Siurana & Albarracin, Spain

I flew back home to the US at the very end of September and was able to catch up on some sleep, see some good friends, and get prepared for the next leg of the journey. Alex was still in Europe so I planned to fly to Barcelona where he'd pick me up and we'd be off to our next climbing destination; Siurana. Spain has become quite the world destination for hard sport climbing and bouldering so we were both pretty psyched to get out there and see what Spain had to offer.

First crag over-looking the river to the south. South side climbing = big mistake! SOO HOT!!!

I arrived at Barcelona late so we punched it as quick as we could to Siurana. We heard that there was a camping area right next to the small town with a cafe and showers; hopefully there was space available because we weren't sure what else we would do!!! Luckily, there was a spot for us so we set up the tent and went to sleep, psyched to see what everything looked like the next day.

We couldn't believe our eyes when we got up. Cliff bands everywhere!!! Siurana is situated on top of and at the end of one of these cliff bands over looking the many valleys and rolling hills west of Barcelona. The town is super small with only maybe 2 grocery stores in it. From the camp site, you could have walked to all of the crags within 20 minutes or so! While we were eating breakfast, we got some beta about the different climbing areas and where to go. Unfortunately, that first morning, we chose the wrong side, climbing on the south exposed walls which was absurdly hot. We only climbed maybe 2-3 routes before we headed back to camp to go find some of the north facing crags.

Sunset near the south facing crags near Siurana. Siurana is just up the road on the cliff up and right in the photo.

We checked out the next big area facing north that afternoon and found plenty of routes to keep us occupied for the next few days. We met lots of people who were able to give us tons of beta about their favorite climbs and what areas we should also check out in Spain. I really enjoyed the climbs in Siurana because they were super technical. Not all routes were super overhanging that required tons of upper body strength. You were able to find all types; crimpy vertical climbs, stemmy corner problems, over hanging sequency climbs... all the types of climbs that made you move your feet and move your body in particular ways to get up the wall. I loved this type of climbing and started to really enjoy the rock here and soon was looking for something to push my limits.

Noah hitting the crux move on the opening boulder problem

We found this pretty over-hanging 8a (5.13b) that looked super awesome and this father-son duo from Copenhagen were trying it and urged us to give it a shot!!! Esben and his son Noah are crushers and they got us psyched to jump on it while taking some large whippers on their attempts. Alex and I had never climbed a 5.13b before so we thought, what better place and time than here and now!?!!! We took an afternoon to learn the moves and figure out our own sequences. The route goes in 3 boulder problems; the 1st one is right off the deck and probably goes around v6/7, the 2nd problem is the middle of the route and it goes at maybe v3, and the final third goes at about v7/8. Super fun, the moves flow very nicely, and the perfect backdrop made for a great experience. On our second to last day, we tried for the send... I got to the last bolt but couldn't pull through to the chains!!! I don't think I've yelled that much in my life!!! After making it to the ground, I realized that my finger tip was partially split open from the small crimps above. I knew my attempts were done... no more for me. We still had a week left in Spain so I knew I needed to stop in order to have any attempts at our next destination. :(

Camp had everything that you could want while traveling around; a cafe, coffee, seating outside, showers, and free internet! Food and drink are always cheap in Spain and we took full advantage on our rest days. We found this one restaurant on the farthest most tip of the mesa over looking the valleys and crags to the south. You couldn't have found a more picturesque spot to eat lunch. We walked around the small town and finally said goodbye to one of the best sport crags I think I've ever been to. Next stop? Albarracin for some rad bouldering!!!

Our view looking out over the valley from our lunch spot in Siurana

Albarracin is a small little town about 4 hours south of Siurana and an hour or so inland from the eastern coast. It's a beautiful little village tucked next to a winding creek and limestone cliffs on each side. The boulders here are located up higher on the plateau to the east so when temps get warm in many sport climbing areas, Albarracin is still cool will into late spring and early fall. I had been messaging our friend Giani who we met back in Switzerland and found out that he was already in Albarracin. This meant we had a guy who knew where all the boulders were!!! 1 huge step up for us since we only had about 3+ climbings days there.

Albarracin tucked in between the cliffs. This picture was taken from a lookout post high above.

