Orco Slab Climbing

After yesterday's crack climbing, we decided to switch to some big slabs today, to get little sample of all the delights that the Valle Orco has to offer. With the weather being good lower down the valley, we set off in the sun for a calf pumping, hand sweating, slab padding day of excellent rock climbing...

Best hand hold on the slab!

There was little in the way of hand holds, and much smearing of the feet, but at there were at least a decent amount of bolts to aim for, which made the whole thing much less harrowing than it might have been otherwise.

Getting to the base of the slab was tricky enough!

It was about a 20 minute scramble up through the woods to the left of 'La Pryamid', and a cheeky small slab traverse to get to the base of the main routes. It felt like a bit of a mission at the time, but we were rewarded with a quiet, sunny crag for the day.

Slab Padding

There were some high cirrus clouds that were building all morning and by the time we left, only strip of blue sky remained above us. 

A warning sign in the clouds

We shipped out of the valley before the storm arrived after an great feed down by the river. We drove north through the Aosta Valley and have stopped for the night in Courmayeur, just south of Mt Blanc. It's a great little village, that has fantastic views of the Mt Blanc range. Except when, like tonight, it's shrouded in mist!!