Cornudella de Mont Sant, November 27, 2006 

I Want to be a Maquina 

Oh Man! I am really, really sore!!!!! Things have been really rough. I have been working harder then ever in my life. Trying so hard I crumple into a ball and can’t move, every once and a while. Why is this happening? What is going on? 

HA HA! 

I am trying to get stronger! I want resistencia, continuadat, and even more so, pura fuerza.  I want to be a Maquina, and for the last 16 days, and for the next however many months it takes, I will be trying as hard as a 25-year old can without getting injured. I will reach my goal. No more muscolos piqanos, soon, fuerza naturale! 

The weather has been perfect, only a tiny bit of rain when I arrived, and the crags are more or less dry. I am staying in Cornudella de Mont Sant. A sick view, great group of locals, and one of the few climber-dominated villages I can think of on the planet. Here its the center of a valley, a town lying in between the massif of Mont Sant, and the butte-like structures of Siurana. The two extreme cliff structures play nicely with each other. Mont Sant is covered with towering pillars, usually in the shape of horizontal bands. The blue and white conglomerate rock is separated by sharp bushes, all sporting bad-ass flowers. Siurana is multicolored, green trees, some with leaves turning yellow, black and tan cliffs with huge Bombay structures, all sitting on an elaborate step of sandstone. Crazy, soft, red sandstone. Lots of caves, lots of pockets, and the cliffs dissipate into canyons filled with boulders, and a matrix of plants with the most horrible, sharp, spider-web-like tangle of spiny vines one has ever seen. 

I am climbing almost every day with my friends Dani Andrada, (aka The Maquina) and Chris Sharma (aka Animal/ Maquina #2). I am the guy with the small muscles (that’s my only aka), but things will change. Anything’s possible right? We have been climbing mostly in Siurana, always trying La Rambla, and venturing to other cliffs only spontaneously. While hovering around La Rambla, we make an effort to train for the impending upper crux undercling move. Chris has been onsighting and crushing most of the circling routes, while Dani and myself try to keep up.  I tried a route called A Muerte, which is hard as all hell, as well, and I always want to go give it another go, but somehow, we always wind up on La Rambla. Very magnetic route. It has been a total trip.