Time passes quick and it was almost may. We had had summerlike weather in Margalef, then it cooled of a bit in Oliana. Driving south to Cuenca I was afraid it was just going to get warmer. I turned out going in the opposite direction.
We arrive in the late afternoon (after getting harrased, once again, by the spanish police) in Cuenca and climbed some hard and old-school routes at the popular sector Alfar. This place (Cuenca) has all angles but many of the steep, hard and old routes are more or less chipped. The setting is nice near the river and not far from the city of Cuenca itself.

the classic ”Public Enemy”, on-sighted by Stefan Glowacz back in the day. if you make an error reading/on-sighting these chipped routes youre out of there..! this route is just to the left of another classic: ”Goliath”, soloed by Andrada back in the day. photo: Angel Duran

After experiencing some steepness and drilled pockets I got in touch with Dani Andrada and he was busy up at a sector called Valdecabras. This place turned out to be completely different and almost no manufactured holds. Also, the climbing there was more varied (on the harder routes) and I did some of the best routes ever.

trying the modern classic ”Palestina” in Valdecabras. too wet and impossible this time. I’ll be back..!

And the weather got worse. First cold, then rainy and finally one morning the van was covered in snow. Despite these conditions we headed out in clothing suited for alpine climbing. Dani came up in the snow in his usual clothes: a pair of Crocs sandals, a pair of jeans and a hoodie. ”Un poco frio, no?”. No kidding?! I even climbed in my thin down liner…

Andrada sets of without warm up on ”Leire”, 9a, while it was snowing like it should on x-mas.

The worst part of the cold and snow/rain is after climbing, cooking in miserable conditions and sleeping in a humid van. After a week of keeping the spirit up we started whishing for a break from it all. So the upcoming event I had to take part of came a nice break from the mountain life: We flew to Gothenburg, Sweden. There I was going to climb a hotel building (about 80 meters high) as the start of an outdoor trade show downtown Gothenburg. We were welcomed with a top class room with a beautiful wiew over the city where I grew up.

”on belay!”

FA OS 6c

I was a busy weekend and lots of fun!
Here you can watch a short movie from the ascent (in Swedish):

Gothia Towers – First Ascent from Jack T. Colton on Vimeo.

Now we are on our way back to Spain -Andalucia up next!

After spending another week in Vadiello it was time to move on. It had been nice to be almost alone at this beautiful place but it was time for some socializing. Exept Carlos ”Citro” Logrono (a local climber from Huesca) I had not met any old climbingfriends so far on the trip. We headed towards Lleida, the new climbing capital (what Aix-En-Provence used to be in the 90′s). We stayed at Jordi Salas place for the night and the next day headed for Margalef. Not because I had some special route in mind but because a bunch of old friends where there. We met Joe and Colette, living climbing legends Yuji and Jibé, japanese star Sashi and a bunch of other familiar faces. After a few days of doing some of the best routes ever in Margalef I wanted to check out Papichulo in Oliana before heading south. I met Ethan Pringle (fresh from sending Era Vella. and btw, I met Ethan for the first time i Rodellar about 10 years ago. we lived in what these days is known as the Ali Baba cave. those were the days…) and he was keen to give it a go. Ever since I belayed Dave Graham on this route a few years ago I have had the biggest respect for the line. It’s a beauty, lies on one of the purest faces I know but also has the reputation for having some really small holds. I did the first part ages ago and thought that if it goes on like this, it’s probably not for me. But after hearing Joe rave about how good it is and that the holds are not that bad I decided to check it out. And I found out it wasn’t at all as bad as expected -this mother of a route is totally possible!

photos: Walker Emerson+Greg Garretson

After having some good days in Oliana working on Papi but also on-sighting some monster routes, and having a day in Figols (thanks Joe) doing some more monster on-sights, we turned south. Papi will have to wait and Andalucian limestone+flamenco is waiting… We are currently in Cuenca doing some steep pocket pulling and meeting up with maestro Dani, who is the old guru also for this place.

The first real target for the trip was the route Supernova in Vadiello, in the Aragon region of northern Spain. We passed Tres Ponts on the way and got news that the fashionable/trendy areas of Oliana, Margalef etc were packed. Why stand in line to climb when there is so much good rock and great routes all over in this country? Vadiello turned out to be a good choice: almost no people, both limestone and conglomerate, nice places to set up camp near a calm lake with different predator birds circulating around the surrounding conglomerate domes. The place is situated about 20 minutes north-east of the town of Huesca.

