Naas on Friday and the Co op on Saturday !!

 

So what are you waiting for fools ?? Tear yourself away from my incredibly interesting blog and go book a ticket ... go leave all of your skin in Albarracin !!