Giani is like an encyclopedia when it comes to a boulder area. He can remember the names, grades, and how to climb the route for hundreds of routes! Luckily, we showed up at the end of the weekend so there weren't going to be as many people when we were climbing there. We found that Albarracin has insane roof pocket problems; scary for the fingers! :-/ Gigantic horizontal roofs then followed by your stereotypical Fontainebleau heinous slopery top out... GAH! Good thing we had already been to Font for practice but STILL! 

Campusing Giani?! What is this... find some feet dude!!!!!

Giani introduced us to his friend Martin who basically looks like Sharma, but only WAY taller and bigger. I totally thought that when he first showed up... I'm sure he hates it by now! With Martin and Giani combined, we got our fair share of hard classic problems. Pictured below is a classic 7b+ sloper traverse.

It's ok for you to campus Martin... actually, just campus the rest of the climb will you?!!

Alex and I have also wanted to push our level in bouldering as well. Having tried an 8a in sport (and failing unfortunately), we figured we should try to hit an 8a here as well. There were 2 that we tried in the 3 days that we were there and were only successful on 1 of them. Below is one that we couldn't finish. It has a gigantic dyno 2/3's the way through the problem off micro-crimps... SPICY! :) It still was super fun to try the route and get thrashed. Psyched to one day come back and give it another go. Notice the tape on my middle finger; my tip was still split from the 8a in Siurana!

Psyched to be out climbing... are my forearms bigger than my biceps?! wtf?!

The sunsets here were spectacular, especially since the boulders were on top of the plateau. Once you reached the edge, you could see down over everything. Giani had a super nice camera and I luckily got to play around with it for a little. I can't wait to see which photos come out. Hurry up Giani! :)

Our last night there, we got super psyched to keep climbing and did a few easier classics. Everyone used their headlamps to light up the rock and yelled encouragement to everyone else. The energy was so great and it totally helped; a couple of us flashed a 7b+... woohooo! The next morning, we went to the other 8a project and tried our best. I still had the tape on my finger but after 2 failed attempts, I thought... fuck it, take off the tape and give it one last really good go. If your finger tip splits on the send, I'd have a week or so in Egypt for it to repair!!! As soon as I took the tape off... it went!!! I was super psyched; Alex got it on video and everything! I should show up in then next day or so! :)

Giani keeping the send train alive!

That afternoon, we said goodbye to all of our friends and started the long drive back to Armin's place in Munich Germany. The next afternoon, we were catching a flight to Cairo, Egypt to spend a week checking out the sites. Our plan is to see the pyramids, then take a train towards the southern portion to then catch a boat and float back north along the Nile ending in Luxor. I've always wanted to see the pyramids ever since I was a kid and now it's finally happening! Tune in next time to see what Egypt was like!!! I hope camels really don't spit...

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Paris et Fontainebleau!

I know it's been awhile since my last update so I apologize for that. Things have been pretty hectic for me since the end of the France portion so without any further stalling, here we go! After climbing in Frankenjura with Dave, the 3 of us piled into our EuropCar and started the drive towards Paris. I've dreamed of climbing in Fontainebleau for quite sometime and it was finally time to make the trek. We setup the bouldering pad in the backseat so that the 3rd person wouldn't have to sit on hard plywood the entire drive; it was super safe... trust me. :) We made it to a hotel late at night near the airport since we were to pick up Alex's parents the following morning.  

Since we never got Dave his traditional Bavarian breakfast while in Germany, we were lucky enough to scrounge some of the makings from a grocery store and had them for dinner that night. We brought in our camping cookware and made Dave his meal right there in our hotel room! Weissbeir, Weisswurst, and bretzen... mmmmmm!!!! After we picked up Alex's parents, we headed to Paris to do some sightseeing. Our friend Camille that we met in Peru was back in Paris and she was gracious enough to walk, talk, and show us around her city.

Notre Dame!!!

Camille hung out with us and showed us a good time around the city for the first day. We saw Notre Dame, had some wine down by the river, and got some yummy ice cream too. Our plan was to check out Fontainebleau for the next few days until Dave and Alex's parents had to leave. We'd then take a rest day back in Paris. We packed up our van with our crashpads while Alex and his parents took the train down to Font. We then checked into the hotel (Alex's parents were gracious enough to reserve a room for us as well) and then headed out to the boulders! We didn't have a full guidebook, just random snipits of information that we pulled together online. Hopefully we could figure out where to go!