I had felt in miserable shape on-sighting so far on this trip. Maybe I was still recovering from all the hard training this winter? Anyway, I had planned at least 3 weeks on the route so hopefully it would turn out ok in the end. As my shape felt so bad I instead worked the route VERY well, planning to attack once I felt a bit better.

On my first red-point, with no expectations, I just wanted to feel how that upper section would feel, probably arriving there pumped like hell. I just went for it, climbed every section perfectly (even better than when working the moves individually which has never happend before) and finally found myself on top of the route. I felt totally empty, no screaming -nothing. Was it really that hard (I’m sure some sertain people reading this will question the routes 9a grade after doing the math)? But who cares? This was for the me a new step in red-pointing, climbing so perfectly was defenately the key to succes. No expectations another. I thought this route would take ages (when dogging the routes before the burn the crux had felt harder than ever) but sometimes unexpected things happen (or actually most of the time unexpected things happen but in a negative sense. Like when my car had been taken away in Barcelona as I had not payed for the parking -but usually never do!). So, what to do next? After climbing 5 routes around this grade it’s maybe time to step up a notch?!

I was time to leave -finally! After 3 months of hard training and winter it felt good to finally pack the car and head south. Even if the sun was out the last days in Sweden it was still cold and I had enough freezing.

one last route at Finnsvedsberget outside Stockholm, with a winter approach over the frozen fjord.

My friend Carl (a.k.a. Gallanos il Galliano) had hooked me up with some tickets for the Gothenburg-Kiel ferry so no need to visit Denmark on the way. It felt like such luxury to have a good nights sleep on the boat and then wake up, ready to roll, in Germany. Our first stop on the way was Freyr in Belgium. I’ve been thinking about visitning this place several times before but now was the time. We arrived late that day and just in time to do one route before the sun went down. The crag Freyr is situated near the village of Dinant by the Meuse river.

Face sud in Freyr. The style is old-school and the grades are the same. Great rock in a beautiful setting.

Finishing the day in Freyr/Dinant with the Belgian national dish: french fries with mayo and ketchup.

After another day of climbing we continued south to Paris. This is an obligatory stop on the way south, especially the boulders of Fontainebleau.

Strolling around Barbés in north of Paris by night. This is the closest you can get west and north Africa in Europe. And of course we are sleeping in the van down town like true Gitanos.

Doing some classics in the mythical forest of Fontainebleau. Then we continued south for the bigger stuff.

So the weather in Sweden was cold but I must say, it isn’t much better down here right now. Today we are having a restday in Toulouse, on the way down to the Pyrenées, and right now there is a nice mix of rain and snow falling from the sky… I hope the forecast is right about sun tomorrow, that would be for the first time this week!

Cooking fast food (thanks to 24 Hour Meal for this great tasting and super quick stuff!) in miserable conditions down town Toulouse. Great weather to stay in the van and watch Rambo -and that’s exactly what we will do tonight!

wow, this years winter nevers seem to give up..! I was down for a few days in Gothenburg and at least down there the snow is gone, cold as *** though but at least we climbed on rock. Shortly after I went to the north of Sweden, for an event called ”Arctic Weekend” that my clothing sponsor Haglöfs had put together. Last taste of winter I thought, and enjoyed the north (Norrland in swedish but Sapmi by the native inhabitants, the Sami) to the fullest with skiing, ice climbing, sauna, loads of nice people. I also had a pretty full on slideshow, talking, showing photos and playing music solo -almost at the same time.

during the ice climbing clinique in Abisko.

training and product testing some new pants at the Riksgränsen hotels basement gym. an ancient gym including a wooden crack with sandpaper to practise jamming (or what?!)

sitting around the igloos at night, waiting for aurora borealis, the nortern lights.

We flew home through the nortern lights back to Stockholm. Usually the temps are starting to rise well above zero at this time of the year. But the winter seem to have reloaded and I was back out x-coutry skiing today on my restday. But seriously, next week I’m leaving this place. Enough is enough.

