Mom and Dad and Margalef

Over the course of about three weeks I’ve managed to climb outside 6 days, show my parents around Barcelona for two weekends, and, by strategically using national holidays and one absence, miss only two classes. Pretty good for being a full time student!!

My decision to come to Barcelona was somewhat hasty. About two years ago I was considering about studying abroad but after a bit of searching and talking with friends I was convinced that a semester abroad would not give me the that freedom I wanted. I pretty much put it out of my mind until last spring when a couple of friends were going to be studying abroad and I ended up looking into my own options. I found a program that seemed to offer me what I was looking for, and with a couple weeks until the application deadline I figured I would give it some thought. I knew that I wanted to go abroad for spring so that I could travel the following summer, but I wasn’t sure about the whole year. At the same time I was attempting to secure my housing plans for the next year, and that same night I got a call from a friend whom I had been planning to live with.

“Hey, we found a great house and we’re going down tomorrow morning to put down the deposit, I need to know if you’re in on it.”

Decision time... Since I hadn’t told my parents (after all I had been thinking about going abroad for half of a day), I gave them a call. Usually we talk for a while, but this conversation was to the point. I asked if it was ok to study abroad for a year, and they said, “of course, go for it!”

Done deal. One day I was thinking about my next year in Boulder, the next day I was going to Barcelona for the year. I called my parents back and told them I was going, and not surprisingly they answered “well, I guess we’ll be taking a trip to Spain”

Over the next few months Mom and Dad planned a full Spain tour, beginning and ending in Barcelona. Three weeks ago the usual mix of excitement, uncertainty, and jet-lag the Jorde parents arrived in Barcelona. The first day I decided to introduce them to the city the same way I was introduced to the city – walking for miles and miles. We pretty much saw it all on foot. Cuitadella Park, Arc de Triomf, Olympic Village, Barrio Gótico, and the Borne District, it was the whirlwind walking tour. At the end of the day I welcomed them to Spanish cuisine by choosing a Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant, after all they would be eating Spanish food for a few weeks so why not start with something different?

On Saturday and Sunday Mom and Dad finished up the sightseeing tour with visits to the Picasso Museum and the Sagrada Familia, and I joined them for an afternoon in Park Guell and a trip to the Joan Miró museum. Park Guell is an incredible display of Gaudí’s genius and while I’m not sure he would be happy about the plethora of squeaky-mouth-toy vendors, he would certainly be honored that his park brings so many people together to enjoy each other’s company and the beauty of nature. If you don’t know what a squeaky-mouth-toy is then you have something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I can’t be thankful for that, so I’ll settle for having two amazing and supportive parents that are passionate about life and always looking forward to the next adventure.

After Mom and Dad jumped on train to continue their Spain adventure, I met up with a friend and drove up to Margalef to skip school for a day and enjoy Spain Day with two days of climbing. We decided to risk the uncertain weather forecast, and I’m glad we did because we ended up getting a great day on Monday and a rainy day on Tuesday. We arrived late morning and since I had yet to pick up a guidebook, I took us straight back to the crag where I had climbed on my previous visit. I was happy to head back to the same crag because it meant that I could have another shot at the climb that had sent me ground-wards last time. After a couple tufa-pinching warmups, I tied in beneath P.G.B (12c). Swinging my arms, focusing my breath, I tried to visualize executing the delicate crux moves perfectly. Lowering off of the climb last time I remembered thinking “as long as I stick the crux, I’ll hang on to the top” and so I focused all of my attention on the four hard moves that would determine success or failure. Or so I thought.

Starting up the climb, I quickly pulled through steep and powerful moves and arrived at the rest before the crux feeling fresh and focused. A few chalk dips later, and riding a deep exhalation I launched into the small edges with precision. I executed the moves flawlessly, and soon found myself on the sustained moves that make up the final 50 feet to the anchors. It was here, on terrain that had felt secure on the previous try, that I started flailing. I grabbed the wrong pockets and used the worse footholds. At one point I was hanging onto small edges when my feet cut loose after choosing the smallest pockets as footholds. I was sure I was off, and that I had failed. Somehow I still held on, managed to get my feet back on, and keep climbing. Unfortunately, since I had wasted so much energy my forearms and back were pumping out just as I was entering the bulk of the sustained climbing. Thinking failure was imminent, I did what any panicked animal does and I started motoring. “Just go man, just go” I kept telling myself, and somehow move after move I was still clinging to the rock. Before long I was staring down the last long move to the final jug. Out of juice, I wasn’t going to make it. Fall now or fall later, so I went for it. One yell (well, more of a scream) later and I felt the thud of my fingers catching the jug. Surprised and exhausted, I quickly clipped the chains and slumped into my harness. Despite the fact that I climbed terribly for the majority of the route, I finished victorious, barely.

