05-May-2016 11:38, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 25
After a year-long hiatus, the ESOC climbing club set out for a climbing trip. Daniel F. volunteered as trip captain (and we hope many will follow his good example) and he organised for us going to Cala Gonone on Sardinia, Italy. It’s the place were climbing started in Sardinia and it offers routes in all levels of difficulty. Eight brave climbers decided to come along – all levels of experience were present. The long weekend in the beginning of May (Ascension of Christ) was perfect for this adventure.
Logistics were a bit tricky – the only direct flights from Frankfurt to Sardinia would have cost an arm and a leg, connections via Rome or Milano were either expensive or arriving in Alghero (3 hours by car from Cala Gonone) very late at night. We ended up travelling in two groups: Daniel F, Sebastian, Doro and Miche already went on Tuesday. Arriving late at night in Alghero (22:30), we slept in a hotel next to the airport. Our plan was to get the car early on Wednesday, drive to Cala Gonone, climb a little bit, get the key to the apartment, shop for food, prepare dinner and wait for the second group (Volker, Alex, Ramón and Daniel S) who planned to arrive on Wednesday night and come with a second car. That was the plan…
We ended up sticking to the plan for most parts, except:
- our first night in Alghero was a bit uncomfortable since our luggage did not arrive with us. (Until today we would love to know how it could come to Alghero ahead of the first plane from Rome, but this will be a mystery that we will never get to solve.)
- The second group did not arrive as one, as there was some missunderstanding about the notion of dangerous goods in carry-on luggage 🙂
05-May-2016 13:16, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 2506-May-2016 12:49, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 25
The weather on the first three days was perfect for climbing – not too hot, not cold, sunny and a beautiful view on the ocean. We visited three different climbing areas were all of us got to enjoy nice slab climbing in solid rock with anchors at a very safe distance. We managed to get refreshers for abseiling and setting up secure belay stations. In order to engage in some other sportive activities as well, we hit the beach, but only the cold-resisting Spanish and a German in Italian exile dared to swim in the (way too cold) ocean. Some others preferred to squeeze their toes into the climbing shoes once more and do some routes at the beach.
07-May-2016 11:16, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.03 sec, ISO 4007-May-2016 16:34, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 2507-May-2016 17:14, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.059 sec, ISO 500
Saturday was not so nice in terms of weather anymore. Volker and Ramón managed to get their hands on the rock for a few hours before the rain, while the rest of the group tried to visit one of Sardina’s many caves. We were only lucky at the third attempt, the others were closed or had lunch break. On the last evening we reconvened in Alghero for a nice dinner (pizza, what else?) before catching the plane at 0700 on Sunday morning back to Frankfurt.
05-May-2016 21:01, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.059 sec, ISO 50005-May-2016 21:03, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.059 sec, ISO 400
During our trip we got nice pasta prepared by Germans, a great sea-food menu (for those who could eat it) and delicious Italian pizza. We will not divulge if there was any limoncello present during the trip in this report 🙂
Over all it was a fun trip. Thanks to all people involved and thanks especially to Daniel F for organising all this. You found us a great climbing area and a beautiful apartment.
Looking forward to the next trip, hopefully with more members joining.
PS: just for record keeping, here’s what we have learnt during this trip
06-May-2016 16:08, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 25
- abseiling from routes without breaking any anchors
- not to pack the sandwich you bought for dinner into the check-in luggage (it might only arrive the next day and you have to sleep on an empty stomach)
- never travel with a credit card knife
- if you decided to disregard the point above, make sure you’re not the one booking the rental car for the group
- muesli is not a good breakfast after limoncello
- don’t walk barefoot on sharp limestone (yes, the red spots are blood marks)
05-May-2016 17:56, Apple iPhone 6s, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 32
(more pictures in the Photo Gallery)