Dolomites adventure

For almost three weeks in the Dolomites. 
So much to do, so scary, so beautiful!



Day 1. 
Via Demetz-Guck



Day 2. 

We have no idea what we climbed :(
The idea was the Messner on the 2. Sellaturm. 
Some other climbers said the route was wet and bailed without trying. 
We climbed on what seemed the first pitch and since then we were "lost" on the wall. Every 10 to 15 meters we found something as pro (little cords, scary nut/cam placements and inventive pitons) Meanwhile underneath us another group started and bailed on the first pitch...
Thanks to Dennis motivation and all our pitons we made it to the top. 
A local guide told us that the route was almost always wet and he had big respect for us climbing the face of that wall. He also told us the actual start of the route was more to the left. No idea which 'left' he meant.
The Messner is originally just 8 pitches graded UIAA 6. We did it in at about 15 pitches with all the traversing. The grade felt like somewhere in between UIAA 6 and 7+.
Welcome to the Dolomites?




Day 3. 

First 30min hike uphill, then a big 3,5hour educational 'climb' through the historical Italian WW1 tunnels to the top of the cliff then 1,5hr hike to the start of the viaferrata, then 1hr of 'wire-climbing' (yes we were fast) and then 1,5hrs walking back to the car. It wasn't real climbing, it was supposed to be a restday but it was so much fun!



Day 4. Restday in the super touristic Cortina, and it's raining. Perfect planning :)

Later when we have a better internet connection pictures and more of course. 

Much later: Venice (Venezia). 

Ötztal for a day - in Dutch

Samen met Dennis en onze oldtimer bus, Climbuz genaamd, zijn we de komende maand in de Alpen. We noemen onze tochten eigenlijk nooit vakantie, want het is heel hard werken. Meestal als we weer terug in Nederland zijn, hebben we een week nodig om weer bij te komen. 

Kilo's lichter, moe en zin om niks te doen. Dat niks doen ben ik eigenlijk niet zo goed in. Dat heb ik van mijn ouders denk ik. Die zijn allebei gymdocent. 

We gingen dan ook nooit naar een 'zonvakantie' in de zomer. Mijn jongere broer en ik mochten uitkiezen waar we heen zouden gaan (met wat sturing van mijn ouders natuurlijk). En na wat jaar Belgische Ardennen werd het opeens Oostenrijk. 

Het eerste jaar was het Voralberg en daarna vonden we een vast plekje in het Ötztal. We gingen wandelen, spelen aan de riviertjes, bosbessen plukken, stenen verzamelen, krekels vangen, over boomwortels heen rennen en springen, bloemetjes plukken en zeldzame bloemetjes zoeken (maar die mocht ik niet plukken van mijn moeder) en als er regende gingen we tekenen of spelletjes doen. 

Ik vond het verschrikkelijk om weer terug naar huis te moeten. M'n moeder zei dan dat we naar Villa Amuda gingen. Dan dacht ik dat we nog ergens anders heen gingen, maar Villa Amuda was gewoon de ouderwetse naam voor Muiden, de plaats waar ik woonde. Heel gemeen vond ik dat.

In het Ötztal is het voor mij eigenlijk allemaal een beetje begonnen. Het begin van wat ik nu doe: klimmen.
Mijn broer en ik waren altijd fit en we hadden veel energie. Ik was zelfs boos als we een rustdag hadden. 'Want we hadden nog niet alles gedaan.' 's Ochtends vroeg was ik dan al wakker, met kriebels in mijn buik; weer een dag vol rennen, wandelen, stenen zoeken, beekjes oversteken een meer! 

Een dag op de camping vond ik verschrikkelijk. Mijn ouders zelf ook. Dus op rustdagen liepen we wel altijd naar de waterval, gingen we lopend door het dorp om ontbijt te kopen en later op de dag om avondeten te kopen. Omdat we veel wilden konden we ook veel ondernemen. 

