Gardasee climbing

Published on 2021-10-28 by Michael Stanton

Friends: Barbara
Location: Riva del Garda
Elevation gain: 300m = 300m

Barbara and I drove down Thursday evening. We had two terrible traffic jams, uff! But we enjoyed talking so it was okay.

Friday morning we went to Corno di Bo to climb some easy slabs. I had forgotten that my gym rope was shortened to 42 meters, uff! So I had to downclimb the routes that we did. I resolved to buy a new rope -- I needed a new alpine 50 meter dry treated 9.5mm rope. Anyway, the slab was great fun and it was beautiful. We climbed an unnamed 4b route, then Scivolo, 4c, first pitch.

Climbing at Corno di Bo:

We went to down and tried to buy a rope, but everyone said we had to go to Arco, and additionally, those shops would be closed until 3:30 in the afternoon. So we headed to Regina del Lago, where Jong and I had climbed the week before.

We climbed:

Zio Genio - pitch 1, 5c. Really nice...we did this twice.
Una per Tutti - pitch 1 5a, pitch 2 5c, pitch 3 5c. This is a great little climb.

I thought Barbara did very well at this crag. The routes were harder than she was used to. I saw that this is a great way to improve her climbing and mine too.

Selfies at Regina del Lago:

Later we bought a rope and ate pizza in Arco, but the pizza was only so-so. We watched a Columbo episode after dinner -- fun!

The next day, I took us to climb a multipitch route. However, Barbara wasn't feeling great about it. The first pitch was easy, but she found it odd, especially a short traverse. On the second pitch, she fell off the route, and another person had to pull her back on! She arrived at the belay upset with the whole thing. We had two pitches to go, but we decided to abseil, which had it's complexities. Back at the start of the second pitch we argued a bit. Her idea at that moment was that I should be able to anticipate all such eventualities, and instead choose easier routes. I countered that well, I already chose the very easiest routes, and have little choice, and also, I'll never be a perfect judge of her capabilities. She admitted that it wouldn't be any fun to have to worry constantly about your partner.

We decided to take steps to improve, right then and there. I said that I'm flattered to be her protector in whom she can rely. However, she has to have a bit of the junkyard dog about her as well, when it comes to personal safety. Falling off a route and hanging in space is really a no-go, and she needs to take that on board. And it's no use to say that it "should be about fun." Of course it's all about fun. But fun occurs inside the property guarded by a fierce dog which ensures safety. The dog must be active not only in me, but in her as well. We resolved to strengthen the dog in her, and also commit to improving climbing skill.

I set up an intermediate belay so she could top rope the moves. She still had to aid at a fixed sling, but gradually got better at sticking to the route. We were so successful here, that I said we may as well try to finish the route. However, the moves on pitch 3 were, in my judgment, simply too much. I reversed the route after a polished V+ (UIAA) traverse. Then we went down. We continued working on our plan and realized this situation ran not only through our climbing style, but our whole relationship. Frankly, I was amazed at our power of concentration, introspection and resolve-to-love.

But all that was quite hard, so we went to the Nago climbing area for some top-roping.

I led up "Giochi d'Ombra" (5c 22m), and Barbara did a great job top-roping it. We both climbed it one more time. Then "Take it Easy" (5c 22m), which is just as interesting. By the end of this one, Barbara was tired! We finished with "Cibele" (5a 15m), which felt quite awkward at the top. Barbara called it good halfway.

Another so-so pizza, but a great Columbo. We felt so much love and good sport today even though it was challenging.

For the last day, we headed back to Corno di Bo, this time climbing "Norex," 3 pitches of 5a, 5a, and 4c. We met a nice couple, and teamed up with them to climb one more pitch of "Tony il Telefonista" to top out below the telephone tower. We shared our ropes for long rappels and came down nicely.

Our friend Matej at Corno di Bo: