Utah-Italy 2001 (5)

Hello! So, I heard from more than one of you that following my last e-mail I may have obtained status of a whacko! Yay! I achieved my ultimate goal in life. Do you just love me!!?? I'm crazy. Here we go again...My it's been so long.

I'm buzzing on a stein of a Pilsner type beer that I just slammed following the 18!!!!!! pitch route that Tim and I just ticked today in a matter of ocho (8) hours today... not counting the hour up and down hiking. Ouch, my knees! The climbing was great! Absolutely Grand! It was on a peak called Tofanna that is absolutely impossible to miss from anywhere around here. Every day we look up at it from camp and from every climb I've done so far, I see Tofanna! And today, I sumitted Tofanna! We did this casual route with only a few scary pitches. Questioning my mortality wasn't even an issue today. It was just plain fun. Well, besides that..I'm a mental Giant right now. This place is so good for me. I hung it out over some crazily exposed spots with gear dangling far in my past and I wasn't even fazed. In fact, the holds on this one pitch were so kick-ass that I could shape a line for Pusher or Franklin based soley on that pitch. The only shitter of the route was that as we began up the first pitch, this Italian woman and her Austrian lover came along with every intention of passing us, but without so much as a mention one way or the other. She actually started leading a pitch with her bum in my face while I began to second it..(sorry for all the climbing info).. So, then on the second pitch, I started out leading while she was belaying up her partner. Next thing I know, she's on my tail and on this traverse, she passes below me, pinning me to the wall with her rope-draggy rope and gets a cam tangled up in my line.... Tim was choked, so on the next pitch, he dogs her just for the fun of it and links two pitches to blow the bitch out of the water.. Well, we let her pass in the end cause she had ill energy and no desire to be pleasant about cramming herself in our faces on very pitch.. she proceeded to do the same thing to the Germans above us. When we caught up to them, they asked Tim where we were from, Italy?. NO, not Italy..Oh, good, then you won't be rude.... They have a bad rep here. It's not the first time that's happened to us. In Yosemite, they would have their rope cut!

I'll tell you what too, at the top of that route, I would've been a great body shot... I just learned about those from my friend, Bambi.. if you knew her, you'd see it as ironic! :) But it's kinda like when you lick the person's neck, do a shot of tequila from somewhere on their body and then lick some lime from their mouth...or something... I would have given enough salt to eliminate any tasting of the tequila or needing of the lime.. yuk, I know.. But, funny thought that ocurred to me as I licked my shoulder out of nervousness on this hairy traverse... I know, whacko..

The other day, Susan and I went out to climb. We got up at 4:30 am and charged... well, we had a two hour drive. We got to the base...well, we never got to the base, but we got to the area at 8:30. The guide book sucked and we couldn't find the route that went with the approach description, but we thought we saw the line. We hiked around for at least an hour and marked the territory like Bears and then found a clue that told us that the original line we saw, was the line!!Of course at this time there are clouds the size of Utah overhead and the way they have creamed Suze and I so far (3 for 3) we weren't going to take a chance...So, we bailed, back down the hour and a half trek and into a cute little town on a lake, Aleghe, and we had lunch.. and boy did we have lunch. These two littleAmericanas had one big pizza, one bowl of spaghetti, two mixed salads, one order of fries, and two cokes..oh, I'm eating so well in Italy! Like a champ. Thank god for all the early mornings and big approaches orI'd be a tank. Instead, I'm actually losing weight! Yowsah! But, on the way home, we were so overcome with guilt for not climbing and were too afraid of going back to camp and facing Tim who would look at the ground and shake his head and then say, well I'm sure you made a wise call.... FUCK THAT... we mustered up the energy to haul or lazy buns with our heavy packs up a trail and do this classic Arete that overlooks alot of the climbing around here. It was seven pitches of perfect, but polished climbing, with mostly threaded limestone rings for pro! It was a knife edge too so on either side, it just fell away to the ground below! Lovely! Yay! We did a route... to the top! I would love to be funnier and tell lots more, but didI mention I've been climbing all day!? I must run. I'll tell you about our day trip to Venice and whatever else comes to mind soon. Love yas! Thanks for the notes.