Le Cadre

A few weeks remaining in Europe. Here in Ceuse since early May. I'm planning my final days and even looking ahead to summer plans back in the US. Somehow Ceuse is even more spectacular than I remembered. Many good friends are around and the weather has been great. Climbers are a fun, insightful and diverse group of people. We all hike up the mountain every day and suffer / enjoy projects together. Many different languages at the cliff. Goat cheese. Sunsets. 

Mirage, 7c+ on the Cascade Sector. One of the best pitches at this (or any) grade in the world. Long, featured, incredible stone, beautiful position. A true masterpiece of a climb. I also climbed 'Face de Rat' 8a+ yesterday and was equally blown away. 

I've been battling with this route, 'Le Cadre Nouvelle' 9a since we arrived in Ceuse early in the month. It has a little taste of everything, some sections suited me really well and others were very demanding. A classic power move (just below the one pictured), kept me coming back again and again. I'm not a dynamic or snappy climber - it's one of my glaring weaknesses - but the move was a brilliant challenge. From hanging it became easy, from just a few moves in it often felt impossible. This kind of movement, so low percentage and unpredictable, can resist for weeks. The first time I stuck the move from the ground was on Wednesday and thankfully I punched it to the finish. With my timeline here winding down I felt quite nervous about this climb, especially the more I fell in love with it - the more I wanted it. I'm very excited to have done it, and furthermore to enjoy the last climbing days here. For me this was a hard one and a memorable one. I learned a lot from this route.

Life is great. Enjoy the weekend everyone!! Summer is here. 

Montserrat and somehow in South France

After 6 weeks in sleepy Cornudella myself and the team were ready for some city life. If Catalunya hadn't already won my heart, ten days between Barcelona and nearby Montserrat finished the process. Barcelona is without a doubt one of my favorite cities in the world. So many places to explore, so many beautiful areas, energetic people, an incredible night life, and all at a shockingly affordable price tag. An amazing crew of climbers and friends assembled for a long weekend between the city and the crags. It was very memorable.

Montserrat is an easy 40 minute drive from the heart of Barcelona. It's a gigantic conglomerate outcropping, speckled with domes and towers of varied rock. Inbetween the old school crags you'll find much older refuges, monasteries and hermit dwellings. Like a maze of rock and trails it's hard to find your way. I looked forward to spectacular landscape, like the pages of a Dr. Sues story, but I had no idea how incredible the climbing would be. It is truly one of the most underrated areas I've ever been to. 

My main stoke was to try 'El Prisonero', the route that broke Spain into the 8b+ range. A true classic, with sequential movement throughout on sloper conglomerate pockets and textured edges. A bold style - long powerful moves - and quite pumpy. Such a pleasure to do this climb. Afterwards, our tour guide Uri pointed out an unrepeated Ramon Julian rig that crosses over El Prisonero, only sharing 3 holds. The defining crux of this route is an explosive move off a horrendously small edge. Well.. after several heart breaking goes on it I broke the edge. Some new beta emerged for me using a even worse sloper, but I was too smoked to try anymore. We came back for more later in the week. I finished the route with my new beta which I was really stoked on. Not sure that this thing even has a name? Kind of a shame as I thought it was a super bad ass route. Ramon said 8c I would agree. 

Nat climbing on a sick 8a+ 'Anillo del Poder' at La Momia. This route and the neighboring 8b 'Julia' are both pumpy, long and unique. Go to Sant Benet and climb these. 

Next day out was a super fun one. We explored Agulla de Senglar. A beautiful wall covered in near perfect routes from 7b to 8b. 'Spirit Final' 8a+, 'Somni Diabolic' 8a, 'Ben Petat' 8a and 'Rush' 7c are some of my favorites I've done on this trip. A stunner of a wall. 

Silfides. All time. Bear Cam Photo. 

Lastly, Cameron, homboy Andre DeFelice and I got very lost looking for the Toxo del Clot del Tambor. An amazing, massive boulder nestled in the Castel zone. When we arrived we were all blown away by 'Silfides' this immaculate 8b on streaks - the line just jumps out to you. But first I was keen to try Ebola 8b+, a bold, traversing route through powerful pocket moves. So amazing. Such pure, bad ass climbing. 

Next up the three of us journeyed to Chamonix for some work with my newest sponsor - Epic TV. This place always shocks me with its beauty. Too bad the weather turned horrible, and actually changed the direction of my last month for this trip... Switzerland was looking grim but Southern France was prime... so here we are... in Ceuse. 

I'm settling into a hard route here and stoked to be back trying a super demanding rig. The views, the people, the vibe.. I'm remembering why I love this place. I had no intensions of ending up here this visit, but hey... I have no complaints. 

