 |
One week Monaco | febuari 2005
Winter in Austria is cold, sometimes too cold to climb, so you have to escape the meters of snow and the 20 degrees below zero, to have a nice climb elsewhere. In febuari my girlfriend Katha and I had the chance to do this, so we went to the south of Francesee to see the īcote dīazurī, and visit the Monagasts.
Saturday
Together with Fuzzy and his parents, we drive at about 5 oīclock in the morning over the Brenner, past Finale, to a crag that was said was nice, namely Casstillon.
Itīs about midday when we endly arrive, the sun is shining, and itīs about 15 degrees, what feels like a summer heat, when you come from minus 20... Fuzzy has already been here, so without searching we walk to the crag, and find about 20 climbers who are already there. Hmm, thatīs something unexspected, all the route until 7c are taken , so I try the first free route we meet, which seems to be 8a. La niaque, itīs called, which means smaal, dirty crimper, but I donīt find any while climbing. Twon minutes later I come down from the short route, and Katha goes in. She warms up by working it out, and she sends it after two tries. Training makes one strong... The french local look kind of weird, when Fuzzy tries the 8c+, the toughest route of the crag, which is called Alien Carnage. After little carnage, he comes down, from working it out. „not that heavy, but a bit tricky at the end...“, which the french guys luckily donīt understand.
I work a bit in īBarjoland` 8b, and send it directly, shame that I didnīt try it on sight. Afterwards I try a nice 8b+, īUltimate doomī, but I donīt feel like trying it today. The travel has made us lame and lazy, and itīs starting to get dark already. Katha tries an 8a, and Fuzzy and I do the same one, then we go back, to find our appartment, which we booked before.
Itīs in the middle of nowhere, in a small hilltown just past the border of Italy. No cars allowed, so after taking the whole bagage down half a mile, we arrive at a cute house, which looks like imploding every second...
One problem: the keys we got donīt fit in the kitchen door, so we canīt go in the other half of the house. We caal the boss, who finds out he forgot to unlock it, oops. His advice is: Break down the door, so Fuzzy jumps from joy and starts bumping the door. The big oaken door wonīt give in, and we meet the only living person in this ghost village, who gives us the ladder from the church, and we find the 2d floor window open. Also from the inside the door wonīt open, so weīre doomed to enter every time with the ladder through the small kitchen window. What a nice surprise :)
Sunday
we awake in the freezing cold, and Katha and I climb up the ladder to our breakfast, and the others climb down to take a shower, which is at our side.
Today weīre going to a small spot called Tende, which has a longer hike up (still half way the bloody hike at Ceuse), but after you have a nice view in the valley. Itīs a cute little wall with some tufaīs, but mostly edges, with routes that go up to 8b+. on the menu thereīs several 8b+s for the gentalmen, and lots of 7c+s and 8aīs for the lady, so we start warming up motivated. After the slabby warm up I try an 8b+ that is nice in thebeginning, but afterwards comes a sika crux, which makes it not very tempting to return, and Fuzzy and I change project to a nice barely overhanging 8b+, īFollia explosiva`. It starts off with a nasty undercut traverse, and then comes the 15 move crux on the vertical wall with edges everywhere. I work it out, and send it easily in the first try, Fuzzy comes later in the 3d try, because he forgets the footholds all the time.
Katha is fighting with a hard looking 7c+, she has to clean and use some new holds, cause of the long moves, but sends it in the first try. She tries an 8a with lots of drilled holds, which is surprisingly nice, and Fuzzy and I do the same one, but she is too tired to try it again.
Here the grades are a bit more sharp (better than in Castillon), and the routes are skin killing. Besides, itīs getting cold because of the firm wind, so we decide to go home.
Monday
Today we have a restday, and Fuzzys gameboy is intensly used, what else can you do, eh? Lame of doing nothing, we agresse a little more on the door, and drive to the beach, Katha wants to swim!.. first we get some food from the patisserie (I love France), then we have a stop at the local orange feast, where they used around 2 million citrusses and oranges to built houses and painting (weirdos), and then we arrive at the beach, and when Katha is in the water till her knees, she decides it actually is kind of cold. she turns to collecting stones, and feeding the birds, who even pick the food from fuzzyīs head...
