But Why? – An interview with Mkhitar Mkhitaryan, founder and promotor of “Up the Rocks”, the group responsible for the press release publicizing the ban.

While climbing at my local crag, a basalt quarry in Germany, I met an enthusiastic woman responsible for establishing a slew of the lines I had enjoyed pawing up. After a few minutes of this crimp to this sloper to the crux talk, she quickly diverted the conversation into a climbers’ travel destination to-do list; Armenia, “Beautiful, overhung basalt columns resembling a church organ’s pipes”.

With the power of facebook, we legitimized our friendship and she recommended I also become friends with Mkhitar Mkhitaryan. At the time, my conservative facebook photo stalking led me to believe Mkhitar was just another one of us enthusiastic climbers with pride for his nation’s aesthetic rock. It turns out Mkhitar is the founder and promotor of “Up the Rocks”, a local Armenian climbing club. His pictures of Armenia’s basalt columns were like nothing I had ever seen before and I had every intention of visiting this spring or fall. SCREEEECCCCHHHH…

May 5, 2013. A press release from Up the Rocks, the local Armenian climbing club, infiltrates the internet and climbing community – “Rock climbing on the Basalt Columns of Armenia is BANNED”.

My heart dropped for a second, and as other climbers can empathize, my desire to climb them was exacerbated. I immediately reached out to Mhkitar to try to get a better understanding of the ban. We had a casual Q&A and I invite you to take part by posting a comment below.

Interview with Mkhitar Mkhitaryan, Founder and Promoter of “Up the Rocks”

May 7, 2013

How did these unique geological formations, resembling a church organ of sorts, form? I’m not the expert on this but they say that crystals of the magma have a hexagonal shape and when it starts to freeze it cracks like it’s crystals are and forms these hexagonal columns.

What species of animals are endangered by climbing access? It’s basically few different families of poisonous vipers. On the basalt columns are nesting swallows and eagles on the basalt formations above the columns.

What survey or scientific research supports the claim that climbers endangered the animals? I recall there being a mention of birds using the columns for nesting, do they do so seasonally? If so, why was the ban not limited to the opposing seasons of nesting like other world-class climbing areas? As the climbing was new and not popular, [not] any research for that have been made. We didn’t want to apply for the research or the permit to climb on them until we [after we] first found the style of climbing with minimal impact on the rocks. Even if the birds’ topic is seasonal, the climbing can’t be allowed seasonally because its not only due to the birds.

Who/What groups were responsible for the ban? And how does Armenia plan on enforcing such a ban? The climbing has always been illegal on the columns, rather it is forbidden now. The officials, and the, civil eco-movements who signed under the statement, kind of were closing their eyes, trusting us [Up the Rocks] to develop a harmless climbing style on basalt columns, to introuduce them [to the community] and [ require] a permit. If the foreign climbers can’t respect our nature as we do, and care for the basalt columns as we do, then its obvious for us that it shoud be banned, rock climbing is not the most importand thing. We ask climbing magazines/websites not to publish photos or articles of climbing on the Basalt Columns of Armenia. We also ask climbing gear producers not to sponsor climbers to come to Armenia to climb on the Basalt Columns.

Understandably, the Basalt climbing ban will create a negative impact on tourism dollars for Armenia. What other climbing sectors can you recommend in Armenia that would attract a traveler, half the globe away? The basalt columns climbing so far hasn’t seen any touristic income cause it was not popular, and trying to keep it open we didn’t think about it at all, just to give some dedicated climbers opportunity to enjoy climbing on them without putting a harming impact on them! And thats why we never thought about touristic benefits, the high climbing traffic would definitely affect the rocks and wildlife. Armenia is a rocky country, so everywhere else you can find other types of basalt and limestone formations. So far the best developed places are Noravanq and Hell’s canyons.

Am I upset that I can’t climb these aesthetic columns? Of course. Can I do anything about it? No. Armenia has every right to unilaterally ban climbing on its lands. The columns are on land that is indeed a protected monument. This is a very painful lesson in how one climber’s lack of adherence to local climbing ethics can negatively impact an entire climbing community. Don’t be a jerk and try to get away with climbing here and remember to always follow local climbing ethics when climbing in a foreign environment. Don’t be that guy/girl. Just don’t.

A special thanks to Mkhitar Mkhitaryan for his time and patience. Hope to see you on the sharp end, Mkhitar!

Check us out in Gripped magazine’s December/January 2013 issue. A photo of our head thrillseeker (cough, me) is featured climbing the Diga di Luzzone. Read more about the climb here.

A special thanks to an awesome photographer, climbing partner and friend, Mark McCartan.

Siurana, España – Climbing in the land of the hard and strong

Haha, we wish. While we might not be so much as close to red pointing those uber famous routes we see videos of climbers of the likes of Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra making those ever so popular noises on while sending some 5.hard lines; we can look, touch and attempt on the perfect limestone conglomerate cliffs nestled in Catalunya, España.

