A Catalan Christmas

A Catalan Christmas is like an American Christmas, just with more shit. No, no, no that’s neither an insult nor a suggestion that Catalans buy more stuff than Americans. You’ll see what I mean.

In America, Christmas has many distinct characters. Santa squeezes into the chimney and leaves presents for the good children. Rudolph leads the sleigh. The elves labor tirelessly all year long to make sure the toys are ready. Of course there is also the more religious side. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, and the nativity scene is a common decoration. Traditionally there is baby Jesus is the middle, Mary nearby, and the three kings bearing gifts. Well, Catalans have a similar nativity scene, but there is one more character. I’ll bet you can spot him.

The Bon Caganer! That’s right he’s “the good shitter” who at the moment of the son of God’s birth simply couldn’t hold it any longer. The origins of the Bon Caganer are unknown, but he’s been around for a while and has become a key figure for Christmas celebrations. Some say he was added to connect the common person to the nativity scene, as if to say, “no you won’t be the son of God, you probably won’t immaculately conceive the son of God, and, despite higher odds, you’re not gonna be one of the three kings, but hey at least you could be the guy taking a dump nearby!” Whatever the reasons Catalans love their good shitter. When he was removed from a nativity scene in order to promote the don’t pee or poo in public campaign, people immediately protested (probably by not working) and the good shitter was quickly returned to the scene.

Everyone poops: a store of caganers

The shit doesn’t stop there. The next character is Tio Nadal (Christmas Log), or more commonly Caga Tio (Shitting Log). In the American celebration stockings are laid out and on Christmas day santa fills them with little goodies and treats and then leaves the larger presents under the tree. In Cataluña the larger presents are left to the three kings, and the stocking type stuff is left to Caga Tio. However, Caga Tio needs some preparation, so before Christmas the kids feed Caga Tio every night, and cover him with a blanket to make sure he stays warm. Then on Christmas day they reap the benefit of their kind care. The kids stick the bottom half of Caga Tio in the fire place, beat him with sticks, and command “Shit Log! Shit Log! Shit Log!” then bit by bit the Caga Tio poops out candy for the children and family to share. When he’s finished he poops a garlic clove to let everyone know. I can’t help but feel a little bad for the guy. I mean being fattened up, burnt, beaten with sticks, yelled at, and expected to shit candy doesn’t sound like a reason to look forward to the holidays. Somehow, Caga Tio is always smiling - must be that Christmas spirit.

Tio Nadal / Caga Tio

I just finished my classes for the semester and am about to head off for a couple weeks of climbing in the mountains outside of Alicante. I can’t wait to get back on the rock, it’s been almost 3 weeks! I’ll be giving myself the perfect gift of challenge and exhaustion. I hope you all have wonderful holidays!

I’ll leave you with this Catalan saying, a true gem:

“Menja Bé, Caga Fort, i no Tinguis por la Mort”

 Eat well, shit strong and don’t fear death

Twenty Two

I’m 22, in fact I’ve been 22 for a week already. I can only hope that the remaining 51 weeks of #22 are better than the first one. Last Sunday was the 5^th and it was the Sunday of a 5 day long break, which meant everyone from school was out traveling and my climbing buddies were off climbing and probably feeling fresh on day two of a nine day long road trip. I on the other hand was in my room writing gender studies paper #1. This was after finishing my linguistics paper and before starting gender studies paper #2. I sort of celebrated though, I went for a long run (actually my longest yet, 17 miles!), went to the empty climbing gym, and I ate a kebab. I lived in my room for 5 days writing papers, which gave me plenty of time to marvel at the terrible interior design of my residence. It’s really a failed attempt at modern design, like someone told the decorator “I want a futuristic space ship, science lab, and lime-green!” It was cool at first, but over the months the result of the design over function mentality has worn off the charm. After three days of essay writing, and with two more left, I got sick. On Thursday I turned in my essays and got some much needed rest. I feel better, but unfortunately being sick kept me from climbing this weekend. It’s ok, in a little less than one week I’ll be starting a two-week climbing trip. I think 22 is going to be a good year. Naturally, since I was subjecting my eyes to florescent light for several days straight, my mind escaped to reminisce on the many good times of year 21. I think 21 was the best one yet.

Despite the fact that I don’t seem to grow in stature anymore I would like to think that I grow in other, more important, ways. In the last year I added a new major and did well in school, improved my Spanish immensely by traveling to and climbing in Mexico and Spain, became a better and stronger climber by finally figuring out the best method of training for me, spent a lot of time (but still too little) with my favorite girl, spent some great time at home with the family, climbed my biggest wall ever, climbed and skied my biggest mountain ever with Kevin, made new friends and moved to a new country, showed my parents Barcelona and shared my life here with them, accomplished goals and set new ones, failed in certain moments and learned from them, and I dreamed bigger than ever. Each moment was special, and I’m thankful for all the great people who have, and continue to, make my life a fulfilling adventure. Here are some photos and highlights.

Climbed in Potrero Chico, MX

In May I climbed for a couple weeks in Yosemite with my friends Colin, Cheyne, and Dan. The style of climbing in Yosemite is opposite of what I'm good at, so I got scared a lot, but it was just the beginning of what will certainly be a long story.

