Spain Installment: El Escorial and Zarzalejos

Better late than never. Here is another bit from the Spain trip we took this spring. Hope you enjoy.

Spain: Bouldering in El Escorial and Zarzalejos from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Jänkarproblemet

Here's a few pics of Jänkarproblemet on Öckerö. Last Saturday was the first decent day in a long time and a posse was out on the islands.

Josephine gunning for the top

Kalle uses tall man beta

Lars trys to remember how he did it

Strumpeband and Jättesten

A couple weeks ago I got a tip from a friend about two rather large boulders located in a neighborhood in town. On Friday Goldielocks and I figured we'd use the a few hours to check them out and we were pleasantly surprised. There were several obvious lines and we put up four problems. The rock is quite good and there is room for a few more climbs. I just wish the boulders were one meter higher but it was fun nonetheless. A local that stopped to observe the monkeys told us the boulders were call "Strumpeband" and "Jättesten" (Garter belt and big boulder). Can't say I understand the naming of the first block but it made naming the problems easier.

Strumpearete

The Garter-belt Toss

Garter Grove

The line on Jättesten

A Narrow Escape from the Evil City of Stockholm

Our weekend to Stockholm was meant to be a two day affair to visit friends and sample some rock but it turned into a desperate fight to escape from the city's evil clutches. The weather gods mocked us with constant rain, illogical street signs more than doubled driving time in the city, and our planned escape on Sunday was thwarted by the sudden disappearance of our car. Apparently when a dozen cars are illegally parked they tow the one from out of town, not the ones that have been there for a few days and have tickets filling up their windows. Stockholm hates me.

Despite the misery there were some bright spots.
I managed to climb for an hour or so Friday on the way to Stockholm. I circled a single boulder south of Mariestad, climbing every brushed problem on the block and wished there was more.
Once in Stockholm the only thing that kept the city from eating us whole was Jon and Katrin. They put us up in their cozy apartment for three nights, tolerated my whining and even cooked a feast. I was even coaxed to a climbing gym where I pulled plastic and managed to enjoy myself when I wasn't sulking.
Many thanks to Jon and Katrin for providing a bright spot in the city of darkness.

Sit start for full value on the Mariestad boulder

Another fun problem in Mariestad

Katrin and Jon's kitchen. We thought Hammie would be difficult but it was me that did all the whining.

Little Erik crushes my projects and shatters my ego

Little Erik was in town this weekend and while the weather was far from ideal the rock at Kullavik was dry enough to justify climbing. We put him on the project just left of "Let's go Bowling" which he promptly sent in a few goes, retaining the working name of "F**k it Dude". I had previous spent a couple days trying to do this problem and I continued my struggle as Erik casually repeated it while everyone commented on what I was doing wrong. Damn kids and their strong fingers. I swear the problem is difficult but you wouldn't know it watching Erik. The other "old"men and me decided we needed to break his fingers to put us all on a level playing field but then we'd have no excuses when he continued to out climb us.

After "F**k it Dude" Erik moved on to the super project on the same wall and did extremely well before blowing a hole in his tip. Then on to the Nihilist where the old men got some redemption. Seems Erik's youthful exuberance and steely fingers couldn't help him with this one as the wilyness required is a few years beyond his grasp. Kids these days.

Congrats to Erik for walking my projects, keeping my ego in check, and making me feel like an old man.

"When I was your age crashpads where made of broken glass and chalk didn't exist"

Sticking the crux of "F**k it Dude"

The high and beautiful project

The Nihilist

Stockholmites invade Bohuslan

Some Stockholmites (Jon, Katrin, Fredrik, and Jocke) where out west for the weekend. I took them to Hogen for an enjoyable day and many of the classics saw repeats. The climbing highlight was a new sequence on Little Lar's Hockeyljumskar that made it possible for mere mortals but the real send of the day was a delicious pumpkin pie whipped up by Markus that evening. Seriously, the pie was sweet.
On Sunday the Stockholm crew headed off to Boxvik and Spång played tour guide to Lina, Markus, Hammie and I at Smögen. Nice block by the sea. It was nice to get some climbing over the weekend as the weather gods decided to become anti-climbing late on Sunday and into the foreseeable future. Sweden does have it's downsides.
Thanks to all for the sweet weekend.

Spång warms up on one of the west coasts best

Jon enters the crux of Hockeyljumskar

Spång using the new beta

Sticking the crux, only to fall off the top. Heartbreaking

Hogen's best remaining project?

Smögen