Lleida, Dani [Andrada's] House

Dios!! The New Year was rang in here in Spain with a massive fiesta, which dehibilitated most of the people in the country (especially the climbers) and forced a very tranquilo start to 2007. I am finally recovered enough to use my computer again, and can breath from my nose, which is very special as I got a pretty nasty cold due to the circumstances of the holiday season. The Spanish know how to party, and I am learning. That’s all I can say. They are all psyched and energetic, and can party seemingly forever, dancing like mad, and doing other radical Spanish things. Proven, I am not Spanish, and manage consistently to screw up my big fiestas by not grasping the whole order of operations. I go climbing all day, especially to areas with big hikes, hours away from the house. On the 31st of December, I managed to drive five hours in the car! Why? How? I don’t know! We went to two crags! I wanted to try a 9a [5.14d], and Klemen, at another cliff entirely big 8c [5.14b]! We must be crazy, because before the big noche, most people are taking it easy and chilling out, saving strength, and preparing mentally. I just obliterate myself; get sick, because, all in all, big parties and climbing hard don’t mix too well. Pero bueno, no passa nada, because these days I have at least managed to climb some incredible routes, and since the Christmas and New Year’s madness is over, I am climbing with Dani Andrada, the true maquina, and Klemen Becan, my Slovenian friend who has been here for over a month now. We have visited some incredible areas, and wow, all I can say is that it is so bizarre how the most beautiful, impressive, natural lines, are so damn obscure and unknown!

The report goes as follows: There was a crazy cloud, actually a layer of fog, which unfortunately took off before I could photograph it (the fog was there for three weeks straight!) This horrible thing invaded Lleida, and screwed us all. It’s very cold this crazy fog, and one must live in it for up to a month at a time! You don’t see the sun in the city, just fog, and you have to drive at least one hour, 50 kilometers, and then, like magic, the fog fades and you’re in the sun! The temperature difference must be like 13 degrees Celsius, which is quite strange. That’s one crazy fact of life in Lleida. I am sure it screws some of the property values up in the city because it’s a big draw back. A perpetual, freezing, dark, cold, humid layer of fog. Who would have thought? Wack!