Shine on you crazy limestone
Submitted by vincent
We leave the house to the steep empire of thick-leaved evergreens. Finale Ligure hides somewhere down, where medieval buildings squeeze through the valley. Thus Finalborgo reaches for Finalmarina, and Finalmarina for the sea which sure doesn't hide in the rocky foothills (Piedmont). Like true Ligurians, packed with Ferrero sweets, we go to rock.
Die Ringbolzen des Nibelungen
Submitted by vincent
Well after sundown we escape steep rocky slopes, out of the grip of beech trees, oaks and quartzite rock monsters. Southeastwards we will continue to follow that bustling blue vein down there, boding its chain of prominent cities from where we'll push through to the lands of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre and set foot in Odenwald's hills.
Dizzy heights
Submitted by vincent
...
A to Z of the well-informed climber
Submitted by vincent
Stop fighting the gravity of wisdom and let climbing knowledge come to you.
Font
Cave uprising
Submitted by vincent
'Roof works co.’ tries to escape apocalyptic scenes. The company flees to the heart of climbing valhalla Condroz, where the south of Belgium is said to be gentle. But la douce Belgique is reckoned without Modave’s cave. Guided by the lights of fireflies they'll be fighting on arrival, struggling for survival.
Luxembourg
Shine bright like a dino
Submitted by vincent
The sinking sun colors her own path through the beech trees. All of a sudden two cars slam on the brakes as two deer walk over. We are about to set foot in a vivid village, shining like it's just been built. Indeed, we don't know where to look first, as we're drawn to a lush garden. Come along west of the Rhine along the verge of Pfalz and Vosges...
Siudrama
Submitted by vincent
Us three return to the near-desert. Limestone cliffs turn into extraterrestrial monuments. Incontainable become the chunks of abandoned spaceship motherboards, devoured by all that grows. Today’s the day. Weeks into the infamous season — stonemeltingly hot and desolate — we find Siurana: Not hot, very desolate and in cool wind. We foresaw.
Sam
Frankenjura
Fabi
..
Ice climbing in Belgium
Into the Montañas de Prades...Pomegranate garden of Eden
Submitted by vincent
A red sea extends kilometers below as it holds on to the last light. Where there's no sea there's dark. A pitch black land reevokes recent whispers of threat, but then lone lantern- and carlights show. As wings become feet and night becomes day, sun lights up plataan- forest, over flower bulbs and citrus. Once called Lycia by vanished people we call it Eden.
A look at ☀Boulevard du Vol☀, found and freed by Arnould t'Kint in 1981. Nowadays it's assigned a difficulty grade which back then was considered an unclimbed unexisting level. Louis-Philippe's limestone feels more familiar to Frankenjura's than to the limestone of nearby multipitch cliffs.
Jeunesse
Flight to Nice + Prophets of free climbing
Submitted by vincent
I jump in, belaying Ben in projects, and Ben belays me on the go. Over the weeks we each send a series of new personal benchmarks. Kaboom! Time to team up for multipitches?
Glucose M1, beginning of le toit (the roof)
Mission Dibona
Submitted by vincent
I open my work agenda. A lot of colored days are coming up. DIBONA BRAM they say.. Aha, the plan we made last winter: celebrating Bram’s PhD with a roadtrip into France with the elusive, high and pointy cherry on top: Dibona.
Hiding for the sun, north facing Donkey Kong
Les Quatre Cents Buts at l'Éléphant (allusion to a French 1959 film and slang for The Four Hundred Goes)
Thiebout tries to figure out Borderline near Berdorf
The long awaited Chamonix trip
Submitted by vincent
..to Sweden... to the probably only place in the world where a small grocery store sells crack gloves, friends, nuts and hexes, the latter optimized in 1974 by the Swedish Tomas Carlström.
Grotte du Brotsch
Veni, sendi, vici in the Modave trilogy
Three lizards
Submitted by vincent
..
Finale Jardin Secret trilogie
Report Initiations
Submitted by vincent
LUAK Trophy’s flame passed on with the assistance of Liuba. The semester is off! In the dark wintery streets a light burns at LUAK's headquarters when lost Existenz-architects stumble in and find us stuffing the KULeuven Van with the settenbakken. So the story begins, a tale of rock initiations.
