[Adam Lincoln]

Holds getting improved by someone in Margalef again.

A couple of the famous 9a’s have had monos made into two finger pockets.

Victimez Perez and Gancho Perfecto.

Surely you know you are bringing the route down to your level doing this.

Doesnt seem to be done to ruin the route just to make it easier. 

[jwi]

https://www.desnivel.com/escalada-roca/alarma-detectados-cantos-modificados-en-vias-duras-de-margalef/

As far as I understand from this article the hold-improvements on the established routes where to make the holds more comfortable to hold (smoothen out the edges), this made one move easier on one route, and another move slightly harder on another (disclaimer: I don't read Spanish well, so I used google translate to render the article in French which normally works quite well as the languages are very similar).

As far as I understand, almost all hard routes in Margalef are doctored before the first ascent to make them possible to climb without cutting the finger to pieces. This recent episode of doctoring on well established routes is quite bizarre though. It must be done by someone local, as if you are not local, you can always go to another crag if the route at your desired difficulty cut your skin. Just go somewhere else...

[Duma]

I've not really looked into this but that's not the understanding I got from various people on IG. Things like shallow monos getting deeper, small monos now being two finger pockets, sloping intermediates now incut crimps...

[Paul B]

I've not really looked into this but that's not the understanding I got from various people on IG. Things like shallow monos getting deeper, small monos now being two finger pockets, sloping intermediates now incut crimps...

What I can't understand, if it's genuinely a question of hold improvement, how do people get away with it? It's hardly like Margalef isn't popular.

[jwi]

Finestra in the summer....

The temperatures in Spain this May have been pretty extreme. Like July weather. Also points to local culprit.

[jwi]

I've not really looked into this but that's not the understanding I got from various people on IG. Things like shallow monos getting deeper, small monos now being two finger pockets, sloping intermediates now incut crimps...

I don't really have much time for the hellhole that is instagram, so I just quickly run through the accounts of some well known aficionados; they all talk about “agarres limados”. Can you send some links or rather some cut-and-paste from instagram from climbers who have actually been up the routes to check for themselves?

[Paul B]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeW_LVxjqX1/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

(the link came from a UKB lurker).

[Duma]

The main one I saw was Tom Bolger story that's timed out now, but it was commenting on the same post that Paul linked  above

[Bonjoy]

I must admit my first thought when I saw the hold close-ups was that the rock looks like coarse aggregate concrete, aka choss. Hard to imagine hard routes relying on small holds staying the same over time, w/wo nefarious tampering.

[jwi]

Yeah, it is quite common that conglomerate routes get easier over time when pebbles become unstuck from the matrix. New pockets appear or get bigger. Happens all the time in other conglomerate areas at least. As long as there are no tell-tale markings from drill bits I am a bit sceptical that it is on purpose.

A doctored edge on a crimp formed by a pebble should be easy enough for people to recognise, especially for route developers in the area as they definitely have dabbled in the practice themselves.

(My youthful experiments in hold manufacturing at least made it very easy for me to recognise the signs...)

[Adam Lincoln]

Its not been made more comfortable its been made bigger on purpose. Monos made into 2 finger pockets etc.