ham-man!

It`s over. After 54 days working in Rodellar as a waiter and waterboy for trees I`m finished here. Time to say goodbye and time to move on. I`m not sad leaving Rodellar, but at the same time I won`t have a basecamp now. Just my Renault Kangoo and some parkings close to climbing crags.
During my time in Rodellar it was hot and wet all the time. I found myself always telling me to stop, because I`m here for climbing and traveling, but it turned out to be not as bad as I thought. Friendly workers ( always smiling at work... don`t know why?), mostly friendly customers ( exceptation -- > quotation: " You know what...? fuck you! fuck you!") and nice local climbers to go climbing with at 1pm in the morning ;) . I`m longing for beter conditions in some smaller crags around Lerida. Hopefully friendly people, beautiful landscapes, quite crags, almost no cars and nature. It can be so easy. Let`s see!
Thanks to all the workers and climbers in Rodellar for the time... a list with all the people will be to long.

sore muscles from carrying paellas like this.

I could climb some routes despite my time working here, 40degrees summer heat and 10cm water on the ground. Not as hard as I wanted, but more then I expected. Felt good to climb some routes I couldn`t do last year. Every year some more.

a crabita 8a, Escanciador 8a/8a+, Famila Manson 8a+, Paideia 8a+, Aporia 8a+, Citrus 8a+, Gladiator 8a+/b, La Kanabica 8a+/8b, el bicho 8b and some more.

 .... Aaaaaahhhhh!!!! I almost forgot! I won the yearly dynocontest in Rodellar, (again). Now I`m the proud owner of 11kg ham. Perfect to make new friends!

ham-man!

What will I do now? Climbing a lot and as much as possible. Got my goals and I want to achieve them. First I will visit some vrags close to Lerida to see where I will stay in autumn. There are endless walls and areas to go to. I don`t know where to start and if the autumn is long enough to see enough of them.
 My first days I spent with Marvin, who will stay here for longer too. Really motivating to climb with him. Getting up in the morning and climbing till it gets dark. Getting in shape for harder routes. Seeing some new areas and feeling really small amongst impressive walls down in the canyons.

100meters???

So enough writing. There is no real news. Let`s climb some rock and have fun!

                                                                    Some impressions:

heat

water

warmth

praying mantis

Rodellar

Venatas

pulling teeth in Aporia

dragons

stay in the shade

 

my own 127-hours moment: assholeplant got me

canyoning

Spain again

 I did it... again I went to Spain for working on a campground and a bit climbing. After some month in Aachen I decided to go back to Rodellar for 2 months working as a waiter and waterboy for trees. Boring but at least the weather is always good and climbable rock is omnipresent.

After some problems just 1 day before my travel (broken water cooling system), 3 seconds before my travel (broken navigation system), during my travel (for unknown reasons blocked bank account) and 1 hour extra drive (sheep drove on the road) I made it to Rodellar.

The bad thing is the heat and the work in the morning and in the evening till the restaurant is closed and clean, so I have to be patient to climb a lot more in September. Nothing changed here, usual campground business every day.

Untill now I couldn`t climb so much hard routes, but I`m trying to climb a lot to get in a good shape for September. Even if there is so much rock the motivation suffers from working, routine (get up, breakfast, work, climb a bit, shower, eat to much in 30 minutes, prepare tables, run around with food, clean everything, go to bed) and having no more energy to try hard. Sending no routes is normal here, but sucks really bad.
 But I don`t want to complain... I like it and I pretty sure many people hate their jobs more :)

graveyard in Rodellar

For everybody who wants to travel to Spain: Tell me. Maybe we can meet somewhere or I can help you or just pick you up somewhere. See you!

May

What can I do? I climbed my wishes here for this year except some routes. Too weak, too far away, sometimes lack of motivation and/or no money for smaller trips... because I`m saving again for a new trip to Spain. First stop will be Rodellar again starting in july. Working and climbing, but mainly working to travel afterwards. No further plans until now.

I started to boulder again to gain some power for projects in Rodellar. Old ones and hopefully new ones. Luckily the amount of harder boulders around Aachen isn`t really, really low (there are not many, but a few) and the gym is open too... YEAH!

I could send some lines pretty quick this year which I couldn`t do last year, even if I just started to train somedays 2 weeks ago. I even got some videofootage. There are more, but I`m still not the owner of a good camcorder and a new laptop...

