Switzerland is bleedin expensive

Hello gentle readers. I once again will bless you with one of my overly long and wordy posts. Just a note, Emilie forgot to note that there were two posts last time we posted. So if you missed her post on Croatia you should read that now (two posts ago).

So where have we been since you last heard from us? Well our plans have changed faster than our underwear in the past week. I´m kidding of course... maybe. After the post we made we had intended to climb Gran Paradiso (4081m). Coincidentally, this mountain is located in Gran Paradiso National Park. However, shortly after the post it became obvoius that I was missing a critical piece off safety equipment. The anti-ball plate for my crampons. (sits on the bottom of your crampons and prevents snowballs from accumulating and making the crampons ineffective) After looking all throughout aosta we were unable to find a suitable anti-ball plate we were presented with a suitable excuse for not climbing Gran Paradiso and for heading towards Chamonix. If you can´t find a specific piece of gear in Chamonix, you will not find it anywhere in the world... or so they say (and said). Of course lesser acknowledged excuse was that we had bought the new Harry Potter novel.

So rather than making the hike up to Gran Paradiso, we drove off to Chamonix. Emilie read Harry Potter to me while we drove. Since we had been unable to decide who would be able (or lucky enough) to read it first, we took turns reading to each other or just reading together (how cute heh?). Once in Chamonix we looked for the anti-ball plates. But of course were unable to find some. A clever employee suggested a trick I had read about but forgotten. The use of duct tape to achieve the same goal. Seems a little skechy but really not too bad at all. Perhaps not as good as the real thing but it served the purpose.

The following day Emilie and I took the cable car up to Auguille di Midi (3800m) on the Mont Blanc Massif where we had planned to do a glacier traverse to Helbringer on the Italian side of Massif. We intended to do the traverse and then take a cable car back to Auguille di Midi and then back into Chamonix. It really and truly felt like cheating as we were wisked above the tree tops up to the Auguille di Midi. It also felt like cheating because we spent a fortune on the tram ride. But it was worth it I think as there is no easier way to get to altitude. In fact, we enjoyed the experience so much that should anybody be considering travelling through France and into Italy, we recommend finding a way into Chamonix then taking the cable cars up to Augiulle di Midi and towards the Italian frontier and then down into Valle d´asota. Well worth the cost.



Once at the cable car station at 3800m Emilie got cold feet. So we dressed her up a bit warmer. It was quite windy and the first section of the glacier traverse was a razor edged ridge... ok more like a kinda thin ridge but wide enough for two people to walk beside eachother comfortably (in some spots only...). (Anyone else feel queezy by the ridge in this picture???)The discomfort came from the snow and the fact that if you fell one way you would quickly arrive back in Chamonix and if you fell the otherway... well lets just say that niether of us fell or even came close. The rest of the traverse was comfortable if a little breathtaking. The thin air and altitude affected both of us and often we were out of breath. I can´t really describe the scenery but we will upload photos at the bottom of this post. Suffice it to say that Mountains are beautiful. (View from the return cable car of the route that we took. Its not as bad as it looks!)

("Summit Picture" At the end of the hike...)After the traverse Emilie and I finished Harry Potter back in Chamonix. Quick review: good and entertaining novel and a really good end to the series. I think that JK Rowling finished the series extremely well and didn´t screw it up when there was plenty of potential.

At this point something weird happened to my eye and I was felled by the eye infection that had been growing since the second day of the Alta Via 4. Of course wearing contacts again whent the infection was still in full force was a dumb idea but you need to wear sunglasses on glaciers. So anyway saturday was a Doctor day (making full use of this insurance I paid for!). The doctor prescribed an antibiotic that stings and an eye wash. The eye is getting better.


On sunday we had been planning on doing a couple day hike to see some dinosaur footprints near a lake. But of course, we ended up sleeping too long and the weather wasn´t co-operating so instead we drove to Zermatt. Zermatt in a word - Matterhorn. Zermatt in two words - Very Expensive. Zermatt in some more words - First place in Europe I have been able to find Chicken Wings!!! (Any guesses as to how much 10 small chicken wings cost in Zermatt?)


