- Oltre il Confine

Last two weeks have been pretty busy with climbing in Monte Amiata, Val di Mello and Orco Valley. On the 30th of April I've started working on this incredible route my friend Bengio opened last autumn. It is a very obvious line that follows the mouth of this cave, and has a couple of hard boulder sections with a little rest in between.

I had to try the moves for a couple of days before solving the crux, but then I left for Val di Mello, where I did not want to miss the 10th anniversary of Melloblocco. There I could meet plenty of friends and finish to trash my skin climbing some of the great new problems prepared for the event. Just a few days rest and I went for a short trip to Orco Valley to make some multi-pitch practice on the route "Cannabis" I had previously left unfinished last October... 

That was good stamina training: after just a short bouldering session at the wall and straight back to Amiata for some unfinished business! Last weekend have been just great: good weather, top friction and lots of friends who to show this nice quiet place. Saturday the 11th after four days of tries I made the first repetitions of "Oltre il Confine" my first 8b+/8c route. I don't really know about the grade, as I don't have much experience, but it's definitely something special and a good step forward in my sport climbing skills.

- Peak District 2013

Since I came back from the Peak District on April the 11th I've been pretty busy, but now it's definitely time to sum up my experience as many interesting things happened during last two months. I left from Parma with my dear Skoda Roomster packed with gear on February 11th... destination Brussels, where I attended a two day advanced video workshop with Philip Bloom, organised by my friend Haroun Souirji.

It has been quite useful and fun, as we had the opportunity to shoot and edit a little 30 seconds short, and it really helped me realize what I need to learn and what I'm already capable of. You can find a collection of shorts that were shot on the occasion here, there's some pretty good stuff for a couple of hours filming inside a hotel and a short editing session at night!

After Brussels I went straight to Sheffield. I could not wait to see the Peak District again, and when I finally entered in town driving down Chesterfield road, I felt like coming back home. A really nice feeling, which I used to have only when arriving in Fontainebleau... it's nice to have a second "home away from home" now.

The day after my arrival the Peak was still lightly covered by snow, but a few days of good weather soon came along and I had the opportunity to get back into gritstone doing some classics like "Low Rider" 7c+, "Great White" 7c+ (which I added of a nice and scary top out), "Silk" E6 6c and "White Wand" E5 6a.

Unfortunately good weather didn't last long, and it soon turned back into clouds and rain. Not even good to take pictures I just sticked to training trying to prepare at best for my main goal: Voyager sitstart, which I wanted to send before warm weather kicked in, and leave some time for more trad climbing.

As days passed I had some mixed weather, it was generally cold but quite humid and still. I tried several times Voyager but I constantly kept falling on the release from a heel hook, quite close to the end, but there  was no sign of improvement with such conditions. I was confident anyway, almost certain to get some dry windy days at some point... and in fact I did, but not under Voyager, as I will explain later on.

At the same time I had some fun trying the technical slab of "Walk on By" 7c+, which required a few visits, and taking part as usual at the CWIF competition, proudly member of the Beastmaker team together with Ned, Will and Mina. I did surprisingly good in the qualifiers, coming second overall, probably too good, as the next day I did a complete disaster in the semis (as usual) and had to get out on grit straight away to get off some steam (usual again). In the evening I came back to watch the finals and then everybody went out for a curry... happy ending. (did I say usual? :-) )

One day I also got some luck: quite tired after a long session on Voyager the former day I went out with  

friends to try Superbloc 8a+, an amazing boulder problem that looks like one in Fontainebleau, but definitely climbs like a gritstone classic, needing cold weather and good skin to drag a few poor tiny pockets using the worst feet imaginable.

The day was perfect: cold, windy and with occasional clouds masking the sun. I could not ask for better, and after some fight with it I found myself at the top of the problem. I was quite surprised as I've been trying that since my first visit three years ago and was not even feeling close. Gritstone is like that, one day you can't move and the next one you stick to everything. After Superbloc only one boulder problem remained on the list... Voyager sit! But weather showed up with an unexpected gift... SNOW!

