James Pearson - The Italian Job Part 1
22nd Oct 2012
Two months ago, Caro and I ditched our plans of a month in the States, in favor of somewhere a little closer to home. During my brief visits to Italy in the past, I was amazed by the quality and variety of the climbing, yet, like everyone else it seems (after asking for information during the last month), knew very little about the climbing away from the famous hot-spots, especially in the South. In addition to this, also like everyone else, we are all feeling the pressures of the economic crisis! The 1,500 E we would have spent on plane tickets can take the van a long long way even with the crazy price of Diesel in Italy!!!
Perfecto…
So it was decided… on the 10th of October we would leave fair old France, direction Finale, with only 1 rule – NO RULES! There is no schedule, no plans (apart from our ferry home on the 6th), it’s just us, the van, and the friends we will meet along the way.
A month of adventure was an exciting prospect, yet adventure would have to wait as only a few KM from Montpelier, we noticed that something was clearly amiss with our little T4. We crawled as far as Aix en Provence, and into a mechanics Caroline remembered from a past life. A new clutch was needed, which cost us 3 days and a significant chunk of the money we had spared on flights, but on the bright side allowed us to catch up with old friends, and hear some incredible stories about climbing in a different time.
Let the games begin…
Step 1… Finale Ligure!!
Caro discovering the way into the cave!
I’m not going to go into detail about Finale as it’s a place I am sure many of you will have been. One hour from Nice, with very similar rock to Buoux, very similar style to the older routes of Buoux, and an ambiance very similar to… well… Buoux… but next to the Sea. A beautiful place!
The Hive…
Climbing in this place feels like stepping back in time. Back to a time when men were not scared to wear lycra, and shorts were really, really short! Reading the history of the guidebook its clear the Finalians are proud of where they came from, and in no hurry to see things change. Everything here is hard! The 6a’s are hard, the 7a’s are hard, and the 8’s… yup, you guessed it… brick! To arrive at the chains of one of the routs here, you really have to climb. It’s not that the routes are undergraded, they just require a lot more than laddering on steep jugs.
A memorable quote from the Finale Guidebook…
Riky and the gang made sure our day was full of cheer, explaining some of the stranger local customs, as well as attempting to teach us some useful Italian words and phrases. I’m not sure if I should repeat what they told me here, but the words seemed to come in very useful while battling up one of the many desperate finale slabs!
The next day was a little closer to what we are used to, in the shape of a new cliff called Ciniplex, close to Castel Bianco. 25 minutes walk up a steep beautiful valley takes you to a long cliff of compact white limestone, with over 100 routes from 5a through to the mid 8’s. The white rock makes on-sighting a nightmare, with hidden holds appearing only once above, but after work the climbing is very pleasant, with routes generally being athletic and continuous.
From the old to the new – Finale to The Ciniplex!
Whilst standards on the whole have undeniably moved on during the last 25 years, the top level in certain places and styles has remained fairly constant. I was aware of this from certain Trad routes in the UK, take The Indian Face for example, but over the last year or two I have become aware of more and more examples from the sport climbing world. I guess the simple answer is whilst ones aerobic capacity can be improved (relatively) simplistically and quickly, technique, mental control, and other more delicate skills, are much more complex. I have massive respect for the pioneers of generations past that increases with each area I visit, and every classic route I try.
One final thought… when you look back to the first ascent pictures of some of these classic routes, compare the equipment in the photos with that in your climbing bag. With all the improvements in technology during the last 25 years, especially in footwear, perhaps standards in these very specific styles have actually been going down? Interesting…
It’s time to hit the road again… I have seen an amazing looking route on the front cover of the Muzzerone guide, a steep clean wall high above the ocean. So far I don’t know any more than that, but I guess that’s supposed to be the name of the game…
