Chironico

29 02 2008

Chironico is one of the oldest and more established areas in Switzerland. There are hundreds of boulders scattered over a hillside about 5 miles long. Several of us commented on the suprising amount of hiking we have been doing here in Ticino. Anyways, the rock here is more grainy than that of Cresciano, but there are over 1000 problems to try. Not unlike the Park, most of the classic lines fall into the 8A and up range, which of course is what we look for. The setting is majestic and we are often treated to the company of goats.
One of my goals for the trip was to climb a problem in the Soucoup Roof, which has several well known lines such as Shadowfax 8B, Soucoup 8A+/B, and Roswell 8A+. The roof was much lower than expected but Roswell is a nice three move power problem and I was psyched. The first two moves are really burly power moves on pinches and pockets, and this sets you up for a huge dyno to the lip. It felt impossible at first but slowly the beta came together and after fumbling the dyno a few times I reeled it in. I was happy to do it so quickly.

Roswell 8A+, photo by Jason Pinto

We left the Soucoup Roof and made our way over to an old classic Le Pellier 8A. I decided to rest and Olson made quick work of it.

Le Pellier 8A

I continued to rest while Olson, Brian and Ange played on The Real Shield 7C. Brian did it first try after pulling on in his tennis shoes and Ryan did it soon afterwords.

The Real Shield 7C