Goodbye Croatia; Hello Slovenia (OSP!!), Italy...

This is Misja Pec- just one of the AMAZING crags in Osp. This sucker is BIG (tall and wide), steep, and climbs just like the crags in Rifle, Co. Great! 
Hi Mom-

We were in Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, and Slovenia again today. (Today's new countries for Christine were Slovenia and Italy.) We climbed at a place called Osp- as small, small town in the western corner of Slovenia near the Italian border. It was actually fun, and even though we had just a short time, I was able to send a pretty hard route! Screaming and all! I had to try really, really hard to do it. 

Osp is freaking amazing. It definitely does not have a lifetime of routes, but it has a huge, dense representation of difficult, overhanging limestone sport routes very similar in style to those in Rifle, Colorado. It's definitely a place to come when you're strong- but there's a ton to do! I wish I were staying longer, but think it best to move on to (Frankenjura) Germany, near Nuernberg, where there is likely to be a resident population of climbing bums. 

Sooner or later I'll move on to France, to climb at Ceuse (near Gap). A SLC friend of mine lives in Geneva (Switzerland), and so I'll probably meet up with her in France. (Or, ideally, I'll meet up with her in Geneva and she'll drive me b/c the climbing place in France is way out in the sticks and not accessible by public transport.)

In any case, I'm riding with Nate and Cheri to Munich tomorrow- at which point, I'll probably depart on the high speed train (wee!) to Nuernberg and get ready to get to Frankenjura. I'm excited about that. 

Still trying to lock down plans to meet up with my Swedish friends- but if they're not careful (i.e. they don't get in touch with me soon), I just might make other Swedish friends!

Love,

Chris

Ah, #&*#&*!!! My Camera Broke/ All Single Men Move to Split Immediately!

FIRSTLY, MY CAMERA JUST BROKE. Damn it. This is one in a too-long series of replaced-by-warranty/ repaired-for-a-price-because-the-warranty-recently-expired Canon Powershot cameras. It's annoying each time it happens, but super duper annoying now because:

*I'm in Europe

*I have no mailing address

*The warranty paperwork is in a friend's basement in Salt Lake City, Utah, United freaking States.

What to do? I guess it's just a first-world complaint, but it's still lame.

SECONDLY: If you are a single man, move to Split, Croatia immediately. I should have told you sooner, but basically (and it's confirmed by residents), there's a 5-to-1 female-to-male ratio here. You wouldn't believe what kind of dumpy, lame, wimpy (or mean, or otherwise unattractive-by-way-0f-personality) men are walking around with HOT, well-dressed women! Ladies: stay away! 

 

(I wish I had a visual for you -but at least now you can commiserate in the loss of my camera.)

THIRDLY: The update.

Not a whole lot more to report here in Croatia. We had an aweome time on the Island of Hvar/ at cliff Base. Granted, it's never easy to be away from home- it wears on you not to be able to do do laundry or eat the food you want- either because you can't purchase it, you can't drive anywhere to purchase it, or you can't cook it (no kitchen, no cookware)- but it's a close second to feel welcomed and well-hosted.

Upon leaving the island, we took, like, the craziest cab ride ever! It was a super-classic tourists-get-scared cab ride; we had arranged for a 1pm pick-up so we could make a 2pm ferry. 1:40 rolls around and no cab. 1:45. Suddenly, our cab driver ripped into our meeting place. He literally threw our bags in the back, yelled at us to get in... and off we went, careening wildly across a winding mountain dirt road that traversed precariously over a steep and bare mountain side- We tried to assure the driver that there was no hurry, as there was NO WAY we would be on time for the ferry- but he persisted rocketing accross Hvar. 1:58 and we're still flying. Cutting off other vehicles (including a small Vespa carrying a father/ young son pair- who just laughed; they must be accustomed to the pre-2pm-ferry-cab panic). Then suddenly, the road drops down from the mountain and the marina appears. The driver squeels into the ferry lot- directly into the loading zone, throws us out of the cab, communicates to the ferry staff in Croatian, and we get on the boat just before they pull out of the dock. 

Back in Split, we immediately ran into our old "landlord", Tomi. He works for friends of his that actually own the room where we previously stayed- and they offered us a good rate for lodging in two rooms of theirs -as well as driving service to and from the Split-vicinity crags each day (thereby saving us the cost of car rental). 

We also finally ran into our first real Croatian climbers out in the wild! (We met others at Cliff Base, but that was about as random or exciting as meeting other climbers at the climbing gym.) We met them at the crag near Split- we were climbing at a cave along a massive limestone ridge-top crown. They were excited to recommend good cliffs in the vicinity (to flesh our the skeletal Croatian climbing guidebook)- and invited us to join them for beers that night (an invitation I accepted, naturally). 

Upon picking us up from climbing the first day, our "landlord" took us back to his home and provided us with fresh fruit (mostly grown at his home), wine (that he had made himself), and the company of his family and friends. The next day, We lunched again at our "favorite" restaurant at which our friend, disco-going Jelena, is the hostess. It was great to run into her again- and we made plans to meet up while we're still in Split.

