They were off. This time the Dolomites was on the cards and the drive was a long one. 2 days, 7 countries, 2 fuel stops and lots of banter and we were there. The weather was crap, which seems to be the norm with me and alpine climbing this year, but I knew a crag in the Sella region where we were staying that was super steep and never got wet. We headed there to warm up the guns for the start of a 2 week rampage around Europe. The crag grade range is from 6a – 9a but mostly in the upper 7s and 8s with the added delight of a plague of Marmots living at the base of the crag to play with too. As the day went on the crag got busier and busier with many of the hard lines having ascents from the local wadâs.
The next day saw a dodgy weather report but having driven all this way and armed with lots of abseil tat (where there is rope, there is hope) it would seem silly not to get out and about. We climbed the Micheluzzi first and then descended back to the start of the route and did the first pitch of Route of Friendship which also happens to be the crux, which is quite stiff for the grade of VI. No sooner had Robyn reached the belay did the evil one rear its ugly head and throw some hail our way………retreat. The van was not far away and soon we were inside and putting the kettle on like good little hobbits.
My birthday was not far away and I wanted to do a route on the Cima Grande, as I had never climbed there and pictures and tales of this placed had inspired me for many years previously. We headed to Cinque Torri, as it was on the way, and did battle with some hard, slightly run out multi-pitch sport routes (Robyn loves Howard). After feeling the burn and taking some whippers we drove towards the Cima Grande and checked out the price of the toll road that leads up to the big ânorth face showâ. 22 euros to drive up a 6km road is quite a lot but when you get to park within 20 minuteâs walk of some of the best climbing of your life, you should definitely buy a ticket. We didnât. Instead choosing to get up at 4am and drive up hoping that the booth might not be manned and we could get through for free………………..hhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm, doh, not the case, still an early start is always good for big routes. The route in mind was the famous âYellow edgeâ as it seemed like a good warm up…….sort of. The problem though was all around us, thick fog engulfed us, the hostel and the mountains and didnât seem like clearing. 20 metres was the visibility but this didnât deter me – it was my birthday and I must climb that bastard. I am not proud of this next comment…….it took us 3 hours to find the start of the route (guide book time 45mins), all due to the horrendous fog. The fog started to clear and it was on. 14 pitches of mostly overhanging very exposed E2 ish climbing on slightly loose rock, f**king love it. No sooner had we topped out did the fog return âbastardâ trying to find the way off in 20m vis is hard work especially when one has not been to the top of this spire before but we did make it down onto steep snow in the gully and start the fun âskiâ down and back to the van. A very long day – happy birthday!!!
Note: Belays not in place higher up the route and itâs not always obvious route finding. After pitch 9 retreat would be hard work. Descent – climb to the second summit then head west one abseil then keep going west until cairns mark the start of 7-8 abseils that land you in the gully and then descend south.
We cracked out a few more big routes but nothing really that compares with Yellow edge and with a final storm hitting us hard only 2 pitches from the top of a north face route and the rope getting stuck on an abseil, we were in trouble and it was time to head back towards the warm and enjoy some good wine. Fontainbleau seemed like a good place to head to, break up the drive and lose some skin.
Day 2 at Font saw both myself and Robyn send âjet setâ font 7a and for us both our first 7a. A few hard pulls and some neat footwork lands you at the dyno for the top. Robyn got it 3rd go, a 3 year project put to rest and for me it was go 8 on my first session. We were both stoked so we cracked open a beer and saluted the Gods for such a good place. Many other hard problems got ticked but to be fair it was all about Carrefour and heelys but thatâs another story.
