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

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You are here: Home / Blog / Perspectives – To lessons unlearned…

Perspectives – To lessons unlearned…

March 23, 2023 by Roca Verde Climbing Leave a Comment

This Blog is from an article I wrote a few years ago for Summit magazine in the UK…

“I guess one of the keys to life are the lessons you learn, yet never seem to actually remember when it comes down to applying them. As a nascent surfer I would consistently forget my mantra that ‘the waves are always bigger than they look from the beach’, ending up out of my depth. Whilst renovating houses I only seem to remember the DIY maxim ‘double the time triple the money’ when halfway through. And in climbing my approach of always trying to get ‘one last route in’ has left me often pumped beyond belief and struggling; scared on a grade I should be OK on.

I suppose this could be summarised as ignoring the golden rule of ‘never underestimate the size of the task ahead’.

Which is then exactly what I did in deciding to write my first climbing guidebook. Not only in a foreign country, but working in a language I wasn’t exactly brilliant at and by deciding to ‘do the best ever’ and incorporating an area half of the size of Wales.

I had moved to Asturias (yes you’ve never heard of it either), in North West Spain, after fleeing Sheffield when a long term injury had curtailed my climbing. Deciding I was to be a surfer (see above) my new found love and me had abandoned our cosy northern terrace and pitched up in a tiny village (seemingly from the 50’s) in a country where we couldn’t speak the language in an area that was basically unknown to Brits. Somewhat like a much bigger, much sunnier version of North Wales, Asturias is verdant, beautiful, very mountainous and has a ton of amazing beaches.

However, unlike North Wales, when my lifetime climbing itch needed scratching again it was incredibly difficult to find out any information. Guides were old, out of date or downright useless. But the climbing was amazing, tons of rock, great routes, very few climbers – this was a climbing paradise. So the more I looked into it the more obvious the solution became – write my own!

The idea was simple, I would do a guide that incorporating the most commonly climbed on areas in the three neighbouring regions. I reasoned this would benefit not only local climbers, but if I could attract foreigners to the region it would help with the ‘crisis’ bringing tourists to bars restaurants and refugios (which were in a very bad way in 2011). I could even start a bolt fund to help provide gear to the local equippers. And in a classic rebuttal of the well-worn axiom above, I had reasoned that as it would ‘only’ be a sport climbing guide – just marking lines no descriptions – how hard would it be!!

It was this final thought that pinged off the inside of my (obviously) fairly thick skull as I trudged, alone, for about the fifth time, to ‘Placas del Sol’  to try and locate a the finish of a route that, despite lots of visits and various photos, I couldn’t seem to work out where the belay was.

I was now nearly two years, 15,000 kilometres and about 2000 hours into the process and it didn’t seem to end!

One problem I’d had was that about halfway through someone else had rushed out a pretty poor attempt at a guide to a large part of the area I was covering and another group had then covered another part. This meant that my guide, to be worth completing and to make sure it sold, had to be better. Hence the slightly obsessive / compulsive part of me kicked in to make sure I had everything right, each bolt, each belay – so no-one could point and laugh. And as with any project, the closer I got the end the further away the end seemed to be, spiralling away in endless details, with long nights on InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop blurring into one…

Looking back, almost a year after publication, with the guide having had a pretty good reception, and having made my money back (and even earning me the grand sum of maybe £1.50 an hour for my time) I have realised that maybe it’s the lessons we don’t learn that keep us going. If we assessed each task too rigorously to decide if it is worth doing we’d be missing the whimsical things, from artworks to music and from odd buildings to amazing new routes.

And so, perhaps ironically, maybe the lesson to learn is to sometimes let the capricious spirit reign. To raise a glass to lessons unheeded, waves downsized, renovations belittled and routes underestimated.”

