Italy Days 1-4

Day 1

Given all the hassle of getting here it was no surprise that I was a bit shaky on the first day - warmed up on what was probably the hardest 5b I have ever been on and got massively pumped in the process. Decided against leading the 5c next to it as it was overhanging and I was still trying to get some feeling back in my arms - turned out to be equally hard (at least a full grade out again) resulting in a single rest on the rope. Finished off by leading a 5a and seconding a 6a+ which I felt OK on and wished in retrospect that had led but in reality would probably have just had a nightmare with.

Day 2

Went down to a roadside crag - led off on a 5b and felt OK with it and then went to lead the 5c next to it. Now being a roadside crag it gets a lots of traffic so it was polished as hell and it also faced due south and given that the temprature was somewhere in the high 20's it was not a place that was going to suit me. Got to the first bolt and proceeded to suffer for my art before eventually throwing in the towel and retreating to the shade - seconded another easy route and belayed on one more before eventually giving it up as a bad job. Full sun and 28.5 degrees C ain't my idea of fun!

Day 3

At last the syke kicked in - 5b, 5c and two 6a+'s onsight - even though the climbing is that slabby technical type that I seem to excel at both 6a+'s felt pretty easy compared to how I would have expected so it is hard not to think that either the grades in this area are soft or I am getting better. Putting it down to me getting better and feeling confident I decided to try a 6b that looked piss but quickly came to the realisation that this was limestone we were climbing on and not grit so smearing was not just a matter of putting a foot in roughly the right place and standing up on it. Eventually worked out the sequence using some very small edges to get past the crux that I am reasonably happy will work as long as the tempratures are not too high and called it a day ready to return for a rematch.

Day 4

Not a lot of chance of getting anything done so far today as it is raining and has been for the last few hours. A rest day was probably in order anyway but given I have lost a couple of days it is hard to take one so the rain is possibly doing me a favour though it is hard to see it as one especially after yesterday...