December 2018 Part III (Siurana, Spain)
Siurana is paradise.
8am wakeup. Yogurt + muesli + fruit breakfast. Hundreds of pitches of the best sport climbing in the world. Ending each day with $2 bottles of wine and $3 blocks of cheese with freshly baked baguettes.
And oh-my-god the views.
From the town of Siurana, just looking down into the inverted clouds that filled the valleys—
What a place.
It was my first time ever being in Europe, much less in Spain but I fell in love with this sleepy town.
Climbing in Siurana is amazing.
I mean, it is if you like long, vertical, crimpy routes.
And guess what?
I DO!!!
In terms of climbing quality, it is hands down my favorite sport climbing area thus far.
The routes are long, many of them 40+ meters long, but what I really love is the movements.
The flow of the routes is just really nice. Sometimes, I start doing a move, lifting a leg here, moving a hand there, twisting just so— and I have no idea what my body is doing, and the positioning is so foreign, but it feels so right. I found myself in the middle of climbs just shouting down to my belayer, “I have no idea what I just did BUT THAT WAS AWESOME!!!”
Even though you need an 80 meter rope in Siurana though, you don’t need more than 18 quick draws. Really, most routes only require 12, meaning it gets run out between clips. And yet, because of the perfect flow of the routes and the great bolting, you never really feel too scared. The placement of each clip makes sense most of the time.
With that said though, for someone of my height (roughly 156cm or 5’1), it does help to have the quick draws already put up by someone else here. Even with the draws in, there were occasionally places where I couldn’t clip the rope in the obvious clipping stance, but that’s pretty universal in all climbing areas… most people bolting routes don’t take into account absurd shortness— only regular shortness.
The ultra-classic route Ramena Nena is my personal enemy… it’s amazing, super fun, and I can do every move on it except one. It’s a move that no one taller than 5’3 even remembers when I describe it to them, because it’s so insignificant. There are two large crimp ledges, so most people just reach from one to the other without thought, but if you’re my size, you have to dyno… and I’m awful at dynos… :( :( :(
But I am great at crimping, resting on long routes, and high stepping, so overall Siurana was 10/10, would absolutely visit again.
In Asia, I move around with a good measure of confidence. I understand the culture of the different countries, and never really worry too much about getting lost or hurt. Somehow I always believe that everything will work out when I’m in Asia.
But I was so nervous going to Spain!
Which is ridiculous because I have working command of Spanish, and tourism and climbing are a huge part of Spain (compared to middle-of-nowhere China or rural Laos)… and yet, I prepared far more for Spain than I had for any other country. While anywhere else, I would just book a hostel and take public transit to the climbing, for Spain, I ended up renting a car and getting an Air BnB with a friend.
But it really did end up just fine.
I was fortunate enough to find friends, with whom I could share belays and wine and shenanigans. We laughed and made memories. We sent projects and bailed off climbs. We ate chocolate and played hot-pack-hackey-sack and laughed on as the Aussie and Kiwi each condemned the other for inappropriate sheep relations.
I’m grateful for the wonderful people who make up the international climbing scene.
I don’t believe in love at first sight, but when it comes to climbing, I can look at someone for the very first time and feel like, yes, absolutely, 100%, I trust and want to become friends with this person.
One day, a few of us grabbed drinks at the local bar. One of the guys had invited a girl he’d met at the wall.
She arrived.
Long black hair, almond eyes—
Oh my god, there’s another Asian girl in Siurana?!
I was stoked. I had been in Siurana for 2 weeks up to that point, and thus far I had seen a total of 0 Asian faces.
I stood up, smiled. “Hi!” I reached out a hand towards her. “I’m Tammy!”
She froze.
“YOU’RE TAMMY?!!”
“??? Yes…??”
Tiffany, as she introduced herself, excitedly relayed her story.
A Spanish guy who didn’t speak much English had approached her the other day, asking if she was Tammy. No, sorry, wrong Asian girl. And then the next day, she saw him again, and he again asked her if she was Tammy. Nope, sorry, still the wrong Asian girl.
And now, a day later, she was meeting Tammy.
Amazing.
We immediately clicked. Tammy. Tiffany. The only two Asian girls in Siurana who also just happened to have very similar names. It was destiny. Truly a sister from another mister.
Nevermind the fact that we’re not the same kind of Asian. You take what you can get here.
I eventually did meet the mysterious Spaniard who had been looking for me. It turned out that a mutual friend had told him that I was climbing in Siurana, but the only thing he knew about me was that I was Asian, so it was all very understandable.
One day in Margalef, I climbed next to a pair of pro crushers. The two of them were boulderers who had previously sent V14 and were now in Margalef to attempt a really short 5.15 route that they were hoping they could boulder through.
But on that day, the conditions were too humid, so they were just hanging out, doing some ‘easier’ climbs.
One of the boys got on a 40 meter 5.11b route. When he came down, he complained about how hard it’d been and how pumped he was from the climb. The other boy teased him for being scared.
After they left, I tried the route and honestly, it was one of the easier 5.11’s in Margalef or Siurana.
It was comforting to know that no matter how strong of a crusher you may be, climbing is scary and hard.
But we keep coming back to it anyway.
In Russia, Christmas is Very Serious, marking the time Jesus died for our sins.
So this year, we threw a Happy Fun Christmas party and bought Christmas hats for all the Russians (not pictured).
Merry American/Aussie Christmas!
I bought a bluetooth keyboard when I was in Singapore. Prior to that, I was typing my posts on my phone keyboard because I didn’t bring a laptop.
Bluetooth keyboard is so clutch. Made it way more comfortable to type.
Anyway, here’s a photo of my sick setup, with my phone propped up on an empty milk carton between a bottle of lotion and jar of a hand cream.
—-
Bonus story: See the dog below?
He lives with two other giant dogs and a dozen cats on a goat farm in Siurana.
One day, I watched a cat approach him. He went over, put his snout under the cats stomach, and fucking launched the cat a full meter into the air.
What did I just see.
