European Wrap-up

Photo: Stelian Pavalache

Aside from all the new friends made, experience gained from going to all the World Competitions (including Rabenstein), and finding a way home through winter storms and airport closures, I sit down with a Starbucks at the airport and wonder "what just happened?" The whole trip flashed right by and I'm a month and a half older and already making plans for the remainder of the winter. Skiing is on the docket and I have 3 more avalanche courses to teach at Red Mountain Pass and in NM. In April, I'm gearing up for Alaska once again, this time for the AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guides Exam.

Here's some great images from Lukaz:

http://lwimages.ifp3.com/root/lwimages/iphoto/main2.cfm

Although the Ice World Ice Climbing Competitions remind me a lot of a traveling circus in many ways, it was enthralling to see so many new places, meet great people, and learn new skills. It's a highly demanding circuit. Those who wish to compete in only one or two competitions get a taste of the tour, but I feel that having stayed and competed in a11 of the competitions including both difficulty and speed has given me some insight on the training and mandates of the style of climbing necessary to be competitive in that venue. Most of the time it's a "downer" for the athletes since only one person can win. But even then, the winner knows that they could have done better. It's always that way. We know we can push ourselves, but its the times when we exceed our own expectations that we as athletes revel in the moment. That's the time when it all comes together and the stars align and our performance becomes memorable. We live for those times and anticipate their existence in our future. Experiencing a moment like this is what keeps us going.

I'm already building my own training facility to work on this and hope that I can interest some other good mixed ice climbers to train hard and become a competitor. The UIAA will be working with the Olympic Committee and will hopefully turn this into an Olympic event.

As it stands, there will be 5 World Cups next year. The sport is growing and there is interest in holding a World Cup in the USA. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me. Sponsors, athletes, and others interested in making this happen should join forces. The North Americans will need to train hard if we are to be competitive.

In the meantime, I'm glad to be back home in NM and am looking forward to getting in some more skiing, climbing, and getting back to feeling "normal" in this time zone for a while. I'll be back in school this semester as well and can't wait to start using the thinking side of my brain for a while. I'm hoping to get some good research going with the Exercise Science department.

I'll have to go through all the photos that Justin compiled while we were on the trip. I don't think I've seen many of them, we just shot first and will look later.

Snow on !

UIAA European Open Ice Speed Climbing Competition in Romania

2/7/2010

Finishing up the 2010 Ice World Cup Circuit

So all of the preparation, planning, logistics, and thrill of competing in the World Cups in all the venues that we’ve been to over the last month and a half have been…extraordinary. The Euros like that the underdog Americans have made an appearance. Justin and I have been interviewed by media at every event. It’s intimidating since none of the Americans have ever made much of a presence in Europe.

I’ve learned so much in such a short period of time. New friends have been made, new connections with climbers from all over Europe and Asia have been established, and I had the opportunity to see many places and cultures that I have wanted to see since I was a kid. I have been encouraged and inspired by some of the world’s best mixed rock and ice climbers. The blood lines of experience from many of the original competitors have been passed down to the next generations of climbers that we are competing with. Markus Bendler learned to climb hard mixed lines and was trained by Harry Berger who I have also climbed with in Ouray, Colorado in past years. There’s less than 3 degrees of separation many times as this is a small community.

There is a lot of energy to get a World Competition in the United States. All of the competitors and UIAA Organizers have been very positive about the USA presence on this entire circuit. They feel that it makes for a more international competition. Furthermore, it validates their Olympic movement. There is a lot of energy being put into mixed climbing becoming a venue at the Winter Games. This may not happen in my lifetime of being a competitor, but perhaps I am contributing in some way to make this happen. Both Justin and I are interested in putting together a circuit of sorts in the USA. I have been told that I have two months to tell Urs (the Swiss coach representing the Ice Climbing Federation) if it might be possible to position a mock World Competition in the USA for next year. Although I am excited about the prospect to put an event on, I also realize the implications of taking on such a task from my experience with the Ouray Competitions in the past.