It feels like the longest winter ever! And I’ve finally understood why: usually I have climbing/training and music on the agenda at this period of the year. In Gothenburg the season is longer than in Stockholm which means you can get out and climb eariler in the season. As I’ve been living in Stockholm in the past the winters are real winters here, this means it’s hard to find dry rock+it’s way colder. The other reason why it’s felt so long is because I have not played almost any music. This has led to an agenda with mainly training indoors, training hard and like crazy that is. 10 sessions per week, and some really nasty exercises that I’m not used to. I hope they work..!
I’ve also had the chance to do some ice climbing and now finally the winter seems to be coming to an end, but you never know around here.

parts of the training bunch in Stockholm (Geir, Erik, Stefan, me, Johan the Legend, Daniel and Peter), here at Klätter Verket, one of 4 big gyms in town.

keeping the musical spirit alive, here with old friends Fredrik and Olle from our old band Giddabush.

ice climbing in the Sala silvermines, about one hour northwest of Stockholm.

the old-school ice veteran team of the day in Sala.

Fortunately the past week has been a little bit more suited for rockclimbing and we went out to touch some rock as soon as we got the chance.

continental start of the day at an old café in Enskede.

Stefan a.k.a . Postman a.k.a the Wolf trying to stay warm on a classic pitch at Döskalleberget, one of the best ”wintercrags” in Stockholm.

Erik trying to do the same thing at the same place (but not really at the exact same time).

heading back to the car over a frozen lake in the last light of the day.

What’s better than finishing of a day of hard training, than a sauna combined with a dip in the icy cold water. this experience will make you feel alive! and, it also feels really good, especially when you know you have a sauna to go back to!

Eid Miloud is the birthday of the prophet Muhammed (peace be upon His soul) and 7 days after starts the ”moussem”. This is a celebration all over Morocco. For gnawa musicians this happens mainly in 3 different places: sidi Ali (Meknes), moulay Brahim and Tamslohte (moulay Abdella Ben H’sain, both near Marrakech). Musicians gather for rituals (lilas) and this is a really important time for gnawa from all over the country to meet. And because of this, I’ve been coming to Morocco at this certain time for many years. There is much to be said about these gatherings, but they are best to be experienced as they are a taste of a different world -especially if you come directly from a snowcovered Stockholm!
Of course I also go to visit my big family in Rabat, try to get some climbing done but mainly just enyoy the coutry where I feel the best.

with the great m’allem Abdellatif Elmakhzoumi, with whom I spent this years moussem, in his home in Marrakech.

recording and shooting m’allem Abdellrzaq El Moustaqim by the sanctuary of sidi Mimoun & sidi Moussa in Salé/Rabat.

I don’t know why I have not been looking for this before: there is a pretty big potential for both bouldering and maybe also some routes within walking distance from our house in Rabat, just by the ocean. It might not be world class but it’s perfect rock, climbing with the sound of waves in the background.

training in the ”Studio”, in our house in Rabat.

the last dinner always comes sooner or later. and big parts of the Belhaj family usually gathers for this. and it’s allways as hard to leave this place…

What’ the reason of living in Scandinavia anyway? I you ask me, part of it is having 4 distinct seasons. On the way back from Argentina I had snowy and cold landscapes on my mind. Skiing, sauna and beginning of the training season. Well back in Sweden all the snow I had heard about had almost melted away. So after a week in Stockholm I decided to take a trip to Finland -in search of the REAL winter. Kauhava, where my grandparents live, delivered what I was hoping for: -20 degrees and loads of snow!

as this areas of Finland is so flat there is mainly cross country skiing, but what’s wrong with that?

imagine doing 100 move circuits on this wall. the hardest training mentaly ever. I guess boring is the right word!

the simple life

from Buenos Aires to Kauhava the tango scene changes quite a lot -but it’s still tango!

after training, music and sauna it’s always nice to kick back for a bbq in a place like this. and enjoy the sound of silence.

The journey continued west to Chile. I met several chilean climbers along the the way so I was sure there was going to be something to climb on. Like Argentina, Chile is a huge country. We stopped in Poerto Varas on the way to Santiago. Not far from here is probably the best climbing in the coutry, Cochamo (atleast so I was told). But as time was not enough, we had to move on to the capital.

pitstop in Puerto Varas to see the famous Osorno volcano. but it was too misty and time was too short to do any climbing. next time…

Santiago de Chile is situated just below the Andes and not far from the ocean -it seemed like a good place for a climber. After living in a tent for about a month it was nice to move into a house with a pool outside and no need to cook. It also became clear that there were several crags not too far from the city: el Arrayan, Las Chilcas, La Mina etc. It ended up being a very plesant stay indeed, although I soon stared missing the simple life in the tent, far from the city pulse.

