The Holiday Begins: Germany

Where do I start.. In April 2012 the lads ( Jamo, Daragh, Ciaran and Eoin) booked a bouldering holiday to Albarracín, Spain. The first time I heard about it I was Ecstatic, I was only six months climbing and couldn't wait to experience a climbing holiday for the first time. Unfortunately though I was unable to go due to the expenses needed for the holiday. On the lads trip they came across two Germans, Marco and Christian. They have been climbing and bouldering for about seven years and are seriously strong, beasts. Both climb hard grades of 7b, 7b+ and 7c. Cyborgs. They all became good friends on the holiday and shared each others company and as a result Marco and Christian invited the lucky Irish over to stay with them for two weeks in there home area, Phalz. A beautiful area to the west of Germany not far from the French border, containing many Forrest's and greenery throughout the countryside. When the boys got home they told me the news about the possibility of travelling to Germany, I was over the moon. What put a bigger smile on my face was that the Germans insisted on putting us up for nothing, and to top it off they would drive us to one of the top bouldering areas around, Magic wood, and some really good areas close to where they live.

There was no way I was going to miss out on this trip so in order to be able to take part I would have to start earning some wage. Working in a nearby hotel gave me the money I needed and soon enough I had the holiday paid for. Once those flights were purchased that was it for me, going on the trip was now guaranteed. The weeks leading up couldn't have gone any smoother, work was plentiful, money wasn't an issue, and the equipment being a tent and a sleeping bag were now mine. All that was left to think about was the exciting thought of what lies ahead.

Me on a 6b in Jurrasic Park

Finally the day arrived, we left Dublin for Frankfurt airport arriving in Germany at half eleven at night. We were then greeted positively by Christian and Marco as we walked through the arrival gates and embraced them with masculine energy pumping through our body's. It was there and then decided that Daragh and I would stay in Christians house for the days spent in Germany while Ciaran and Jamo would stay with Marco in his Five Star Hotel. The next morning I awoke to the nice warm temperate air gently flowing through the window. I stuck my head out to see Germany for the first time in broad daylight. Everything seemed very still and relaxed with only the sound of cars to disturb the silence. Once Daroge opened his eyes and gained consciousness we ventured into the kitchen across from our room and were surprised by the layout of the house, it was very brightly coloured with weird objects hanging from the ceiling and on the walls, the souvenir kind, a variety of spices also hung from the ceiling in the kitchen. A traditional European trend. On the work top were some freshly baked pretzels with salt sprinkled over, we also had some tasty cheese, marmalade ham to enhance the flavour. Serious stuff. Once we finished eating it was time to head over to the boys at Marcos so that we could all drive together and have a look at one of the Germans small bouldering areas, Jurassic Park. It has cool rock, red sandstone and said to be like Albarracin which was deadly and all was steep. First impression of the place was amazing. We warmed up on some 6a's and did some 6b's which led up to a class prow, Arcteryx 6c. It started off on two good ledges to a finger crack on the left and a good stretched out sloped arete to the right. Then using some heel hooks it bumped up the sloped arete, then from there to another crack with the left and the finish was a big dead-point to a positive flat hold. Earlier on in the day we were shown a beast 7b called T-Rex. Beautiful problem. We later returned and worked it for the whole day and saw ourselves putting together the puzzle and getting further and further into the sequence. As time passed by and fatigue started to set in it was then decided to call the day a day. On the walk back to the car faces were kept smiling as we all knew T-Rex was getting sent, and it was only the first day. A great first impression for Germany. On the last day of the whole trip after the return from Magic Wood, back to T-Rex it was, Jamo got it :) and Ciaran almost. One day he shall conquer. 

The following day we were taken to a much larger area called Kalmit, some great problems there also. My goal for the trip was simply to have a great time, meet new people and appreciate the different features of the countries we visited, but in terms of bouldering I wanted to climb as much as possible while I had the opportunity and I really wanted to get my first 7a. After doing some cool warm ups I was recommended some 7a's from around where we were that day. One of which was a long horizontal high-ball, the name was German so I can't remember what it was called, all I know is it was a beauty, really got psyched on it. When it came to giving it a go and had the sequence in my head I gave the start a lash which was real stretched out and then tried the last move which was a high and risky fall. The last move was a right heel hook with both hands on a massive jug and a big dead point to a side pull. On trying the move I got into position, pulled myself up while biting on the heel, felt the side pull but didn't manage to hold it, I dropped back down to the jug to give it a second attempt but barely tickled it and cut loose falling onto the mats safely but quite easily could have been a bad landing. After 15 minutes I thought about going back to it but the dangerous fall put me off. I didn't go back to it but I'd like to one day. A while later I was shown a sweet 6a roof that took me by surprise for its grade but never the less it was a sweet rock. I spent about an hour doing it and at the end I was happy as if it had been a 7a. Beast. That night we were all in Marcos drinking the weissbier (German beer), when Florion, the Germans friend who was also in Albarracín at the time of the boys trip, came over to see us in his homeland. We being Daragh, Jamie and I started conversing with him and soon after the conversation started he let the cat out of the bag by asking us what time we were leaving for Font tomorrow? wdf? we were confused for a split second and then looked at each other and thought no..we approached the older fellas immediately and discussed what we just heard, they laughed and straight away we knew we were now going to Fontainbleau as a bonus. We were proper chuffed! Ciaran had planned this out with Marco and Christian since before we had come over. What a surprise!