Roca Verde

Las mejores guías de Escalada Deportiva de la Cordillera Cantábrica. Sport climbing guides to north-west Spain: Asturias, Leon, Cantabria. Me contacten / Contact me: richie@rocaverdeclimbing.com

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Roca Verde
    • About Roca Verde
    • Where is Roca Verde?
    • Sample Topos
    • Reviews
    • Bolt Fund
    • Where to Stay
    • Advertisers
    • Weather
    • The Author
    • Contact Us
    • Useful Links
  • Buy The Book
    • Buy the Book from Mainland Europe
  • Roca Verde (Es)
    • Ejemplos de páginas
    • Fondo de Chapas
    • Localización
    • Sponsors
  • Comprar Roca Verde 2
  • La Hermida Guía (Es)
    • Sobre La Hermida – los hechos y las cifras…
  • La Hermida Guide (Eng)
    • Buy new La Hermida guide from mainland Europe
    • La Hermida guide – The facts and figures
  • Croquis Nuevos
  • New Topos
  • Videos
  • Casa Quirós Holiday Cottage
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Archives for bouldering videos

Training #1 – Back to Basics

March 3, 2020 by Roca Verde Climbing Leave a Comment

It’s strange sometimes the things you learn.

Small things which have a big effect. And when I did my year of Lattice training a few years ago one of the key things I learned was pretty basic, but had never occurred to me.

Tom put it like this ‘It’s not how hard a move you can do it’s how hard a move you can keep doing, or put it another way, what can you do when you’re pumped?’ Like I said basic. But it hadn’t really ever sunk in before. Especially in the days when I was super strong but would get six moves up a route and get pumped and fall off. This time it did. And when my test results came back and said that I wasn’t a ‘stamina-proof’ climber i.e. I could get fit it took hold. The nugget wedged in a seam!!

Tom followed this by showing me my training plan, which for the first few months seemed to have very little ‘fun stuff’ and seemed to consist of a lot of dull, easy core and lots of something called continuity.  He saw my disappointed look and continued ‘Richie, everyone needs a base to build on, something to stack all the other work on top of. And at Lattice we call that base continuity. And that’s a key part of getting to the promised land.’

And so that was the second other thing I learned; you can’t build a house without a foundation. That the pyramid that leads to peak performance starts with a wide base. The long, slow run; fifty laps of front crawl; 50km at 100 watts on a bike. It seemed to be same across a bunch of sports. It was the long slow days which allowed the hard days to happen. So, after an operation and series of injuries, I’m back to square one so I’m going back to the plan; and the plan dictates back to basics. So yesterday I did a series of shoulder exercises with very light weights led by a guy on a YouTube fitness channel who looked like a robot and today I did ‘Continuity’.

And it was dull. And I only managed three sets of six minutes.

And I sucked it up and I was happy. Because I’m on the path back. And I’m going to take it easy this time. And I’m not going to blow it.

After losing two years to a freak fall I haven’t got much time left…

And if you want to know what this magic ‘continuity’ training looks like on a very small wall with only a tiny area that’s not overhanging (and thus too steep) here’s it is…luckily not in real time!!!!!!!!!

PS This is probably not called ‘Continuity’ by Lattice or anyone anymore…

PPS  Still don’t understand modern, new-fangled ‘energy systems’ etc etc so no idea what you would actually call this.

PPPS It’s still very highly recommendable…

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: Blog, Climbing, Training, Uncategorized Tagged With: Asturias, bouldering videos, bulder, Climbing in Teverga, climbing northern spain, Cordillera Cantabrica, escalada asturias, escalada deportiva, escalada roca verde, northern Spain, roca verde climbing, rock climbing, rock climbing asturias, spanish climbing, sport climbing, Teverga, Tom Randall

‘Hidden Spain’ – Asturias – Another cool climbing video…

February 12, 2020 by Roca Verde Climbing Leave a Comment

Here’s another short video about the climbing in Asturias, and although it focuses on the bouldering as much as anything there’s some lovely shots of some of the sport climbing in Teverga too.

However, as it’s winter this video’s quite apt as it’s probably the best time to look at the bouldering which Asturias has to offer. There’s a bunch of spots across Asturias and a pretty dedicated crew – and many of the spots, especially El Cantu, Teverga (3.50) and La Collada, Quiros (4.05) dry quickly and are at their stickiest in the winter sun. The beach locations El Trankeru and Cabo Negro are more fickle but again, cool dry conditions can be found throughout the year depending on wind and tides.