Right at the time my father and a couple of friends from Parma came to visit, we got stuck for a couple of days under a heavy snow storm accompanied by strong winds... nothing much I could show them apart from some circuits at the Climbing Works and a tour of the nicest pubs in town where we could taste a complex variety of real ales...

After the storm passed it was impressive to see how much snow there was up there... the wind moved and packed huge drifts of snow under the crags and on the roads, making it impossible to drive or reach what was left of the crags... it was time to buy some gaiters and prepare for some long hikes in the snow. The goal was to go there clean the rocks and build some nice and flat snow landings, waiting for some highball action once the crags would have dried out.

Weather gave us a couple of weeks of dry sunshine, staying quite cold and windy, and making the snow quite compact. Unfortunately winds kept blowing from east all of the time, making it really sheltered and even warm at Burbage north under Voyager, while on the other side, at Burbage west conditions were just perfect... very frustrating.

Anyway, finally good weather had come back, and even if condition were not good enough for Voyager, there were plenty of things I could climb, and the nice snow platforms under the routes were certainly an occasion not to be missed. Going out almost every day, fighting at times with cold wind and at times with boiling sunshine I satisfied my need of rock, and I made the most out of this awaited period of nice weather.

Among the things I wanted to try most were a couple of aretes at Burbage south: Messiah E7 6c and Simba's Pride E8 6b. The first one is a proper route with a hard 7b/7c boulder move at mid height, while the second one is a scary and tall boulder problem with a deadly jump right at the top... Messiah was really fun: as I was getting too cold placing gear in the first break before the crux, I preferred to carry on to the good one just above it when I did the route, but I still got really cold placing gear and finishing it up... nightmare!

Simba's Pride was even scarier: I wanted to try it "ground up" without a top rope inspection, but when I got to the final jump and had to engage I was simply too scared and I could do nothing else than trying to jump down as controlled as I could. Even with some snow on the ground the fall was really nasty and after the second one my sore knees forced me to stop. Back on my decision, I tried the jump with a rope, but that felt not as easy as I thought it would feel... (yes, I definitely suck at jumping!). I have to thank my friend Jake who took courage and finally climbed the line: his effort gave me back motivation and I also went for it instead of giving up. What a day!

If I could not finish Voyager and it was too cold for trad climbing there was one thing I absolutely wanted to do: Samson. I've been dreaming of this route since I've seen Jerry Moffatt top roping it in the video Hard Grit. The line is tall but it's definitely possible to try above pads, and a few people already did, like my friend Ned last year, making me very envious.

The problem starts with an easy crack, reaches an obvious hole in the middle of the blank wall and crosses to a pocket you use to finish up a line of rounded edges. The climbing is quite powerful on fairly big holds but all you have for your feet is just a bunch of poor pebbles that are quite hard to use. You can climb, take your time to chalk up in the hole, and then carry on for the upper crux. Definitely one of the best things I climbed in my life: a tall hard 8a boulder problem, one that you will never forget of. Thanks James for spotting and supporting me!

During last few days temperature started to warm up and you could definitely feel spring was coming. I briefly tried Voyager again without much hope of success (never give up), but at least I could move to try a few routes on a nearby wall, the one where "The Promise" is, before the snow platform would completely melt.

So one day together with Ned (like on The Promise last year) we did the third and fourth ascent of Miles Gibson's route "Superstition" E8 7a?. Probably a fingery and pebbley 7c boulder problem above pads (and snow), just slightly harder than the Promise, with a final scary jump for the ledge. Now just one route was left for me on the boulder, and thanks to the snow I managed to climb on my own with three pads "Living in Oxford" E7 6c on my last day... after that a final session at the Works (just in case), and a good pie at the Broadfield with James... next day I would find myself on the ferry back to Italy.

- New Year in Amiata: boulder and trad !

New Year, time to get back to Amiata trying to get some sunshine and finish some unfinished business... potential is surely there, good rock too, if you even find a team of psyched people to work with it's basically done!

First goal was climbing a hard project in "Vivo D'Orcia" sector named Mondo Bastardo. I tried it a few times over last spring and this autumn, I was getting really close but always dropped on the last shoulder move when coming from the start. It's a great line on pockets, it can be quite sharp on your skin, but the reward is enough to make you battle and bleed as hard as you can.

