The last problem is called "Home de ferro" (Iron man). It's a classic 6c in Cabo Prior near Ferrol. The granit is rough but the location is really beautiful. For more info, get the topo for all the bouldering spots in the north of Galicia:
Boulder en Galicia, Guía Zona Norte,(in Spanish), By Alejandro López Sánchez, 2013, Published in A Coruña, Galiza (Spain) by Campo IV Available at: Terra Deporte Aventura, Pi y Margall Street, no 53, Vigo 36202 (Tfno: 986 439 431) and also at www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/boulder-en-galicia/9788493990718/
While civilized celebrations were going on at home at the Edinburgh festival, I was enjoying myself, abroad, at a primitive fiesta.
Stones and rocks were to primitive people what cats and dogs are to us. I was bound to find boulders.
Unga Unga, 6b+/7a
The event was held in a clearing among the woods. The woods were full of big stones, many of them holding prehistoric marks, which gives the locals an excuse to get stoned:
They also use babies. They throw them at each other or use them as cushions. Some females even use them as fashion accessory:
The local granit is as rough as its primitive masters, but I survived anyway. Here's the climbing info:
Reta Cromañón, de pies, 6a
Matapiollos, sentado, 6b
3. Lance, sentado, 6c
4. Saida proyecto
5. Proyecto eliminante, fenda 6. Unga, de pies, 6b+ 7. Unga Unga, sentado, 7a 8. Variante Unga, de pies, 6b+ 9. Piel de troll, 6b+
Otro proyecto a cepillar
Our local guide, Bob the boulder:
Can you fix me?
Hai moitas pedras entre A Gándara e As Regadas no campo de festas prehistoricas do Parque da Penacova:
Usted esta aquí
The traditional gogomap locator:
And finally, the flyer of the Festa da Prehistoria:
Topo: Boulder en Galicia, Guía Zona Norte,(in Spanish), By Alejandro López Sánchez, 2013, Published in A Coruña, Galiza (Spain) by Campo IV Available at: Terra Deporte Aventura, Pi y Margall Street, no 53, Vigo 36202 (Tfno: 986 439 431) and also at www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/boulder-en-galicia/9788493990718/
The Second version of the Pedra Rubia guidebook has been published in June 2013. The first version was published the previous year (June 2012) but did not include a section about Portocelo.
If you’ve followed my blog, you might remember that I had climbed a few lines in Portocelo back in 2010.
At the time, I had looked for info everywhere, but had not found any either online or on paper. The only thing I knew was that it wasn’t a proper discovery. On a Galician forum, a guy called Luis Vigo had told me Portocelo boulders had been a climbing spot for the last 15 years and had even seen the first Galician bouldering comp in 1998.
So in an effort to share what I knew, I had post up some info online, via my own blog, YouTube, the web platform UKClimbing, Facebook and the likes.
Five years later, I find that some of ‘my’ problems (for more on ownership, see previous blog post) have been recorded in a guide book under different names and displaying different grades.
My first reaction was that of a six year old. I thought it was not fair. But after second thoughts, I realized that the people who had published the guidebook could hardly know about my FAs.
After all, my blog is written in English and only a handful of people reads it (thanks for your patience if you’re one of them), so I probably don’t rank very high in Google relevance charts.
Besides, 'my first ascents' were probably not proper FA anyway.
Nevertheless, it’s very interesting to compare the grades:
2010
César Alvarez, 2013
Difference of grades
El Zambulidor
6c
El Dragón
?
n/a
El Gigante verde
6a
Espantallo
6b+
+3
Super Tanker
7a+
Super Tanker
7a+
0
El pesa’o
6a
O Electronico
6b
+2
Techo izquierda
5+
Corner Ongui
6b
+3
La fisura del techo de Portocelo
6a
O Fendeteito
6c
+4
Techo derecha
6a
Corner Etorri
6b+
+3
Interestingly, some of the 2013 names are in Galician (the local language) rather than Spanish. While I can speak Spanish, my understanding of Galician is limited and I could have hardly found many problem names, so I’m actually quite glad these problems have proper local names.
Although some other lines also show striking similarity, the lines shown in the table above are all the exact same. This observation points towards the existence of 'natural' lines, i.e. problems that are not just the result of one person's imagination, but that seem obvious to people who have not been in contact at all. Do 'true' lines exist? I believe so.
Yet the grade difference is substantial. In all cases but one, the difference varies from 2 to 4 grades, the maximum difference being from 6a to 6c. Either I was sandbagging, or inflation is rampant in the 6 grade sector.
