July-16-2005

Word of the Day
abbondanza: 1: abundance 2: A word describing the amount of climbing resources experienced in Italy that JenFu will miss when he’s back in New Jersey.

Grappa is good.

I discovered grappa today. Strangely enough, when I looked it up in the Italian-English dictionary, it stated that grappa meant…grappa. Guess I should have spent more than six Euros for this dictionary. Anyway, it was delicious and the proprietor of the pizzeria, Roberto, informed me that grappa is the distilled essence of grape skins…beyond wine. I don’t quite understand, but it was good.

Too bad Corinne was not feeling as well as me after having the grappa. Unfortunately, Corinne’s upper airway infection kicked up today which knocked her out. Anything that throws you a curveball in the mountains is tough.

We went to Cinque de Torre today which was incredible.

But, Corinne’s cold made it tough for her to enjoy it. She still stuck it out and belayed me on a 6a+ sport climb with no name on Torre Grande.

Corinne did get a chance to toprope it but to keep the day tough for her, it started raining. We both remembered hearing or reading how Cinque de Torre is but one giant lightning rod in a storm so she lowered off and I said good-bye to three of by trusty quickdraws. I will, however, never second-guess that decision but I will be sad to see my trusty “friends”, those that have saved my life on numerous occasions, left behind.

As we took a break from climbing, we had the opportunity to observe the future of Italian mountaineering.

I still can’t believe the lifestyle that the Italian’s enjoy. At Cinque de Torre, we experienced one of the many refugios stationed across the Dolomites. These “huts” have full service restaurants and guest rooms in these “remote”, high-altitude arenas. I enjoyed one of my many espressos up there while waiting out the storm and stalling before driving down the scary, one-lane mountain road.

Tonight we’ve migrated from our quaint campsite by the river to one of the guest rooms at the campground. It is a neat, little dorm room, complete with a sink but no toilet. The two twin beds take me back to my collegiate days. I thought about stacking them into a bunk bed configuration but the ceiling is much too low. I do love the old-fashioned keys that lock the doors…those I previously only experienced in the movies.

Hopefully this change of venue will help Corinne heal and return her to the mountains that she loves so much. We have such a short time here so each and every second counts. I hear them ticking, and ticking loudly.