Stoked.

----

I really did not at all intend to stir controversy with my previous post. I was speaking about my experience on Era Vella as though I was chatting with a friend - in retrospect maybe I should have more thoughtfully crafted the post. It's come to my attention now that I've upset some of the climbing community so I really want to make a few things clear.

I did not intend to suggest a downgrade to 8c for Era Vella and foremost I did not mean to take away from anyone of the previous repeater's accomplishments. I genuinely do not think that I am capable of climbing 9a so quickly, especially considering my performances on other routes at neighboring crags within the same few weeks that I did Era Vella. I barely pulled off 'Mr Cheki' 14a on my third try a week before. I invested five days of hard effort to do Chicane 14c during that same time. And just days after I did EV I suffered on 'Victims del Passat' 14c, not even getting close to a send after several days - a route that many people consider 'soft'. I was not writing about my experience on EV to make myself look or feel big. I was only commenting on how grades and styles can feel so different between different crags and climbers. Maybe the route suited me well, or maybe I got really lucky that day.. or maybe the route is light for the grade.

Some areas / routes tend to be more demanding than others, this is observed by all of my peers. If you have never climbed at an area or on route that felt easy or likewise very hard for you, given its associated grade, that's very unique!

To me, what's important about my post is not the details of how hard I felt the route was - and that is why I refrained from sharing the message above, which clearly was a mistake because it lead people to make judgements about what I was attempting to say. What I wanted to share was my excitement about having a memorable experience when I climb. I want to climb awesome routes, classic routes, beautiful routes, and also hard routes. Yes, grades matter because they help us find routes to challenge ourselves and also because they do represent a rough foundation for difficulty. When I claimed that I didn't care about grades what I should have said was - my principle interest is to have a memorable experience... and to be challenged, and to be forced to improve and grow because this is the experience that I value the most and grades certainly help me find this.

I rarely find myself in the forums or amidst controversy, and I much prefer to keep it that way. The only 'statements' I was attempting to make are the ones outlined above. I hope this clears up any confusion and again, I'm sorry that what I wrote disturbed so many people out there - that was definitely not my intend. Hope to see you guys at the crag!!

Exit Cornudella

Exhausted. Like a wide eyed child aggressively sampling their way through Charlie's bustling Chocolate Factory, it seems as though I've metaphorically reached my sugar limit... There are just so many crags, and so many hard routes all across Catalunya, I've been slowly delaying the inevitable over the last several weeks and now I'm... smoked.

I feel the same kind of deep fatigue that I usually do in the first few weeks of a hard training cycle. One rest day doesn't do the trick any more, and soreness seems to linger for many sessions. On some nights my sleep is even disturbed from pulsating forearms. The towering walls and brutal Spanish pump has caught up to me! This feels pretty good really. 

A brilliant moment of Catalan life. We were so lucky to be in Cornudella
on this day, and even give a hand the night before at practice.
So much color and passion in Catalan life. A memorable experience.

everyone is just downright pooped

About ten days ago I spent two days in a row on 'Estado Critico' 14d, and, with a brutal pump I clipped the chains, then followed with 'Kalea Borroka' 14a on my first try. Why not try some enormous, pumpy pocket climbing the very next day? So we ventured to Montsant. This crag is not far from Siurana, but offers a very unique experience. With outstanding views, sometimes all of the way to the Med, this crowning cliff sits well above the grapes below. My buddy Sonnie Trotter was keen to finish a route there he had tried this trip called 'L-Mens' 14a. It's a rad swooping pocket line on very high quality conglomerate. Sonnie gave me some running beta and I flashed it. Fighting a pump to the finish of this 40 meter rig, I was very stoked. It's a super good route. A little powerful, and very resistant. To the right is Falconetti 13c, with a massive 14a extension. I spent about an hour resting and scoping out the line before I tied in for an onsight attempt. A few dynamic and uncertain moves in the bottom pitch had me a little worried but I rested and quested my way to the 50 meter finish on this thing. I mistakingly lowered off with my 80 meter, which left me dangling about 50 feet off the deck at the end of my rope for a while... some shenanigans ensued... thanks for the help everyone... This was a great day of first try climbing for me. 

After one rest day we ventured to Margalef. I am usually a little turned off by super popular routes - I typically prefer the obscure or the forgotten zones - but everyone I knew that had climbed or tried Era Vella had nothing but great things to say about it. So... why not check it out? It's a very steep and long route. There really are no terribly hard moves. A lot of 5.13 climbing, over and over and over. Some mini cruxes here are there. The key characteristic to it's difficulty is the lack of rests for how massive it is. There is a lot of information to remember and much of the wall looks very similar. The hardest sequence is maybe v7. With pretty garbage beta I felt close to a send on my second try. I had fun with the fight. 

