Travel to climb. Climb to feel alive.
All the posts about my travels to climbing destinations all over the world!
The last couple of weeks since we moved to Chulilla have been as full of sunshine as the two weeks prior to it were soaked with rain, and once again I feel like I’m on holiday, even while working. My mood has been lifted to such an extent that I deleted the very gloomy post I started writing in Siurana, which now sounded far too depressive.
I’m currently reading Andy Kirkpatrick’s Psychovertical; it’s worth a read! It’s all about his escapades in winter mountaineering and terrifying aid climbs, and if there’s one thing it has made me realise once and for all, it’s that I’m not at all interested in suffering my way up multi-day winter epics.
It has, however, inspired me to share my one personal account of mountaineering, which totally and completely pales in comparison with Andy’s mind-bending adventures, but was still one of the most memorable experiences during my travels so far.
Looking out of the van window, all I could see was white. The landscape around us had transformed into a postcard-perfect winter picture overnight. For the third time during our travels, which were supposed to be all about us escaping the winter, we were well and truly snowed in. Continue reading “Why does it always rain on me?”
Almost exactly four years ago I was stood beneath a piece of grey pockety rock in a German forest, having just put on a brand new pair of 5.10 climbing shoes, about to get onto my first ever outdoor sport route on the sharp end of the rope.
Have you ever heard of Tirolean climbing grades? Neither had I until very recently, when my brother told me a story about him and his climbing partner struggling on routes that were supposed to be far, far below their abilities. Having spent around three weeks climbing in various parts of Tirol, I can now testify that this is indeed a thing.
There’s nothing like a different type of rock to make you feel like a bit of a novice again. Austria has been a country of many firsts for me, and one of these was my first experience of climbing on granite. And it well and truly kicked my ass!