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Quitting vs Failing...

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I just cannot get that route in Granada out of my head. I looked up at it and thought 6a+, I got this. The start looked much easier from the ground than it turned out to be. Part of my struggle was my belay partner trying to help me by pulling all the slack from the line. I did not realize this right away until I went to step back down to try a different approach and I couldn’t lower my body. Suddenly I realized that maybe my body positioning wasn’t as terrible as I had originally thought and maybe I could get a bit more on that slippery left foot. But there I am all in my head now, I force myself to let go of the excellent right hand I have, and get through the boulder problem. In retrospect if I hadn’t gotten all up in my head it probably wouldn’t have been so stressful. Fear is a funny thing though, it is contagious. My belay partner was nervous and keeping the rope short incase I were to fall, which made me more worried about falling. When you’re making bouldery moves with a tight...

El Canalillo de la Mari - 6b+ at Upper Crag Escalera Arabe - El Chorro

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This absolute beauty of a climb runs up a corner before spitting you out onto a slab problem conveniently for me the crux of the climb. I say this because as much as I dislike slab as karma would have it, I find myself rather proficient with it. But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I was hesitant to be forced to go for the on sight on all the climbs that day so I let my partner climb first, after all he is much taller than me, which is a big advantage when hanging draws! I do make a proper effort not to clip when I wouldn’t have been able to reach the bolt. Sometimes I follow him up a route and still give myself the on-sight credit because we rarely approach routes the same way. This one was no different. He took a chimney approach to the bottom half of the route, slowly inching his feet up while pressing his back against the wall. When I fastened my Miuras he said to me, I dare you not to climb it like a chimney. By the time I reached the fifth bolt I cheekily said challenge...

The Intro

It took me a while to figure out where I should start with this blog. I should tell you the whole thing was inspired by a conversation I was having in Siurana while explaining a route I was working on by explaining the route next to it. The girl I was talking to told me I should start an instagram account and that she would follow me just to climb the routes I have by how I explain them. So here goes nothing, a blog linked with an instagram account, spewing beta.  I am soo new to the climbing world, finding myself now travelling six months of the year to climb as much as I can. My own climbing has progressed so much in the past few months, it excites me to see where this obsession will get me. I think it is very important that I mention these stories are for entertainment, what I consider to be the crux of a climb probably isn’t going to be the same for anyone else. If there is one thing that is very apparent about my climbing, it is unique. I have had the pleasure of constant...