Multipitch team up and training day at Corno di Bo'

Last year we did our multipitch training and first 100 meters at Corno di Bo'. We chose to go there again to build our three person multipich team.

Corno di Bo' is  a perfect place to train and get team organized. This year Heta decided to join to the team so we had to practice with to prepare for actual multi pitch climbs.

Climbing at Corno di Bo' is on a slightly slippery slab where 5c parts can be tricky if you are not familiar with flat slabs. Resting at the wall is also quite hard because there are no good belay spots where to stand and rest. Bolting is good and a pretty much a straight line to the top so team can focus on climbing, rope management and belaying.

Next multipitch will be at Parete Zebrata, Zo Le Man, 120 meters. More about that on the upcoming posts.

Team at the top.

Jarkko looking over Riva del Garda.

View from the top of the Corno di Bo' (100 meters from the bottom).

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Windy views and refreshing evening at Cavédine

Route from Nago to Cavédine.

After opera at Verona we decided to have a short climbing day and then afterwads enjoy a refreshing evening at Lago di Cavediné. So far during the holiday we have been visiting on new crags but today our choice was to go back to Beldevere and see the more demanding B sector.

Sector B has longer routes and  some of them are overhanging. Best part is that the sector is located clearly on a higher altitude than the A sector. Higher altitude and the average route height of 16 meters means that climbing feels more exposed. At this sector climber has a great views to watch during the whole ascent and the winds of the lake adds a cool and refreshing factor for the whole way up to the top.

Most important lesson of the day was that even the latest and the greatest topo books might have mistakes on route maps. At Beldevere it seemed that most of the routes listed on the latest "Arco Rock" guidebook from 2010 edition were wrong. Luckily there is an informative topo map at the crag. Somehow the grades and the routes were so badly mixed at the book that the local topo table was only clear way to see the routes. I included the actual topo and grades of the of the sector B to the article.

Actual routes.

We had time to try only few routes where grades were from 5c to 6a+. I usually climb 5c on-sight but at Beldevere's sector B I couldn't. It was more likely 6a/6a+ at the top. I also spoke with couple of Italian climbers and they pretty agreed that route is definitely more demanding than 5c. So be prepared for trickier parts even on a warmup route.

Top view from Beldevere B sector towards Torbole.

After short but intense climbing day we decided to avoid a holiday rush towards Torbole and instead of that we headed to the Lago di Cavediné. It is a smaller lake than Garda but big enough for a windsurfing school that is located nearby the beach. It is about 15 kilometers from Nago next to a narrow asphalt road heading towards north. It is definitely a worthwhile to visit especially when own activities are nearby the lake. Water is clear but felt colder than at lake Garda. Visiting after a hot summer day is preferred.

Sadly our holiday is about to end and we have only one more adventure left. Then after that it is all about packing up the gear and head back to Finland. Heading back means a car drive of "only" 2500 kilometers...

Behind the back view towards Nago and Torbole.

Lago di Cavédine

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Tall walls of Nago

Nago's parking next to a ranch house.

After Massone day we wanted to see one of the biggest crag at the Garda region. Obvious choise for the day's excursion was Nago. This was also the last climbing day for Jarkko and Sami so we wanted to have something spectacular or at least high to climb.

The official Arco topo book states thart the crag might be overcrowded but our experince wasn't that bad. Of course there was other people climbing but most of the time there was a free route to pick.

Nago is huge in all countable ways; the number of routes, grades and heights. Crag has six sectors and total of 139 routes. Heights of the routes varies from 10 meters up to the 40 meters and grades start from 4b and end up to 8c. Average height of the routes is around 22 meters and average grade around 6b.

Jarkko leading "Take it easy"
- 5c, 25m.

During the day we climbed only few routes but the gained meters we good. We completed several 25 meters 5c routes and Sami did one 25 meters 6a route that was facing to the sun all the way from the bottom to the top.

Surprisingly the longer (25 meters) easy routes (5b-5c) weren't badly polished. Worst line was one of the 4c line that was more likely 5c because of the polished rock on the steep sections. Based on our experiences it looked like that routes greater than 5 or longer than 20 meters are in a decent shape.

Heta topping.

As a conclusion we agreed that Nago is definitely worthwhile to visit but be aware that some of the routes migh be badly polished and temperature during the hot afternoons might be an issue. During the summer months most of the tall walls are hot to climb but before 11 o'clock walls are mostly in shadow. It is a good idea to visit the crag early in the morning if you want to climb tall and difficult routes during the summer.