Spunk: 
a boulder by Markus Jung in the Avalonia cave opend this year in spring. It should be around 7C, but even if it was easier a great line straight trough the little roof.


Rainbow Warrior:
From Mustafa "Muzti" Eren opend in 2004 in Nideggen at "Zementwerk". You need a periode of dry weather to touch the holds. Original it is graded 8A, but with my armspan it is easier. For those who`ll try the line now... It is clearly a topout boulder!


Öcher Crack:
Daniel Hinkelmann, a friend and a hard-working student, found this nice crag close to the university in Aachen. We decided to give it a try with meters of tape and almost now useful experience and skills in painful fingerjamming. With success we could open the buildering line "Öcher Crack". Who will give it a try?



Tocix Desire:
Before I started bouldering I could climb my personal project in Bomal. I combines 9 routes right in the middle of  the wall. I don`t know if it`s a new combi, but no one could tell me anything about it.
It`s a long slowy rising traverse route from right to left and then up to pump your arms! 50 moves! Good to train your endurance in Bomal!

Start = "Toxic Climax"
bolt 1 = 1 bolt "Tantaloc"
bolt 2 = 2 bolt "Manhattan transfer"
bolt 3 = 2 bolt "Enchatillon"
bolt 4 = 2 bolt "Enfants de I'care"
bolt 5 = "Newton T'encule"
bolt 6 = 3 bolt "Bidis"
bolt 7 = 3 bolt "l'Insoutenable Légèreté de l'être"
bolt 8 = 4 bolt "Flagrant desir"
then to the top!

entering "bidis"

traversing

only rest

In my opinion it could be the hardest combi in Bomal. Maybe someone is interested to confirm or deny it :)


Now I`ll work a bit more, save money, train more and sort things out to make sure that I can stay a long time in Spain.
Who wants to join? Let me know! You`re welcome!

cavemen!

Finally the sun is back and as every climber I`m never happy with the weather. Heat beats up the friction. There`s only on way to avoid this... let`s hide in caves!!!

Last weekend I could climb my project in Ettringen. It`s called "Krieg ich gerne" and graded 8a+/8b (in my opinion really hard 8a+/8b) located in the caves. I worked it last year 1 day, but was way to weak to climb it.
This year I felt better,  had some problems with the weather and some holds that are always wet but thanks to the heat the caves were almost completly dry and I could start some serious attempts.
I always fell at the buzzkill move at the lip due to some wet underclings. I always thought "If I stick it, it`s done." But as always in climbing... it isn`t working like this.

buzzkill

stick it!

the lip

The bouldercrux at the lip is harder if you made it through the whole roof and the last holds are always wet so you need a little bit extra strenght in the last section.

After some frustraiting tries and a really painful knee from a kneebar in the roof and falling of at the lip 3 times because the holds were still wet, I could climb the route on the first day with dry holds at the lip.

green leaves... nice!

Feels good and I`m looking forward to try the original line "Krieg der Sterne" which is harder but in my opinion "the line" in this sector.
Thanks to: Thomas Schermer for the pictures!


Different day! Different country! Different cave!

With Koen I found another caveman and we made it over night to the Kronthal. Honestly we couldn`t climb our projects, but we had a really good time. Drinking coffee, eating, climbing, falling, swearing, sweating, cooking, sleeping, laying around and doing nothing. Hakuna matata!

in green

falling over and over again

civilized caveman

uncivilized caveman

wake up

the roof line

just 1 more try.... please!!!

I hope everybody had a nice easter climbing or bouldering trip to different areas. See you at the rock!

gaufres feuilletées a la compote de pommes

start left and finish far out right

Someone told me that Belgium is well known for beer... I can`t tell you a lot about belgium beer, but I go there to climb and to eat some waffles filled with appel and other fruity stuff. Really good! If you are interested in beer you should read Micha Vanhoudt blog :)

The last weeks I climbed a lot in small areas in Belgium and could finish some routes I wanted to climb since the last year or even earlier. Despite small holds and some ascent problem due to rain that filled my chalkbag and kept the holds wet, I could finisch my Bomal session with climbing "Yahoo! sortie L'infinimente Songe".
Earned me a waffle!

In Freyr I could climb "13, boulevard du vol" which seems to be the first 8a in Belgium, or even in Europe climbed by Arnoud 't Kint. 
Earned me a waffle!
 
