Start spreadin’ the news,

I’m leavin’ today

I want to be a part of it,

New York, New York…

… each time I listen to this beautiful Frank Sinatra’s song, I remember “my island”. It was an Autumn, a few years ago when I walked for the  first time around “the  Big Apple”.  It was the first time that I walked in the famous New York’s “subway”, the first time that I looked at that wonderful “skyline” of Manhattan at sunset. From that day “the city that doesn’t sleep”, stole my heart and each time I listen to the song, nostalgia come to me and reminds me that I have to come back there. Any moment is perfect to enjoy that wonderful city.

In that trip, I was in the place that it has now become a really special place for me. Its walls, its routes, its colours, its people and its atmosphere have turned Red River Gorge into a place that I always want to return to.

This has been my third trip there, and the three trips has been totally different. The First one,  was special because it was when I discovered it; the second one, was the most special and beautiful because I shared it with Silvia hand in hand, and it was unforgettable!!!

And the last one we have gone with three special friends that had never been there and I wanted to be a good host! I wanted everything to be perfect.

We met in the airport to Madrid: Silvia, Esther, Kymy, Jordi an me. Seventeen days and endless feeling ahead waiting for us!! So, we took the flight to our first destination… “My island”. Two interminable days that we spend visiting the most important and famous places of New York. After sixty kilometers walking, our faces showed a big smile and our legs were a big stiff too…

Then… let’s go to Red River Gorge!!. One day driving and we arrived to our new home for these days.

I still remember my first days in Red, the first time that I saw the wall, my first route, wow!! It was a totally exciting moment because I wanted to climb every routes. I was like a child with a new toy, but there, there were too many routes, too many “toys” for playing!! Hahaha.

This year, naturally, it doesn’t that way, but it was wonderful when I looked at my friends and I saw them enjoying  that much.

Our goals become impossible because the weather was too hot. For any person it would be a perfect weather but in the climbing world, high temperature is a bad partner… so, we decided to try easier routes,  on sight climbing and practice something  that my good friend Pablin says: “go to the comfort zone ”!

Ten days, we climbed almost all of them. We went to the more popular areas such as Motherlode, Chocolate Factory, Bob Marley, etc… we also went to other areas that were new for me and although we didn’t try hard routes, we enjoy a lot climbing lots of routes each day. When two psyched people like us (kymy and me) meet, crazy climbing is for sure, tries and tries without control, crazy flies, ropes for cutting, come back at night every day and twenty five routes between 8a and 8b+, at was the result to ten incredible days!!

On the other hand, the female team, was on fire!! It’s incredible to see the understanding between the girls. Without a doubt the Red turned then into brave and psyched climbers and they showed us, crazy tries and wonderful rotpunks that we will always remember it. You are amazing “bichitas”!!! And Jordi, who was captured by the dark side and finished the trip with “Vader”, fighting with the 12a routes and winning the fights!!

It was a wonderful time for me,  sharing with my friends and my girlfriend my climbing passion in one the most beautiful places in the world is simply incredible. I only hope that they have enjoyed as much as me  and they want to repeat another trip soon…

And finally it happened what it always happens!! We come back to “my island” one day earlier, because you always want to return to “the city that doesn’t sleep”.

Daniel Fuertes