Luca Bertacco flashes La Charca y La Rana (8c)

Luca Bertacco, a multidiscipline climber doing everything from boulders to multi-pitches and who is also trains youth competitors, has flashed La charca y la rana (8c) in Mula. Last spring he sent his first 9a.

Can you tell us more about the flash and what kind of beta you received?
I went to Murcia for a little four-day holiday with three of my friends. The idea was to have our friend Alex Ventajas [to the left in the picture] to guide us to the places where he grew up and then have some fun during the evenings. The first day he took us straight to the "Mula" crag. The crag is not very large but the routes it offers are very beautiful and fun. Its bouldery and crimpy style suits me a lot and this allowed me, after a quick warm-up, to start thinking about something more challenging. After managing to onsight Amigo gecko (8a), I finally felt ready.

Alex described to me all the possible options but, by knowing me well, he convinced me to try the 8c. After giving it a try to remember it, he described every detail so, without too many expectations, I decided to give it a go. The route is possible to be divided into three boulder problems separated by a good rest on a jug. The first boulder problem is on the second quickdraw and consists of a technical heal hook and pinches where you have to go fast without thinking. The second boulder, in the middle, features a distant lock off to a crimp and a slopey pinch difficult to hold. And finally a simpler boulder on crimps that destroy the forearms. During the climb everything was as described to me, only on the boulder in the middle I didn't feel confident in holding the slopy pinch so I had to improvise with a different beta.

Sending the route on my first try felt so unexpected that I didn't even celebrate! Certainly, the congenial style and the excellent conditions of that day helped, but thinking about it in hindsight, I'm really happy with how 2024 started! Certain routes don't happen too often but I hope to have more opportunities like this in the future. If I didn't celebrate much after climbing the route, that evening I did quite the opposite! If you want to climb and have fun, Murcia is the right place for you! I also want to thank Alex and his entire family for the fantastic hospitality of these days. Muchas gracias!