I had to get back a couple of times, and make some good training on our super board at Castel del Piano, before finally sticking the last move on the 4th of January... the grade is proposed 8b, and I think it deserves it all. After that I've soon started working on the next hard one, which is just a hundred meters away. This one could be even harder and will be a good project to get back as soon as the snow goes away!

Moving on to a different subject we started opening some new trad lines at Chiesina sector, mainly due to the efforts done by Federico Schlatter who made a heavy gardening job to clean all the rock from vegetation! I have to say hard bouldering and good trad climbing is probably my favorite mix, as it allows you to rest your body after a heavy session and simply enjoy the beauty of climbing with a little bit of mind challenge... I'm really proud we're starting to develop such a place in Italy as well.

Among the lines we gave birth to a special mention goes to "Il Nido del Cinghiale" E3 6a (the bore's nest) and "Un Friend per Amico" E6 6c (a friend as a friend). The last one is quite intense and fairly safe on gear, it has a short bouldery section which will deserve at least 7b sport climbing, with proper gear (not too easy to place though)  it becomes a very enjoyable route to test your trad skills.

I'll leave you with this nice video we made of the route, hope it will make you wish to visit Amiata and enjoy this place as we're doing... we'll publish an article on Pareti magazine soon... just in case! Thanks to Federico, Bengio, Tommy and everybody else who shared with us his new year's holiday.

- The North Sail

A couple of weeks ago I've been for a few days to Cresciano taking advantage of a period of good weather and I have some interesting news to share. One day while I was walking to get to the Dreamtime boulder I found myself again in front of a tall arete which is just before the Jungle Book sector. I had already looked at it several times wondering if it was possible to climb: it looked quite hard in the middle section where you have to squeeze two sharp aretes, plus it looked way too frightening at the end where you won't like the idea to fall from what seemed a tricky finger crack. So usually I just moved on to try something else but this time I happened to have a short rope with me... let's give it a look!

I abseiled down, cleaned the crack from the moss and tried the upper moves on self belay... ok it's easy here, no excuses! So came down and I started to build a proper landing with rocks at the start which was just above a huge pond of water. Something turned up in my mind, I definitely wanted to climb this line now! I spent some time to figure out the middle moves and the sitstart. There is a quite intense section from a big undercut before establishing in the crack, and it involves a strange toe hook while pinching the arete. From there you may still jump down safely before engaging the final part. The sitstart is not hard on his own but then it's tricky to get the undercut properly when you come from the right arete. It was enough for the day, I finished to stack a few more rocks to make a better landing and went away.

The next day I came back focused, I tried once again the top section with the rope and made myself ready for the ascent. I was alone and had three big pads which were enough to cover the hard part, afterwards you don't really want to fall... I had a couple of good goes but both times I felt too scared to continue. Shit I really do need some help and cheering up here! So I had to wait till the next trip, when a few friends helped with spotting and I could finally fulfill the dream of climbing this great new line which is probably among the best in Cresciano. You can watch it in the video I made a few days later with my friend Gianluca, it also shows it's right slabby brother (which I found to be called Salamandre)... something between 6c and 7a+ crazy, tall and with a fairly good landing where you can to take some good falls.

Later on speaking with Cresciano guidebook authors I found Klem Loskot already climbed the line from the big undercut and gave it 8a+ but unfortunately it soon got into oblivion. In my opinion I was thinking to give it 8a/8a+ from the sitstart and 7c+ starting on the second deck with the big undercut. The full line seems better to me anyway so I've decided to keep the name I had already thought calling it "The North Sail". Hope you will discover and fall in love with this great problem as I did. It could be a good one if you are spending your Christmas holidays around Cresciano... by the way... HAPPY CHRISTAMS, HAPPY CLIMBING !

- the Swiss Recipes

Hi everybody, you probably didn't hear many news recently, cause I've been mainly training indoor (at the Pareti Sportcenter in Parma where I've recently started working) to prepare the Italian bouldering championship. Unluckily I've managed to get ill just before the competition and had to climb with the fever all the way to the finals where I could do nothing more than trying to get to the end... it has been fun anyway, just a pity to see all your hard training vanish. No worries, I can always try again next year.