Tuesday
Because of the wind, we go to Castillon again. Katah and I warm up in a wall with lots of tufaīs, way fun, and we both do an 8a which feels easy, but nice, and Fuzzy tries the 8b far on the right, which looks like crap. He still wants to send it, but he canīt do it, he doesnīt find the sharp holds, he diddnīt want to mark, and he leaves it to be.
I try with low expectations the calssic of the crag: īMortal Combat`8b, downgraded from 8c+ to 8b+ when master Yuji did it on sight, and afterwards to 8b, because two women did it (!). First a 7c+ start followed by a bíg rest, and then starts the hard part on dynamic moves on tufaīs. then another painful rest, then a last part on small edges. I donīt find all the kneebars, who have to be there, and soon Iīm so pumped, that I can only climb on by lounging in the next holds, kamikaze style. Half an hour later I arrive at the top, half dead of the acid in my arms, and realise that the rope is too short to go down, and since I didnīt clip since long I just jump down. Fuzzy does the same, but he canīt write the on sight, cause he has already done the first part of the route.
Katha does another 8a, a long one, then we make some photoīs of her, and of Mortal Combat, and we decide to go home. The skin is not going very well, and the whole evening we play an dumb computergame on Fuzzyīs laptop: Spongebob Squarepants. Isnīt it nice to do lame ass things?
Wednesday
Today weīre off to Peillon, a cave with a bloody long approach hike, but itīs worth it. Tufaīs and stalactites everywhere, so motivated I start warming up. After th first route I realise that today itīs not gonna be it, everything hurts. I still try the local 8c, which is kind of nice, but a bit chipped, and I donīt feel like trying it again. Katha is jumping between the stalactites, she apparently likes it, and sens a 7c+ easily. She also is tired and doesnīt feel like doing more.
Fuzzy sends an 8b+ onsight with big problems on the end on the big holds, because itīs so long and he does everything false, and he motivates me do try it also. He tries to tell me where to go, but doesnīt remember a thing, and with the same problems as he had, I send it also. Canīt call it onsight though, more flash, but a hard one. We discuss the route, and realize that it no way can be 8b+, and downgrade it to 8b. Fuzzy is still climbing, and does an 8b, where he already tried the end, also this one is more 8a+. whiloe hiking back Fuzzy bets me to be at the car the first, but after 20 meter of running upwards, he lying hald dead on the ground, and he gives in...
Thursday
Thank god we have another restday, we do the whole day nothing.except looking at the crag above Monace, which looks like shit... Fuzzy parents are climbing somewhere, and we are lying underneath the rock. Tolstojīs `War and peace` is hard to read in german, and I wonīt finish the 1500 pages this week...
Friday
For the first time itīs not sunny, so we seek the south face of Italy, a crag named Castelbianco, never heard of it.
After a lot of searching, it appears to be just beside the road, and it looks fun. A small wall, slightly overhanging, lots of edges, and a small roof. The warm up routes are way undergraded, and do warm up very fast. Katha does her first 8a flash, in the roof with nice pancake formed holds, and Fuzzy and I do lots of 8aīs and 8a+s. Fuzzy wants to climb all the route over 8a (14 of them) in the next two days, so he better hurry up. Still, the 8aīs are hard, and are not easy to on sight, and the two 8b are cult pieces. I do both of them, which are really nice, and then itīs basta for me. We make a small fire, and afterwards we go home.
Saturday
When we awake there two unexpected thing before our house door: snow and the key of the kitchen door. The boss has finally send it, a bit late though. We put away the well used ladder, now we can use the door!
We leave for Castelbianco again, and when there Fuzzy continues the hunt for 8 degree routeīs: 5 for him, 5 for me, and 2 for Katha. The routes are really nice, a bit comic, and killer for the skin. We go home, and pack all the stuff, cause we tommorow we want to climb early in the morning before we go home.
Sunday
we wake up way too early, and drag the whole luggage with blood sweat and tears up the stairs of this weird village. We drive to our small piece of rock, and Fuzzy finishes his lifejob.
I only try the local project, which has to be around 8b+, and when I fall after the crux, cause of forgetting a toe hook, I see that the strange tufa holds made a hole in my hands, and I stop climbing. That gives me a reason the return one time... Satisfied we return to Austria, and while driveing it starts snowing, even aboven the mediterranean sea! In Innsbruck off course thersīs lots of snow, so we have to go to the gym to train a little...
Now itīs waiting for the next holiday!
|
