Summer Solstice In Wales - A Trad Climbing Journey

We climbers, we like to discover, and so to stay for a while in one place is pretty hard for us. So we like to switch the place. This is the reason why we came here actually. But to be honest, maybe sometimes it's better to stay in one place and skip the other option. It's true. But guys, we are explorers. It can't always get better. This year we came up with the idea of checking out the climbing possibilities here in the UK. So we came up with the idea of Wales. Yeah, the original plan was to come to Wales, to visit Wales and to climb a lot of different easier routes because we didn't know if it's really scary, if we have to take a big risk or something. And I was expecting that we are mostly hanging out on the easier stuff. Yeah, that was the original plan, but then somehow we found a lot of cool, harder routes and we started to try them and it was a lot of fun. So we decided to focus on that. But yeah, we were, I think, positively surprised by the climb here. Yeah, I was expecting a lot of easier and not so good routes, but we found a lot of hard and really good routes. The ethic is really nice here. Because normally, where we are used to climb, even the tread climbs have bolted belays. And here, I haven't seen a bolt in two weeks. Everything is completely ahead. There are no protections. You have to do everything yourself. It's really cool. It's a cool way to respect, I think, the rock. It's quite special. Yeah, it's so cool to work on a route and when you finally can climb it. And the long process. First, you are really scared and you don't know if you want to climb it on lead or not. And then you reach a point where you think, OK, now I can do all the sequences and I'm getting super motivated to try it ground up. But at the same time, it's like a really unsecure feeling, because you never know how your mindset is while climbing. It can change really fast. Sometimes you really have to climb mind-controlled. You should never be stressed out. And I really like this aspect of tread climbing, that you have to be really, really focused and you have to really want to climb the line like that. It's not just to go there, yeah, I feel tired and I'm not super motivated, but I will give it a try. You never would do this. So you really have to go for it and to be totally motivated to start. I could stay calm at this point. Beginning I was a little bit shaky, but after, when I started climbing, I felt quite good. And yeah, I'm happy about it. It's really cool, really, really cool. Yeah, it's just a more complete game. You don't have to focus just on the climbing, but there are so many different aspects involved that makes the whole experience more intense. So actually I had no idea about the main grades from British tread climbing and I had a walk into another area here in Pembroke and I discovered the main wall. And in the center, in this whole overhanging wall, there was the route, the big issue. I had no idea how was the grade, but I was totally obsessed about the whole line because it was such a unique and such an iconic line, which follows straight through the main sector and it's massive overhanging. It's like 35 meters long. And yeah, then I started to try it, but the conditions were terrifying. The whole line was completely wet. Yeah, on the next day I tried my first lead tries, which was super hard because climbing and placing gear is such a big different story than just top roping. Then the rest of our crew joined me to support me, which was pretty cool because then you have less pressure having a nice conversation on this exposed big piece of rock. And I tried again and was totally without any expectations. Climbed pretty well, so I reached the ledge. The easy section was above me and the hard section was below me. Then actually the hard section started for me. Actually the upper part is like 6c, so not that hard. If you know where to go, but I didn't know where to go, that was the main thing. Basically I climbed completely on my limit. Every move was at that point, but I was able to climb it to the top. Otherwise I would take a maybe 20 meter fall or I don't know how long it would be. That was my big issue. It's unbelievable. I can't believe it. It was so close. Only that I was on the rock because it was so sharp. Otherwise I would fall. I was totally sure I would fall. I had no chance. It's very rainy. Comfy mode. It's mega safe. Ah, now it's ok. And that guy looks like sleeping by the weather. Yeah, for sure. We were really surprised by the quality of Fenbrook. I expected it to be good, but not as good. It's really nice, especially the place, because normally when you go climbing, you're always somewhere in the countryside or in the mountains. This place is really special because it's close to the sea. It's quite funny and frustrating at the same time because there are so many different aspects to worry about and to manage, like the high and low tide. You can't climb the whole day because sometimes the sea level is too high and you can't start, so you have to wait for the low tide to try to move. And also a really funny thing are the delay stations. Normally we are used to bolted delays or just to build our own delay station with cams or gear and then wrap it down. And here you have just some poles stuck in the ground. So the first day was quite, not scary, but it was weird to just attach the rope on a pole and upside down for 30 meters. Yeah, we found a lot of cool lines. I climbed a lot. They made a lot of plastics. Then I really fell in love with a cool route here. It's called, I think, Something is Burning. It has the same grade as the other that I did, but somehow it felt super hard for me because there is a long move from an under crimp to a crimp in the middle and I can't reach it. So I had to find another sequence. And after a lot of trying, I found this other solution which involves a really sharp and small crimp and to make a big move from that one. And yeah, I wanted to give it a try, but somehow I couldn't find the right time. And now today is our last day. I wanted to try it, but the weather turned it bad and it started to rain and the conditions are too bad to make a try. And I don't feel comfortable with the conditions. So yeah, I decided not to try it. I'm sure I will try it again the next time because it's really, really cool. And it's fun. You don't climb for the grade because it's just a really cool line. And even if it's not supposed to be so hard, for me it's hard and I just don't want to give up. I want to try it. Ciao! It's raining. It started very good. We had a lot of sun and we thought that it will stay the whole day, but it didn't. Hi, I'm here in Wales with Babsi, Jacopo and Roland for a really nice tread climbing trip. And yeah, I didn't expect it very much. So only climbing a lot of easy routes and placing a lot of gear. And I wanted to get another influence besides board climbing and bouldering. So I tried this route Chupacabra. Yeah, when I first looked at it in Top Rope, I thought I will never be able to climb it. Yeah, I was able to do all the moves, but not to link everything together. First, we went a few days to North Wales, so I had a break. And when we came back to Chupacabra and tried it sometimes in Top Rope and it worked very well, I was able to climb it. So I decided to give it a try. Really what happened, it was a bit slippery because of the rain. Yeah, I fell three times. Three big falls, but yeah, it was okay. Oh, ****, it's snow! Yeah, it was great. I had perfect conditions. And yeah, all worked very, very good. Yeah, but I was so pumped. And yeah, but I climbed it. I can't believe it.