Hey look... I got connected, but I'm a little heavy hearted cause this keyboard is nothing like what I'm used to and so I can just not possibly keep up with my thoughts and I think I'm about to cry. It took me 5 minutes to get this far... qghh:: If I wrote a sentence using my standard keyboard knowledge, this is what it would look like.. [I q, very frustrated by ;this keyboard qnd I reqlly zqnt to use on thqt I q, ,ore co,fortqble zith]1::::::::this is the period key:::::::: translation::: I am very frustrated with this keyboard and would really like to use one that I am comfortable with. Another 5 minutes gone. I don't know guys...Shit, here goes.... exuse the occasionql overlooked nonsense. In the event of an error, here is the key-q=a z=w ,=m &=! that should do you for now. So, I am in Provence, France with the Wolff's, not to be mistaken for the Wolfe's with whom I was in Italy. lsjfdlki;mhkfdnjgqoegfihedsfoisj34àç"è(_'(à'_è-oijlkjsflklkjdflknglknglkqfùlkdngkdflkjslkdnflkjngoràçç SORRY!!!! Shit!!! you'd think i could pick this up!
Provence is nice, but it is so arid and soo hot! We have spent our days driving from our base spot in St. Martin de Castillon to all of the surrounding towns, such as fukin' Rousillon, Gordes; Bonnieux; Boux, St.Remy, et. al. They all boast to be the capital of something or at least have the world's coolest something:: It doesn't matter. I'm sorry. I don't think I can finish... I'll ;just ;try ;spell ;check when Iù, done: NO thqt didn't zork: BYE!!
--------------------------------
okay... this is my 4th attempt. I keep giving up and then I find another vote of confidence in my inbox...thanks Matt and Jon W... but I'm close to tears. I did check all the other keyboards by the way... good thinking. I'll make this quick before I chop off my ear and drive up the road to St. Remy for a little down time. The Wolff family that I am with is very nice. The gig is, we all sight see during the day and swim in the pool in the later afternoon. Then we consistently and stylishly down a bottle of red wine while eating fine cheeses with French bread. I told you, vegan was out for the time being. Then twice they left me to mind the kids while they went out to dinner and twice we all cooked at home. I have discovered that it is not recommended to climb in Boux right now as the south facing walls bake... and it's a scorcher! Don't worry Susan! I will come back this way, but for now, I've decided to make another quick buck... this saturday, I am going to Paris with the Wolff's to nanny there for three days and on the beaches of Normandy for two days. I will probably boulder in Fontainbleu after that and try to find a climber to head south with. I am seriously thinking of doing anything in my power to go climbing in Spain cause this whole communicating in French thing has me feeling a little stifled. I want so much to tell you all about the lavender and ocres here in Provence, but it will have to wait until Paris. These guys clearly got the reject keyboards from some black market!
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Utah - Italy 2001 (12)
Ok, Ok. I totally admit it! I'm a junkie. Tighten the turnicate and log me on! I just stumbled across the internet point in Pisa, Italy and had to pop in for a quick fix. Well, the journey from Florence to Pisa was quick and painless, although, I still fumble a little with the whole train schedule thing. Just wait though. I'll be a fountain of information for anyone who has plans to train around Europe. Just give me a couple of months. Traveling is really all too easy these days to be honest. I mean, can you imagine trying to get around back in the day before phones, on-line ticket purchasing, styley, comphy packs, good walking shoes, and the simple things we take for granted... like the handy lockers at the station which so graciously took a load off my back in a BIG way while I cruised around Pisa.. (and I continue to cruise).
I just finished taking in all the splendor of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That tower is whacky looking and so close to falling... Although, they claim its not- yeah, whatever and watch out! They did all kinds of work on it to get it to stay in place. Since the beginning of its construction in the 1100's, it's taken three efforts to finish, ending I think, in the 1400's with the bell tower on top..risky manouver..sp? The whole reason it took 3 efforts was to stop and see if the sinking effect would back off. Some of the modern things done to hold it in place are 1) piling tons of weight on the north side, which is the non-sinking side 2) attaching it to a steel cable on the north side to keep it standing 3) building a steel girdle around the 4th floor balconies on the north side 5) and finally, in 1993 until now, digging soil out from under the north side so that they could gain the crucial 40cm that they needed! Apparently,they just removed the cable and other tacky obstructions in June of 2001 so I just barely made the window of seeing the tower without all the distractions.
From here, I am going out to dinner alone. :( I'll probably splurge and buy a $5 beer and just read my book at some cafe until it closes and then head back to the train station where my train doesn't leave until 2:45am! I would have left from Florence and avoided this delay, but I had to see the Leaning Tower, right!? It was worth it. I sat on the grass and looked at the tower, which lies next to the Duomo, which is a splendid church, similar to the Duomo in Florence. Interesting bit of Etymology for you (word origin)... Duomo means house, hence the churches which are called Il Duomo... house of God. I thought for sure that duomo meant dome because the first church I came across that was called the Duomo, in Florence, also happened to be the first structure (in the world, presumably) to use a dome in its architecture. Bit of trivia for you to research cause I'll just stick to my own speculation until further confirmation by an etymologist... Which came first... the dome or the duomo? Did this unprecedented structure, round in design, become known as the Dome because it went on top of the Duomo??? Or is it mere coincidence...???
Anyway, now I'll be walking the streets singing...'She's miss California.. hottest thing in LA...Hollywood's her favorite scene...loves to be surrounded.' - you really have to be careful what songs you let penetrate your subconscious.. But, is that an oxymoron cause if it's sneaking into your subconscious, then you do really have any control? It's a tricky thing, but for example there was that one day when I was singing, 'Day-oh, daaaay-oh, daylight come and I wanna go home... etc.' Well, it wasn't for a whole week before I realized that we were driving a Daewoo rental car and before setting off to climb one day, I must have just caught a glimpse of the hatch back with the Daewoo emblem before heading on the trail, not talking much with my partner, just head down and pluggin' away on the hike... and next thing you know, Daewoo has gotten in and transformed itself into a terribly annoying song. Ya know what song I do like, though barely know??.... Is this Robbie Williams guy in the States? I forget if he is familiar to me from Christmas in Ireland or from summer in Myrtle, but I know it sure as hell ain't SLC.... anyway, that song 'you were there for summer dreaming..' I like it and I saw the video in the hotel the other day. So now I have this nice song and this great vision of this happy-in-love couple to go with me through my last days in Italy.
It was hard to say good bye to the kids. I love them to death and can't wait to get back to SLC and see what they remember. On our last day together, I took out my wacky voice recorder and recorded them talking to me about random things. That'll be cute to look back on. But, I am ready to be able to eat a whole meal in peace and travel without screeches. I bought them each a hand carved Italian yo'yo and a cute spinning top to keep 'em busy in the airports on the way home... hopefully it serves its purpose instead of causing more rowes... Well, I won't make any promises about not bugging you guys at work, cause obviously, you never know... Please, by the way, if anyone is annoyed at seeing my name in their Inbox so much, just let me know and I'll take your blood out of my mixture for a while. I'm sure the high from everyone else will serve its function. :) Just want to take you with me on every step, ya know? Ciao. Love from Italy to SC, UT, NY, NC, MA, Ireland, OR, CO, WY and where else??? oh well. Bye.
I just finished taking in all the splendor of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That tower is whacky looking and so close to falling... Although, they claim its not- yeah, whatever and watch out! They did all kinds of work on it to get it to stay in place. Since the beginning of its construction in the 1100's, it's taken three efforts to finish, ending I think, in the 1400's with the bell tower on top..risky manouver..sp? The whole reason it took 3 efforts was to stop and see if the sinking effect would back off. Some of the modern things done to hold it in place are 1) piling tons of weight on the north side, which is the non-sinking side 2) attaching it to a steel cable on the north side to keep it standing 3) building a steel girdle around the 4th floor balconies on the north side 5) and finally, in 1993 until now, digging soil out from under the north side so that they could gain the crucial 40cm that they needed! Apparently,they just removed the cable and other tacky obstructions in June of 2001 so I just barely made the window of seeing the tower without all the distractions.
From here, I am going out to dinner alone. :( I'll probably splurge and buy a $5 beer and just read my book at some cafe until it closes and then head back to the train station where my train doesn't leave until 2:45am! I would have left from Florence and avoided this delay, but I had to see the Leaning Tower, right!? It was worth it. I sat on the grass and looked at the tower, which lies next to the Duomo, which is a splendid church, similar to the Duomo in Florence. Interesting bit of Etymology for you (word origin)... Duomo means house, hence the churches which are called Il Duomo... house of God. I thought for sure that duomo meant dome because the first church I came across that was called the Duomo, in Florence, also happened to be the first structure (in the world, presumably) to use a dome in its architecture. Bit of trivia for you to research cause I'll just stick to my own speculation until further confirmation by an etymologist... Which came first... the dome or the duomo? Did this unprecedented structure, round in design, become known as the Dome because it went on top of the Duomo??? Or is it mere coincidence...???
Anyway, now I'll be walking the streets singing...'She's miss California.. hottest thing in LA...Hollywood's her favorite scene...loves to be surrounded.' - you really have to be careful what songs you let penetrate your subconscious.. But, is that an oxymoron cause if it's sneaking into your subconscious, then you do really have any control? It's a tricky thing, but for example there was that one day when I was singing, 'Day-oh, daaaay-oh, daylight come and I wanna go home... etc.' Well, it wasn't for a whole week before I realized that we were driving a Daewoo rental car and before setting off to climb one day, I must have just caught a glimpse of the hatch back with the Daewoo emblem before heading on the trail, not talking much with my partner, just head down and pluggin' away on the hike... and next thing you know, Daewoo has gotten in and transformed itself into a terribly annoying song. Ya know what song I do like, though barely know??.... Is this Robbie Williams guy in the States? I forget if he is familiar to me from Christmas in Ireland or from summer in Myrtle, but I know it sure as hell ain't SLC.... anyway, that song 'you were there for summer dreaming..' I like it and I saw the video in the hotel the other day. So now I have this nice song and this great vision of this happy-in-love couple to go with me through my last days in Italy.
It was hard to say good bye to the kids. I love them to death and can't wait to get back to SLC and see what they remember. On our last day together, I took out my wacky voice recorder and recorded them talking to me about random things. That'll be cute to look back on. But, I am ready to be able to eat a whole meal in peace and travel without screeches. I bought them each a hand carved Italian yo'yo and a cute spinning top to keep 'em busy in the airports on the way home... hopefully it serves its purpose instead of causing more rowes... Well, I won't make any promises about not bugging you guys at work, cause obviously, you never know... Please, by the way, if anyone is annoyed at seeing my name in their Inbox so much, just let me know and I'll take your blood out of my mixture for a while. I'm sure the high from everyone else will serve its function. :) Just want to take you with me on every step, ya know? Ciao. Love from Italy to SC, UT, NY, NC, MA, Ireland, OR, CO, WY and where else??? oh well. Bye.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Utah - Italy 2001 (11)
Oh, how sweet. I touched some of you with my love of a gorgeous sculpture. I don't care how many times you've seen that sculpture in an art book, postcard, or in replication.. I bet the same feelings will rush over each of you when you see him in all his true grandeur under a beautiful bright white dome, standing all alone in this huge open space at the intersection of two wings in the Instituto d'Academia. Wow!
Well, Florence is a great city! I love the history and the vivacity, the fashion, the food the tall buildings, the presence of so many young university types, the river with its fish and otters.. yes, I spotted an otter. Hilary, I thought it was a beaver, but its tail was narrow.. definitely an otter. I actually saw three. Nice to see them outside of the zoo, ya know. But, now I leave Florence. I arranged my tickets so that I leave today around 2pm and stop in Pisa for the day to see the leaning tower, have a quick cappaccino and then hang out in a bar or train station until my 2:40am! departure to Nice. From Nice I change quickly onto a train for Marseille and then directly on to Aix en Provence where I will hopefully be greeted by the family for which I am babysitting this week. Then, on the following Sunday or Monday, I will have them drop me off in Apt, which is the central location for climbers who are cragging in Boux. I'll be camped there for at least two weeks, hitting the Verdon Gorge and Ceuse at some point. I don't know when I'll find another computer, so hang in there. I will be back in touch! Oh, another new twist in my plan is that I will probably be going to Germany from France to climb with Swen Schultz in Eichenstein...or something like that in Eastern Germany.. Now, it's not set, but I would love to see Germany and this guy is a great guy, a friend of Tim and Susan Wolfe. And he is a bold leader, which you have to be to climb in this area... so I've been told. You tie knotts and shove them into cracks and things. It's very traditional and only the strictest of climbing ethics prevail. Anyway, have a wonderful few weeks if I don't write until Germany...though, come on. I really doubt that will be the case, don't you. Gawd, I'm gonna miss you guys!! Bye.
Well, Florence is a great city! I love the history and the vivacity, the fashion, the food the tall buildings, the presence of so many young university types, the river with its fish and otters.. yes, I spotted an otter. Hilary, I thought it was a beaver, but its tail was narrow.. definitely an otter. I actually saw three. Nice to see them outside of the zoo, ya know. But, now I leave Florence. I arranged my tickets so that I leave today around 2pm and stop in Pisa for the day to see the leaning tower, have a quick cappaccino and then hang out in a bar or train station until my 2:40am! departure to Nice. From Nice I change quickly onto a train for Marseille and then directly on to Aix en Provence where I will hopefully be greeted by the family for which I am babysitting this week. Then, on the following Sunday or Monday, I will have them drop me off in Apt, which is the central location for climbers who are cragging in Boux. I'll be camped there for at least two weeks, hitting the Verdon Gorge and Ceuse at some point. I don't know when I'll find another computer, so hang in there. I will be back in touch! Oh, another new twist in my plan is that I will probably be going to Germany from France to climb with Swen Schultz in Eichenstein...or something like that in Eastern Germany.. Now, it's not set, but I would love to see Germany and this guy is a great guy, a friend of Tim and Susan Wolfe. And he is a bold leader, which you have to be to climb in this area... so I've been told. You tie knotts and shove them into cracks and things. It's very traditional and only the strictest of climbing ethics prevail. Anyway, have a wonderful few weeks if I don't write until Germany...though, come on. I really doubt that will be the case, don't you. Gawd, I'm gonna miss you guys!! Bye.
Utah - Italy 2001 (10)
Love at first sight... I always said I thought I believed in it, but now I know I definitely do! My heart is heavy as I leave Florence tomorrow with my first real "love at first sight" staying behind. It was such a simple encounter. I was just wandering through a museum, listening intently to the audio guide while the Britsh accent in my ears explained some of Michealangelo's earlier works. Then I turned one major corner in the museum and there he was, standing out above all the tourists, not looking at me, but I do think he knew I was there. His skin was soft and pale, untouched by the sun (or so I thought). His body was perfect as if it were sculpted. Every detail was proportionately correct! The splendid veins of life ran horizontally accross his right hand, dancing with the delicate bones ... continuing up his arm and standing out in that wonderful spot on a man's arm, up the center of his bicep, below the shoulder. His brow was furrowed, wrinkled in deep thought. I figured he must have been studying this painting of the Madonna that he was staring right at. He was so intent in his gaze that my stares went unoticed. I wasn't the only one looking. His hair was lying perfectly on his head in loads of individual locks of splendid curls, each owning its respective place above his demanding eyes. His legs were also strong and appeared perfect in every way. His ass was tight, had to notice, and again... Perfect! I imagine to the touch as well as to the eye. His torso and shoulders joined together in a slight tilt over his wonderful hips as he stared off into the distance. Over his left shoulder, he had slung something.. maybe his jacket and his left arm was bent gracefully while his left hand held the item confidently in place next to his neck. I got up the courage to walk closer. I circled around him like a shark and so oblivious was he that I could take in every detail without shame. I again noticed that I wasn't the only one. Others were walking around him, making comments similar to my thoughts. I became jealous. And then I learned his name. The name of the man with the perfect nose and subtly smiling lips. The man whose hands could hold me safely for the rest of my life. The man whose anatomy I knew as well as my own after staring for so long. The man that I would have to pull myself away from because my legs would not go willingly.... The man. The man who was never more than a boy.....................................................................................................
Utah - Italy 2001 (9)
-song-
The Hills don't exist in the sounds of Florence!! Such a terrible thing... mopeds every wheeeeerrrree!!
-endsong-
No, not that bad. Florence is very alive and gorgeous and for you History buffs...it's got lots of old shit too. Oh - I was gonna tone down the language a bit. Sorry. Well. We arrived safely and sadly from Cortina. The train ride sucked as it fell right during the nap of the kids and they were a cranky lot! But, when all was said and done and everyone was done being aggro on everyone else, we were happy to be inFlorence. In fact, we even went out after all that travelling. We threw down a couple of beers, a pizza, some pasta, some brushetta (without Mozzarella??) ThePub would be shocked! We didn't really even know where we were eating and it ended being right next to that Ufizi Museum. We're going there tomorrow. That's where the real David Sculpture is and a few other rad sculptures that have been plucked from the city and relocated there for preservation, leaving nothing but frauds around the city. It's amazing how many things they replicated and substituted within the city to save the art of the old ages.