Therefore, I think it is prudent to call on anyone who thinks they have a possible venue, organizational structure in place, and the interest to consider hosting this type of event. I would be more than happy to have a lengthy discussion with those who would like to contribute. Justin and I have some great ideas, but we would need a lot of help to accomplish something of this magnitude.

An event like this in the USA means something different for every individual person. I can’t see anything bad about an event like this on a personal note and I have a laundry list of how it can be a good and positive thing not only for the general ice climbing community and those in the industry, but also for the USA.




We didn’t attend the competition for the finals. Rather, Malcolm drove Urs, Leight, Justin, and me 40km to the north on a mountainous, winding, and snow packed icy road to the north to visit the castle of Dracula. Yes, we learned all about the history and creation of Dracula on a cold, dark, blizzarding day in the Transylvanian Alps. The drab mid-century décor of the castle, along with the foreign feeling was good enough to have some Halloween-style fun. I couldn’t help but think about how many people had been killed with sharp tools in and around the Braun Castle, and now here we are to compete in an athletic event, having a different way to use our sharp tools, and nobody dies. What a concept!

I do know that when we got back and saw the finals, this is what Markus Bendler looked like as the 2010 overall Ice World Champion !!! This guy is a MACHINE I say...maybe he's a Terminator.



Back to Skiing!

Well, we’re in Romania and its puking snow. We competed in the UIAA Open European Championship – Romania. It was laden with Russians and they really wanted us to compete to “make it more interesting.” Ya, it was interesting all right. I missed my first round of climbing out of 5 chances and also got no practice or warm-up before having to climb. I pulled the picks right out of the ice with my Russian-made fifi ice axes on the first round. The second round went better since I made it to the top. I just wanted to get up the thing for a change without the ice breaking. Then, a Bulgarian put a ice tool through his thigh. He was bleeding and limping. There’s really nowhere for someone to get medical care here, but a family doctor was present at the ski are base and came over to take a look. She said to just leave it alone. I told the competitor that I would suture him up for free if he would like, and he agreed. I left the competition and took him into the Red Cross aid room where I was able to break out my medical kit, do a proper job stitching his leg back together, and returning him to the event.

Fortunately, I didn’t miss my turn, so I got a chance to climb again and this time I reached the top. Sweet! Only more than half as fast as the Russians, but I made it. It’s all I can do to get up the climbs without gacking myself in the legs or piffing myself with a crampon tip. I blame my weight pulling the ice apart, but I’m sure it’s my technique that holds me back. I just don’t have a lot of interest in speed climbing because it’s just a side show to the main circus event for me, the difficulty competition, and a way to have some fun. I don’t take it seriously enough to be a real competitor, yet I’ve scored higher in speed climbing than I have in difficulty. What’s up with that?

After today we’re hitting the slopes on our way back to Bucharest.
With all the snow that is falling over the last two days it might be possible that there could be some good skiing available. There’s some quite steep terrain around, up to 60°, or so we’ve heard. There’s not much in the way of rentals here. They have no telemark equipment anywhere, so Leigh will have to learn how to turn with her heels locked down. There’s no touring equipment available for rent either so I guess we’re not heading out to the back country.

I'm ready for some green chili chicken enchiladas!

Romania

2/4/2010
Italy to Romania

Levaing Rabenstein was difficult. The logistics were easy enough to go, but after having a great experience being able to climb on the structure and having made friends with a few of the Russians and gleaning some technique tips from them, the long trip to Romania ahead was the “down” part of the emotional roller coaster on this ice climbing competition tour.It’s true, there’s a lot of highs and lows throughout the competition. The experience is overwhelming at times and I’m sure that it will take some time for it all to sink in.