The Louvre

Now, for anyone who hasn't climbed at Fontainebleau before, the climbing is very different from anything that we've found in the States or the previous countries that we've visited. The rock is sandstone and forms these slopey holds on these egg-like formations. Sometimes you'll find the occasional crimp or overhung roof climb but these are an exception. This place requires tons of technique and body position and if you don't know the sequence to get up even the easiest of problems, it probably won't happen! I loved the challenge and even though I was climbing problems much easier than what I can climb, I had an amazing time figuring out how to climb at this place. 

Alex staring down some sloper holds on a v3?... say what?!

Fontainebleau has many sectors which are spread out over a large area near the actual town of Fontainebleau. Some of them took almost 30+ minutes to get to from our place. Having a car here is a must; you could get around by hitch hiking or by public transit but you'd cut out a serious chunk of your climbing time. Everyone that we met there had a van to house all of their belongings and crash in at night. If they wanted to move to a new area, they'd just pack up and drive to the new spot and throw down. Best way to go in my opinion for sure!

Above, Alex and Dave are trying to climb the classic Helicopter! It's a v6 where you climb the left side of the boulder, grab a sloper with your left and a undercling sloper with your right, then jump to a jug up and to the right. Your body swings left to right horizontally like the blades of helicopter blade and you have to hold the swing... super difficult and scary since you are pretty high off the ground! Amazing problem... Camille came out and bouldered with us for a couple days as well which was awesome!

Mo crushing a boulder problem...

On our first rest day, we went to check out the Chateau at Fontainebleau. Many great people spent their time in this chateau, including Napoleon. We got to see very intricate decorations and paintings, ornate furniture and chandeliers, not to mention beautiful architecture and grounds. So much history in this place and we were super lucky to witness it first hand. If you ever head to Font, I'd highly recommend taking an afternoon to check out the Chateau; you won't regret it!

The gang in front of the main entrance to the Chateau... damn we look good!

Back to Bouldering! There were so many different types of climbs with so many styles and techniques that we were able to try. You name it; slopers, cracks, rails, crimps, pockets, jugs, knee scums, knee bars, campuses, edging, smedging, mantles, dynos... the list goes on. This place tore not just our fingers up, but our entire bodies. We had to use all of our muscles to get up these climbs and we were always super tired after each day. Our forearms weren't the only thing that got sore; our backs, our triceps, our lats, our hamstrings, EVERYTHING!

Our buddy Alex (not Li) from Magic Wood met us out in Font and he joined us for the last few days that we were there. I found out that he was another guy from the States, near Santa Barbara at the time. Super ironic how we were so far across the word yet another guy 1 hour from our college ended up climbing with us. Unfortunately, he got injured doing the climb pictured below, hitting his knee on the point at the bottom of the photo. He was MIA until the last day or so of the trip. Bummer dude!

The forest that Font is located in spans for miles and is quite beautiful regardless of whether you climb or not. There are tons of hiking trails and we met tons of people who took their kids out and hiked through the forest to have a picnic in some of the open areas. One day, we climbed in this area on a small hill and I was able to capture the setting sun while Alex (Li this time) tried a problem or two. I wasn't climbing that day because I hurt myself pretty badly a couple days before. It was a pretty scary incident for me and I'm glad to be writing to you injury free at the moment. Here's what happened...

Stunning sunset in Fontainebleau forest

I injured myself pretty badly at the end of one of our climbing days. We were trying this v5/6 that required you to twist your body pretty badly. As it is, I already have some back problems so this twisting really didn't jive with me. We were getting kicked off this climb left and right and Alex and I were getting pretty frustrated that we weren't able to it. I figured, why not try really hard this one time and if it doesn't go, I'll forget it. Well, on this time, something seemed to pop in my back and I immediately fell off because something wasn't right. I couldn't stand up because there was so much pain so I laid face down on the bouldering pad. This was the only position that seemed to not aggravate my back. Every time I tried to stand up, the pain would come back. I ended up lying there for over an hour trying to figure out what to do.