Tuesday it rained.  

Not tuesday

After a whopping two days of class, and two days of motivated gym training I jumped back in the car and went straight back to Margalef for round three. Friday I was still a little tired from the week, so I enjoyed the incredible moderate routes of Can Verdures. Looking over my shoulder as the day ended, the crown of Margalef, Racó de les Espadelles, seemed to glow golden long after the sun had set, and I was filled with excitement for the next day.

Saturday we drove up the steep and winding road to Racó de les Espadelles, all the while wondering if the rental car was going to make it. The short approach passed quickly as we were captivated by the view of the valley cut by the Montsant river. I warmed up slowly, incrementally increasing the intensity to be fresh for my goal climb of the day, “La Gomorra” a powerful and overhanging 12c. When I was ready, I tied in and spent a few minutes eyeing the moves. The climbing was very obvious for the first half: a few pockets linked together by big dynamic moves. About half-way a huge hole appeared to offer a good rest before the sequential small pocket stabbing that led to the anchors. I memorized the moves and committed to the powerful opening moves. I quickly found myself at the hole resting, but I blew the onsight a few moves later as the pocket I went for turned out to be shallow and useless. I lowered off, rested, and sent second go. Here are some photos.

 Hard moves to start

 Resting at the hole halfway up

A couple moves from the anchors

Feeling strong, I decided to have a go at the nearby route Sudoku 12d. The hard climbing comes right away. The crux move comes just after the first bolt: a huge move to a pocket. After that, a mono (which I used to clip the next quickdraw) and several tiny two finger pockets separated by small delicate moves end at a large pocket. A few long moves between small, but good, holds follow before the climbing eases for the last few bolts. After falling at the crux move, I worked the moves on rest of the route and saved my energy for a second try. It was a good thing I did, because as soon as I lowered I rested a few minutes and tied back in to finish the climb before I was left in total darkness. I knew that as long as I stuck the crux move I would finish the route, not because the next moves were easy, but because there was no way I was letting go. Luck was on my side and I quickly dispatched the crux move and soon found myself through the next hard moves and at the large pocket. Feeling surprisingly tired, the rest of the climb was a secure struggle, I wasn’t going to fall but I had to give it my full attention. The day ended up being my hardest day of climbing ever, as I had only every climbed two 12b’s in one day so doing a 12c and a 12d both second go was pretty good!

Sunday was a bit of a logistical disaster and despite feeling very strong and motivated I didn’t get a chance to get on anything difficult. Our first crag was too cold, our next crag was too hot, and by the time we got to the third crag we only had time for two routes before sunset. I basically spent the day warming up then re-warming up.

Back in Barcelona my parents came back for a second weekend after spending a couple weeks traveling around Spain, and it sounds like they had a great time. On Saturday we went up to Montserrat, a nearby mountain range with a monastery secluded high above the valley below. We spent a great day hiking around and enjoying the views.

Mom and Dad's Spain Adventure

Montserrat

That’s all for this installment, I’m off to Montgrony for a three day weekend. A friend told me it’s the best place he’s climbed in Spain, so hopefully I’ll have something good to say next week. 