heading up Cajon Del Maipo with the crew from the chilean climbing mag ”Escalando”: Christian, Maria, Erick. here taking the obligatory empanada break.

the approach to ”la Mina” (some 2 hours from Santiago) with the San José volcano in the background.

climbing in ”la Mina” with wild winds and scenery. photo: Christian Moscoso/Escalando mag

Lucho Birkner warming up in Las Chilcas. This was the best (and ”oldest” place around, about 1 hour from Santiago) in my opinion: steep conglomerate, but maybe not the nicest area as it’s near a highway.

climbing some fantastic routes at the ”Desplomalandia” sector in Las Chilcas. photo: Mateo Barrenengoa

parts of the Santiago climbing crew. below: with the local hermit Eduardo and his dog at Las Chilcas.

one last route, one last 8 for this year. although grades are a total fiction I’m still counting them for fun, and this was the 118th (between 8a-9a) for this year. I’m getting close to 1000 now, but I’m still far behind Dani’s 2500! photo: Pablo Anttila

restday in Valparaiso, near the ocean.

last days in Chile, by the Las Docas beach, with team Calera Del Tango. we lived in this amazing ”ewok” tree house.

Before heading back to Europe, we had some final days in Buenos Aires. It was time to check out the REAL tango scene. I’ve been playing tango (on the violin) since I was a kid, but the finnish version. I’m very familiar with the scene in Finland so I was really excited to see what it was like in it’s place of origin. And as this is what the city and country mainly is known for there we almost too many options to choose from, and many of them tourist traps. But with some beta from friends+intuition about these kinds of things, we seemed lucky with our choise.

heading downtown Buenos Aires with the old wooden! ”Subte” (metro) wagon.

this is where it’s happening: the San Telmo neighbourhood.

you are going to a tango concert in San Telmo but instead run into a huge candombé street party: heat, sweat, music, people!

the hip Torquato Tasso tango club.

My grandfather Eero’s (who I’ve been playing with since childhood) favourite tango song is ”La Cumparsita”, which is played both in Finland an Argentina. I’ve even named one of my routes with this name as hommage to him. So, when I found a club with this name I knew this was the place. It was a real old-school place with well dressed old men, who had their fixed seat since years back. And the waiter (and owner?) Ruben was a man with old-time manners, he made shure we had something to drink and eat during our stay (and we sat there for 4 stright hours!)

several musicians took turns playing and at least 5 different singers. the oldes maestro was this 90 year old gentleman!

It’s hard to leave a place like this. The last toast was to life -life is long!

Sometimes all odds are against you. But an indescribable feeling is pushing you forward. Going sport climbing is usually the most convenient part of climbing. Going sport climbing in Valle Encantado some 60 km from Bariloche turned out to be an expedition… Ever since arriving in Argentina I heard different things about the Valle: ”it covered with ashes from the volcano in Chile -no way of climbing”, ”it’s closed since someone made a fire”, ”it’s closed -don’t go there!”, IT´S CLOSED -GOT IT?!”. But as we didn’t exactly get the gentle welcoming neither help from the local climbers in Bariloche (exept Mati who borrowed me his ”house”) I thought it would be better to go and see for myself. We luckily manager to borrow a boat (and of course not from some locals but from some Chilean climbers) thats needed to cross the river. And we were going to keep an extra low profile if the rumor turned out to be right, that it actually was closed. So after getting the necessary food supplies, we got on the local bus and jumped of where we thought to be the right place to cross the river. As the river was so wild it took us 1,5 day to get across after numerous attempts (one attempt was swimming in the icy water with a fixed rope, that later should be used to pull the rest of the gang -good try Zorbey!) We finally got some help (and of course not from locals but a frenchmen) and made a camp on the other side. So, it finally looked like it was not forbidden after all as we met both locals and international travelers. But the amount was very little due to all the warnings that had spread -they simply did not want all foreign Roctrippers to show up after the festival. And I must say this was a bit sad for everyone who did not make it: Valle Encantado is truly a unique place, some totally amazing pieces of rock and routes for all levels. Climbing, camping by the river and just being in the Valle totally isolated for a week was like a dream. The way back finally turned out to be a serious deal as the river picked up perfectly the day for our return. And hitchhiking turned out to be harder that in the south of France… I just hoped we could have made some more photos, here are the ones we managed to get:

first try of crossing the river. we finally managed -the next day!