We made it out of Italy and flew into Romania where we met Pavel Shabalin, one of the UIAA Competition Judges. Myself, Pavel, Justin, and Leigh all took the train(s) to Busteni together. We had some great complex discussion about the competition and its organization, the athletes and their backgrounds, and shared a few war stories of ice climbing. Pavel drew some pictures of the Russian words I was trying to learn and wrote them out in both Russian and English. “Cat”, “spoon”, “potatoes”, and “cup” sound very similar. The language is complex to be sure, but not nearly as bizarre as Chinese is to both of us ! We were invited to come and train in Moscow and Kirov in the future. Pavel is one of the main coaches of the Russian Federation team. That’s a pretty nice honor.

The train ride into Busteni reminded us all of the train ride to Kirov, but it was definitely not the same. It was only two hours to get there. The exchange rate is about 3.5 Lei = 1 USD. Some things are cheap, and some things cost the same. Busteni is a bustling ski town that is cheap to stay in for the most part. There’s a lot of youth mixed in with the older generation. There’s lots of 1950’s architecture, but more style than what we saw in Russia. Maybe the Romanians were not in as much a hurry to get things built after World War II. Anyway, Busteni is a great little town, nestled up against the Transylvanian Alps. It’s a ski town too with the Kalinderu Ski Area gaining nearly 1300m of elevation right out of town. They claim 40% advanced ski terrain. I’ll have to partake in the assessment after the competition.

I took breakfast at a small restaurant the first morning here and was able to order an omelet! We tried to order scrambled eggs in Milan and they wanted to charge us 42Є (that’s about $75 USD). I think we could have bought a few chickens and scrambled our own, in addition to whatever else. Anyway, I took a walk in the first proper snow storm I have been in since arriving in Europe, and made my way to the ski area where the new climbing structure is located for our competition.

This structure is quite impressive. It looks like the U2 concert stage from this year. It has three arched legs supporting a horizontal keystone ring at the top that a modular climbing wall can be created and dismantled quickly in order to make any combination or series of climbing. It’s the 4th dimension!

Competition head. After having climbed in Rabenstein, I finally feel like I have a clue as to how the climbing behaves, some of the intricacies of the style and technique, as well as gaining some confidence. On-sighting an M12 finals route is difficult to say the least but I’m feeling like I can piece it together now. Time is the major influecial factor. It drives the decisions made while climbing. Going fast is prudent, but going too fast is careless. The Korens lost the last competition in Saas-Fee this year because of a careless mistake.

Markus Bendler has swept the continent clean of all the major ice climbing competitions. He would not have to even show up or compete in Romania since he has so many points, and is already the undisputed World Champion…again. Nobody has ever heard of him in the USA. I guarantee that once he makes his way across the pond, he will be on the front cover of any given magazine. He’s also a very nice guy. He signs autographs and poses for photos with kids who look up to him. He is a European hero. It makes me wonder why Americans idolize professional athletes from baseball, football, and basketball. Most of them are a bunch of creeps who hardly give a kid the time of day.



There’s just a few days left. Inscription of the athletes starts today and the competition is going to be shown on Romanian National tv as well as streamed live via internet:
http://www.evenimentelive.ro/iwcbusteni.html
Check it out if you’re bored at 2 am in the Rocky Mountains. This event is represented by 32 countries and is on the Olympic scale. I’m daunted by that fact, but I’m also willing to give it my best shot. There was a point where Justin and I had discussed bailing out and going to Chamonix to ski, but we pulled our shit together, got our chin up, and are ready to give it all we got. I’ll pull my bicep from my humeral head before I come off that wall tomorrow.

After the Ice Fight

1/31/2010 - 2/01/2010

So it finally happens. One of the Russians that I was trying to talk to in Saas-Fee opened up and started talking to me more in Rabenstein. He clammed up in Switzerland after I wasted him in a foosball game during an athlete meeting, called me "professional", and walked away. But he came around again in Rabenstein and has been working on communications again. In fact, Alexi is a very nice guy and is quite fluent in English, although not so much after a long day and in the evening. That’s when he starts teaching me Russian. He’s also kind of a Patrick Swazey knock-off, especially at first glance.