Een paar keer per vakantie huurden we een gids in voor bijzondere wandelingen. Wandelingen over gletsjers en meer. Echte huttentochten waar je een pickel en stijgijzers voor nodig had. Veel mensen waren dan verbaasd om  ons daar te zien. In het begin was mijn broer (van twee jaar jonger) ook nog maar zes, zeven, acht jaar oud. Wel vrij jong om een wandeling van tien uur te maken met gletsjeroversteek. 

Op één van onze wandelingen, zo'n twintig jaar geleden, naar het hutje 'Wiesle' kwamen we langs rotsen en daar waren ze op aan het klimmen. Zó gaaf vond ik dat! 

Voor mijn (kinder)gevoel heb ik úúúúren zitten kijken naar die mensen die daar omhoog bewogen. En toen we terug van Wiesle liepen kwamen we er wéér langs dus kon ik nog een keer heel lang kijken. Op m'n hurken, starend omhoog, m'n handen onder mijn kin, ellebogen rustend op mijn dijen, zat ik die klimmers te bewonderen. 

En misschien omdat ik het zo mooi vond, ik weet het niet, mocht ik ook even zo'n gordel aan en omhoog klimmen. Natuurlijk kon ik het helemaal niet en ik kwam nauwelijks van de grond. Maar wat vond ik dat gaaf! Dat wilde ik ook als ik later groot was.

Tot en met mijn negentiende vond ik het nog steeds leuk om samen met mijn broer en ouders op vakantie te gaan. En soms was dat weer het Ötztal waar we heen gingen.

Onze tochten met gids werden steeds uitdagender. De 'beroemde' Wildspitze hadden we al lang geleden beklommen, dus werden er steeds lastigere dingen bedacht door ons samen met de gids. Toen zei ik altijd tegen mijn vader; "als jullie hier geboren zouden zijn waren jullie vast gids geworden in plaats van gymnastiekleraar". 
Mijn vader zei altijd "ja". 

Ik zat er vaak over te denken, misschien wil ik zelf wel berggids worden. Maar hoe doe je dat als je in Nederland woont? Toen ik ging studeren vond ik een studentenklimclub. Zekeren kon ik al want in de gymzaal had mijn vader een klimwand laten maken. Dus ik mocht mee naar de klimhal. 

Eén keer per maand klimmen werd één keer per week, twee keer per week, drie keer per week... En toen was ik toch echt verslaafd. Dat kleine meisje dat ooit zei "dat wil ik ook" deed opeens zelf wat ze toen zo indrukwekkend had gevonden. 

Nu tien jaar nadat ik voor het laatst in het Ötztal was reden we bijna toevallig langs het Ötztal. Dus ik moest er heen, naar de vallei waar het ooit begon. 

En daar stond ik dan vandaag, aan de wand waar ik zelf als klein meisje naar stond te kijken. En daar kon ik opeens zelf helemaal naar boven klimmen! Wat een supergevoel!

Via Ferrata with a view

Yesterday was the last of the four day family trip with Dennis parents and brothers.

I found a great viaferrata not far from Chamonix "Via Ferrata de Curalla". Located on the 'Plateau d'Assy close to the village 'Passy'. The guidebook even stated that it was Europe's best and most beautiful one.

Sure, Dennis and I are both more interested in hard climbing then doing a simple viaferrata but as we were with Dennis brothers we thought it would be a good alternative for sunbathing and swimming at Lac du Passy.

Only one of Dennis brothers joined us, Arno.

We drove to the Chemin du Curalla to find a marked parking just uphill in a side street. 

It's supposed to be one of the busiest tours around so we expected loads of beginners. But we were the only ones around.

Close to the parking there's a small shop where you can rent viaferrata sets. 

As we have our own we didn't check the quality. Just want to say that you should be careful and check the safety of your equipment yourself too.

A short 15min hike with signs guiding you in the right direction brought us to the start of the cliff

The viaferrata was graded as AD+ which means just two trades harder then the easiest viaferrata in the grading system. 

When climbing the first meters we found the steep 'nails' in the wall topically harder then AD+ and Arno found it all pretty scary.

