The forecast predicted thunderstorms in the afternoon so we couldn't go for too committing a mission. We still wanted to climb a multi pitch. Our choice fell to the Sella towers which would give us the option of bailing after each one should the weather turn on us. Almost a week into our vacation the familiar drive up the Sella pass started to feel like the daily commute to work. Exhausting manual labor, occasionally dangerous and no pay whatsoever. Why do we climb again? ;-)
The approach is just 20 minutes and Luigi had already climbed the first tower a few years ago. We still managed to miss the proper start of the route and climbed an extra 50 meter pitch to get to the first anchor which we could have reached by just staying on the ridge. The reason nobody climbs our variation is quite obvious - it's a shooting gallery of loose rock. Luigi led the pitch and a rock dislodged by our ropes hit me right on the back of the helmet. I chose a smarter belay position after that wakeup call, somewhat to the side of the gully he was climbing.
We bumped into a couple from Scotland on the second pitch of the route proper. It was their first day of climbing in the Dolomites and they were agonizingly slow. He was leading all the pitches and she got stuck in a chimney, trying for minutes to wiggle her way out and up. I took the first opportunity to race past them and link two pitches to the summit.
We topped out with no thunderstorm in sight, so we rappelled down and scrambled over to the second tower. An easy but fun dihedral got us to the top of that. The descent is an unprotected scramble back to the same trail we've used to get off the Spigolo Abram. Bad weather finally caught up with us safe and sound in our hotel room. Booming thunder was enough to shake our windows. But we had enjoyed another great day out ;-)
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