Lately we've been staying close to home, taking care of the countless chores that come with life in the country (yesterday I chopped firewood for 7 hours straight), and getting out to Santa Linya in the afternoons.
It's actually been a really nice rythm. Santa Linya is only 20 minutes away so its really easy to incorporate a little bit of everything into the day.
It's nice to drop by and climb 3-4 pitches at the end of the day. It's like how I'd imagine golfers like to get in a few holes in the afternoon, just to loosen up and get your exercise fix for the day.
 
                                                 "Neanderthal" [9b]  © Photo Pete O´donovan


It was cool the other day to do a route called Catxasa (9a+? maybe, who the hell knows...).
Dani Andrada bolted the line a year and a half ago, and its one of the only hard lines that was remaining for me at the cave.  

It's nice to find this balance here. One of the biggest challenges living here in such a climbing mecca is that its easy to end up climbing too much. It's normal when you go on a trip and you want to climb everyday to maximize your time and get as much in, in the 3 weeks that you have. But being here longterm I often find myself so beat up from so many day and months in a row with very little rest. For me learning to not feel obligated to go climbing even though there are 50 projects waiting to be done right out my door, has been key to sustaining my motivation over a long period  of time.

Anyway, for me I find my climbing is more effective like this. Often I send my hardest routes upon return from a nonclimbing trip, because I'm well rested and super psyched.  Keeping the motivation and the body fresh is no doubt super important. Today we're headed back to the cave and later in the week no doubt get out to Margalef and Oliana.

Vamos!!!