07.02.01: The Alpenzoo then on to Rifugio Fonda Savio
07.03.01: We do Torre Wundt
07.04.01: A complete rest day
07.05.01: Hell day for Michael
07.06.01: We find the best Hotel in the world!
Page One
Page Two
Page Four
We got up fairly early and had breakfast. We talked to a family from
Louisiana and they had been in Europe for the past 5 months! The
father was on sabbatical from the University. I was very interested
to know how travelling for so long with two kids (5 and 7) was. He
explained the good and the bad and how they had to adjust to the
different way of life for awhile. They looked like they were having
quite the experience!
The first thing on my agenda after checking out was to call my mother in Hawaii since I
haven't talked to her in over a week. They are 11 hours behind, so I tried
to call them around 10am. I went to the pay phone near the
parking garage and realized that I didn't know the country code for the US.
Was it the same as calling from Italy? I looked everywhere in the phone
booth and no country code for the US could be found. Luckily, there was a
phone book in the booth so I could look it up. ARRRGH! The front pages
that might have all that kind of information were missing! So, I stopped
a guy on the street and he didn't know. He came back 30 seconds later and
said "the front pages of the phone book should have the information"!
Thanks a lot, mister! We tried to use the phone card to call information but it
doesn't connect. I had one 5 shilling coin (about 30 cents) and called
information using that. Just as the operator was going to give me the
country code, the phone got cut off since my time was up. Great.
We drove to the Alpenzoo very frustrated! We couldn't believe how hard
it was to get just the darn country code for the US. We parked in the
lot of the zoo and asked someone else if they knew it and sure enough, it
was the same as Italy (at least we think so), 001. So, I went to the
phone in the zoo parking lot, excited to finally be calling my mom, and
I find out that you cannot use a phone card with that phone (it wasn't
touch tone?). At that point, I gave up. There's no use in ruining the
whole day trying to call Hawaii and it was getting late anyway.
The first animals that we saw at the zoo were two gizzly bears. It was
amazing how close up they were. They were down in a pit and we were
directly above them, about 10 feet away. I'm so used to seeing bears
50 feet away with a moat separating the people from the animals. I was
amazed that having them closer to you made you almost connect with them.
I didn't make a connection in my mind that since it was an zoo with
Alpine animals, that the whole zoo would be on the side of a hill. We
spent the first half going uphill (ugh!) watching the Ibex scratch
their backs with their horns, the red deer sleeping in the shade,
the large birds eyeing you as if you're their next meal,
a small water snake forcing his food down by swimming like a tornado,
and a sleeping river otter. They even had a petting zoo where we
connected with some goats and watched a piglets wrestle each other
as they're mother layed down to feed them. We did make fun of the
pig because people always say "pigs are very smart, smarter than
dogs and cats". We watched the mother pig get up and trot over
to her pool. She got in and drank some water then starting
urinating in it! We were grossing out and wondering who in their
right minds would think that this animal was smarter than our cats! Geez!
The only disappointment of the zoo was that all the marmots were hiding!
We headed back to Italy and headed straight to the Rifugio Fonda Savio.
It's about a 1 hour hike in and well worth it! The rifugio sits in
a saddle between spectacular towers and since there was some snow still
around, it made it even more scenic! We were running a little late
so I had Michael run ahead to make sure that we can still get dinner.
It turns out that we were supposed
to be there by 6pm (no one mentioned that whenever we made our
reservation) and since we arrived at 6:15pm, they gave our beds
to someone else! The woman was kind of rude at first but then said
that they had extra beds for emergencies.
|
|
Rifugio Fonda Savio
|
|
|
Sunset at the rifugio
|
She then took us to our beds, which were in the attic. You have to climb
a 12 foot ladder to get up, which was scary at first, and up there was
about 30 cots. Ours were in the "overflow" room - 5 cots with 2 tanks of
something. Michael thought it would be funny if it was a septic tank.
I think it was hot water tanks. We shared the room with a guy from
California who didn't talk very much. The bathroom is downstairs and everyone
shares one bathroom (no shower)! So you have to plan accordingly because
going up and down the ladder is not efficient.