I had the opportunity to spend a few days crushing in Siurana with three of my favorite French pals – Seb, Diane and Fredéric, you guys rock (pun intended). Siurana is home to the famous La Rambla (9a) and to loosely put it, I am already planning my trip back. The area, situated about 145km outside of Barcelona, is breathtaking and the people are kind and generous. The cliffs are steep and the routes are committing. What is there not to love?!

Recommended Climbs:

Crag can Toni gros
Park in the big lot at km 7.4. Walk toward obvious crag and follow path for 3 min before turning right at green spray paint on a boulder. Easy downclimbing and then heading west and a small scramble delivers you to the base of this sunbathing, wind protected beauty.

• Estrany parany (6b) – nice roof section
• Poll remulant (6b) – slope finish
• Pandemia (6a) – nice flake, jugs to a mantle finish
• No tinc loc (6b) – balancey, great siurana warmup
• Jugant amb foc (7a) – don’t overthink the roof. Tap, tap, tap and balance on the left foot to clear the roof
• L’esquitx (7a)
• Ataviana (6c+) – balancey into a sharp two finger pocket and one more sharp pocket before secure crimping to the top

Esperó primavera
Park at km 4.7 and follow sign for “fontscalades” path. Turn right when you reach base of cliffs (El Cargol sector) and head right. To get your blood pumping, head left instead to check out the “El Pati” sector, Siurana’s largest concentration of holy hard routes and the area’s very first 9a, “La Rambla”.

• Tant se’n fot (6b) – awesome position offering some tasty exposure. Start up the chimney an traverse out right. Boogie on up enjoying feeling oh so vulnerable.
• se ma’apaga la buldufa (7a) – Short by siurana standards. Start with arête slapping happiness, gain the roof and kiss those jugs hasta. Crux right where it should be – the top
• Ramena Nena (7a) – take a rest before you obviously need it. Beautiful crux!

Getting There

Fly into Barcelona (145km) or Reus (37km)

Important Numbers

Emergency 112
Police 088
Medical emergency 061

Accommodations 

• Campingsiurana.com
  Camp 10 eur pp and 6eur pp extra. Shower, bathrooms and access to computers with internet. Wifi didnt work so well when we were there but maybe that was a good thing. Any questions about where to climb, talk to Toni Arbonés. Toni runs Camping Siurana and is the omnipotent climbing god of Siurana.
  T 977 821 383
  43362 siurana
  Tarragona – Spain
  Aarbones@ati.es
• Sleep in a camper van – while this is VERY frowned upon/illegal in the majority of Europe, it is “ok” here. Just be respectful.Visit Carvisa.com to rent camper van.
• Cornudella is the nearest large town with villa rentals, markets and even a climbing shop offering resoles and gear.

Guidebooks

• Siurana by David Brascó and Natália Campílo. The info center sells this local guidebook,for €25 as does the Refugi Siurana, which also happens to serve some pretty phenomenal pizza.
• Tarragona Climbs, by Pete O’Donovan and Dani Andrada covers a plethora of areas in the Catalunya region including Margalef and is available at Camping Siurana for €30 or can be purchased ahead of time on Amazon.

Gear Review: Smooth Fallin’ with the Edelrid Loopo Harness

Many of you have seen this harness, it’s an eyebrow raiser.  Some of you have wondered if it works, others probably looked at it sideways deciding it looked neat and was probably expensive.  I first saw this harness at my local German climbing gym (Rocklands) which has a professional relationship with Edelrid, the Loopo’s manufacturer.  Simply looking at the harness you can tell it is a complete alteration in harness design.  Intrigued, on returning home, I stalked the harness on google.

Edelrid Loopo Harness. Visit Edelrid’s website.

The harness, as it turns out, is reasonably priced (~$60).  More surprising, at least to me, the harness was being marketed as an introductory and all around harness, not simply a sport harness which is what I had assumed.  The harness comes in at a weight defying 265g, making it the lightest, fully functional padded harness commercially available. It has two sewn integrated gear loops and two plastic molded gear loops. The plastic gear loops are removable and attach by being threaded onto a bead which runs about the harness. You could technically buy and add more. I had my doubts about the attachment of removable/additional loops as I had only seen the harness with these additional loops removed.

Fast forward a few weeks and I found myself rope shopping. As I searched about for the best twin ropes my money could buy (also Edelrid), I rounded out the purchase with a last minute ‘add to cart’ splurge – the Loopo.

I have sported a Black Diamond Momentum (actually two – they tend to destroy themselves in large falls), an alpine bod (both the basic and the plush), a Petzl Adjama, and am currently using the pricey Arc’Teryx R320a, a graduation gift to myself and my first dabble into the less padded, ergonomic, ultra light harness.  Then of course there are hundreds of other harnesses I have borrowed along the way at climbing gyms or during packing mishaps, so let’s cut to the chase, how is that Loopo holding up.

The Loopo rides low on the hips, sitting below the hip bone which was a major selling point for me.  The leg loops pull into and are connected on the front directly with the waist band.  The harness is not load bearing until the rope, or a belay carabiner is secured through its two closure loops.  loops. It is not a high tech molded material which is super packable (like the Arc’Teryx line and higher performance Black Diamond harnesses), though hopefully future versions will be.  The harness’ construction feels very similar to the Petzl Adjama – solid and durable but a bit bulky.