Sending a 7b+ compression problem in Isatis area

Somehow, my muscles calmed down enough for me to hobble to the van and head back to camp. After eating a large dinner, I took a hot shower hoping that would ease some of the pain and tension in my back. Unfortunately, it didn't help too much. That night, I woke up feeling like I couldn't move. I forced myself up even though it hurt really badly and tried to make myself walk outside. I could barely do that and ended up face down on my bed hoping the pain would subside. I took more pain killers and didn't really fall back asleep. That next morning, Alex tried pressing my back and luckily a rib popped back in!!!! Apparently, 3 ribs had popped out during that climb. I rested more that day and over the next couple, all 3 ribs were back in place and the pain subsided. Ultra scary for 3+ days but luckily, it didn't keep me from climbing well afterwards. So fortunate to not have to go to the hospital or fly back home!!! :)

Alex trying to mantle the alligator! Lay on your back, grab the snout, and mantle!

The last day in Font, Alex and I headed to this famous climb called Rainbow rocket, a v10/11 dyno with some other dynos next to it. A beautiful boulder that literally looks like we're jumping up the side of a gigantic ocean liner. I must have put in over 15-20 tries before sticking the gigantic dyno! So cool to end the trip with such a cool climb. Thanks to all those with pads and who took photos.

Alex and I took some of our rest days in Paris. Camille was gracious enough to let us crash at her father's flat near the Eiffel tower which was super convenient for us. Camille showed us and took us everywhere. We met a few of her friends, attended some outdoor music concerts and a independent film showing and we went to a giant music festival. We also checked out some amazing food while in Paris, including Allie's favorite crepe place which was amazing! All in all, France and Camille showed us an unforgettable time and I can't wait to come back again; thanks so much MO!!!!!!! ;-)

We then drove back to Munich to head to Oktoberfest. Our goal was to make it to the Hacker-Pschorr tent and get in line super early in the morning in hopes of getting a table for the large group of people that we had. Somehow, I managed to squeeze past a bunch of people and found the last table in the building; it magically became un-reserved right as I got there and I snagged it. So lucky!!! We drank ourselves silly and had a grand time. While in Germany, we also went to the BMW museum, sat on some of their motorcycles, and went to one of the greatest water parks ever with swimming pools and hot tubs everywhere (thanks for the idea Erin and Lex!!!). So nice to just relax and rest our bodies from all of the climbing.

Allie crushing it up around pitch 4!

I decided to fly home for a couple weeks before heading to Spain. During those couple weeks, I met up with a lot of friends, including hanging out with Jared for his 30th bday in Yosemite and climbing with Travis and others in Bishop. It was super hot but we managed to find shade and climb a few things. Allie and I also decided to go climb Half Dome one weekend! She had never been up there before and Snake Dike would be a great way to get up there instead of the crazy crowded cables way. We drove out to Yosemite friday afternoon and decided that instead of hiking part way up the trail with all of our sleeping stuff, we'd just wake up early and hike to the route, climb it, and hike back down in a day. This way, we wouldn't have to carry anything else besides our climbing gear; our backs would thank us later. The weather was perfect but when we got to the base, there were already 7+ parties in front of us!!!!!!! It literally looked like we showed up to Everest but in sunny Yosemite instead.

So happy! We also met an awesome couple from Germany/Austria on our way up...

We could have rocked the route in probably just a couple hours but it ended up taking us 6+ hours due to all of the super slow parties in front of us. No matter though, we met this awesome couple behind us and had a grand old time taking photos, goofing off, and taking in the scenery around us. We made it to the top of Half Dome around 4pmish and took our photos, ate our lunch, then headed back down to camp. We both were super tired but made it back to camp around 9ish. Lagunitas, grilled cheese, and tomato soup revived us while we chatted and remembered the day. Soon we were too tired to keep our eyes open and fell fast asleep. The next day, we just rested in El Cap Meadow, swam a little bit, then headed back to the bay. Such an awesome weekend!!!!

It was so great to see old friends and hang out in some of my favorite places back here at home. The plan now is to head to Spain for some hard sport climbing in Siurana and bouldering in Albarracin. Then on to Egypt for a week long trip to see the pyramids, temples, and tombs of the Egyptians. I'll be back in the States on November 6th. Watching a tennis tournament in LA with my sister, then straight to Bishop for some more bouldering! Tune in next time to see how Spain and Egypt were! Safe travels!

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Rest Days... so much fun!

Alex and I were pretty beat after climbing in Switzerland for a couple weeks. Upon saying goodbye to Christina, we packed our EuropCar and headed south towards the Italian border. Our plan was to meet up with Lex, one of Alex's friends he knew from studying abroad in Germany. Apparently, Lex grew up in Croatia and happened to be vacationing on Krk off the main coast of Croatia for a few days and it worked for us to meet up. Along the way, we would go through Milan and Venice and sample some of the touristy things each place had to offer.