Beyond that, he’s also helping Justin and me with our climbing techniques. The World Cup "Ice Competition" is definitely more about circus tricks than actual ice climbing. He’s been standing on the podium periodically in the World Competition circuit over the years and was taught how to climb by his father at the age of 4. He started to compete at about the age of 16 and has been in the circuit ever since. Luda, his girlfriend is also as impressive as a climber and her English is the best of all 16 Russians. She is also very nice and helpful and has opened up to us as well by using her fluency in English. We climbed with them for two days after the competition.

In Rabenstein the Americans and the Russians stayed in the same hotel. Most of the Russians that have talked to us to this point have only used communication for a means of obtaining information. These two have made a concerted effort on their part and we wound up spending a lot of time with them climbing as well as hanging around the hotel and sharing stories, music, and jokes.

Climbing in Rabenstein after everyone had left was a boon for Justin and I. We were able to get more time on the climbing structure there than anywhere else, getting us precious contact time with the climbing medium as well as a good workout, things we have not been able to do since we are on the road all the time and are without a home base. 45 degree over hanging terrain on sparse holds that demand good body mechanics, technique, and power is exactly what the Physician Assistant ordered.
The men’s and women’s finals routes were still up and so that what a mix of Slovenians, Russians, and Americans climbed together. I brought Justin’s speakers and iPod to make things a bit more exciting. The Tomalov brothers and Luda definitely produced by skipping holds on the routes haphazardly and seeing what they could do and how far they could go between holds.

Leigh got to do some ice climbing on the sometimes more than vertical ice on two of the towers. One of the routes was out speed competition route. Justin ran a few laps on the ice as well. I did the men’s semi finals route, the women’s finals route (with one cold hang to rewarm my hands) and got it on the second try on the first day (and straight away on the second day), and then tried to roll up the men’s final route, only to break the fourth hold. So, we called it a day, packed up our stuff and hiked the 2km and 300m elevation back up to our awesome accommodations.

This is the Tyrol region and there are many cables crossing the valley that transport milk, hay, and supplies to and from the ranch houses high above. The cows are free to roam in the summer, but are kept inside large barns that look like houses in the cold months. A small dairy next door to us has workers busy in the wee hours to have the milk out to Merano by 06:30 every day, snow or shine.

I’ll be sad that we have to leave this beautiful place. Although we do not have much contact with the outside world from our location of lodging, I could see how I could become entranced with this place and not ever leave. It’s a mini utopia. Having looked at the map and know that the vast mountains to the north would be a lifetime of exploring, skiing, and climbing, it's a tempting thought to just keep going. We are also very close to larger towns and accommodations, so it’s not that far out there, but it’s far enough. The Dolomites are nearby, but we aren't alpinists this trip.

Meanwhile, Justin, Leigh, and myself continue to have the conversation of “are we going to Romania or not.” Options abound for us in other known locations and we have to be cautious once there of pick-pockets, thieves, rip-off artists, etc., so we aren’t thrilled at the prospect of going. However, this is a climbing trip first and a ski trip second, then whatever after that. I know that I want to finish what I started, a tour of the World Mixed Ice Climbing Competition circuit. I would like to do my best this year at getting experience and then making a game plan to come back and do better. This is the ultimate personal goal in my life, so it’s time to make it happen. Being able to share this experience with Justin since we were training last fall has amplified the experience for me as well. Having a good committed climbing partner who is capable and easy to get along with is difficult to find. Being on the road with someone day in and day out and being as good a team as we have been is rare.

I’m really excited that he shares the same fervor for the sport. He will certainly have a different experience than I have had, but he is the next generation in the sport and has a ton of potential. Imagine, I trained him to climb mixed rock and ice at our local crag and then in less than 4 months went to Bozeman, Montana with me for his first ice competition. We took third as a team in our division. Now, he’s got the huevos to train hard and become a world competitor. Awesome.