LUAK Wintermeet
Submitted by vincent
Top Italia Arrampicata
Hans
Pieter
Calanques + Alpine history
Submitted by vincent
Ever yearned for a thrilling climbing chronicle unfolding above the azure blue Calanques? Sigh no more! Especially for you dear readers, fanciers of fancily written reports, I will decently typ here in the utmost strive of eloquence my very own clearly written, yes, with delicate care presented, link to Wim's Calanques report. Others can click above.
Chill a l'aise met de ijsvijs
Submitted by vincent
Ge hebt interesse in een alpiene startstage die u een basiszelfstandigheid geeft. Ge stelt het uit. En dan moogt ge telkens passen als een paar mensen een zot alpien plan hebben of een speciale multipitch weten maar met gletsjeraanloop en moordlustige seracs. Doe maar zo'n stage (of andere stevige introductie).
f*ck berge tenzij blankenberge
Submitted by vincent
Het is alweer enkele jaren geleden dat de Summermeet naar een alpiene bestemming trok. Nu is het zover: Chamonix. Dit jaar hebben we het KUL-buske, en nog goed lang zelfs, dus we rijden eerst naar La Berarde. We blijken niet alleen. (Fotoverslagje)
Eerste aprildagen
Coldfingerweekend
Submitted by vincent
Voor dag en dauw, als licht al aanbleekt op het lover, ga ik op pad. Ik weet wel dat jij op mij wacht. Ik trek de bossen door en trek de bergen over, ik heb te vaak ver van jou mijn dagen doorgebracht.
Kobe
Costa Blanca
Submitted by vincent
We zijn goed op weg in de winter. De lesvrije week komt. We kiezen voor goedkope snelle vluchten, in ruime zetels, tussen bruingeschminkte glitterende bomma's. Jawel. Richting Benidorm. (delen I-VI + gsmfoto’s)
Professor Ivan and Pieter
Find Dave
Perseïden
Ailefroide
Submitted by vincent
Schapenwolkjes leken klimgrepen en een bende was al in Frankrijk rond Grenoble en Briançon. Ik moest tot dan werken. Mabon, toen wisten we het. Mijn auto werd gevuld als de kolenkachel van een stoomtrein, de koffer werd volgepuzzeld: koffer dicht.
Niels toont Marie Rose
trad bij de fransen
Submitted by vincent
EIKEBAH BOORHAKEN.. zeiden we... knuffelend met een paar sets nuts en friends. Het was tijd voor graniet en barsten. En laat de Zuid-Vogezen nu net op maar 1,2 Fontainebleau van Leuven zijn. Fotoverslag van een dik verlengd weekend:
coldfingerweekend
Submitted by vincent
Leuven. We're on the eve of spring. It's sunny, friday and late. Students, back from class/working/PhD/.., have packed in two vans and a car. Tasks are divided. Driver, music maestro, midfingermanager, co-pilot, window orchestrator.. LUAK’s coldfingerweekend is about to begin.
El Chorro
Submitted by vincent
De lesvrije week is nog niet eens begonnen of een vliegtuig Zaventem-Malaga vertrekt in het holst van de nacht. Diezelfde dag nog, 's avonds, bolt een auto over bergflanken El Chorro binnen. Het zal nog ff duren voor we tegoei beseffen wat er allemaal gebeurd is. (lang verslag)
Einde Hungaria
coldfingerweekend
Submitted by vincent
(pandemonium, iemand een echt verslag?)
verslag initiaties
Submitted by vincent
(in afwachting van verslagen van La Douce France hoorde ik)
verslag Arco
Submitted by vincent
Zwoele zomeravond. Fish are jumping out. Aankomst Arco. Na La Bérarde is er een tweede summermeet. Handig voor wie de eerste ook moest skippen wegens andere dringende trip. Ik voeg me bij de cordée van Alessio, Hannes en Wannes. Drie is geen getal om mee te zijn.