- 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