Piz Ciavazes, Sella Group: Day 6
Learning to Climb French: Alpine climbing at Les Ecrins and Dolomites, August 2-10, 2005

The two days of rest had done wonders for my body and spirit and I was actually looking forward to climbing again. We got up around 7:00 and by 8:30 we were at the base of the Rossi/Tomasi route -- the problem was that so was everyone else. There were a dozen people either on route, or waiting to climb it. Clearly we were not about to wait all day to do this route, so a quick switch to a route about 20m to the left of the Rossi/Tomasi route appeared to be the key to climbing the mountain (I am still not sure what route we did. The closest description that I have found is that of the Schubert route, VI-, although the grade appears too stiff for what we did).

There was an Italian party (boyfriend/girlfriend) ahead of us but looking at their slow progress, we were pretty sure that we could overtake them. The first grimper en tête (a.k.a. lead) of the day was mine and in no time I was at the heels of the Italian girl. Fortune smiled upon me as there were two relais (a.k.a. belay stations; and old and a new one) and this way I was not in the way of the Italians as François climbed up. From the start, the ropes gave us grief getting entangled all the time -- a fact that did not help our mood.

As François took off on the next lead, a party of "unstable" Germans appeared ready to overtake us (not good) but François climbed fast. By the time I climbed up the Germans below were nowhere to be seen, the Italian couple of early on had disappeared, and all that was left ahead was a party with two nice German guys.

The clouds gathered and the sky opened up. First, light drizzle, then ice pebbles. The mountain was getting wet and there was nothing we could do about it. The way out was up and now it was grade IV-wet. My water proof shell came out of the pack and I thanked the Gods for having timed the next lead for François. By the time it was my turn to lead again, the sun had come out and the mountain was drying as fast as it had become wet.

During the rain, the nice Germans had decided to pause their climbing and we overtook them. To my surprise, the new party ahead of us was that of our campmates Deke and Marie Line from the CAF IdF. Deke had finished with his lead by the time François arrived. Without delay, François went on to lead the next pitch which was terribly exposed. The Germans had started climbing once again and were on our heels making the belays a bit crowded.

The next pitch was mine but I did not know that: (1) it was the final pitch of the climb, and (2) it was the crux pitch. All I knew was that Marie Line had just led it and thus, I thought I should be able to do the same. Halfway up, there was a very exposed bulge and getting through it required some cojones. As I climbed, my respect for Marie Line greatly increased. When François came up he remarked how good the pitch had been and how he wished he had led it.

We paused at the Gamsband (chamois ledge), which is the ledge that splits Piz Ciavazes in half, to have lunch. This ledge (not unlike Broadway in Longs Peak) is part of the descent route. About 15 minutes into the lunch, it dawned on me that the Germans were nowhere to be found. Later we learned that the bulge proved too much for Chris' partner, who had to return to the last belay station and allow Chris to finish the climb. François wanted to short-rope me during the walk on the Gamsband but I politely declined the offer (I actually do not like short roping as if one climber falls and the other is not able to arrest the fall, both will die). Marie Line and Deke waited for us and we walked the Gamsband together. Towards the end, it was clear that François and I wanted to do more climbing while they did not. We parted with François and I going on an adventure climb of the upper part of Piz Ciavazes near the west end of its south face, and Deke and Marie Line going back to camp.

To me, the way up the upper portion of Piz Ciavazes was clear; a ramp system, very similar to the first pitch of Soler at Seneca Rocks, which would take us to a small platform about two pitches below the summit ledge. But François' nose had other ideas and he wanted to go straight up. This annoyed me because: (1) it significantly increased the length of the roped climbing and it was already late in the day, and (2) I had been exceedingly accommodating with François plans so far and I thought it was time that we did something my way. However, I said "fine" and off I went. François was annoyed by this, as I had very little gear left in my harness, and he yelled a me that I was "slowing down the climb". Such an accusation totally pissed me off, so I came back, gave him a BIG piece of my mind about how tired I was with his rudeness towards me while on the mountains, grabbed the rest of the gear, and off I went like a madman on a mission.

François was right -- the pitch was the hardest that we had done so far in the trip and I needed all the gear we had. But I was so pissed-off that I climbed it like it was a ladder; I just wanted to put some distance between me and this guy that was so incessantly and unnecessarily rude to me. On top it took all I had to bring François up, given that by then, François had coiled the ropes one more time and they were more entangled than ever. When he arrived at the belay, it was clear that the argument below and the poor status of the ropes had put an end to the climbing for that day. I set up the rappel and we were off the mountain.

At this point were so angry at each other that François took off down the descent trail leaving me behind and I let him. By the time I arrived at the road he was talking with the Germans who relayed to us what happened during the last pitch of the previous climb. I ran up the mountain to the base of the morning climb to pick up a water bottle that we had cached.

Back in Canazei we looked for a bookstore where we could purchase a good climbing guidebook to the area Donati's book had turned out to be little more than a very expensive coffee table book. To our aid came Bernard Sport where they have a most impressive collection of climbing books about the Dolomites (in all languages). 53€ later (each), we were well equipped for the remaining adventures.

In camp we had a meager dinner of rice and tortillas. Afterwards I left to take a shower and to take a break from François. The relationship between François and me was clearly going downhill and apparently, neither one of us knew how to stop it.