Since my last post it has been 72 hours or so and of that 72 its not been raining for 5 hours in total I think. Of course it may have sneaked the odd dry hour past me whilst ive been asleep, but you get the idea - bleak. Saturday id planned a rest day anyway so the lashing rain from some huge thunderstorm(s) that moved through the valley did not bother me that much. I simply wondered at the sheer amount of water they see fall out of the sky here and watched some movies.
Sunday morning dawned and I was raring to go. However the rain persisted, in fact as it turned out Sunday lunchtime was simply the halftime interval. At this interval we made a dash for it up to the rocks. Things were sopping, as to be expected, but with some fleeting sun and wind about I optimistically began applying kitchen roll to the holds on Jack's Broken Heart, determined to dry it (see pic above). After an hours or so work the rock was starting to look respectable. No more water as such just a slightly unnerving dampness on some of the holds. Still I pulled on to warm up and surprised myself cruising through to the pinch move and almost sticking it despite the damp. The rest day and a half had done me the world of good and skin/shoulders wise I was back at the level I needed to be at. Unfortunately the weather window was about to close, for good in fact. After resting for 5 mins or so and doing some more drying work I set off again only to be greeted by heavy rain drops hitting me in the face as I peered round the lip looking for the pinch. Game over for Sunday and we walk down in the rain.
Monday morning came around and I was feeling positive. We had checked two weather forecasts on the net and both had said zero chance of rainfall today. I felt despite the large downpour we had caught the start of yesterday the rocks would be dry by lunchtime. It was just a case of waiting it out this morning. Unfortunately by the time I was sipping my first morning coffee it was raining again and it would not stop again all day. As a climber you get used to rain stopping play, you also spend a lot of time looking at weather forecasts in the hope of seeing the sun symbol. What ive never understood is how these weather guys (or girls) can get things just so wrong so much of the time. Do they just have a guess?
Anyway by lunchtime the rain was still coming down but was more akin to English drizzle than an alpine thunderstorm we decided to give it a go and drive up to the rocks in the hope this was the tail end of things on the rain front. Another depressing walk around around wet blocs ensued. I noticed due to the rain being of a lighter nature certain blocs nestled under bigger pines were only damp rather than soaked. To keep me sane I found two 7a's benefitting from this umbrella effect, put the shoes on and climbed them in the damp just to register something on the ascents list. The first one, Heb da Arsch, actually was quite a good climb and worth checking out.
After dispatching these two I went back over to Jack's for a final look, the rock had turned into a small waterfall, I said my goodbyes for this trip and turned my back on it. On the way back I walked past Sofa Surfer, a steep 8a/+ that climbs up a really nice concave overhang, most of the wall was dryish. I decided to give it a few goes, despite the holds going black with damp and it now lashing rain again so the top was dripping. I surprised myself in doing all the moves up to the wet patch in 20mins or so. This could be on I allowed myself to think. I decided to try and stem the dripping flow from above and dry the upper holds and then give it a burn from the start. I pulled on and felt good going into the match on the sharp crimps, from there you reach up RH to a slopey angled hold, work your feet up and match with the LH. I was now one move away from a semi-jug crimp. I steadied myself, eyed up this hold and slapped for it RH. I felt my fingers curl round something pretty positive but a split second later I was back on the mat. I looked up and it became clear. As id been climbing from the bottom the dripping had started up again and got into the hold before I reached it. gutted and time to go.
I feel like this post may be starting to depress even the most optimistic of reader so ill keep it brief from here. Its now Tuesday, the weather prophet had said it would be dry this morning. We leave today but I had entertained going up to Sofa Surfer early if it had dried overnight to give it go or two. The alarm woke me at 8am and it was pouring again so Ive given up and am currently packing up to leave.
Magic Wood is a place of stunning natural beauty but when the weather comes in that could be better described as savage beauty. It hasn't been a great end to our time here. I guess at face value im pretty pleased to have finally sent my nemesis Piranja and Octopussy was a great 8th grader too. However I cant help but feel i didn't really achieve what I could have done here. Jack's Broken Heart was a go or two away I believe and after yesterday I also think I should have added Sofa Surfer to the sent list. Now if I had done these two it would have been a great trip. Still whats done is done, time to go, and this ends our European adventure. Going to take in Amsterdam on the way back to the UK which should be good laugh.
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