Friday, November 23, 2007

Greetings from El Chorro, Spain!


Wow, it is great to be here. We are having a fantastic time.

This trip began Nov 14, 2007 and as you can tell, I am just beginning to find my way, virtually speaking. I have had no troubles getting right into my adventure, however. This place rocks!

Let's start with a little background.

My climbing objectives:
El Chorro Spain - this is a climbing area in southern Spain, just north of Malaga.

Morocco - We will be climbing in the Todra Gorge, a climbing area south of the Atlas Mountains.

Next we will enjoy some fine adventure travel through Morocco.

Climbing in Northern Spain, near Barcelona.


I was just in El Chorro and the climbing was INSANE. After two warm up days, climbing hard 5.11's, on November 19th, Ryan and I fired a 1,000+ footwall - 5.11d, a very hard route called Zeppelin. It all went well. While I was on lead, I fell twice on the route in the most difficult, long, overhanging section. I was some 500 feet off the deck, hanging over a ravine with river flowing below...it was really difficult, yet we made it through! The crux was a mix of totally traversing, overhanging sequences, and really pumpy.

El Chorro is an amazing place. The entire area is quite adventuresome and it has a big international flair, obviously... We are staying in an inexpensive hostel called The Finca. My shoulder is holding out for the time being. We are here for a few more days then on to Morocco. I will be adding and working on the blog in the coming days when I have a bit more time. Until then...

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