Did I mention how old this city is? Today we went on a three hour walking tour of the city. Let's see if I can muster some memory of the historical journey and give you the highlights...Well, as you're walking around in Florence, all about you see this big metal rings on the walls of the buildings, most of which were palaces..these are all still in place from the days of tying your horse up outside while you went in for a beer with your bro's. Rumor has it, horse alarms weren't a big seller in those days. The architecture of the palaces is interesting. On the first floor they used cyclopse stones that are super buldgey (bul.jee) and act as a protection or fortress for the first floor of the palaces. I thought they would make for some great bouldering! The second floors are a little less obtrusive, though not yet super smooth and finally the refined smooth stones of the top floors, where the family spent their 'quality' time together. Also, in many of the palace walls there is a tiny door... like, tiny...about 3/4 foot high with bars around it. These little doors are for charity work. When the rich would have big feasts, they would always have much left over. A servant on the inside would open the door and ration out the left-overs to the peasants in the street. The other way that the rich could ease their conscience about their wretched lives would be to donate sculptures and money to the churches... but the first mode of donation was just more simple and still made them feel all warm and fuzzy all over.
A river runs through Florence and all but one bridge on the river is an original. All of the others were ruined in World War...uh oh...1?...yeah. WWI. On that one bridge that still stands, they used to slaughter animals for sale and throw the carcasses into the river... yeah, real nice... but then the Medicci family came in with all their grandeur ideas about the Rennaicance.. Rennasance.. Rebirth.. and they decided to make Firenze (Florence) a much betterplace, including more sanitary, so the butchering on the bridge was tossed out and instead, shops for selling gold lined the bridge from one end to the other.. Guess what. They still do. Yeah. I bought me a nugget on a rope chain.. uh, nope.
So, we checked out the Duomo.. The big church where the first dome was placed. That church actually sat without a top on it and the weather gods shat inside for years, until a dude whose name I forget, swore he was worthy of a shot at building a dome and did so. His dome was all rad and stuff and everyone was happy, but this guy was very into simplicity and forbade any artwork being placed on his dome... which for the times, I mean come on, dude! So, as soon as he died, they painted the hell out of it with mass frescos. Actually, funny thing about those frescos. One of the two artists who did the frescos has rarely been heard of when talking Rennaisance cause he did a silly thing. Let me tell you what he did. He painted this wonderful fresco filling the dome. It depicted all kinds of people being judged and half going to hell and the other half rejoicing in heaven. Well, this fresco dude chose people in town as his subjects. He put all of his friends in Heaven and all of his enemies in Hell. Someone in the hell scene sued him, however, that happened back then, I don't know.. He ended up not ever being comissioned to do any work again, which is a true shame cause he was really really talented! Shame I don't remember his name.. Something likeGenicci, Micheavelli, Donatelli, Davinci, none of which are right! So, in that dome, there are two huge cracks right down the sides. The dome builder was alive to see that happen and he was devastated, but later on.... much later... architects learned that without those cracks, that dome would no longer be, so thank god the dome cracked, right?
We also spotted a bunch of Mideivil towers that have since been wedged between more modern buildings. Story goes that the feuding families would build islands of towers to see who could go the highest. Friends living side by side in these towers had to lay planks from third story windows to go see their friends cause it was far too dangerous to just go to the front door. Man, times were tough back then.
Speaking of tough times, the life and times of sculptors was rough. The competition and the discoveries were at their highest point at this time. Like...Donatelli...I think, who was pioneering that whole perspective thing. No one was ever able to figure out how to make things look real in sculptures or in art. He also figured out that sculptures that would sit ten feet off the ground had to be done a little differently than those which would sit at eye level... such as bigger heads, hands, smaller torsos, etc.
OK!! Enough history! Damn, I can't believe I remembered as much as I did. Let's move ahead a millenium or two! Suddenly, it's not fashionable to walk about in BD Alpine pants with a frumpy downjacket. I feel like a pickle among roses. Everywhere I turn there is a woman clad in Armani, sequin bras with an open, short satin jacket, cheeks glossy like those in a Calvin Klein ad, hair straight as nails with jagged ends and hips that are not really there but trying to exist via hip huggin' tight leather pants decorated delicately with a chain belt and met at the bottom by sexy platform sandals. Tres Sheik. When you think of me here among the ex-runway walkers, just picture in your mind - red-headed orphan Annie standing next to Elle McPherson. That do it for ya? Ha Ha. That's ok. I know they'd be crushed under my backpack... now that's cool. Picture me, a small, white, blonde sherpa. Cause that's what I look like with my pack on! It's huge! It towers over my head and it weighs sooo much... 75 pounds at this point. I even sent a load of shit home with the Wolfes and I still have so much.. When you throw in a climbing rope, climbing shoes, stove, tent, sleeping bag, therma rest and down jacket... suddenly, your a walking Bulk Hogan. If I were only staying in hostels, not climbing and not cooking my own food.. I would have a book bag!
Maps are great things aren't they!? It never ceases to amaze me, how amazed I get at the realization that the street I thought I was on according to the map, actually does match the sign on the wall of the corner building.... I know. It's a little whacko. But there is just something wonderful about the confirmation you recieve when you finally see a sign on a building telling you where you are and low and behold, you are on the right street. I guess I've been let down before by my own inadequacies with following maps.. or those inadequacies of people into whose hands I placed my trust and my walking feet. Did I just shroom causeI don't know what I just wrote. I mean, I do, but it seems like you may have a hard time understanding it..?? I think maybe that all stems from following topos of routes I'm climbing which are often times a challenge to the imagination cause different symbols represent different features on the rock.. ya know, for a fake example.. /// this symbol on a topo may be a diagonalling crack system.. Well, I must say that we all definitely have our own notion of what a crack actually is. I think of Sasquatch in LCC or Exasperator in Squamish, while these Germans who made the guide to the Dolomites look at a slight weakness in the vertical system of limestone and say... By George.. I do believe we have Crack! Uh, nooouh.
So, ya know how in Latin America, India and Venice...you just don't trust the water. Not from the taps, not in restaurants, no way. You always buy bottled. It seems to be the case in many cities. But in Italy, in so many unexpected places they have public fountains that are constantly spewing water into drains or bird bath type wells. Everyone can wash their hands, wash their fruit, wash their faces, fillup their water bottles and even drink straight from it. Now that is a wonderful thing. I did all 5 of those on my way to this computer. I washed my grapes! I had to share the fountain with a pigeon but niether of us minded!
Animals in Italy. I've seen many. But here's a quick list. Chamois, Marmot, Red Fox, Viper, Squirrel, Cat, Dog, Fish, Tadpole, Minnow, Crow, Other birds, Cows (oh, the lovely cows!!), sheep (with their oh-so-cute baby lambs!), goats (with hair I swear!), elephant...oh, that was in Todd's little book that I've read twenty-five hundred times.. just kidding, bunnies, and maybe that's it!? Oh - I forgot to tell you about this..
We all went up to Cinque Torri, a group of 5 rock towers atop a mountain.. for a big celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the first ascent of Cinque Torre. There was singing and a BBQ... The singing was the Cortina Choir. We were there with some older Italian friends from the campsite and they were all singing. It was great! There were plates all over the place with little lambs' legs sitting on them, surrounded by left over mush of something... I had to have it all cleaned off our table before I could even sit down cause it was too reminicent of the Holocaust as it lives in my imagination.. I just don't need to look at the bones of my dead friends while I'm celebrating something so great as a 100 year old ascent of a tower with no gear like we have now.. Nothing close to the gear and shoes and ropes that we have now.. Amazing. We got to the event via chair lift, as it sits atop a ski mountain, but Italy law prevents use of lifts after dark, so the kids, Tim and Susan rode down on an access road in an old army truck with some seniors andI walked down with the Italian possee... In myJapanese shoes, as they called them..(flip flops) They all thought I was nuts, but I had no idea I would be walking down a mountain at 10pm in the freezing air with a meteor shower overhead.. I was glad I came the way I did, cause it made a memory! Caio.
The Hills don't exist in the sounds of Florence!! Such a terrible thing... mopeds every wheeeeerrrree!!
-endsong-
No, not that bad. Florence is very alive and gorgeous and for you History buffs...it's got lots of old shit too. Oh - I was gonna tone down the language a bit. Sorry. Well. We arrived safely and sadly from Cortina. The train ride sucked as it fell right during the nap of the kids and they were a cranky lot! But, when all was said and done and everyone was done being aggro on everyone else, we were happy to be inFlorence. In fact, we even went out after all that travelling. We threw down a couple of beers, a pizza, some pasta, some brushetta (without Mozzarella??) ThePub would be shocked! We didn't really even know where we were eating and it ended being right next to that Ufizi Museum. We're going there tomorrow. That's where the real David Sculpture is and a few other rad sculptures that have been plucked from the city and relocated there for preservation, leaving nothing but frauds around the city. It's amazing how many things they replicated and substituted within the city to save the art of the old ages.
Did I mention how old this city is? Today we went on a three hour walking tour of the city. Let's see if I can muster some memory of the historical journey and give you the highlights...Well, as you're walking around in Florence, all about you see this big metal rings on the walls of the buildings, most of which were palaces..these are all still in place from the days of tying your horse up outside while you went in for a beer with your bro's. Rumor has it, horse alarms weren't a big seller in those days. The architecture of the palaces is interesting. On the first floor they used cyclopse stones that are super buldgey (bul.jee) and act as a protection or fortress for the first floor of the palaces. I thought they would make for some great bouldering! The second floors are a little less obtrusive, though not yet super smooth and finally the refined smooth stones of the top floors, where the family spent their 'quality' time together. Also, in many of the palace walls there is a tiny door... like, tiny...about 3/4 foot high with bars around it. These little doors are for charity work. When the rich would have big feasts, they would always have much left over. A servant on the inside would open the door and ration out the left-overs to the peasants in the street. The other way that the rich could ease their conscience about their wretched lives would be to donate sculptures and money to the churches... but the first mode of donation was just more simple and still made them feel all warm and fuzzy all over.
A river runs through Florence and all but one bridge on the river is an original. All of the others were ruined in World War...uh oh...1?...yeah. WWI. On that one bridge that still stands, they used to slaughter animals for sale and throw the carcasses into the river... yeah, real nice... but then the Medicci family came in with all their grandeur ideas about the Rennaicance.. Rennasance.. Rebirth.. and they decided to make Firenze (Florence) a much betterplace, including more sanitary, so the butchering on the bridge was tossed out and instead, shops for selling gold lined the bridge from one end to the other.. Guess what. They still do. Yeah. I bought me a nugget on a rope chain.. uh, nope.
So, we checked out the Duomo.. The big church where the first dome was placed. That church actually sat without a top on it and the weather gods shat inside for years, until a dude whose name I forget, swore he was worthy of a shot at building a dome and did so. His dome was all rad and stuff and everyone was happy, but this guy was very into simplicity and forbade any artwork being placed on his dome... which for the times, I mean come on, dude! So, as soon as he died, they painted the hell out of it with mass frescos. Actually, funny thing about those frescos. One of the two artists who did the frescos has rarely been heard of when talking Rennaisance cause he did a silly thing. Let me tell you what he did. He painted this wonderful fresco filling the dome. It depicted all kinds of people being judged and half going to hell and the other half rejoicing in heaven. Well, this fresco dude chose people in town as his subjects. He put all of his friends in Heaven and all of his enemies in Hell. Someone in the hell scene sued him, however, that happened back then, I don't know.. He ended up not ever being comissioned to do any work again, which is a true shame cause he was really really talented! Shame I don't remember his name.. Something likeGenicci, Micheavelli, Donatelli, Davinci, none of which are right! So, in that dome, there are two huge cracks right down the sides. The dome builder was alive to see that happen and he was devastated, but later on.... much later... architects learned that without those cracks, that dome would no longer be, so thank god the dome cracked, right?
We also spotted a bunch of Mideivil towers that have since been wedged between more modern buildings. Story goes that the feuding families would build islands of towers to see who could go the highest. Friends living side by side in these towers had to lay planks from third story windows to go see their friends cause it was far too dangerous to just go to the front door. Man, times were tough back then.
Speaking of tough times, the life and times of sculptors was rough. The competition and the discoveries were at their highest point at this time. Like...Donatelli...I think, who was pioneering that whole perspective thing. No one was ever able to figure out how to make things look real in sculptures or in art. He also figured out that sculptures that would sit ten feet off the ground had to be done a little differently than those which would sit at eye level... such as bigger heads, hands, smaller torsos, etc.
OK!! Enough history! Damn, I can't believe I remembered as much as I did. Let's move ahead a millenium or two! Suddenly, it's not fashionable to walk about in BD Alpine pants with a frumpy downjacket. I feel like a pickle among roses. Everywhere I turn there is a woman clad in Armani, sequin bras with an open, short satin jacket, cheeks glossy like those in a Calvin Klein ad, hair straight as nails with jagged ends and hips that are not really there but trying to exist via hip huggin' tight leather pants decorated delicately with a chain belt and met at the bottom by sexy platform sandals. Tres Sheik. When you think of me here among the ex-runway walkers, just picture in your mind - red-headed orphan Annie standing next to Elle McPherson. That do it for ya? Ha Ha. That's ok. I know they'd be crushed under my backpack... now that's cool. Picture me, a small, white, blonde sherpa. Cause that's what I look like with my pack on! It's huge! It towers over my head and it weighs sooo much... 75 pounds at this point. I even sent a load of shit home with the Wolfes and I still have so much.. When you throw in a climbing rope, climbing shoes, stove, tent, sleeping bag, therma rest and down jacket... suddenly, your a walking Bulk Hogan. If I were only staying in hostels, not climbing and not cooking my own food.. I would have a book bag!
Maps are great things aren't they!? It never ceases to amaze me, how amazed I get at the realization that the street I thought I was on according to the map, actually does match the sign on the wall of the corner building.... I know. It's a little whacko. But there is just something wonderful about the confirmation you recieve when you finally see a sign on a building telling you where you are and low and behold, you are on the right street. I guess I've been let down before by my own inadequacies with following maps.. or those inadequacies of people into whose hands I placed my trust and my walking feet. Did I just shroom causeI don't know what I just wrote. I mean, I do, but it seems like you may have a hard time understanding it..?? I think maybe that all stems from following topos of routes I'm climbing which are often times a challenge to the imagination cause different symbols represent different features on the rock.. ya know, for a fake example.. /// this symbol on a topo may be a diagonalling crack system.. Well, I must say that we all definitely have our own notion of what a crack actually is. I think of Sasquatch in LCC or Exasperator in Squamish, while these Germans who made the guide to the Dolomites look at a slight weakness in the vertical system of limestone and say... By George.. I do believe we have Crack! Uh, nooouh.
So, ya know how in Latin America, India and Venice...you just don't trust the water. Not from the taps, not in restaurants, no way. You always buy bottled. It seems to be the case in many cities. But in Italy, in so many unexpected places they have public fountains that are constantly spewing water into drains or bird bath type wells. Everyone can wash their hands, wash their fruit, wash their faces, fillup their water bottles and even drink straight from it. Now that is a wonderful thing. I did all 5 of those on my way to this computer. I washed my grapes! I had to share the fountain with a pigeon but niether of us minded!
Animals in Italy. I've seen many. But here's a quick list. Chamois, Marmot, Red Fox, Viper, Squirrel, Cat, Dog, Fish, Tadpole, Minnow, Crow, Other birds, Cows (oh, the lovely cows!!), sheep (with their oh-so-cute baby lambs!), goats (with hair I swear!), elephant...oh, that was in Todd's little book that I've read twenty-five hundred times.. just kidding, bunnies, and maybe that's it!? Oh - I forgot to tell you about this..
We all went up to Cinque Torri, a group of 5 rock towers atop a mountain.. for a big celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the first ascent of Cinque Torre. There was singing and a BBQ... The singing was the Cortina Choir. We were there with some older Italian friends from the campsite and they were all singing. It was great! There were plates all over the place with little lambs' legs sitting on them, surrounded by left over mush of something... I had to have it all cleaned off our table before I could even sit down cause it was too reminicent of the Holocaust as it lives in my imagination.. I just don't need to look at the bones of my dead friends while I'm celebrating something so great as a 100 year old ascent of a tower with no gear like we have now.. Nothing close to the gear and shoes and ropes that we have now.. Amazing. We got to the event via chair lift, as it sits atop a ski mountain, but Italy law prevents use of lifts after dark, so the kids, Tim and Susan rode down on an access road in an old army truck with some seniors andI walked down with the Italian possee... In myJapanese shoes, as they called them..(flip flops) They all thought I was nuts, but I had no idea I would be walking down a mountain at 10pm in the freezing air with a meteor shower overhead.. I was glad I came the way I did, cause it made a memory! Caio.