For just standing around, the harness does excellent things for the ladies: lifting, supporting and accentuating the buttocks (It could bring the perennial climbing butt shot back in style). As a guy, you will find your jolly rodger somewhat accentuated, though if wearing baggy clothes the harness will bunch your clothes together making the fit definitely uncomfortable while standing.

On the wall, the harness feels great.  It moves with you and you forget it is there – So, exactly what you want from a harness.  The front gear loops are big and work well.  The two primary loops being integrated into the harness makes them lower profile then standard gear loops.  Once I got used to this I started to really like them. The back loops are standard – they hold gear and have worked so far, yet I still hold my doubts about the durability. Though this statement deserves caveat, I had doubts about the molded plastic gear loops on my Arc’Teryx which I retain to this day and I have owned the harness for three years.

Gear Loop

Hanging and falling in the harness are its bread and butter.  The harness does an excellent job distributing weight into the legs and hips and takes pressure off the back better than any harness I have had.  The Loopo is the closest thing I have encountered to sitting in a Bosun’s Chair.  So far falling, the harness has done its job.  The leg loops being integrated to the waist loop negate the need for a leg loop holder, minimizing harness shifting and the likelihood of an awkward fall.  This feature also eliminates a piece of the harness I have found the most prone to failing in falls. I worked a few projects in the harness so have now taken a variety of falls even a few sizeable ones (I realize the objective of climbing being not to fall), but I survived without even bruising my hips.

Hanging out in the Loopo

Belaying, the harness performs about average.  Threading a locker through the closure loops is awkward at first and prevents your belay device from moving as much it does on standard harness.  This inconvenience is traded off though by the fact the harness makes it much harder for the belay carabiner to shift and cross load.

Edelrid Loopo Tie In Points

Multi-pitch, which if you follow this blog you know is really my true love, I am not quite sure how well the harness is suited for.  I do not think the harness would have any problems carrying enough gear but am worried about its performance for tying in at anchors and doing hanging belays.  personal anchor system would likely have to be left at home because it would clutter up the tie in points and more worrisome, rub webbing on webbing. Tying in to the anchor would likely need to be accomplished using your rope (clove or otherwise) which would put a lot of extra wear on the ends of your rope and take away valuable rope length on rope stretchers. The other big inconvenience would be belaying.  The tie in loops are small and threading a locker through their while still tied in I see being somewhat of a headache.  Also the loss in belay mobility would be a pain unless belaying directly off the anchor (which I consider poor form in many situations). The harness definitely could work for multi-pitch but it is not ideal.

Bottom Line – Probably the best sport and single pitch harness available.  >>Buy the Edelrid Loopo Harness now.

Pros

• Excellent weight distribution to hips and legs
• Low profile on waist
• Well constructed
• Excellent front gear loops
• Price

Cons

• Structure relies on harness closure (making the cinch strap between the closure loops rated to load would solve this problem)
• Poorly designed for use on multi-pitch
• Bulkier than it needs to be, I would like to see a molded version
• Poor fit in looser clothes

Diga di Luzzone – The world’s largest artificial climbing wall 

And now for some totally off kilter shenanigans. Rumors got to the Thrillseeker addicts that Switzerland housed the world’s largest artificial climbing wall, Diga di Luzzone – umm yeah, a functioning dam! This rumor did not fall on deaf ears. So, in a quest to climb everything awesome and weird, this definitely satisfying both categories, we tacked this on to our Matterhorn (yeah, we climbed that too) road trip as a slight detour/rest day activity while en route to the Dolomites in Italy.

The Diga di Luzzone, near central Switzerland, houses this 165m (540′), 5-pitch plastic pulling, vertical playground. Access to the Dam is controlled via a pay for play system that costs 20 CHF per climber, which anyone who has visited $witzerland knows that you can’t even eat a sandwich for that cheap. The 20 CHF gives you access to a ladder used to gain the first 20′ or so of the featureless dam to the holds of the first pitch.

From there on, its you versus plastic accessorized dam for the weirdest 540 feet of your life. The pitches are long enough for you to feel the weight of the rope as you clip the higher bolts and when you look down, the exposure is mind blowing. The top out is where you gain your 15 minutes of fame as tons of tourists are cheering you on, nothing is more exciting to them then seeing two crazy people (ahem, you and your partner) climb the dam beneath them and exit over the railing. It’s weird and f@#!ing rad all in one ‘crank the rainbow’ style ascent.