Our first day in Zermatt included walking around the town and getting some information about the climbing in and around. We broke a bank (they have a ton here in Switzerland... probably where they store all the tourists money) and ate a fondue. Quite tasty. (Money seems to fly away, even faster than it has before.... scary)


Today we did the Mammut Climbing Path... ... ... now that you have wondered what the heck that is, I will explain. It´s a via ferrata. I know, I was surprised aswell when I found out. Anyway, it was a 3 hour waltz over metal things stuck into the rock. The highlights included a short section of overhanging ladder, walking along flexible wooden planks that Emilie declared were Emilie ONLY sections. So I had to wait. A weird wire ladder that swayed as we went up. It was some good fun, but neither Emilie nor I will become Via Ferratista´s or Ferratisto´s.


Oh a brief glimpse into the future: Emilie and David will find Switzerland too expensive and find their way back into Italy... Emilie and David will spend three nights sleeping with strangers... Stay tuned...

This one was just funny...

Valle Daosta, Cogne and Alta Via 4

David and I lost no time to leave Torino following my arrival from Croatia. We went directly to Aosta, direction Cogne for some hiking\climbing. The first day we decided to take it easy and go climb in Lillaz by the waterfalls. Turned out to be a very pleasant crag with really easy routes! It was quite different than our previous climbs in Val dOrco where it was mostly Slab or Crack climbing. This crag was one or two pitches long with nice jugs all the way up :)) (aka always nice big holds for the hands!). It ended up being rainy and sunny and rainy and sunny and...

While on rappel, David was singing "Rain drops are falling on my head...but that doesnt mean my eyes will soon be turning red... Crying is not for me..."

That evening we slept in a parking lot - which we thought was free. What a surprise the next morning when as soon as we open the door to Lucy, this man standing outside says "10 euros please". Sigh. We apparently drove into the parking lot through the exit, thus missing the sign, at the entrance, saying it cost 10 euroes per camper for the night. hehe... Cant believe we paid money to sleep in a parking lot without even being able to shower!!!!!

The following day, David and I went totally crazy. We decided we wanted to do some hiking around Gran Paradiso (a 4100m ish peak), included in one of the hiking books we brought from Canada. (Beginning of our hike, in Cogne, below) David and I decided we would buy new boots. David because his boots are way too old, offer no support, and are pretty much broken. Me, david insisted, because my boots are no longer waterproof and a stiffer pair would do better on possible glacier routes we might do.

We prepared and the next day, off we go on our hike. Of course we know we are doing the famous rooky mistake by wearing, without breaking them in, new boots for the first time on a long hike! The first day was pretty short, about 3h30minutes of hiking. Mostly uphill, from Cogne to the Riffugo Sella. At which point we were about at 2600m. The italian rifugos offer 1\2 pension, which means that dinner and breakfast are included in the price. We were thus served pasta, deer and sausage, and dessert for dinner! :)) Turns out that my feet are somewhat in pain, with mostly sore ankles... David seems fine. Does he ever complain?? :))

Early start the next morning, as we have a reaaaaaaaally long day ahead of us, to hike towards Rifugo Chabod.We were told from 8-10 hours of hiking (maybe a distance of about 12-15km). Including 2km of altitude gain and loss, 2 cols to pass and one reaaallly long descent. Early in the morning, we could see a man and a dog slowly catching up to us, and just before the col, I had to step aside to let the doggy pass. It was pretty hilarious :)) (cant see very well, but the dog is trailling behind me in the picture...) The man was a park ranger, he was intense, never ever stopped for a break! (Picture below at the first Col, the ranger nicely agreed to take a picture for us :))

The last col included some scrambling while hanging on to chains and a short Via Ferrata. The col being over 3000m, and being slightly exhausted, I was having a tough time! David was amazingly strong all day, constantly encouraging me, and waiting for me to catch up on the uphill :) I have to admit, I felt rather out of shape most of the way. In addition, my feet were hurting (who knows whether its the boots, or my socks, or just my feet that suck. David ended up taping my ankles, and taping my socks to my calfs in hopes that the rubbing would stop!). Nevertheless, it was such an exciting day, with awesome views. We were happy.

