NICCOLO' CERIA climbing adventures: settembre 2014

August is now behind us and the first days of September are always exciting because of the first moments of Autumn. My favorite seasons are still quite distant, but the sultriness of the planes is making more and more space to a clear sky and fresh days. The desire to come back bouldering is actually lofty, but the wrist is not totally ready yet for every move or every hold and I think I should give to it more time to recover.

In fact, for the second week in a row, I postpone the beginning of a training program; the feelings are not so bad, but at the same time I am not feeling sure and positive at 100%. I opted to take another week of rest, to go climbing other three or four days, to make something soft at the fingerboard and to see how the issue will roll. This plan sounds to be the best for me since I should avoid the rush and leave the mind to take more and more confidence to get in shape again. Moreover, this week I should have the outcomes of the second RMI so I will understand better how the injury has reacted to the first days of climbing. I have got nine days of bouldering since I restarted climbing (12th of August) and the wrist didn't give me big troubles except the last Friday when I perceived a bit of painful. So, I think that the problem is not acquitted, but it is going better than this spring or summer.

As I said, the last three weeks have been devoted to get confidence in climbing gesture. I mainly went to Champorcher, an area where I climbed many problems and I knew them pretty well. I repeated some moderates lines I put up during these years and the feelings with the rock is growing up time after time. I started to work a connection which links two problems: "Under the carpet" and "Q*bert". The middle section is awful, since it passes through some bad jugs, but the traverse itself results funny for the good moves it offers. Despite I knew that I wasn't under the best line, the challenge for the mind and the body was quite stimulant and I was curious to see how the process would have developed. I felt I should have fought to win it and I felt that I could climb hard since the holds weren't painful. After three sessions, two of which got to the end fast cause of skin troubles, I was able to send it. The first "hard" test after the resting period had been approved.

The day after I went with a couple of friends to Noasca (Valle dell'Orco), to see a place that I wanted to check since few months. I knew that Bernd Zangerl put up different problems in this valley and many of them looked to be good. As I imaged, the lines I watched on the video are really impressive and even if the rock is not my favorite, the shapes are really stunning. Especially two of them, "self aperto" and "El Salvador", take delight of a remarkable beauty. Unfortunately, the combo between my worst skin ever and the sharp rock let me climb just half an hour; after this, every hold I grabbed became moist and every effort seemed to be vain. I took profit by the drawback to make a check in a stony chaos up to the road, where I supposed to discover some virgin lines. Fortunately, I found some of the things I hoped to see and a bunch of boulders seems to be worthy and good. The most impressive one deals of a big diamond which quickly got into the list of the lines I want to brush.

The week later I decided to come back with my dad, hoping in a better skin. I tried the sit start version of "Temenoi" 8A/+, which is characterized by a hard heel hook intro and a cool tensioning climbing at the end. Surprisingly I got the first move quickly and I found myself in the upper section before the top. There, I felt my hands soaked again, I grabbed every holds wrongly and I missed the ascent. I was frustrated by the skin issue which was continuing to give me problems, but on the other side I thought about the normality of it, due to many days without rock. Thanks to some toe hooks and a comfortable position I found, I was able to take chalk in the middle and accordingly I had dry hands in the top sequence. This thing has been crucial to complete the line and to get another dose of happiness at the top.

In the afternoon I went up to the chaos to brush the big diamond I checked the previous time. I was quite stoked by the thing that came out. The line looked to be amazing and gorgeous as I hoped. The main line I wanted to brush is still waiting, since it is quite hard to reach the hold, even with a rope. While the other two ones are now chalked and I hope to come back soon to make a good landing and to attempt them seriously.

Always thinking about some projects, last week I was finally able to brush another line I saw last May in Champorcher, which I never started to clean since I thought that was necessary to cut two branches of a big tree. I was a bit disappointed by this fact, since I really care about the trees and I think they have the priority on the climbers. Fortunately, while I was dropping down with the rope, I discovered that the tree wasn't a problem and there was enough space to climb the roof avoiding to remove the branches. I started to be actually fascinated by the big line which was taking shape while I was brushing. Four hours were sufficient just to get ready the upper part, while I had to wait the day after to clean up the bottom sequence, which looked to be tricky, hard and physical. Ricky came up that day as well. Together we arranged the lower roof, the starting stone and we began to try it. We weren't close to understand the beta, but if the first holds didn't break I am positive about the possibilities to climb the imposing rig.