Duomo di Milano - 5th largest cathedral in the world and it took nearly 6 centuries to complete!!!

Our first stop was Milan! We heard that this city in Italy didn't have many tourist attractions. It's Italy's financial, commercial, and industrial center with a population of over 5 million! The one thing that we did want to check out though was the Duomo di Milano, apparently the 5th largest cathedral in the world. Luckily, we were driving through on a weekday so while everyone was at work, we could drive the streets with very little traffic. :)

We took our slew of photos, both inside the cathedral and in the main square just outside, and headed to a place for lunch. There I made sure to get some italian gelato and an espresso! So tasty! By then it was nearly 2pm and we needed to get going. The freeway that would take us to Croatia passed right next to Venice. I fortunately had been there once before with my family but Alex had never been so we made a short pitstop there around dinner time. We headed straight for the Piazza San Marcos after parking our car in the zoo that was the main parking area once we got there.

The Grand Canal in Venice, Italy

Since we got there during the late afternoon hours, the sun was creating quite the array of colors during our time there. The grand canal, the giant clock tower, all the gondolas floating in the water, everything seemed to glow. We walked the streets, looking in the different shops; I definitely tried on a jacket that cost more than anything that I own!!! We found a small little restaurant to eat dinner before heading back to our car to finish the drive to Croatia. Multiple stores were selling masquerade masks which looked super fun so we bought a couple. Who's gonna host the party?!

The view from our accommodations in Croatia; thanks Lex for helping us out!

The drive to Croatia took quite a long time due to the fact that we took back roads through Slovenia to avoid having to pay tolls for the highway. Apparently the navigation system on our phones took way more 'back roads' than was necessary according to Lex. We didn't show up on Krk until 2am!!! We were super fortunate that the lady who owned our place that we were renting actually got up to let us in and give us the keys! Luckily, we had a huge bed and got a great night sleep. When we woke up, we headed down to town center to get some lunch. There we met up with Lex and headed down to the beach for some swimming and to meet his family.

View from town across the coastline of Krk.

Lex informed us that a true beach according to him was one with rocks that you could jump off of. Being from sunny southern California, I definitely objected! Although it was awesome having rocks to scramble on and jump off of, it was pretty tough to lounge without a spike of limestone sticking you in the ribs through your towel. Regardless, the water was super calm AND super warm. The limestone sometimes jutted right out of the water so we were able to climb up the cliffs. The rock was super sharp though so we had to climb delicately if we didn't want to shred our hands and feet. We brought Bavarian beer with us to drink while lounging; always a great rest day activity.

Lex, Alex, and I chillin' along the coast of Krk

We met Lex's father, sister, and her boyfriend at the beach that day. We had dinner with them at a pizza place they all recommended. It was super legit; thin crust with lots of toppings and not overloaded with cheese, something that I can't stand! In general, the food in Croatia was great; everything from seafood, to pizza, to noodles, to soup... it was all great. The portions were perfect too. You never were left wanting more or feeling too stuffed at the end of your meal. I definitely could see coming back here at another time; everything was super cheap!!! Once they join the Shengen countries though, we'll see if that remains the same. Our next stop would be Frankenjura, the famous climbing area in Germany so we headed back late after 2 great days relaxing.

Luckily, Armin has many conveniences near his flat so we were able to do our laundry and get cleaned up before heading to Frankenjura. While our laundry was going, we headed to the Hirschgarten, a great place to drink beer and eat great Bavarian food in the middle of a park. They even have a pen full of reindeer! (random I know...) We got an entire fish to split including some giant bretzen (pretzels) and liter beers. After hanging out here for awhile, we went back to get our laundry, then headed for Frankenjura. Let the pockety fingery climbing begin! Luckily, Armin came out for a long weekend to climb with us AND David Lam flew out from the States to climb with us for over a week as well!

