Xavi on the La Cadireta Roof (3rd pitch). Montserrat, Catalunya, 2018 (iPhone 6)
La cadireta = “the little chair”
It is an interesting rock formation on the north side of the Montserrat massif outside of Barcelona. One of the classic climbs on this rock prominence is the aid route (Anglada-Guillamon, IV+/A3e) up the north side, basically the lefthand profile in the image below. The roof–or chin, maybe?–that Xavi is on in the photo above is obvious:
La Cadireta Profile. Montserrat, Catalunya, 2018 (iPhone 6)
It was my first time doing any aid climbing outside on real rock since the Northwest Face of Half Dome back in 1983–it’s amazing how much you forget about the flow of this kind of “artificial” climbing. But, the technique slowly came back…perfect weather, amazing exposure, and great company!
As to the photography…these images basically suck in terms of digital file quality–that’s what I get for carrying only the iPhone. Even my little Sony RX100ii, shooting in raw, would have been 100 times better–more pixels to work with, more dynamic range. As it is, these iPhone images are barely good enough to post online.
Fun fact #1: There are small, strange, CD-like discs attached to the rock atop La Cadireta. The purpose? From a device set up below, they can fire off a laser beam to measure the exact distance–to see if any shifting of the rock formation has occurred… a possible precursor to what would most certainly be a massive rock fall. (Which has happened before!)
Fun fact #2: A wing suit jumper once dropped off of a helicopter and flew through the little triangular hole you see there. Crazy, or what!? ‘Tis true. And you thought climbing up the thing was nuts. Here is the video:
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2 Comments
I’m awestruck that you are climbing like this. You taught me to climb over thirty years ago and those experiences remain among the most cherished of my lifetime. What a thrill it was! Also, the guy who flies through the triangle, literally, took my
breath away. It is good to spend time looking at art and adventure to balance the terrors of modern life. Thank you.
Amazingly, I am climbing almost as well as I was in my 20s–but I tend to choose much safer (well-protected) routes these days. It has been fun coming back into the climbing tribe, meeting people, seeing what has changed (both positive and negative changes), watching my body adapt to the work (so far, anyway!). Yeah, we had some good times on Mt Lemmon. I also recall with warm feelings climbing that peak east of Wellton with Chris (and someone else…were you with us?).