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Published: June 30th 2009
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I am not at all sure about this rock climbing. Normally, I have no problems with heights, but am somewhat concerned as I have had a few small incidents (such as crossing a ridge with a sheer drop in Fiji) where I have had more than a hint of vertigo. None the less, Benjamin and I settled down to breakfast while Xavier went to the store to rent some extra gear for our climb.
The four of us drove to the foot of a trail where we hiked for about 30 minute to an abandonned castle where were to meet up with Rafael and Francis. Here we tried on our harnesses and adjusted them. The outfit felt awkward and strange at first, and I was a bit concerned as to whether I had each piece adjusted properly. Just after we were finished preparing, Rafael and Francis joined us.
We still had a fair walk to where the climbing begins, but even at this distance the sheer cliff looked ominous. I ended up talking with the father, Francis, who spoke fairly good English. I told him about our trip around the world and he told me that he is planning
a similar journey next year, but solo on a motorcycle. He has clearly worked this out, even arranging to go to speak with people who have done a similar trip. He will go overland to China and then ship his motorcycle to South America to continue from there. It sounds like an amazing trip.
Talking to Francis, was a great diversion, taking my mind off the task coming up. When we finally reached the foot of the cliff though, my heart sank. It looked to be sheer rock, even overhand in places. The people climbing it appeared to be holding onto nothing but tiny crevices, with hundreds of feet of sheer cliff above and below them. I was no longer looking forward to this.
With Via Ferrata, you wear a harness that has two main lines leading off it. At the end of each line is a clip. You clip this to a wire that goes all the way to the top of the mountain, affixed to the rock with a sort of over sized i hook every couple of meters. A third, shorter line, can be hooked on if you need a rest break (dangling hundreds of
meters above the ground).
For safely, we had the experienced climbers behind the new climbers (it is easier to help someone if you are below them than above them). Benjamin went first, then Rafael. Next came me and then Francis. Finally were Claire and her father Xavier. There were a few smaller sections where you could practice hooking and unhooking the clips before we reached the wall (you always have one clipped on, changing one at a time to move above the next hook). The idea is that the furthest you can fall is the length of one i hook.
When we reached the wall, you could now see that there were rungs, like a ladder, made of Re bar drilled into the rock to follow. Where it from a distance, it looked like the climbers were hanging on sheer wall (as in a climbing wall) up close, you could clearly see the path from one step to the next. Though this wasn't completely easy (like when you are climbing along an overhand), it was easier than finding your own foot holds. Sometime the hardest part was hooking an unhooking from the safety line.
I was convinced
I might not react well to the sight of the drop below us, so I focused only on the next few rungs, avoiding looking down until we reached a resting point.
The route is designed such that you have about a third of the wall to climb before choosing the easy or the hard route for the next bit. This first bit is supposedly easier than the easier route that follows, though not as challenging as the hard route. I was relieved when we all picked the easy route for the next part.
Though the steps are set for you, sometimes they seem like a reach and often awkward when you are holding on with one hand, moving your clip forward. Xavier had told us that part of the trick to not tiring your arms was to use your legs as much as possible and this seemed to help, though I did find my arms tiring at times, particularly when we were climbing sections that seemed to have an overhang.
At a few points along the climb there were spots where we walked along a short ledge, giving both the arms and the legs a break for
a bit. Here you could look down comfortably and see how high up we were and how far we had climbed, though it was still hard to get enough perspective to see where you were in relation to the whole cliff side.
Towards the end of the climb we reached some woods where we could unhook for a bit and enjoy the waterfall dropping down from above. The final segment was actually some of the trickiest, but with the end in site it was no problem having the motivation to do it !
At the top, we walked along the edge for a bit until we got to one of the launching places for the para gliders. A few were just taking off as we arrived. It looked fun - but enough excitement for today ! Here there were also drinking water taps and we eagerly drank and splashed the cool water on ourselves.
We checked the times for the trolley car down and determined that we had time for a drink at the top. The beer never tasted so good (as I am sure Benjamin's Coke did too). We said goodbye to Rafael and Francis, who
were going to follow the foot path down, and went off to look for the cable car. We found the booth, but there was no sign of anyone despite the fact that it was suppose to leave in a few minutes. Upon a closer look, we noticed that the schedule showed a 1 pm car for everyday except Saturday, and do we decided to walk down.
After a bit of time finding the path, we began our descent. Though not particularly steep, the path was slippery and hard on the 40 something knees. At one point we came close a section that we had climbed, and could fully appreciate the spectacular angle and how high up we had been. Once again, from a distance it looks at though the climber are hanging onto sheer rock as the rungs and cables are not obvious from this far away.
Back down we drank copious amounts of water back at the house, and I took a very refreshing swim in the pool (though it was still quite cold, as it is not heated).
After lunch, Evy and Tsetse went food shopping. They returned just as Xavier and I were heading
out on bikes with kids to find a good field for kite flying.
After checking various locations (we thought we had the perfect one until we saw the power lines) we found what appeared to be an unplanted field and spent the better part of an hour flying a two sting kite of Xavier's. Though tricky at first, this kite can be quite well controlled and made to do all kinds of tricks.
Sometime later, an irate looking farmer pulled up on one side of the field and told us to leave, saying corn had been planted there. As Xavier packed up the kite, I tried to explain in my best fractured French that we thought it was unplanted. The farmer seemed to accept this an said it was no problem. In truth, having planted corn a few weeks ago with Luigi, I am fairly certain there was nothing there - there were not the proper furrow marks.
On the way home we stopped to pat and feed grass to a horse the Emily seems quite fond of. We got back the house about 7 pm.
Francis, his son Rafael, and his daughter Claire joined us
for dinner making it 13 at the table. Once again, it was an amazing meal and we played a large game of Perudo afterwards.
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