I doubt that I was completely off the mark though. I have climbed a lot of boulder problems in the 6 grade, on granite, in different places and countries including Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain, and in various conditions, from bone dry windy days to miserable drizzly days, and from -5°C to +30°C. So while I could be wrong with 5s and 7s grades, I think I’m fairly accurate when it comes to 6s.
Another interesting fact - for social media addicts anyway - is that the only boulder problem that has the same name and the same grade (Super Tanker, 7a+) is also the only problem that I’ve named and graded on YouTube for this area, which would imply that YouTube is more visible that the other social media I used - but we all know that watching vids is easier than reading info, right?
In any case, I thought this really put in perspective the power of the Internet - It’s not sufficient to share info online, people have to be able to find it easily!
Also, we should not underestimate the power of languages. Not everyone speaks English. Or want to. The same goes for Spanish. Some people speak and use Galician for bouldering, which means this minority language is well and alive.
Bouldering in Galicia - Finisterre trailer (Mens segment)
I've said many things along those lines before but here it goes:
"Far-off from Europe’s mainstream bouldering hotspots lies one of the continent’s most overlooked climbing regions. Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, has many things to offer. Spectacular boulder fields litter the storm-tossed coast and the undulating hinterlands. But it’s the locals that make this lovely spot of land so special. People like Ben de Corme or Finuco Martinez, who contributed to establish one of the most interesting bouldering areas, sparkle with motivation and hospitality. Follow the three Austrians, David, Niko and Stefan, on a journey to the world’s end, where they find out, what bouldering in Galicia is all about".
I am just back from Galicia. I am not going to give you the usual touristic description. Let's just say it's a paradise in terms of food, wine, sun, landscape and not the least, people friendliness.
In terms of rock, it was not the season. Indeed, the main spot in the southern part is Pena Corneira, near the town of Ourense, which did not really see the temperature dropping below 30 during this summer. So I stayed on the coast instead and had a few sessions among the mini sea cliffs.
The guys behind Cantil (A bloque en Galicia/bouldering in Galicia) have gathered a few topos and drafted a Google map of the various areas that have been developed:
There's a great spot called A Pedra Rubia where I had a few nice sessions, but I even found a good spot closer to where we stayed: the Supertanker boulder of Portocelo. I'm not sure if it's got a name or if there's any info about it so I just gave it that name for the sake of it. It's got a good few problems and features a steep overhang with very poor holds. Potential for 8s from sit-start, but hard enough from stand start. Video here:
There's a lot of other stuff around especially between Portocelo and La Guardia. I even found a jumble of boulders with savage roofs and overhang but the landings were also savage, so I did not go near it. It's all in the following video:
And finally, also in Portocelo, close to the Supertanker, is a nice roof with three obvious lines: left arete, centre crack and right arete. But between the last two there's a really hard eliminate that will see me again if I get the chance. Video here:
Special thanks to Miguel and his family for looking after us during As Festas do Monte. It was great!
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UPDATE (23 /09/ 2010):
Luis Vigo (that would be his forum nickname), says that the Portocelo's boulders have been a climbing spot for the last 15 years and it even saw the first Galician bouldering comp in 1998. He says there used to be a topo but he doesn't seem to know where that info is gone.
Bouldering in Moulzie/Glen Doll (South Esk river), Angus
Further to the last post about Glen Doll, I have been searching the maps to find out where I had been climbing and it turns out that it was not Glen Doll but the valley of the river South Esk. Some grassy fords surround a farm estate called “Moulzie”, located right in the middle of the glen. After a second reading of the Stone country guide, I realised that John Watson is actually mentioning some granite stones near the Moulzie farm. I saw some boulders indeed but most of them were quite small and the mini-crag was far more interesting. On the other hand I did not walk as far as “Juan Jorge” crag which is located around the corner of “The Strone” and I suspect this is where the other large boulders he mentions are located.
After a highly interesting CPD about style in translations in Perth on Saturday I enjoyed the great outdoor on a sunny Sunday, something that had not happened in weeks.
My original plan was to go bouldering in Glen Clova, but granite is not exactly the most enjoyable type of rock when the sun is baking. Instead I decided to go and explore Glen Doll. Although I did follow the guidebook directions, I did not have a proper OS map and I am not sure if I found the right place. I did find a nice little outcrop in the shades though - little from a route point of view because some of the problems I did were easily over 5m/15ft height.