(I am in that picture, look for the black dot...far far away haha)

We were supposed to continue on the hike the following day, with a quick stop in Pont to gather up a bit more food and some new socks for me. By mistake, we ended up hiking to another rifugo (Vittore Emanuelle) and then having to take another path down to Pont. My stupid feet decided not to cooperate, and I was in so much pain all the way down to Pont that we had to call it a day... Sigh. I was disappointed.

Some random pictures...

The MGB in action! Lo Stambecco (Ibex) This one is quite old, obviously!
David enjoying the flowers...

The french have the funniest fashions....

Today, we are giving my feet a rest. I will have to test out the new boots again... and perhaps compare with my old boots. Neither David nor I had ever done such a sustained hike before, so perhaps my feet would have hurt regardless and I just need to toughen up :) (or give up on hiking, not sure hehe).

We have exciting plans for the next few days... but we shall only talk of them once we successfully complete them :) No worries here!

Ciao!

Croatia....The Vacation!

I have returned alive from my week trip to Croatia with Megan, and figured it was about time to give everyone an update! It was quite a peaceful week, despite many many hours spent on buses and ferries, and best of all, we got to go to the beach and eat gelato every single day. Needless to say it was quite relaxing!

Megan met up with David and I in Torino after a crazy combination of hours spent on the plane and the train (Toronto - Munich - Bologna - Torino) only to be quickly sent on another train ride so that we could reach Ancona to take a ferry to Zadar. Megan was utterly exhausted and spent most of the train and ferry ride sleeping. Granted, the ferry ride was overnight, and we did have the most comfortable couches to sleep on! (I slept all the way as well)

We arrived in Zadar at 6am (i think?) and decided to spend the day exploring Zadar and planning the remainder of our trip in Croatia. Zadar turned out to be quite a pretty city and perhaps one of the least touristy areas of Croatia. We walked through the market and got an amazing breakfast which includes one of the best Nectarines I have ever eaten in my life! We also got what turned out to be our traditional croatian breakfast, some cherry and apple pastries. Oh yummy!

The following day, we really wanted to go see Plitvice, which is Croatias most "important" National Park. It consists of a series of crystal clear turquoise lakes linked by waterfalls. So even though Croatias main industry is Tourism, it turns out that getting anywhere without a car is slightly difficult and terribly set up! To get to Plitvice, the buses only leave at 9 or 10, and the LAST bus leaves Plitvice at 17:20. And the ride usually takes 2 hours. Within the park itself, you must rely on shuttles (bus or boat depending) to get to certain areas of the park. These shuttles run only every 30 minutes. Which means that you get 2 possible itineraries, one that takes 2-3 hours, and the other 4-6 hours. Now here is the problem, because of traffic (for unknown reasons) it took the bus one extra hour to reach Plitvice. By the time we got to the entrance, it must have been about 12:30 or 1. And we had to be back at the latest at 5. So the only option for us was to do the shorter trip, and miss out on the biggest waterfall of the Park. We finished the tour in about 2 hours, and ended up grabbing an early bus back to Zadar. The park was beautiful, but for the effort it took to get there, without being able to see the entire park...

The following day we took a bus to Split (4 hours), which is one of the biggest towns in Croatia. I was told it would be similar to Naples, Chaotic, and was quite looking forward to it. The guy who said so either had never been to Split, or was totally confused about Naples... Split turned out to be a spring board to the Kastella, a series of little towns that used to have castles along the coast, and a wonderful afternoon spent on the beach. We were originally going to walk to 5 or 6 of the towns, but after seeing a very beautiful "castle" and eating a very satisfying lunch next to the beach, we got distracted and eventually fell asleep (after a dip in the water of course!). Now while the water in Croatia is absolutely stunning, the beaches are often "disappointing" for any that like nice sandy beaches. Croatia itself being so arid and rocky, the beaches are most often pebbles and rocks and are quite uncomfortable to walk on. They also make it tricky to get in and out of the water! Lesson learned, always keep sandals on when going swimming.