You can get the locations of these spots and more in my book Roca Verde – available here…

And for climbing in Teverga or Quiros our rental house in Quiros is well worth a look…

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: Blog, Bouldering, Climbing, Escalada, escalada deportiva, Quiros, sports climbing, Teverga Tagged With: Asturias, beach climbing, bouldering videos, casa quiros, Climbing in Teverga, climbing northern spain, Cordillera Cantabrica, escalada asturias, escalada deportiva, escalada roca verde, northern Spain, roca verde climbing, rock climbing asturias, Teverga, tufa climbing

Bouldering at El gacho with James Pearson + Caroline Ciavaldini

February 3, 2020 by Roca Verde Climbing Leave a Comment

El gacho es uno de los sitios más guapos y duros para hacer búlder en Asturias. En este pequeño video James + Caro conocen la zona y prueben sus joyas! Encuentras más sobre las zonas de búlder asturiano en el libro Roca Verde disponible en rocaverdeclimbing.com
El gacho is one of the most beautiful and brutal places to boulder in Asturias. In this short video James Pearson + Caroline Ciavaldini get to try some of the brilliant problems there. You can see more about Asturian bouldering in my Roca Verde guide available at rocaverdeclimbing.com

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: Blog, Bouldering, Climbing, Escalada, escalada deportiva, Teverga Tagged With: Asturias, bouldering, bouldering videos, Caroline Ciavaldini, Climbing in Teverga, climbing northern spain, Cordillera Cantabrica, escalada asturias, escalada deportiva, escalada roca verde, james pearson, rock climbing, spanish climbing, sport climbing, Teverga

James Pearson – Bouldering at El Cantu, Teverga, Asturias

February 1, 2020 by Roca Verde Climbing Leave a Comment

El Cantu, en Teverga, Asturias es una zona típica de búlder; un revoltijo de grandes bloques de piedra caliza en las laderas debajo de las paredes. Con alrededor de más de 100 problemas de todos los grados distribuidos en un área amplia, hay muchas cosas para hacer. El Cantu tiene una caliza gris excelente, compacta, que forma pendientes frustrantes en igual medida que pequeñas regletas. “¡Uno de mis problemas favoritos de El Cantú fue Houdini, un 8a bastante corto de 5 movimientos, que terminó con un doble lance lateral espectacular!” dijo James Pearson Once Upon a Climb cuando le llevé alli hace 4 años! Grabado por Muérdago Films Foto 300bolts
El Cantu is a typical bouldering area; a jumble of big limestone blocks on the slopes below the crags. With around 100 problems of all grades spread over a wide area, there are plenty of things to go at. El Cantu is superb, compact, grey limestone, which forms frustrating slopers in equal measure to tiny crimps.
As James Pearson said “One of my favourite problems from El Cantu was Houdini, a rather short, 5 move 8a, which ended with a spectacular sideways double dyno!” Filmed by Muérdago Films Photo 300bolts

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: Bouldering, Climbing, Uncategorized Tagged With: Asturias, bouldering, bouldering videos, casa quiros, Climbing in Teverga, climbing northern spain, Cordillera Cantabrica, escalada roca verde, james pearson, roca verde climbing, Teverga

James Pearson Guest Blog – Roca Verde Road Trip – Day 6 – Bouldering

January 30, 2020 by Roca Verde Climbing Leave a Comment

“Sometimes our trips are meticulously planned and sometimes they just happen, often at the whim of others. Our Roca Verde road trip was the latter. Touching down at night in late October to Santander after a week of work in England we were looking forward to a climbing break – but we hadn’t a clue what to expect – all we knew was that we had seven days guided round the region.  

Our good friend Richie Patterson, the author of the first English language guide to a block of north-west Spain he’d christened Roca Verde, had invited us; but we didn’t really know where we were going or what the area encompassed. We’d actually not climbed in Spain for a while as we are always looking to go a little ‘off-piste’ and the crowds and polish of the major destinations, however good the climbing, don’t really appeal. So when Richie promised unpolished rock, empty crags and plenty of great routes to go at – we were intrigued enough to give it a go!”

Day 6 – Bouldering – El Gachu, El Cantu and Cabo Negro – Central Asturias

Although not perhaps the strong point of Asturias, Richie was keen for us to sample some of the bouldering, and he’d planned out one long, crazy day to take in all Asturias had to offer. Knowing me quite well I think he knew that I’d appreciate it a bit more than Caro, and promptly warned her that it would be somewhat of an acquired taste…English style!