We got what we expected, tall walls. And once more thanks to Sami and Jarkko for nice time here at Lake Garda. I'll continue with Heta here to to seek new rock adventures. Ciao!

See photos of the day from Flickr >>

Top view.

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Anaconda freeride run

GPS map of the day.

It was time for a good trail run. Having a good trail means also a long ascent with a lot of pedaling. Target trail for the day was Anaconda that is one of the most enjoyable rides that I have rode at the Lake Garda region. Trail starts from a village Santa Barbara at 1170 meters. To get there we had to pedal uphill around 1100 meters via road SP88 that eventually ends up to Santa Barbara.

For some reason we started the day slighly later than usually. We left from Villa Nicole at noon at the hottest moment of the day. For our luck the temperature was only 34 celcius degrees and there was actually a good propability for a rain.

Having a break.

Our pedaling part took about 2 hours and 20 minutes. During the climb we had our first break in a shadow after the first 300 vertical meters. It was essential to choose a shadowed spot for the breaks, otherwise we would have run out our water supplies too early. After the first stop we had a break after every 200 meters of pedaling. This may sound lousy for a street biker but for a trail biker with a heavy bike to pedal and to carry all the essential protective gear it is decent uphill. 

Start of the trail.

Once the pedaling part was completed up to, the Santa Barbara, we found the trail by turning right to a dirt road just before the center of the village. Actual trail found soon after that on the right side of the dirt road. Anaconda trail is starting a trekking path number 637 and the beginning point was easy to find.

Trail starts with a smooth part with good nature banks that allows to ride fast. Regular cross country riders can enjoy the same trail just with less speed. There were few small upphills at the trail, but overall it was a smooth and enjoyable ride. First part continues to Malga Fiavei. From there the trail follows the dirt road for some time. Soon after Malga Fiavei there was a bike path separating to the left side form the dirt road. Spot can be racognized easily, there are log steps covered with some sand for trekkers. Anaconda follows that path down to Nago. This part of the trail was more demanding and I would recommend cross country riders to continue on the dirt road to Arco instead of the bike trail. From this point further Anaconda shows it's true nature.

Altitude and speed chart of the day.

Last parts of the trail was quite demanding even for a Garda veteran. Lots and lots of loose stones and sharp rock on endless paths. Trail is definitely ridable but on some parts I felt that I should have known better what is coming up. I bet that it pays to ride this part few times in a row to learn all the best lines and turns on the most difficult spots.

Finally we arrived to Nago where everyone of us ran out of water. That left us only one option: to ride a nice and easy dirt road towards Arco. Great day, total of 5 hours and 30 minutes of good riding. For me a hard biking day means that I'm obligated to eat ice cream as much I can swallow! Not a bad deal.

Freeriding at the Anaconda trail.

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Sport climbing at Beldevere

Top view from Beldevere towards Torbole, nice!

It is a time for the first sport climbing session at Lake Garda. Our goal was to find a crag to get more familiar with the local rock. Finding a spot for climbers who have been rock climbing less than a year is not an obvious task. For our team Beldevere was an excellent choice, because it has a lot of well bolted routes where you can pick any one of the lines without thinking too much about the grades.

So we packed our gear in the early in the morning to head towards Nago and Beldevere. Beldevere is easy to find, just head towards Arco from Nago by following the road SS240. There is a good parking on the left side of the road nearby the mast. Beldevere is the grey wall behind the woods on the opposite side of the parking slot.

Jarkko climbing route number 6 "Ale'Gher"  - 5a at Beldevere.

Once car was parked we headed to the crag by following a path that started on the other side of the road. Beldevere has two sectors, A and B. We headed to the sector A that has 20 routes from 3c to 6a. Length of the pitches varies between 8 to 12 meters.

It took about a 5 minutes to get to the crag and another 10 minutes to locate a free starting route. Beldevere seems to be relatively popular since at 9:30 half of the routes were reserved. Still it didn't felt too busy and switching the routes was easy and quick. Beldevere is mostly in shade so for the belayer it was a nice environment to belay. For the climber shade lasted up to 4 meters and after that climber became well exposed to the sun.

During the day we climbed between 6 to 9 routes per climber and everyone of us felt that Beldevere managed to fulfill our expectations.We can recommend the crag, if you want to climb 4-6 graded routes. But be aware, you are not going to be alone at the Beldevere during the August.

See photos from Flickr

Sami and Heta belaying routes 4 - "Fessa" (5a) and 6 - "Ale'Gher" (5a).

Parking on the left side of the road. Access via trail from the other side of the road.

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