El Forrat!

Today we woke up in Barcelona – thanks to the flights being much cheaper than those to Montpellier, and the hospitality of a good friend, Jaume Oliveras. We were scheduled to take a train at 5pm back to the land of frogs and Foie Gras, leaving us the whole morning for either sightseeing or training...

There are days I like to pretend to be the cultural type, and since this is my third visit to Barcelona without seeing anything arty, today should have been one of those days. But it just wasn’t to be, the second choice won, which should speak highly enough about the quality of the training venue!

I am struggling to find the words to describe both how awesome and unique El Forrat is, you really need to experience it for yourself. Combining simple and effective shapes and structure, with Gaudi-esc sculpted madness; El Forrat is the brain child of an eccentric, obsessive genius - Manolo “El Heavy”, and every square inch has been created with an almost unheard of level of passion and love.

Thanks Manolo for a great session, we’ll visit you again soon J

Mallorca Sport - Another 8b onsight for Caroline

The psicobloc on the island is good, no scratch that, it is great – in my opinion the best in the world! However, if you feel like a break from the water, then Mallorca has world class bolt clipping that you need to check out.

For the last couple of days we have visited a few of the premiere sport cliffs on the island, including Les Pertxas, Gorg Blau and Fraguels. The limestone is very very good – bright orange walls and caves covered in flowstone and tufa’s, and most of the routes we climbed have been exceptional quality.

Caroline on the top of Commando Madrid, just before the final boulder © Mick Lovatt

As time was short, we have both been onsight/flashing routes rather than working projects, which has allowed us to tick a whole load of super classic routes in all different styles. The highlight ascent of the trip was Caroline’s onsight of Commando Madrid – the most famous 8b on the island. She fought hard, dug deep and stuck it out to the chains, with just a tiny scream or two to help her on her way. Voici quelques photos...

The Commando Madrid Cave at Les Pertxas © Mick Lovatt

Cave Life!

Scary...

Every now and again you meet someone special... Someone that makes you take a step back to try to look at things from a new perspective.

Usually, our lives make perfect sense to us, or at least we have an idea about the road we are travelling. We become happy in our routines, and content with our comforts; life ticks on by and we smile. Its easy to think that ours is the only way that makes sense... maybe because thinking the contrary would mean we have to accept that our life is ultimately senseless?

A few days ago I met a man who lives in a cave! He has lived there, mostly alone for the last year and a half; and when I say cave, I’m not talking about a little hollow, but a big deep cave, accessed only by a crawl through a long small tunnel, complete with hypnotic underground lake! He would spend days and weeks alone, accompanied only by his guitar – and so you would be forgiven for thinking that he simply enjoys the solitude, or doesn’t like people.

Home Sweet Home!

The reality is actually quite the contrary, and he was one of the most social, warm, and welcoming people I have met. For him, life is simple - he enjoys each moment, it doesn’t need to make any more sense than that.

The Front Garden - Not Too Bad...

Psicoblog

My last trip to the island was with a big group of the friends – Climbers, photographers and Cinematographers. We climbed most days spurred on by each others energy, repeated many of the hard routes on the island, filming them all and releasing the footage as regular Psicoblogs for your viewing pleasure.

This time it is a little different... The island is still beautiful, the routes just as incredible and the sea just as warm, but it is only myself and my girlfriend, with a little help from Mr Psicobloc himself, Miquel.

The conditions were mostly very good, we only had to brave the dreaded sea-grease on a couple of occasions and the temperature of both the air and ocean was close to perfect – I really think it pays to come a little later in the year. This was the first (proper) time for Caroline (after a mini excursion to Lake Annecy earlier in the year) and she turned out to be a complete natural. After following me up a few routes to warm into things, she was soon questing off on her own, psyched for this new style and on sighting most of the hard routes the sea cliffs have to offer.

I can’t give you any video masterpieces, or professional, creative photos to drool over... but I can share a few of our holiday snaps, which look pretty pretty, show a little of the magic, and make me smile if all else fails.

Back in the Balearics

Its THAT time of year again... Mallorca

End of September... the sun is getting lower in the skies... the sea is warm... the air is no longer scorching... time for Psicobloc, Spanish style.

Im back in Mallorca for 10 days, climbing with friends, getting some air time, taking tapas and Cervesa, loving life... Once I get a stable internet connection i will upload some of the lovely piccies from the trip, stay tuned...

James

The best line?

What makes "the best line"?

This is a question I often ask myself but still don't really know the answer, or perhaps it is just that my answer changes with the seasons. Is it the moves, is it the features, is it the location, the aesthetic beauty, or the fact that it pushes you towards excellence.

Here are a couple of pics of my current contenders. They are wildly different, but impossible to choose between... Let me know what you think.

The Amazing Ichi Ban, Zillertal, Austria


The Totem Pole, Tazmania - Does it get much better?

Moving Forwards

Some of you may have noticed that jamespearsonclimbing.com recently went on permanent vacation. My website was always held just a little out of my reach by some friends back in the UK, which is part of the reason it had not seen an update for over 2 years! It was looking tired, was well past its best, and finally... well lets just say it died.

Hold back the tears, all is not lost, for out of the ashes a phoenix will rise!

This was just the kick up the arse I needed - my life has changed significantly over the last 6 months, and so what better time to launch a new website. James 2.0; the engine uprated, the bodywork polished, new and improved, I hope you will agree.

Everything should be live in the next few days, but for now here are a few screenshots just to tease...

Big kiss

James x