Last year I left me a project in Modave. I`ve been there to climb the first length of  "Du glucose pour le moineau". The biggst problem there is to climb to route if it´s dry. Last year I failed and this year I came back without big expectations but it felt easy this time. First go I failed in the crux. Climbed it then. Worked out the 8a+ part. Climbed it next try and almost climbed the 8b finish. Really close, but that happens if you are to lazy to work out the last part.

"Du glucose our le moineau" 8a part

Luckily it stayed dry and the next week I had a morning without work. That morning I could climb the route. Really long, overhanging and pumpy for me. 75 moves. What a route!  

pumped?

Earned me a waffle!

I`ll climb for food!

solar energy

borderline

March:
I really like going back to the crags. Getting up early, some kilometers of lazy driving with the car, talking about how nice the sun is, breakfast in the car and the closer you get to the crag the more you realize how much you like to climb on real rock. In the parking lot you throw all your stuff in a bag or just pick up your packed bag, grab some food and water and you start walking to crag. Slowly recognizing the small paths, the well-known surrounding and maybe some trees. When you finally get there it fells good to be back.
And with a smile on your face you think: That`s how it should be!


But maybe you started a bit early in the year.
February:
Waking up early and it`s still dark! Getting out of the house packed in down jacket, gloves, liters of hot drinks and enough food to make shure you can generate enough energie to reach the crag. If you`re finally there, you can start running up and down to produce some heat for sprinting up the warm-up route. Down on the ground with numb fingers and with a painful grin on your face you think: That`s how it should be!

not cold!

got some bread?

In the last 2 month I experienced both ways. To be true both ways are good ways. Climbing feels good.
I went to some new crags and some old crags and after the last month in the gym I really appreciate the rock... like always!
YES... Winter is dead, but actually it was never born here in germany. No snow, just cold. You can see it on many faces. Smiles that definitely mean spring! Sun everywhere! Time to climb some rock!
What happens next?
With the motivation I could climb some routes I never though I would like and  some routes which I enjoyed a lot from the first try. My highlights for the first days outdoor were:
In the "Kronthal" I could climb "Croute du porc" 8b.




And with "Borderline" 8b in "Berdorf" I climbed a route which I really wanted to climb from my first visit in Berdorf on.



I hope I can climb some more and maybe harder in this year. It started well...

See you out there and have a nice spring on the rock!

and it`s gone...

...the money
So what to do? No money? Working in spain? Hmmm... maybe another time. Time to go back. After 5 1/2 months of living in my yellow car, having breakfast under a mostly clear blue sky followed by more good weather, time to climb a lot and time to enjoy living in a way many people can`t, it is time to step into my car again and head back. First of all, before I`ll write a word about Siurana I want to thank everyone I meet on my trip no matter if in Rodellar, on Mallorca, Siurana, Margalef, Zaragoza, Albarracin for making this trip an experience I`ll never forget:

Sorry to everyone I forgot!

Katinka --> KISS! 
El Puente team --> for giving me the opportunity to earn some money in spain and giving me the feeling of   being welcome in a country with an unknown language for me 
Manu/Ainizante --> for being my spanish parents on the campground :) 
Esther/Alex --> for trying hard to teach me some spanish and not giving up on me 
Gemma/Nacho --> for trying to teach me the spanish culture... I need to man up! 
Marc --> for telling dirty jokes all day long! 
Luis/Juan Carlos --> for showing all the hot girls on the campground 
Camping Mascun --> for 200€ ;) 
Tim/Wouter --> for being the netherlands on the campground and climbing ;) 
Sydney-travelling-around-the-world-gang --> for Katinkasitting while I had to work

Caine --> for 2 weeks DWS climbing on any really touristic island 
Daniel --> showing me Mallorca, bouldering and giving me a homebase in Deia 
David --> for a lot climbing and teaching me NOT to accept spanish laws 
Rudolf/Adrian/Peter/Hanno --> the "cova del diablo"-crashcrew and hanging around in the evening Christian/Barby/little Chris --> giving David and me a home on Mallorca, lots of food and showing us the island 
Forty --> climbing and showing the island and climbing crags 

Micha/Nina --> for sharing food, cooking, giving me some space in their campervan even if I smelled like a pig :) 
Tom/Rachel --> england sounds awesome now... one day I`ll have real english breakfast! See you soon! Nick/Julia --> for Climbing and food 
Michelo/Marco --> Canarie boys! for climbing on Mallorca and in Margalef 

Moritz/Julia --> for bouldering fun with a person who is as tall as me but with longer arms and playing around on boulderprojects! 
Johannes --> for an endless appetite and bouldering and climbing in Spain 
Matthias --> for bouldering and climbing in Spain and driving over my shoppings :( 
Rudi/Doro --> for bouldering and hanging around in Albarracin 
Mike/Tim/Harry/Charlie --> for having a lot of fun while bouldering, in the pub and having more fun! 

