Che Guevara
Saturday, first full day at Arco, and we put a big tick against one of the items on our hit list – Che Guevara via ferrata.
I have been wanting to do it from my previous trips to Arco when I saw a large photo of it in the Gobi Sports shop. And once Warwick started thinking about this trip via Che went straight to the top of his hit list also.
The plan for Arco was to do some via ferratas and a little bit of climbing while we get over the jet lag, before heading up to the Dolomites. We are only here for a few days so we had to get straight into it.
The last few days before flying out I’d started freaking out about the weather forecast for Arco: 35deg every day. And our plan was to do via Che on either the first or second day. Via Che is in the full sun all day, with some sites carrying a recommendation of ‘don’t do this in summer’.
I’d started floating the idea to Warwick that maybe an early start was in order, so we could be off the face before it became too hot. Warwick is nothing if not flexible and accommodating: but also competitive. So it became a game of dare or double dare. I suggested being at the start before dawn. Warwick countered with ‘well, we woke up at about 3 to catch the plane, so why not wake up at 3 to do the via? I mean, we can do the whole thing in the dark if you want to.’
We had agreed to set the alarm for 4am, so we could leave by 4:30, and be at the car park by 5:00. Yesterday we had walked up to the start just to make sure we would be able to pick the right trails in the dark.
I had been awake for hours when at 3:00am Warwick asks if I am awake, and do we just get up. Yep! We drive off from the apartment just before 4 and start walking at 4:15. At 4:45 we are at the base of the route. It is of course quite dark, but the lights from the town below reflect off the white rock which from a distance gives it a soft orange tinge. The walk up is quite steep and we are both lathered in sweat at the start. Apart from the security offered by the steel cable, it also makes route finding simple, so we have no trouble moving up under the light from our head torches.
Warwick goes first and as agreed we move at a steady but continuous pace. There is no point blowing ourselves up early with the total elevation, from the car to the top, being over 1,200m. The cable is good quality and all the pins well placed so it is nice climbing. The first part is steep but not difficult.
Climbing in darkness was quite surreal – unable to see above or below – but fully aware that we were on a big face. Not unlike caving in some ways.
Slowly the sky lightens and the view is simply magic. MAGIC! I can’t really describe it but the air is very hazy and the sun has not yet appeared so the colours in the sky and on the hills are soft and subtle, with the colour richer on the blank rock faces in the valley. It is such a treat to be moving up the face, with little difficulty, and experience the first light as it enters the valley.
Now in full light, but not yet in direct sunlight, we get the full experience of being on this massive face. Neither of us are bothered by the height, in part because the route is often above ramps and ledges that mean you are not always looking directly down the face. Which is interesting, because before we’d started, and when climbing in the dark, we (at least I think it wasn’t just me) were more than a little concerned about how we might feel when we were high up on the face. But once the light came, and we could deal with reality rather than our fears, we were both fine.
At 7:00am we move off the last of the steel cables on the face and pick up a track that runs up the ridge on the left hand side. We are not at the top, and for the next hour we labourisly walk up a very steep track with the occasional short stretch of ferrata to protect climbs up short rock steps. This stretch is a killer. The views, both back onto the face and also down the valley towards Arco are great, but it is hard work, we are sometimes in full sun and although still early it is already hot. I stop thinking about the top and just zone out and keep moving.
Goats! Warwick is yelling and we see 3 goats descend an almost vertical grass & rock slope. Then, a fourth, alone, follows them. The fourth one traverses off the slope onto a small rock face on the slope. And we both say ‘well, where’s it going to go now’. And, yep, it just leaps off the face and lands perfectly onto the slope below, a drop of about 15ft, and then continues down the gully.
Just before 8:00am the ridge crests and we incredulously look across the summit meadow to the Brenta in the distance. Even with the haze the view is fantastic. But the existence of the meadow takes us completely by surprise. We had expected, based on assumption, to climb onto a craggy summit. But instead there is a beautiful meadow, and a rifugio, which after reaching the summit we make our way to.
At 9:00am after coffee and a short snack, we start heading down. The guide notes, and the people at the rif tell us, that it should take 1.5hrs to descend. A steep walk through the forest with a short ferrata section.
Yes, that description is true enough, but just doesn’t capture it completely. When walking up the ridge I had looked across at where I thought the descent might go and had wondered how on earth we would get down it. Oh well I thought, there must be a track.
Yes there is a track, and it goes down what is at times an almost vertical wall of dirt, under a canopy of trees that somehow remain rooted to the wall. At first, when the ferrata appears we think, yeah it’s nice to have the cable but it’s not entirely necessary. Soon after we are descending only through the use of the cable. We had not geared up, thinking that it would be short and easy, and soon it becomes impossible to gear up as it is too steep and without any stances where you could safely stand and put a harness on. We cross the top of a small cliff with virtually no foot holds, and those that do exist are full of dirt and pine needles. This last section was without doubt more challenging that anything on the climb.
Off the ferrata and we start the long walk down the very steep track. My foot by now is very sore, but I can’t complain given the problems Warwick has with his feet. I am slow. Although we are mostly in the shade it is hot. My feet are sore. The path is quite rocky so no easy foot placements. And steep. I eventually compare it being back in economy class on the plane as I am completely unable to stretch my legs out, instead walking in a continual crouch.
The descent takes 2.5hrs – basically because of me. I was slow, and Warwick was patient. We are in no mood to stop to eat any food so we arrive back at the car hot, hungry and tired.
The moving time, ie ignoring the stop at the rifugio, was just under 6.5hrs. The guides had suggested 7-9hrs as a recommended time. We weren’t attempting to go fast, so we were happy with the time. But would have been even happier had we done the descent in the 1.5hrs advised.
I had had the day before a slightly upset stomach, and Warwick says that it has been proved that beer can help settle an upset stomach, and he’s a scientist – so he should know right. So in need of a little muscle relaxant and with the hope that it might calm my upset stomach, we indulge in a beer back at the apartment to celebrate our first full day in Arco and ticking Che Guevara via ferrata