We began the day at El Gachu, a hidden gem, tucked away on a hillside, halfway up the 1200m pass of San Lorenzo.  It’s a super steep wall of quartzite that reminded me heavily of the Bowderstone in the Lake District, with a load of hard problems up to 8b+, 50 meters long and overhanging in its entirety, the problems climbed really well, even if they were not the most inspiring of lines. The location however was a spectacular, isolated from the rest of the world as you look down on the Teverga spread out far below.

Caro on one of the super steep 7a+ boulders of El Gachu

Once again pushed for time, we hopped in the car and dropped back down to Teverga. El Cantu is a somewhat more typical bouldering area; a jumble of big limestone blocks on the slopes below the crags. With around 100 problems of all grades spread over a wide area, there are plenty of things to go at. El Cantu is superb, compact, grey limestone, which forms frustrating slopers in equal measure to tiny crimps.  One of my favourite problems from El Cantu was Houdini, a rather short, 5 move 8a, which ended with a spectacular sideways double dyno!  The easier problems are just as good, and brought with them something that limestone bouldering so often lacks – lines… After a few more problems across the various blocks we settled for lunch of fresh cooked empanada, a local treat of a flat bread filled with chorizo, and chilled out as the sun danced across the hillside opposite lighting up the sectors we’d climbed on previously.

Tired but happy we dozed in the car as Richie drove us North to the coast, to the last venue of the day, and the trip. Very much a coastal region, Asturian climbers had been exploring the cliffs and boulders next to the Atlantic for many years and found some impressive venues. Cabo Negro was one of the most famous and popular, a bunch of rough black boulders sat on a wide tidal ledge, just above the pounding sea. Facing west there were views of the port of Aviles and Richie swore it was perfectly placed to enjoy superb sunsets!

Walking down to Cabo Negro

Arriving at the boulders after a short walk along the cliff top path, it was atmospheric to say the least.  Substantial waves were crashing in, over the ledge, and sending plumes of spray 10 metres into the air. Sadly, this combination of wind and waves meant that much was too wet to climb, and we began to get a little nervous as we realised the tide was already on its way back in.

James on the classic 7a, waiting for the promised sunset on a cloudy day…

Then, whilst traversing the thinnest part of the ledge to check out the furthest boulders, I turned back as I heard a high-pitched scream and several choice French curse words. For a moment Caroline disappeared behind a huge wall of spay, luckily to re-appear a second or too later, although by now soaked to the skin! At this point we decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and that perhaps we should cut our visit short. I was reluctant to leave without trying a single problem, and so grabbed my boots to quickly play on a few of the drier boulders as Caro shivered semi-naked!!

A bit posed but we had to show the scale of the waves – the day was pretty frightening tbh!!

Day 7 – Homeward bound

Settling down on the plane and thinking about the week that had whizzed by, I thought back to Richie’s emphasis of the ‘difference’ we’d find in the north of Spain. This was Spain, but not as we had known it before: the crags were empty and unpolished, the climbing superb, and the ambience was like a snapshot of the rural past, all in the most spectacular, and very, green settings!

Caro had christened it ‘tufaland’ on day one as we marvelled at the amount of rock in La Hermida but the truth was that there seemed to be a bit of everything, especially in the west.  With Quirós and Teverga providing complementary and contrasting venues so close together, there are a ton of great routes across all grades and styles, enough for even the pickiest of climbers.

Although far too short, our trip had given us a taste of these “new” regions of Spain, and all they have to offer – and we hadn’t even made it to Leon (the remaining third of the Roca Verde guide) We left surprised, happy and content, knowing that Roca Verde was one part of Spain to which we cant wait to return.

Sunset at Casa Quiros on James and Caro’s last night!!

