Sarche Climbing

Published on 2018-9-23 by Michael Stanton

Orizzonti Dolomitici, 5+, 10 pitches

Silas and I got up rather late, being tired from the drive the night before, though we had a wonderful breakfast.

Apples at the base of Picol Dain

Silas leads pitch 8 (IV)

Silas high on Orizzonti Dolomitici

Hero moves on pitch 10 (V+)

Cool tattoos!

In the corner on pitch 9 (V-)

With our Swiss friends

Pitch 9

We drove to downtown Sarche, parked the car and hiked up with our single rope and a handful of quickdraws. It was pretty neat that in 4 days of climbing we'd be able to use a single rope the whole time! Maybe I'm not conservative enough, since getting down in case of rain would be a bigger hassle for us, but I really enjoy climbing on a single rope if it's possible.

At the base, we wanted for a German couple to get started. I made the steep move up over the gate, then pulled liberally on all the metal pieces for the highly polished traverse to the start of the route proper (which is pitch three on this topo).

Pitch 5 was the first one that I quite enjoyed. We were getting high on the route, and when the occasional harder move had to be made, there was a sense of space around me -- entirely pleasant! Silas was psyched the whole time... he really liked this route. Right on...!

We climbed behind a really cool Swiss couple, travelling the Alps and South America in a van. They both had some beautiful tattoos, and were super nice. The corner that dominated the last three pitches gave an extra alpine flavor, which was nice. It was just fun.

On the way down, Silas thought we must be going the wrong way, but eventually it was clear we were on the right path. We shared some fantastic ice cream with the Swiss pair back in town, then drove back to the hotel, where Silas was intent on a swim. I took a shower and had a great nap. We went down to a restaurant built into a rock that I'd remembered from years before with Kris and the boys, and Silas knew it too.

We went to sleep with big plans for the next day...

Placche Zebrate, "Via Claudia," French 5a, 14 pitches

Would Silas' shoulder survive one more climb before collapsing in a heap? We really weren't sure. But in the morning after another hearty breakfast he felt good enough to try. We got the usual late start, which seems to be useful in this area to get behind many eager-beaver German parties.

We were alone at the start, but a couple French guys walked up and we let them go ahead. They turned out to be excellent companions on the route all the way up, because even though they might have been faster, they had to deal with route-finding issues that kept 'em near us!

What a great slab

Silas on Via Claudia (5a)

Probably pitch 9 or so

I found the polished 5a slab climbing moves at the start fairly intimidating, but made it up with dignity intact (for now!). A few unremarkable pitches followed, and then I got into trouble. It might have been the last moves of the fourth pitch which had a very slabby and exposed final mantel onto the belay ledge. I hemmed and hawed, having so much trouble. Finally, Jacobi (one of the Swiss guys) offered me a hand which I gratefully took. I found that the scariest moment that I'd had in rock climbing in years. Looking at the topo a few days later, I can't even identify the place, but boy, I was sketched. So, it would be an "A0" climb for me, and a pretty sad one at that! Such is life, and in fact, I've learned it's best to welcome those humbling moments -- they might just be what keeps you alive.

Part of the problem was that Silas and I didn't do any sport climbing together, so I had no "sense" that with me out of sight of the belay and far away, that I could reasonably take a fall. Of course I could, but to convince my body of that we'd have had to dedicate an afternoon to pushing our limits, falling constantly, and so on. So I was in a rather foolish "soloing" mentality.

Old people suck!

Higher, the pitches got really good, tending to traverse to the left on slabs and compact cracks. Silas and I both loved the climbing here. The 5a slab on pitch 11 sketched me out again, and I tried to address the mental problem by hanging on the rope for a while. It was impossible to fix the problem on this day, so I pulled on a quickdraw at a hard move. At this point, the French guys combined two pitches and went on ahead, while Silas and I stopped at a mid-point belay station, mindful of the fact that we had a 50 meter rope, not a 70 meter one!

We had a lot to laugh about

Jacobi on a tough 5a section.

Silas climbs pitch 11

As it turns out, here we should have gone up and right, but we followed our friends blindly up and left, which meant I'd committed to an undulating and dusty water-polished 6a face on the route "Luna 85." Determined to recover my dignity for a second time, I climbed the pitch successfully, though once I had a very sketchy downclimb to correct a wrong turn at a little dish. I'd tried to escape it on the left, but a secret foothold was the key to going straight up. Pretty sketchy, but wow, very interesting, too.

After this hard pitch we went back up and right, connecting again with Via Claudia. I kept climbing past an anchor to reach the top of the wall in a full 50 meter pitch. Energized by the hard but successful climbing at the end, I was now pretty excited about this whole wall and eager to climb everything within reach!

Luna 85, interesting 6a pitch

But alas, it was time to drive back to Munich. Silas and I joked around with the French guys at top for a while, then hiked down. Silas went ahead as usual, always fast on the descent, and I later found him standing suitably Italian-style at the bar drinking espresso. I ordered a beer and sat down at a table like a Murican. After a few relaxing minutes chatting with the base jumpers we hopped in the car and pointed it north. Silas drove us to the Brenner, and I took over from there.

On top yet again!

We got to my place around 9 pm, which gave Silas the chance to take a shower and share a beer before hopping on the bus to Croatia. Now, I reckon he's on some beach.

Thanks Silas!