Soon after the competition I moved to Switzerland together with several friends from England who came for an holiday dreaming about Cresciano and all the classics that Malc and Jerry were climbing in Stone Love... what better of some granite and sunshine to recover and get back in shape?

Together with James, Leo, Tim and Anna we had a lot of fun: hard bouldering during the day and good meals at night to feed your body and your mind. At the end of the holiday everybody got some brilliant problems done: including La Boule, La Pelle, Kirk Windstain, Frank's Wild Years and Il Partner. As for myself I went mainly climbing to Chironico where I still had several problems I missed to check out.

I did a few classics like Souvenir and Teamwork, and was really pleased to climb Delusion of Grandeur, Einfisch Kleinfisch and Conquistador, which I also did in it's new direct version (maybe half a grade harder... 8b?). Especially Delusion and Conquistador (both versions) were among the best ones I climbed in Chironico so far, and probably among the best all over Switzerland. I'll leave you with this stupid video that gives a good idea of what our holiday was... anyway Bouldering Recipes is what this kind of short "beta" videos we keep posting on the internet is all about, so why not make it clear and add some proper recipes? ;-)

Happy climbing, and keep it for fun. Michele.

- Weekend in Amiata

After a couple of weeks of work at the climbing wall I finally took a short break and went back to my little house in Siena keen to start with the winter season in Monte Amiata.

Friday I went with my friend Bengio to "Sasso Corbaio" where he had just opened earlier in the week a new route called "Alibracciapinne". This short route that goes through a little cave is more like a 7 moves boulder problem... nothing to clip, nothing to hesitate: you do it or you just take the fall. It was still pretty warm and It took me basically all day to finally stick that move and quickly run at the belay. We agreed with Bengio it could be around the 8b grade... but we both suck at grading so you'll have to go there and judge on your own!

The day after I met with Lorenzo and Trevor (a visiting friend from Sheffield) at the Vetta sector, trying to find cooler temperatures. It was not really cold, but I took some time cleaning a new line on one of the many big boulders spread around "Achille" and I finally gave birth to "Apollo", a great highball problem around 7b+ or 7c that I would recomend to everyone, as the fall is not too bad and the climbing simply great!

It is just the start and many lines are just waiting for somebody to try. Sunday I took a rest day and I travelled south toward Ascoli, where I met with Mauro and Daniela. The next day they showed me something I was willing to see since a long time... and I hope to tell you more about it next time!

- Orco Trad Climbing Meeting 2012

Two weeks ago I had quite an interesting experience in Orco Valley and I think it's worth to share with you some thoughts before writing again boring stuff about Rocklands and grades... ;-)

Also this year I've had the pleasure to participate as a guest to the second international trad climbing meeting organized in Valle dell' Orco by the Italian Alpine Club. During the first two days I've had the opportunity to see the famous walls of Sergent and Caporal and admire their stunning granite lines that proved to be an irresistible attraction also for a boulderer like me!

I've had the opportunity to make my first real experience on a multi-pitch, and learn something from much more experienced climbers... I wonder if one day I will also manage to bring my skills on these super smooth walls and help to bridge the different climbing disciplines, once considered so distant, but nowadays  getting clearly ever closer.

Thursday evening I held a little talk called "Boulder Trad", where I retraced the steps of my climbing life, showing pictures and short movies about my bouldering trips and my latest experiences of traditional climbing, explaining what I found in common between these two disciplines apparently so different.

Friday I could follow young Pete Whittaker in action on some of the hardest European cracks such as "Greenspit" and "Glowes of War": the boy jams and sneaks into these horizontal cracks as it was daily routine, but I could see for myself how different is this style and how much technique is required! Today is Saturday and we came to the last day of the meeting opened to the public and to whoever wanted to discover the world of traditional climbing. Weather has not been great in the morning, discouraging perhaps some people, but it soon turned into good, giving us another wonderful day of climbing in the valley.

As for myself I've finally climbed the famous "Kosterlitz" crack and I've managed to close business with a route that repelled me earlier in the week. There's no better sensation of coming back home feeling that you have learned something.

22/09/2012