UKC

Supersónico - 8c+ First Ascent for Gaz Parry

© Gaz Parry

Gaz Parry has climbed his long-term project Supersónico (8c+) 8c+ at Sector 45 in The Vall De La Gallinera area in Costa Blanca. The crag has been developed by a British cohort including Gaz, Mike Langley and others over the last few years and Supersónico was bolted by Gaz himself.

Supersónico 8c+   © Gaz Parry
Supersónico 8c+
© Gaz Parry

Following a steep 45 degree overhang for 30m, the route has been described as a "King Line" including tufa sections, an arête and four boulder problems split by a brief rest before the final boulder section.

Gaz commented: "The route has been a long term aim of mine, and I always knew that if I was going to climb it I would really need to commit 100%."

By monitoring his fitness carefully and spending one month in Kalymnos in October, Gaz's condition peaked at the end of 2014 as he started linking key sections:

"I began putting in some training time as I was now feeing fairly fit and ready, a little running, plenty of time on a fixed wheel bike in the gym, watching my diet and some simple laddering exercises on the campus board with my feet on, 100-180 moves. I easily shed a few pounds and got fitter and stronger."

Gaz Parry climbing Supersónico 8c+  © David Petts
Gaz Parry climbing Supersónico 8c+
© David Petts

Gaz's committment to the project never faltered, even after sustaining a back injury during a contorted move at the beginning of the route. Having spent two weeks in the UK, he returned to Spain and invested 20 out of 21 days in completing Supersonico. Surprisingly, his particularly intense involvement with the project didn't result in a mental burn-out, but was a key ingredient to his success:

"The last time I got engrossed with a project it didn't go well, my head shut me down. I tried really hard this time so it wouldn't happen, focussing on the smallest of gains and examining the smallest tweaks and methods. In the end it all worked."

Describing Sector 45 Degrees, Gaz told us:

"The crag has around 27 lines. 19 are climbed from 6a-8c+. The rest are projects from 8a to 9a/+."

45 Degrees Sector  © UKC News
45 Degrees Sector

What's next for Gaz? More projects are on the cards in Bovedon and the Gallinera...watch this space!

Read more about the route's story on Gaz's blog.


 

Gaz is sponsored by: Blurr, Edelweiss, Grivel, Powerfingers and Scarpa

 


This post has been read 9,728 times

Return to Latest News


14 Jan, 2015
"Describing Sector 45 Degrees, Gaz told us: "The crag has around 27 lines. 19 are climbed from 6a-8c+. The rest are projects from 8a to 9a/+." I assume this is meant to read "19 are climbed from 6a-7c+?
14 Jan, 2015
No, I'd say his new F8c+ is one of the 19 climbed ones... :)
14 Jan, 2015
)
14 Jan, 2015
If it is indeed the 'king line', can we assume it includes the arête just right of centre in the photo at the bottom of the article?
14 Jan, 2015
That looks absolutely stunning, what a line to have as your hardest eh
More Comments
Loading Notifications...
Facebook Twitter Copy Email