Little Europe adventures

Day 6: After yesterday's challenging multiple and seeing as we've all caught a bit of a cold, a rest day is more than welcome. It is also Maxim's birthday, so we enjoy a long breakfast including birthday cake by the riverside (which is part of our camp site).
As Fabian finally feels a bit better and wants to take the opportunity to climb, we accompany him to a nearby crag and belay him, before we had out to today's real goal: visiting the majestic "Excalibur" (9b+). Excalibur is a steeply overhanging route with nothing to hold on to at first (and second) sight, which has only been done by three people in the world. It is the hardest route ever done by a woman. And it is on top of a mountain with impressive views at the valley and the sword of Excalibur right next to it. Though we just missed German climber Yannick Flohé trying (and almost sending) it by a few minutes, this piece of art is still worth a trip!

Day 7: Today is a sports climbing day again. We choose the crag "Le Trincee" in the Nago canyon, which is a little drive + hike away. It has an incredible energy to it and the routes are nice and technical, while the grading is not too hard. Anne gets to try climbing for the first time (and totally loves it!). Despite my initial plan to not climb a lot today (I'm still feeling ill), the nice style of the routes leads me to try out a 6b - a grade that is rather at my upper limit. On the first try, also having to hang in the quick draws, I take quite some time, need lots of rests and some fall practice to free my head. I give it another try on top rope, more successful but with kind of sketchy beta. Still, I decide to try a send go on lead - and it works! I even find some better beta and make it through to the top, thus marking my first send of this grade 🥳.

Day 8: Another challenging multipitch awaits us: "Via Helena". Already the first pitch is scary, starting with a polished layback intro followed by an exposed traverse, featuring huge runouts. Happy to have finally made it through, I belay Marian on his try of the second pitch. He doesn't like the line, goes off-route and needs to place some gear in the absence of bolts. Though the moves are doable for him, he gets so nervous that he falls - luckily held by his second stopper nut 💪. Also the rest of the group is nervous, seeing as these are supposed to be the easy pitches, so we decide to bail, have a nice Caprese salad and take a stroll through Arco.

Day 9: One last multipitch "Il Re del Lago". As the name states, lake views are included throughout the entire seven pitches - and on the down climb. Despite having to wait until the afternoon for the walls to dry after last night's rain, we manage to rapel down to the small hike back just before dark. The dinner after with our Italian friends marks a perfect ending to the Arco vacation.Read more