Rabensteinäs Ice Fight 2010

Rabenstein Ice Fight 2010
1/30/2010
Go Time in Rabenstein

The amount of stress was quite low to begin with, but I also knew that this competition had pretty much the same players as the other World Competitions, it’s just not as well known or attended…yet.

The event held here is a very well run event. They have a good isolation area and have good routs set on an impressive structure. They have jerseys that we got to keep as a memoir, there are heated buildings to re-warm up in, and they made wooden slat platforms for the spectators to stand on to keep their feet warmer. They have a bar with espresso for only 1.5Є and serve great food. There’s also an ice skating rink for kids to play at.

Many of the women have black hair, and facial piercing seems to be the norm, whether it’s a nose or lip piercing, it seems that it’s vogue. The people speak Italian and German, but everyone communicates in English as the common language. That seems to be the common thread around the world.


The climb:

I came out of a quite bout in isolation (it could be up to 3 hours) and tied into the rope. The holds are a mix of granite and plastic holds. The granite holds are tricky to stay on. The ice axe must be place just-so and not waver from that position or it will pop off and you’re done. The starting wall was a mere 45° overhanging by my rough judgment. We have to start with two axes on the starting hold then bring both feet off the ground. Easy enough, but the next moves become harder and further apart. You must be able to find the next hold’s “sweet spot” that the axe will settle in on while holding your body weight on one locked-off arm in a static position. You only get a certain amount of time to climb the route, 12 minutes in this case, so you don’t have time to gain recovery by shaking out an already burning forearm pump. Moving fast is mandatory and is almost preferable to keep the “pump” at bay. Breathing is also mandatory but is easy to forget to do when you get focused on a climb and in a situation like this.

The climbing to start was actually not too bad. I’d rate it at about M9+/10- to where the ice roof started. Each hold presented a different technique to get to establish and maintain body position on. The flow from one hold to the next is a continuum of understanding not only the holds, but how the axes behave on those holds at the angle they present themselves in. In addition, you must be able to understand your body, its position on the climb, subtle motions and foot placement that so defines how the next movement will be. In a way, it’s like playing a game of chess. You have to sleuth out what the moves are in advance, pace yourself, make sacrifices when needed, and double clutch into high gear when its time.

Filled with good energy and not feeling too pumped yet, I made a move to the second to last hold before getting to the first ice roof. I was looking forward to the series of figure 4’s and figure 9’s across the ice traverse as I had gotten pretty fast at these moves and have it figured out. It was going to be a pump fest, but there was a rest on vertical terrain at the end of the traverse. I raised my left tool to place it in the last hold and my right tool popped off. I was lowered to the ground and two guys were trying fervently to untie my figure 8, the only knot allowed in competition here. I told them that “that was an American fall,” meaning that I was a mere 92kg, the biggest and heaviest ice climbing competitor they had ever seen. These small men of 60-70kg don’t set a knot that hard.

The route setter, Mario, was there as a judge and told me that I should have not set my entire tool how I did and proceeded to educate me on some of the finer points of how I should have placed it. It’s a good thing too, since that’s why I’m here, to learn and get better. We laughed together and I told him “thank you for setting the routes and inviting us to compete and that I will be back next year.”

I made it 3 slots away from qualifying from the Semi-finals, so I’m getting better in some way. Maybe I’m not as nervous and scattered, I’m finally getting over my illness that I picked up in Kirov, or I’m learning the medium, or maybe it’s some combination, but the more experience I gain it just makes me a better climber.
Leigh came between the difficulty and speed competition. She flew in and Justin set her up with a bus schedule and I was able to get someone to pick her up in Moos, Italy and bring her directly to us at the B&B. I greeted her in the bar and gave her a hug. Jet lag yet? Hmmm. Maybe tomorrow. I took her bag upstairs and Justin was quite happy to see her. We all got ready and went down to the speed climbing competition.