We were surprised how well equipped the whole tour was. Perfect over engineered cables, no sharp endings and super solid and and foot placements throughout the whole tour.

The tour has some great bridges guiding you over a big left going traverse to the top of the cliff. 

The view, especially with clear weather, is amazing. One of the 4 meter long bridges is called 'Pont du Mont Blanc'. And with a reason; when you look back from that bridge you have a perfect view on the Mont Blanc.

Though, it's a South facing wall on a height of 1400m making it one big 'grill' when climbing t on a Sunny day.

Make sure you bring enough water and protection against the sun when you decide to go on a bright mid-Summer day.

For an AD+ graded tour I found some sections very 'airy'. And the sometimes slightly overhanging climbing will be hard when you're less fit. 

Also children will have trouble clipping the cable as there's quite a distance between the 'nails' and on the 'cable-bridge' the safety-cable is high above your head. That makes it all quite safe, but hard to clip when you're smaller.

If you're experienced with belaying and the use of a rope on viaferrata's it's possible to use the 'pig-tails' that are secured every three to five meters. This would make the tour a lot safer and easier for climbers that are smaller and/or less experienced.

The guidebook said it would take you 1:30 to do the whole climb. We did it in 1:20h. And we're fairly experienced and as the weather wasn't too good we wanted to hurry a bit to be in time before any rain or thunder would hit us.

We concluded that an average climber would do the tour in 1:45h or more instead of 1:30h.

After an 'airy' ending with yet again a small bridge you end up at the top of the plateau. A marked path leads you down to the parking in a 20 to 40 minute hike with some fairly steep down hill sections. 

All the paths are well maintained especially if you consider it a real mountain-path.

After the climb we drove back to Lac du Passy where we went for a cooling swim.

A brilliant ending of the day was the pizzeria I can really recommend in the town Sallanches.

Super good pizza with Eco-ingredients for a very good price.

Only the logo-sign of the place might scar you a bit, but don't worry, really, it's a good place.

Urlaub

We're on our way.
The engine in Climbuz seems to hold just fine. Some little parts (like the dashboard indicators) aren't working yet and some things still need to be fixed (with Sugru).
And Dennis knows how to fix it all.
Love having my personal mechanic (oh, that sounds wrong...)



And as Climbuz still is not a Porsche or Ferrari we had a climbing stop at Kronthal (yay, sandstone!)



Urlaub, the German word for holiday.

That's what most people call it when you leave your house and get on the road to some sunny destination.
And thats what we just did. At about.

Only difference is that we don't call this holiday. It's our way of living and we have to work for it. Really hard.
Part of our 'holiday' was our annual trip to OutDoor in Friedrichshafen.
Meet our sponsors, see new gear, get a good view on the market I work at (the Outdoor industry), and most special thing this year was the lecture I gave.

And it all went so well.
People were interested, motivated and had so much positive feedback on my lecture.
I'm so motivated now to do this again :)

Other great thing is our new awesome sponsor.
Awesome because they make functional bling-bling.
Eyewear.
And not just a plastic piece that makes you feel like it's all dark outside.
No, real sunglasses. You can even get them shaped for you when you're wearing glasses in your every-day life too.
Luckily I don't need that, but it's possible, and thats cool.
The next weeks in the Alps will be a good test to see how my new shiny sunglasses will last.
If you're interested in bling-bling too, then like the Facebook page and visit the website 
Oh, curious to know what brand?
Julbo, of course :)
(What other brand makes glasses that are actually functional)

And after all that good news we drove to Chamonix. With a sleepover next to a beautiful river at Därstatten (Swiss).







Reason for the sleepover was the stupid petrol-station that took our €50,- but didn't supply us with any Diesel in return.
We had to wait until the shop would be open again to get our €50,- back.
Unfortunately we now missed the finals of the European Championships (sportsclimbing) in Chamonix.



