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...

Top Rope :)