It was dark and they allowed us have one practice run. They clipped me in with one carabiner and I told them that we needed two. With great reluctance they produced another carabiner and clipped it in to the rope, but not to me. I made sure it was fixed and then carried on. Speed climbing up 25m of slightly overhanging ice on technical terrain of undulating ice features is not an easy task. It’s easy to piff an arm or leg with flying axes and crampons. The breaking ice is also hazardous as well as skating through and banging shins on the ice itself. “What the heck, I’m only doing it twice tonight and I’m out fo the difficulty competition” is what I told myself. Justin told me to “just have fun,” so I did.

I climbed / ran up the tower and I nearly blacked out by the time I got to the top. Our inefficiencies compared to the Russians is evident by the great time discrepancies between us, but we were there to have fun and so we did! We screamed and yelled at each other to “go faster,” “move those feet,” and whatever else we could think of. People got on our band wagon and started to cheer as well. It takes good energy to get things rolling.

After the speed competition I grabbed hold of Harold Klammer from Italy and told him I would buy him a bier (beer). He had a van and took us all back to the bar at the B&B and we had a round of Forst Bier. Somehow he manages to keep buying the beer. I don’t mind Markus Bendler buying the beer because he keeps winning the competitions and making money, but I owe him some beer too.

Both Justin and I have invited the Euros over to go climbing in the USA. We even managed to get Alexi from Russia to open up and speak a little English with us and invited him to come as well. I guess the Russians have to obtain visas in order to go anywhere outside Russia pretty much, so it’s an ordeal for them to go. There’s still a fair amount of Patriotism there too however, and most of the Russians find it a bit difficult to talk with the guys from the USA for some reason. It seems to be getting better as we are climbers, but because of the nature of the competition being just that, a competition it harbors the competitive attitude and spirit to a certain degree.

Angelika Rainier is our tour goddess behind the scenes. She had given us really good information on how to get around and has offered to take us from Rabenstein to Milan where we will be able to catch our flight to Romania. She took the first Women’s World Cup in Kirov and is a strong climber. She also works in the Department of Epidemiology in Merano, Italy full time and is able to be a strong competitor on this circuit. She trains often here in Rabenstein so it goes to figure that she has solid climbing ability.