Diga di Luzzone (5.10b, 5 pitches)

• P1 (5.7) – Here’s a crux you don’t see outdoors, climb the wobbly ladder. The pitch wanders left and that crux becomes a more entertaining experience as you get to watch your second figure out how to secure the ladder and continue the climb (get juggin’).
• P2 (5.8) – the wall starts to curve back, jugs deliver you to P3.
• P3 (5.10a) – Slowly trend left and at the pitch’s mid height, traverse left on a 10′ sequence of fun moves before cruising up again. You are now legitimately on overhung terrain.
• P4 (5.10a) –  Straight up and fight the pump. Shake out at your “clipping hold” and take a peak down to enjoy the exposure, it’s mind blowing.
• P5 (5.10 b) – Power to the lip and don’t succumb to the crowd pleasing spitter just shy of the top. Hop over the dam railing to top out on quite possibly the strangest plastic pulling adventure of your life. Graciously accept the applauds from curious onlookers.

Quick Reference Guide

Location: Ristorante Luzzone near Blenio, Switzerland

Access: Cost is 20 CHF per climber. Payment and rule waiver must be signed at Ristorante Luzzone (at top of Dam) and a 100 CHF deposit will be held until you return the key that houses the ladder.

Bring: 60m rope and 14 quickdraws

An Interview – Exploring the work involved in establishing climbing routes

Sure we all love to climb and naturally have a general appreciation for the party that established the line we have such fond memories of sending. But have you ever wondered how those climbing routes got there? We took a second to chit chat with “Magic Ed”, one of the men responsible for a significant number of routes in the limestone sport climbing paradise of El Potrero Chico, Mexico.

Our Convo with “Magic Ed”…

Are routes in El Potrero Chico established from the ground up?

While most of the single pitch routes were put in top down by traversing over from the anchors on a previously established route, the majority of the muti-pitch routes (with a couple of exceptions) were put in ground up. A couple of guys are strong enough to free climb, hold onto a 5.11 crimp and drill and place a bolt but most of us are aid climbing, using hooks and the occasional piece of gear and an occasional free move.

A collection of Magic Ed’s gear used for establishing a new route

What is involved in putting up a route at the Potrero with respect to vegetation clearing, trundling, etc? There is a lot of vegetation on limestone and presumably this must be cleared while putting in a route. How does one do this?

On the way up I’ll use pruning shears to clip the sharp ends off the cactus so I can get through.  Once the pitch is bolted, I hang a static rope on it and spend a lot of time cleaning.  I use a crow bar, a pruning saw, a variety of gardening tools and brushes.  On the bottom pitches of Yankee Clipper the roots from the cactus were so thick I used a blow torch and burned them out.  Of course, it’s also important to close the area being cleaned, including having people below with radios keeping onlookers away.

A collection of removed cactus at base of new route

How is funding raised for future bolting in the Potrero? Where can donations be directed to?

I raise $ for bolting new routes through the sale of my guidebook and with the airport shuttle. Climbers will also often donate bolts and hangers or extra $. I’m going to be adding a paypal button to my website for donations.

For more information on donating some of that hard earned beer money to bolting at El Potrero Chico, please swing on over to Magic Ed’s website.

Interested in reading more about climbing in El Potrero Chico? Check out our detailed trip reports outlining selected ‘classics’ as well as our How-To-Travel-Guide with everything you need to know to get your butt on over to El Potrero Chico.

Climbing the Matterhorn via Liongrat (aka Lion Ridge, the Italian Ridge and Southwest Ridge)

If you are reading this it’s probably safe to say that at some stage of your life, you’ve had some burning desire to bag the Matterhorn. Yeah, me too. As my mom aptly put it – “Who would ever have thought that my little girl someday would be climbing the real Matterhorn, you always did love Disneyland and especially Minnie Mouse.” So it’s no big surprise to anyone, including mumsie, that I would climb the Matterhorn given the opportunity. That opportunity presented itself while entertaining a friend visiting from the United States and a fortuitous weather window.

Mom’s private collection: The birth of ambitious dreams (Yup, that’d be me)

Breuil-Cervinia Funivie Parking Lot

There are multiple ways to ascend the Matterhorn in the summer, with the two most popular being the Hornli Ridge (AD- with III+) from the wallet raping Zermatt, Switzerland and the Lion Ridge (AD with III+) from the more affordable Cervinia, Italy. The Hornli Ridge had a reputation for being slightly less demanding and significantly more crowded than the Lion Ridge and so after doing a Pro vs Con mental table we set off to ascend the Matterhornvia Lion Ridge (also referred to as Liongrat, Southwest Ridge or Italian Ridge). Seeing that this was somewhat of a smash and grab for us, we spent the night in Cervinia, Italy (around 2000m, 6500′ elevation) to help acclimatize. The next morning we set off to climb the Matterhorn arriving at the cable car station at a leisurely 0915, after a casual coffee and a gluttonous feast on peanut butter and nutella sandwiches in the parking lot.