Utah - Italy 2001 (8)
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.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Utah-Italy 2001 (7)
I have some good stories.. so many in fact that I'm screwed cause I only have 15 minutes left before this place closes for the day and I just want to get it all in... I have to write so often or I'll forget the details and thanks to these letters, I don't have to write so much in my journal...This is my journal... and you are my parchment! (isn't that the word?)
Let's see. Well, on a personal note, I noticed in the shower the other day that after all this hiking I've been doing, Baby Got Back is no longer my theme song! yay.. I know, disappointing for some.. you can't sing and dance on my bootie anymore - Bambi. Ha ha!! Just kidding! That was high school right.. and it was Sarah that liked to shake her booty with me.. at the Magic Attic!! Whew! What a crack! Speaking of hiking. Here's a song that comes to mind.. 'Ain't nooo stoppin' me noooow' That's all I know.
I used to peruse the guide book and talk options with Susan and Tim and think, oh mamamia, hour and a half approach.. Of course, I'd play tough and keep that to myself.. now I say, bring it on. Let's do it. Oh, is that all... Why not 2 hours, 3 hours... Come on baby! So, all those trail blazers that used to leave me in the dust, watch out. It still hurts though, just not as badly.
Ok' here's a story. Yesterday, Tim and I ...well, let's start a day earlier. Thursday night, Tim and I have a plan.... Punta Fiames...15 pitches... fairly easy climbing up this knife edge arete that overlooks Cortina and faces South. The approach is an hour and a half (yeah!) and the climbing is supposed to be classic. So the pack is loaded, the food for munching on the summit and the halfway ledge is packed, we have our water, we have our enthusiasm...and ten minutes later as the kids are going to bed, we also have RAIN!! Damn it!! But, the plan is still in place, exept this time, we'll get up at 5:30, check the weather and then decide... Denied. Until later. We get up at 8am, eat a casual breakfast with the daily coffee dosage and then decide to punch it! We reach the trail head at 9:08... start marching.. The guide says to leave the main trail just as it leaves the forest and head up and right toward the route... Just as it leaves the forest, right? Not just before it leaves the forest... Well, hello Tim!! Boyz. I swear. When they think they are right, there ain't no changin' that mind.. It went from being probably the right way to definitely the right way! So, I bit my tongue and followed. His choice of trail took us through some major bushes, in humid, post-rain conditions that left our pants wetter than if we had been caught in a rain storm. I was sweating so bad that I tied a shirt around my head. I looked just like a GI Joe figure, only I had two 70m ropes strapped to my back. I figured while I was at it, ya know, playing combat-the-juniper-tree, I better be prepared.. so I took my index, middle and ring finger on each hand, dug them into the ground and pulled three stripes of dirt across my cheeks. Now I was ready for anything that would possibly sneak attack me, like that 8 legger just ahead... Thank god I'm not aracnaphobic cause I walked through ten or so webs with spiders lingering dead center.. Their webs now exist in my armpits at this point. My pants and shirt became filled with pine'ish needles from the Juniper-like tree that I was battling on my upward journey toward the route.. all the while thinking to myself..'If only he had listened to me.. if we had only gone twenty more feet on the main trail..' Well, at approximately 10am we bumped into the main trail and had another 40ish minutes to the base of the route...which was a luxurious 1500 feet off the deck. The route's an odd one in that way. You start at this wonderfully exposed height with still 15 pitches and loads of meters to gain. Well, just barely up the first pitch and what should fall upon our little helmets... RAIN!! Claro que si!! We kept motoring, knowing we would probably be screwed but not having much of a choice. The first 6 pitches wander through some marge rock, with lots of loosies and little gear. Most of the belays were half ass, slinging boulders and stuff, so evacuation was not an option. Finally, on the 7th pitch, we get a good solid glue in anchor, resembling what other routes had to rappell from, but the rock just got great!! No turning back.. The rain had subsided so we just kept going up... Mind you, the clouds were still looming and looking ominous in the west...which, I must mention now, is where most of the storms have been coming from so far... make a mental note of that detail for later! :) So, 10 pitches up the route and the clouds from the west are beginning to leak on our heads. Then they begin to vomit all over us. Tim is half way up a pitch and SisterLightning joins the party with her bro, Thunder.. Since the next belay is on top of a huge pillar, we decide Tim should wait right where he is until the heat passes. So, I sit in a small ball on the belay ledge below, hiding in my rain coat and holding onto the rope so tightly, for some sense of relief. Tim is meanwhile clipped into a piton and crunched into a ball about 50 feet above me on a small exposed ledge. The rain turns to that heavier stuff before snow and after sleet.. Then it subsides. So, he finishes the pitch on wet run-out rock and I run up behind him. Our company on this climb are two French dudes that were supposed to go left a couple of pitches ago to do an easier line, and now they lie in our hands, following us pitch for pitch to the top, less prepared for the rain than us too!
Well, let me put you in some similar shoes for a second... Imagine you've been hiking for hours and you're just butt tired and can barely move your legs anymore, then all of a sudden your most feared enemy comes out of nowhere and starts chasing you...Suddenly, you can run faster than ever in your life.. What is that? Adrenaline, right? Well, on this climb, we weren't quite that wasted, but we are cold, wet, hungry and a little tired... Then, the monster showed its ugly face. More HUGE than I can even describe in words, the darkest blue I've seen(outside of a Crayola box) and so full of fury I almost peed my pants! It was a torrential sky monster, a storm with the potential to kill us with one breath of its fire! And it was racing in from the SOUTH!! What the hell. As we looked down on Cortina from the route, it became engulfed in this maddness. Tim's eyes popped right out of his head, like the truck driver in Pee Wee's Big Adventure... I swear! My eyes just filled with tears, not really. :) But man, did that fire get lit under our tails and we set off running. Of course at this point the pitches are at their hardest and Tim took over, leading like a madman, racing up every pitch, me in tow with the pack on my back.. We would barely talk at the belays, just clip in and go, go, go!! It was pure insanity, but we were being safe. The storm held off but it was ever-present... 85 meters to go and the lightning is decorating the sky for a celebration of some great victory of the stars. The thunder was loud as hell and lasted for seconds at a time. 40 meters to go and we were starting to smile again.... Then I hear a glorious YEEHAW echo down the gully by my side and I know the summit is just waiting for me! We made it! We got all the metal right off our bodies, shoved the packs with gear and our mouths with chocolate.. I scribbled some illegible nonsense in the summit registry to prove our slight presence and then we booked it down the trail, leaving the French in our dust...they were safe. So, we skipped along the trail, taking our time and rejoicing that on such a marginal day, we stole a great climb from the weather gods!! Against all odds. That storm just sat back and laughed as we climbed so fast.... so fast that I don't even really remember much other than pulling on holds that were shaking under my grip and on any other day would have come right out and sent me flying!
The trail down was another historical journey throughthe old barracks of Austrian War dudes...their stone walls barely in tact, but present enough to remind us of the hell they went through as they sat in the snow guarding their piece of Italy from a very defendable spot in the hills, unfortunately, they didn't plan well to get their provisions and while they starved in the mountains, 8 Italians took over Cortina and stuffed themselves with all the bread in the area.. comphy and warm. On the way down, I was so thrilled, I started to think back on the climb and sang along with John and Olivia to this tune...'I got chills, they're multiplyin'....ANd I'm loooosin' controool, cause the power that you're supplyin' is eLECtrifyin'...Better shape up, up,up...etc..... Home dry, mostly and safe! And within a half hour of reaching the car, we got dumped on like no other...sorry, our tents did. We were all cozily taking refuge in a Pizzeria, looking out as the thin crust of famous Italian pizzas left this world!!
Today, Susan and I were meant to take on some brute wall, but the weather sucked and we figured those weather gods would only be so kind, so we went sport climbing close to camp. The ratings were sandbagged and we found ourselves feeling very inadequate for sport climbing, which is a bummer for me considering that the rest of my trip in Europe will be mostly focused around sport climbing. My game plan right now is to head up to Northern Italy for some climbing in Finale... Then over to the south of France to climb inthe Verdon Gorge, Beaux and Ceuse. Weather permitting on all accounts. Then, on October 1st?? I'm still planning to meet Doug H. for some more sport climbing in Sardinia. Then, it's off to the east coast of the Carolinas again. Spain is still in there somewhere, but I want quality not quantity so I'm not going to rush from country to country... Well, I have more juice, but we'll let that suffice for now. Our very blessed time here in Cortina is coming to an end on Wednesday when the Wolfe's and I head to Florence for a few days of sight seeing...then they go their way and I, mine. I'll have to wake up via alarm clock instead of my already made coffee at 5am (by Tim) and the screaming kids at 8am on my babysitting days (3 siblings in one tent.. ouch... get'em dressed, get 'em out!) love and kisses and monster energy to you all!!
Let's see. Well, on a personal note, I noticed in the shower the other day that after all this hiking I've been doing, Baby Got Back is no longer my theme song! yay.. I know, disappointing for some.. you can't sing and dance on my bootie anymore - Bambi. Ha ha!! Just kidding! That was high school right.. and it was Sarah that liked to shake her booty with me.. at the Magic Attic!! Whew! What a crack! Speaking of hiking. Here's a song that comes to mind.. 'Ain't nooo stoppin' me noooow' That's all I know.
I used to peruse the guide book and talk options with Susan and Tim and think, oh mamamia, hour and a half approach.. Of course, I'd play tough and keep that to myself.. now I say, bring it on. Let's do it. Oh, is that all... Why not 2 hours, 3 hours... Come on baby! So, all those trail blazers that used to leave me in the dust, watch out. It still hurts though, just not as badly.
Ok' here's a story. Yesterday, Tim and I ...well, let's start a day earlier. Thursday night, Tim and I have a plan.... Punta Fiames...15 pitches... fairly easy climbing up this knife edge arete that overlooks Cortina and faces South. The approach is an hour and a half (yeah!) and the climbing is supposed to be classic. So the pack is loaded, the food for munching on the summit and the halfway ledge is packed, we have our water, we have our enthusiasm...and ten minutes later as the kids are going to bed, we also have RAIN!! Damn it!! But, the plan is still in place, exept this time, we'll get up at 5:30, check the weather and then decide... Denied. Until later. We get up at 8am, eat a casual breakfast with the daily coffee dosage and then decide to punch it! We reach the trail head at 9:08... start marching.. The guide says to leave the main trail just as it leaves the forest and head up and right toward the route... Just as it leaves the forest, right? Not just before it leaves the forest... Well, hello Tim!! Boyz. I swear. When they think they are right, there ain't no changin' that mind.. It went from being probably the right way to definitely the right way! So, I bit my tongue and followed. His choice of trail took us through some major bushes, in humid, post-rain conditions that left our pants wetter than if we had been caught in a rain storm. I was sweating so bad that I tied a shirt around my head. I looked just like a GI Joe figure, only I had two 70m ropes strapped to my back. I figured while I was at it, ya know, playing combat-the-juniper-tree, I better be prepared.. so I took my index, middle and ring finger on each hand, dug them into the ground and pulled three stripes of dirt across my cheeks. Now I was ready for anything that would possibly sneak attack me, like that 8 legger just ahead... Thank god I'm not aracnaphobic cause I walked through ten or so webs with spiders lingering dead center.. Their webs now exist in my armpits at this point. My pants and shirt became filled with pine'ish needles from the Juniper-like tree that I was battling on my upward journey toward the route.. all the while thinking to myself..'If only he had listened to me.. if we had only gone twenty more feet on the main trail..' Well, at approximately 10am we bumped into the main trail and had another 40ish minutes to the base of the route...which was a luxurious 1500 feet off the deck. The route's an odd one in that way. You start at this wonderfully exposed height with still 15 pitches and loads of meters to gain. Well, just barely up the first pitch and what should fall upon our little helmets... RAIN!! Claro que si!! We kept motoring, knowing we would probably be screwed but not having much of a choice. The first 6 pitches wander through some marge rock, with lots of loosies and little gear. Most of the belays were half ass, slinging boulders and stuff, so evacuation was not an option. Finally, on the 7th pitch, we get a good solid glue in anchor, resembling what other routes had to rappell from, but the rock just got great!! No turning back.. The rain had subsided so we just kept going up... Mind you, the clouds were still looming and looking ominous in the west...which, I must mention now, is where most of the storms have been coming from so far... make a mental note of that detail for later! :) So, 10 pitches up the route and the clouds from the west are beginning to leak on our heads. Then they begin to vomit all over us. Tim is half way up a pitch and SisterLightning joins the party with her bro, Thunder.. Since the next belay is on top of a huge pillar, we decide Tim should wait right where he is until the heat passes. So, I sit in a small ball on the belay ledge below, hiding in my rain coat and holding onto the rope so tightly, for some sense of relief. Tim is meanwhile clipped into a piton and crunched into a ball about 50 feet above me on a small exposed ledge. The rain turns to that heavier stuff before snow and after sleet.. Then it subsides. So, he finishes the pitch on wet run-out rock and I run up behind him. Our company on this climb are two French dudes that were supposed to go left a couple of pitches ago to do an easier line, and now they lie in our hands, following us pitch for pitch to the top, less prepared for the rain than us too!
Well, let me put you in some similar shoes for a second... Imagine you've been hiking for hours and you're just butt tired and can barely move your legs anymore, then all of a sudden your most feared enemy comes out of nowhere and starts chasing you...Suddenly, you can run faster than ever in your life.. What is that? Adrenaline, right? Well, on this climb, we weren't quite that wasted, but we are cold, wet, hungry and a little tired... Then, the monster showed its ugly face. More HUGE than I can even describe in words, the darkest blue I've seen(outside of a Crayola box) and so full of fury I almost peed my pants! It was a torrential sky monster, a storm with the potential to kill us with one breath of its fire! And it was racing in from the SOUTH!! What the hell. As we looked down on Cortina from the route, it became engulfed in this maddness. Tim's eyes popped right out of his head, like the truck driver in Pee Wee's Big Adventure... I swear! My eyes just filled with tears, not really. :) But man, did that fire get lit under our tails and we set off running. Of course at this point the pitches are at their hardest and Tim took over, leading like a madman, racing up every pitch, me in tow with the pack on my back.. We would barely talk at the belays, just clip in and go, go, go!! It was pure insanity, but we were being safe. The storm held off but it was ever-present... 85 meters to go and the lightning is decorating the sky for a celebration of some great victory of the stars. The thunder was loud as hell and lasted for seconds at a time. 40 meters to go and we were starting to smile again.... Then I hear a glorious YEEHAW echo down the gully by my side and I know the summit is just waiting for me! We made it! We got all the metal right off our bodies, shoved the packs with gear and our mouths with chocolate.. I scribbled some illegible nonsense in the summit registry to prove our slight presence and then we booked it down the trail, leaving the French in our dust...they were safe. So, we skipped along the trail, taking our time and rejoicing that on such a marginal day, we stole a great climb from the weather gods!! Against all odds. That storm just sat back and laughed as we climbed so fast.... so fast that I don't even really remember much other than pulling on holds that were shaking under my grip and on any other day would have come right out and sent me flying!
The trail down was another historical journey throughthe old barracks of Austrian War dudes...their stone walls barely in tact, but present enough to remind us of the hell they went through as they sat in the snow guarding their piece of Italy from a very defendable spot in the hills, unfortunately, they didn't plan well to get their provisions and while they starved in the mountains, 8 Italians took over Cortina and stuffed themselves with all the bread in the area.. comphy and warm. On the way down, I was so thrilled, I started to think back on the climb and sang along with John and Olivia to this tune...'I got chills, they're multiplyin'....ANd I'm loooosin' controool, cause the power that you're supplyin' is eLECtrifyin'...Better shape up, up,up...etc..... Home dry, mostly and safe! And within a half hour of reaching the car, we got dumped on like no other...sorry, our tents did. We were all cozily taking refuge in a Pizzeria, looking out as the thin crust of famous Italian pizzas left this world!!
