Then came the snow...

Autumn was pretty short lived and was soon replaced by winter. The temperatures plummeted and the we received over 30cm of snow! The landscape was transformed into a beautiful, white winter wonderland.  This did make it a little more awkward to climb. However, we were not to be beaten... We armed ourselves with a broom and a shiny new toilet brush. The toilet brush turned out to be the ideal tool for removing snow from the top of boulders. We set off in the morning and found some suitable sun-soaked boulders from which to remove the snow. This took a while, but certainly sped up the drying process.  Just hours later some problems were ready for climbing. I made a quick ascent of a classic prow problem - Andrea Si e Perso 7B (click for video). And Claire had a great session working Ultimi Raggi 6C+.

Rainy rest day....

We've just spent a rainy rest day wandering around in the beautiful and moody mountains. The rain, the mist and the waterfalls were in full flow. The autumnal trees were spectacular and provided a stunning technicolor coat for the mountain sides. Photos (especially in the rain and mist) just can't do justice to the beauty...

Hard won 6's!

Recently done some excellent 6th grade climbs in the Mello. Both of which are some of the best problems I've done on the trip. Some great moves and pretty challenging at the grade! This is Il Vento (stand) 6C - powerful moves on small holds with tiny feet (a high boulder too!).

The other was Il Francese 6C+ - powerful climbing on pretty small holds with great moves.

I Tre Strapiombi Dei Veronesi

A quick video of a boulder problem with a huge press move... I Tre Stapiombi Dei Veronesi (sit) 7A+

Beautiful Autumn

Autumn has arrived and is simply breath taking!

Update: Mello falling video

Here's the video of my fall off Il Francese di Sinistra.  It's not that high, but missing the pads certainly jolted my spine a little.  Still a little stiff, but nearly back to normal.

For those wondering... Claire is having a lovely time too and slowly getting back into climbing (due to dodgy shoulder). Posts coming from the lovely lady soon!

Beautiful Day...

We’ve just had a beautiful day climbing in the boulder-strewn meadows of Val di Mello.  The air was cool, sun warm and the views breath taking.  We climbed some stunning lines in a stunning situation.

Val di Mello

Simon and Iain, two good friends of ours, are currently on a three week road trip.  We decided to go and meet them for some climbing at Val Di Mello in Italy.  The 65 mile journey took over 3 hours; mainly due to hundreds of hairpin bends and many Italian villages.  Juan did admirably and chugged his way over the 2100m pass. 

It was great to meet up with Simon and Iain and we enjoyed catching up over some climbing and beers. 

Val di Mello is a stunning valley flanked by dramatic craggy peaks.  The climbing is great fun and generally comprises interesting moves. 

I had a slightly bad fall, but was lucky to just come off with a stiff neck.  I was trying to mantle out the top of a problem and deployed all friction possible – including dragging my jeans as close to the rock as possible.  I was confident that I had nearly rocked it out, when unexpectedly my hand slipped!  Unfortunately, my foot stayed on and I pivoted backwards.  Simon, who was spotting, was taken by surprise also and found himself confronted by a ‘Jase’ flying towards him.  I clattered into Simon and landed on my arse on the floor, completely missing the foam pads!  I suffered mild whiplash and got straight back on the problem.  After a few more (better) falls I topped the problem out.  {Video to follow…}

Magic Wood

We left a rainy Fontainebleau and embarked on a long drive to Magic Wood in Switzerland.  The drive was fuelled by coffee and, of course, Croissants!  We arrived in Magic wood to a considerably colder climate and an empty campsite.  Had we come at a bad time...?  Perhaps it would rain more, but at least we had the place to ourselves.

We parked up and went for a wander to explore.  The wood was truly quite magical – a densely forested sloped, festooned with boulders and copious amounts of moss!  Fortunately, the moss didn’t cover all the boulders and there looked to be many great problems.  Although the boulders were closely spaced, the forest was a massive maze with difficult to navigate terrain.  The forest was littered with boulders, paths, moss and, of course, trees.

I (Jason) climbed a good 7A+ called Red Roses – a good problem on a slightly overhanging face.  Video here.

At last....  A post from the intrepid 'Warm rockers'!  Sorry its taken a while to post, we've both been enjoying doing nothing and recovering from a lack of pre-trip sleep!

We are now in Fontainebleau, just south of Paris.  This has been our regular stop at the start of road trips.  Its a great, peaceful place in the forest where we can relax, and (of course) climb rocks!  We have both taken it pretty steady so far, and are easing ourselves into 6 months of climbing - yey!

Juan (the van) has now become super Juan!  He is much shinier and much more furry on the inside!  He now has a new (reconditioned) engine, as the last one gave up after the last trip.  In addition he is much shinier on the outside after a new paint job.  We have added lots of insulation on the inside and added loads of thermal curtains.  We also have a new 50W solar panel, which we use to power all of our pimping additions.  The van now has new colour change lights and an HD LED projector with a 40" screen.  We know its completely over the top, but its certainly fantastic to kick back and watch films in the evening.  {we'll post pictures up soon}

We plan to stay for a few more days, then move on to Magic Wood in Switzerland.