The cable car delivered us to Plan Maison (2548m, 8359′) where the fun started. The hiking and climbing was pretty straight forward and by 14:45 we were following the aroma of human feces and urine to the Carrel Hut (3835m, 12582′) where climbers were lounging on the patio observing the arriving climbers and basking in the unseasonably awesome weather. At this point of the Matterhorn adventure, the hut was more interesting than anything else we had encountered so far. Curious to scope out my first European mountain hut, I peaked my head inside for a self guided tour.

traverse before the Col du Lion

Looking down on Col du Lion after a slabby section of climbing

The Carrel Hut

The Carrel Hut is composed of three rooms, not counting the “toilet” room, more on that later. The first room is a kitchen area with a few tables and benches and some hot plates with gas. To the left of the kitchen is a room solely for guides and to the right is the bunk room. The bunk room is literally rows of bunk beds with an attic of additional mattresses. Once you overcome the stench of moldy farts you flashback to a visual of a bad public service announcement – the bunk room is busting at its seams with hungry climbers staring up at you with empty glares, asserting ownership of the bed they have parked their bum on. Thankful I packed my sleeping bag and pad and even more thankful for clear skies and reasonably warm temps, we opted to sleep on the patio with the best views in the house. This became somewhat of a tourist attraction for guided parties and we will proudly be featured in photo albums for their loved ones to flip through for years to come.

Basking at the Carrel Hut

And now for more on that shitter. On the patio, you will find the WC which houses the most fecally decorated hole in the ground you’ve ever appreciated. This technologically advanced ‘toilet’ is nothing more than a hole that enables you to privately relieve yourself of excrement along the side of a mountain without feeling like a complete degenerate – assuming smearing your crap alongside a mountain and leaving it there is only ok if no one sees you do it. Make a mental note – do not melt that snow for water.

After a few hours of sleep we set off for the summit at 2:45 with slightly lighter packs, leaving our sleeping accouterments behind at the hut. With headlamps illuminating our way, we tried to beat the line of guided parties. Within the first five minutes of leaving the hut, we snapped into alert mode sans coffee when we encountered big chains hanging from a 2m overhang indicating the route. We pawed up the ice cold chains and took note – the climbing from here on up was to be a bit more demanding.

Mauvais Pas

We encountered some route finding difficulties below the Grande Corde that set us back 30 min, just in time to queue us up with those guided parties we tried so hard to avoid. This is when the climbing became interesting. A circus act featuring tons of guided parties haphazardly ascending the Matterhorn.

The Jordan “Stairs” (ladder on top right after fixed ropes), just after passing the Enjambee

By the time we reached the summit around 8:00 am, all three of us were doomed to grumpiness. We snapped a few obligatory shots and then started our descent down the Matterhorn via Liongrat.

Yup, I’m on top (the Italian Summit)

The time consuming descent back to the Carrel Hut involved a series of rappels and roped down climbing. We took a little break at the Carrel Hut around 15:00 to repack our packs and rub our feet after the 12+ hours of climbing we had already done. We reached the Abruzzi Hut at 19:00 and since the cable car at Plan Maison closed at 16:15, we were left with an additional 500m to descend by foot rather than a quick and easy cable car ride to the parking lot.

Was it everything we dreamed of? No, not quite. The crowds of aggressive and exhausted parties, fixed ropes, a surplus of littered crap stained toilet paper and loads of frozen piss ensuring you slip on route definitely took a lot away from the alpine climbing experience. Though I do fear this is not unique amongst famous, large mountains. While the Matterhorn’s character is affected by the fixed ropes and crowds, it is still an impressive  mountain demanding stamina and comfort with exposed climbing and it couldn’t have been that horrible if I am already making plans to ascend it again (via the North Face).

Since photos tell a better story than words (well, my ramblings at least), here’s the whole shabam:

The Climb – Day One

Plan Maison -> Carrel Hut (5 hours)

• Cervinia Cable Car (2000m) -> Plan Maison (2548m)
  HOURS OF OPERATION: 0715-1630 ∙ 8EUR/PP (10,50EUR roundtrip) ∙ Funivie, 11021 Breuil-Cervinia AO, Italy
• Plan Maison -> Abruzzi hut (2802m)
  Head up and left from the cable car towards the Matterhorn, following yellow trail markers
• Abruzzi hut -> Carrel’s Cross (2902m)
  Hike over loose rock and a narrow trail
• Carrel’s Cross -> Carrel Hut (3835m)
  Continue over loose rock to base of Chimney (grade II), climb chimney. Climb easy slabs and ledges below the Monte Leone. From below the Monte Leone traverse right to reach Colle del Leone at base of Lion Ridge (a lot of people tie in here). Climb first part to Carrel hut – first 100m on solid rock (II-III) to base of a steep wall (6b). Climb the steep wall (there is a fixed line).
• SLEEP: CARREL HUT / 15€ (put in box on the wall if a guide doesn’t collect it) / Managed by: Societa Guide del Cervinio +39 0166948149

The Climb – Day Two

Carrel Hut -> Summit (5 hours), Summit -> Carrel Hut (7 hours), Carrel Hut -> Abruzzi Hut (4 hours)