The next day we took a ferry to Hvar island and I convinced Megan to do this bus\hiking combination that would bring us to Milna where we could have lunch and a nice swim. From Milna, it could either be a hike or a bus ride back to Hvar Town. I have to say that I really wanted to go to Croatia for the beaches, and of course Megans company (having visited so many ruins, cathedrals and some museums in the past few months...) So I was really looking forward to a hike along the coast. Megan opted out and took the bus back to Hvar town so that she could do a little bit of actual sightseeing. The bus part was supposed to bring us past lavender fields which I thought could be extremely pretty. Funny thing is that we did go by some lavender, except it wasnt really my idea of a "field". Mostly some bushes scattered here and there among burnt trees and rocks... :)

The last two days we spent in Dubrovnik, 5 hours south of Split. The old town of Dubrovnik still has fortified walls all around it. Of all the towns, it was certainly the most stunning and beautiful. Right in the center of the town runs one "flat" street. On either side, perpendicular streets reach up hundred of steps leading up to the walls, all stacked with houses and restaurants. Ok so maybe not "hundreds" but all I can say is that the room we had was at the very end of one of these streets, at the very top of the stairs, and with the heat, it was tough! I havent mentioned accommodation yet... The moment you get off the buses, you are greeted by people asking you if you need a room for the night. Many people seem to make a living in Croatia by remodelling their houses such that they have extra rooms for people to rent out for a few nights. We were slightly hesitant at first, but these private rooms turned out to be amazing for us! Being 2 people, it was the same price to have a private double room than to each pay for a bed in the hostels. AND, the private rooms we got were always right in the town center while the hostels were always a bus ride away (not quite as convenient). The room we got in Dubrovnik was wonderful and even had AC. Let me tell you that we took full advantage of it! At first Megan was hesitant to blast it full power, but she did not resist long... We spent part of the afternoon walking around the fortified walls and had some traditional croatian food (stew type) for dinner. For my last day in Croatia, we splurged for a kayak tour, which would bring us around Kolocep, one of the islands off the coast of Dubrovnik, which also included snorkelling. Mostly enjoyable, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the island (keener as i am, i had brought lunch, but no one else had, so i caved and also ate at the restaurant). No regrets for caving, because i had some delicious fish - which came fried and not prepared - even the eyes were still there. So i filleted my fried fish and managed to swallow only one fishbone. Woot woot. Also had some "mini hamburgers", bosnia style. Aka, garlic and ground beef, fried in little sticks. The return back to Dubrovnik by kayak was slightly painful as it was sooooo hot and we didnt stop to swim once. Meaning we were sweating like crazy, probably somewhat dehydrated and tired... Not too pleasant.

I abandoned megan that evening by taking the overnight ferry to Bari, Italy, and leaving her alone for one day in Dubrovnik. Which she immensely enjoyed by visiting every possible museum and church I am sure! The ferry to Bari was terrible, in comparison to the ferry we took from Ancona. It was old and certainly did not have comfortable couches!

Good times were had, and it was really fun to spend a week with Megan!

Torino is hot...

Hey everybody,

Just a quick post before I go meet Emilie in the train station. She will do a summary of Croatia when we get internet again... and we might do some pictures for the imaginationly challanged.

Rome was actually quite alot of fun. Friday night my cousin had a dinner at his place, many people came. It was a good time, he has a sweet flat with a huge patio. Basically the penthouse suite. Looks over a sizable chunk of rome.

Saturday night I, along with half a million Romans, went to watch Genisis in concert in Circo Massimo (the place where the Romans ran Chariots). It was pretty sureal to see that many people packed in the shadow of Roman ruins.

Sunday evening was spent chilling out on a beach near Rome. The water wasn't fantastic but I still went for a swim with my cousin.

All in all fun was had in Rome.

On Tuesday I was back in Valle dell'Orco sleeping in the little place we had found before. At about 6:30 in the morning I was awoken by a sharp rap on the window. I pulled on a shirt and blurry eyed opened the door.

