Italy, Canada and Salsa

A short list of observations from a few weeks of travel in September and October:
1) If you find yourself in a mountain hut in Italy singing karaoke, just go with it. My host for the first few days of my fall climbing trip was Jean Luca Cavalli, who I like to think of as the Italian version of Doug Madara (a remarkably motivated middle aged climber who gets out more days, and is stronger than, most climbers half his age). Jean Luca didn't speak much English, nor I Italian, so our interactions were often full of comical misunderstandings.
On the drive home from three days straight of climbing, as it got dark and my stomach grumbled for dinner, he said:
"I think maybe we go to the mountains tonight. There is a refugio and it is a guide's holiday there so it will be fun."
It was the last thing I wanted at that moment, since I had been thoroughly enjoying the company of Jean Luca, his wife and his teenage daughter while they hosted me and Peter William the South African at their home near Milan. But I was the guest after all, so I said okay. We agreed to take 20 minutes to pack our things while his wife Antonella brewed us espresso and told us we were crazy. We hit the road and an hour later we were hiking toward Refugio Pontese in the rainy darkness.

I still wasn't sure if I would eat dinner until we caught sight of the warm light spilling out the windows of the old hut after 45 minutes on the trail. Of course a hot, delicious, home cooked meal of rabbit, rice, bread and salad was on the table for us within 5 minutes of arriving. The building was full of Italian climbing guides on their night off. As we finished dinner, four of them started to play music and sing. It started with Italian folk music, and quickly evolved (devolved?) into corny American karaoke. As soon as they learned I was American I was placed right in the middle of them to help with lyrics to Bob Dylan, the Bee-Gees, Janis Joplin and more. Here is a short clip from when it was still tame early in the night.

Refugio Pontese from janet bergman on Vimeo.

Needless to say I went to bed way too late, Jean Luca woke me up at 5:30 am for a three hour approach to a rock climb, and I was only worth about 2 pitches once we got there. Such good times though.
Some images from our adventure the next day on Becco Meridionale della Tribolazione, aka Tribulation (3360m):



2) Italian Rock Is Not Limited To Karaoke And Limestone. None of my friends had heard of Valle Dell'Orco before, but a little research revealed splitter granite so I couldn't resist applying to represent the American Alpine Club for the Italian International Trad Meet.
Jean Luca, Peter William and I drove straight from the Refugio Pontese trailhead to the tiny village of Ceresole for the meet. 18 countries were represented and we had five days of amazing weather, perfect climbing, incredible Italian hospitality and so many fun memories. I had never heard so many ways to say 'on' and 'off' belay before!
Maurizio Oviglia's new English language guidebook to the Orco Valley was released while we were there and it is excellent. I am sure this place will be seeing a lot more traffic now.
A little historical tidbit: The two main cliffs there are called Caporal and Sargent, after Yosemite's El Capitan. The local Italian climbers were inspired by Royal Robbins and friends to learn crack climbing in the late '70's, and these are the cliffs that they practiced on!

3) I like helicopters. I am not allowed to say much more than that. But I was super lucky to participate in a photo shoot for a top secret ad campaign in western Canada on the way home from Italy. The four day shoot involved gondola and helicopter rides, make up artist, stylist and a whole film and photography crew. I kept getting referred to as 'the talent'. Ha!

4) Dancing salsa and merengue is as much fun as climbing! I came home just in time to attend Kismet Rock Foundation's Latin dance-themed annual fund-raising event this past weekend. Boston-based Los Sugar Kings rocked the house once again, showing everyone step by step how to move alone and with a partner. Finding rhythm in a new dance step is indescribably fun. Even my mom said she liked it! Check out this great photo blog post by Anne Skidmore from the event.

What was in my bags for the Italy - Canada linkup?
Mountain Hardwear Superscrambler Backpack: Simply designed, ultralight and surprisingly durable.
La Sportiva Miura VS: Precision. Nuff said. And I was not the only one - dozens of other people from around the world were pulling these shoes on to make their best attempt's at Valle Orco's testy discontinuous crack systems and steep face climbs.
Sterling Fusion Ion2 Rope: The newly designed Ion2 is built to last. Big difference in this rope from the first generation!
Polartec test jacket
Petzl Reverso: Everyone was using double ropes there!

Please Help Kismet

I sometimes think about how selfish climbing is. An addiction that is taking up too much of my time. The weddings and other events I have missed while on expedition...the time and resources I have used to 'feed the rat' over the years...

Then I think about what it has done for me...learning of an eyeopening new lifestyle based on simplicity and functioning at the actual geographic fringes...lessons in math and science as I learned rope systems and climbing techniques...taking on physical challenges that my mind thought impossible but, after practice, muscle memory thought differently of...learning to calculate risk and judge the rationality of fearful situations...then I think about some examples of climbers who have taken their success gained through climbing to business or other realms with incredible results.

And it brings me back to feeling that climbing really does far more good than bad for a person.

Being involved with Kismet Rock Foundation is one way that I have been able to take this selfish activity that has given so much to me and pass it on to others*. This organization has a simple but very strong mission: to offer an education in climbing to children who otherwise wouldn't have access to it. None of the noise about enhancing self esteem or empowerment or keeping kids out of trouble (arguably these are some of the outcomes though), it is just about providing extraordinary opportunities for 'good' kids who are missing just that in their lives. Kismet kids (who are from NH, ME, and MA) start the program at age thirteen (remember 7th grade?) and return for one week per summer for four years to finish the curriculum. They primarily learn rock climbing and also learn first aid. Tons more info on the program here.

Now I will get to my real point: Kismet Rock Foundation is offering a double matching opportunity for first time donors right now. That means that for every dollar donated by a first time donor, two additional dollars will be contributed by friends of the organization. Opportunities like this don't happen very often.

If you value what climbing (or learning any extracurricular activity for that matter) has given to you, please consider supporting Kismet. Any amount truly does make a difference for a small organization like this.

If you want, we can even keep the whole climbing-is-selfish theme going here, and instead of just giving selflessly, take me up on my offer to give you a long belay on your project next time I see you in exchange for participating.


“[Going to Kismet] keeps me out of trouble. It strengthens my body. It helps me stop my bad habits.” –Josh

“The view from the mountains was clear and beautiful. When I was on top of the mountain I was very nervous. I cried. You gave me the opportunity to experience a sport that I probably would never have tried in my lifetime…I will never forget it.” -Kendra

"Thank you all for having me. Thank you for keeping me safe and sound. Thanks for teaching me to rock climb and to be respectful to others." -Brian

*In the interest of full disclosure, Kismet is a client of mine so I do get something back from giving to them, and, in a sense, from any of you giving to them. Ironic? Certainly. Contrived? Perhaps. This was a hard post for me to write for that reason only.