Market morning and Calvario's classic walls

Bells and whistles at the market.

Arco had a market day so we decided to spent some time there and see if we can find good quality cheese or honey. Market sellers had a lot to offer but today we couldn't find what were seeking for. We decided to leave the markets and start to prepare for an afternoon redpointing session.

Classic wall.

Already earlier on this week we had a grade upgrade climbing session at Massi di Prabi which was a great place to practice for more demanding routes. Next goal was to find a good crag for redpointing routes. For redpointing purposes we chose the classic Calvario which has been the stage for the Italian trials for the very first Rock Master '87. After that the crag has been abandoned for years but in 2009 it has been cleaned and rebolted. All the routes are vertical and technical, in other words it is a perfect place to exceed our current grades. And on top of all that Calvario is located on our back yard just about a 1 kilometer away towards Laghel.

We arrived to the crag during afternoon around 2 o'clock and it was complete empty. That was a surprise because the crag is facing to the east meaning that during the afternoon it is nicely in shadow. And on top of that the rock's face wasn't badly polished.

Calvario is demanding for regular climber it has only one 4b and one 5b for warmups, rest of the routes are from 6a to 8a. Hetas target for the day was the route 2. - Mam 5b and mine the route 5. - Vibrafono 6a.

Preparing for the crux.

As a warmup Heta climbed Popi 4b and I prepared for the 5b. For some reason the 5b had trickier move at the top than I expected and I failed to climb it right at first try. As a result I slipped the very first time in here from a 5 graded route down to the rope. Four meters of unexpected excitement on a warmup route has to be a new record. My second attempt was easier and the "warmup" was topped.

Warmup route then became Heta's redpointing excercise. Initial ascent wasn't too promising but after two or three succesfull attempts Heta decided that she wants to lead climb it. She climbed it with reasonable amount of motivating fear at the crux move that I slipped on my first attempt.

After Heta's success I moved the top rope to my technical training route 6b. Route started with small finger pockets that were pointing downwards. After several attemps I had to agree that my fingers cannot handle that route yet. Next one was the actual target 6a. I managed to ascent with a top rope it and on the second attempt I also found reasonable spots for setting quickdraws. But time ran out and the route is waiting for the actual ascent. Again Heta was the hero of the day by achieving her 5b target! Calvario is a true classic!

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Happy climber after a successful ascent!

Nice view from Calvario towards Arco.