Sponsorship shot... Petzl & Black Diamond gear, and Edelrid clothing

Armin new of some cool places for us to check out since he lives close to the area compared to us. The climbing was so different than anything else that we had climbed before. Super pockety, not super intuitive at times, and spaced out bolts. We definitely took our time warming up and working up in the difficulty of climbs. Alex and I only planned on staying here a week or so because we planned on meeting his parents in Paris so our window was short. The thing that boggled my mind when we showed up was that I didn't see a single rock on our way to the region of Frankenjura, near Nuremberg. There was nothing to see except rolling green hills and groves of trees. Our GPS told us we had reached our camping area but it had to be wrong since there wasn't anything visibly to climb on right?!... WRONG! The crags in Frankenjura are super hidden, in the groves of trees, behind the rolling hills, etc. It was super magical feeling walking through the bright green forest wondering what the crag would look like right around the corner.

Armin about to head up into a 5.12 classic

On Sunday, David flew into Nuremberg so I drove the van to pick him up from the airport. Even though he was jetlagged, we went straight to the crag to climb. In between passing out inbetween climbs, we were able to get him on a few starred routes. It took him a couple days to snap out of the jetlag phase. Armin had told us of the place to camp where there were free showers (awesome!) and a restaurant right nearby that served amazing food for cheap! Armin told us that we had to try the pork shoulder that they serve, apparently on thursdays and fridays. Since we were there for the full week, we would be lucky enough to try it.

David crushing a hard 5.11 overhanging route in Frankenjura

Our last day in Frankenjura, we chose a crag that was nearby our campsite to aid in a speedy departure towards Paris. The crag had LOTS of overhanging climbs, including one that Alex chose which should have been an 'easy' 5.12 but turned out to be much harder since a hold broke. Some local climbers told us about it and still unphased, Alex went up to try it out. Unable to move through the crux, he let me take a shot at it. After taking at the crux, I was able to find a way through to the easier section above; easy 5.12 my butt!!! The route was in a beautiful setting though; a slightly overhanging wall, beautiful green trees around, with excellent movement for the top 2/3rds of the climb.

Easy 5.11? NO WAY! A hold broke making this climb mid-5.12's... CRAZY move...

We also saved some time to check out Action Direct, the worlds first 9a (5.14d). It was insane not only to see how overhanging the climb was, but how small the holds were. Mono to a dyno, to multiple more monos on a wall that's 45 degrees overhanging. It was crazy just thinking about all the famous climbers who had walked the trail to this exact spot, clipped the same draws, and sent such a hard route. Alex, David, and I then headed back for the car, packed away our ropes and harnesses, and headed to Paris. We were meeting up with his parents the next day and with Camille, a girl Alex and I met down in South America.

Tons of thanks to Armin for letting us crash at his place regardless of the time that we show up at his place, and Lex for organizing such a great time in Croatia. Currently, we are having a great time experiencing everything that Paris has to offer, not to mention some difficult and unique climbing in Fontainebleau!!! Tune in next time to see what goes down!

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Europe! First Stop... Switzerland!

Alex and I returned to the States at the very end of June 2014 after 3 months in South America, climbing through Argentina, Peru, and Brazil. Visiting old friends, seeing new places to climb, and meeting new friends along the way has been an amazing experience so far! We came back home because a few of our friends were getting married and it broke up the trip for us; it was so nice to have some of the comforts of home! Seeing as I didn't have a room anymore to sleep in at my old house, I mixed it up with camping and crashing at friends places which I'm so super grateful for.

  

I had to made it back to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite for old time sake. You can only spend so much time away for your favorite place! After making it to Xander & Amy's wedding and Matt & Kelley's wedding, I drove down to San Diego in order to hang out with my extended family for a few days. I hadn't seen Grandma in a long time so I wanted as much time as possible to hang out with her. My Mom, sister, and I took a week long trip to Chicago as well. If you like interactive museums, great food, and a city with an amazing public transportation system, this is an amazing place that you'll have to check out.

It finally was time to continue to climbing adventure, and for us it started in Munich, Germany!!! Alex had a friend that he knew from college and studying abroad so we luckily were able to crash at his place. Our first goal was to get our transportation for the next 3 months. We thought getting a van and sleeping in it would save us the most money along the way; no hostels, no unnecessary camping fees, and if it rains, your stuff is definitely completely dry. Europcar was the choice for us; cheap and the van came in diesel! We built the bed literally in the parking garage of the hardware store. People were giving us the weirdest looks but whatever; we made it work!!! :)

Our first stop, Magic Wood in Switzerland. Luckily, everything is relatively close to each other in Europe. After a 3.4 hour drive, we arrived at the famous bouldering area. Armin (Alex's friend) was kind enough to give us his bouldering pad for this stage of the trip and with my gigantic Asana pad, we were set to try and crush some new, hard boulder problems. The concentration of boulders above 7a/v6 is astounding!!! We could barely contain ourselves with all of the beautiful lines that we wanted to try. The rock texture is very grippy and shreds the finger tips after just a couple climbing days. Alex and I had just under 2 weeks to try as many problems as we could. Unfortunately, I misplaced my camera charger earlier in the trip so I couldn't take any pictures with my camera. Alex has a lot more on his... we'll upload them soon!

