Spring climbing over Ledro Valley

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Twisted winter holiday, we are climbing more than snowboarding. Well you got to do what feels good.  So today we visited Regina del Lago's sector A that is excellent choice for 6a/b climbers. We know the crag already but during the last summer we had only time to visit the B sector. 

Regina offers great views over Val di Ledro and routes are long and excellent for 5-6 climbers. Approach is relatively quick, about 20-30 minutes and the path is mostly clear to follow. Crag is hot during the summer days but excellent for the spring climbing. It should be climbable starting from February so it is definitely a place to visit during winter.

Our last visit was at the B sector and now when comparing the sectors they offer a varied type of climbs. Most of them are positive and some are slabs but A sector has also corner crags offering great variation to other routes. The right side of the A sector seemed to be more interesting when it comes to routes.

During the day we noticed that the air was full of dust that was also blocking randomly GPS, normally Lake Garda would be visible from the top. So if you wonder the photos that is most probably the reason. Great day, great crack. We will be back.

 


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Madonna di Campiglio, Regina del Lago, 20.3.2014 March

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Another good spring climbing crag - Croz de le Niere

Our winter holiday is turning slowly but surely into a spring climbing holiday. Instead of snowboarding we decided to check out one of the nearby crag that we visited once during the last summer. Hot topic of the day is Croz de le Niere.

Croz de le Niere has easy to access and offers good rock. Crag has total of five sectors from grades 4-8 so its a pretty nice place to visit for any level of climber. You can read more about it when we visited it the first time during the last summer.

Croz de le Niere seems to be also good for early spring climbing. When compared to Coltura, Croz de le Niere is not as hot and some of the routes start to turn in to the shadows earlier in the afternoon. Still the location remains warm, today the temperature was about 17 celsius degrees. Some of the sectors may be in the shadows sooner and few may stay under sun shine for almost the whole day.

We had some good climbing, but be aware of the bolting. Some of the older routes may have more distant bolting. Lot of routes start also from the middle of the wall as a second pitch. Belaying can be done from a comfortable hatch so second climber can bring some water and snack if you are planning to climb more routes from the middle.

Heta's 5b lead.

Mika's 6a lead.

Spring colors.

Sector A - La Formica.

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Madonna di Campiglio, Croz de le Niere, 19.3.2014March 21, 2014

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Views over Madonna

This time the blog entry is brief, just few photos of the impressive and breathtaking views over Madonna di Campiglio.

Heta posing!

Mika posing!

 And same stuff in a Picasa album:

Madonna di Campiglio, 18.3.2014

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Summer in the middle of a winter holiday

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We have been wondering for some time now if it would be possible to have a holiday where both, winter and summer activities could be combined. And now, almost accidentally, that dream is actually coming true. 

After the day at Madonna di Campiglio's snowy slopes we decided to see if the nearby rock climbing cracks are already accessible. Plan was to find a reasonable late winter climbing crag nearby Madonna di Campiglio. Based on the climbing guidebooks we spot a suitable crag called Sunny Place nearby Stenico. Guidebook claimed that it would be perfect during the early spring but too hot during the summer months. And it would take less than hour and is located only 45 kilometers away from Madonna.

So we decided to head down to Stenico. After the first 20 minutes once the narrow serpentine road was cleared down to Pinzolo we noticed that the outside temperature had raised up to 16 Celsius degrees. Day actually started to look promising for rock climbing.

After half an hour of driving we realized that our path would pass one of our favorite crag, Coltura. Pretty soon after that Coltura's high walls were in front of us facing the sun. It became immediately clear that instead of the additional driving and 30 minutes approach march we would start climbing immediately. At the same time the outside temperature was showing amazing 22 degrees. All of a sudden winter changed into a warm summer day. Luck or what, but for some reason we had packed our summer clothes with us. Now it became clear that light clothing and sun lotion were actually needed.

Temperature at the wall was even higher than 22 degrees, most probably around 26 Celsius degrees, giving a distant glimpse of the hot summer months. So season's opening climbs reminded us about the requirements for hot summer days, you just can't drink too much! This was an excellent opening for the upcoming rock climbing season!

Oh, about the routes, I don't know if it is the weather or lack of skills but my maximum heart rate during the hardest climb was 202. It is high even for younger fellows, so I guess that the route was demanding enough for an old fart.

Heta is pushing hard.

Madonna is somewhere there 35 kilometers away.

Sun is just slipping behind the mountains.

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Madonna di Campiglio, Coltura, 17.3.2014

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Madonna di Campiglio

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Madonna di Campiglio - 150 kilometers of runs to go. Madonna is definitely on of the big alp resorts that spreads over Pinzolo and Ragoli (including Madonna).  Dominating silhouettes of the Brenta Dolomite mountains are the recognizable face of the resort. Beauty of the Dolomite mountains is also recognized globally and mountains are declared into a World Heritage Site On 26 June 2009 by UNESCO.

Madonna is located 1500 above the sea level and offers a good snow even during March. We don't know if this is a typical spring weather here but there is still plenty of snow on and off-pistes. Off-piste skiing is not necessary on its best anymore but still it looks like that there are plenty of runs to go at late spring.

Access to the lift and slopes is easy and convenient even for snowboarders, which is not always the case at the alp resorts. Snowboarders and freestyle skiers are also well taken care of by offering well designed and maintained parks.

Slopes are relatively easy at least on the Madonna's side of the resort and most of them can be recommended even for the beginners. Still offering several black runs and good off-pistes Madonna di Campiglio has definitely enough runs from a beginner to experienced skiers.

During March the high season is already over but during the weekends the whole resort turns into a snow party and restaurants and popular runs are quite crowded. That changes immediately when the weekend is over so there will be plenty of space for skiing after the busy weekends.

Heta and Dolomites.

Partial map of the lifts and pistes.

Heta snowboarding down a black run.

Center of Madonna is good for pedestrians

 
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Madonna di Campiglio, 16.3.2014

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Back to Trentino-Alto Adige

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It has been already six months since our last visit in Italy so it was about time to head back, this time for a winter holiday week. And the target is again our all time favorite Trentino-Alto Adige.  For the winter activities the obvious choice is to head to Dolomite mountains, located about 70 kilometers north from Arco. Our exact target in the Dolomite mountains is Madonna di Campiglio.

Madonna di Campiglio has a long and respectable history. Madonna has been a target for numerous mountain climbers since the end of the 19^th century when they begin to explore the challenges of the Brenta Dolomites.  The local mountaineering association, Società Alpinisti Tridentini, was also founded already in 1872.

Travelling from Finland to Dolomite mountains is easy, direct flight and then by car. For us the biggest issue was the early morning flight schedules. To catch the flight we had to wake-up at 4:30 am. Early wake-up itself is not that bad but due the work and packing we had only 3,5 hours of sleep before wake-up call.

Flight from Helsinki to Milan took only about 3 hours and then additional 3,5 hours by car. Having all the necessary paperwork for the car and few additional delays our total traveling time from Helsinki to Madonna took total of 11 hours. So you can guess that we were tired like rags once we finally arrived to Madonna di Campiglio.

But it was worth of all the pain. It is still good snow here, great overall weather and temperature is excellent, so it is looking good. Waiting anxiously to get up to the mountains tomorrow!

Best regards,
Heta & Mika

80 kilometers before Madonna.

View towards the peaks from our balcony.

What a skyline!

Peaks colored by the evening sun.

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