SaasßFee to Milan

1/28/2010
Near Epic Travel
No matter how good the train system is in Europe, there’s always something that can go wrong. So I’m glad we missed the first bus out of Saas-Fee, Switzerland since that would have placed us on the first train out of Brig that derailed on its way to Milan. There also happened to be a good snow storm moving through the area with high winds. Who would have known the night before when we were at a great outdoor ski party at the base of the ski lift and where the ice skating arena is in Saas-Fee. There they had a the ski team descend the mountain with torches, a ski bunny named “Snowly,” some guy skiing with 10 foot skis, a guy skiing with a fan on his back blowing him uphill, a pyrotechnic expert with fireworks on his back, and some freeride skiers and snowboarders hitting a jump at the bottom. The show ended with a great fireworks display and a hot wine drink.
After that, a big party held at a local pub had a solo guitarist playing American classics. The crowd, most of whom could not speak English, was singing in perfect chorus the words to all the songs. How can that be? Justin and I played foosball with a family who had everyone from the daughter to the great grandparents in the bar singing, drinking “bier” and carrying on until about 23:00!
The good news in missing that train brings the bad news that the rail was then closed and we had to take a bus from Brig to Domodedossolo, Italy in order to get onto a train going to Milan. The silver lining here was that we got to go over a mountainous pass that had tons of great ice climbing in the area. In fact, there were ice climbers rappelling off the snow bridges to gain access to the climbing. There was everything from big and fat waterfall ice on low angle (easy) terrain, to the intimidating daggers that hung off the tops of caves, the kind I like to climb. This area is located right on the Swiss-Italian border. The border was easy cross since we were on the bus, but there we about 20 people standing in the cold. They had been off-loaded and were professional-looking people who were hitch hiking to Brig. With the snow storm moving in, the women with only tights on their legs looked like they were about to be in for a surprise. Cars zoomed past and only a few stopped to pick up the soon-to-be frozen white collar workers who had nothing but their briefcases.
We ate lunch before getting on the train. Inconveniently, Justin can’t eat the large array of Italian pastas, pizzas, and other gluten bearing foods, so finding a restaurant is sometimes a challenge. A gluten-free diet is a lot tastier however, and it’s good to find those places since I don’t like filling up on starch.
This part of Italy has more English-speaking people than Daone and there seems to be more money in this valley since there’s a train instead of a bus service. It’s a really nice train to boot. The bathroom looks like something off of the starship Enterprise and there’s loads of room for skis and snowboards. Justin and I were able to get in a few pull-ups, push-ups, and dips while traveling, but it’s hard to feel good when you spend all day traveling, and trying to stay hydrated and fed while making connections.
We got to a hotel and bartered with the English and Spanish-speaking man for a price. We immediately made our way into the town and found a nice pub where we got a good glass of local red wine. We ordered some meat, sausage, and I got some dumplings since it was a suggested “local favorite.” Too much starch however, and I felt bloated. Good thing I had to walk back to the flat.
The next morning we got up and went to the local open air market and bought a half a chicken each for breakfast. We are constantly faced with the anxiety and idea that because many of the competition climbers are driving to these events and staying in their vans that there are no provisions. We keep thinking that there will be no stores, no food, and possibly no water. So we bought some food for about 25-30Є and packed our stuff on the next bus to Moos, Italy.
This drive was much more exciting with the mountainous venue immediately out of Balzona. The winding road led up through northern Italian wine country on terraced terrain and scattered castles. The narrow road switched back and forth and passed through multiple snow sheds. We gazed out at the valley below and we approached snow line. The cliff bands became more prominent and the avalanche gullies were separated by housing developments and ranches. The ranches or farms that were established more than several hundred meters higher than the road had a cable guiding line going to it that provides a faster, more efficient way of transporting loads to and from the ranch house. Many of the cables were not marked and would be impossible to see from a helicopter. From my days working at Lifeguard (an air ambulance service) cables are extremely dangerous things for helicopters to fly into. So I suppose that the helo pilots know exactly what they’re doing here.
We drove into Moos and were dropped off by the bus. A man drove up who spoke no English, but called out “Marc, Justin.” We threw our stuff in his car and got his name, “Fritz.” We tried to figure out what his role in the scheme of this was and never really understood until he took us to his B&B up the valley in Rabenstein. He and his wife own and operate the B&B next to the church that overlooks the valley below. Anyone who wants to go to a really cool place to take a honeymoon vacation should go to Rabenstien, it’s quite the place.
On the way up to the B&B we stopped and took a gaping look at the massive ice tower erected between avalanche run-out zones. This tower is 25m high and is larger than the Val di Daonne structure. More technical terrain could be attached at will to in-situ anchor points.
A news crew was filming and interviewing the route setters and wanted a word with Justin and I. We obliged and so I guess we were on local Italian news as “the Americans who made it to Rabenstein!” I guess we are validating the competitions by just being here and adding credibility to the event. The newsgirl had red hair and a pierced nose and was very nice. We were a bit embarrassed to be giving a tv interview since we had not even climbed yet, and certainly weren’t the local heroes.
The Russian’s showed up in brute force and entered 13 unexpected competitors, along with 3 Ukranians. One of the Russian’s holds the world speed record. If you see these guys in action, it’s impressive. They are dead serious about speed climbing. They train for it and have specialized equipment and study the techniques. The funny thing about a speed competition is that it is something that has no practicality outside of the competition. I would never climb that fast on real ice because of the high risk of falling or getting injured. I must admit, it’s a fun competition. Where else can you use axes like a ninja and run up water that’s frozen vertically like Jackie Chan? Justin and I have a good time doing it.