The next day we came back and first try I finished the route. 

The best sends of my life are the ones that I fight the hardest for. The barely there flash or onsight attempts.. all day adventures in the mountains fighting conditions and fear.. the routes that I train for months to send.. When I clipped the anchors of La Rambla last month I looked back to not just the hard climbing days I'd spent trying it, but the months before I had sacrificed nearly everything to prepare. It's this experience - the full circle - that deeply inspires me. This element of my climbing has taught me more about my character than I ever imagined. I really don't care what the grades are. Some routes are hard as hell and we will never be certain of a send - furthermore they require a transformation from us. Maybe that transformation is physical or maybe it's something greater. Other routes come easily, and for the most part, while these climbs might be fun, they really hold very little meaning. And that's fine! We can't be overwhelmed with the pressure and emotion of projecting at our limit every day we go climbing, even if it's what truly inspires us. I climbed Era Vella and I had a lot of fun doing it. Grades are there to offer a foundation for difficulty but the more I climb the more I realize the plasticity of grading. I could comment on how I feel that Era is easy and make a list of routes graded 8c that are much harder and blah blah blah but what I'm after is not a grade, it is an experience. So never mind all that. I had fun climbing the route, and cheering on friends at the crag and getting pumped and hiking out in the dark and laughing at Cameron's nausea on the drive. 

Greg Kerzhner tries out the powerhouse rig, Mr Cheki 8b+

Below a Bearcam photo of me climbing El Prisionero 8b+ a route at Montserrat that I've been dreaming about for weeks.

Next up... we ventured to Finestra sector of Margalef. A beautiful zone. I laughed my way up Montgronyeta 7b+, a stunning route with concrete-hard drip features. Some of the most fun I've had on this trip. The two 7c+ to it's left were also stunning and the rock on this wall all together is breathtaking. I made my way up a handful of great 7's and onsighted a nice pocketed 8a+ but the main take away from our few days there was that I need rest. I tried 'Victims del Passat' 14c a handful of times and honestly never even got close to a send. I started thinking back and realizing that I had not taken more than 1 consecutive rest day for a month.. and my body was beginning to feel pulverized. So we left our apartment in Cornudella as planned, and moved to Barcelona. 

I love Barcelona. And what a perfect combination to spend some days in the city and also have the chance to check out Montserrat. It's such a brilliant place... it deserves more explanation than I have energy for at the moment, so you'll have to wait for my next post. As for the next week, I'll be exploring Montserrat and recovering in this vibrant city. I'm so blessed.... 

Estado

Over the weeks I've fallen more and more in love with Spain. When I first arrived, now just a little over a month ago, I was honestly not sure how much I liked it. The rock quality didn't completely blow me away like Ceuse, the landscape isn't totally lush and breathtaking like the Swiss Alps. The food and beer is not much to write home about. It's hard to really put my finger on it, but perhaps it's just the vibe, that gradually lured me in... The sun is always shining. People are stoked and motivated. There are just so many bad ass crags in every direction that it's hard not to get fired up. So much sending is going on, all the time. It's an inspiring place. And now I totally see that, where perhaps in my first weeks I didn't. I get it now.

Since I last wrote my journey here has been amazing. I remained focused on climbing at the Can Piqui Pugui wall, eventually finding cooler temps and finishing 'Chicane' 14c, but not without a battle. The crux is very long, with nearly two foot moves for every one hand move. The hardest section is reaching rightward off of a horrible left hand crimp side pull at the very end of the crux. For a shorter climber, or really a climber of any height, this is a very hard move. I consider this route to really be in my style, and yet still I think it took me more effort than any other climb of this grade for years. The reward is always directly proportional to the battle, so finishing Chicane felt really good. I did the resistant, awesome 'Renegoide' 14a and the mega classic 'Mr Cheki' 14a and 'Anabolica' 13b next, before settling into Spain's first 8c, which has subsequently been upgraded to 14c, 'L'Odi Social'. This route is an entirely different beast. The route boils down to a short crux, involving a super powerful shouldery tension move, all based around a downright awful right foothold. Smeary, polished like glass... It takes a ton of body tension. It was a really fun challenge, and a cool change. This route really is just hard moves, not so much bad holds. I followed it with 'La Ballade des Pendus' 13d yet another killer route on this wall. Everything I did back there was bad ass. 