The author attempting not to heed what his body tells him by trying 8b+ at 50…

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rocaverdeclimb

Muy contento dejar mi huella con par de vias en la Muy contento dejar mi huella con par de vias en las placas de Cueva del Mar en Santo Adriano, valles de Trubia. Dos vías que abrí, Las raíces del problema, 6b, y Lajas de casa, 6c ya están encadenados y listo para hacer. Pero hay que reconocer que casi no hice nada en comparación con el trabajo que ha hecho @cesargarciacarballido y Óscar en abrir una escuela tan chulo. Antes era una jungla con maleza hasta 5 metros por 3 metros 😮 y ahora es un sitio buenísimo. Fui varios veces pero no me apetece hacer el trabajo pero me inspiró mucho la dedicación de César y aún solo abri dos allí y no ayudé mucho estoy otra vez metido en otros sitios para abrir más 😉
En la próximas semanas publicamos los croquis de las placas de izquierda donde están ahora 19 vías. 
Very happy to leave my mark with a couple of new routes at the brilliant new slab sectors of Cueva del mar. I did two new ones a 6b and a 6c and I hope people like them. However I did fuck all in comparison to the work done by César who opened most of the routes and cleared so much vegetation that you wouldn't believe. So thanks César 👍 This hard work has inspired me and I'm now working in a couple more spots which should show results soon. ⚒️😉
#rockclimbing #climbinglife #sportclimbing #paraisonatural #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #climbingpassion #climbtheworld #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #spain #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #newroutes #viasnuevas
Otro día estupendo en las placas de Cueva del mar Otro día estupendo en las placas de Cueva del mar con el aperturista @cesargarciacarballido hicimos unas vías guapas que abrió cesar antez y luego metimos en una nueva, Lajas de ti, 6c+, que César me dejó hacer la primera ascensión. Otra vía guapa de placa con pasos exigentes entre dos lajas grandes. Gracias César! 💪 Foto 1 Maio 6c Foto 2 Lajas de ti, 6c+. #teverga #climbing #rockclimbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural #viasnuevas #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva
Roca Verde sigue comprando material para compartir Roca Verde sigue comprando material para compartir con los equipadores de las regiones. Para empezar 500 parabolts inoxidables y tambien están bajo pedido chapas y reuniones. En total van a costar más de €1.300.
Y para que sepáis, con la subida en los precios de materia prima, cada chapa puesta costará casi €5 entonces una vía de 25m con 10 chapas y una reunión puede ser hasta €70 o más dependiendo del tipo de reunión.
Entonces para alguien que quiera ayudar la manera más fácil es hacer socio de los clubes de escalada como, en Asturias, @grupoagujasobia o @asturvertical ambos que comparten mucho material y hacen mucho trabajo también.
O también si sigáis comprando Roca Verde sigo comprando material. 😜
(Y para alguien que quiera saber más sobre las intenciones de Fempa en cuanto a esta actividad hay reunión con el nuevo jefe de material día 27 de abril a las 6 en la casona de montaña en Oviedo). 
Roca Verde continues to buy material to share with the local equippers - here's the receipt for 500 bolts just bought and there are belays hangars on the way too. In total it will be over €1300 of gear. Importantly it's worth saying that with the cost of stuff going up dramatically this will not buy a ton of gear as now each bolt placed will be nearly €5, making a 25m route about €70 including a belay. Worth thinking about on your next sports trip. Anyway if you want to contribute keep buying Roca Verde and I'll keep buying bolts - and remember that local guides put money in local pockets unlike the vampire topos that suck the money away. (or you can stay in my apartment @roca_verde_rentals that helps too) 
#escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #León #cantabria #teverga #climbing #rockclimbing  #sportclimbing #spain #klettern #desnivel @woguclimbing
El jueves que viene... El jueves que viene...
Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 15032023 Día gr Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 15032023 Día gris, sin calor ni viento y después de unas gotas de agua está mañana hay un poco de humedad. Pero bueno, día perfecto para disfrutar de Muro Techo sin el sol pegando al muro. 😜
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural #escaladadeportiva #escalar #klettern #desnivel @roca_verde_rentals
El laboratorio, Morcin, hay tres vías nuevas en e El laboratorio, Morcin, hay tres vías nuevas en el sector, todas de las manos de los imparables: Miguel, Rafa y Lito.
A la derecha hay dos: 17. La cantera, 6b, y 18. El naval, 6b. Y hay una extensión de la vía El roko's y si lo haces hasta la segunda reunión el grado sabe hasta 7b+. Hasta la primera 7a+.
Y más a la izquierda hay una que sale por el desplome 19. Gálibo, 7b+. Como siempre agradecmos el trabajo y para tener un par de vias más fáciles allí para calentar será una cosa chula. 😜😜💪💪
Three new routes at El laboratorio, Morcin. Two on the right 17. La cantera, 6b, y 18. El naval, 6b and one through the roofs on the left Gálibo, 7b+. Thanks again to the unstoppable trio of Miguel, Rafa and Lito.
#rockclimbing #climbinglife #sportclimbing #paraisonatural #viasnuevas #escalada #escaladaenroca #climbingrocks #escalar #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #klettern #desnivel
Sector Bosque - Cuevas. Me parece que hay mucha co Sector Bosque - Cuevas. Me parece que hay mucha confusión sobre si puede escalar en este sector ahora mismo.
Entonces para aclararlo la, respuesta es que si, no hay problema en escalar allí.
Creo que la confusión es porque la BOPA anterior, del año '21, tenia todos los sectores prohibidos - pero las mapas en el documento eran muy mal dibujadas y en realidad en la BOPA nueva de Noviembre' 22 esta claro que no haya restricciones en El Bosque.
Entonces puedes disfrutar unos de los mejores sectores de Asturias con vías como Piensa en verde, 7c+, demostrado por Alesio Fernández Guirado @alesioescala76 en esta foto guapa de Eduardo Velasco @eduardoluisvelasco
Sector Bosque, Cuevas, Aller. Can you climb or is it bird banned?  Yes you can climb...Lots of confusion out there but it's no problem to climb there and enjoy some of the best routes in Asturias.
#rockclimbing #climbinglife #sportclimbing #paraisonatural #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #climbingpassion #climbtheworld #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #spain #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion
Rosa de Mayo, Quirós... Rosa de Mayo, Quirós...
Al lado de casa... 😬😬 Al lado de casa... 😬😬
Que guay sale la vía, otro joya de @cesargarciaca Que guay sale la vía, otro joya de @cesargarciacarballido Vecino Clandestino...estamos esperando el grado!!
Another great looking route thanks to César, waiting for a redpoint and a grade.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #klettern #desnivel #escalar @roca_verde_rentals
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