Nathan on Boys don’t Cry © Oli Grounsell

To kick off 2014 we went to Spain, in Spain we went to Siurana, and in Siurana we sport climbed.

This was my first time here, and walking under El Pati on day 1 I almost wished there was less rock, and had to quickly come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to climb everything, so spent the day panicking about how to best spend my time here and experience Siurana. The more and more I plan trips, and dream up future ideas, the more and more I realise that there is just so much rock out there, and so many different places to experience, let alone individual routes and lines. You’re never going to be able to climb everything, but you definitely have a much better chance of experiencing everywhere. What we perceive as an experience is personal, and for me, on this little foray to Siurana I decided I just wanted to get some classics done, and throw in a few tricky redpoints.

Jack on quite a line! © Nathan Lee

L’escamarlà (7c+) © Nathan Lee

The mighty face of Ramadan, Anna can just about be seen on L’escamarlà to the right. © Nathan Lee

I’d wrote a few words about two of the routes I did, Migranya and Ramadán but I decided to delete them as basically Ramadán went fast, Migranya not so, and nobody wants a move by move run down. The climbing on  both was ace, Migranya for the moves and sequence, Ramadán for the line and it’s position overlooking the valley. We had 7 climbing days whilst out there, and everyday I just got more psyched to stay longer, as you just can’t help but be inspired as you gaze over to El Pati to see climber after climber getting higher and higher on there 9a redpoints. Everything is so simple, you keep trying your redpoints, you get stronger and you become a better climber. You don’t worry about weather, and living is dirt cheap. There is no flaw. One day I’m definitely going to spend a good stint of time out there, and now that I’ve had a blast I would love to get involved in a big route on El Pati next time.

Go © Nathan Lee

Migranya © Nathan Lee

Team Bangor, and Nathan, but minus Nick © Nathan Lee