I first had a couple of unmotivated lazy tries at an awesome roof prow. Looking easy enough, with very solid holds, it has a good grass landing platform. My excuse for not committing is that I had no spotters and only one mat. Moreover, I promised my wife not do highballs on my own again.
My attention then turned to the slightly overhanging wall to left, which seemed to have two nice break lines, probably as high as the roof but easier looking – so I thought anyway. After a bit of warm-up and the inspection of the top out via an easy descent to the right, I tried the main break line in the middle of the wall. I don’t think it was harder than Font 6a but with the height it felt much harder. I used a mixture of some shaky footwork and excitement self-control technique, if such a thing exists.
I guess that was my promise broken, and since it was broken there was no point stopping there, so up I went on the second line. This one might have been easier, had I not decided to swap feet at the wrong moment. The next second I hit the ground hard and felt some pain at my wrist: nothing was broken but a seriously bleeding cut chilled my excitement for more highball.
It was time to move on a less dangerous game. I climbed two other problems further left, as shown on the picture. It is worth mentioning there is a possible sit-start to the second line but it must go at a very high grade given the size of the crimps....
Finally I must confirm, as I was pointed out by my kind hosts that very same day, that there were no midges although it was June, it was very warm and there was no wind. So here’s a tip for the summer: stay East!
"In any online discussion about grades, and there have been many of these over the years, you can almost set your watch by the arrival of some pundit who will roll out the aged old cliche that there are only two grades that matter: those you can do, and (wait for it) those you can't! The corollary being that grades are unimportant. [...] Grades and grading arguments are in our blood, and people who say they don't care about them are simply not being honest."
These are the words of the North-Wales Bouldering Guru, Simon Panton.
I personally tend to avoid mentioning any grade on this blog, because most of the time they would simply be wrong. Not that I am questioning any one's ability to grade problems, but for some reason as soon as you put a figure on a problem you get criticised. Either the figure is too high and you are full of it, or it is too low and you are a sandbagging scumbag ( not to be mixed with a scum bagging sandbag).
However there was various discussions recently about grades in Glendalough and more generally in Ireland and Dave Flanagan suggested me a post including a list showing in descending order the Glendalough problems that I have done and consider to be classics. Obviously this is expressing my opinion, and only mine (you can start shooting, I'm ready). So here it is:
Superstars of the BMX 7a+
The Fin SS 7a+
The Egg SS 7a+
2.4 Pascal SS 7a+
Andy's Arete SS 7a
BBE (standing start) 7a
Road house and mingeback 7a
The Nu Rails SS 6c
Chillax SS 6c
Barry's Problem SS 6c
John's roof SS 6c
San Miguel SS 6c
Greg's Problem traverse 6c
Chuppa Chups 6b
Quality Control SS 6b
Superswinger SS 6b
The Plum 6b
To grade a boulder problem, here is what I personally think that a climber should take into consideration:
climbing level: if you send a new 7a every day for breakfast, there is no way you can make a difference between a 5 and a 6a. For instance John Gaskins climbed "Away from the numbers" a few years ago, a problem that was probably a piece of cake for him. At that time he roughly estimated the grade to be 7a+. I do suspect it is harder and I don't think that climb has received many ascents since then.
climbing style and diversity: having a 6a level should mean that you can climb any 6a. However it is never the case as we hardly have access to a diversity of rock, heights, angle, holds and landings. Most climbers rely on their local crag for obvious financial/time reasons and therefore they usually get spanked big time when they go and visit different climbing locations. This has a big impact on grading because it means we tend to specialise within the grade level, i.e. we find easy those Glendo hard moves we are used too, but we find the Font warm-ups very hard, leading us to think that their grades are messed up.
Amount of tries/ascents: when getting a problem after a hundred tries you cannot properly grade it, because you feel that you have achieved something far beyond your usual climbing. Conversely a problem that you have done many times feels much easier because your body knows the job perfectly: Has anyone ever seen Barry O'Dwyer in Glendo? The guy stopped climbing for a year but I bet you he still warms up on the Egg.
Conditions: That's a big one. Grades are floating with the wind, the temperature and the humidity. It might sound obvious but everything feels easier when conditions are perfect.
Climber's morphology: Another obvious one. I am over 6 ft (longer reach but bigger leverage), my ape index is negative (good for foot locks, bad for mantel), I have big feet (good for smearing, bad for edging), and long spatulate fingers (perfect on slopers but painful on pockets). So for me the Fin should be easier than the egg. It is probably not the case for a short monkey with tiny feet and stumpy fingers. By the way my wife says I also have big soft lips but she does not want to share them.