"No Camping"

"Uuh sorry didn't know"

"Camping just up there" and he points up the road.

"Ok" and he leaves. I slept fitfully until 9:30 at which point I wrote a short story in my diary. Around 3:00 I did a short 5.5 hour hike to a small alpine lake. Pizza saw me to sleep at the actually resonably priced campground.

This morning I played around on a 5.10d crack problem on a boulder. It was too hard for me to even get off the ground. I blame it on my big hands (it's a perfect splitter problem, very asthetic, they actually changed the plans for the tunnel they constructed in order to preserve the famous crack)

In the afternoon, I made my way to Torino to cook and wait for Emilie. Now the wait is over and soon we shall be reunited. Tomorrow we are considering doing a 500m climb but the approach road is closed. I'd hate to be woken up to "No Camping, and the road is closed moron, here's a massive ticket". I'll have a chat with Emilie when she gets here. If we go it'll be 3k of altitude gain and loss over about 10 - 14 hours. Should be fun!

Cheers.

Cheers from Roma (again)

So I'm back in Rome. Should be finished up her within a few days so I figured I would give you a 's heads up on what's happening and what happened. Yesterday Emilie and I parted ways, she with her friend Megan took the train and the night ferry to Croatia while I took the train to Rome. Emilie and Megan arrived safely in Croatia, I confirmed that this morning.

So back tracking briefly, Emilie and I went back into Valle dell'Orco after the last post. I believe that was on Saturday that we posted. We had intended to do some hiking in the Valle on sunday, but the weather turned out to be pretty poor looking. So instead we opted to attempt to climb Fessura per P.A. (100m, 4b (5.5) 3 pitches). The climb followed a generally nice crack line up a slab called la Pyramide. There was nothing super difficult about the climb and it was generally forgetable except for a couple of nice jamming sequences on the second and third pitch. The most interesting thing about the climb was the bolts. The climb was perfectly protectable using traditional gear yet had bolts on it. On the second pitch the hangers on the two bolts were hammered down and rendered useless but they were still usable on the third pitch. Every one of the 4 bolts on the pitch were within a foot of a bomber nut placement. I found it quite odd. Anyway, we rappelled off the route just as the weather turned nasty.

Monday brought rain in the morning but a clear if windy afternoon. We figured to take a second attempt at Spigolo. Unfortunatly it again turned out to be too hard for me to lead the crux and I bailed again. I think that I have the move figured out now and will likely try it one last time.

Tuesday, was windy and my hands were pretty beat up from the cracks of the previous days. So we decided to climb a nice slab route called Via del Placche (300m, 5c) (way of plate) 8 pitches of max 5c (5.9) slab climbing though the slab was only at about 4c (5.7) and the 5c bits were more vertical with holds/cracks to climb. The 1st pitch is a gentle huff up a small arrette/chimney (4b). At the first anchor we were passed by an Italian party, the leader climbed extremely fast, while the second (possibly a guided client) climbed slower and more labourously. Regardless, they climbed faster than we did so past they went up the second pitch. The second pitch was a short awkward climb the corner of a large flake (5c). I ended up taking a small fall while doing the moves but pulled through on the second attempt. Emilie came through like a champ. Again there were bolts but it could have been traditionally protected. In this case I used the bolts. The thirdy pitch, Emilie bravely led (4c). This was the first slab pitch and she felt it was a bit runout between the bolts especially at the crux of the pitch where you had to step out left unto a true friction slab and pad up to the anchors with a 20foot fall potentional. I took the next pitch, a short (5a) slab pitch with a single bolt as protection. From there we needed to consider the rest of the route, the initial route (via delle placche) ended and we traversed onto another route using a foot traverse up an flake. My #3 bd camalot was slightly tipped out in the flake but probably would have been good enough for a fall but the climbing was easy (4a). From here came the 6th pitch, a 60 foot slab to a crack line that traversed right (4b). The slab had one bolt about 20 feet up. So off I go, no point stopping or thinking about the fall potential, cause well, you just don't fall. It was actually easier than I had expected as the rock had some serious friction. A small clusterfuck at the belay stopped me about 5 metres from the crack system but I was solid and able to stay put while Emilie cleaned up. At the crack system the climb continued up through the next several slabby pitches until the last 5c crux in the last pitch, a single friction move on tiny crimpers. Not too hard. Oh and Emilie will want me to write that it was bloody cold on the rock. Very windy. Reallllly enjoyable climb though.