• Carrel Hut -> Great Tower
  Behind hut, follow fixed lines to facilitate route finding. Gaining the ridge becomes a little more challenging and confusing, choosing the path of least resistance up works well
• Great Tower -> Tyndall Summit (4240 m)
  Traverse some easy rock section on right (south) side below Hahnenkamm (ridge with several towers) and go up ridge (route finding difficult in dark) to tyndall seil (fixed 30m rope hanging in a corner). Climb (grade IV) fixed rope to reach crest of Lion ridge. Follow the crest to Tyndall peak summit (4240m). There are fixed bolts to clip in the rope while climbing.
• Tyndall Peak -> Italian Summit -> Swiss Summit (4478m)
  Follow horizontal ridge ~200m to the “Enjambee” (some downclimbing) then climb a looser rockwall (somewhat icy and involving technical climbing). After icy part, rock becomes more solid and follow fixed ropes leading to Jordan “Stairs”. Take rope ladder up slightly overhung section of wall. Continue to Italian Summit with Swiss summit just a quick trek along the summit ridge.
• Italian Summit -> Descent via Liongrat

Quick Reference Guide

Location: Breuil-Cervinia, Italy

Weather: http://www.zermatt.ch/de/page.cfm/service/Wetter/wetter_prognose

Guidebook: Valais Alps West by Linsey Griffin

To Hire a Guide or not: There are many routes ascending the Matterhorn, with Liongrat and Horli Ridge being the “easiest”. All ways up require a high level of competency with technical climbing at high elevations on extremely exposed and loose terrain. If you are not an experienced climber, I recommend contacting a local guide to increase your chances of success on the Matterhorn.

More info:
Società Guide del Cervino,
Via Circonvallazione 2,
11021 Breuil-Cervinia (AO),
Tel. (+39) 016-694-8169
Email : info@guidedelcervino.com
www.guidedelcervino.com

When to Climb: Summer, usually from July to September. Always check with the local guide office (above) for updated weather conditions on the mountain.

Equipment:

• Group Equipment: rope, set of nuts, set of larger hexes (BD 7-11) and some alpine draws
• Mountaineering boots
• Crampons
• Mountaineering ice axe
• Harness with PAS, 2 locking carabiners, and atc
• Helmet
• Headlamp w/fresh batteries
• Warm, windproof top and bottom
• Waterproof top and bottom layers
• Beanie
• Fleece gloves and medium gloves
• Sunglasses
• 2L water (can melt snow at Carrel Hut)
• Snacks and Food
• CASH

Grismel, Switzerland – Exploring the classics, Motörhead and Fair Hands Line.

Love at first sight or just plain lust? I’m not sure yet. But who gives a crap? With a clear weather report for the weekend, we pulled the trigger and packed the car for another weekend in Grimsel (read about our love at first sight here). For day one, we set our lustful eyes on the Eldorado Dome, a 450m (~1500′) granite playground overlooking a glacier running into the Grimselsea. A beautiful two hour hike drops you at the base of the dome where you immediately realize the potential for an awesome, albeit committing, day on the rocks – cracks and slabs galore, with routes starting at the 6a (5.10b) pay grade.

For our devirginizing with Eldorado Dome, we picked an uber classic, Motörhead (6a+, 5.10b, 14 pitches).  The climb can pretty much be summed up as the longest left facing corner of your life. While there are bolts on the climb, you absolutely need a rack to adequately protect each pitch and I recommend you be solid at the grade to keep you from pissing your pants. The glacier polished granite and low angle corners makes for some very strenuous laybacking. Thank me later for the foresight, but make sure you are nice to your climbing partner because your back will be cramping and boy are you going to be begging for a massage after this gem. The walk off was straightforward and well marked – if you’re ankle deep in mud and staring at a cairn, you’re heading the right way.

Motörhead (6a+, 5.10b, 14 pitches)
Approach: Park at Grimsel Hospiz and follow trail crossing dam and through tunnel. Hike an additional hour or so along a relatively flat trail to the base of Eldorado Dome. Motörhead is painted at the base.

Motorhead Route Start

• P1 (4, 5.easy) – climb up the cracks leading to the right side of the obvious roof under the right side of which is the first belay
• P2 (5c, 5.10a) – short left facing corner (LFC)
• P3 (6a, 5.10b) – another short pitch of tricky smearing heading first right then left
• P4 (4b, 5.6) – a beautiful right facing corner at hands
• P5 (5a, 5.8) – another right facing corner with a small finger crack fading in and out in the back, at its end transfer left to another crack then up and one more crack transfer to the belay
• P6 (5c, 5.10a) – up and gain the left facing corner which will commence the tenuous linebacking
• P7 (6a, 5.10b) – more of the corner
• P8 (6a+, 5.10c) – pull out of the corner and face climb up
• P9 (4b, 5.6) – run up over easy terrain following the cracks and the path of least resistance
• P10 (5c, 5.10a) – more easy terrain to a nice ledge heading towards the obvious arching, you guessed it, left facing corner
• P11 (5c, 5.10a) – off the ledge traverse on some quartz before gaining a flake leading you to a smeary traverse and the belay beneath the hard arching left facing corner.
• P12 (6a, 5.10b) – LFC, after pulling out of the roof at its top follow the bowl left until you reach a crack allowing you to pull up the wall and gain a crack leading you up to a belay. This pitch is guaranteed to make you smile with some of the coolest climbing and positioning you could ever dream of.
• P13 (5c, 5.10a) – smear up the face and some seams
• P14 (4a, 5.5) – easy slab to the top!