Today, Susan and I were meant to take on some brute wall, but the weather sucked and we figured those weather gods would only be so kind, so we went sport climbing close to camp. The ratings were sandbagged and we found ourselves feeling very inadequate for sport climbing, which is a bummer for me considering that the rest of my trip in Europe will be mostly focused around sport climbing. My game plan right now is to head up to Northern Italy for some climbing in Finale... Then over to the south of France to climb inthe Verdon Gorge, Beaux and Ceuse. Weather permitting on all accounts. Then, on October 1st?? I'm still planning to meet Doug H. for some more sport climbing in Sardinia. Then, it's off to the east coast of the Carolinas again. Spain is still in there somewhere, but I want quality not quantity so I'm not going to rush from country to country... Well, I have more juice, but we'll let that suffice for now. Our very blessed time here in Cortina is coming to an end on Wednesday when the Wolfe's and I head to Florence for a few days of sight seeing...then they go their way and I, mine. I'll have to wake up via alarm clock instead of my already made coffee at 5am (by Tim) and the screaming kids at 8am on my babysitting days (3 siblings in one tent.. ouch... get'em dressed, get 'em out!) love and kisses and monster energy to you all!!
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Utah-Italy 2001 (6)
Hello!! Let me take you on a quick tour of some other parts of Italy that don't involve such things as climbing... why? Well, cause I haven't been climbing!!!!!! Why? Well, cause it's raining!!!!!!! Bummer. I guess all those days when Susan and I were getting rained off from the 5th, 3rd and 4th pitches of routes, we were actually lucky, cause we could at least do that much.
At this juncture, the sun is splitting the clouds and we'll be back on the rock tomorrow, but the last few days have been rough. It's hard to find enough to do to keep one busy when no one nearby speaks your language, none of the shops are open from noon to 3:30pm and you have three small kids to entertain and the playground and pool are out of the question. Well, this is what we did...One day we went to Venice. When in Venice, hire a gondolier? Yup. Expensive though it may be, it's well worth it ... and what do I know of the costs anyway.. Venice by gondola was great. OH, what's a gondola? Well, those are the long boats that you cruise around in, with the dude on the back end holding a long, long oar. The gondoliers wear a shirt with black and white stripes, fancy enough not to resemble old school prison uniforms. They also usually wear a hat to keep the sun out. Some folks will hire an old Italian dude to serenade them while they get rowed around venice.. He'll usually have with him a woman or another partner, playing the accordian.The boats are crafted with pride and cared for by the men that steer them. They are all black and shiny. They have cool little seats in them and can take up to six or so people. But, let me not give you the wrong impression of Venice.. Along side of those romantic boats are speed boats, taxi boats and tourist sight seeing boats. Luckily, those big rigs can only ride in the Grand Canal and the gondolas can at least go through the small channels between the buildings. We got into a gondola traffic jam in a small alley way between the walls of sinking old buildings and we could see the rot that had taken place on the first floors of so many of the buildings. Apparently, most people live from the second or third floor up. It is way expensive to live in Venice and a lot of the gondoliers live back on the main land and come intoVenice to work every day. We floated past the house of Shakespear's family, Mozart, and Marco Polo. I think. Our gondolier guy said he spoke English, cause that was important for Susan to get a bunch of info on the creation and development of Venice... but he didn't speak enough English at all... so most of the tour was done in Spanish through me! We went by their Opera house which burned down five years ago and who's reconstruction will not come to an end for another five years or so. Very sad when you see how much theatre and opera mean to these people. Every shop window hosts many masks and wonderful styles of theatrical clothing... very expensive. I also saw in one shop window a real Pinocchio puppet! That was cool. I guess he is from Italy, eh? I've also been called Pinnocchio a couple of times for one reason or another. Our Italian camping neighbor, Gratziano, didn't think we should have heard about Pinnocchio in the states.. guess he hasn't heard of Disney. Back toVenice. The best part of our tour of Venice was when we got out of the gondola and walked around. We saw all the fancy shops ' Gucci, Armani, and whatever other names are big.. Like I would know.. But, the shops were super air conditioned and from what I could tell, few people shopped in them and those that did were bombarded by sales people the second they walked in the door. Meanwhile, on the outside, were the rats of society, me included, looking in with sweat dripping like butter from a hot bun...familiar?? Oh, yeah.. what's the name... oh, some music group.. AlleyCat... Io non so!
Anyway, you can walk all over Venice and you just have to cross the canal every block or so via an old bridge that gives a vista of the small canals with the gondola traffic jams. I bet it was a wonderful place to be back in the day before all the motors and tourists. Enough on Venice.. Just go!
So, one night in our boredom Susan and I went to the neighboring campsite to get some pizza. Well, we were greeted in high style by the four Italian men that worked in the bar/pizzeria. They sat us down even though we ordered to go and gave us some breadsticks. We decided to order a beer each.. Well, one beer later and still no Pizza. They asked how long, we said, give us another five minutes and another beer. We were all having a blast. Two were Italian and two were Moroccan, so between the four of us, the only exchange of language was my broken Italian and good Spanish, Susan's french and their broken English and decent French! Well, it was fun. Following the second beer, we were gifted a glass of chardonay each... following which we were given a glass of champaigne each, and then another... meanwhile, two hours have passed and Susan realized that Tim was back at camp, with the kids, starving... So, she left me in the bar and ran back with his pizza.. I sat and ate mine with a newcomer who is also from Cortina, but who spent several years with his wife and kids inWisconsin. He gladly showed me his version of the Wiz'can'sin accent. Then he told me about his divorce and how he misses his kids who are still in the states cause one of them needs special attention for Autism in Wisconsin.. Well, Susan came back and the lesson in languages continued with a little bit of pantamiming on the side.. FUN!! I love that kind of stuff!!
Finally, on our last rainey day, we dandered through a local graveyard that holds the remains of so many war casualties.. Cortina was a huge player in one of theWorld Wars... the one that happened in 1914 or something... I know!! Shush! I had shitty history teachers!! I'm sorry!!!! Anyway, this part of Italy used to be Austria until that war. We also cruised through a rad museum that had tons of war relics, fossils, old clothing and weaponry, lots of dead butterflies, beetles and moths? and a bunch of other old shit. It was cool. While walking through town in the rain this fine Sunday in Italy, it ocurred to me that ABSOLUTELY no one here neuters their dogs! Balls in my face left and right! But, to their credit, they were all on leashes and mostly well-behaved. People are weird with their dogs here. No one seemed even the least bit amused that I would walk by with a sparkle in my eye at the sight of their dogs. Not even my funny dog kiss noises could make them smile back or pause for me to pet their stinking mutts! I need dog interaction.. It's killing me!!!! Luckily, two days ago, a great dane moved in across the street from us. His name is Duka and I do get to touch him once or twice a day. His owner and his wife brought us some Grappa last night! Yuk! That shit tastes like Everclear! Me no like!!! But, when in Italy, try grappa! Ciao amicos!
At this juncture, the sun is splitting the clouds and we'll be back on the rock tomorrow, but the last few days have been rough. It's hard to find enough to do to keep one busy when no one nearby speaks your language, none of the shops are open from noon to 3:30pm and you have three small kids to entertain and the playground and pool are out of the question. Well, this is what we did...One day we went to Venice. When in Venice, hire a gondolier? Yup. Expensive though it may be, it's well worth it ... and what do I know of the costs anyway.. Venice by gondola was great. OH, what's a gondola? Well, those are the long boats that you cruise around in, with the dude on the back end holding a long, long oar. The gondoliers wear a shirt with black and white stripes, fancy enough not to resemble old school prison uniforms. They also usually wear a hat to keep the sun out. Some folks will hire an old Italian dude to serenade them while they get rowed around venice.. He'll usually have with him a woman or another partner, playing the accordian.The boats are crafted with pride and cared for by the men that steer them. They are all black and shiny. They have cool little seats in them and can take up to six or so people. But, let me not give you the wrong impression of Venice.. Along side of those romantic boats are speed boats, taxi boats and tourist sight seeing boats. Luckily, those big rigs can only ride in the Grand Canal and the gondolas can at least go through the small channels between the buildings. We got into a gondola traffic jam in a small alley way between the walls of sinking old buildings and we could see the rot that had taken place on the first floors of so many of the buildings. Apparently, most people live from the second or third floor up. It is way expensive to live in Venice and a lot of the gondoliers live back on the main land and come intoVenice to work every day. We floated past the house of Shakespear's family, Mozart, and Marco Polo. I think. Our gondolier guy said he spoke English, cause that was important for Susan to get a bunch of info on the creation and development of Venice... but he didn't speak enough English at all... so most of the tour was done in Spanish through me! We went by their Opera house which burned down five years ago and who's reconstruction will not come to an end for another five years or so. Very sad when you see how much theatre and opera mean to these people. Every shop window hosts many masks and wonderful styles of theatrical clothing... very expensive. I also saw in one shop window a real Pinocchio puppet! That was cool. I guess he is from Italy, eh? I've also been called Pinnocchio a couple of times for one reason or another. Our Italian camping neighbor, Gratziano, didn't think we should have heard about Pinnocchio in the states.. guess he hasn't heard of Disney. Back toVenice. The best part of our tour of Venice was when we got out of the gondola and walked around. We saw all the fancy shops ' Gucci, Armani, and whatever other names are big.. Like I would know.. But, the shops were super air conditioned and from what I could tell, few people shopped in them and those that did were bombarded by sales people the second they walked in the door. Meanwhile, on the outside, were the rats of society, me included, looking in with sweat dripping like butter from a hot bun...familiar?? Oh, yeah.. what's the name... oh, some music group.. AlleyCat... Io non so!
Anyway, you can walk all over Venice and you just have to cross the canal every block or so via an old bridge that gives a vista of the small canals with the gondola traffic jams. I bet it was a wonderful place to be back in the day before all the motors and tourists. Enough on Venice.. Just go!
So, one night in our boredom Susan and I went to the neighboring campsite to get some pizza. Well, we were greeted in high style by the four Italian men that worked in the bar/pizzeria. They sat us down even though we ordered to go and gave us some breadsticks. We decided to order a beer each.. Well, one beer later and still no Pizza. They asked how long, we said, give us another five minutes and another beer. We were all having a blast. Two were Italian and two were Moroccan, so between the four of us, the only exchange of language was my broken Italian and good Spanish, Susan's french and their broken English and decent French! Well, it was fun. Following the second beer, we were gifted a glass of chardonay each... following which we were given a glass of champaigne each, and then another... meanwhile, two hours have passed and Susan realized that Tim was back at camp, with the kids, starving... So, she left me in the bar and ran back with his pizza.. I sat and ate mine with a newcomer who is also from Cortina, but who spent several years with his wife and kids inWisconsin. He gladly showed me his version of the Wiz'can'sin accent. Then he told me about his divorce and how he misses his kids who are still in the states cause one of them needs special attention for Autism in Wisconsin.. Well, Susan came back and the lesson in languages continued with a little bit of pantamiming on the side.. FUN!! I love that kind of stuff!!
Finally, on our last rainey day, we dandered through a local graveyard that holds the remains of so many war casualties.. Cortina was a huge player in one of theWorld Wars... the one that happened in 1914 or something... I know!! Shush! I had shitty history teachers!! I'm sorry!!!! Anyway, this part of Italy used to be Austria until that war. We also cruised through a rad museum that had tons of war relics, fossils, old clothing and weaponry, lots of dead butterflies, beetles and moths? and a bunch of other old shit. It was cool. While walking through town in the rain this fine Sunday in Italy, it ocurred to me that ABSOLUTELY no one here neuters their dogs! Balls in my face left and right! But, to their credit, they were all on leashes and mostly well-behaved. People are weird with their dogs here. No one seemed even the least bit amused that I would walk by with a sparkle in my eye at the sight of their dogs. Not even my funny dog kiss noises could make them smile back or pause for me to pet their stinking mutts! I need dog interaction.. It's killing me!!!! Luckily, two days ago, a great dane moved in across the street from us. His name is Duka and I do get to touch him once or twice a day. His owner and his wife brought us some Grappa last night! Yuk! That shit tastes like Everclear! Me no like!!! But, when in Italy, try grappa! Ciao amicos!
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Utah-Italy 2001 (4)
Ho Fame! That means I'm hungry, and I ain't lyin'. So, here's a quickie! Thank you thank you so much for all the messages! You guys are makin' my days and I'm not homesick at all!! Although, could you see the view I have, you'd know why! So.... the girls set out to do some rock climbin! We had originally planned to do the 11-pitcher, but the clouds moved in yesterday and started to thunder and make rain, so we changed plans and decided to do these towers. Several routes, 4 pitches long. Get this.. you take a ski lift to the top of the mountain and then take a 5 minute walk to the base! Ha Ha! What a life! So, we packed up and planned on sleeping in until 8am or so.. and did, cause the lift wouldn't run until 9am anyway... Well, somewhere after dark, we fell asleep after many trips to the big kids tent to make threats, promises, bribes, and deals of all types to get Todd, the toddler to settle down and sleep.... In the morning, oh the birds, they were a singin' and the sun was shining and everything was perfect, so us girls make a quick change of plans.. big climb, here we come. We only had to make one change... not one 60m rope, but 2 70m's instead. So, we slam back our coffees, shove a banana and some bread down our throats and into our empty stomachs and head out in the souped up auto we rented... (Guess who gets to drive! Me! Tim and I are the authorized drivers! I'm becoming a pro Euro driver. Zoom Zoom. Watch out Mario!) We get to the trail at 9am, the base at 9:45am and on the rock at 10am. Susan took the first pitch... Cruiser with barely any gear... just a few tie offs...threads. Then I come up with pack on back.. Oh, those shoes they do weigh somethin' fierce. We make the quick hand off, discuss the impending cloud action and I cruise ahead.. Bustin' out some real moves on vertical rock fifteen feet over a shitty thread with an inch of limestone as my pro! Susan takes the next pitch, an awesome chimney! Then, it's me on the crux. Fantabulous stemming on an overhanging dihedral, a bitch for Susan to follow with the pack! Thank god I got the lead! Hee Hee. Then at the next ledge, just as we're wetting our lips with acqua and sucking down some nectarine, what should come from behind our mountain.... Hail!! So much hail in our face, on our head, in our mouths, down our pants! Yikes! Luckily, we were at a ledge with a little overhang.. We take shelter and as soon as the ramp above us becomes a waterfall, we decide to rap. Luckily for us, that was an option. The day before, Susan and Tim were on a route that they couldn't have rapped cause of the wanderingness of it. So, we rapped off cemented bolts! Yeehaw. We were doused and cold, but with the 70m ropes (lucky) we were down in three raps and no ropes got stuck! Someone was watching over us... I'll say it was mother Venus, today. Once down, we ingested some Milk Chocolate...yes.. milk! Man, I tell you what. We've been on some crazy ass starvation diet in this country. Not really on purpose, but for some reasons, the meals are small and they come just in time.. probably cause we have to prep for the kids and by the time they're done eating, we are just starting. Seconds are not a big option. Someone (or all) is having to break up a quarrell or satiate another hunger of the kiddos! But- I tell you what friends. I love these kids more and more everyday! They are just little blessings. Megan loves me so much. She always takes my hand, my lap, my clothes. And the way she talks.. ouch, that's too cute! Hilary- she can't say her [k] or [g] sound. She only says [t] and [d]. So, when we talk about tyrannasaurus Rex.. their favorite monster, she says... I tit dum an I wuh tase dum in duh mount'n. Oh, god she kills me! (I kick them and I would chase them in the mountain) Well, more later. Must go eat some bread and drinksome water.. ;) love, loyalty and friendship to all.
Utah-Italy 2001(3)
Bellisima!! The Dolomites absolutely increible! That's spanish, not a typo. Say it with me -in'cray'ee'blay! Good job! Anyway- those Dolomitis! Yikes. So, we set up camp with 350 other campers, at least, in a campsite to cater to the little ones...pool, playground, grassy fields, snack shop, laundry machine, hot showers, nice clean toilettes, etc. I'm not complaining about the crowd, cause everything else is too awesome... plus, the people here are so beautiful and diverse. They are from everywhere on the globe... lots from Holland, Germany, Italy, Austria.. few that speak English, although, as usual, the Britts are out in full force. They are such great travellers.. Who pays for that anyway? So, day one in camp and Tim is jonesin' to get on the rock.. So, I oblige. We headed out blindly into the Dolomitis and hastily marched to the base of this 11-pitch route we were planning to take on at a casual...2pm in the afternoon.. HaHa! So, I know, you won'tbelieve this, just trust me... I opted for the firstlead! Well, ten feet up and in my face is a shiny newgold Metolius BOLT. WHAT THE??? But, I didn'tcomplain. I did look down at Tim and ask if I should clip it. He said 'Naw' jokingly and I moved on. Then he laughed and said, 'you thought I was serious?'. I don't know... I just thought with all the gear and so close to the ground, why bother.... me!! So, I kept climbing for 60 meters, clipping bolts every 20 feet at least... There was no gear to be found and I was looking to find a belay ledge with a dead tree... That ledge never came so I slung a horn and threaded a hole.. (limestone, ya know), and belayed Tim up. He came up, passed me, searched above and found the rock to be shit, and no dead tree... So, we rapped off single bolts to the ground.. yikes! We were...oh...2,000 feet to the left of the right route and now it was too late, so we went back to the unmentioned planB. Recon. Search and figure. We found the route we were meant to be on.. A specfuckintacular arete to a pure face followed by a dihedral, through a small cave to the summit. So, we got back in the car, drove around and found definite trails and starting points for several more climbs as not to goof up and waste another day.. The next day, I watched the chitlins while Tim and Susan did another route.. a 14 pitch beauty up perfect rock on an exposed arete. They hauled ass and did it in time to come down and go to the pool. Tomorrow, Susan and I are going back to that gorgeous route that Tim and I sussed the day before. I can't wait, though a little nerviosa! It's 11 pitches long!