Yesterday, Emilie and I only had the morning to climb as we needed to get back to Torino in the afternoon. So, we climbed a short climb called via del diadro, (3 pitch 5c, 100m) The first pitch, which Emilie led was an easy 4b up to the first belay, she was gentle and opted to climb above the hole that would have been easy for her but hard for me to slip through. Nice girl :-). The second pitch was probably the most sustained 5b (5.8) that I have ever led. 50m of pretty solid 5.8 climbing through corners, small overhangs and laybacks. The gear was good and I didn't feel particularly nervous despite being near my limit for gear routes. Emilie enjoyed the climb but at one point found herself climbing up a slightly differant way than I. She had to hang on the rope in order to get back on the route that I took. She complained because it looked super easy the way she went, to me, the piton looked nicer than the unprotected bit. The last pitch, a solid 5c layback dihedral went extremely well. I was able to climb it without falling or hanging on the rope (so my second 5.9 gear climb without falling). Good times were had on the route!

So, now I am in rome, my poor hands are healing which is good. Hopefully I will be back climbing on the 16th or 17th. Emilie will return to Torino on the 19th. I'll let her keep the blog up to date until I start being exciting again.

Oh yes, just a quick climbing dictionary for those who are confused by all the climbing lexicon in the past two posts:

Chimney - a large < bodysized crack in the rock. Generally cause for moaning and complaining and lots of grunting while climbing.

Arrette - a ridge shapped chunk of rock. Generally much smaller and higher angle than a proper ridge (I don't remember if I said that we climbed one or not)

Crack - A crack in the rock. Differant sizes include - too small (Emilie's fingers), finger crack (jam my fingers inside), hand crack (jam my hand inside), too big (jam everything else inside. Includes chimneys)

Hex - Hexagonal shaped piece of aluminum. Called a Dadi in Italian. We thought the climb called for us to bring our Daddies along. We though the price tag would be too high.

Cam - a funky device that I carry along with me, it's heavy, costs too much but kick butt in Granite to protect myself from falling.

Nuts - 1. Something we need to be in order to enjoy climbing. 2. Things we need in order to climb. 3. Wedge shapped pieces of aluminum used like hexes and cams.

Bolts - unlike hexes, cams and nuts, these are pre-placed for us and we simply clip into them. Generally not placed near where hexes, cams or nuts can be placed.

Dihedral (Diedro) - a corner with a crack in the back. Generally climbed by laybacking.

Layback (ing) - the technique of plastering your feet on the rock and hanging off a crack sort of in a sitting position. (Hands are feet are very near to each other) Requires lots of strength as it is very tiring to maintain the opposition.

Slab (placche) - a style of climbing where falling hurts. Essentially uses only friction to climb as there are few holds of substance. Always less than vertical, except in Arco where there are overhanging technical slab climbs. Don't ask me how that works.

I think that's it. Feel free to ask if you are confused about any other technical jargons that I use.

Cheers!

Where are they????

So, I'm sure all you astute readers are wondering... "Where are they? Have they fallen off a cliff? (a few times) Have they drowned in a river? (almost but much closer to freezing) Or have they found a little paridise of rock and been just too darned busy climbing? (much closer to the truth)"

Let's back track. Last you heard we were in Bologna, heading onwards to Parma and then Torino. Well we left Bologna as per schedule and drove into Parma. There we ate some proscuitto. It was good, but expensive and practically identical to all the other proscuittos we've eaten throughout Italy. So onward and upwards we thought... Of course good fortune can only last so long and as we drove I saw this naggling little light on my dashboard. The battery light was flashing on and off and on and off in a meaningless attempt to communicate with me. I obviously was unable to understand the nuacences of a 1981 westfalia light communication. So upon arrival to Torino we headed into an internet cafe for some research. The connection was terrible and the machines extremely buggy (one of the reasons the blog has been thus neglected) however I was able to determine that the problem was with my battery! Ah ha the battery light implies something is wrong with the battery. Brilliant German engineering. (and poor google skills). So off to the dealership we went. The dealership service was of course closed on saturday so they told us to come back on monday. "Monday" we exclaimed a look of horror on our faces. "What are we going to do until monday?"

