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Mierda List: the Albarracin Edition

26/4/2017

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Six weeks bouldering time in the sandstone awesomeness that is Albarracin, Spain, gave us a seemingly endless amount of time to find, establish and send boulder projects. Naturally, it flew by and we left without having climbed everything that we wanted to, and without even having visited all of the areas. Many of the best days we had were those that we spent climbing any boulder that we saw, regardless of the grade, but working and climbing the routes that were harder for us was also pretty special. Some of these took a lot of work, and others breezed by, but nearly all of them felt like quality routes.

It took us a while (me, especially) to get going as it was just so bitterly cold at the beginning of our stay there. We weren't prepared for the cold, and I think we expected the grades to feel a little easier. Some of the lower grades felt more straight forward to climb than their equivalent in Fontainebleau, but often a bit physically stronger too. The harder grades felt pretty much on the money for the most part, especially when supplementing the NoRop.es guidebook, nicely done but now slightly out of date, with the more current grades on their website.

As the weather warmed up slightly, so did our climbing, and we fell into an easy routine of climbing whenever skin, weather and energy allowed. We would try to get in some stetching and crosstraining when it didn't - although living in a van during cold, wet windy weather can make it difficult to muster up enthusiasm for this, it also makes these extra efforts all the more important to avoid getting all scrunched up. Our existence during this time was pretty monotonous although fun, being slaves to good conditions and needing some routine to pass the time. Sleep, eat, climb, stretch, eat, shower (1 out of 7 days?), eat, sleep, eat, rest, eat, eat, eat, sleep, eat, rest, eat, eat, eat... etc. We definitely got some funny looks during hangboard sessions in the car park. 

Because Albarracin isn't huge, and we weren't straying too far from the beaten track, we rarely climbed by ourselves and met and spent time with so many lovely, passionate people amongst the boulders, so many thanks to everyone for spotting, beta, Spanish lessons, and especially the company.

​Sam mashed together this video of our time in Albarracin, which hopefully captures some of the fun we had climbing in this beautiful area, and shows a few of our favourite problems (or the ones we remembered to film)...
In going to Albarracin, we shared a goal in exploring a new climbing place and enjoying some warm weather and good climbing conditions for the January/February lull. In the former we were successful, and the latter, mostly successful. The snow load and chilly nights was a little surprising, but the warm days made up for it.

​We also had some personal, climbing goals. Sam pretty much just wanted to climb Cosmos, which he did and very nicely too. I wanted to climb a solid 7b, and was blown away to climb two in one day, as well as a few other 'slash' 7b's. So, in all, success. Albarracin was ace, and we're already excited to go back. Just to round off, the list of what we got...

Disclaimer: We climbed loads of nice boulders across the grades, but as yuj, this elitist bull is just the hardest stuff we did...
Sam sticking the first hard move on Cosmos (8a) at sector Techos, Albarracin.
Amber climbing in the cold at sector Arrastradero in Albarracin, Spain.
Clear blue skies and good bouldering vibes in Albarracin, Spain.
​Sam
Highway to Heaven (7c), Cabrerizo
Aeroline (7b/+), Parking
PAR-B19-L3 (7c+), Parking
The Wire (7c), Parking
Zarzamora (sit) (7c/+), Parking
Rockman (7b), Parking
El Phomega (7b+), Techos
Supernafamacho (7b/+), Techos
Cosmos (8a), Techos
Orion (8a), Techos
Dizdira (7c), Techos
Trave de Techos (7b/+), Techos
Eclipse flash (7b), Techos
Rudeman (7b/+), Techos
Rammstein (7b), Arrastradero
El Orejas de las Regletas (8a/7c+), Arrastradero
La Fuente (7c/7b+), La Fuente
Cangriburguer (7b+), La Fuente
El Plus del Autobús (sit) (7b), La Fuente
Dr. Zoiberg (7b), La Fuente
​Amber
Techo don Pepo (7a/+), Cabriezo
Travesia de Don Pepo (6c+/7a), Cabriezo
PAR-B17-L9 (7a), Parking
Zarzamora (6c+), Parking
​La Letrina (direct) (6c), Parking
Empotration (7a), Parking
​Tiro al Bidedo (7a/+), Techos
TEC-B12-L1 (7a), Techos
Eclipse (7b), Techos
Helicopters on Ankles (6c), Techos
TEC-B17-L2 (7a), Techos
Chilam Balam flash (6c), Techos
Zig-Zag (7a), Arrastradero
Spider Pig (6c), Arrastradero
Megamantel (7a), Arrastradero
ARR-B85-L2 (7a+/b), Arrastradero
El Reloj de Arena (7a), Arrastradero
El Plus del Autobús (sit) (7b), La Fuente
Por la Boca Muere el Pez flash (7a), La Fuente
Los Cachos no Suben (7a+), La Fuente
¡Muchos gracias, España​! Until next time.
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