Well, today is Tuesday the 14th of August and tomorrow we depart Cortina and go to Florence for a few days of sight seeing. I am very sad to say Ciao to gli Dolomiti! They are so damn beautiful and special to me. I recommend all of you pay a visit.. and unlike was done to me, I will not shun Cortina. Even though it is more expensive and touristy, it is beautiful and the amenities are awesome! The access to the climbing is unbeatable and the camping is deluxe... maybe spendy, but deluxe and worth it. Well, I did get to sqeeze in one last day of climbing that really made the whole trip.
Susan and I set out yesterday morning around 8:30am to catch the lift to the top of Lagazuoi, a mountain pass. (We could have taken on an hour and a half approach, gotten up at 5:30 and been on the summit by noon, but why rush our last day??) So, we take the lift. The only other climbers on the lift with us (2 sets of 2) are sure enough, going to the same damn route as us. One group, well, it was a given that they would go before us as one of the two was a famous Italian mountain guide, Bruno, who is just a rocket. The other group assured us that they were fast... theyprobably felt like they could cause we were just a couple of girls...well, they LIED!!! majorly!! But, that's ok. We didn't want to rush anyway, right? Speaking of the female long route contigency....we only saw one other woman besides ourselves climbing on the long routes in the Dolomites.. it was that one tough chic that wiggled her invisible willy in my face and pinned me against the wall with her rope until I was singing country songs.. 'sometimes your the windsheild, sometimes your the bug...' I was the bug! So, Susan and I have decided we rock! ;)
Anyway, we get to the base and get rolling, third in line. The sky is blue and clear and we ditched our rain gear in the car to cut down on weight. This route is ONLY 9 pitches. A baby compared to the other big daddies we've climbed and a cynch! We should be at the top no later than 2pm! Right??? Well, thank god we weren't in any kind of HURRY!! Bruno did take off with client in tow. Twice on the route, his poor unknowing client pulled on the wrong rock and went for a sail through the skies. One time it was on a poorly protected traverse pitch and when he fell, it was way off sideways and down, flipping around in the air and colliding into the wall with his back.. luckily, he was wearing a back pack. They pulled the next little lip and we never saw them again. Meanwhile, grandpa was ahead of us leading his young friend up every pitch. This guy was really nice, in his 60's, and spoke a little English. Still, he should have let us pass! Unfortunately, everytime we got to the bealy, he was just leaving it and didn't leave us much of an option for passage. This route was great though! I ended up accidentally leading two of the hardest pitches! Susan accidentally went off route once and led a super hard straight in hand crack on bullet proof black rock! Super exposed and scary! We had to rap that pitch down and to the left to get back on route.. so we both had our wits about us on this one, cause we had to! I had to do these crazy ass face climbing moves on small orange flakes about 15 feet above a shitty piton on the 8th pitch.. it made my legs wobbley for the entirity of the pitch, which didn't ease up but rather took me into an overhanging dihedral with a fingers lieback! It was great and once at the belay, I was so proud of myself for not aiding the pitch on fixed gear like gramps did. Once at the top, and out of water, we still had two hours to get down which included an exposed ridge walk, scree skiiing and an uphill grunt followed by a knee jarring downhill trail.. I was soooooo thirsty, I thought I was going to keel over. I passed up four piles of dirty snow, wishing so bad that snow was always safe to eat... but in lieu of the fact that I watched a heard of Chamois walk all over it all day long... better not.. Until, the fifth patch of snow...I'm sorry! I was desperate! I scraped all the dirt off and dug deep into the three foot tall pile.. And man, did that snow taste like the freshest, best italian ice in the whole damn world. Suddenly the forlorn look on my face that resembles Yosemite Sam in the desert was replaced by a smile of great relief!! Once down, we bumped into gramps again, whose name is actually Colorado - no lie and no bad interpretation.. He and his partner bought us beers in the bar at the top of the pass and then we parted.. But one good thing did come out of that encounter.. Oh, he just happens to own a house in FINALE!! which is one of my up and coming destinations.. sea side climbing on cliffs in N. Italy, remember? So, we exchanged e-mail and turns out that he'll be there in Sept., same as me!
Now, let me just tell you all about this crazy turn of events!! My friend Dani, who lives in the Big Apple and works for a law firm hooked me up big time!! A partner in her firm and his wife are going to Provence, France from the 18th to the 25th of August and they desperately needed a babysitter for their 3-yr old and 6-mo. old! Well, she e-mailed me and it's gonna happen. Straight from Florence, I take a train to Provence and meet this family! They are basically going to be paying for my whole european trip with the wages they'll be giving me... Plus, no camping! I get my own bedroom and my days are free to me and the nights are spent with the kids! What in the world is my deal! How does this stuff happen to me!? What are the chances, I mean really? Well, I will miss out on yet another week of solo time, and a week of climbing, and I'll be looking at a mountain of diapers still, but...it is so worth it!! Thanks again Dani!! :) Well, I must be running along!! I don't know what it will be like, finding internets fast and easy from here on out, so keep in touch and don't be bummed if my messages take a hiatus! I don't know what to expect either!! Yikes... Sing it 'On my own, pretending he's besiiiide me, all alone, ..something, something, something... without him, I feel my something, something.... ' Les Mis, can't ya tell... Ciao.