Thus commenced a three day unplanned stop in Torino. The remainder of saturday was spent celebrating canada day with some fajita's. The most Canadian thing we could find in the super market. Yes, I ashamed. Sunday was spent trying to sleep in while some dudes picked through the dumpsters across the street. We wandered around to a really good gelataria where we cried our sorrows into some gelato. Monday we found some good news! The problem with Lucy was the regulator of the alternator. Something was shorter than it was supposed to be. The service department was VERY helpful to us. It only cost about 5 days of food! So we will be hungry when we return to Canada. (I love my Dad!) We also met another fellow from rockclimbing.com named Christian. It is my informed opinion that European phone numbers are too complex for my poor Canadian brain. Christian had to spell out exactly how to call him after I tried and got a very curt response from some dude: The Number is NOT correct. We met, talked climbing, had pizza and planned for the next day.

That evening we found a nice piazza, the same one where we would leave Lucy for the next day, and started to settle in to sleep. Kiddy corner from us was a hooker struting her stuff. Emilie looked at her (we are starting to get used to hookers everywhere in Italy including the middle of nowhere) and wondered how long it would take her to get picked up. I said 5 minutes. She didn't believe it. So we watched for a few minutes then started to prepare to sleep. Another couple of minutes passed and low and behold a car pulled up and she was gone. 4.5 minutes. Then the question came up, how long until she would be back. I said, 10 minutes. Emilie again figured it would be longer. 9.5 minutes later she had returned. Wow! I'm good. After this, I guessed it would take her another 5 minutes to get picked up. 2 minutes later she had hopped into another car. Emilie owes me alot of money! At this point we went to sleep and never noticed her come back again.

The following morning, Christian arrived bright and early and we set off into the Magical land of Valle dell'Orco (aka Paradise Rocks). The climb of choice was a 8 pitch 5c (5.9) "Nautalus" that scaled El Sergente. Yes to those in the know, the name is a referance to El Capitan. Neither Emilie nor I really register the existance of a chimney pitch rather kept hearing "super classic". So off we went, I took the first pitch a nice layed back 5b (5.8) and the second pitch which is forgotten by all. (obviously a forgettable pitch) The third pitch, which Christian led, was the chimney pitch. There was no gear except for one bolt 2/3 of the way up. Christia grunted his way up in good style (at least I assume it was good style cause we couldn't see him) and then it was our turns to go. Emilie went first. She was a bit tentitive but made it through the most difficult part of the chimney with little more than a whimper or five. I didn't make it. The chimney, a squeeze chimney was just slightly too small for me to comfortably jam my knees, feet and ass on the rock. Instead I was forced to torque off my knees in a manner as painful as it is difficult to describe. Halfway up I torqued one final time, gave a great cry of pain, then fell down the chimney until the rope above and my butt caught me in the rock. Most painful thing I've ever done while climbing (fortunatly the knee is fine if a bit scraped up). Christian lowered a rope to me and I was able to haul myself up the chimney in about as poor form as was available to me. But it worked. For last chimney bit, both Emilie and I chose to take the face option and jam the thin finger crack to the belay. Moral: Never climb chimneys.

