Adjusting plans
Markus waking up after a good night's sleep
Not quite defeated but at least humbled by the previous day's adventure we had to make a bit of a reality check and adjust our plans to our speed and abilities. Climbing eleven pitches of the Vinatzer had taken us so long that for example Steger was out of the question. Climbing 21 pitches in a day just wasn't going to happen unless we adjusted our climbing in some profound way. The day following Vinatzer wasn't going to be a long one anyway because we got to sleep so late. The nearby Trenker Crack seemed to fit the bill. We started even later than usual but despite yours truly leading the first pitch with most of the gear hanging off Markus' harness we made it to the top well enough. Markus hated the climb down but I much preferred it to the awful four-hour rappelling in the darkness the previous night.
Downclimbing from the Trenker Crack
We had climbed in the Sella pass for two days and with the weather forecast lying to us that it would rain the next day we decided to switch places. Punta Emma or Torre Delago ended up coming on top. The approach isn't quite trivial to either of these so we thought that a bit rainy day would be fine for that purpose. Of course the weather people had lied and there was no rain so we could have easily climbed the whole day instead. On the other hand I loved the approach and I even agreed to stay in a hut(!) to keep Markus somehow satisfied. The approach included a proper power hike up to a steep hill for the first 600m or so, followed by a more gentle gravel road to the hut. Markus is a really strong rock climber but hates approaches so he was more than happy to make use of the lift that was available. Funnily enough I still managed to pass him by somehow on the way up :L. I also have to grudgingly admit that the Vajolet hut was quite an amazing deal. Eighteen euros a night for UIAA members with a hot shower available for extra coin or two. I just might use these more often in the future.
The last climb of the trip ended up being Piaz Crack, which I hated. I have no idea how this route gets three stars in the guide book. Perhaps the fact that we got lost in the beginning and ended up climbing a horribly grumbly choss for what was supposed to be the first three pitches had something to do with it, but even the later pitches, except for the crux corner/chimney, were very mediocre. -3 stars from me. Even finding the way down wasn't trivial as the rappel anchor was hidden behind a proper downclimb and under a roof.
One of the trad anchors I built because of running out of rope while climbing the Piaz Crack
An absolutely magnificent view on the Vajolet Towers after finishing the Piaz Crack
Markus rappelling down from the top of Punta Emma
The walk down was reasonably long and a swarm of butterflies very much enjoyed our headlamps and crashing into our faces. If we had thought that the walk was long then the drive definitely was. Not sleeping extremely well for well over a week made it very difficult to stay awake. We switched drivers half way through and Markus soldiered through all the way to the airport. At the airport we faced a nice surprise arranged by Finnair: our flight had been cancelled and no one had notified us. Our straight three-hour flight from Venice to Helsinki turned out to be an 8h mini ordeal through Paris, during which my luggage got lost and got delivered three days later. Well done Finnair.
Despite Finnair and the less than great Piaz Crack I think it was a great and successful trip to the Dolomites as well. We learnt a lot and climbed beautiful and especially mentally challenging routes. Thanks to Markus for the adventure! Looking forward to the next one!
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