Now that Caroline has explained what we would like to achieve on the island, its my turn to explain why, and what exactly it all means. Ground up simply means beginning from the floor and climbing to the top. There are a lot of ways one can accomplish this, but we would like to follow the style of Kammelander, Glowacs, Dal Pra, Larcher,Vigiani etc, in that you free climb everything, protecting yourself with trad gear if possible, or placing a bolt whenever you “rest” on a sky-hook.
Pietro dal Pra, one of our mentors in this style…
Tools of the trade… aarrgggghhhhhhhhh
Why, you might ask, would we want to put ourselves through this torture, when it would be far easier and much less scary to equip the route from rappel. The answer is because we feel this process creates more logical, natural, and enjoyable routes. In our personal experience, the routes we climbed that were equipped from the bottom were a lot nicer than the routes equipped from the top. They were easier to understand, the bolts were in better positions, and generally made for good fun days out. Because you are opening from the bottom, free climbing every move as you go, you are living the same experience as all subsequent climbers will have, and this is an idea that we like a lot.
The training for ground up bolting begins...
To prepare ourselves for this adventure, Caroline and I have been practicing our Trad climbing skills in Italy, as well as trying to learn the necessary techniques and rope management tricks for ground-up bolting. It’s a lot to take in, and there have been one or two scary moments when skyhooks unexpectedly part company with the rock, but I feel like we are beginning to understand the method behind the madness. All that remains now is to go to the island and start searching for a wall.
Fire meets the ocean…
Lost in the jungle…