Beta Photos

For day two we opted for the route that we got weathered out of climbing last weekend, Fair Hands Line (6a, 5.10a/b, 10 pitches). This line is THE CLASSIC route up the buttress to the right of the Handegg Slabs. The weather fully participated and our lower backs enjoyed a break from getting down and dirty with the lower angle left facing corners of yesterday. Fair Hands Line has a fun variety of pitches mixing it up with slabs and cracks. The first crux pitch, P2, was well protected and absolutely gorgeous and the second crux pitch, P9, was slabby though not sustained. Like with Motörhead, a rack is mandatory. In addition to a dozen extendable draws, I was very happy with singles of Aliens (blue-grey), C4s (0.5-3), and nuts (medium to large). The descent was the most unique descent of my life – a 600m staircase alongside the world’s steepest funicular, the Gelmerbahn. I would re climb this again just to see the look on my climbing partner’s face when he hops out of the forest to see this staircase down the mountain. Any takers?

Fair Hands Line (6a, 5.10a/b, 10 pitches)
Approach: straightforward – park in the lot behind the Handeck Hotel, follow the trail, cross the crazy bridge and continue on a climbers trail up and left to the base of your climb. Fair Hands Line is directly to the left of Mummery, painted on base.

• P1 (5b, 5.9) – follow cracks just right of the buttress working up and left to gain the buttress face and the belay, short pitch
• P2 (6a-, 5.10a/b) – face climbing up the buttress on elegant rock in great position
• P3 (5c+, 5.10a) – trend left, climb up the right facing corner, pass left beneath a roof and up a crack to a belay
• P4 (5b, 5.9) – head up a streaked face with cracks
• P5 (5a+, 5.8) – trend left on really cool streaked rock heading towards a small roof
• P6 (5a+, 5.8) – traverse right from the roof and then head up the featured face
• P7 (4b, 5.6) – easy slab climbing turning a small overlap and heading towards another roof
• P8 (5a+, 5.8) – head right from under the roof up a beautiful hand crack and then some easy face climbing to a nice belay
• P9 (6a, 5.10b) – traverse right and layback the flake before the slabby crux, seams bring you back left to another nice ledge
• P10 (5a, 5.8) – beautiful seams up the steeper slab before it rounds off leaving you on top with a smile

Beta Photos

Quick Reference Guide

Location: Grimsel Valley, Switzerland

Weather:

Today	05/11/2013	05/12/2013	05/13/2013	05/14/2013
Rain 57°/41°	Chance of Rain 59°/39°	Chance of Rain 54°/37°	Partly Cloudy 59°/36°	Chance of Rain 63°/43°

Best Time to Climb: The climbing in Grimsel Valley lies at a slightly higher elevation and thus is subject to the extreme weather conditions of the Swiss Alps. Its climbability depends on the snow fall and subsequent snow melt for that given year, so you can expect the climbing season to begin around June and end around October.

Guidebook: 

• Rock Climbing Europe, by Stewart M. Green – covers the favorites of this area.
• Schweiz Plaisir West, by Andreas Mürner

Grimsel Valley, Switzerland – Climbing Siebenschläfer might make Crest Jewel feel like a jug haul.

Climbers around the world flock to the Alps, but most leave Grimsel a well known secret kept by Europeans. After spending a weekend testing out my recovered ankle in Frankenjura, my climbing partner and I decided that all systems were a go to test it out on some multipitch goodies. He recommended Grimsel Valley to me, to which I replied “Sure” and then secretly conducted a thorough internet investigation.

My research complete, I had a slightly better grasp of what I was getting myself into.  Grimsel is synonymous with long granite slab climbing paradise, so we picked an area classic Siebenschläfer  (5.11a, 15 pitches) to get a feel for the rock in the area. I assumed, very wrongly, that this climb would be similar to Crest Jewel in Yosemite, a famous 10 pitch 5.10a slab that Eric and I climbed last summer. Woo wee, now let’s cut to the “very wrongly” – this slab climb makes the micro ledges of Crest Jewel look like a jug haul.

An interesting Wikipedia inspired side note -

Siebenschläfer is a rodent bearing no markings on its face and has footpads that are always damp. The Siebenschläfer has a prolonged hibernation period exceeding 7 months.

Now back to our aptly named climb, most pitches were face climbs void of significant features and there were lots of moist, if not wet, sections that ultimately did not interfere with its climbability. It had poured cats and dogs the night before and the sky bore a looming threat when Eric and I topped out. We snapped a few photos and then rapped the route before hunger turned petty arguments into a full fledged war.