 Half Dome, next time...

The following video shows what climbers do on rainy rest days. This is known as the Alcove Swing and it is set up at the base of El Capitan. Colin, Cheyne, and I headed up there to check it out. Basically you tie in, run really fast and go for a big swing. The trick is sticking the landing...




In August Kevin and I took a few days and went to the Sierras to do a bit of climbing and hiking. We climbed Cathedral Peak (700 ft, 5.7). It was a big adventure for both of us, and we were ready for a nice, not-exactly-legal bivy at Tenaya Lake. I didn't exactly do too well on packing food because the only non-cookable food I brought were clementines and a bag of jerky, so we split the jerkey and ate three pounds of clementines after the climb.

Cathedral Peak, our route climbed just left of the shadow line

 Kevin chillin' about 650 feet off the ground

Kevin styling the 5th pitch 

Summit!! This was just before Kevin's infamous statement: "Chris, I don't wanna cut your summit glory short or anything, but get me the fuck off this mountain!" Brotherly love! 

Barcelona

Oh yeah, and I started a Blog this year! Thanks for reading!

Fiesta de escalada

Last weekend was the annual Freebloc Fin de Semana, where just about all the climbers from my gym go out for a weekend of climbing and a big dinner. This year we all went to Montgrony, which is easily one of the most amazing places I have ever climbed. I spent a weekend there earlier this year, and so I had definite goals for the weekend. First up on Saturday was “Anant amb crosses” a nice long (though not nearly as long as in the last post) 12d. It was a cold day, and since the warm-up climbs were busy Borja and I decided to just get on our goal and go bolt-to-bolt to figure out the moves. The route climbs vertical, technical terrain before the angle increases and the business begins. From the halfway point to the top it is a race against the clock. The final moves are the crux*, three big lunges to moderate holds that feel significantly smaller when pumped. I managed to climb the route second try, but I definitely had to fight and I was unsure to the end. In the video below I am featured on this climb for about 20 seconds starting at 4:40. Later in the day I jumped on a nice 13a "El Sur", but it turned out to be too late in the day. The sun had just set and I froze after the first few moves, lost feeling in my fingers, and fell shortly afterward when I was unable to squeeze a tufa pinch. Day one ended with a beer and a coffee (aka the classy vodka-redbull) in the bar before heading to the refuge for our big dinner.

All 30 of us crammed around the three tables and with empty stomachs scarfed down a hearty six course dinner. The food was classically spanish, meatballs, pasta in soup, communal salad, cole (a leafy green vegetable which, for spaniards, has the same childhood “ewww” factor as spinach does for americans), and pecan pie. It was delicious and we all enjoyed the meal with some nice red wine. After dinner, the party got going. Dymitri had just climbed his first 8a (13b, but it’s a big number for european grades), and, being Russian, ordered up shots of Vodka. Salva, the gym owner and trainer, first drank with Dymitri and then somehow got suckered into doing shots with anyone who had climbed something hard that day. “Encadenaste?” he would ask, (“did you send?” or “did you do it?”) and if the answer was yes then it was a shot of vodka for both of you. Since I had climbed something hard I was entitled to a shot and was quickly reminded of why I never drink vodka. Later in the night a lot of gear was given away with a game of Bingo. All in all the night was great. I felt honored to be with such a good group of people and to feel like I am now a real part of the community. The weekend gave me a chance to get to know a lot of the other climbers who I see in the gym, but who rarely climb with our group on the weekends.

On Sunday I had quite the productive day, I warmed up with a few climbs, including the absolute best 11c I have ever done. Then I got back on "El Sur" 13a from the day before and did it my second try of the day (third try total). On the same wall as "El Sur" were several great climbs being tried by other Freebloc climbers. It happened to be that as I was tying in, most of the group that had been climbing on the other side showed up at the wall. The climb starts with powerful moves up a very steep overhang followed by a short horizontal roof before easing off to a twenty degree overhang. The first crux comes early getting to the horizontal roof and the second crux comes toward the top involving catching two small sideways edges. I quickly and smoothly dispatched the roof, and rested, getting ready to tackle the real crux. At this point, the yells started and didn't stop.. "VENGA!!" "VENGA Chris!!" Carefully placing my feet, I grabbed the first small edge, re-adjusted my feet and threw for the second small edge. I caught it, but with the wrong three fingers! Instead of the big three, I landed with my pinky, ring, and middle. As I nearly peeled off the rock "AGUANTA!! AGUANTA!!" (Hold on!) cried the crowd below, and I held the swing. I climbed the incredibly tufa finish and clipped the chains. Climbing with a group of fanaticos means being excited about pushing others, and it means climbing A Muerte ("to death!") when it's your turn. 13a is so far the hardest I have climbed, and I had done only one before the weekend. At the same time I am realizing that it is not my limit by any means. I finished off the day with a 12b, a great fight and a nice onsight. I was exhausted, but very satisfied with the weekend.

Here is the video from the weekend. Remember I climb at 4:40.







Quick definition:
*Crux - the crux is the hardest move or series of moves on a climb. It is subjective, for example moves that are actually no harder than previous moves could be considered the crux if the the climber arrives at those moves extremely tired, thus making them feel much more difficult.