Supernova

Everyone seems to be grumpy at the campsite, I’ve so far born the brunt of an American doctor with the personality of the Amoeba, look down his nose at me as I talked about my nutritional work in Kenya; A sort of ‘I’m a doctor, what possible good is nutrition’ look. An angry Argentinean asked me when we are going to give independence to the Falklands, and to top it off a Spanish girl (sorry Basque) tried to give me a lecture on the wrongs of the British Empire. Something which is fun to talk about when everyone has an opinion they would like to express and listen to others opinions, but a horrible conversation normally as it seems to galvanise people to extremes. Her other favourite conversation is the moans of the wronged Basque country and their demand for independence. I think England has probably got more rights to parts of France than Basque have for independence. God I wish for long nights of just playing Uno.

'Right Hand of Darkness' my new project

Back to the mish mash of other things I’ve been doing, I’ve pushed the climbing a bit further with Supernova a Font 7C. Considering that when I first got here I couldn’t pull the first move on this problem on sick slopers I am very impressed with myself. I also seem close to other 7C problems and have started work on an amazing 8A. Whether this is possible for me, who knows, guess only time will tell, with only a week left here, probably not possible this trip. Between writing this and publishing it I also managed another 7C, although the guide gives it 7C+.

Bellinzona

Tim left and needed a lift to Bellinzona, as good an excuse as any to enter back into civilization. We entered civilization, whether we looked civilized is another matter. I’m not sure I’d washed very recently and we both sported a thick beard. Compared to the glitzy Italian/Swiss residents we looked a mess. Even with my uncivilized looks I could appreciate Bellinzona, no longer the mundane imperial Swiss towns, this was a taste of Italian renaissance. Frescoed houses, large squares with fountains, gargoyles, gelateries and cafes: If all with Swiss prices. I sat myself down for my first meal out in 3 weeks, unfortunately my taste buds could still remember the food of Italy and it was close, but not close enough. Although the service was more Italian, my cheese starter arriving half way through my main course.

Back to the beard, everyone tells you how itchy a beard is to grow and I can agree. I kept it up to the point when the moustache kept attracting everything I was eating and drinking and then decided it had to go. What no one tells you is how hard it is to get rid of a beard, no simple shave! My Gillet razor worked so hard, every square centimetre clogged the blades, I had to re-soap three times and the ordeal took a good half an hour. But it was worth it.

In this last week here I’m looking back on what i’ve done. Climbing wise a lot, culturally very little and linguistically nearly nothing. Being very international everyone at the campsite speaks English, occasionally a German speaks to me and I just look back blankly, considering how well I was getting on with my Italian, it’s a shame to have been able to keep the languages going. Occasionally Raul and Sabina teach me new Spanish words and I can speak to Jonny the dog fluently in Spanish. Well, as fluently as you need to get a dog to drop the stick and come here and not get run over on the road. Although I did manage to practice my Italian a bit in Bellinzona. I also looked back on a few of the savings graces of staying here in Switzerland, yes almost everything is expensive, except Petrol which is under a £1 a litre, good chocolate is also very cheap and my daily treat, a 100g bar which would cost over £1 in England is 50p for the Coop own brand and 25p if you go for the supersaver, both very good and surprisingly unsickly, where in England a large bar would leave me nauseous here I find myself almost immediately reaching for the second bar. Enough talk of chocolate, hopefully next time I write I will have some more interesting explorations, unfortunately I think the most interesting part of the trip will come in the last 5 days as I cruise through Germany and Belgium then France back to the UK. Probably too much to remember all the details to write it up, but should get some good photos!

Magic Wood

I settled in pretty quickly to the daily routines of Magic Wood (Averstal), the cheap campground by the side of the road, with its 4 portaloos (for around 100 happy campers which are changed once a week....) and a stream which is now reduced to a trickle that provides us with the water for drinking, washing up and washing ourselves. The inhabitants are a mix of various nationalities, my first friends two Canadians travelling alone, Tim, whose stopped over for a couple of weeks whilst travelling Europe this Summer and Etienne, a ridiculously strong climber who is touring the main bouldering destinations this year. The Spaniards are the next bunch I spend most of my days with, with their tanned skin and long black hair they look gypsy like and would be given a wide berth by your xenophobic Brit, but in truth they are the most friendly of all nationalities. Number 10 Magic Wood Crescent the home of Raul and Sabina is the usual evening destination, in their camper van we relax and watch slide shows of the latest climbing photos or play Uno, a game Rauol is particularly fond off. Next come the Austrians with their thick banana pancakes that they cook up and share around every morning. Mixed in with this we have small groups of Dutch who come over for tea in the morning or borrow a stove when their gas has run out. The favour is quickly returned with bread and cream cheese, chocolate and even once a beer. Although the beer was more of a celebration as Suzie had climbed her first 7B. The Eastern Europeans stand out from the crowd with the neo-nazi style shaved heads, while the Germans stick rigorously to the rules, ensuring their tents fill up the smallest gaps in the campsite, rather than the nice open spaces on the sides. More than once I have had to suggest that half a metre between their tent and my front door is just a little bit to close. But, apparently this is the norm across Europe and every other nationality has their German jokes. The only nationality really lacking here is the Swis.The Campsite

Campsite routine seems to be to get up as the sun turns your tent into an oven, hope Bella and the other Austrians are up and already making pancakes. Make myself a coffee and pull up a chair outside Raul and Sabina’s van. Breakfast is usually a long affair and usually blends into lunch, if Pancakes aren’t on offer than its scrambled eggs. In most other climbing destinations everyone would be rushing into climb by now, but here we would rather wait till the cool of the afternoon and evening. Lunch isn’t often till 2.00 and any time in between is given up to sunbathing and reading. Only at 3.00 do we venture into the forest, returning at 8.00 to cook then retire back to the social centre of Rauol’s van or the Campfire if one has been lit.

The Social Centre of Raul and Sabina's Van

Unlike any other campsite I have been in this one exudes respect, although packed with an age group of 18 to 30 there is never trouble or cause for complaint. No screaming children at 7.00 in the morning, music is kept to a bit of quite guitar playing and singing some evenings, a stereo is unheard of and at 11.00pm everything drifts nicely into silence.

Damon on a more vertical problem

But Magic Woods gives me a conundrum, I am travelling for a few reasons, the first to improve my climbing, for this Magic Wood is unequalled in its numerous steep and hard lines which leave you exhausted after every session. The second was to travel and explore. Switzerland and this area offers little for this unless your bank balance has more zero’s after it that mine. The final reason was photography, although much of Switzerland is full of amazing scenery, this area, stuck deep in a valley offers few opportunities and my collection of Landscape photos is already numerous and I need to move into other areas. So I guess the conundrum is, what to do, do I stay and get better at climbing, but sacrifice the travel and photography or travel more and sacrifice the climbing. At present I am unwilling to depart the social scene of this campsite.