Intermezzo, 7c/v9  Super short and super powerful!

The only issue with Magic Wood is the landings; almost all problems have some sort of gnarly root system growing underneath it or some jagged rock sticking up. Having multiple pads under each problem was a must! Luckily, there were tons of other people also climbing there so we always got to have pretty decent landings wherever we decided to climb that day. Overall, I'd say that we were pretty successful; Alex got his first 8a and we both had multiple climbs in the 7c range. Not too shabby!!! I luckily will get to come back in a month and hopefully try some more hard classic boulders, including an 8a+ (v11/12) if I'm lucky!

Switzerland also has tons of alpine climbing, both bolted and traditional. The rock can vary from limestone to granite and there are always bolted anchor stations (suhweeet!). I was talking to my buddy Drew LaPlante and he mentioned a friend of his (Christina Blumenthal) that we needed to climb with, especially if we wanted to do some alpine. I love alpine climbing so it seemed like a no-brainer. Christina invited us over to dinner one of the first nights and we had a great time; talking about our climbing experiences, how we knew Drew, and what places are great for the alpine experience.

She was super generous, letting us stay at her place, cooking us food, taking us climbing, giving us tons of guidebooks of the areas, not to mention giving us 2 of her crashpads! Weather was continuing to be a big issue, raining pretty much half of the days that we planned on climbing in Magic Wood. One weekend, there was a decent weather window so we took the chance and headed up to a place called Albigna for some multi-pitch near the Swiss/Italian border. Boy, am I out of alpine shape!!! There were hardly any cracks, something that I love and anyone who climbs in the Sierra Nevada loves as well.

Gotta love the Marmot hardshell!!! Such a gorgeous setting...

There was so much more face climbing than I realized. You had to trust your feet and really smear on super tiny edges and dishes to get up; and the climb was only 7a!!! It was so great to try a new type of alpine climbing, something that we are not used to. The backdrop couldn't have been any better either; tons of tall mountains all around with swirling clouds and a brisk cool breeze blowing around us every now and then.

One of the only cracks on the entire route! And it was perfect hands!

Once we got to the top, there was a super thin peak that we were able to climb up that barely could fit 2 people! What an awesome way to top out a climb! What we didn't realize is that the gondola that dropped us off at the base of the climb stopped running at 4:30pm and by this time it was after 5pm. That meant we had a 1.5 hour hike back down from the base which normally would take 5 minutes... oh well, we still had a great time.

Plenty of mountains and glaciers behind the man-made dam

This was our 2nd to last climbing day in Switzerland so on Sunday, we went back to Magic Wood to try a couple more classic problems. We were able to pack up our stuff around 7pm and head over to Christina's mountain house for one more night of good company in Switzerland. A dinner with wild mushrooms, some sausages from a gas station supermarket (super high quality...), and a cozy bed in a warm hand-built cabin was a great way to end our first 2 weeks in Europe. I can't thank Christina enough for showing us such an amazing time and to Drew for passing on such a great contact!

Scotty climbing up 'Fiamma' at the top of our route. What a way to top out! :)

Our plan now is to head southeast towards Croatia. Alex has a friend from his college days abroad that grew up on the island of Krk. We hope to stop in Milan and Venice along the way to break up the drive as well. Alex has never been to Venice and apparently one of the largest Gothic churches is in Milan... we'll jut have to see! Who knows what Croatia will have in store for us; hopefully a bunch of rest since we're so trashed from all the good rock in Switzerland! After Croatia, we plan on heading back up to Germany to climb in Frankenjura. David Lam is gonna be joining us out there as well! Tune in next time to see how restful and beautiful Croatia is!

Till next time,
Top Rope

“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see.” 
― Edward Abbey