It's on! Alex is visiting from the Dublin office and we have a stable high pressure system - good reasons to start the outdoor climbing season! Alex, Adrien, Vinay and I head for the Rivella climbing area at lake Lucerne. An easy approach (you park right next to the crag) and low altitude make this our first choice. Also, someone promised us the wall would be South facing. Having been to the area a few times this felt wrong to me. And indeed, we'd be climbing in the shade all day. In the morning this led to numb fingers and shivering belays, but it got better during the day.
At some point a car stopped and two people got out, heading straight for us. They didn't look much like climbers being a little heavyset and old-ish. It turned out they were interested in us climbing there because the guy had bolted a few of the routes more than 30 years ago. He's now two years away from retirement and no longer climbing actively. One of the routes, Via Bella, is named for and after his wife. We had a nice conversation about crags in Switzerland and traded injury war stories. It's the first time climbing outside for me since my accident and Bella had just recently broken both her wrists and her elbow. Anyway, nice chance encounter!
I was quite happy about my climbing. I managed clean leads on most routes and only cheated by top roping and resting on the 6a+ and 6b. It's still a bit frustrating seeing the tick marks in my guide book next to routes I cleanly redpointed (and often even on-sighted) and now struggling on easier stuff. I'd sometimes reach for holds I knew I could hold onto only to then discover I can't anymore. Somehow my brain is a bit sluggish accepting this new reality. Ah well. More training I guess.
I climbed:
- Pfeiler 5c
- Flower-Power 5c+
- Little Edge 5c+
- Just do it 6a+
- Eidächsli 4c
- Schmalspur 5c
- Späckstei 5c+
- Parallele Lärmzone 5b
- Lärmzone 6b
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