We sat down for dinner and sat next to these kind of snooty German
or Austrian climbers. The dinner was pretty decent, even better
than some restaurants in Cortina. The owner (a woman in her
mid-thirties) sat next to us and we enjoyed talking to her. She
gave us good beta on some routes that we were planning to do the
next day. We wanted to to "Il Gobbo" but found out that the
approach is still covered in snow. So, Torre Wundt was going to
be our climb for tomorrow. Everyone kind of looked at us and
didn't think we could climb or something because when we said that
we were going to climb it, they would always say something like
"do you have the equipment?" or "have you climbed before?".
We'll show them!
|
|
Michael playing in the sunset
|
|
|
Our sleeping arrangements
|
It was hard for us to mix with the people there since no one
really spoke English and everyone knew each other. We found out
that almost all of them were part of a climbing course from the
Univerisity of Innsbruck. We felt so out of place and no one
showed interest in talking to us so we went to our room and
organized our stuff. Then I went to sleep and Michael stayed
up awhile reading.
Michael finally went to bed but a horrible, foul noise woke him up.
He said a old man sleeping next to me was farting really loudly then
chuckling/coughing repeatedly. He had no control.
The room filled with toxic levels of methane. There were some
really long, moist intestinal activity going on right next to me!
Thank god I was asleep! Michael was horrified but eventually managed
to fall asleep between chuckles.
|
|
Torre Wundt and the rifugio
|
|
|
Kris high above the rifugio
|
|
|
Michael resting on a belay ledge
|
|
|
Michael trying to figure out the descent
|
|
Climb: Torre Wundt, South Face, 7 pitches, 5.5
After breakfast we went outside to get a look at the route.
I had gone to check out the base the evening before, and
had a pretty good idea of the start. There was some steep
scree to hike up, and I knew Kris would love that! The hut
owner said the climb gets sun only after 11 am, due to
high walls on the other side of the narrow valley. We
sat outside for an hour, but finally at 10 am, we got
tired of waiting and started up. We were gearing up
at the base when a large guided group (about 7 people)
arrived. I made sure to look very ready when they arrived!
Kris belayed me on the first pitch, a cold chimney, but with
solid, water-worn rock. Kris enjoyed this. A shorter, easier
pitch led us to the crux of the route - a 50 meter pitch on
an imposing black wall. I could hug the left edge which offered
chances to place protection, but the climbing was harder.
The center wall was easier but unprotected. I veered between
the two choices, really paying attention until I reached a
belay station. Kris was talking with the guide below, and came
up the pitch very nicely. Next a series of chimneys, starting
with a difficult crack move led me to a huge belay bolt at the
entrance to a cave. From here, we climbed out of the cave on
the left. I escaped by climbing a crack, and combined two short
pitches to reach a rock horn with incredible views down to the
hut. Placing a sling over the horn, I brought Kris up to here.
We were now in the warm sun, and enjoying ourselves greatly.
One or two rope lengths of very easy climbing brought us to
the summit. We signed the register, some of the only english
language signatures there! After a few photos, we started down
on what proved to be a complex and time-consuming descent.
We made five rappels with our single rope, each of which traversed
slightly. Then I lowered Kris a rope length to a high pass between
towers. We simul-climbed on a traverse around the mountain across
several gullies. I was able to place gear at difficult sections
to protect Kris. Finally we reached another pass and looked down
to the trail we had come up the day before, but there was a big
problem. The colouir was filled with snow, and it became very
steep! We both wore rock shoes, and Kris has never been comfortable
climbing on snow. She was very worried, and we thought about
our options as the guided group that followed us up came along.
We decided to wait and let them go first.
Their guide confidently stepped down the slope in good boots. He
reached a rock horn with rappel slings, and encouraged his party
to follow. Watching them teeter down uncertainly just made Kris
worry more about our fate! From here, the guide lowered a woman
a full rope length to the end of the snow, then everyone else rappelled,
presumably past the worst difficulties. Now I was confident that
we could safely descend. I lowered Kris to the rappel station,
then climbed down myself. After lowering her to the end of the snow,
I rappelled, then downclimbed. I was happy to have the nice steps
created by those with boots. Still, it was slippery in my tractionless
shoes, and by the time I got off the snow, I was yelping due to
near-frozen hands and feet. It felt so good to get my nice warm socks and
boots on! After hiking back up to the hut to retrieve gear, we
continued down, glancing back at the magical realm of Torre Wundt.
Notes from Kris:
We went straight to Marco and ordered big portions of pasta.