Chicane.... Bear Cam photo

Next objective was to head back to El Pati. My homeboy Sonnie Trotter had been trying 'Estado Critico' 14d for a couple weeks and he was narrowing in on the send. It's a massive route, on perhaps the steepest section of rock in Siurana. The start is a thuggy 13a or b up a crack system. You can rest well at the end of this section before you break right into a long intro boulder problem. With some pretty heinous feet, you compress and use tension to get yourself up to the crux pounce. You're tossing to a blind 3 finger pocket with your left hand. From here you get very little rest as you fire through three more short cruxes - edgy, sequential and pumpy to the very top on a brilliant blue streak. I was afraid of the pounce move, fearing that it would be hell for a short climber, but I pretty quickly found my feet and sussed it out. It would be the quick traverse afterwards that was my personal crux. After so much powerful climbing on the Can Piqui wall I knew I would need a few goes of getting super pumped on this rig to feel some fitness again. Second day on the route I one-hung twice, falling from the pounce. But it was a great opportunity to remind my body what it's like to climb on steep terrain for 35 meters. Today I went back with big psych. Conditions were perfect, Sonnie was there all stoked post-send (he sent just days ago! hell yeah) on belay, and Cameron Maier was on a rope filming. I battled with the route, several times on the verge of slipping out, had to keep moving to make the chains, forearms burning! I love this shit... when the moves are not so hard, and it's possible to keep climbing even with a monstrous pump. After I stuck the pounce I knew I would fight for a send, but I didn't expect to make it. Anchors. Always the best feeling. I did the shared start 'Kalea Borroka' 14a first try today as well, and snuck in an onsight of 'Zona Zero' somewhere in the last few days - this was one of my favorites in the area for sure.

------Estado Critico----> Bear Cam Photos

Jokingly, we have told our friends that the routes on Can Piqui are all a letter grade harder - in my experience it seems the older the routes, the harder. Old school is just... fierce. For me, no doubt the two hard routes I did on that wall both felt harder than Estado. Maybe 'my style' is actually evolving, or maybe I got super lucky on Estado. I have no idea. They're all just hard climbs! What really matters is that we enjoy our lives and challenge ourselves. My time here in Siurana has been both of those things - challenging, and very enjoyable. Like I said before, I love this place. Now, it's time to move on... !!!

La Rambla

Since mid last December I've been preparing mentally and physically to try La Rambla. Almost akin to finally meeting your climbing hero in person, it's strange to have watched all the videos, read all the interviews and even visualized myself climbing on La Rambla well before ever arriving in Siurana -- then the moment when dreams meet reality -- it can be quite surreal. The more I climbed on the route the more I grew an appreciation for it. It's diverse, very tall and demanding. Much like my experience with Biographie last year, the key element of success on this climb is to glide your way up the initial 90 moves before the crux - it's important to try and make this section of the climb feel so easy. In the beginning those 90 moves of 5.14 feel like a project in and of themselves, but after a week or so the 'bottom' of the route transformed into more of a warm up. And yet still the crux felt so hard.

COLETTE McINERNEY Photo

My mantra became 'poco a poco' - little by little. And my attitude remained focused on making small improvements everyday. Even if those improvements were subtle or a slight contribution to how efficiently I could climb through the bottom, I was stoked. After about 6 or 7 days trying the route I fell exiting the crux, after the hardest moves. So at this point I knew that the route could probably go for me, but I had no idea when. In another day? Another month? Next season?

I notice a lot of strong climbers exude quite a bit of confidence. Maybe it's because I'm simply not as strong, or maybe I pressure myself too much to assume success and then, to deal with failure. Regardless, high levels of confidence have never been the path for me. Personally, it's always felt like a lie to be super confident. I prefer to show up empty, and just try. Again and again. Removing expectation is really hard, but the less I arrive with, the better it seems. Maybe it's strange but I almost imagine the idea of success like a sand castle. It's so fleeting, so unpredictable, and so fragile that to put too much faith in it feels like a grave mistake - at least for me. Clearly I am not a competitor!

COLETTE McINERNEY Photo

So with this spirit I just kept punching the clock knowing that maybe one day it would work for me. Thankfully, it did. I finished La Rambla 5.15a, on March 20th. The conditions were perfect, the pressure of a looming storm had arrived, my friends were at the cliff, and legend Dani Andrada was there cheering my efforts. A perfect day to send. Three months of training effort boiled down into a single moment; this is my favorite thing in climbing, and the reason why I can't seem to quit trying hard. A huge thank you to all of my supportive crew; friends and family and supporters and sponsors... it's huge to have everyone behind me.





This was my primary goal for my three month trip to Europe. It is an exciting feeling to have so much time left here, and likewise so many directions I could take at this point. I managed to squeak out a send of 'El Mon de Sofia' 14a after La Rambla and just before the skies erupted. Catalonia sunk into nearly a week of rain and stormy weather.

