A ocean of orange-yellow-gray rock. A dot in the middle. Slowly, with precision, it moves upward. Upon closer inspection, you can make out a person: long, flowing hair, muscular –extremely muscular, more machine than human. Here a dynamic move, there an almost animalistic scream – and then: the top.
Everyone knows the legendary videos of Chris Sharma from Sleeping Lion. For quite some time now, we’ve been toying with the idea of putting our – by comparison – weak fingers to Spanish rock. Somehow, though, we’ve always lacked the time, since winter is usually reserved for classic winter activities.
Since the snowfall was limited this winter, however, we ventured on the rocky crossing to the south. We took the ferry from Genoa to Barcelona. For me, though, it was no maritime delight: due to sudden seasickness, I lay completely flat for the entire 20 hours.
Then, finally: arrival in 20-degree weather. First, we tick off the obligatory cultural stop – a visit to the Sagrada Familia (highly recommended, even for climbers). After that, a quick detour to Montserrat and - of course – the obligatory visit to the mechanic. This, as some may notice, doesn’t exactly fall under “culture” – but anyone who has ever experienced the calm demeanor of Spanish mechanics will agree with me that this is definitely a cultural experience.
The car’s back in shape – and off we go to our first climbing stop: Siurana. We’ll be staying here for two weeks. The climbing is absolutely incredible. Forty meters of challenging terrain – it’s definitely a workout for the forearms. For us, Siurana meets all our expectations: the climbing is beautifully technical and steep, the approaches are short, and for the most part, they’re very accessible even without a car. The skin on our fingers is worn down to the bare minimum within a few days. “Van City,” a parking lot just below the cliffs, is the perfect place to sleep and a great opportunity to network with lots of cool (and sometimes pretty funny) people. The absolute highlight, though, is “La Renaixença,” or “Rene” for short, a bar in the town of Cornudella. Here you can devour kilos of patatas bravas and download gigabytes of TV shows.
We use the days of heavy storms – which unfortunately turned out to be a bit more intense during our vacation, though they’re quite standard in Spain during the winter – as rest days. And they’re perfect for just hanging out here. A real hidden gem! We’ve definitely taken Rene’s WiFi to our hearts.
So saying goodbye is hard for us. We’ve become good friends with Bibi and Sebi from Innsbruck, who share our love for Rene’s Bar – but we have to leave it behind for our next stop. Still, the images of our next destination ease the pain: Riglos.
Riglos – a small village at the foot of the Pyrenees, known for its steep conglomerate towers. The climbing here is completely different: you climb using massive holds that look as if they’ve been glued on. Even the easier routes are quite steep, but they’re mostly very well bolted.
We stay for three days and, among other things, get to climb the world-famous “Fiesta de los Biceps” on the second day – a true lifelong dream. This line is so impressive and unique: 250 meters of climbing, pitch after pitch becoming increasingly overhanging, until you’re hanging in a hanging position just before the topout and the ropes drop into nothingness. A new interpretation of exposure that will stay with us for a long time. Thank goodness our biceps survived the Fiesta well and didn’t need a siesta during the climb.
Finally, we head to the Calanques in southern France, where we meet Magdi’s brother and spend another three days exploring with him. There’s not much to say about the Calanques: stunning coastal scenery, climbing routes of all difficulty levels – just make sure to keep your car locked up tight here.
