Cool crag Val d'Algone

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During the hot summer months climbing at the Lake Garda region can be exhausting due the high temperatures. Thus shady and fresh crags are more than welcome for the thirsty climbers and Val d'Algone nearby Coltura offers one option for those hot days. Today we had such a day and so we decided head towards Val d'Algone.

Val d'Algone is located about 700 meters above the sea level just next to a small mountain rivulet in a shady forest. Crag is not the best option for beginners but for climbers who climb 6a-7b the crag suites well and it has 55 routes to offer. Access to the crag is easy by a car and the parking is just few minutes away from the wall that can be seen from the parking. Approach is not hard but it takes slippery and wet walk over the rivulet. At this time of the year the water was terribly cold like just melted ice, extremely refreshing!

Once we finally passed over to the rivulet to hthe crag we had a sad surprise waiting for us. Most of the lines were still wet from the previous night's rain so Val d'Algone wasn't the best climbing wall for the day. We still decided to check all the routes.

Our conclusion was that the routes seemed demanding and the rock had better grip on the right end of the wall. The left side of the wall was more rounded and partially polished. Most probably polishing is not the fault of climbers but the dripping water that has been smoothing the wall over centuries. In general the crag looks interesting and is worthwhile to visit, just keep in mind that some lines might be hard due the quality of the rock.


Day wasn't still completely wasted, luckily Coltura is just about 5 minutes away from Val d'Algone so we decided to head there. Coltura's main wall is facing most of the day to the sun and the lines nearby the parking are hot. But we noticed that the upper part of the Strada sector  is getting into the shade just at early afternoon. Finally we found a place that was in shade and got some good climbing.

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Val d'Algone, Coltura, 30.6.2014

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Deep water solo climbing at Riva del Garda

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Just a few days a go our first climbing instructor and mountain guide Stefano Angelini / Mountime Group invited us to visit the Millet's Garda Climbing Challenge 2014 event to the Arco Climbing Stadium. An excellent opportunity to see top notch Millet Team International climbers and enjoy a casual evening with local fellows. Millet's two day event included climbing competition, relaxed evening  party and deep water solo climbing day at Riva del Garda for the 2nd day.

After the relaxed evening at the climbing arena we decided to participate for the next day's deep water solo climbing event. The great opportunity came with a price of an early wake-up. Our alarm clocks rang at 6:45 for the misty and cold morning. After sleepy and slow morning we decided to carry on with the initial plan and head towards the climbing arena where the climbing crew gathered. Once all eyes were finally open we headed to Riva where pedal boats were waiting for eager climbers.

Weather wasn't too promising when we arrived to Riva del Garda. But it doesn't matter when you have the right spirit and enthusiast climbers with one goal, get up to the wall as high as possible.

In  just about 15 minutes from Riva del Garda all the climbers had their pedaling boats at the climbing wall that is located just below the old via Ponale road. Once first accents were on their way the unexpected happened, as a surprise the sky became clear and sun started to shine. That was the final thing needed for a perfect deep water solo climbing morning.


The only limiting factor for the schedule was the midday when Péler winds turn to the more stronger Ora wind. Ora is great for windsurfers but too strong for pedal boats heading back to Riva. Still the return wasn't that bad because the perfect morning. On top of that Millet invited all of us for the final gathering lunch and social event back to Arco Climbing Arena.

Great and definitely a different day with the Millet Team International climbers, this time extended by the amateur Finns for the very first time;) The rock was hard and the water was cold!

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Riva del Garda, Deep water solo, 25.6.2014

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Visiting at the Balter winery in Rovereto

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After the midday visit at the museum our day at Rovereto continued with a visit to the Balter winery. Winery is located in an old castle dating back to the 16th century. The former castle has been serving as Balter family winery since 1872 for four generations. All the grapes of the Balter wines and spumantes are also grown in the surrounding 10 hectares. Balter is relatively small but quality winery, producing a bit more than 70 000 bottles a year, main product being Trento DOC spumante.


We were lucky with our our visit because we didn't organized the exhibition upfront.  Actually we just found the winery from the recommended Trento wineries and walked in to see if they can give us a tour. We got an excellent welcoming, staff welcomed us friendly and gave us an a great overview of their winery and wines. And of course they let us see the whole process and the undergound winery facilities. Balter winery facilities were underground so that the original castle and surroundings would stay intact.

And as usual they let us taste and experience their high quality Trento DOC Spumante and other wines. We are more than grateful for the Balter winery for letting us visit without a notice. A definitely place to visit if you appreciate professional wine makers and artisan skills. And the the Balter's spumante is definitely excellent quality as the Trento DOC spumantes are. Recommended!

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Rovereto, Balter winery, 25.6.2014

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Castello di Rovereto - Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra

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Weather has been a bit more unpredictable during this summer than usually. Forecasts have been showing rain and thunderstorms and colder for the whole week which is uncommon. Luckily most of the forecasts have been wrong and only small occasional rains haven't  prevented us from outdoor activities. But today was different, the rain started in the early morning and it was clear that we should come up something else to do than outdoor sports.

Luckily we had got Guest Card Trentino from our apartment. The guest card offers free entries to museums, nature parks and castles and free public transportation in the Trento province. It was obvious choice, we decided to see one of the museums and winery nearby and we decided to visit Castello di Rovereto.

The castle is located in Rovereto about 25 kilometers from Riva del Garda. Castello di Rovereto is built in medieval times and upgraded later during renaissance era. At that time it was turned into an alpine fortress by Venetians. Nowadays the castle houses Italian Historical War Museum - Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra. The war museum has been founded just after the great war in 1921 and it focuses on the Great War. On top of the WWI the exhibitions museum has also impressive collection of medieval, renaissance and Napoleonic era's arms and military gear.