We left the dire conditions in Siurana and checked out the awesome crag of Margalef - which was also terribly wet - before we drove two hours north to Oliana. I rested for a few days and then climbed in Oliana for two days before returning to Cornudella (Siurana). Recently I've been putting in some effort on this incredible test piece route, 'Chicane' 14c on the Can Piqui Pugui wall. This has quickly become not only my favorite wall at Siurana but one of my favorite walls in the world. Compact rock, incredible, old school and demanding routes. Beautiful scenery and without the crowds of the normal Siurana hang outs. It's awesome. Many of the rigs here are from the late 80s and 90s. It seems like every route here is a half or full letter grade harder than the routes on the 'other side'. 'Siouxie' is one of the best, most interesting and varied 5.13's I've ever done and I completely loved the desperately big moves on 'Llulaby' 12d.

the 7b at Can Piqui are no joke. BEAR CAM PHOTO

A thumbs up moment on 'Pren Nota' BEAR CAM PHOTO

Unfortunately Chicane is really a cool weather route. And it's not been cool. I climbed three times into the final moves of the crux last day there but it seemed futile to try again until it really cooled off. So yesterday I switched gears and instead of hard projecting I went to sample some of the other cliffs around Siurana. It started with an onsight of the amazing and beautiful 'Los Borrachos de Cornu' 13a, and also a send on it's bouldery neighbor 'Pequeno Saltamontes' 13a. 'Ramadan' 13+ was next on the list and a Siurana classic. I must have really nailed the crux on this thing, or perhaps it suited me because the onsight felt (no kidding) easier than some of the 7b terrain on the Can Piqui wall! I flashed it's neighbor 'L'escamaria' 13a but it nearly took all of my skin with it... quite sharp. I had been looking to try 'Pren Nota' 13b for weeks and finally got the spray down for a flash on this one - one of the best in the area I'd say - and ended the night with a headlamp onsight of 'Outback' 13a. It was super refreshing to clip some chains and enjoy some of the other terrain. Now I feel ready to try hard on this wickedly thin, burly thing again! But first a rest day on the Med.

Lastly, I'd like to announce a new partnership with EpicTV. I've done some films with them in the past, but this partnership means that, in short, you will be seeing more video! Everyone loves videos and I think this is going to be a rad situation. Epic has the most content, by far, of any spot online and along with myself - proudly - Adam Ondra and Hazel Findley are also joining on with Epic. Wow. Rad company, seriously I'm honored! 

Below is my most recent release from them that I made with my good friend Celin Serbo on a wicked route up at Independence Pass that I did last August. Enjoy! and look forward to many more Epic releases this next year...

in Spain

Landed in Spain. A week later I'm feeling pretty settled in. Jet lag is done. I'm learning my way around the little town of Cornudella de Montsant. I'm picking up a few more phrases, getting to know the crowd of climbers who are here, sussing where to shop and where to park and go on walks and whatnot. It's nice here. The vibe is rural, tranquilo and very climbing focused.








Most people are projecting. Seems like the thing to do here - to pick something burly and beat your head against the wall repeatedly. It's perfect company for me. This is why I came here, to Spain, to Siurana.

Siurana is beautiful. Only a 45 minute drive from the Mediterranean but it's very mountainous. The crag itself is colorful and varied. There are short and steep sectors, there are tall and vertical ones. One characteristic that seems to be consistent throughout is crimps. Crimps and pockets. The style reminds me of... Smith Rock meets Cathedral / Wailing Wall, Utah. It's not so foreign - it's a similar style that I've climbed on many times. People really love the climbing here, there is a strong contingent of stoked travelers and locals alike. Weekends are busy.



I came to Siurana specifically because I want to try and do La Rambla 9a+. It's a hard route, in a tough area. It's tall and involved and old school. It's awesome.



So far I've climbed 5 days and have been making steady progress. On my third day of tries I linked from the ground into the final boulder problem crux. On the fourth day I did the route with one fall. Yesterday (day five) I refined random beta and made some important links through and into the crux. It's coming along. 'Poco a poco', a local said to me a few days ago - this will become my mantra.. ('little by little').

I'm remembering patience. I'm remembering determination and stoke but also doubt and anxiety. Trying hard routes is hard on your body but also your mind. It's a game I've played so so many times in the past but even still I'm learning and applying new methods. It's exciting, and I'm stoked. I think I can climb this route, but whether or not I actually will is only partly in my control. Wish me luck!




Photos to the left are from homegirl Colette McInerney. We are piecing together a video short for EpicTV -- details to follow!