Toni had been close to winning the World Cup multiple times, but decided to end his pursuit in search of a purer form of climbing. Because of his unyielding dedication and immeasurable depth of perseverance, twenty years later Siurana has over nine-hundred sport climbing routes and forty-five areas. In 1988, Toni put up the first 8a in Siurana, and bolted hundreds of routes, not only in his home crag, but in twenty other countries across Europe.

The sheer magnitude of the climbing region makes it impossible for crowding. In fact, most days we only saw one pair of climbers. One. Can you imagine going to Rumney on a sixty degree day, no clouds and sunny, and seeing one or two climbers? Me either.

In either case, Toni basically built the entire camping ground, refugio, and irrigation systems with his bare hands. Along with the help of his family and friends, who eventually followed him to Siurana, the campsite now has six bungalows and over thirty potential camping spots. As Siurana's popularity grew, so did Toni's revenue, increasing supplies and sustainability. The serving cabin has a plasma flat screen now and he started with an FM radio.

Our conversation eventually evolved into the young generation of climbers versus the old. He emphasized that many professional climber's in Europe, like the young Ramon Julian, train eight hours a day, leaving little time for any thought outside of climbing itself. For this exact reason, Toni says that many young climber's today "who climb and that's all" have "big muscle, small brain". From what I understood from his broken English, he expressed the idea that some of the most talented young guns in the world are getting stronger and stronger while their minds grow weaker. School is unimportant or virtually non-existent. Climbing becomes elitist and revolves around success and failure; winning and losing. This is not wrong, but merely a different way of life that seems to be characteristic of some, but not all, over-trained teenagers seemingly oblivious to perspective and any sort of humility.

This idea forced Toni to raise the critical question he said he once faced as we all someday will or already have. "After many years, you're still climbing. One day you think, why I still climbing?"

The answer to this question is different for everyone, but its most essential meaning is derived from the origin and primary reason of why one starts climbing, from the very moment you chose to lace up your shoes for the first time or clip your first bolt. Exciting. New. Adventure. Doubt. Challenge. Building muscles for cute girls.

"Because it was fun" he whispered.