27.01 Sprained Ankle? Cresciano, Switzerland

Injury Shminjury A couple weeks back, through some fluke circumstance, Courtney spun off of a problem only 6 inches above the ground, severely spraining her ankle on the edge of the crashpad. Swollen, blue, and nasty, the ankle seemed to sadly point to an extended time away from climbing. Within a week, Courtney was strapping on a brace, limping up to the climbing areas, and timidly picking her way up the safest of problems. Only another week along, here she is clawing her way through the nastiest opening crimps to pull her way up to the sloping, insecure top out of one of the many unnamed classics in the Ticino. Super psyched and super proud. - rp (click on photo to enlarge)   Courtney on an unnamed problem (7B) at Cresciano

24.01 Rainy Day Agarone, Switzerland

Beautiful Views It rained today here in Ticino for the first time since we've been here (almost 6 weeks). What a contrast to Fontainebleau where it can rain continually for 6 weeks. We love the weather here. All the storm really seemed to do is make for some beautiful views from our porch. It also gave us a chance to take Kona out on the town. - rp (click on photos to enlarge)   Clouds both below and above Agarone   Kona hiding out in Milano to avoid the rain.

22.01 La Grotte des Soupirs (7C+) Cresciano, Switzerland

Isaac Caldiero Isaac's skin has just not been holding up to the rough granite slopers here. Within the first couple days he had managed three splits on the ring, middle, and index fingers of his right hand. Obviously discouraged but refusing to tape the poor bloody tips to prevent further damage, he hopped on to the crimpiest problem in a 100 yard radius. Realizing the error in this idea - he moved on to a relatively skin friendly roof with huge moves between nice big holds. On his first couple tries he drew blood from one of his tips. On his next try he ripped open the second tip. By this time his finger tips had enough blood to give a leech a feast. Through pain and persistence Isaac stuck the long jumps to send the problem, in the process painting the problem red with blood. (click on photo to enlarge)   Isaac Caldiero on La Grotte des Soupirs at Cresciano (photo by Randy Puro)

08.01 A Recipe for Disaster Cresciano, Switzerland

Holy fucking highball This isn't a route but I'd be hard pressed to really call it a boulder problem either. If this was France it would long since have been drilled full of bolts; but as it is, it is a perfectly clean arete finishing with some scary, seriously high, off the deck moves. After watching Randy, Dave, Ivan, and Isaac pitching off the middle crux several times, I was starting to feel some sort of head injury becoming immediately imminent. Randy ended the suspense with a committing slap through the crux move and some careful picking through the final moves to the top. Bringing back some thrill to the situation, Dave, on his next go, pulled off a handhold midway up and came pitching once again to the ground. After feeling sufficiently learned in the art of free fall, Dave climbed through the crux and grabbed the top for the second ascent. (click on photo to enlarge)   Dave Graham on an A Recipe for Disaster (around 7c) at Cresciano