After a break to meet up with Dennis parents (who will join our climbing trip for this week) and a hitchhiker we arrived at camping 'Mer de Glace' close to Chamonix.
It quite weird to be at a campsite. Climbuz isn't used to campsites, and we find it strange to suddenly be inbetween so many weird campsite-people again.
Hopefully we'll manage and get enough climbing done this week.



For now: need-to-climb-need-to-feed-addiction-...

Because of our little petrol issue we didn't have a chance to climb yet (for FOUR days!)
So I need to make up for all the non climbing.
I always feel so guilty towards myself when I haven't climbed for three days. Imagine four days...
The running and hiking I've done instead doesn't count to me... I really need to pull on rock (or ice).

Speedclimbing, Climbuz and the Outdoor lecture

The last week before real climbing starts again.

It's finally Sunny here in the Netherlands, making it feel like Summer.

Summer fun 

All the stress of getting everything done in time also belongs to the Summer feeling I guess.
Tax forms, invoices, MOT for my car(s), some work, a lecture for Outdoor, preparations for the Dutch Drytool Event, Expeditie Geluk, preparations with the Van Hoek family for the family climbing adventure and much more...
Oh yes, and Climbuz has to be ready for the Summer trip too.

Oh, yes, and I lost a bit of wisdom

In between I try to climb too.
Although, never enough... I wish I could climb twice a day, every day but three times a week seems the average for now. Making me feel slow and fat.

Preparations for the Van Hoek adventure

Climbing in the rain with the Van Hoek family

Apparently I'm not too fat yet, as I ended in 4th place on two national leadclimbing competitions. With that I'm good enough to be in the finals of the national lead competition.
If I had more time to climb...
Apparently I'm not too slow either as I reached the podium of the open national ("student") speedclimbing competition too. Second place.
And so, so close to gain the first place! I made a classic Marianne-mistake: I should have jumped to the top, instead I reached...static doesn't work when you climb on full speed :(
Roelien was smart enough to jump and won.

Interbest/NSAC/NKBV Speedclimbing: Battle the Wall

With Roelien on the first place

Dennis also took second place, but we're still not sure if he was second...or first?

About the fat issue, I went to a nutritionist last week, to talk about food, energy, efficiency and more.
There's so much nonsense to be found about nutrition, weight and health related to sports, that I found it a better idea to ask a pro about it all. As marathon runner and a non-believer in extra proteins he had some interesting research and facts to show me. He gave me some fairly simple but interesting tools to use. Let's see how that will work in the rest of this year.

My carrot cake recipe. The main reason of being too heavy I think

My parents are not worried about any fat issue for the next two months. They'll be cycling again. This time to Santiago following the French coast line.
My mum left all behind by retiring, my had is happy to join the journey (but still has a couple years of working left...)

My parents on their way to Breda. 

I also went to Schoorl.
Collecting rubbish for half a day and MTB for the rest of the day.
As ambassador of Respect the Mountains it was good to see how much effect a little bit of work has. Together with more then 60 volunteers and some ambassadors over 700kg of rubbish had been collected within just 2 hours time!
It's impressive to see how much of it is plastic. Even plastic toys were part of what we found.

Plastic soup?

Plastic soldiers and a armless Viking

Dennis has been busy too. First with school. He has a lot to do before he can go to his final traineeship in Germany after this Summer.
At the same time he tries to fix Climbuz.
A new engine, a fully working gearbox again and now everything is electric it's a lot harder to understand what might be wrong. (...or do I just have to reset the accelerator with the computer...?)
Since today the van works again! He took Climbuz out for a ride and hopefully we'll get it fixed before we reach Friedrichshafen on Wednesday.

New paint layer by night

The first start...and the engine works!

Test drive

My two cars have MOT again and I decided I should sell my lovely Golf 1.

Meanwhile I've been working on my lecture. At OutDoor in Friedrichshafen I'll hold a lecture about education. A motivational lecture about educational systems with a motivational link to the Outdoor Industry.
You're all welcome to join on Thursday 13:00h in room London.

One of the drawings in my lecture.

Now time to cycle, climb and work again.
Just two more days! Yay!