The weather yesterday finally broke- it went from VERY HOT to VERY RAINY! It seems the weather doesn't do anything in moderation. 

So, now we're occupying ourselves with rain-dodging. It's proven somewhat fruitful, but has lead to some interesting and intense barely sheltered thunder 'n' lightning sessions. Anyway. A few more days left in Croatia... then I'm probably up to Frankenjura, Germany... and hopefully -Ceuse, France shortly thereafter.

Croatia: Split to Hvar

I've officially been out of the US now for almost a full week. Two of those were eaten up with travel and time zone leaps- but the other five days have been enough for us to recover from jet lag, explore the town and climbing of Split, meet up with Nathan and Cheri, ride the ferry to the island of Hvar, and climb for a day-and-a-half at Cliff Base (www.cliffbase.com). And take a rest day.

Dean, Heather, and I arrived in Split on the afternoon of June 10; Nathan and Cheri would not arrive in Croatia until the 13th, so we decided to kill a few days in the town proper, sleeping away our jet lag and checking out the local climbing.

Turns out that Split is an awesome town. It's downtown is definitely a bit touristy, but in an abnormally digestible fashion. The architecture of the town is an amalgamation of old and new-- and it's pretty apparent that the town has not seen any kind of tectonic activity in the last 1000 years, looking around at all of the towering and aged stonework. 

At the heart of the town, right on the coast, is an old Palace into, onto, and around which many newer structures have been built. The town is a maze of architectural entropy that has actually turned out to be quite beautiful. Tall and narrow buildings are fitted into, on top of, and around each other at odd angles and impressive heights. 

As for the climbing in Split- we didn't have a car, so were restricted to climbing within walking distance of the town. (We were too jet lagged to try to rally the bus system.) It turns out that the walkable climbing was more than enough. 

The crag we went to is called Marjan. It's on a peninsula west of the downtown, and is just a 30 or 40 minute walk from our "hotel" (or: room in the basement of a random building). Though the climbing looked less-than-stellar, each route we did climbed quite well, and we learned that the ratings here a full-value. 

Climbing seems to be well-accepted here. At the base of the routes were enough names lacquered  to the rock to help orient you, and park-style wooden benches were scattered along the base of the crag. Even given the nearness of the climbing to Split, the beautiful scenery, and the fun climbing, we still never saw another climber. 

On the 13th, Nathan and Cheri arrived and we hustled them through our version of the Split tour. We downloaded to them all that we had learned: that the ice cream wasn't as good as it looks, that pizza-by-the-slice is not as good as it looks, that the palace has a really cool dungeon underneath, and that you walk directly up hill from the popcorn vendor to get to our room. 

The next morning, we hustled to the pier with our crazy amount of luggage- climbing gear, photography gear, dismembered bodies... and rocked the two-hour ferry ride to the Stari Grad on the Island of Hvar. We took a taxi immediately to Cliff Base (www.cliffbase.com), a privately-owned seaside climbing mini-paradise with nearly a hundred routes, a climber hostel, and deep water soloing. 

Miroslav, the owner of Cliff Base, has been there for seven years- and over that time has developed what is a high-quality limestone crag with nearly 100 routes. Though many of the routes are very, very near each other, each still climbs well and seems to take its own line. Most of the routes are long, too, at 30 to 40 meters. An 80 m rope is the recommended length here! But you can get away without one, as most long climbs have a mid-way anchor. 

Cliff Base is located in a miniscule town with one small food market, one restaurant (the local hang, for sure), and one bar. Miroslav knows everyone, and we've been introduced to the big local vintner, the owner of the restaurant (who is also the owner of our apartment, which is located directly above the restaurant)... Turns out that speaking German is super handy here. Equally as many people speak German as English- so between the two languages, we have been able to cover almost all of our interactions with words!

The climbing is great- usually very solid at the grade. Mostly vertical, technical, and highly dependent on trust-of-friction. There is a small selection of slightly steeper climbs- but most of these are juggy, globby, gaping deep-water solos. 

This is my first go with deep-water soloing, and here it's incredibly fun. The water is beautiful- clear, aqua blue (no way!), and and the perfect temperature. 

We've climbed for 1.5 days here at Cliff Base. No projects yet- all onsighting. But soon I'd like to get on something a bit harder. 

We all agree that today is a mandatory rest day. Muscles tired. Skin shot. Shoes and chalkbags wet. (Deep water soloing!)

The nights I've gone out have been really fun. In Split, I went out with our restaurant hostess, a Croatian girl Yelena -we went to a pier of super cool open air, seaside clubs w/ DJs. 

In Hvar, I got to celebrate by eating a lamb roasted for the women's soccer team who won the year-long, island-wide tournament. When the lamb was eaten (in the town's only restaurant), the party moved downstairs (to the town's only bar). Ended up staying late, listening to the Croatians sing their croatian songs as loudly as possible, joked around, and, predictably (but also understandably), fielded questions about American foreign relations. Slapped high-fives to all the familiar faces around town suffering from hangovers the next day. 

