Dear Reader,

This is going to be one more “there and back again” story. One more place that I revisited after many years, and once again, it is in Italy. Sorry for the rehash! Not much has happened since the last time I wrote. So think of it as a remix. A copy of a copy. Nothing more, nothing less. You scroll down and look at the pictures if the text is too long for you. I will not hold it against you.

Dear Reader,

Thanks for sticking around. First things first, I forgot to to tell you where we were. We went to the island of Sardinia. Ten years ago I booked a climbing trip with my climbing instructor and Dieter to go to there. It was my second sports climbing trip, and I was still green behind my ears. I had climbed for a while but I still felt like I needed guidance. Since it was an “organised trip” I was a bit anxious about the other people as I always am.
* Would i fit in?
* Am I fit enough to fit in?
* Do my shoes stink

Well, as usual, my worries were unfounded, except for the last one on the list. All of us agreed. My shoes stank (I think the word pestilence was thrown around).

Dear Reader,

Returning to Sardinia filled me once again with anticipation but it was different this time. The questions were more like:

* Will I be able to climb the route I could climb before?
* Will the vacation be as awesome as the one in Sicily?
* How would we fit together with the wide range of climbing skills that we have?
* Do my shoes still stink?

But as you might have expected, these questions were favorably resolved and the trip went smooth as silk.

Dear Reader,

I am not sure what interests you. I am not sure what i should write about the trip. There is much I would like to say but not sure how to say it. Lets start with the group. Climbing with Andi, Barbie, Claudia, Fabian, Ruben, Sonja and Vali was relaxed and fun. The main issue we had to tackle was getting the climbers to and back from the spot without any vomiting incidents. Luckily there were some pale faces but nothing worse happened even though every one got car sick at one time or another.

So how was the climb you may ask?

In short: awesome. Some details: We stayed near Ulassai which is also one of the hot spots in Sardinia. The town is located in a hillside region near the South-East coast. It is tucked in between two walls facing the valley to the east. Around it you can find climbing walls left and right. Our favorite is the Ulassai-Canyon. It is filled with fantastic lines in all grades, side by side. There I was able to experience my personal favorite route this year, a 6b+ called “with pumpy moves and tufa like structures”. We had to go there again to stumble upon a sector called “Cave of Dreams”. The name was very fitting. On one side great sinter lines and on the other side HG Gigeresque rock formations. Just lovely. On the rest of the days we visited the walls around Ulassai and they were equally stunning.

So dear reader,
This is the gist of it; the TL;DR. If you like climbing as much as I do I would urge you to visit this place. It is yet another place I would really want to go back to. Here are some pictures to solidify it.

Dear Reader,
As I start, I have a confession to make. 20 years ago my parents took to me the Dolomites. I hated it. Nature. Walking, Sunlight, Bah humbug! My books and my Gameboy entertained. Mountaintops did not. Why should they, the just stood there!

Dear Reader,
my confession is not over. The Meh-feeling stayed. I was not eager to return. When turning to the mountain tops,
the Dolomites were never a target, maybe I even avoided them in my planing. Why was that? I believed there would be long approaches, chossy rock, and hard old routes which would suck out the fun. All this never led to the decision to go there.

Dear Reader,
as in so many things in life I have to admit i was wrong. In the end I am happy Wladi suggested to go there. Saying no to something newish was not an option and his love for short approaches and great sports climbs gave me hope. I was skeptical, but after I bought a guide of the region and was immediately amazed. The book contained 400 pages of sport climbing routes with 1-20 minutes approaches. Sweet. So it was set.

Oh my god,
the Dolomites are be-ti-fucking-ful. The First taste was the Pustavalley. Over-saturated green hills with grey limestone mountaintops. Gorgeous.   Next we turned left, and suddenly the valley turn tighter and we got a glimpse of the reddish tone of the three peaks of the Dolomites and I was sold. This place inspires. I immediately felt the itch of scrambling up a peak or even checking out an alpine route. Crazy isn’t it.

Dear Reader,
the days spend there were to short and we only saw 2 climbing spots. We climbed until we could not climb and then slept underneath the wall.  I wish I could say i climbed a lot, but a had some back problems so I had to take a step back. The routes I tried were fantastic, and Claudia convinced me to do a small Tradroute which added to the atmosphere

Dear Reader,
the three of us that were there, Wladi, Claudia and I, we decided that we have to go back, and see more than the little speck we saw. So, dear reader, i must to ask you, will you join?

If you are still unsure. just check out these few pics I hope they will persuade you.

In the summertime we usually go Deep Water Soloing (more about that coming soon ). This year 10 of us decided to add a week of sports climbing to the DWS trip. After consulting Yavor (thanks again)  and the great Bulgarian climbing website  we decided on three places to go to – Karukovo, Malovitza and Vitosha.

You might know Karlukovo if you have seen pictures and videos from the Petzl Rock trip 2014. This place is a must go for anyone who climbs.  We spent two days in the shady cave trying to get the most out of the weather. Sadly I was not in my best shape but that did not matter in a place like this.

After a rest day that some of us spent hiking and others having some nice time in the center of Sofia, we traveled to Malovitza where we stayed overnight. The hut is situated at about 1940 meters above sea level, and the climbing conditions could not be better – not too hot but not too cold either. The climbing spots near the hut are remarkable with their orange granite and very interesting moves and routes.

Last but certainly not least we paid Sofia’s “home mountain” a visit. The crag was conveniently a 15 minute drive away from the house so it was the perfect place for the last two days. Wladi, Daniel and Clarrissa even found a 7b project and spent all their time there. After a hard night of drinking I decided to take it easier;)

After the Maltatal guide book finaly came out last year we decided to visit the valley of the falling water.