3 weeks in and a constant ass whooping with the grades of the problems; most of the strong climbers in the valley prefer routes. Hence the boulders developed by them are stamina fests, this is not my usual short powerful 5-10 move problems and I have been falling off and struggling on 7b’s to 7c’s, I definitely didn’t think I would bag an 8a before we left this beautiful valley. However, on a sunny day in Val di Mello I found something just my style a seven move 8a called Il Vento. By no means did this go easily, the angle of the boulder to the angle of the dipped ground coupled with a very low toe hook and a poor smear to start is a recipe for dabbing.

 Lake Garda

I have been a bit lax on the blog front; after Melloblocco we spent 2 weeks travelling Italy with friends, taking in some sites around Venice, Pisa and Lake Garda. Then after 2 weeks relaxing we arrived back in Val Masino raring to climb. Only we were met with nine days of continuous rain, and after going stir crazy hiding in the van, the weather finally improved with the arrival of our ‘Targasonne’ friends Jason and Claire.