The next pitch (which I led) was a simple pitch which led to a large grassy ledge (VERY LARGE) upon which we untied and wandered to the next section of the climb. Unsure exactly where the climb went, Christian led up into the unknown. After getting briefly lost, he led us into a nice dihedral then a difficult dihedral with a cam stuck in the crux handhold. Exiting the dihedral he went over to a tree where you could either climb the tree with crappy handholds or jam up the PERFECT hand crack. Both Emilie and Christian opted for the tree climb while I jamed the crack. Mmmm crack. The small section of perfect crack was enough to make me forget the entire chimney episode and like the route once again. At this point, with 2 pitches left to climb, we had to bail due to rain. So we did. That evening, in search of chicken wings (shout out to mugs! I miss you!) we stopped at an Irish pub and found out that not only do Italians not make chicken wings but they also don't make good burgers. The beer was good though. Yay, Irish beer. (I have yet to find a good Italian beer)

The following day, both Emilie and I were sore and dispite our best intentions of going to climb we ended up shopping and spending time on the internet (unfortunatly a small family emergency has neccesitated a hold in my vacation and on the 13th I will be makeing my way to Rome to deal with some things. Fortunatly, a friend of Emilie will be making her way to meet us and they will be going together to Croatia for a week while I get things figured out). We didn't get out to the crag until 8pm. At that point we tried the famous Kosterlitz crack an amazing(ly hard) splitter crack on a boulder. It was hard and I didn't get off the ground. So we went to eat. The area near the boulder said no overnight parking, so we drove somewhere more secluded and parked there for the night. Dinner was a complex affair involving 3 pots, 2 bowls, 2 mugs and several forks and knives. Penne Primavera with garlic bread(ish) and mixed salad.

On Thursday Emilie and I set off bright and early to climb Pesche d'Aprile (April fools) 6 pitch (170m) 5c. The climb was fantastic with plenty of varied climbing including jam cracks, layback flakes, juggy ceilings and a phenomenal dihedral which I think is the first 5.9 pitch I have ever led cleanly on gear. (yay me) We ate leftovers from dinner the previous night. We also took a nice swim in the near by river. I'm not sure if it was colder because of our lack of clothing or not but BRRRR it was cold.

Friday, to recuperate, we decided to crag. So we hiked up to El Sergente to climb a scythe like 6a (5.10a). The climb started with a dihedral for 20 feet followed by 10 feet of jam crack. A 20 foot hand jam rightward traverse led to a short 6 foot vertical section (the crux) followed by 10 feet of curving vertical finger jams with tenous smears and a final 5 foot finger traverse on shitty chains before a massive flake led to the chains. I hung on pretty much every piece of gear I placed, but was able to climb the route without pulling any gear. After I finished the route, Emilie took a run at it and climbed it in good style only falling a couple times while trying to pull the crux. I took a second run up the climb on toprope and was able to do it and only fell once while trying to transfer my weight from the hand traverse into the vertical section. Great climb. Following this, we went to a lakeside crag to climb some easier routes and get Emilie some practice placing gear. Alas, we couldn't swim in the lake as it was a dam lake. Yesterday evening we discouvered an evil in Valle dell'Orco. A pizzaria that ranks in the top 3 we have had in Europe so far. My excuse (since we will be eating there everyday for the next couple of weeks) is that we are only going to be taking one or two massive road trips through Europe so we should enjoy the pizza. The pizza place also made a mistake and gave us a litre of really good wine when we only asked for 1/2 a litre. The girl puts it down, I ask "Is that a litre?" She replies, "No no that's a half litre". I look at it, that's the biggest damn half letre I've seen in my life. Turns out there was a mistake but they only charged us for half a litre. The pity is that I had to drive so I had to moderate my drinking so some of the wine went unfinished.

Today Emilie and I attempted a climb called Spigolo (5 pitch, 145m 5c) Due to a lack of sleep (possibly caused by too much wine) and a heavy butt (possibly caused by too much Italian food) I had to aid through the crux of the route 3 pitches in. (a 5c (5.9) over hanging crack, the crux as usual being pulling the lip) The effort exhausted me and after Emilie reached me at the belay, we bailed from the climb. We will return to the climb in a few days with renewed vigour!

And now we are here, in a little town about 30 minutes from Torino and an hour from the climbing area writing for you so you may to enjoy our adventures. Oh just to make everybody who climbs just a little more jealous... everything we've climbed on in the last week has been bomber granite.

Stay tuned for the next post, upcoming, another week in Valle Dell'Orco. Yee HAW! (and maybe pictures)