Even though I've been lucky enough to have travelled to some of the most spectacular rock climbing areas of the world, it seems that I've certainly not lost the feeling of wonder and excitement of being somewhere new. Having taken an enforced twenty month 'break' from what had become my usual routine of travel, both for work and leisure, the last twenty four hours had been an excitable mix of nerves and anticipation. Even things like packing bags and navigating through the airport felt like I'd forgotten how to do them properly, but the real shock was finding ourselves in a completely new and different environment. There really is something incredible about actually visiting new places rather than just seeing a photo or reading about them. The sights, sounds, smells and sense of not knowing what was around the corner was intoxicating.
Exited would be an extreme understatement as we stood on the cliff tops looking out to sea, above the cliff that we hoped to spend the afternoon climbing. We'd already had the thrill of having been woken up by the sun and looking out to sea from our bed, but now a few minutes drive away from the pad, was an un inhabited beach, beautiful coloured waters and a rock to climb! Bliss!
Although in 2D the map made it look like we'd be parked on the beach edge, in the real 3D world, we found ourselves parked at the top of a large cliff and 300 steep concrete steps had to be negotiated to reach the sand. The heat was incredible, but thankfully a small tree gave us some shade to base ourselves.
First thing to do was swim (it was too hot to do anything else) in water that was considerably warmer than our dip in Llyn Padarn, below Snowdon a few days ago! I was dried off by the time we'd walked back to the cliffs across the sand. And now at at a more reasonable body temperature, which would allow us to climb!
Some of the bolts looked a little old and some had been replaced with new ones, but there were lots of them - sometimes only a metre apart! We climbed four good routes, with another swim in between to keep cool.
A bank of cloud floated overhead briefly later in the afternoon, which cooled things off a bit.
Here's the view of the cliff from the sea.
Each time we swam, little stripy fish would come and try to nibble our toes.
On the way home, we found a supermarket, so stocked up with a few days of supplies before heading back for a sundown drink on the balcony while the moon came up. What a magic day.
Climbs at Spiaggia dell'Arenauta, Sperlonga:
- Addio Mummie, 5b
- Non toccatemi le palme, 5c
- Due di spade, 5c (bolts a bit rusty, but new lower-off)
- Pante Bodhisattva, 5c+
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