Days with kids. Did I mention that I will never have three!! Today, we got up at 8am, Tim and Susan were already gone climbing. So, I rounded up some lire ($) and headed to the store... bought some bread and cheese, jelly, juice.. they don't have much but it's always quite healthy. So, we had breakfast, then we played kid games and I kept the peace between siblings, then we had lunch, then we went to the pool(which is filled with glacier water... cool?), then we took a nap - not me, just the two wee ones. I got to go back to the pool with Zach and then an hour later,the rents were home. It's exhausting to say the least, being a mom. What a drag too that all the sexyItalian boys think I'm a burdened mamà. ;) Let me tell you too. These people know how to stay in shape. Everyone, of all ages is in great shape. There are noooooooo obese people here! Every day they are hiking, walking, biking, swimming, playing with kids, climbing. NO one seems to run, but they are all in top form. We need to recruit some Americans for activity camp in Europe to learn a piece or too. Well, I'll hopefully have wonderful stories of a route successful. I'm totally amped! Even more so now thatI found the internet place.. It almost seems weird to be in touch all the time, but I'm, again, not complaining. I hope all you SLers were at theMichelle Shocked show with Joe and Emma. Good times! Have 'em for me, and I'll do the same. Ciao amicos.
Days with kids. Did I mention that I will never have three!! Today, we got up at 8am, Tim and Susan were already gone climbing. So, I rounded up some lire ($) and headed to the store... bought some bread and cheese, jelly, juice.. they don't have much but it's always quite healthy. So, we had breakfast, then we played kid games and I kept the peace between siblings, then we had lunch, then we went to the pool(which is filled with glacier water... cool?), then we took a nap - not me, just the two wee ones. I got to go back to the pool with Zach and then an hour later,the rents were home. It's exhausting to say the least, being a mom. What a drag too that all the sexyItalian boys think I'm a burdened mamà. ;) Let me tell you too. These people know how to stay in shape. Everyone, of all ages is in great shape. There are noooooooo obese people here! Every day they are hiking, walking, biking, swimming, playing with kids, climbing. NO one seems to run, but they are all in top form. We need to recruit some Americans for activity camp in Europe to learn a piece or too. Well, I'll hopefully have wonderful stories of a route successful. I'm totally amped! Even more so now thatI found the internet place.. It almost seems weird to be in touch all the time, but I'm, again, not complaining. I hope all you SLers were at theMichelle Shocked show with Joe and Emma. Good times! Have 'em for me, and I'll do the same. Ciao amicos.
Utah-Italy 2001 (2)
Yodle-This is just a quickie to let all those interested that this woman is officially fleeing the country as of Monday Morning - July 16th. I will be heading fromMyrtle to Atlanta to Philly to ROME!! ITALIA.. And so far all I can say is MI CHIAMO RAQUELITA and I can count to ten or so... Ok- I'm being modest. I'll be able to get by in the airport, but go shopping, I think not. Well, my times here at the beach were wonderful and to those of you who I saw, it was awesome.. and from whatI remember of it, I don't regret a thing... except maybe a comment or two about slow motion and showers..:) but, it'll be forgotten by October, right? Yes,we did some partying and now it's time for some serious climbing and kid business. For those of you who have no damn clue what this is all about, here's the bizz..
1- I fly to Italy on Monday and meet Tim and SusanWolfe and their 3 children, ages 2, 4, 6. Then we tour Rome for four days. I'm standing in as nanny for hire, but I know these folks from SLC... although, I don't know the kids... well... at all!! They'll just have to learn to like me.. hee hee... I'll make vegetarians of them all.. JUST FREAKIN' KIDDING! Don't go gettin' all worked up over nothing!
2. So, after Rome we take a train to Venice and tour that wee spot for a spell. Then we rent a car and drive to Cortina, the small mountain town in which we'll join the other tourists/climbers for a month...only, while they're all staying in big fancy chalets..or whatever they are in Italy, we'll be camping.. haha... with three kids. Oh, the jealous eye will certainly fly our way??! :)
3. From Cortina, we'll be climbing the whole time! It'll work like a sort of rotation. Two days on and one off for all of us.. so even though I am merely a nanny, I will be a climber too! Yeehaw!
4. From Cortina, on or around the 18th of August, we'll take a train to Florence and see the sights...and then, they leave me all alone.. little americana in big Italia! FREEDOM.
5. So, from Cortina. I have really no flippin' idea what the hell I'm going to do. The only set plans I have are: a) don't spend it all in one country b) see france, spain, portugal, switzerland, and hopefully belgium. c) look for girlfriend - ANNABANANA in Italy orSpain d) meet friend, Doug, in Nice on October 1st and take ferry to Sardinia to climb for my last two weeks in Western Europe. Anyone wanna join me for adventures in September???
So, then I come home on October 15th, 2001! If Idon't... then send in the troops. I'll be logging on a lot to keep everyone up on my goings on. I'm sure to have some sort of adventure, although it may not be a foot flapping, overhanging 5.11 hand crack in the Andes. God, those guys rock! :) So, to all of you -keep on having awesome summers, or start... and I'll be way in touch soon. You guys will be my travel buddies once I hit the road solo, so hang in there with me. Clam Ciao -der. -rai ;)
ps - I must clear something up. I should have done itlong ago to clear the air and prevent major embarassment... My name is RAICHLE!! Not RAILENE!! I just put that as my alias. It came from ChrisGrover.. you know, that dude at Black Diamond that"runs the fuckin' place." So, make a mental note if you didn't already know.. (there's more)
pss - forgive me father for I have sinned. It hasbeen almost one week since I sent that silly forward, in which time I have to come to learn that, indeed, Bonsai kitty is joke. There is no Bonsai kitty. It was a big fat mistake and I was pulled down like many other Animal lovers, into the depths of darkness and gullibility.. and I am heartily sorry for having offended anyone with such silliness.. Thank you. :)
1- I fly to Italy on Monday and meet Tim and SusanWolfe and their 3 children, ages 2, 4, 6. Then we tour Rome for four days. I'm standing in as nanny for hire, but I know these folks from SLC... although, I don't know the kids... well... at all!! They'll just have to learn to like me.. hee hee... I'll make vegetarians of them all.. JUST FREAKIN' KIDDING! Don't go gettin' all worked up over nothing!
2. So, after Rome we take a train to Venice and tour that wee spot for a spell. Then we rent a car and drive to Cortina, the small mountain town in which we'll join the other tourists/climbers for a month...only, while they're all staying in big fancy chalets..or whatever they are in Italy, we'll be camping.. haha... with three kids. Oh, the jealous eye will certainly fly our way??! :)
3. From Cortina, we'll be climbing the whole time! It'll work like a sort of rotation. Two days on and one off for all of us.. so even though I am merely a nanny, I will be a climber too! Yeehaw!
4. From Cortina, on or around the 18th of August, we'll take a train to Florence and see the sights...and then, they leave me all alone.. little americana in big Italia! FREEDOM.
5. So, from Cortina. I have really no flippin' idea what the hell I'm going to do. The only set plans I have are: a) don't spend it all in one country b) see france, spain, portugal, switzerland, and hopefully belgium. c) look for girlfriend - ANNABANANA in Italy orSpain d) meet friend, Doug, in Nice on October 1st and take ferry to Sardinia to climb for my last two weeks in Western Europe. Anyone wanna join me for adventures in September???
So, then I come home on October 15th, 2001! If Idon't... then send in the troops. I'll be logging on a lot to keep everyone up on my goings on. I'm sure to have some sort of adventure, although it may not be a foot flapping, overhanging 5.11 hand crack in the Andes. God, those guys rock! :) So, to all of you -keep on having awesome summers, or start... and I'll be way in touch soon. You guys will be my travel buddies once I hit the road solo, so hang in there with me. Clam Ciao -der. -rai ;)
ps - I must clear something up. I should have done itlong ago to clear the air and prevent major embarassment... My name is RAICHLE!! Not RAILENE!! I just put that as my alias. It came from ChrisGrover.. you know, that dude at Black Diamond that"runs the fuckin' place." So, make a mental note if you didn't already know.. (there's more)
pss - forgive me father for I have sinned. It hasbeen almost one week since I sent that silly forward, in which time I have to come to learn that, indeed, Bonsai kitty is joke. There is no Bonsai kitty. It was a big fat mistake and I was pulled down like many other Animal lovers, into the depths of darkness and gullibility.. and I am heartily sorry for having offended anyone with such silliness.. Thank you. :)
Utah - Italy 2001 (1)
moooooo!!!!! I made it home to SC. And I've already heard from so many of you! Thanks for being in touch. I'll write some personals later, but I'm just bumming this computer from a friend for a sec! I did make it to St. Louis, 12 hours and one car seat flying out the back later.... yup, Sarah, at 5:00 am I drove away from your house in Boulder and left the tailgate downand the back up! Luckily for me... I only lost the car seat. When I realized... I hit the steering wheel, said fuck a few times and tried to backtrack...got lost in the interlocken place where Sarah lives and finally made it back to her place... The carseat was sitting comfortably on the side of the road twenty yards from her front door!! Thank my luckystars! :)
So anyway, in St. Louis, I called steerrider, the girl I met on line at the veggieboards.com. She said I should definitely come by and meet her steer AND that I could stay! How awesome.. no hotel,no sleeping in my truck! Again, lucky for me, she was a really nice, normal 23 year old. Her steer... so cool! His name is Nunde and he is just like a dog! He comes trotting up to us, sniffing me to say hi and who the hell are you.. and then he bent over and put his nose up against my dog, Seamus' nose! He was flabberghasted to say the least! Nunde is black and loves to have his back scratched. He's also way curious and watched everything we did. He also ate his first carrot while I was there. Steer rider was astonished... I'm not sure if I want to say her realname... Anyway, then I left St. Louis and embarked on a 16!! hour drive home. Whew. But, I made it! Along the way, I hit a much needed Thunder Storm in Kentucky.. cooled things down for Seamus and I as I have no air conditioning. Then of course, we hit that line in the country where all of a sudden, you remember for the first time in ages, what that thing called humidity is! Then in Tennessee, well, some bible carrier released his wrath on the vegetarian hethen with the 666 liscence plates... Well, I don'tknow if that's what happened, but all of a sudden hundreds of bugs started flying out of the median into my windshield.. It was like the ending of the movieMagnolia.. or the curse of the locusts and grasshoppers.. crazy! WE survived. That was all the drama. Oh, and I had some Mellow Yellow and I saw a Piggly Wiggly! And, the trees.. oh the endless sea of trees! So many and just as many shades of green! That was dropping down in Chattanooga! Gorgeous.. Oh and then I hit rush hour in Atlanta.. 8 out of every 10 cars was driven by a black person... The fact thatI noticed that has only come to be because I've lived in Utah for 6 years. Kind of sad, eh? But, a relief to be back in the midst of some diversity. Getting home was splendid and seeing the folks was the best! And the best for Seamus too. He swam in the lake out back all day today. Well, I'm going out on the town to see some old cronies so take care and happyIndependance Day!
So anyway, in St. Louis, I called steerrider, the girl I met on line at the veggieboards.com. She said I should definitely come by and meet her steer AND that I could stay! How awesome.. no hotel,no sleeping in my truck! Again, lucky for me, she was a really nice, normal 23 year old. Her steer... so cool! His name is Nunde and he is just like a dog! He comes trotting up to us, sniffing me to say hi and who the hell are you.. and then he bent over and put his nose up against my dog, Seamus' nose! He was flabberghasted to say the least! Nunde is black and loves to have his back scratched. He's also way curious and watched everything we did. He also ate his first carrot while I was there. Steer rider was astonished... I'm not sure if I want to say her realname... Anyway, then I left St. Louis and embarked on a 16!! hour drive home. Whew. But, I made it! Along the way, I hit a much needed Thunder Storm in Kentucky.. cooled things down for Seamus and I as I have no air conditioning. Then of course, we hit that line in the country where all of a sudden, you remember for the first time in ages, what that thing called humidity is! Then in Tennessee, well, some bible carrier released his wrath on the vegetarian hethen with the 666 liscence plates... Well, I don'tknow if that's what happened, but all of a sudden hundreds of bugs started flying out of the median into my windshield.. It was like the ending of the movieMagnolia.. or the curse of the locusts and grasshoppers.. crazy! WE survived. That was all the drama. Oh, and I had some Mellow Yellow and I saw a Piggly Wiggly! And, the trees.. oh the endless sea of trees! So many and just as many shades of green! That was dropping down in Chattanooga! Gorgeous.. Oh and then I hit rush hour in Atlanta.. 8 out of every 10 cars was driven by a black person... The fact thatI noticed that has only come to be because I've lived in Utah for 6 years. Kind of sad, eh? But, a relief to be back in the midst of some diversity. Getting home was splendid and seeing the folks was the best! And the best for Seamus too. He swam in the lake out back all day today. Well, I'm going out on the town to see some old cronies so take care and happyIndependance Day!
Friday, May 17, 2002
Peru-Utah 2002 (6)
Hello All! Sorry I left some of you hanging (those that don't see me in SLC). This is just a quick uneventul message to let everyone know (that doesn't already) that I am back safely in SLC. I came back with a funk in my stomach... it kicked my ass for a few days and forced me to get some fluids from the emergency room and some antibiotics. I can finally stand up straight and breathe normal so all is well! I don't know the source but just found out this morning that I test negative for any parasites and all bacteria!!! Yay! So, with renewed faith in the third world, I'll start planning my next trip!
But, a word to the future Peru explorers... I'll pass on the advice I got from my friend, Jon Webb... which I was doubting at first... When you fly to Peru, have a ride planned for you at the airport or at least a trustworthy hostel lined up for the taxi to take you to...(I can recommend our friend Daniel's), stay one night if necessary and then get the hell out as fast as you can! Go to the jungle, go to Huaraz, go to Iquitos, just get out!
Maybe I'm not being fair to Lima.. and this is only my (and Jon's) opinion... but Lima, of all the cities I've been to around the world, is the dirtiest (in most parts) and seems to be festering a little. The air is so much cleaner and people are so much more content everywhere else... and who knows what's floating around in that humidity...I hate to bash anywhere, especially when I didn't stay long myself, but that's what happens when people go before you... they make a call and you choose to believe or not believe...
But, a word to the future Peru explorers... I'll pass on the advice I got from my friend, Jon Webb... which I was doubting at first... When you fly to Peru, have a ride planned for you at the airport or at least a trustworthy hostel lined up for the taxi to take you to...(I can recommend our friend Daniel's), stay one night if necessary and then get the hell out as fast as you can! Go to the jungle, go to Huaraz, go to Iquitos, just get out!
Maybe I'm not being fair to Lima.. and this is only my (and Jon's) opinion... but Lima, of all the cities I've been to around the world, is the dirtiest (in most parts) and seems to be festering a little. The air is so much cleaner and people are so much more content everywhere else... and who knows what's floating around in that humidity...I hate to bash anywhere, especially when I didn't stay long myself, but that's what happens when people go before you... they make a call and you choose to believe or not believe...
Monday, April 22, 2002
Utah - Peru 2002 (5)
Well, this is my last full day in Huaraz. I had lofty goals of writing a wonderful overview of this city and its people and then as I sat here reading my messages something hit me... Nausea... I don't know why except that maybe I was a little hasty with the treatment of the last bottle of water I drank this afternoon. I dropped the iodine into the bottle to kill the bad stuff... You're meant to wait 30 minutes before adding anything to it to kill the iodine taste and it's bad effects on your stomach's natural flora... but I added the vitamin C after only 15 minutes cause I was so thirsty... ay ay ay, como me duele.... (Selina) So, I'll stick it out as long as I can. There is a baño behind me but how embarrassing, to puke audibly in the internet cafe with all the Peruanos listening and chuckling about Gringa (again, my name for the month) losing her burrito in the toilet... Maybe if I think hard enough about this message my stomach-brain connection will be disrupted... Enough of all that...
