NICCOLO' CERIA climbing adventures: Gandalf il grigio

The temperatures are growing up and the last moments of the winter are leaving room to the first days of spring. Fortunatly I could still take a good saturday of friction in Varazze as I hoped. After the last session on “Gandalf il grigio” on saturday the 2^nd I thought that there was not possibilities to come back to finish the problem, since the first heat was arriving. Luckily, the weather for last saturday looked dry and cold to attempt a climbing day there. Two days before, climate was sunny and I knew that my task would have been dry enough. I went there with my brother and after the path to reach druidi’s sector, some big clouds started to cover the sky menacingly and they promised a strong rain,but this fact didn’t happen and after one hour the sky started to be clearer. I had a slow warm up, I did some stretching and some campus on “cassiopea”, a cool 6C on the main buolder. Meanwhile, Rudy started to warm up more convinced, since He wanted to try his long project called “messa delle streghe”. He took a good session and he finally understood how to do the 6^th move. The pricinpal hold is a pinch-hole, which is possible to pinch in three points, and he decided to take it in the lower part, by grabbing it like a large pinch with thumb and three fingers. He previously tried to take another little pinch just below this one, really smaller, and he was almost convinced that it could work, but I had doubts about this crazy beta, in fact my mind was right. He did all the moves except the last one going to the jug. For sure it could be a long project to work, but it would be fine seeing him climbing this one. In fact he is motivated to come back.

After that, we moved under Gandalf, my aim. I tried the second part to get a good temperature for my fingers. I changed a bit the beta for this part and I retourned to use a toe hook to do a principal move. I had my minds really clear this time and I was really positive. I tried from the start and I climbed the first section as well as I have never done before and during the climbing I was almost certain to do it. When I had to do the last hard two moves I was focused and I took the intermediate hold really well, but I failed on the last crimp. I rested and I covered my fingers since they started to be frozen. I was a bit disappointed because I knew it would have been the attempt with more chances of succes. I tried to keep relax, convincing me that I would have had another try as good as the first one, but truely I thought that it wouldn’t have been the same. After some minutes my hands were ready, so I took them out from the pockets and I started to refresh my skin. I decided to go and I was aware that it could have been my last opportunity. I did the second move really worse then the previous attempt but I tried to go on. I missed the right foothold at the 4^th move, but this fact didn’t change my concentration a lot. When I took the intermidiate hold again I felt better than before and I did it. The sequence of movements in this boulder is really good, but the line itself didn’t give me a lot of satisfaction.

Concerning grade I think it could be a right 8B+. In my opinion the first part is the harder section of the line, in fact I think it could be a hard 8A+ into an 8A.

Rudy took me some shots on it.

After gandalf we moved again on the pricinpal boulder where Rudy started to work “le chiavi del regno” and, together with Christian, we finished this cool day in Varazze.

Just before leaving we went to check another sector on the river where there are some interesting lines but I was too tired to try them seriously.