He showed us his web page with pictures of his pets (the
Japanese chickens) and we showed him our page.
We called Mattias, and he was still at home. We didn't
know why he hadn't left!
Also, Jeff came into the restaurant for a few minutes, said
he was in town and was looking for Mattias.
|
|
A sturdy friend on the summit
|
|
|
|
Michael on the summit of Torre Wundt
|
|
|
Michael upset with his lunch
|
|
|
Kris descending the steep snow gully in tennis shoes
|
|
|
An interesting topo tile (large)
|
|
Sorry to disappoint you folks, but we didn't to much today.
We had a full day with Torre Wundt, so we basically just napped
and hung around Cortina. We went to the Internet place for awhile
and sent out some mail and I got more slides and pictures
developed, but that's about it. I think this was the most
down time we had on the whole trip. Nothing exciting...just
resting and relaxing.
Michael woke up at 4:30am and had to climb out of the drawing room window
to get out of the hotel. He drove to the Olympia Campground and climbed
the Bovero via ferrata (Col Rosa). This was very quick and he was back by
9:30am. He saw a heard of Ibex.
Report on Col Rosa: (by Michael)
Since Kris and I had made the forested hike up to the start of this
route a few days before, I was really keen on finishing it. The crux of
the climb was escaping from the hotel. Every door was locked, so I started
searching for a window. I found a drawing room one floor above the parking
lot and a series of pipes and ivy I could climb down. It was pretty scary
lowering myself out the window, especially since if I made a mistake and
fell, the embarassment would kill me. I could just see the lights turning
on and the nice little old lady screaming about a burglar! Heart racing,
I jumped into the car and took off for the campground that marks the
start of the route. I zoomed up the trail in damp, misty forest, and shortly
after turning onto the steep, rough climbers trail I found myself emerging
above the dense clouds. What joy! I half expected to be "socked-in" for
the entire trip. I took some pictures and put on my harness and helmet.
Soon, I came to the route, and began fumbling with the short lengths
of rope and carabiners that made up my safety equipment.
Soon, the route became steep, and fairly challenging if you avoid touching
the metal rungs as I did. Metal pegs would stop your fall in case of an
accident, but the pegs were sometimes 20 feet apart, thus offering little
comfort. But despite occasional worries, I moved quickly, and seemingly
insurmountable cliffs and buttresses piled up below me. I remember one
fantastic exposed traverse to the left around a blind corner. The village
was still wreathed in clouds below, and the sun was beginning to peak
around high Sorapis. I reached a subpeak, and hiking terrain. An ibex
jumped away from me. Some more cables led me to the summit, which hosted
a beautiful iron cross. This had been an excellent introduction to
via ferrata, and I wished Kris had been with me. On our previous
attempt we started in the heat of the day (11 am), and were quickly passed
by over 50 people led by a guide. By going early I had cool conditions,
and didn't see anyone until reaching the car.
|
|
Sunrise and blue sky!
|
|
|
|
Steep protected route
|
|
|
|
A picture of Kris in her hotel room
|
|
On the hike down I startled a herd of ibex. I took some pictures, but without
a zoom lens they were too far away. The trail was good, although very steep
and exposed on sandy ledges at one point. Soon, I was driving home for some
breakfast!
Back to Kris:
Mattias and Georg knocked on the door at 7:30am. Apparently, they were at the hotel
at 6:15am but didn't want to wake me. They also had to convince the
lady downstairs to let him come up and knock on my door. They have a policy
not to let anyone who is not a guest upstairs.
Since they don't allow non-guests in the room, we had to wait for Michael
in the lobby. We visited for a little while then they had to run some
errands.
Kris ate breakfast and Michael came back from Col Rosa.
We quickly packed up and checked out, Mat and Georg in tow.
We drove to Cinque Torri and hiked up to Torre Inglese. To
avoid snow, Kris had to take
a long way around that I thought would be easier,
but dang, it was harder! She arrived and we climbed the via Normale
route behind Mattias and
Georg. Kris found hard moves on the very polished first pitch. I climbed
a variation to the right out of the chimney for more fun and to get
around Mattias and Georg. The upper pitch was fun. 2 rappels.
|
|
Kris climbing...
|
|
|
|
...on Torre Inglese
|
|
|
|
A hanging belay
|
|
Kris was happy there was no walk off. [that may seem a strange comment,
but in Kris's experience, walking down from a climb usually entails
scrambling in steep, dirty gullies that can be scarier than the climb
itself. Consequently, she's come to prefer rappels!]
