Chironico

We returned to Chironico last Sunday to escape the rain that inevitably falls on Magic Wood.  When we got to Ticino we found unbelievable conditions.  Sunny, cool, and a nice strong breeze.  Perfetto.

On day one we headed over to Komilator (8a), and with a scream that Tarzan would be proud of Alex dispatched on his first go of the day.  Next we went down the hill to area 101.  Alex had his sights set on a boulder named Electric Ant (8b), and I had mine set on a problem called Arete with a Pocket (7c+) .  Alex soon discovered that the first move of Electric Ant is heinous.  A huge move off a razorblade to another small crimp.  Kudos to Dave Graham… He decided to do the problem one move in, dropping the grade of the problem to 8a+.  Alex came desperately close to sending, but had to drop from the slopey lip of the boulder because he was too pumped.  I did all the moves to Arete with a Pocket (thanks to Martin for the beta) and we called it quits for the day.

Day two.  We headed back down to Area 101 and Alex and I both dispatched our projects quickly.

We ran into Dai Koyamada on the last day of his trip, and got to enjoy his company for a while.  He has absolutely destroyed Switzerland over the last 35 days.  His trip could possibly be the strongest month of bouldering ever.  Apparently, before coming to Switzerland, his goal was to either:

1) Send four 8b+’s

or

2) Send one 8c

… He did both.  Not to mention all the other problems he destroyed (like Klienfisch, an 8b he did in about 30 minutes that day).  He stuck the first move of  Electric Ant (a mind blowing thing to watch), but unfortunately split his tip in the process.  After talking to Dai, I think Alex and I are both excited about visiting Japan to climb. Dai and his friend/photographer are some of the nicest people we’ve met on our trip so far; it’s very inspiring to see such a strong climber be so down to earth and humble.

The next day was filled with my efforts on Komilator, and after my heel blew for the 800th time I called it quits.  

The weather is once again getting too warm to send anything hard, but fortunately the weather looks good in Magic Wood… so back we go.

On an unrelated note, we’re sitting at McDonalds in Bellinzona again (free wifi remember?) and I just paid 7.90 francs ($7 US) for a burger. That was just the sandwich, I can’t afford 13 francs for a meal! Luckily we camped for $0 this week so we have an extra franc or two to spend.