I am very happy here. I enjoy my job in the Refugio, I like my colleagues and also the people who come to stay there - most of them are climbers from all over the world. However I miss you all who are reading this.
I chose to interrupt my roadtrip and spend the summer working here because I loved the place. It’s obvious it was made with love and many good ideas and art flowed in here. The owners of the place are a Swiss guy and a german couple. Nick, the swiss guy is a punker whose previous job was on the Swiss Public Radio, is a charismatic personality. Apart from being a climber and the boss at Kalandraka is the lead voice of a punk band and is involved in numerous other obscure projects Europe-wide.
What exactly is my job? It's a bit of everything. Bartender, cook, waitress, handyman. The coolest part is that I get to learn a lot stuff like for example how the village’s plumbing works, how to fix things and so on, which I find very interesting. I learn most from Guey, a crazy Mexican who knows everything, he is the do it all-fix-it all guy here. He serves as a builder, a plumber, an electrician, cook, entertainer, you name it. Impossible is nothing for him.
The hut I live was one of my coolest things I had the chance to participate in. Sierra de Guara, where Rodellar is located is a national park. Therefore it is prohibited to build anything new. The terrain belonging to Kalandraka had a few so-called Bordas on it, small stone huts. These were all renovated and now serve as guest houses for the Refugio. Not all of them were renovated however. So when this season started and Kalandraka employed four new people it needed a place to house them. (It is basically impossible to rent anything in the village, as most buildings are summer houses owned by French vacationers). Therefore one of the remaining huts was decided to be renovated so we could live in it. I got the opportunity to work on the construction, and it was just amazing!!! I learned a lot about building, it was hard yet it felt like a big party all the time. Plus the pay was twice the amount as working in the bar. The construction lasted for ca. 10 days with 4-8 people working. It was lots of fun! I don’t think I will ever get the chance again to build sort of my own hut having all materials and equipment provided AND – best of all - being paid for it!
Before...
...and after.
So now I live in this hut which is just above the canyon, it is the best place in Rodellar! I love being so connected to the nature here. It’s quiet. And if I am keen on action I just have to go down to the bar, there is always something going on there. Lots of parties. So it’s actually more like the bar=action& party and 300m further away you can get all the silence you need.
The climbing: is amazing. Huge overhangs and lots of tufas. Big tufas, which means lots of knee-bars. I got to climb my first 7b+ here and I feel like there is more to come.
Las Ventanas del Mascun
The canyon is not only a home for climbers but also what we call “the seals”, that is people who come to do canyoning. Sierra de Guara has many canyons and is the perfect spot for aficionados. So as a climber you get to see tons of groups of canyoneers all dressed in neoprene suits rapelling, diving & jumping down the canyon. I got to do my first canyon – La Peonera the other day with a French guide. It felt like an enormous aqua-park. However it felt very unnatural for me to dive into narrow holes between rocks. Basically you crawl in where the river passes through, letting the current push you through these holes called siphons. And you get to jump into the water a lot. But need to be careful not to slip while attempting to jump and also be precise, as the spots you can jump onto can be quite narrow (you risk hitting rocks otherwise). It’s a peculiar sport; I prefer to stick to rock climbing.
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