Back at Siurana in Spain now and Muriel Sarkany from Belgium is here for a bit too. In competitive climbing she has being crowned the World Champion at least – what – three times now? I don’t really know the exact number off-hand because I don’t follow the World Cup closely enough but I am of course talking the lead difficulty competition – the original and the most hotly contended competition. She has been getting consistent top 10 finishes for 15 years now and her number of World Cup 1st and 2nd placings must be second to none. It has been great to meet Muriel and what impresses me most about her climbing is that she isn’t solely focused on the competition scene. I already knew she is one of the few women in the world to climb 8c (33) and it’s good to learn that these days she is spending more and more time traveling and climbing on rock. Hence why she is now at Siurana.
Here she has already made some quick work Zona 0 (8b). We’ve made plans to get some photos of her on Kalea Borroka (8b+) which she is now trying. I rigged my static rope to the top of Sector El Pati after much trashing around on the dodgy cliff edge up there (thanks for your help Toni). I checked the angles from the rope and the next day decided to go back up there and move the rope over a bit; it’s worth getting right! Now we are just waiting for the right light at the right time of day; hopefully it will come in the next few days…
Ahhh, perfect light: bright but diffuse, just what I want for an action shoot like this. So it’s hi-ho hi-ho, off to work I go… Pretty steep route eh!
The shoot went well; here are a few teasers from it. Looks like a great route – but desperate. I hope Muriel gets time to climb it…