Peru is wonderful and I'll be back. There have been so many things go in through my eyes and land permanently on my brain but the climbing stories have been overshadowing them as of late. For example, the drive up to the Valle Paron where we climbed/camped for a total of 10 days. The ride up starts rough and rocky and doesn't really get better but it does get more spectacular. The lower sections include the views of all the campesinos do for this country - their agriculture. They pull plows through their rocky fields with ropes tied around their bulls'/cows' horns. The cows plod along slowly with amazing precision through the fields which vary in steepness from flat to 45 degrees. The cows and bulls that aren't working get to help the farmers get rid of the old corn stalks that pile up in stacks of dry yellow waste.. though, not waste to the hungry cows, hips sticking out and eyes sleepy.... chewing their cud between bites of old foliage...Along the ride you also notice how much Eucalyptus they have brought into this country. It's definitely a foreign crop to the area. Unfortunately, Eucalyptus trees don't allow for much other growth.. they kill everything in their way. The folks here use them for hearbal saunas and then they use the lumber for building maybe? It seems like a random commoditiy, but a popular one throughout. As we drive up in our private collectivo, the most common scene is that of the local women, sitting in their skirts and hats, surrounded by children and piglets. They are always seemingly occupied with something, but I don't know what... They seem very happy and united. As we drive by the kids get up and run along side the car waving. If we could hear them better I'm sure we would hear that they are screaming 'hola gringos' Their dogs take over the lead and chomp at the rubber on our tires and always get out unscathed somehow. The homes are made of dried clay blocks, like bricks and the roofs are made of a sculpted, scooped out red clay. In the winters, most of the windows, which are just openings in the structure, are filled with blocks to keep out the cold. The floor in all the houses in earth and their is no electricity. They use the bathroom in one of two places, either 1) wherever the hell they want or 2) in these small clay outhouses. The outhouses have a little pipe for ventilation but I bet it does little. Sometimes you spot a pile of human shit in random places like on a big rock on the side of the road or on a lid for some kind of container... Random. The campesinas don't wear underwear, they just pull up their skirt and let it fly, even in the streets of Huaraz (so they say, though I have yet to see this.)
The 27 year old Peruvian that drove us up talked to me a lot about the US and about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer in Peru. He said there is no middle class, only pobres and the rich, although, I woulnd't consider him to be part of either, so I think there is a class just above the poor but well below the rich. He only makes 10 soles a day which is about $3 US and that just about covers his meals for the day. Clothing, marriage, children, the rest... it's too difficult. He has dreams of coming to the US one day, but it will most likely never happen. It's impossible for him to save with what little he has. I told him that at least the poor outside of Huaraz contribute to the society. Without them, I don't know where anyone would get their veggies, fruits, juice, chickens, sheep, cows. They may be poor as hell, but they don't just give up and beg in the street like our poor chaps in the bigger cities.. and we all know they have opportunities. These people seem mostly happy to be in the fields working with their children and contributing to the market twice a week. But, who am I to say. The life is nothing less than hard for most. They always look so much older than they are as the climate here is rough and carrying loads on their back daily takes its toll.
Yesterday I had an wonderful opportunity to meet with some folks that live outside of Huaraz. I was going to go up to Laguna Churup, a lake nestled among huge rock walls, but alas, I decided to summit Tambosharaju the night before instead and it took everything out of me.... Tambosharaju... All the peaks here end in raju, like I mentioned before.. it means snowy peak in Quechua... well, on the Sphynx, it got so hot at one point that Mandy made this funny- "I didn't know we were climbing Warmisharaju" haha... So, Tambosharaju is my cover up for the Tambo.. a bar! Where I relearned how to move my hips like a sexy Latina until 4 am... oops. It's just that it was so much fun! I went out with Peru, Chile, and Spain and we had a blast! The next day however, waking up at 11am, put a wrench in the plan for La Laguna... so back to my wonderful opportunity. I had a late lunch with an American named Joe (whose brother worked at Black Diamond for a month or two, Alex?) and at lunch he told me the story about how he has been coming to Peru every year for the last 8... A common thing I'm finding out. Huaraz is just the kind of place you can come to over and over. So, he did a climb and met a great porter years ago... Liberato Torres. Well, in the years to come, he and Liberato (a local Huarazino) became climbing partners. They summitted several peaks together, including Alpamayo... Well, last summer, one week after Joe left Huaraz, he got an e-mail from Liberato's wife saying that he had just died climbing Artesanraju. He was climbing with a Japanese guy... they had summitted and were rappelling off the face... The japanese climber rapped first off one snow picket and it held... then when Liberato went, it pulled. He fell the length of the face and was pretty well in pieces when they finally found his body 5 days later... but fortunately, the rope had wrapped around him and kept his body in tact. So, anyway, he left behind his wife with three boys and one daughter. Joe has kept in touch with the family and his family in Sandy, Utah sends them money via Western Union from time to time to help. Yesterday, Joe was going to visit the family and asked if I would like to go! Of course!We took a 30 minute collective ride from Huaraz up to the little village of Llupa and walked through a field, past two sheep, two cows, a pig and one burro and then climbed a stone wall and hopped a little creek and arrived at the clay home of Martina and her children. She was wearing a slightly torn skirt and her bowler hat with a white blouse. The children giggled and hid around corners while Joe introduced me, then I handed them a big bag of candies that I brought up for them. They came running saying thank you in Castellano and Quechua. The next hour was spent talking to Martina, her brother Graciano and his wife Juana about the accident, life after the accident and just life in general. On this Friday, the 9th of August, a large group are going up to the base camp of Aretesanraju to leave a plaque in honor of Liberato. I took several photos of them family with the plaque and they were delighted. Before I could even take a photo, both of the older women went into the back room and changed into their good velvet skirts with white lace embroidery. Martina has a hat hanging on a wall in her 'living room'. Joe explained that this hat was her married woman hat and now she wears her widow hat. The difference is a white band around the base of the hat. Their house is very modest. There is one open roofed room with a concrete floor where Graciano was prepping camp stoves for their trip up the mountain. In this area there were two kittens and three chicks and one adult chicken, pecking around and trying to eat a bolt from the stove. The kitchen has an earth floor and no light. The roof is low and decorated with massive stacks of hanging corn. They were cooking up some mystery meal for us which we regrettably had to decline with the utmost sensitivity... We would surely have become sick and at the least, I would have been obligated to eat guinnea pig or lamb or something (meat for the first time in 11 years)... but they understood when I explained that I had dinner making plans with some Spanish folks who were leaving the next day... not a lie. I got some photos taken of me and Joe with the kids. One of Martina's neices, Anita, stood close to me. I squatted down next to her and put my arm around her waist and she laid her head on my shoulder... oh, my heart almost broke! I love those kids! I took their address at the general delivery and promised to send them copies of all the photos... and I'm sure I'll send much more too.... books, etc.. maybe some clothes... Martina was such a great host.. she made me promise to come back next year and bring friends. One hour and I fell so in love with them!Joe told me later that she has changed a lot over this last year. He said she used to resent gringos and even the more Spanish influenced peruvians... they are pobres, campesinos, Quechuanos... but now, she welcomes us in, lets us take photos (a rarity) and invites us back for more. It probably has much to do with the fact that when Liberato died, it was a bunch of his gringo clients that sent money and best wishes to Martina. Zarela thinks monetary support creates a crutch for the family... and maybe so, but until her boys are older (the oldest being 8 now) she really has few options. She isn't skilled to anything and her husband's work as a porter kept them going for so long.
On the way down from their house we passed a cemetary... I took photos. I love cemetaries for their history and variety. I think I'll do a coffee table book on cemetaries some day.. I have them from Ireland to Italy, Nevada to Peru... We also passed a couple of young kids herding four cows and five burros up the rocky road.. After they passed I was going to steal a picture but as I turned around with my camera, so did the young girl with her index finger shaking rapidly below a disapproving frown.. I said sorry and moved on. Some of them still hate the whole photo thing and I know that was more than shyness.. that was.. "Don't violate me!"Last night I, Zarela, Daniel, Christina and Fernando (all peruvians) and the token Spaniard, Kepa, cooked up some fine potato tortillas and lasagna and had a wonderful late night feast with red wine. Poor Mandy was racked with a flu which has been killing her motivation and her mood lately.. She went to bed early and shyed away from all the Spanish speakers in the kitchen. After dinner, we almost went to bed but peer pressure from a possee of Columbianos and Catalonians took us up for one more ascent of 'Tambosharaju'! We only lasted until 2am this time and it was so fun! I love dancing! I traded e'mails with the ones I may see again ' climbing in the states or in Spain and we kissed on the cheeks, our saludos, and turned in.Today, Zarela and I had breakfast... Mandy had Pedialite and we rallied to go up to the overlook spot (El Mirador) above Huaraz, where as in so many Latin American towns, there is a huge cross on a hill overlooking the whole town. We were 100yards from the cross when a couple from England told us that 10 minutes prior, two other tourists had been robbed at gun point near the cross and that we should take caution... I put my money in my sock and ran through all the scenarios of how I would defend my camera at gun point... We moved along slowly and then decided to head back down. On the way down we alerted two gals from Denver and another Gringo.
Back at the house now, chillin' and not regretting any sights missed cause I know I'll be back soon! Tomorrow at 1pm I hit the bus for Lima. My limeño friend, Daniel is picking me up at the bus station and we'll grub down one last time before he takes me to the airport and I fly overnight to the US of A.... Until then, I'll be eating Thai food with Naresuan for one last time and then dragging myself up Tambosharaju for one last hurrah with Zarela! Take care and be in touch! luv, rai
Peru is wonderful and I'll be back. There have been so many things go in through my eyes and land permanently on my brain but the climbing stories have been overshadowing them as of late. For example, the drive up to the Valle Paron where we climbed/camped for a total of 10 days. The ride up starts rough and rocky and doesn't really get better but it does get more spectacular. The lower sections include the views of all the campesinos do for this country - their agriculture. They pull plows through their rocky fields with ropes tied around their bulls'/cows' horns. The cows plod along slowly with amazing precision through the fields which vary in steepness from flat to 45 degrees. The cows and bulls that aren't working get to help the farmers get rid of the old corn stalks that pile up in stacks of dry yellow waste.. though, not waste to the hungry cows, hips sticking out and eyes sleepy.... chewing their cud between bites of old foliage...Along the ride you also notice how much Eucalyptus they have brought into this country. It's definitely a foreign crop to the area. Unfortunately, Eucalyptus trees don't allow for much other growth.. they kill everything in their way. The folks here use them for hearbal saunas and then they use the lumber for building maybe? It seems like a random commoditiy, but a popular one throughout. As we drive up in our private collectivo, the most common scene is that of the local women, sitting in their skirts and hats, surrounded by children and piglets. They are always seemingly occupied with something, but I don't know what... They seem very happy and united. As we drive by the kids get up and run along side the car waving. If we could hear them better I'm sure we would hear that they are screaming 'hola gringos' Their dogs take over the lead and chomp at the rubber on our tires and always get out unscathed somehow. The homes are made of dried clay blocks, like bricks and the roofs are made of a sculpted, scooped out red clay. In the winters, most of the windows, which are just openings in the structure, are filled with blocks to keep out the cold. The floor in all the houses in earth and their is no electricity. They use the bathroom in one of two places, either 1) wherever the hell they want or 2) in these small clay outhouses. The outhouses have a little pipe for ventilation but I bet it does little. Sometimes you spot a pile of human shit in random places like on a big rock on the side of the road or on a lid for some kind of container... Random. The campesinas don't wear underwear, they just pull up their skirt and let it fly, even in the streets of Huaraz (so they say, though I have yet to see this.)
The 27 year old Peruvian that drove us up talked to me a lot about the US and about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer in Peru. He said there is no middle class, only pobres and the rich, although, I woulnd't consider him to be part of either, so I think there is a class just above the poor but well below the rich. He only makes 10 soles a day which is about $3 US and that just about covers his meals for the day. Clothing, marriage, children, the rest... it's too difficult. He has dreams of coming to the US one day, but it will most likely never happen. It's impossible for him to save with what little he has. I told him that at least the poor outside of Huaraz contribute to the society. Without them, I don't know where anyone would get their veggies, fruits, juice, chickens, sheep, cows. They may be poor as hell, but they don't just give up and beg in the street like our poor chaps in the bigger cities.. and we all know they have opportunities. These people seem mostly happy to be in the fields working with their children and contributing to the market twice a week. But, who am I to say. The life is nothing less than hard for most. They always look so much older than they are as the climate here is rough and carrying loads on their back daily takes its toll.
Yesterday I had an wonderful opportunity to meet with some folks that live outside of Huaraz. I was going to go up to Laguna Churup, a lake nestled among huge rock walls, but alas, I decided to summit Tambosharaju the night before instead and it took everything out of me.... Tambosharaju... All the peaks here end in raju, like I mentioned before.. it means snowy peak in Quechua... well, on the Sphynx, it got so hot at one point that Mandy made this funny- "I didn't know we were climbing Warmisharaju" haha... So, Tambosharaju is my cover up for the Tambo.. a bar! Where I relearned how to move my hips like a sexy Latina until 4 am... oops. It's just that it was so much fun! I went out with Peru, Chile, and Spain and we had a blast! The next day however, waking up at 11am, put a wrench in the plan for La Laguna... so back to my wonderful opportunity. I had a late lunch with an American named Joe (whose brother worked at Black Diamond for a month or two, Alex?) and at lunch he told me the story about how he has been coming to Peru every year for the last 8... A common thing I'm finding out. Huaraz is just the kind of place you can come to over and over. So, he did a climb and met a great porter years ago... Liberato Torres. Well, in the years to come, he and Liberato (a local Huarazino) became climbing partners. They summitted several peaks together, including Alpamayo... Well, last summer, one week after Joe left Huaraz, he got an e-mail from Liberato's wife saying that he had just died climbing Artesanraju. He was climbing with a Japanese guy... they had summitted and were rappelling off the face... The japanese climber rapped first off one snow picket and it held... then when Liberato went, it pulled. He fell the length of the face and was pretty well in pieces when they finally found his body 5 days later... but fortunately, the rope had wrapped around him and kept his body in tact. So, anyway, he left behind his wife with three boys and one daughter. Joe has kept in touch with the family and his family in Sandy, Utah sends them money via Western Union from time to time to help. Yesterday, Joe was going to visit the family and asked if I would like to go! Of course!We took a 30 minute collective ride from Huaraz up to the little village of Llupa and walked through a field, past two sheep, two cows, a pig and one burro and then climbed a stone wall and hopped a little creek and arrived at the clay home of Martina and her children. She was wearing a slightly torn skirt and her bowler hat with a white blouse. The children giggled and hid around corners while Joe introduced me, then I handed them a big bag of candies that I brought up for them. They came running saying thank you in Castellano and Quechua. The next hour was spent talking to Martina, her brother Graciano and his wife Juana about the accident, life after the accident and just life in general. On this Friday, the 9th of August, a large group are going up to the base camp of Aretesanraju to leave a plaque in honor of Liberato. I took several photos of them family with the plaque and they were delighted. Before I could even take a photo, both of the older women went into the back room and changed into their good velvet skirts with white lace embroidery. Martina has a hat hanging on a wall in her 'living room'. Joe explained that this hat was her married woman hat and now she wears her widow hat. The difference is a white band around the base of the hat. Their house is very modest. There is one open roofed room with a concrete floor where Graciano was prepping camp stoves for their trip up the mountain. In this area there were two kittens and three chicks and one adult chicken, pecking around and trying to eat a bolt from the stove. The kitchen has an earth floor and no light. The roof is low and decorated with massive stacks of hanging corn. They were cooking up some mystery meal for us which we regrettably had to decline with the utmost sensitivity... We would surely have become sick and at the least, I would have been obligated to eat guinnea pig or lamb or something (meat for the first time in 11 years)... but they understood when I explained that I had dinner making plans with some Spanish folks who were leaving the next day... not a lie. I got some photos taken of me and Joe with the kids. One of Martina's neices, Anita, stood close to me. I squatted down next to her and put my arm around her waist and she laid her head on my shoulder... oh, my heart almost broke! I love those kids! I took their address at the general delivery and promised to send them copies of all the photos... and I'm sure I'll send much more too.... books, etc.. maybe some clothes... Martina was such a great host.. she made me promise to come back next year and bring friends. One hour and I fell so in love with them!Joe told me later that she has changed a lot over this last year. He said she used to resent gringos and even the more Spanish influenced peruvians... they are pobres, campesinos, Quechuanos... but now, she welcomes us in, lets us take photos (a rarity) and invites us back for more. It probably has much to do with the fact that when Liberato died, it was a bunch of his gringo clients that sent money and best wishes to Martina. Zarela thinks monetary support creates a crutch for the family... and maybe so, but until her boys are older (the oldest being 8 now) she really has few options. She isn't skilled to anything and her husband's work as a porter kept them going for so long.