Engelieweg into Siebenschläfer  (5.11a, 15 pitches)
All pitches are securely bolted. Bring two 50m ropes (we brought two 60s) and 12 quickdraws.  P1-P5 may be climbed as a standalone route, Engelieweg. The climb goes a little something like this:

Looking up at Start of Engeliweg into Siebenschläfer

• P1, P2 (5.8) – easy going slab climbing
• P3 (5.6) – brief crack then slab
• P4, P5 (5.8) – fun slab
  

  Last pitch of Engeliweg

• P6 (5.10d) – Hopefully the first five pitches got you warmed up enough. Up left on delicate and thin slab climbing requiring a great trust of your sticky rubber. I’m pretty sure I chalked my shoes more than my hands!
• P7 (5.10b) – Keep dancing left to a human sized overlap demanding a mantle for passage.
• P8 (5.11a) – Are you warmed up yet? Straight up the bizarre crack system on slightly overhanging, thought provoking moves. Far more reminiscent of typical Yosemite then the rest of the climb. Enjoy the handholds while you have them. Awesome pitch!
  

  Looking up first crux pitch (P8) of Siebenschläfer

• P9 (5.10b) – Traverse right to a comfortable stance then make upward movement through 10 feet with one hold on the very defined crux.
  

  Start of P9

• P10 (5.11a) – Features? What features? Friction your way up and giggle a little as you work through the crux, its an interesting one. Slab dynos?
  

  Crux Pitch Two, P10

• P11, P12 ( 5.10a) – Work past the calf cramps. Only slab from here on out.
  

  Pitch 12

• P13 (5.10d) – Awesome slab climbing following a seam with occasional finger tip sized pods. One of my favorite pitches.
• P14 (5.10b) – Fun slab.
• P15 (5.10a) – Smile when you reach the pink dot and stretch out those calves.
  

  The Home (Slab) Run, P15

  Pink Dot Marks the Top

Approach Information – Access to the approach trail is directly behind and to climber’s left of the power plant (GPS coordinates: 46.616511, 8.30485). The trail is slightly obscured by a lot of construction at the moment. For a detailed photo of the approach trail to the Oelberg Slab, the area where Engeliweg, Siebenschläfer and others are located, click here.

Quick Reference Guide

Location: Grimsel Valley, Switzerland

Weather:

Today	05/11/2013	05/12/2013	05/13/2013	05/14/2013
Rain 57°/41°	Chance of Rain 59°/39°	Chance of Rain 54°/37°	Partly Cloudy 59°/36°	Chance of Rain 63°/43°

Best Time to Climb: The climbing in Grimsel Valley lies at a slightly higher elevation and thus is subject to the extreme weather conditions of the Swiss Alps. Its climbability depends on the snow fall and subsequent snow melt for that given year, so you can expect the climbing season to begin around June and end around October.

Guidebook: Rock Climbing Europe, by Stewart M. Green – covers the favorites of this area.

Advice and tips on how to train while injured and recovering.

Recently I reached out to Steph Davis, a professional climber and a huge inspiration of mine for years, for a few tips on training while injured. Specifically, training to not suck at climbing once “recovered”. This was all prompted by my own injury – a broken leg (read about that here).

Being an avid climber and temporarily held back by an injury makes a period of rest feel like an eternity. As it turns out, there are plenty of ways not to let your climbing progress slip in your absence from the vertical world. Fast forward two months from doomsday, or the day my climbing world was put on hold by a pesky cast, I am back on the rock. And while I didn’t hop back on the wall and send those projects I may have sent pre injury, I can at least work them without feeling completely defeated. In fact, I returned to multi-pitch climbing exactly 8 weeks after the injury with a 15-pitch slab climb as my test piece. Results are in – I’m back!

Steph Davis had some creative training tips for injured climbers. My favorite is her idea to rig yourself in a harness and perform hangboard exercises as well as swimming. I found swimming to be a very valuable recovery tool once my cast was removed. The water put just the right amount of pressure on my leg/ankle in various directions which led to massive strengthening and a decreased amount of time spent recovering. Read all of Steph Davis’ recommendations on training while injured at her website:  http://www.highinfatuation.com/.

A friend of mine, a Physician and the Director of Landstuhl Crossfit, also came to my rescue with a list of workout exercises that can be done even when you are short a leg. Here are some exercises he recommended:

Push

• Bench press
• Seated shoulder press
• Push-ups
• Handstand push-ups
• Handstand holds
• Dips

Pull

• Pull-ups/Chinups (strict, kipping, butterfly)
• Weighted Pull-ups/Chinups
• Supine ring rows

Push/Pull

• Muscle-up

Core

• AbMat situps
• Knees 2 Elbows
• Toes 2 bar
• Tuck sit holds
• L-sit holds

Legs

• Pistols
• Single leg box jumps
• Single leg deadlift

“Cardio”

• Single leg skips
• Single leg rowing  (rest bum leg on a skateboard and push with functioning leg)

If you find yourself bogged down by an injury, keep up with the training and before you know it you will be back in the world you love – climbing, where only the top out can stop you unless you are Steph Davis of course where you have the flight down left to enjoy.

A special thanks to Steph Davis and Craig, of Landstuhl Crossfit, for their advice on training while injured. Do you have great training and recovery tips? Please share with us in the comments section!