Majority of the museum still focus on the World War I and pre-WWI era. Exhibitions gives a great overview of the Austro-Hungarian empire's and Italy's activities over the WWI in the region. The Great War had a strong impact to the region and some of the excellent mountain trails of the region are from that era.  Lot of the trekking and mountain biking itineraries in the province are made just in the pre-WWI or during WWI era by the the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies, like the infamous via Ponale and King Tremalzo's war roads.  And on top of that majority of the via ferratas were initially designed for helping soldiers to move safely at the mountains. The Great War and major fights happened just 100 years ago which is not that long time a go, a good reminder for all of us of the dark days human nature and the value of peace.

Castello di Rovereto was only the first half of the day. Second half was more relaxed in a local Balter winery at Rovereto. More about that in the next article.

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Rovereto, Castello di Rovereto, 25.6.2014

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Massi di Prabi and La Festa della Musica

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Just few days a go we met Tero, Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI) candidate at Regina del Lago and already today we got his into action. Tero promised to help out our newcomers Juha and Niina by having a training day for them. And what could be a better place than Massi di Prabi, climbers playground for such a course.

It is quite common to see Italian RCIs to organize classes at Massi di  Prabi for climbers but I bet this was the very first "official" rock climbing training held in Arco in Finnish. Tero performed very well and it was a pleasure to assist him and see how professional instructor turns newcomers into sport climbers. After a long day our newcomers Juha and Niina were ready for their upcoming climbing challenges independently.

Our training day was organized at Massi di Prabi that  is not necessary the most challenging rope climbing experience but fits perfectly for training purposes. Crag offers good facilities to train lead climbing, anchor work and belaying. And if you are looking for bouldering problems with the crash pad then this is a worthwhile location to see.

And after the long training day it was time to celebrate the midsummer. In Finland we have a midsummer party called Juhannus. While in Arco we have a great alternative midsummer party called La Festa della Musica. Festival that turns the old city into a big music and dancing party. Stages and bands are all over the city with all kind of different music styles for free. For the usual pace of the city this this festival turned it upside down to something unexceptional. All the streets were crowded and mix of different music styles was playing on the background. This was the 2nd time in a row when we are spending the midsummer here in Arco, not a bad alternative for the Finnish Juhannus.

 





















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Arco, Massi di Prabi - La Festa della Musica, 21.6.2014

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Back to the old, good and solid

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Just the next day after our arrival it was time to head back to the rock walls. Three days by car takes its toll and expectations weren't high for the  1st climbing day. Goal was to climb long and beautiful 6 graded routes in a nice environment. Perfect target for the first day was one of our favorite crags, Regina Del Lago at the Ledro Valley.

Approach to the Regina can be hard in a hot summer day due the long and steep path to the crag. 
Luckily our expectations were wrong, the weather was perfect 24 Celsius degrees. Over recent years we have got used to the hot summer days that are exhausting for bikers and climbers and can drain all the energy before the actual activity. But this summer seems to be different. Based on the local's knowledge the whole summer has been more or less colder than usual. Of course 'colder' is not 'cold' in terms of Finns and the temperature is actually perfect for outdoor sports.

Maybe one reason for the cooler weather is the number of Finns around here. For the first time we actually heard a spoken Finnish at the crag, 2 fellow climbers Tero and Viivi from Jyväskylä. They were visiting Lake Garda for the very first time and Tero was getting ready to his RCI (Rock Climbing Instructor) training at the Dolomite mountains. That was a perfect coincidence, we got a RCI candidate to teach rock climbing for our soon to be arriving guests Juha and Niina. Great!

For the 2nd climbing day at 20th of June we headed to the L'Orto that us just at the backyard of Arco. But backyard doesn't mean that the approach is a walk in a park to a picnic camp. Actually it was the opposite. It took about 50 minutes by feet from our apartment at Arco up to L'Orto.

The crag has short to medium length routes with nice and challenging moves. Overall grading of the routes is solid but the routes have started to polish since the last visit. L'Orto used to be known from fresh rock, which it still has, but popular routes have started to polish and the roughness of the rock is permanently lost from few 6 graded routes. Still a good crag to visit!

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Arco, L'Orto-Regina, 19.-20.6.2014

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Return to Arco and Trentino

Here we are again! Just three months ago we got a taste of the late winter snow at Madonna di Campiglio and early spring climbing at Ledro Valley. Now it is time to for a whole month at Lake Garda region. 

Drive from Helsinki to Arco takes more than 26 hours by car. Over three days by car is not the fastest way to travel but the only viable option for having 2 dogs, climbing and mountain biking gear packed together. Road trip by car offers a great opportunity to see a completely different side of the Germany than the urban and crowded big cities. By picking small hotels from the countryside we have been able to see a glimpse of more traditional lifestyle. I have to admit that it is actually relaxing to hear the noises of cows and wild animals after the busy day at the highway. And when it comes to highways Germany is well known for having the fastest roads in Europe, except this summer! We learned that knowing the roadworks and closed roads upfront is more than valuable. Our usual way to Italy passes Hamburg. For this summer Hamburg was full of roadworks and closed ramps that had blocked or even disabled the traffic completely. Luckily expensive roaming internet access and phone's handicapped online navigation saved as a day!

What surprised us on highways was the amount of German flags attached on the cars. Germans are visibly proud for winning their very 1st game in the FIFA worldcup in Brazil. We were just wondering that how you can attach a small flagpole on the car that holds at the speed of 160 km/h.

For this year we are not alone, our long time friends Sami, Nora and Jarkko will be joining us later as well my brother Juha and his girlfriend Niina. And on top of that Sami and Nora has invited few of their friends to visit at Arco too over the weeks. It looks like that we are turning Arco into a Finnish town during June and July.

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Helsinki-Arco, 18.6.2014

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