Weekend in Margalef

I just returned from a weekend of climbing at Margalef and I am now positive that I made the right choice to come here for a year. Anyone who has seen a climbing movie in the last couple years has seen footage of Margalef and it was one of the crags that topped my to-do list. So, when the opportunity came to climb there this weekend there was no choice but to go. Simply put, Margalef is AMAZING!!!! Limestone conglomerate pockets, slight overhangs (or big ones if you’re up for it!), 30 meter routes, perfect weather, beautiful mountains, the list goes on, but all I can say is that I lowered off of every route smiling. I think some people thought that I was kind of crazy for being so excited after every climb. Maybe after a year of incredible climbing I’ll look back at the routes I did this weekend and say “yeah, those were decent,” but for now I’ll stay smiling and hungry for more. We spent both days climbing the same sector, but there was plenty to do, and plenty to do next time. Since I was coming off of a nasty cold and had not climbed a difficult route in over a month and a half, I thought I would go with what my partners wanted to do and just try and get my technique back by climbing a lot of routes. I climbed horribly on my warm-up, but I’ve come to realize that usually when I’m terrible on the warm-up I still do well later on, and Saturday was no different. We moved on to do a really long 11b that gave me some serious calf cramps. At this point I still wasn’t feeling in top form, so I was pretty surprised when I casually on-sighted our next climb, a 30 meter 12a, and lowered off feeling fresh. The route involved some technical movement through the vertical lower section followed by an overhanging sustained headwall, every move was thought provoking and I was happy with how well I managed to rest and read the moves. Following this I jumped on a great 12c at a nearby wall and realized that in Margalef every wall is steeper than it looks, and what appeared to be a vertical slab was in fact an overhanging pocket haul. After the first five meters the rock ends in a sloping shelf before bulging out in a clean overhanging face... beautiful! It turns out the sloping shelf was completely hold-less and after a few attempts trying more stylish technique I gave up and simply threw myself up like a beached whale, it worked. With a little golden limestone smear on my clothes I tackled the headwall. After a few powerful moves I fell at the crux, but quickly pulled back on climbed to the top. I’ll get it next time for sure.

Climbing a great 11b the second day

At the end of the day we hiked back down just as the setting sun lit up the golden limestone of the surrounding mountains. It’s amazing how calming a few moments in the mountains at sunset can be. I’ve been fortunate to see quite a few incredible mountain sunsets in my life, and somehow they always stick out.

Sunset in Margalef

Sunset in Chamonix from the Cosmiques Hut, 2008

We drove into the small town of Margalef, which totals about six buildings, and went into the bar for a beer. I also picked up a bag of fresh almonds from the area, and they are definitely some of the best I’ve ever had (I was also starving). We were getting tired so we jumped back in the car and drove a few minutes to what appeared to be a picnic area and camped out for the night.   

 My glorious bivy

The next day we went back to the same area and climbed a bunch of great routes. I actually climbed a tufa for the first time which was really cool. At the end of the day I spent a bit of time looking over the guidebook and I immediately starting thinking about when I was going to return. Lucky for me Margalef is a winter destination so the season is only beginning, and I look forward to many more days there. After only a taste of what Margalef has to offer I’m feeling very motivated to train and climb as much as I can.

In other news, Dad made his son very proud...

This week is going to be the second week of classes, and I’m looking forward to settling into a schedule. Mom and Dad are here this weekend, so I’ll be able to show them around the city a bit.

Thanks for reading, I hope all is well on your end!!

Crash Course in Catalan Culture

Over the last couple weeks I’ve gotten to know Barcelona and Cataluña quite a bit better, first through a weekend trip to Besalú and Figueres, and most recently through the festival La Merce. The week in between was filled with essays and presentations, so I’ll just write about the interesting stuff.

Besalú and Figueres:

Last Saturday a group of us jumped on a bus to head up to a small town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, called Besalú. No one in our group had heard of it, but anytime I asked about it I got a response something like “Besalú? Oh, the place with the wall” or “I hear it has a nice bridge.” After about an hour of driving we arrived and sure enough, there was a giant wall and bridge. Apparently Besalú was a point of much conflict over the course of several centuries. Of course, these days the old part of town is thriving on that history and is usually packed with tourists. We were there pretty early so the town was empty and stores were just starting to open. For about an hour and half we walked around the cathedral, courtyards, and old streets. We wandered around until we hit the very abrupt transition to modern day: one side of the street is ancient, the other side is completely modern. In the end the two hours we spent in Besalú was plenty to see everything we wanted, and we were excited to get back on the bus to head up to Figueres and check out the Dalí museum.

See the face??  

