- 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

- Rocklands 2012: mr. Ego and the global climbing community

Two weeks have passed since I came back to Italy from Rocklands and I found myself right in the middle of this nightmare we call "summer" with temperatures reaching 40° and 80% of humidity... sweet were the days when I used to wake up with the noise of birds, to have breakfast wearing my jacket in front of the gas heater, having the dilemma of where would be best to go climbing, even if it would have been probably better just to rest.

Now I'm stuck home, too warm to climb, I have time to look back at this experience, trying to remember every single person I've met and the good times we had together. I have to say it has been a good trip, probably even better than last year. Even if I could not send all the problems I wanted to do, I had the opportunity to make a lot of new friends from different countries sharing my climbing and my home with them. Everybody was trying his best on some classic problems or futuristic new lines: sometimes you had success, sometimes defeat, bad skin and sore muscles... just as climbing should be.

Saying that I mean I truly had a great experience and I really enjoyed my climbing: Rocklands is not just a super "hardcore" destination where you can go and try all the hardest problem on earth, it is indeed a really nice place where you can be just fine sitting down looking at the horizon without bothering about climbing at all. Despite that there are several things I noticed during this trip, as well as last year, that deserve some deeper thoughts than the usual blog post where you say how cool was your experience, how hard was your climbing or how long your tick list... this things are more connected with the climbing community itself, and to what do we search in our climbing and what do we feel important about it.

Rocklands is obviously a well known bouldering destination were you do really meet people from all around the world, and offers a great opportunity to observe things on a wider scale than our small little spots scattered around Europe, which are full of "locals", local habits, local rules, and of course... local grades.  (and yes, also Fontainebleau is like that!)

Rocklands on the other hand counts just a few locals, it is actually quite hard to meet a south african climber. Boulders have been discovered and opened by many different people from different countries, at quite different times, starting back in 1996, when I was still 11 playing at school. There is no "local" community that really keeps one eye on the place, you do not meet the 50 years old man that comes to you and tells you how you have to climb a problem. When you are there you do really feel that place belongs to everybody, it belongs to our global climbing community that reads news on the web and looks at climbing videos on Vimeo or Youtube.

Let's try to start with that: when are we happy about our climbing? When do we feel proud of something we do? During this trip I've seen a lot of people psyched to send their first 7x or 8y grade boulder problem, and they were truly happy when they did, and it was a pleasure to watch and share those moments with them. Of course It is one of the best feelings: you are on a big trip in a climbing heaven, you are living your dream and pushing your limits achieving something you've never done before and sometimes also surprisingly fast... but is that really true? If you look back at your normal routine down at your home crag with your long standing 7b project you tried for ages and cannot still do, while there you just sent your first 7c after just few days of efforts ... what would have been best? Send the old 7b project or this amazing new 7c line in Rocklands? Of course to 90% of the people 7c is better than 7b...

But in the end what is 7c? What is 7b? These are just numbers somebody put in front of the name of two different pieces of rock, one of which we couldn't climb and one of which we just managed to climb. I think we should all learn to be happier if we manage to do something that has been a real challenge for our body: the hardest the challenge, the happier we should feel when we finally accomplish it. That's quite simple, and it is the only way we can use to measure how hard has been something for us: the amount of time and efforts it took comparing it to other things. But there is another important factor that plays a key role in our perception of happiness: our ego. We all tend to feel better when our efforts can be recognized in an official and public way, so as it is impossible for other people to understand our personal feelings regarding a specific climb, we created grades and use them to tell pretty much anything of what we just did to other people.

So here lies a dilemma: if we just want to try our best we can go and pick up whatever problem we like, that represents a real challenge for us, otherwise if we also want our efforts to be widely recognized we need to find a problem we like, that represents a real challenge for us and that also has an attractive grade, that's for sure a harder task... but here our ego can help to simplify things a little bit...  don't we really like the problem so much? Has it been less challenging than expected? No problem, our ego does a pretty good job to make us happy anyway whenever an interesting grade is involved... true?

