Passo Duran

Cassy and I attempted this 10-pitch (1000 ft) climb a couple weekends before but we got shut down after getting lost on the approach and then getting stuck behind a bunch of other climbers.  Oh, and I forgot the quickdraws...minor detail.

On our 2nd try we got an early start (5 a.m.) to get on the route with plenty of time and spent most of the day climbing and hiking.

Cassy scopes the route after hiking in a couple of miles

I chose the lightest footwear I have so I wouldn't have to carry my heavy shoes on my harness.

Our route follows the obvious black water streak.  The rock was clean, featured, and vertical.  Classic!

The 9th pitch went up clean and polished white limestone.  Very sweet.

I asked Cassy to try to look natural and pose for a photo by ignoring the 1000-foot drop that's just behind her.  I guess that IS the natural pose with that much air under your ass.

Super steep...5.8 doesn't get much better than this!

Our descent trail

Finally back to the car (and a restaurant).  In the Dolomites, you're never too far from home-cooked food, a road, or a chairlift.

Mt Grappe Via Ferrata

We joined some friends for a day of hiking and our first real "via ferrata."  The snob climber in me turns up my nose at the idea of clipping into steel cables as I hike, but we had a blast and found that we can cover a lot of ground without having to worry about ropes and belays.

Cassy starts the day off with stylish optics

After an hour of brutal uphill hiking, we got our first nice view and the opportunity to gear up for some vertical climbing.

Christina, Cassy, Natalie, and Jeff on the opening section of ferrata

In case you get lost and don't see the giant metal cable, the Italians painted a very small sign on the rock.

Jeff negotiates the crux

Paul

Hero shot

An old WWI bunker

We spotted a mountain goat on our way back to the car.

Climbing Cinque Torri

Cinque Torri (the 5 towers) are in the Dolomites about 2 hours north of our house.  It is one of the sweetest places I've ever been.  

The mountain rifugio (hut) where we stayed for 3 nights.  The rock behind the hotel is the largest tower of the five.

We did most of our routes on this formation, Torre Grande.  You can see a few tiny climbers at the base of the face.

Dave Harden and Cassy right outside the rifugio taking in the awesome view while drinking wine out of plastic cups.  Very classy.  Dave came all the way from California to do some routes with us.

Cassy on the 10 minute approach to the Grande

Staying warm

Dave and I at the summit.  Toffana di Rozes is in the background.

Dave and I got on a harder route while Cassy shot photos from below.

This traverse was as fun as it looks.  Below Dave's feet is several hundred feet of air.

Cassy rappeling into the cold.  We helped a new Italian climber do the same rappel, except she was screaming, "Mama mia! Mama mia!" the  entire way down.  I'm not kidding.  She was scared for her life.  We were trying not to laugh while we helped her down. 

Dave, at home in the Mountains

Chilling between routes.  This place has it all: sport routes, long trad routes, great views...

We got amazing alpenglow on the mountains every evening and this was our view from the restaurant as we ate great Italian food.

From the meadow below the rifugio

Dave promises to come back soon.  It's pretty tough to schedule climbing with him because he's super busy being retired, but I think he'll be back.

Mt Raut with Chance

These are some photos from back in the spring when Chance was here.  We went out for an easy afternoon hike and ended up doing a hike with 3500' vertical gain.  We ran out of water, got stormed on, drank snowmelt, and summited.  To top it all off, Jess the Dog chased something into the woods just before we got to the car.  We called the rescue party (Cassy) just before dark and roamed through the woods calling Jess's name until we were hoarse.  After about an hour, Jess emerged from the woods "dog tired," as if she had just run a marathon.  She polished off our water and we stumbled to the car and drove directly to the local Italian pizzeria to finish a great day in the mountains.

The massive uphill slog

Finally some nice views, but we're out of water.  We left a water bottle below a patch of dripping snow and continued toward the summit.  The bottle was full of delicious water when we returned. 

The Air Force base and the small town where we live are just in the valley below Chance and Jess.

The summit ridge