After a nice drive through the countryside we arrived in Figueres. Before the trip I had seen a TV program about traveling through Cataluña and in the program they showed the Dalí house in this beautiful village on the coast. Thinking that was where were going I pack a swimsuit and beach stuff. Of course, the TV program took place in Cadaques (Dalí’s vacation home) and we were in Figueres (location of the Dalí museum), so I was mildly disappointed to have packed a bathing suit and towel for a trip to a land locked city. Nevertheless, the Dalí museum was amazing, and I was stunned by his creative genius. It seemed that each piece had several layers of depth, and each piece had some sort of significance that contributed to the overall work of art that is the museum itself. The Dalí museum is a complete experience, so the photos can’t do justice, but here are some of my favorites.

See the man? (look at the green strip...it's a tie)

Last week was kind of intense with a lot of school work crammed into four days. When Thursday afternoon rolled around it seemed like all of Barcelona shared my feelings and was ready for the weekend.

La Mercé:

La Mercé is basically a celebration of everything Catalan. Originally it took place on the 24^th of September, but one day of partying is never enough for Cataluña so it was decided that the weekend closest to the 24^th would be celebrated with an extra day off and three full days of festivities (which now start on Thursday too). La Merce is supposed to honor the patron saint of Barcelona after she cured a locust plague, but in reality the celebration is simply of all things Catalan. These days the celebration includes old traditions like Casteller competitions and Sardana dancing, as well as recent post-Franco additions like the Correfoc (fire run). Every night there was a firework show on the beach, which was a great time to relax, chat, drink cheap wine, and get ready for the evening out. In addition to the major events, a few museums were free for the weekend so I took the opportunity to check out the Picasso museum. Unfortunately the Dalí museum has ruined all other art for me because despite the fact that Picasso’s art is amazing, in comparison it’s kind of dull. Anyway, as a whole the weekend was incredible, here is a recap of the coolest events...

Sardana:

If you’re worried about cracking a hip while dancing then the Sardana is for you! It is in no way an exciting dance, but is does have decent amount of history. Some say it started as early as the 16^th century in the Empordá region of Cataluña, but it really grew in popularity when it was adopted by all of Cataluña in the early 20^th century. The dance is very structured: the steps are calculated, men and women must alternate in the circle, pairs are never separated, and the arm movements are determined by the third of the dance (first third down, 2^nd and 3^rd thirds arms up). Some of the older people take this stuff seriously...

Castellers:

You probably haven’t heard about Castellers, and for good reason, chances are they’re banned in the US. Basically Castellers are huge and complex human towers. Catalans have developed competition based on height and difficulty of the towers. The tradition comes from Tarragona, but these days every major town or city has a team. Currently the biggest and best team is from Vilafranca: with over 480 members and the record of a ten person tall tower!! Apparently there some serious rivalry among the various top teams. Also, it turns out that every person on top of the tower is a kid, usually not older that seven. I’m still trying to decide whether or not I think it’s child abuse. Here are some photos and a video of the Casteller competition (the team from Vilafranca are wearing turquoise).

Correfoc: What the foc?

“We are Catalans, and danger is our middle name”

I’d have believed him if he’d said it, particularly after witnessing the Castellers. Unfortunately, instead of these words of truth the speaker chose to give a lengthy and overly political speech. Not that I understood it considering it was in Catalan, but I did pick up a few key quotes... “Fascism!... Corruption!... Our Land! Our People!!” and luckily there were the people me complaining in Castellano (spanish), “why does he have to be so damn political!” Either way the Correfoc was a Catalan celebration to the core. It was the vision of a post-Franco era artist who decided to have a firework show that included the people. The best way I can describe it is if it were a costume house party with the theme “mythical creatures meet modern warfare.” Except that in this case the “house” is all of Barcelona. Basically there are people dressed as devils, and gigantic dragons all loaded with fireworks and sparklers that shoot AT the surrounding people. The spectators either stand far back and watch, or they cover themselves and run through the explosion of flaming sparks. I started out as the former, but sooner or later...




I only got burned a few times, but no worries.

I'm off to go climbing for the weekend tomorrow!! Not sure where we're going, but I'm getting picked up tomorrow at 9 and will find out then. Hopefully I'll have some good stuff to post after the weekend.