Looks like we'll probably stay here for another night or two- then head off to climb at the island of Brac, and then possibly onto mainland Croatia- Possibly to Paclencia?

Freakin' Croatia, Yeah!

Too jetlagged to post much.... More later. 

Freakin' 'RADO, baby, yeah!

SO. 

I'd never been rock climbing in Colorado before. In fact, I never really go to Colorado-- despite the fact that I have a number of really good friends there- through climbing, college... even from back in the Montana days. 

So when I decided to spend the summer in Europe, and realized I had an extra 10 days free before my transatlantic departure, I started casting lines to see if I could generate a climbing trip for that time chunk.

Chris Goplerud quickly responded to a Facebook post and invited me to come to Colorado- he'd pick me up in Grand Junction (and spare me the risk of driving my ailing car), take me climbing, put me up in his house, loan me climbing and camping gear- and the whole shebang. 

Yes, Chris- thank you. I'll come directly to Colorado.

We attempted to climb at Independence Pass- and enjoyed a few hours of fun bouldering (at the James Brown area), as well as a night session at the Redstone Boulders- but daily rain disallowed any kind of serious Independence Pass climbing, and definitely prohibited any Black Canyon routes. 

So. I went to Rifle Mountain Park for my first time- it was freakin' awesome. Polished and techy? Yes. Fo' sho. But in a way, it was perfect climbing for me post non-climbing-month. Though the climbing is sometimes physical, it's mostly physical in a full-body, twisty-tricky way- and not in a brute force, finger-strength-intensive sort of rejected-if-you've-had-a-month-off sort of way. 

I didn't send (or even attempt) anything heroic, but definitely enjoyed the week.  It rained every day. Sometimes hard. But Chris Kalous lent me his '82 Toyota Dolphin, Del Fuego. This miracle vehicle kept me dry in the worst of weather. 

 

Met some great people, ran into friends from all over, and even got to check out the Bouldering World Cup at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail- where we got to stay with my friend, Alana. 

Anyway. This from the Chicago Airport. I'm off to freakin' Europe (baby!) next. 

Balaz Rides Again!

FIRST DAY OF FREEDOM:

IT'S BEEN A LONG SPRING. I've moved more than once, surfed couches, worked extra hard, packed my stuff, stored it in  friends' basements, (gone back into those basements to retrieve stuff I've prematurely stored,) lost my wallet, lost my mind, found both... 

Also, the last month has been completely devoid of climbing. My joints and muscles were creaking, crunching, and genearlly losing steam. Knowing well that I'm injury-prone, I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to give 'em a rest. It also turns out that I was so freaking busy recently, there really wasn't time to climb anyway. So I now head into three months of climbing all rested and recovered! A bit softer than before, but whatever... There's some battles you just can't fight. 

..

Yesterday, Friday, May 29 was my first official day of this grand summer... I will be working on two books this summer- but don't have any scheduled work until Sept. 

I had one free day in SLC before work, and before leaving for the summer. My friend, Ed, and I had planned to climb on Friday, time permitting. As per our epic-seeking tendencies (see most recent post, below), we decided to not only try for a long, pretty hard multipitch route, but one that would require hours of approaching. Because this particular route tops out at something like 10- or 11,000 feet, much of the approaching would be in serious snow and would require skinning and skiing.

So we got dressed and loaded our bags for a yuppie extravaganza:

Hiking Gear (check)

Ski Touring Gear (check)

Rock Climbing Gear (freakin' check!)

The only thing we were missing was a mountain bike tied to a kayak. With a hemp rope. 

Anyway. To confess: we did not even reach the base of the climb. Our goal was to climb Hogum's Heroes (5.11D, 6 [LONG] pitches) at the top of Hogum's Fork drainage in Little Cottonwood Canyon. But...

It turns out that in springtime after a super-duper snowy winter, the river is FULL! (?) Yes. LCC River = Swift DEATH right now. So... we had to start the approach much farther north in LCC, rather than at the base of Hogum Fork drainiage.

We thought we'd cleverly use a bridge and trail to ascend into Red Pine Basin and just "go up and over a couple of ridges and we'll be right there!" Turns out that once again we got suckered by benign-looking contour lines again on the freindly-looking topo map... Again! (Again: see below post.) Those "little countour lines" actually depict freaking MOUNTAINS covered in freaking ROCKS and SNOW!

The real nail in the plan's coffin was that we had taken a wrong turn early on the hike that took us into White Pine Basin (yet one farther north of Hogum's Fork than Red Pine)... so we basically had no chance of reaching the route on time- far too many rocky, rocky spines, steep slippery snow traverses, miles of seperation, and feet of elevation gain and loss. 

But the good news is: We had a hell of a day of ski touring (my first and presumably only ski day of the year), and I got to see Ed try to ski his split board down. Funny stuff that Ed Lyman split-board snow plow! Also, I got to see the Wasatch Mountains in a way I haven't in a long time... they're truly incredible. And, as with our last mountain epic (below post), Salt Lake City was often in plain view.