Grimpe de l'ascension

Ascension Climbing Trip to Traversella, Italy

This year the  Ascension Climbing trip was able to take place again as normal after all the Covid restrictons on travel abroad.  It was a return to Italy and Traversella,  a little village situated in the Piedmont region.

Thursday at 6.30am saw 11 weary looking individuals assembled in the car park at St Triphon but as usual it was the mad dash to get to the St Bernard tunnel before every man and his dog. It was a three hour journey but on arriving there was no time for a quick coffee or even an unloading of bags. It was straight into a 30 minute hike up an impossibly steep slope to the climbing zone. Francine does not like to waste a single second on climbing trips. This mental attitude helps to explain why she is way better at climbing than the rest of us !

First day we climbed at Sector Felci. The weather was good and not too many people about and  the Rock was gneiss !  A pun for any Anglophones. The main problem was that after 15 minutes of climbing it was apparent that nobody had explained to the Italians how the international climbing grading system actually works. Normally grades up to 5c should be easy enough for us but there was nothing in the 5`s that we could climb. Even the 4b and 4c`s were hard, except for Francine who defies gravity and seems to cling to the rock like some kind of gecko. The other thing we noticed was that it must be hard to obtain bolts in Italy. This was the only logical explanation as to why there was such an alarmingly long distance between each bolt.

On returning to the hotel at the end of the day Francine enquired about breakfast the following morning and was informed it would not start before 8.00am. Like me the Italians like a leisurely start to the day but this was not to Francine`s liking at all.  Definitely not. No way. She likes to get on the rock early, very early in fact. So the next morning it was a much later than hoped for start and hike up to the Primo Salto sector for a day of multi-pitch climbing.

To make up for lost time Francine quickly headed up a route with Nicoline and Nicole in tow.  Anne-Béatrice and Katya, who at this stage was still putting her harness on, decided to follow on the same route. I went up a different route with the ever reliable Alain, followed by the inseparable Laurence and Nathalie and then the younger couple Pierre and Violaine who had both been doing quite a bit of multi pitch climbing.

The first 3 pitches were good but then we explicably ended up at a nasty steep wall. Even worse it was my turn to lead. Anyway, perhaps foolishly I ventured up, managed a couple of bolts then panicked and lost confidence and had to redescend leaving behind a quickdraw. We all decided it was at least an 8a.  After that there was no choice but to abseil back down to the ground. Disappointed not to reach the top we all attempted another long route in the afternoon. No problems this time. Great rock, comfortable belays.  A tremendous experience. 

For the late afternoon Pierre, apparently a swimming fanatic, had found a swim spot complete with waterfall so some of the group headed off for a dip. That evening  Katya had somehow managed to get us invited to a local gastronomic meal and wine tasting event.  Between each course, and there were at least 6, there was a different glass of wine with the vigneron enthusiastically explaining how the grapes were cultivated and the wine produced. Not speaking a word of Italian I think that is what happened. Katya, who luckily does speak Italian did a great job organising the evening for us.  Lovely Italian atmosphere and a priviledge to to be a part of the event.

Day 3 saw us head to the Cotoletta Sector with grades apparently in the 4-5 range. It was ridiculously under graded and we ended up mainly top roping with Francine having to do nearly all the leading with just Nicoline and Anne-Béatrice managing  a couple of good leads.

Pierre had once again spent an inordinate amount of time researching potential swim spots and most of the group headed off late in the afternoon for a swim and well earned rest. However nothing keeps Francine away from the rock on a climbing trip so a few of us stayed on to bag an extra couple of routes in the Placche Nere sector.

For the final day we decided to head back early to beat the traffic and finish with some long routes back in Valais. Suite Logique and Kalinka were a good choice. Next to each other, well protected and in the 5b, 5c range. We had a tremendous last day of climbing. It was a first multi pitch lead from Nicoline and the first time on Kalinka for Pierre and Violaine. Alain also had an eventful day taking a longish lead fall on the difficult fourth pitch crux on Kalinka. But nothing disturbs his calm and composure and he bounced back to finish the route.

A fantastic climbing trip. Good company, good food, good climbing and new friends made.

Special thanks to Laurence and Nathalie for organising the whole trip and to Francine for helping us to progress and literally putting up 90 per cent of the routes we climbed.

                                                                                                                      John Morland