Road Trip - Val Di Mello

Well, back in the UK and surprise, surprise it's pissing it down. Must say that I'm less than psyched about the prospect of going back to work. I have an interview on Thursday for a job I'm not sure I want and loads to do on top. I've been thinking of a career change recently. I've done 5 years at SEPA now and maybe it's time to move on to something new... 

Anyway, on to the sending... I got in 3 1/2 sessions during the holiday. Not bad considering it was a slice land trip.. Each session was at a different venue, Val Di Mello, Sustenpass and Fontainebleau. Before the bouldering started we spent some time traveling over stopping in London and Bern on our way to Interlaken in Switzerland. Here, we camped under the Jungfrau range and got stuck into some other the cool sports they have on offer there. White Water Rafting was brilliant but canyoning was amazing!

The first climbing happened in Italy. The Val Di Mello is probably the prettiest venue I have ever climbed in. 

The only problem is that it was hot! Even at 1500m it was pushing 30 degrees. I was psyched though. No big numbers unfortunately. One 6a, two 6a+, one 6b. All fantastic problems. I then spent some time trying a highball 6b+ which without someone to move the mat along, I gave up on quickly. Moving on I found I nice 6c arete. I spent about an hour and a half on it but the top slopers were minging. By this time the daily 5pm thunderstorm was coming so we packed up and retreated back for dinner. These thunderstorms meant that evening sends were not really a possibility so I had to be out in the heat of the day. Check out the photos... Amazing...

The following day was the hottest day of the trip so far. Added to this was the fact that I was very low on skin. The rock is extremely rough and, similar to gritstone, it is only possible to have one hard day before skin is thin. I tried to climb but the heat was too much and after climbing another classic 6a+ I gave up and sat under a tree to read my book. I thought that would e it for sending in Italy. However, today was to be different. There was no thunderstorm so in the evening I went to a boulder near the campsite and climbed a 6a+, 6b, 6b+. A nice evening in the end. We left the next morning.