via Maria

Today we step it up a level – slightly longer and slightly harder climbing than so far on this trip, with more of a challenge route finding due to the wandering nature of the route.  The climb – via Maria on the Sass Pordoi.  Offsetting the step up in difficulty is the nature of the approach and descent – a cable car up from Passo Pordoi.  How good is that?

And just to add a bit of spice, there is a thunderstorm forecast for 1:00pm.

This has me worried.  Actually, really worried.  I have been on a rock face during a thunderstorm, several times, and it is not pleasant.  The conversation over breakfast is tense – between the ‘lets do it camp’ and the ‘there is a thunderstorm camp’.  Warwick reminds me that I have climbed in thunderstorms before, and in fact, continued to rap into a route even when I knew a thunderstorm was forecast: ‘so what’s different now?’ Check-mate is declared: we hurry out to the car.

Coffee, of course, in a caf at the top of the Pordoi pass, and then on the first cable car at 9:00.  The cable car goes up almost directly over the route, so in addition to the youtube clips we watched last night, we get a good view of the route.

The walk down the gully and around to the climb is a bit problematic in places because there is still snow on the ground.  Warwick is wearing running shoes rather than approach shoes because they are better for his feet.  But they aren’t so good on snow – so there are a few slippy moments, preceded and followed by some profanities.

Warwick declares it triumphantly – we are at the start of the route.  We have walked straight to it.  That may not seem like much of an achievement, but the Stegbacle is still top of mind.  We start climbing at about 9:45, Warwick leads the first pitch.  It is as hopelessly polished as described in the guide.

I lead the second pitch, which is apparently meant to be the hardest.  Then Warwick takes the next which had very little protection and is on very friable rock, so the protection he could place is of low value.  He cuts the pitch as described in the guide into two to avoid bad rope drag.  Swinging leads as we are, it is on me to finish the pitch.

Standing on the belay, 3 pitches up, the black clouds covering the peaks around us, surrounded by friable rock, unable to see any protection on the next pitch: I’m rattled.  Warwick had picked it from the cable car – that this pitch would be a test.  As I climbed up to the belay we are now on, I was very focused … on my breathing …. just keeping it nice and steady …. just focus on the breathing – and I was only seconding.

There are times when you are climbing, when you feel you have only a very tenuous connection to the world: this was one of those times.

Thankfully Warwick led the next pitch, the completion of the one he had cut short due to rope drag, as he saw it as his pitch still to lead.  Mine the one after was a ramble that put us on a ledge that joined the pillar we had been climbing, to the main face.  Three more pitches of climbing and then three more of ramble remained.  Somehow, over the whole climb, I managed to get all the good pitches to lead, and Warwick all the difficult, loose, poorly protected ones.

The last 3 pitches, led by Warwick, were just miserable.  Low angle scrambling, every horizontal surface covered with broken-up rock, so every movement must be made very carefully.  There was talk lower down on the climb that maybe we could just go off rope and solo this, but by the time we are on this section I am cold, hungry and weary and I prefer to remain on belay.  The protection afforded by the rope often psychological rather than real due to the wandering nature of the scramble and the lack of protection.  Any fall would result in a wild swing ended by slamming into a wall.

I pull over the guard rail at the cable car station at 2:15 in front of an appreciative crowd.  All up, we did about 12 pitches of climbing, with all but the last 3 being enjoyable.  The day started sunny, climbing in T-shirts, and finished in heavy cloud with a cold wind.  Leaving my camera out of my pack to make it easier to take photos from the cable I unfortunately I left it in the car.  Warwick had his, but the game today was a little too tense to be able to stop and take photos.

Over the last 4 days we have done more than 40 pitches of climbing.  I’m thinking there’ll be a whiskey after dinner tonight.