Susan and I set out yesterday morning around 8:30am to catch the lift to the top of Lagazuoi, a mountain pass. (We could have taken on an hour and a half approach, gotten up at 5:30 and been on the summit by noon, but why rush our last day??) So, we take the lift. The only other climbers on the lift with us (2 sets of 2) are sure enough, going to the same damn route as us. One group, well, it was a given that they would go before us as one of the two was a famous Italian mountain guide, Bruno, who is just a rocket. The other group assured us that they were fast... theyprobably felt like they could cause we were just a couple of girls...well, they LIED!!! majorly!! But, that's ok. We didn't want to rush anyway, right? Speaking of the female long route contigency....we only saw one other woman besides ourselves climbing on the long routes in the Dolomites.. it was that one tough chic that wiggled her invisible willy in my face and pinned me against the wall with her rope until I was singing country songs.. 'sometimes your the windsheild, sometimes your the bug...' I was the bug! So, Susan and I have decided we rock! ;)
Anyway, we get to the base and get rolling, third in line. The sky is blue and clear and we ditched our rain gear in the car to cut down on weight. This route is ONLY 9 pitches. A baby compared to the other big daddies we've climbed and a cynch! We should be at the top no later than 2pm! Right??? Well, thank god we weren't in any kind of HURRY!! Bruno did take off with client in tow. Twice on the route, his poor unknowing client pulled on the wrong rock and went for a sail through the skies. One time it was on a poorly protected traverse pitch and when he fell, it was way off sideways and down, flipping around in the air and colliding into the wall with his back.. luckily, he was wearing a back pack. They pulled the next little lip and we never saw them again. Meanwhile, grandpa was ahead of us leading his young friend up every pitch. This guy was really nice, in his 60's, and spoke a little English. Still, he should have let us pass! Unfortunately, everytime we got to the bealy, he was just leaving it and didn't leave us much of an option for passage. This route was great though! I ended up accidentally leading two of the hardest pitches! Susan accidentally went off route once and led a super hard straight in hand crack on bullet proof black rock! Super exposed and scary! We had to rap that pitch down and to the left to get back on route.. so we both had our wits about us on this one, cause we had to! I had to do these crazy ass face climbing moves on small orange flakes about 15 feet above a shitty piton on the 8th pitch.. it made my legs wobbley for the entirity of the pitch, which didn't ease up but rather took me into an overhanging dihedral with a fingers lieback! It was great and once at the belay, I was so proud of myself for not aiding the pitch on fixed gear like gramps did. Once at the top, and out of water, we still had two hours to get down which included an exposed ridge walk, scree skiiing and an uphill grunt followed by a knee jarring downhill trail.. I was soooooo thirsty, I thought I was going to keel over. I passed up four piles of dirty snow, wishing so bad that snow was always safe to eat... but in lieu of the fact that I watched a heard of Chamois walk all over it all day long... better not.. Until, the fifth patch of snow...I'm sorry! I was desperate! I scraped all the dirt off and dug deep into the three foot tall pile.. And man, did that snow taste like the freshest, best italian ice in the whole damn world. Suddenly the forlorn look on my face that resembles Yosemite Sam in the desert was replaced by a smile of great relief!! Once down, we bumped into gramps again, whose name is actually Colorado - no lie and no bad interpretation.. He and his partner bought us beers in the bar at the top of the pass and then we parted.. But one good thing did come out of that encounter.. Oh, he just happens to own a house in FINALE!! which is one of my up and coming destinations.. sea side climbing on cliffs in N. Italy, remember? So, we exchanged e-mail and turns out that he'll be there in Sept., same as me!
Now, let me just tell you all about this crazy turn of events!! My friend Dani, who lives in the Big Apple and works for a law firm hooked me up big time!! A partner in her firm and his wife are going to Provence, France from the 18th to the 25th of August and they desperately needed a babysitter for their 3-yr old and 6-mo. old! Well, she e-mailed me and it's gonna happen. Straight from Florence, I take a train to Provence and meet this family! They are basically going to be paying for my whole european trip with the wages they'll be giving me... Plus, no camping! I get my own bedroom and my days are free to me and the nights are spent with the kids! What in the world is my deal! How does this stuff happen to me!? What are the chances, I mean really? Well, I will miss out on yet another week of solo time, and a week of climbing, and I'll be looking at a mountain of diapers still, but...it is so worth it!! Thanks again Dani!! :) Well, I must be running along!! I don't know what it will be like, finding internets fast and easy from here on out, so keep in touch and don't be bummed if my messages take a hiatus! I don't know what to expect either!! Yikes... Sing it 'On my own, pretending he's besiiiide me, all alone, ..something, something, something... without him, I feel my something, something.... ' Les Mis, can't ya tell... Ciao.
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