Anyway... in most of the popular spots you just can't climb in these conditions and therefore I had to watch for an alternative area. Totally clear that I had to have a look to my other project on the Sustenpass: "Reykyavik low". In the meantime the barrier is open and it is possible to drive up to the "Sustenbrüggli", where most of the boulders are located. The pass itself is still closed and accordingly there is no traffic up there. Just you, the rock, the calm and the splendid ambience.
As I arrived up there it was 19°C (15°C as I leaved). Just some other cars parked there and a few people sat in the restaurant Sustenbrüggli. There is still quite some snow around... but most of the boulders are climbable.
Firstly I walked down to boulder without any pads... armed only with a shovel. I wanted to check first, if some work for the dropzone is needed. And it was... not much, but I had to shovel a bit as a warmup. Luckily "Reykyavik low" is on the southern side of the boulder. The side to the north was still deep in the snow and no lines on this side would have been possible. Afterwards I went back to the car and picked up the pads and everything else I needed.
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| Just the sunny southern side is free of snow... |
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| Some warmup first... ;) |
Back at the boulder I arranged everything and sat down... just to enjoy the scenery a little. I really love it up here...!!! Especially in such nice conditions, when no other people are here, the blue sky above you, the setting sun, which puts a golden light over the surrounded mountains... you can't hear anything... no cars, no voices, just the wind and your breath.
In these moments I like to be alone. For me it's sometimes not just the sportive challange when I go bouldering. Such moments give me a lot more!! They will take you back to your center and ground yourself. I would never want to miss such moments.
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| Beautiful scenery... firstly in a golden and later on in a deep blue light. |
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| I LIKE.... |
Later on I started to warmup. Because of the snow I had no other option to warmup than on "Reykyavik, 8A+/8B" itself. Some goes... some breaks... a few sips of an ice-cooled beer... and an hour later I repeated the original line quite easily. CRAZY!! Totally unexpected. I just wanted to check out the moves a bit to get used to the moves again. But it worked pretty well and I was even able to reposition my left hand hanging in the badest crimp in the whole line, what was absolutely impossible the last year. Unbelievable!!
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| "Prost Mahlzeit!!"... with an ice-cooled beer. ;) |
Half an hour later I started at the "low-start" and checked out these moves. But the first hard move was simply not possible. I took a few more tries, felt some little pain in a muscle of my left arm and finished for the day, just to do not take any risk for any rupture. I would have been highly motivated, but had to stop myself not to pull too hard.
I'm really happy with this start into the Susten-season. Who knows... probably some more good FA-news will follow in the next days. ;)
cheers
nice write up - always stay hydrated... ;)
ReplyDeletejust an update from yesterday:
-the gates to the pass are open - so traffic starts to roooooool.
-most of the easier boulders up there in the mainarea are still covered in deep snow - it will take another 2-3weeks (depending on the weather) for them to get climbable! but if you want to climb "propellerhead" all the way long with just beeing 1m above the ground (snow) - then head up and send... ;)
greez
martin