Hiking in the Zingaro nature reserve

Climbing trip to Sicily

 

The climbing

• Friday 22 March, morning. Sector Central bunker
• Vai a Sinistra 5a
• Via Kuchenclub 5b
• Il Ritorno 5c
• Arrivederci Ingrid 6a (both lead with one fall)
• Il Nonno 5c
• Friday 22 March, afternoon. Sector South amphitheatre
• Burning fat 5a (felt harder than 5a)
• El Bahira 5b (A only)
• Just for fun 4c (A only)
• Saturday 23 March, morning. Sector North Campo Base
• Maria 5a
• Eliza 5c (this was our project back on the first visit 12 years ago)
• Chiara O 5c
• No Drill No Party 5b
• Mannara 6a
• Scorpione In Letargo 6a (G top-rope first 1/2, then down, A top-rope first 1/2, then lead, G lead the whole way, “accidentally” since the planned setup to allow him to top-rope the first 1/2 didn’t work)
• Calze Nere 6a+, both top-rope the first 3/4 to the head wall (from the stand of Scorpione), which looked easy and uninteresting
• Saturday 23 March, afternoon. Sector Central For Snails
• For snails 5a
• Autonella 5c
• Stay straight 5c
• Fay is the boss 6a (top rope, very nice climbing)
• Sunday 24 March. Sector North Orange Wall
• Gracie Josef 5c (A kicked loose a big rock on this one and that changed the character of the day for her)
• Gracie Maria 5c (A to 2nd to last bolt)
• Pray al Vento 5c (G only)
• Sunday 24 March. Sector North Campo Base
• Cimitero della Lumache 6a (A in top rope)
• Mezzo Crucchi 6a+ (A in top rope)
• Dolores 6b (G in top rope, A attempts)
• Monday 25 March. Sector Center Bunker
• Colazione Piu 5b
• Pilastrino 5c
• Strapiombino 5c
• New Years Greetings 6a
• Classic Delux 6a+ (A top-rope with some pulling through the very physical crux)
• Silvester 6a (A top-rope, but it was easy for her)
• Tuesday 26 March, morning: we tried, but it was super windy, so we went home
• Tuesday 26 March, afternoon: Sector Far South Cocodrillo
• King for a day 5b
• Tuesday 26 March, afternoon: Sector Far South Isulidda tower (we changed sectors because it seemed like the entire German speaking world wanted to climb the four routes we were interested in in Cocodrillo)
• Tower pillar 6a
• Luigi 6a
• Skywalk 6b
• Anton aus Tirol 6a+ (G only)
• Wednesday 27 March, morning, Sector Central, Il Paese Piccolo. We ended up leaving early because it was raining
• Via Giuliano 5b
• Tibi 5c
• Don Pedro 6a
• Wednesday 27 March, afternoon, Sector Central, Il Paese Piccolo
• A Passatempto 6a
• Espresso 6a (A 3/4 lead, then top rope over the bulge, but the final beta for this was doable in lead)
• Sono In Fuga 6a (A couldn’t get over the bulge, which was super physical)
• Eselparty 6a+ (G only, again super physical over the bulge)
• Thursday 28 March. Sector South Scomparto Rifiuti
  • Happy Birthday 5b
  • Tre Fratelli 5c
  • Diedro Giallo 6a (A toprope because she wasn’t sure about the physical last bit, but she found a good solution to it and it would have been no problem)
  • Chris 6a (A did 85% of it and then took a bad fall. Finished the route later in toprope)
• Saturday 30 March. Sector Central, Bunker. Today was super windy, so the climbing was a bit challenging at times and the rope handling required care.
  • La Femmina 5b
  • Fur Christian 5c (A toprope to get her head back in it)
  • Lavoro di Domenica 6a
  • Per Giorgio il mio Amico 6a
  • Happy Otzis 6a
  • Due Giganti sulla Roccia 6a+ (G only, pretty good fall in the crux on the first try)
• Sunday 31 March. Sector North, Campo Base. A's head wasn't in it for the last half
  • Nini 5c
  • Chiara O 5c
  • Via Della Zanzare 6a+ (A halfway, G the second half but with a PA, A toprope, G toprope)
  • Molloblocco 6b (G in toprope with a couple of rests, this felt like the absolute limit of what was doable. A did some good tries, but couldn’t get through the very thin crux)
  • Mezzi Cruchi 6a+ (G, this was a repeat from last Sunday)
  • Calze Neri 6a+ (G, last week he just top roped the first 80% or so)
• Monday 1 April. Sector Central, Fakiros Wall. By the end, it was hot and both of us were feeling a bit tired in the head (but A wants to be clear that she felt better today than yesterday)
  • Flic 5b
  • Nives Rosa Tiss 5b
  • Ildefonso 5c
  • Swiss Friends 6a+ (toprope, G did it two times)
  • Il Mano di Fadri 6a
  • La Formica 5b (A only)

Other stuff:

• Hiking in the Zingaro nature reserve on Friday the 29th and then a trail run/hike up to the Monte Monaco to watch the sun-set

Kleinluetzel trail run

Gerstelgrat

Wasserflue East ridge

 It's been eight years since we last did the East ridge of the Wasserflue; today it was time to go back. :-)

We took the bus to Fischbach (more direct than getting off at Benkerjoch Passhoehe) and the follow the trail very briefly before turning right at the first sign of a stream (G was actually suggesting it may not be the right place to turn, but then the guy behind us went up that way, so that made it clear) and following a very slight use trail up towards the ridge. The use trail gets more obvious the further we go and eventually blue markings show up. Once on the ridge there's no way to do anything wrong. ;-)

Up up we go until we get to the scrambling bits. This is apparently now a Klettersteig, so there's a cable the whole way, much of it pretty new. That's suboptimal today, but could be useful in bad conditions (today it's a bit muddy, but not too bad) or with people with less experience. Some fun scrambling and then we are, all to quickly, up top. Break to have a snack and enjoy the views, and then we follow the ridge towards the Geissflue. 

The ridge is a fun walk and would be a very nice flowy one to run (keep this in mind for later). Onwards we go, past Saalhoehe, onward and onward until we get to the Geissflue. The bench is free, so we have lunch and enjoy the views out to the North. It's a short bit down to the Schafmatt (we had our lunch outside here back in December) and then onwards further to wrap things up in Gelterkinden.

Really nice to be outside and moving. And the scrambling bits could have been a lot longer. :-)

Map and stats to come