On the way down from their house we passed a cemetary... I took photos. I love cemetaries for their history and variety. I think I'll do a coffee table book on cemetaries some day.. I have them from Ireland to Italy, Nevada to Peru... We also passed a couple of young kids herding four cows and five burros up the rocky road.. After they passed I was going to steal a picture but as I turned around with my camera, so did the young girl with her index finger shaking rapidly below a disapproving frown.. I said sorry and moved on. Some of them still hate the whole photo thing and I know that was more than shyness.. that was.. "Don't violate me!"Last night I, Zarela, Daniel, Christina and Fernando (all peruvians) and the token Spaniard, Kepa, cooked up some fine potato tortillas and lasagna and had a wonderful late night feast with red wine. Poor Mandy was racked with a flu which has been killing her motivation and her mood lately.. She went to bed early and shyed away from all the Spanish speakers in the kitchen. After dinner, we almost went to bed but peer pressure from a possee of Columbianos and Catalonians took us up for one more ascent of 'Tambosharaju'! We only lasted until 2am this time and it was so fun! I love dancing! I traded e'mails with the ones I may see again ' climbing in the states or in Spain and we kissed on the cheeks, our saludos, and turned in.Today, Zarela and I had breakfast... Mandy had Pedialite and we rallied to go up to the overlook spot (El Mirador) above Huaraz, where as in so many Latin American towns, there is a huge cross on a hill overlooking the whole town. We were 100yards from the cross when a couple from England told us that 10 minutes prior, two other tourists had been robbed at gun point near the cross and that we should take caution... I put my money in my sock and ran through all the scenarios of how I would defend my camera at gun point... We moved along slowly and then decided to head back down. On the way down we alerted two gals from Denver and another Gringo.
Back at the house now, chillin' and not regretting any sights missed cause I know I'll be back soon! Tomorrow at 1pm I hit the bus for Lima. My limeño friend, Daniel is picking me up at the bus station and we'll grub down one last time before he takes me to the airport and I fly overnight to the US of A.... Until then, I'll be eating Thai food with Naresuan for one last time and then dragging myself up Tambosharaju for one last hurrah with Zarela! Take care and be in touch! luv, rai
Utah - Peru 2002 (4)
Guess who's back ... no, not Shady you groupies... Anyway, Mandy and I are back in Huaraz... We went back for it... Here's the drag out.
On Wednesday of last week we headed out casually to try the Original route on the Sphynx. We decided to take a collectivo from Huaraz to Caraz (about an hour and a half) and a collectivo is a toyota mini van basically with several seats in it.... Our collective picked up 25 people at a time along the way, with no shortage of their good of various types. 25 people in a Toyota Mini Van!
Let me tell you, these folks seriously work hard and it's proven in that they can sleep anywhere. On this collectivo, at 8am, I'm surrounded by sleeping bodies. The one pressed against me was that of a young mother with her 2 month old baby boy in her arms... I kept my eyes on him cause, hello, she's sleeping! But, that must be one of those motherly talents. She was so quick too. Her husband was sleeping across from her and she would jerk awake as his bag of fruit was about to fall from his lap! Crazy... The others were sleeping standing up, around sharp turns, over rutted roads.. The kids on the ride were fun too... until one of them, the three year old, started licking the palms of his sisters' hands.. yuk! When we got to Caraz, a bunch of taxis tried to get us to ride with them to the Laguana, then the two boys that drive the collectivo shot each other glances, shut the door and drove off saying.... 60 soles, we'll take you. Vamanos... So, we're off, cozy in our own empty collectivo to the trail head... at least, after they asked 7 people along the way how to get there....
So, we get there, pile on our lite packs (everything was at the base) and hit the trail. They kept asking where our guides were and were amused at our going alone. So, we punched it up the trail in an hour less than the first time with the heavier packs. We promptly set up our tents, filtered water, made lunch/dinner and then talked logistics...
The plan for climbing... to those that understand it all... was to start early, make it to the ledge and sleep on the ledge for one night and then go on from there to the top. Well, we slept awesome that night! Being there the week before helped with acclimatization. We woke up late though! So at 7am we're running to the base where all of our gear is stashed. We get there 30 minutes later and have to sort the shit, put on our harnesses, lug it to the base and gawk at how heavy the hallbag became suddenly when you add warm clothes for two, water for two days, food, sleeping bags...etc... So, there I am, racking up for the first pitch and Mandy looks at me slyly and says, "well...... I don't know." I just sat back into myself and said... "I know." Fact was, there was no way we were going to make it to that ledge with that bitch of a haul bag... The wall was low angle enough to pose serious threats to our plan... So "Let's go Craggin" Mandy said. The plan changed to a more simplisitc one.
On this fine Thursday with clouds hovering over nearby peaks, we decided to just take up the three ropes we had, get as far as we wanted and fix ropes back down. We swung leads up the first five pitches. The climbing was awesome and the sun peaked out on us most of the day. Mandy stepped up at one pitch for some 5.10 fist action that I backed away from... She rocked it and we were psyched to be two strong women getting higher and higher. At the top of that pitch, we fixed our first rope and headed back down. Getting down from here was easy. We did some rope trickery to make an unexpected 50m rope work for us and we were on the ground in no time with our ropes fixed all the way to our high point for the next day. That night we planned to sleep under a rock at the base of the climb so we could be right there and ready to punch it in the morning... We tried... but come 6pm Mandy and I were craving warm salty foods and growing sick of Luna bars and GU... So, back to the warm cozy tent. Turns out, we would've been hurting had we not done that cause it was a cold, windy night. The next morning we got up early and on time and jaunted off to the base with nothing on our backs! At the base, everything was ready...oh except one detail.. Because of the 50m rope, we had to borrow a 60m from these Italians for the rap at the descent... So once we got to the base we had to rifle through their stash and find the BLUE rope.. They said BLUE... Three out of four were blue so we measured them all out! Two of the blue were only 50m and the other was their lead line, so we took the pink 55m. The PINK.. haha!
So, finally we're off and running... in place! Jugging fixed lines is a little epic. The first pitch was easy, low angle, but the next two together were steep and it was exhausting at 16,000 feet. But, we get to the base of the chimney in good time and I take that lead... 5.7 chimney... no problem.. Except I'm claustraphobic.. Just kidding, that was the easy part. I get out of the chimney with no issues, pull onto the face and clip a nice piton. Then I hit the slab... it was good, a little run out... and actually I almost had an emotional breakdown when I was staring face to face with a brain plant and no gear for a ways below me... then I saw a bolt to my right and was giddy.. But it did a number on my head for the day.... So, anyway, Mandy came up, took on the next lead.. the first of the two technical cruxes.. She got up there, dealt with the jungle down low, pulled thru the roof up high and styled the finger crack. I joined her and graciously declined the next lead... wimpywimpy but no thanks... So, she took it on. It was hard! It was not easy at all going through the roof and then finishing up on the flake! She did it and I followed and we were worked. At this point we had one pitch to the sleeping ledge, the half way point... and it was 12:30pm... so, we'd get up there and see.. Well, we got up there, the sun was gone from the wall, the wind was whipping and we were just psyched to have gotten that far and have had fun...
So we decided to turn around... rap the route. The rest would be the enduro-route finding crux and no matter where we looked or who we talked to, we couldn't get a solid idea of where to go or how it would really be... so, down down.. and happily so! We didn't need to climb in the dark and the cold to feel like we had accomplished something! We already had! So, all's well... and then we start to rap! What a royal epic. Rapping is the least fun part about climbing for me cause it seems the least safe... ropes running over sharp edges, anchors pulling, whatever... Well, we rap down two pitches and we're happy with our decision... then the ropes get stuck.. they don't even pull! So, we swing 'em, pull 'em, twist 'em, etc... and then, since I didn't lead the cruxes, I step up... gotta do my part.. We fix one line and I jugged the other. At a ledge I pull slack on the fixed line and move the stuck one.. I do that a time or two and think, "all good" and head back down... They don't pull! So, I go back up again, higher, tie into another anchor, pull the rope up, deal and head back to Mandy who is convulsing with the cold at the lower belay...
The next rap is uneventful and then we're off on our third. I come out over a roof and Mandy is way the hell down there.... " wow, we cleared two pitches?"... "well, not exactly... I just thought the rope wouldn't pull"... Well, if I joined her, we would've both been stuck with the possibility of not having any ropes, on a ledge that's at least 30m from the fixed lines of our Italian campmates (who had climbed earlier that day and since gone back to camp).... So, I went into the right anchor and neither she from below nor me from above could get the ropes to move... The only only solution was for one of us to jug back up and fix one of the ropes, then we'd fix another to the Italian's lines and then be out... At this point it's 3pm and we're so cold... Mandy goes up, fixes the line and then we rig an anchor for our last fix and we're home free... four raps to the ground! It was so good to get down at 5pm! What an epic.. but we both handled it like champs and laughed as much as we could in between the obscenities! We also learned a lot about swag that you don't usually have the chance to deal with when all goes well. Major props to our boys in SLC who pulled it off in a day last year. It's an undertaking for sure and I have the ultimate respect for it... The Italians were fixing all the way to the ledge over the course of two days, then after a day of rest, jugging in the dark to the ledge and climbing to the top! Burly! Jugging hurts! They were happy to know we fixed two more lines for them and they were free to keep our ropes!
The porters came for us on time Saturday morning and we punched it down the trail with light loads, took our pirvate bus back to Zarela's and now we'll go out for Thai food with Naresuan.... We went to the Eucalyptus saunas today... hot, steamy, so good.. sweating all the dirt from the climb out and sucking in all the yummy herbs in the air... so nice... ready for Pad Thai! Ciao Ciao.. -rai
On Wednesday of last week we headed out casually to try the Original route on the Sphynx. We decided to take a collectivo from Huaraz to Caraz (about an hour and a half) and a collectivo is a toyota mini van basically with several seats in it.... Our collective picked up 25 people at a time along the way, with no shortage of their good of various types. 25 people in a Toyota Mini Van!
Let me tell you, these folks seriously work hard and it's proven in that they can sleep anywhere. On this collectivo, at 8am, I'm surrounded by sleeping bodies. The one pressed against me was that of a young mother with her 2 month old baby boy in her arms... I kept my eyes on him cause, hello, she's sleeping! But, that must be one of those motherly talents. She was so quick too. Her husband was sleeping across from her and she would jerk awake as his bag of fruit was about to fall from his lap! Crazy... The others were sleeping standing up, around sharp turns, over rutted roads.. The kids on the ride were fun too... until one of them, the three year old, started licking the palms of his sisters' hands.. yuk! When we got to Caraz, a bunch of taxis tried to get us to ride with them to the Laguana, then the two boys that drive the collectivo shot each other glances, shut the door and drove off saying.... 60 soles, we'll take you. Vamanos... So, we're off, cozy in our own empty collectivo to the trail head... at least, after they asked 7 people along the way how to get there....
So, we get there, pile on our lite packs (everything was at the base) and hit the trail. They kept asking where our guides were and were amused at our going alone. So, we punched it up the trail in an hour less than the first time with the heavier packs. We promptly set up our tents, filtered water, made lunch/dinner and then talked logistics...
The plan for climbing... to those that understand it all... was to start early, make it to the ledge and sleep on the ledge for one night and then go on from there to the top. Well, we slept awesome that night! Being there the week before helped with acclimatization. We woke up late though! So at 7am we're running to the base where all of our gear is stashed. We get there 30 minutes later and have to sort the shit, put on our harnesses, lug it to the base and gawk at how heavy the hallbag became suddenly when you add warm clothes for two, water for two days, food, sleeping bags...etc... So, there I am, racking up for the first pitch and Mandy looks at me slyly and says, "well...... I don't know." I just sat back into myself and said... "I know." Fact was, there was no way we were going to make it to that ledge with that bitch of a haul bag... The wall was low angle enough to pose serious threats to our plan... So "Let's go Craggin" Mandy said. The plan changed to a more simplisitc one.
On this fine Thursday with clouds hovering over nearby peaks, we decided to just take up the three ropes we had, get as far as we wanted and fix ropes back down. We swung leads up the first five pitches. The climbing was awesome and the sun peaked out on us most of the day. Mandy stepped up at one pitch for some 5.10 fist action that I backed away from... She rocked it and we were psyched to be two strong women getting higher and higher. At the top of that pitch, we fixed our first rope and headed back down. Getting down from here was easy. We did some rope trickery to make an unexpected 50m rope work for us and we were on the ground in no time with our ropes fixed all the way to our high point for the next day. That night we planned to sleep under a rock at the base of the climb so we could be right there and ready to punch it in the morning... We tried... but come 6pm Mandy and I were craving warm salty foods and growing sick of Luna bars and GU... So, back to the warm cozy tent. Turns out, we would've been hurting had we not done that cause it was a cold, windy night. The next morning we got up early and on time and jaunted off to the base with nothing on our backs! At the base, everything was ready...oh except one detail.. Because of the 50m rope, we had to borrow a 60m from these Italians for the rap at the descent... So once we got to the base we had to rifle through their stash and find the BLUE rope.. They said BLUE... Three out of four were blue so we measured them all out! Two of the blue were only 50m and the other was their lead line, so we took the pink 55m. The PINK.. haha!
So, finally we're off and running... in place! Jugging fixed lines is a little epic. The first pitch was easy, low angle, but the next two together were steep and it was exhausting at 16,000 feet. But, we get to the base of the chimney in good time and I take that lead... 5.7 chimney... no problem.. Except I'm claustraphobic.. Just kidding, that was the easy part. I get out of the chimney with no issues, pull onto the face and clip a nice piton. Then I hit the slab... it was good, a little run out... and actually I almost had an emotional breakdown when I was staring face to face with a brain plant and no gear for a ways below me... then I saw a bolt to my right and was giddy.. But it did a number on my head for the day.... So, anyway, Mandy came up, took on the next lead.. the first of the two technical cruxes.. She got up there, dealt with the jungle down low, pulled thru the roof up high and styled the finger crack. I joined her and graciously declined the next lead... wimpywimpy but no thanks... So, she took it on. It was hard! It was not easy at all going through the roof and then finishing up on the flake! She did it and I followed and we were worked. At this point we had one pitch to the sleeping ledge, the half way point... and it was 12:30pm... so, we'd get up there and see.. Well, we got up there, the sun was gone from the wall, the wind was whipping and we were just psyched to have gotten that far and have had fun...
So we decided to turn around... rap the route. The rest would be the enduro-route finding crux and no matter where we looked or who we talked to, we couldn't get a solid idea of where to go or how it would really be... so, down down.. and happily so! We didn't need to climb in the dark and the cold to feel like we had accomplished something! We already had! So, all's well... and then we start to rap! What a royal epic. Rapping is the least fun part about climbing for me cause it seems the least safe... ropes running over sharp edges, anchors pulling, whatever... Well, we rap down two pitches and we're happy with our decision... then the ropes get stuck.. they don't even pull! So, we swing 'em, pull 'em, twist 'em, etc... and then, since I didn't lead the cruxes, I step up... gotta do my part.. We fix one line and I jugged the other. At a ledge I pull slack on the fixed line and move the stuck one.. I do that a time or two and think, "all good" and head back down... They don't pull! So, I go back up again, higher, tie into another anchor, pull the rope up, deal and head back to Mandy who is convulsing with the cold at the lower belay...
The next rap is uneventful and then we're off on our third. I come out over a roof and Mandy is way the hell down there.... " wow, we cleared two pitches?"... "well, not exactly... I just thought the rope wouldn't pull"... Well, if I joined her, we would've both been stuck with the possibility of not having any ropes, on a ledge that's at least 30m from the fixed lines of our Italian campmates (who had climbed earlier that day and since gone back to camp).... So, I went into the right anchor and neither she from below nor me from above could get the ropes to move... The only only solution was for one of us to jug back up and fix one of the ropes, then we'd fix another to the Italian's lines and then be out... At this point it's 3pm and we're so cold... Mandy goes up, fixes the line and then we rig an anchor for our last fix and we're home free... four raps to the ground! It was so good to get down at 5pm! What an epic.. but we both handled it like champs and laughed as much as we could in between the obscenities! We also learned a lot about swag that you don't usually have the chance to deal with when all goes well. Major props to our boys in SLC who pulled it off in a day last year. It's an undertaking for sure and I have the ultimate respect for it... The Italians were fixing all the way to the ledge over the course of two days, then after a day of rest, jugging in the dark to the ledge and climbing to the top! Burly! Jugging hurts! They were happy to know we fixed two more lines for them and they were free to keep our ropes!
The porters came for us on time Saturday morning and we punched it down the trail with light loads, took our pirvate bus back to Zarela's and now we'll go out for Thai food with Naresuan.... We went to the Eucalyptus saunas today... hot, steamy, so good.. sweating all the dirt from the climb out and sucking in all the yummy herbs in the air... so nice... ready for Pad Thai! Ciao Ciao.. -rai
Utah - Peru 2002 (3)
Hello gang! This will be a quick catch up letter. Since we came down from the mountains we've been chillin' in Huaraz. It's a great town, albeit a bit dusty and littered with a stack of exhaust fumes to be inhaled by one and all! On our first day back to normal life we chilled and recovered a bit from our adventure/epic. We did make it out to check out the bouldering in another area outside of Huaraz. A five minute taxi ride for .75$ took us to this open area with lots of farm land and stacks of boulders. I actually didn't get to do that much as my shoes are still up at the Sphynx and you know, bouldering is just rough for me with my ankle injury being so fresh in my head... Naresuan, Tommy and another fellah, Andy, took enough hard falls with wobbly landings to shy me away.. But, I got to sit back and enjoy the company of a pit bull puppy named Chopper whose ears had just been cut off my his 15 year old owner... you know, cut back, fighting dog style... poor thing is only about 3 months old and his ears are scabby and bloody... but, he still had no trouble barking at us like an attack dog one minute and then licking the chocolate off our candy wrappers the next.
The bouldering is great here and the spectators are enthralled... from ages 5 to 70, they flock to watch the gringos climb on top of big rocks in their fields while their cows, sheep and pigs provide the background sending noises. We made a plan with Naresuan to go biking up to the Rurec Valley which is a bit out of Huaraz. The plan the night before was to take a collectivo (public bus) out to Olleros, the closest town to the valley and then ride out on flats to the valley and scope the route potential for future trips. The Rurec Valley boasts walls that are sheer, featured and very inspiring for the hiker, climber and cows alike! Well, when we met up with Naresuan in the morning with our souped up GT bikes from Zarela's, he said... let's hit it.. no collectivo, no taxi.. let's go! So, we rode slightly up hill for 15-20km and then reached the dirt road up to Olleros...
After sucking exhaust to that point and being greeted by all Peruvians that knew how to say Hello Gringo... Hellos mister.. yes, even I am a mister here... we reached Olleros 2 and a half hours after leaving Huaraz.. Then we rode higher and higher. Finally we reached the part that is meant to be flat.. and it was. And it was gorgeous and we could see the Rurec valley in the distance and the peak, Shakshaw... and it was all about 6 hours away! And by then, my legs were jello and all of our soft bums were bruised and screaming for a break. The butt thing was definitely the worst. None of our tails were in shape for riding and 6 and a half hours later in Huaraz, we were all squirming in our seats while we waited for our Cristales (beers)! It was great! And yes, photos were taken en masse. Other than all this adventure, we've shopped, we've drank, we've laughed at these mad Austrians who clearly know how to handle their drink.... 15 hours worth without losing a single morsel to the bowl....
And then today we sent Tommy off on the bus to Lima and he'll fly out tonight to Utah. Mandy and I leave in the morning to head back up to the Sphynx. The whole valley and all surrounding peaks are surrounded by gray clouds right now, the worst we've seen so far... but , who knows what can happen over night. We're going regardless cause we only have one week left... I won't make it to any jungles, the Amazon, Machu Pichuu, but I can always come back! With Seamus next time! He would love this place and they would love him! Well, must go grab a new book for the rest of my trip! Hope you're all well and I'll be in touch when we get back on Saturday! Ciao kids! -rai
The bouldering is great here and the spectators are enthralled... from ages 5 to 70, they flock to watch the gringos climb on top of big rocks in their fields while their cows, sheep and pigs provide the background sending noises. We made a plan with Naresuan to go biking up to the Rurec Valley which is a bit out of Huaraz. The plan the night before was to take a collectivo (public bus) out to Olleros, the closest town to the valley and then ride out on flats to the valley and scope the route potential for future trips. The Rurec Valley boasts walls that are sheer, featured and very inspiring for the hiker, climber and cows alike! Well, when we met up with Naresuan in the morning with our souped up GT bikes from Zarela's, he said... let's hit it.. no collectivo, no taxi.. let's go! So, we rode slightly up hill for 15-20km and then reached the dirt road up to Olleros...
After sucking exhaust to that point and being greeted by all Peruvians that knew how to say Hello Gringo... Hellos mister.. yes, even I am a mister here... we reached Olleros 2 and a half hours after leaving Huaraz.. Then we rode higher and higher. Finally we reached the part that is meant to be flat.. and it was. And it was gorgeous and we could see the Rurec valley in the distance and the peak, Shakshaw... and it was all about 6 hours away! And by then, my legs were jello and all of our soft bums were bruised and screaming for a break. The butt thing was definitely the worst. None of our tails were in shape for riding and 6 and a half hours later in Huaraz, we were all squirming in our seats while we waited for our Cristales (beers)! It was great! And yes, photos were taken en masse. Other than all this adventure, we've shopped, we've drank, we've laughed at these mad Austrians who clearly know how to handle their drink.... 15 hours worth without losing a single morsel to the bowl....
And then today we sent Tommy off on the bus to Lima and he'll fly out tonight to Utah. Mandy and I leave in the morning to head back up to the Sphynx. The whole valley and all surrounding peaks are surrounded by gray clouds right now, the worst we've seen so far... but , who knows what can happen over night. We're going regardless cause we only have one week left... I won't make it to any jungles, the Amazon, Machu Pichuu, but I can always come back! With Seamus next time! He would love this place and they would love him! Well, must go grab a new book for the rest of my trip! Hope you're all well and I'll be in touch when we get back on Saturday! Ciao kids! -rai
Utah - Peru 2002 (2)
Denial...
ain´t just a river in Egypt... remember that line? Hopefully it ain´t a permanent state of things either, but for now, we´re doing a little swimming in Shut-Down Rio. For those that hear from Tommy and Mandy, this will be the NON-abbreviated version of the epic... for the rest, it will still be rich with details so save it to your archives and read when you feel up for it... or now if you need refuge from the daily daily yaddah yaddah...
ain´t just a river in Egypt... remember that line? Hopefully it ain´t a permanent state of things either, but for now, we´re doing a little swimming in Shut-Down Rio. For those that hear from Tommy and Mandy, this will be the NON-abbreviated version of the epic... for the rest, it will still be rich with details so save it to your archives and read when you feel up for it... or now if you need refuge from the daily daily yaddah yaddah...
Well, I´ll start way back when (last Sunday) with our pre-trip venture to the mercado to stock up on food and extras that we may need for the trip. From my last trip to Bolivia I learned that it´s easy to overdo the food situation and end up with more weight to lug around than is necessary so I kept my meal selection down to simple meals of pasta, raman, mac&cheese, and some veggies. Breakfast daily is granola with dehydrated milk... mmmm and lunch is energy bars, oranges and GU....mmmm. We had a few other treats like potatoes, onions, cilantro, cocoa...etc...
The mercado is amazing!! The head and hide of every animal possible, displayed from hooks and laid out on blocks for all to see, breathe on and smell... ooh, the smell. Nothing like old blood to kick in that appetite. The mercado is muy colorful!! Lots of gorgeous fruits running around in these little carts pushed by bicycles, shaded with canopies, manned by strong small peruvians that are sure if they speak slowly enough, you´ll understand Quechua... no, man, not gonna happen, but I appreciate the credit for being trilingual! Veggies - so many. All colors from lime to orange... fluorescents, neutrals, you name it... all laid out and ready for the steal... and that´s what it is for us. You can buy 12 potatoes for a dime. It almost feels unfair or like donations are necessary... of course they´re not, but you know. The best are the looks you get when you ask for some foods in the part of the market where the campesinos sell their agriculture. I ask for 6 papas.. and she just looks at me. Or maybe I should get it myself... Do you have a bag... And she just says with the movement of only her lips.... 6 papas. Allrighty then, and 5 cebollas, etc... Then when all is said, she hands me the bags to serve myself... haha! Love these people!
I´ll get into their clothing as soon as I talk about the living part of the market... yes, the part where they sell pets for food. Well, not pets to most, but having sung 'Ben' by The Jackson Five to my beloved Guinnea Pig Ben at the age of 11 or so, I consider the little guys nothing short of pets! Perfect little squeaking companions that enjoy chilling in the backyard, eating grass... dying of dehydration when you accidentally leave them out for too long... oops. Anyway, the Guinnea Pig out here is like the Chicken in most places. They sell them alive on the streets. They just cram dozens of them into bags. The kinder sellers spread them out so they can chill side by side while others just let them hang on top of each other, undoubtedly hoping they´ll meet the knife soon cause it has to be a better fate than this. I saw one that looked painfully like my other Guinnea Pig, Henry. Oh, good ole Henry. Ben and Henry... wow, my creativity with pet names has sure come a long way! The other living sales include chickens, turkeys .... that´s about it. Everything else is dead and gone and on the way to the mesa.
So, the more indigenous population (the women in particular) have a remarkable outfit which seems sorely impractical around here, it being winter in Peru and all.... This is how it looks if you´ve never seen it. I´ll start at the head... Bowler hats. Browns usually with a flower or feather on them... Some have bigger brims than others, but all are worn high on the head and seem pretty stylish but not so effective or necessary... Definitely a detail that isn´t overlooked by any of the Quechua women. From there we move onto a blouse, often white with a very colorful vest or piece of random material thrown over it. Many of them are wearing these tapestry type things on their backs, tied in the front, in which they carry children up to four years of age, herbs, clothing, etc... Those are always very colorful also... Next we have the most unusual aspect of the outfit.. A knee length, very colorful skirt with a massive petty coat underneath, a pair of thick stocking tights and soft dress shoes with no heal, more like moccasyns. Anyway - After some reflection, I decided this idea must come from the fashion of the Euros on the late 1800´s... ya know, the skirts, the hats, the works... They just held on to the notion that it´s the way to go.. I'm probably way wrong on that call, but it´s a fun hypothesis. It seems to me like the longer skirts and warmer tops like those found throughout Bolivia would be better... but they look great and they seem to take a lot of pride in their ensembles, so yeehaw!
Shit - that was just the market part! Just Sunday! No epic yet! Oh, better move on... so much to talk about though, really... so much. Do come this way soon. Stay with our friend Zarela in Huaraz (in her Hostel) and she´ll take such good care of you! She´s been keeping us satiated with the most scrumptious breakfast burritos and mate de coca...(which are the leaves that cocaine is made from and which supposedly help to combat the negative effects of higher altitudes and replenishes evergy supplies.. we will find out soon.
Monday morning, 6am.. alarm goes off. We are all packed and ready with one fairly heavy load each and one much heavier load each for our three porters. The porters come recommended by Zarela as does the driver who will get us safely to the trailhead for La Esfinge, the rock feature we´ll be climbing. The driver also shows up on time and after breakfast we load up and head out. We nod off from time to time on the 4 hour drive... at least the first, paved half of the trip. The last part is a winding rocky road through one of the most scenic and rural areas followed by one of the most impressive, overbearing canyons with massive walls on either side... easier to appreciate from an open pick up, but just as awesome from our mini-bus-van thingy. The porters rap in the front seat in Quechua, the local language ( most folks here are bilingual with Castellano and Quechua, and most have poorly developed Castellano which makes me second guess mine, until I convince myself that I have surely received more grammar lessons than most). We three gringos sit in the back taking in the sights... the clay homes with bright indigo doors and windows, corn drying from a hook by the front door, sleepy contented dogs watching the farmers walk behind two bulls who pull his plow through a newly de-rocked field.
As we gain altitude in the canyon, the river gushes and rushes by faster and faster, bluer and more pure... Glacial run off.. And then we´re surround by peaks. Most of which have a name ending in ´raju´which I found out means snowy peak in Quechua. Finally, we pull off to the side of the road next to some wandering cattle and hop out of the bus to take in our first view of La Esfinge... awe inspiring and captivating! We take some shots and punch it to the end of the road where we are greeted by the most impressive vista of some grand snowy peaks and La Laguna Paron... the most blue lake I´ve seen in ages! We chat with some folks that hang around there at the refugio. They are interested in what we came to do, from where we come and how much weight we are carrying... Meanwhile, we´re just trying to stay psyched for the hike ahead. Once loaded up, the three porters Cojoy, Turruju, and Juan ¨the Quechua¨(that went on an adventure with our friends last summer down here - yes, guys the same Juan!) and the three gringos take off on the windy trail up to the Sphynx.
We arrive at base camp in about 2 and a half hours, quite kicked but instantly rejuvenated by the sight of the chunk of rock we´re about to climb. We´re all psyched, including the porters.. Juan did a little jig for us at the top when we talked about how nice it would be if they had walk mans... they say they charge 80- 100 US $ for them here... if anyone has a walkman they don´t want, I was going to send them some.. I know I have a beater I could unload.. still works, just outdated... Playing tapes would be a necessity... Anyhoo...
We pay the porters, set up our meeting time for the following week and send them on their way. We promptly set up our camp, pitching tents, making a kitchen, filtering water, etc.... The camp for this climbing area is like an oasis in a desert. In the middle of this rocky, desert environment, with hills and undulations everywhere, there is this large expanse of devegetated, sandy, flat and partly sheltered land... I´m sure the Sphynx must have made a deal with someone to have this made so she would have more visitors! So, once we´re set up, we talk shop... what should be our plan for this climb. We´re thinking, day one- climb to the top of the first aid pitch, fix down as much as possible day two - get back up there, climb to the ledge and free and fix the next aid pitches off the ledge day three, just those pitches and climb to the top... If those pitches are super hard, we´ll spend two nights on the ledge (three in two sleeping bags zipped together - cozy, warm and lighter than three bags.. Tommy would be a lucky man.) Of course, we didin´t know what to expect really especially with one pitch of A3 nailing, etc... So, we eat dinner and hit the sack early since it´s dark by 6pm and cold as hell with no sun.
Thus begins our epic. Mandy and Rai sleep like total shit flying through the air! I was up all night long, peeing every hour (which is a good thing) but with the additional burden of a gnarly headache. I take some excederine in the night which helps me sleep from 4am to 6am... Finally, I bail from my small shelter and swing by Mandy and Tommy. Not doing so well... Mandy has the funk. She´s already had diarrhea and threw up too! I have the gnarls in my stomach but no activity yet. Tommy has the head aches... we have a rough day, Mandy can´t eat a bite... She lays in the tent most of the day dreaming of gingerale, I lay hunched over on rocks, trying to stay positive, trying to ignore the sledgehammer that´s beating in my skull and Tommy just drags about, wishing we all felt better. At about 7pm that night, my head is finally feeling better but oh, the stomach, then as suddenly as a hawk dives into the bush, I dive into a bush with some previous meals bidding me farewell... Poor Tommy got to witness that one! I flet instantly better. We all hit the hay again, hoping for more sleep, but at this point, Tommy is sure that we´ll be going down in the morning cause Mandy is really hating it!
The next day, we feel better with some residual signs of the pain but we´re willing to use this day to recover and make a decision later. That afternoon we´re thinking, well we don´t feel great and we´re all weak as hell but we better do something proactive or we´ll be hosed, so we motivate, and load up the hall bags with all the gear we´ll need for the route. We humped the gear to base (an hour hike with a load on) and stash it at the base for our day one attempt the following day. We have a plan, we have the gear worked out, we´re ready and we feel okay after our day of laying around, drinking mate de coca.... All´s well, all are sleeping, at 5am I wake to go out and pee and all is well.... And at 6am, there is a pitter patter on my tent... I lay there and fall back asleep until the constant pounding of this moisture wakes me and I take a peek... Are you kidding me? Snow! So much snow, falling sideways, a total white out with no view of the spectacular peaks that watched over us for the days prior, no view of La Esfinge... Nothing to do but go back to sleep and deal with the new pounding in my head. Finally at about 10 am, a very restless Mandy comes to my tent and while drawing pictures in the snow, she explains her frustrations, I toss in mine and Tommy gives his two cents... Basically - Mandy is ancy and can´t sit in the tent any longer without doing anything, wants to go down and come back later... Tommy is sorry to miss out on another go up the Sphynx but did summit last year, so he can deal and I'd hate to spend my whole Peruvian trip in the hills (if we return) but I definitely want to get to the top, so if it means going down and coming back up, so be it... So, we make a decision.. a very tough one... To GO DOWN!!!
We head back to the base of the climb with an empty hall bag and fill it with all the aid stuff that we won´t be needing in the future with our new plan, we take all of Tommy´s stuff out, including a rope and then we re-stash the gear... in what we hope to be a safe spot... buried by rocks. The new plan - Mandy and Rai come back next week and do the Original route. We left everything up there including one tent, sleeping bags, climbing gear, water, stove, food (in a barrell) and some clothing. Our next hump up to base camp will be us alone with virtually nothing on our backs - sweet!
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