I think we all have to learn how to balance between our ego and our feelings, and that's because if I look back into my climbing life I'm starting to forget many of the climbs I did, but i will never forget the ones that has been a real challenge to accomplish, it seems that our ego struggles to keep up with that in the long term. A great example is the FLASH thing. Nowadays all that matters is to flash a boulder problems, it is a harder task for sure and makes out of a less interesting grade still good news to support our ego. But what do we retain of a problem we flash after a while? Personally almost nothing, there is no big fight like in an on-sight sport climbing route, most of the time is just watching video betas on the internet and go execute the moves like a robot. No fight, no epic, no creativity. We should feel almost sad if we send  a problem first try, it did not give us the challenge it could have done. But we're indeed happy if we do, at the point that sometimes we try problems just to flash them and if we don't manage to we just walk away.

Taking things to excess we will end up just to try numbers, to browse the guidebook in search of something  of a desired grade we can send quickly, and especially if we are a "pro" climbers, to try something that will make interesting news, leaving behind everything else, even if we like it, but we feel it would be a harder task, or just not newsworthy.

That's an aspect of climbing I've experienced in Rocklands, and I can experience every day surfing the internet: everybody going crazy with big numbers and big news, as if we're more likely to get happiness out of our ego when we found ourselves in the middle of the global climbing community rather than at our quiet home crag. At home, where the "locals" pretty much know everything, and grades have already been lowered after endless discussions , we still feel free to engage in long big fights on some problems we like even if they have a low grade, but when we go on a big trip and meet altogether in the global climbing community, we like to go big, and we tend to try the problems that will satisfy more our ego than our feelings.

Fortunately in Rocklands it's so full of great and beautiful lines that it's not hard to find something that will be good for both your ego and your feelings, but our smiling and excited ego makes quite a mess when it comes to the fact of being rational, so if you add the lack of strict vigilance by "local" climbers, you get to the point that it's quite hard to find rational and harmonious grades, even because everybody's ego kicks in at a different level, and most of all... at a different grade!

Hope I didn't annoy you too much with those random thoughts I had in my head, anyway you can always just look at the pictures, as we all did when we were young and we had a book in our hands...  but if you're interested next time I'll try to be more specific and make some concrete examples. Otherwise you may just enjoy reading the list of the strange things I liked  most and I won't forget about this trip... so, like it or not, wait for a second post!

- Rocklands 2012, in the middle of the dream.

It has been almost a month I am in Rocklands now and time has come to write something about my trip. I landed in Cape Town on the 26th of June under cold heavy rain, and coming from 38° in Italy it has been quite a refreshing start... My friend Clement was waiting for me and time we got the car we were already driving along the N7 dreaming about rocks and red sunsets of the Pakhuis pass.

This time we found a nice place to share at the Alpha Excelsior Farm: here is a vineyard, a lovely coffe shop run by Becky and we're just in front of the Pakhyus campsite where to go bouldering or meet people around the fireplace in front of the bar at night.

We soon got to know some finnish, norwegian and slovenian guys who are sharing the house with us and it's nice to go climbing together, having a barbecue at night or just discuss which is the best pizza recipe...

Weather has been fairly good comparing to last year, it means not too warm and good to explore new climbs in the lower sectors I struggled to visit last year because of the heat. Just one thing got worse: you are now quite sure to be charged 5 euros a day if you want to climb, even if you just want to try a problem for about half an hour in the evening... it feels more like going into a climbing gym instead of being free bouldering into the wild.

I had time to try some of the boulders I was more willing to climb, and luckily enough I've already managed to climb some really good ones such as Leap of Faith, The Arc, Tea With Elmarie, The Hatchling, Megalo, Quintessential end El Corazon...

Each of these problems is really good and I think I will remember about the feelings it gave me for quite a long time, I just don't want to talk about grades at the moment, as I still think there are many inconsistencies with most of the places where I use to climb in Europe, and it will deserve deeper thoughts on the difficult subject.

At the moment I prefer just to leave you with fresh shots of our experience in this nice strange place: when I'm not climbing I'm trying to get some good pictures you can see on this Flickr album, while Clement is always willing to film what's going on and show it in his weekly updates on his Vimeo account. I'm really happy he captured my ascent of El Corazon, as it was one of the things I most wanted to do and I can now show you the fight it has been on my first session this year.

Now we're just in the middle of our trip, much has happened and much still have to happen, but we do need a small break from climbing now. Luckily enough some rain has come leaving us time to rest our bodies and eat some proper food that will make us stronger than ever when the sun will come to shine on Rocklands again.

See you next!