Granite before Heaven

After the glorious day in Cresciano I luckily had some very pleasant climbing days here and there, so let's start in chronological order...

CUBO.

I had one session on my neverending nightmare Coretex, a very hard 7C slab at Cubo, my usual halfday boulder spot. Conditions were perfect, 6° sunny and windy, and my skin was good too. After warming up I set the camera and did good on my first try of the day. Second one was even better. Third try I grabbed the last nasty tiny pinch left hand, jumped and hit the last flat jug only with my tips, holding the swing for a split second then landed on the pad. I knew next one it would have gone. With confidence I hit each hold perfectly, took the micro-pinch and squeezed as hard as I could. After having done the superdelicate footswitch I was ready for the final jump and 100% sure I would grab the top and end the nightmare when... my left hand ripped the pinch and once again the pad welcomed my ass! I was pissed off! Now I have to find another beta and I don't know if I really want to make the effort. Damn'it!

CRESCIANO.

Then it was swiss time again. Unfortunately good conditions were fading and a quite hot sunny day saw our arrival. Anyway I managed to have a quite good day, as I dispatched in a couple of goes Yuri Gagarin, a crimpy soft 7B+ that ends with a nice dyno to a good sloper. Then I made the maybe first (?) repetition of Gianluca Bosetti's traverse Ieri e domani, a problem that starts with the nice crux move of U-Turn 7B then goes right using slopy crimps and a heelhook and ends with an easy 6A+ mantle. All for a 7B+ traverse. Finally I did the superclassics Vol au vent 7A and Frocio multiplo 6C+, wonderful and hard for the grade slab climbing! Absolutely recommended.

How to loot Cresciano

After lots of rain, snow and every kind of weather abuse this anticlimbing god could have sent on northwestern Italy, finally for the middle weekend of february the forecast looked good on almost every spot.

Formerly I planned to go to Fontainebleau for a week, in order to get Big dragon 8A+ done and some 7C classics of course. Unfortunately weather was rather uncertain, as usual in the forest, so I decided to keep on training, getting more solidity and having one or two days trips in Ticino or Varazze, waiting for march to head for the Mecca.

I called Nick and we decided for Cresciano on saturday 14.2 and Varazze the next day.

We arrived in Cresciano welcomed by cold, soft wind and sun. We met in the parking a few other friends and spirits were high! While our friends headed for La boule sector to try their projects, Nick and I warmed up on a couple of easy problems near La grotte des soupirs. End of warmup was a short 7A traverse named Pixel. It was clear that conditions were prime and we hoped for a crushing day.

We moved to Xp, a soft one move 7C bloc that starts from a big undercling with marginal footholds and goes up to a good hold. After the physical move an easy topout ends the problem. Nick sent it fast and I followed some minutes later... I just had to avoid the dab with my right foot. Now we were sure a good day was on.

Right after Nicky sent effortless the standing start of Jungle book, rated 7C. Then the original problem called Crossing the jungle, which adds a short traverse to the stand. Soft 8A. And finally after some tries figuring out the second and third move, he proceeded to crush the sit start, given hard 8A. Well done! Good day turned to great.

I would have liked to try at least the standing start, but my index finger was hurting on the starting hold, so I called me out.

Another boulder I wanted to check was Fantoman 7C, in the Dreamtime area. We searched for it with no chance for half an hour, then pissed off moved to Dreamtime.

Conditions were still perfect. I felt a bit weak and decided not to try the stand, as I feared a way too negative feedback from the problem. Obviously I know I can't do it in a session, but I want to feel at my best when I'll seriously try it.

Nicky made a couple of attempts to figure out the first dyno, then moved to the upper part. He had some problems with the left hand crimp and the two following right hand slaps, but we both realized he could do it. Then he had a very good go, falling at the last slap! Now he just had to remain focused and rest some minutes. It was possible. He had some more goes but fell earlier... The conditions worsened a bit and with the arrival of other people somehow the magic was disappearing. I thought he had one more go, then the others trying it and the sun setting would have compromised the grip.

He jumped and hit the first hold well, moved on and catched the left hand crimp very well. Then the last two slaps. A moderate swing leaded him to the last holds and finally he topped out! Yes! Dreamtime stand 8A/+ in more or less one hour sesh. Not that bad for a 15 years old boy...

Psyched as ever and with the sun setting, we decided to have a last look for Fantoman and we immediately found it this time. Looking back it is clear that the hand of the almighty guided us away from this problem so that Dreamtime could be ascended at the right time...

Nick wisely called it a day (saving some energy for Varazze) while I went on with my flash attempt. It wasn't too bad, falling at the second hard move, but probably I was a bit cold... I tried the single moves then fell on the topout on my third go, due to very approximate cleaning of the last two holds. Amateur. Fortunately my fourth try was the good one, so I was quickly standing on another soft but awesome swiss 7C.

Day was finally over and I might say it will be one of those I will remember for a while...

Will

After my finger injury I made the decision to carry on with the hard training, hoping to get in a good shape for the middle of february.

Main target was obviously open hand strenght. I wanted to prevent my index finger from crimping and increase the power on slopers and pinches. Unexpectedly I felt great even without crimping, even if this has always been my forte! So after a week of training I was psyched and willing to test my strenght, crushing Messa delle streghe in Varazze, a problem that doesn't require right hand crimping and has become an epic, due to compulsive misunderstanding of the beta and constant bad conditions of the lower part.

Saturday 31.1 I left Biella alone, with a strong feeling of confidence and psyche, even though weather forecasts were a bit uncertain. I was sure that would be the day.

The arrival in Varazze was not promising anyway, heavy rain was pouring down! Instead of getting upset I strangely kept my confidence and when I got to the boulders rain stopped. Good sign.

Unfortunately everything was wet and the lower part of Messa was soaked, much more than the previous times I attempted it. I was still sure I could do it. I calmly proceeded to dry the key right pinch, a bit humid. No way to do so with the footholds, as the wet crack above refreshed them with clear and pure water in a continuous matter.

After a very approximate warmup deadhanging on the two edges of the problem, I set the camera and began. Feelings weren't as good as I expected, mainly because I was still cold.

After half an hour I had a good go, falling at the last move before the dyno to the final jug. I took 10 minutes to hike around, smelling the scents of the wet woods and listening to the birds tweeting. Sun came out. I was alone. Now I knew it was the time.

I returned to the problem, made my way on the lower part using the soaked footholds and executed the remaining moves, grabbing the final big hold with a liberating scream. Epic was over.

Feeling strong and happy, I figured out the moves of the nearby 7B called Ganimede and with my own beta I satched it up on my fourth try.

I was satisfied. With this great feeling and the certainty that my will power is something I can truly rely on, I packed and left.