You can check out James and Caro’s adventures in northern Spain in a short series of movies they made about the place: their Roca Verde Road Trip.
They’re all on Epic TV so here’s some links
Part 1 – https://youtu.be/n5bil2d1Br4
Part 2 – https://youtu.be/yq37n0zej9A
Part 3 – https://youtu.be/HQ6RheBVFog

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: Blog, Bouldering, Climbing, Escalada, escalada deportiva, Quiros, sports climbing, Teverga Tagged With: bouldering, bouldering videos, bulder, Cabo negro, Caroline Ciavaldini, Climbing in Teverga, climbing northern spain, Cordillera Cantabrica, el cantu, El gachu, escalada roca verde, james pearson, northern Spain, Picos de Europa, roca verde climbing, rock climbing, rock climbing asturias, spanish climbing, sport climbing, Teverga

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Latest Blog Posts

  • Ordiales September 26, 2020
  • Quirós by drone – a visual guide to the ‘Queen of crags’ March 12, 2020
  • Quirós por dron!! March 12, 2020
  • Thinking of a Roca Verde – here’s what Josh Wharton had to say… March 4, 2020
  • Blog de Entrenamiento #1 – Volver a lo básico March 4, 2020

rocaverdeclimb

Instagram post 2340800312708699958_1398545702 Conocí nuevos amigos hoy en el monte! #serpientes Made some new friends while out hiking today 😮 #snakesalive
Instagram post 2340681506791535402_1398545702 Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós  27062020 Día muy bueno. No hace demasiado calor pero después de la lluvia siguen muchas vías mojadas. Igual un día para hacer placas...
Great day but lots wet after the heavy rain. Slab day. #teverga #climbing #rockclimbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #weather #meteo @grupoagujasobia @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias #cordilleracantabrica @casa_quiros
Instagram post 2338667219273363300_1398545702 Meteo Actualizado - Granizo gigantismo y más agua  la vez que nunca he visto en mi vida!!
Weather Update - Giant Hailstones and more water than I've ever seen fall in a 10 minute burst!!!
#tiempo #weather #asturias #rocaverde #paraisonatural #meteo @casa_quiros
Instagram post 2338502249520574559_1398545702 Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 24062020 Otro día espectacular pero con esta ola de calor será otro día caluroso. Buscas sombra y bebes mucho (agua o cerveza @cervezaasgaya me da igual)🍻🍻 😜😜👍
Brilliant day but super hot. Go somewhere shady and drink a lot - waters probably best but beer may do the trick. 🍻🍻😂😂
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing @grupoagujasobia #asturias #rocaverde #meteo #weather #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar
Instagram post 2336407444217037434_1398545702 Noticias Importantes sobre el acceso y aproximación de la escuela de Llombera, León 
Buenas a tod@s, siguiendo recomendacciones de la Junta de Castilla y León, queda prohibido escalar o pasar por debajo del sector pricipal de Llombera, espero que seamos conscientes y respetemos, hasta finales de agosto está restriccion, se puede acceder por el camino del respiradero de la mina, o bordeando por el sector Pioneros, es un poco más largo pero igual de efectivo, espero que tod@s seamos conscientes y respetemos la restricción, la foto croquis espero que os sirva de referencia, las otras dos fotos es del Camino que lleva al respiradero, se sigue recto y luego se puede ganar altura hasta la pared, un saludo.
Instagram post 2335650082610917227_1398545702 Árbol...
Instagram post 2335649673129451203_1398545702 Libertad...
Instagram post 2335611712765459457_1398545702 Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 2062020 Perfecto. Vete a escalar!!! Sin más...👍
Perfect day. Go climbing, that's it, that's the message.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #rockclimbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #weather #meteo @grupoagujasobia @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar #spain
Instagram post 2334882550564018588_1398545702 Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós  19062020 Que buen día. Más o menos perfecto para escalar, correr hace bici: cualquier cosa!! No demasiado calor ya y hay viento fresco.
Perfect climbing day. Cool fresh and sunny.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #rockclimbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #weather #meteo @grupoagujasobia @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias #cordilleracantabrica @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing
Instagram post 2332716913019586026_1398545702 Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 16062020 Nubes, niebla, lluvia anoche y goteando ahora mismo. No me parece como junio pero es lo que hay. Hoy sitios protegidos o nada...18° a las 12...
Clouds mist, rain last night and spitting now so less like June, than December but hey ho...18° at midday!!! #teverga #meteo #weather #asturias #rocaverde @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing #paraisonatural #climbing_pictures_of_instagram @tenayaclimbing #climbtheworld @beta_climbing @turismoasturias #escalada #escaladaenroca #climbingrocks #escaladadeportiva
Load More... Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

About us

Want to find out a bit more about the author of Roca Verde… click here

Our Mission

Have fun, climb a lot and make great guidebooks!

Recent Posts

  • Ordiales
  • Quirós by drone – a visual guide to the ‘Queen of crags’
  • Quirós por dron!!
  • Thinking of a Roca Verde – here’s what Josh Wharton had to say…

Search / Buscar

Copyright © 2021 · Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.