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Bardonecchia and Monaco | febuari 2005
Winter brings along the seek for warmer places to climb, and since Monaco last year had been the place to be, Katha and I decided to return to the warm tufa’s and crimpers and say hello to the casino’s.
First I had another small job to accomplish, which took Kilian (the brand new worldcup winner of 2005) and me to Italian Bardonecchia, home of the Olympic snowboarding and of the climbing showdown, where some invited climbers from around the world could show what a real sport is!
When driving in Italy, we stop to take a look at the new 8c+ ‘Zauberfee’, in Arco, but the cold wont let us do more then check out the moves and be motivated for warmer times to come.
After a cup of coffee we continue the travel, and when we arrive in our apartment, we meet the Norwegian Magnus Midtboe (mr Viking) and American Vadim Vinokur (mr Vinager), who share our home. Further there are climbers from China, Australia and Canada, so that promises to be lots of fun.
The four days in this place we amuse ourselves with a few boulder sessions, looking at the half pipe comp, and doing some tour skiing, but does it make sense that we’re here??? The public stays away, so climbing doesn’t get much promoted, but hell, we have lots of fun, and the Italians pay for our parties…
After having inhaled some Olympic spirit, we drive with a good heart and some motivated fingers to Monaco, where we join my girlfriend Katha and a few other friends in sunny spot Castillon, where the tufa’s grow as fast as your toenails, and where Kili and I want to try the classic drilled-pockets-in-a-row 8c+ ‘Alien carnage’. For us (plastic-climbers) this seems just the route to do, but the driving made us to lame to send it today.
Katha is sending her 8b without breaking a sweat, and Mario is training his endurance falling off ten times at the same last move…
With dawn we arrive in our pittoresque homely home, where we make a small cinema, with beer, cookies, and Rodriguez’ masterwork ‘Sin city’ as movie for tonight.
The next day we drive to a small spot called Tende where it’s so cold that our hands scream not to climb, but the Austrian diehards are not to be moved, and both Mario and Katha send some good lookin’ 8a+, Mario as usual in uncountable tries..
We go home hoping for some better weather, and return to our warm sleeping bags.
Today it’s nice weather and after a deserved rest day I feel ready to pull me up on the one and twofinger pockets of our project.
Once I come flying off the last hard move, but soon after I can successfully clip the chain, and my first 8c+ is a fact!
Also Kilian does it in three tries, and since katha does two 8a+’s, we’ll have enough reason to celebrate!
The last day before we have to return, we drive to Peillon where it’s raining cats and dogs, but where still motivated enough to make the 45 minute hike, and when we arrive in the big cave, it’s dripping down everywhere…
We start our warm up, and after the second slab the dark mean clouds vanish in seconds and show us the sun´s there to warm us! Now everything is drying, so we all search a good route for today, and give it our last powers.
Kilian does this weirdo lookin’ 8b+ and I can send a 40 meter, way too overhanging 8c in two tries.
Katha is the last to send her project, climbing an 8b in almost darkness at the end of the day, and then it’s time to go home and get some pizza to recover from the hike in de dark, and to celebrate today’s success.
The next day it’s raining again, and our time is done, so we drive back to Innsbruck.
Holidays like these keep one motivated, and I sure feel like that for the coming worldcup season, but now we’re to get back to Austria, and then the normal life continues…
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