Motivation for Cubo after some years!

Hi there!

After climbing “Global Warming” in Donnas, for all January I kept on my training program based on fingerboard. From February, I shift my sessions in a period of pan gullich, since my dad set new kind of woody holds last week. We did two new kind of crimps, one of 1cm incut and another one of 1.5 cm, always incut since the other two crimps which I still had, are lightly slopery. The third kind is a series of slopers with 15’ slant and they seem really good to use. Beyond the training, I also took some sessions of rock climbing in Aosta Valley since after the last line opened in Donnas, the motivation for these spots became a bit higher. On Thusday the 22th I came back to Donnas with my brother in the first morning where he kindly snapped some photos on Global warming and these are the results:

Global warming FA Donnas foto: Rudy Ceria

Global warming FA Donnas foto: Rudy Ceria

Global warming FA Donnas foto: Rudy Ceria

Global warming FA Donnas foto: Rudy Ceria

Global warming FA Donnas foto: Rudy Ceria

The following rock session took place in Cresciano where I wanted to come back to try my life-long project, “the story of two worlds”. I was there in the late morning and the temperature was really crazy. I think about 13 degrees with the sun on this amazing dagger. In fact I decided to take the work day in a slow way, keeping some energy until the sun would be gone down behind the mountains. The session anyway went a bit better then the previous ones. In all the day I was able to do the first entrance boulder four times, which could be an 8A/A+, before entering into “the dagger”. My best try was when I fall at the third move of the dagger, in fact after that I thought that it was better if I would have tried some sequences of the higher problem. The second part of it was ok, I climbed it twice really easly and also the first one was quite good. My problem was to find a new beta to do the second part of the dagger, because although it is not so hard, from the bottom it could be a problem whereas you arrive there after ten hard moves. At the end of the day I almost climbed it with a new beta, but I was so tired to do it, anyway I understood that it could be easier than my previous method I used to climb the dagger last year. The next session I will have to work it more to get confidence with this kind of sequence, before trying it from the sit. I think that this long project will remain a personal project for long time. The same days, Nils favre was really close to do “the dagger”. In fact he climbed it some days later, congratulations!

The weekend later, I went twice to Cubo. An area in the low Aosta valley where I climbed some problems years ago. I was there on friday the 1^st with Marco, Rudy and Teo, one of my old schoolmate who is becoming interested also in outdoor bouldering. It was a great day, because we brushed up some old lines which were completely forseken by the people that climbed in Cubo. Nonetheless, they could be some of the nicest in this area. The first one we tried was “brad spitt” a low 7B opened By Alberto Gnerro five years ago and after a climbing contest, a farmer started to cultivate some tomato plants just at the base of this boulder. After that contest, I always used to check if the plants and the coltivation sticks would have been removed, but the farmer seemed to be sure to let his vegetable garden under it forever. This time, after some years, me and Marco checked it again and a part of the sticks for tomatoes weren’t anymore, so the climbing of “brad spitt” seemed possible. I took a brush and I started to remove the filth which was accomulate there in these years of coltivation. After some tries we climbed it, being happy for this old little line, possible again. Now, with chalk on it, there is the risk that the farmer could close again the boulder, since the soil is of his property and I don’t know if the climbing will be possible there. For climbers, that line is for sure better than seeing the plants just in front of this cool wall. In the afternoon, my plans were to brush up another old line, called “Viva il cavaliere”. It deals of a crazy granit arete, opened many years ago and later a hold broke, making it abandoned. This time I really wanted to put the chalk on, to check if it is still possible to climb. After a fast brushing and some chalk, it could shine again after much time. I took a little session to understand how the moves on this arete were and I managed to do the singles after half an hour. I rested and I crushed it. When I was at the top I was really glad for this one, it is really beautiful to climb and it reamains a bit hidden from the other boulders, in fact also the place is different.

In the evening we moved towards “Los Angeles takers”, a traverse 25 moves long of 8A. The rock there is really bad, but the movement aren’t so shitty. It was one of the few boulders left out by my ticklist in this area, so I decided to do it. I tried it years ago at the beginning of the summer but at the end of the traverse my hands were really damp in fact I quitted. I belive that it was june 2009. this time the temperature was ok and I climbed it on the first go from the start, after having tried a bit some middle moves. When I do the mantle I felt it as one of the worst line I have ever climbed.

The day after I rested and I came back there on sunday were I climbed another historical line of this area called “materiale resistente”, 7C. In the afternoon I brushed with a rope the impressive arete of “megaloman” 8A, maybe one of the best line in all the valley. It is a high arete with compression moves at the beginning and then super cool pinch holds that you have to squeeze to stay on. I tried it a bit two years ago with Gabri, but I wasn’t able to do it. It is really rare seeing it with some chalk on this marvelous arete and this time I was really syked. On the first go I did the stand version, then after half an hour I climbed the whole line. From the sit, my only problem was the absence of chalk when I had to use a pinch in the middle. In fact, to do the last attempt, I waited a bit, in order to have my skin colder.

megaloman 8A Cubo. foto: Camilla Ceretti

megaloman 8A Cubo. foto: Camilla Ceretti

megaloman 8A Cubo. foto: Camilla Ceretti

The day was over and I really ejoyed passing these two days in Cubo, because I climbed four lines really worthy and they gave me a lot of satisfaction. Now I would like to come back to finish my last intersting line, called “doctor alaban” a traverse of 7C with some holes which I have never tried. After that I would also like to try another slopery project on right of “brad spitt”, hoping that the farmer leaves the soil free from tomatoes.