Michael, Georg and Mattias climbed
a fun sport route - (5.9/10a, we think it was Tinsemal
on Torre Quarta Alta).
Then they climbed Torre del Barancio (the route was Via Ignazio Dibona)
and said that it would only take
and hour so I should come, but I (Kris) was smart and took a small nap on the
rocks below instead. They ended up taking 2.5 hours and Georg
waved to me on almost every belay.
Mattias and I took turns leading. I started first. The climb was
steep right off the ground, and very exciting. With two ropes
I was able to belay Georg and Mat up at the same time.
I think he got the crux pitch with a steep crack, then I climbed
a long easy pitch that angled off halfway up. The
ropes got tangled pretty bad on the last pitch because Mat wouldn't
slow down and give us a chance to untangle them!
We descended with two steep single rope rappels. I bruised my arm and
cut my leg on an overhang, caused by the very jerky belay
device. I ended up carrying both ropes and the rack
back to Kris, demanding payment in beer!
We drove to town and looked for signs of Jeff. We bought
dinner for Mattias and Georg at the Hotel Cortina. Eventually
Jeff came in and told us that he had waited all day at the
Cinque Torri for us. I guess we just missed him? Anyway, Marco
gave us extra food for free, so Jeff got a meal, and we said
goodbye to Marco, who had been such a friend in cooking excellent
meals for us!
|
|
On Torre Barancio
|
|
|
|
Georg, Mat and Michael
|
|
|
|
Tinsemal, 5.10a
|
|
|
|
Georg on pitch 2
|
|
|
|
Silly germans!
|
|
We wished them well on their way (they were doing more climbing)
and we headed to Bolzano. It was a mistake to drive in the dark,
since it was very stressful and we were tired. We even stopped for
30 minutes to rest our eyes. The gas credit card machine ate our
credit card when we put it in upside down. We called the credit
card company who said they know about these machines at the gas
stations, and that our card was "certainly destroyed".
We arrived at the Hotel Citta at 2:00am. We had to drive through
town and passed a lot of ladies of the night (a really strange
scene). We checked into our room and went to sleep, really cranky
and tired!
Woke up in the morning to find water dripping in the room. Kris
thought it was in the bathroom but on the way to check, she stepped
in the puddle of water from the air conditioning vents. The lights
also stopped working so Michael had to take a shower in the dark.
Kris went to the tourist office to find another hotel since this
one was so bad. She found one and we checked out. We told the
people at the front desk about the problems and instead of giving
us a discount or something, they said we should think of it as
romantic that the lights weren't working. Yeah, right lady.
We nicknamed this hotel the "Hotel Shitta", it was so terrible,
we will never go back. [part of the reason for
this hostility was that this hotel was far more expensive than
any other hotel of our entire stay. We also only spent a few hours
there, since we came in so late - Michael]
We chose the Gasthof Kohlern, which was up a hill and overlooked
Bolzano. You can drive up a one lane windy road or you can take
the gondola up and down. We drove up and it was only 170,000 lire
($74) for their best room. It was beautiful, just what we
needed to wind down and relax from the night before. Lunch was
incredible. The fresh risotto was delicious!
After lunch and a nap, we took the gondola down to Bolzano and
was surprised that we were the only ones in it! We had a great
view as we approached the city from above. We ran some errands -
we went to Avis and found out we can return our car to Verona and
then we went to the Archeological museum where the 5300 year old
man - Ötzi - is kept. We were amazed at how short he was (5'4")
and enjoyed the multimedia presentations they had about finding
him and about all the discoveries they made since they found him.
We met up with our friends from Portland, Steve and Sarah,
just to say hello, and they were naturally really tired. We decided
when and where to meet the next morning. We had to get back
before the last gondola up the mountain left, and it was about
a 1 miles walk. We made it just in time, as the conductor was
standing outside apparently looking for us (he smiled broadly
when we arrived). Whew!
Dinner was delicious and we met Axel and Natalie, a german couple
on their honeymoon. Natalie had lived in Texas for a few years.
We shared some wine and made some new friends - something so easy
to do in Italy!