"little" Manu --> for a place to stay if it is raining, snowing, cold and for having Titolino :) 
Koen --> for being the biggest optimist (which is good) I know and a nice week climbing even with bad      weather 
Alexander --> for climbing and having breakfast in the sun... good mornings! 
Thomas --> for climbing, taking pictures and bringing new motivation to Spain 
Maarten --> for entertaining restdays in Margalef and tons of Nutella! 

Moritz/Katrin/Babs/Chris --> for the best Advent calendar I ever had!

If I have a real home... You`re welcome anytime! Thanks for all!!!

Siurana
Siurana is a small village some kilometers away of Cornudella de Montsant located high on the top of the mountain, giving you the chance to watch over Sierra de Montsant.... blablabla and so on...

Koen came over for some days of climbing. The bad thing was, that the weather changed. Rain, cold and snow came which made it impossible for some days. Unfortunally the sun kept hiding for some more days which made it hard to climb here in windy conditions. Still we found some areas to climb and we could even send some routes. Koen flashed his first 7c here, onsighted his first 7b and maybe got some frozen feet. So the trip wasn`t that bad at all ;)
I could climb "bio lance" an 8b opend in 2013 by Dani Andrada. The route looks/is really dirty, kind of really ugly but somehow the moves were so good, that I kept working the route and after some days of trying and some days of rest I could climb it. 
Furthermore I could climb the great tufa line "La cara que no miente", which is also more a boulder with big tufapinchholds and a dyno to a good pocket.

 I can`t find all the words to describe my time in Siurana, because even now, about 3 weeks after driving back to Germany, the impression, are fresh in my head, but at the same time already gone for a longer time. Thinking back with closed eyes. Breathing in in Aachen. Meet good freinds, Christmas and new year past me. Starting to exhale. I`m in 2014. Strange! 
Now I`m back in Aachen, which also feels like I left it yesterday for a little party in another city. Have no real home, found work, found some motivation to train again and I`m hoping to save some money to travel again. 
For sure there will be a trip. The question is when...  

My advise for everybody who asked me:
"Are you rich to effort such a long trip? How much money do I need for a trip?": 
Hell no! I`m not rich, but depending on your needs (I think my basic needs are pretty low) you can spend a long time on the road.  
"Where can I sleep? Where did you sleep?": 
Mostly in my car on a parking.  Easy, cheap and still good.
"Were you alone?": 
To be honest, sometimes it felt good be be alone. You can meet many climbers, talk to many strangers, sit in a cafe or go to a bar to meet climbers... and if you`re a climber on a climbing trip in climbing areas where you can do climbing, you`ll find othere climbers there which share the same intrest with you: climbing! A good start for a conversation.
"Isn`t it boring?": 
Depends on what you`re doing and what keeps you motivating. Is working boring? Is your girlfriend/boyfriend boring? On one point everything will be boring, but seeing things from an new angle or little variations changes a lot. Sometimes I was thinking about leaving the climbing areas, because it felt like I`ve seen enough or all. But looking closer or on a differnet place I even felt tired from all the new informations around me. And that is clearly not boring!
A: "Will you ever work?" B: "How will you earn your money?":
A: Yes. No. Now. Later. Tomorrow. We`ll see.
B: Lottery. Work. Gambeling. Circus. Sleeping. No money. I`ll see.
"What did you learn?":
If you have the chance to do a thing you really want to do, don`t miss it. Maybe it`s the only chance and maybe you`ll regret it if you let it go. Do what you can with what you have, where you are. Enjoy life in the moment... plus don`t give a shit what others tell you about your future and what you`re eventually missing while you`re gone.
"I`m to afraid to start a travel.":
Like a friend in spain told me: Man up! 


Happy new year!