Wannabe Vagabonds

Desert Sneak Peek

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The year 2019 was a year of settling in Switzerland. It was much less nomadic than previous years. We travelled less and tried to explore what the local surroundings can offer. And it does have a lot to offer as long as you are open to try. So we did. We started skiing much more than we used to in the past, got into ski-touring, tried out mountain trail runs. Climbing got a little bit forgotten in this whole picture, mostly because there’s so much to choose from and I kept waiting for the climbing psyche to emerge with a force.

Castleton Tower

After spending three months training for a marathon which we ran at the end of October, 2019, we both were a bit tired of it and thought we need to recharge. Since a while ago we had an idea to do a road trip in the US. The idea was to visit some national parks, do some long trail runs, get a taste of American climbing. When the time came for the trip in November, it almost fell apart. The marathon crushed my immune system, so I got sick. We questioned postponing the trip but left on time in the end.

After landing in the craze of LA and driving a bit away from the big city, we stopped for a night to let the cultural experience sink in and get some very much needed sleep. The next day we drove with the eyes wide open and reached the first stop - Joshua Tree - a significant place in climbing history where many of our hero climbers have spent time at some point in their lives. The first day we mostly hiked and looked around. But my curiosity was surfacing and I was keen to start experiencing this place by touching the rock. And so the next day we climbed some routes which felt sooo good! That’s how the psyche comes back I thought! We climbed Southwest Corner (5.6) and Cryptic (5.8) on the Headstone Rock in Ryan Campground, Double Cross (5.7) on The Old Woman in the Hidden Valley Campground, Loose Lady (5.10a sport) on Dodo Buttress in Real Hidden Valley. At the bottom of Double Cross, we even met Hobo Greg - a local of JT nowadays that we recognised from the voice in a recent Enormocast. Even though we spent very little time in Joshua Tree, we both agreed that it does have a special vibe and feels very spiritual. I would love to come back!

Motel on the way

No loitering

A Joshua tree, Martynas and a boulder

Headstone Rock

Me on Sothwest Corner of Headstone Rock

A campsite in JT

On top of Headstone Rock

Us from a distance

Cryptic on Headstone Rock

Joshua trees

Prep before Double Cross

On the way to Red Rocks

As our trip had to fit in two weeks including all the traveling, we had to move further. The next stop was Red Rocks. After a bit of driving through nowhere, we reached Las Vegas, which is quite the opposite of that. When our GPS said 20min left until destination while we were still in the middle of this light infused city of fakeness, we both shrugged in disbelief. But it was indeed the case and just after a small turn we enterred the darkness and then the weird campsite of Red Rocks which is huge but of course all fully booked. Luckily, we got a place in a shared campsite. Unlucky was that now Martynas got sick and so we only climbed some sport climbs. One of them was quite memorable called Mr Choads Wild Ride (5.11b).

Red Rocks

No shooting or camping

Approaching

Mr Choads Wild Ride

Las Vegas in the distance

Red Rocks

Our travelling companion

Red Rocks campsite

Red Rocks

We abandoned our plans to do a multi-pitch while Martynas was ill and left Nevada for now. The next destinantion was Grand Canyon National Park where we initially planned to run rim-to-rim. That had to be postponed for some time in the future and so we just walked around admiring the vastness of the canyon and observing the crowds of tourists.

Grand Canyon

Northeast

On the way to Moab

From there we set Moab in the GPS and started driving further north-east through the deserts of Arizona and Utah. We had heard so many stories about the desrt climbing, The Indian Creek, The Arches, Moab so setting our foot there felt important. We started by climbing an intro tower called The Owl Rock (5.8) and the Stolen Chimney (5.10d) on the spectacular Ancient Art (Corkscrew Summit). The next goal was the Castleton Tower which we had to postpone one day because of the crowds as it happened to be Sunday. Instead we climbed some single pitch routes in Potash Road. One that stood out was Another Roadside Distraction (5.10b). On Castleton we did Kor-Ingalls (5.9) - one of The 50 Classic Climbs of North America - which was amazing and we were glad to be climbing it on Monday. The cracks and the offwidths were very cool. It was like a new game for which the rules have to learnt from scratch. Standing on these towers felt very fulfilling and I thought that I would gladly spend some period of my life living in a desert climbing all these towers and cracks that we only got a sneak peek of.

Arches National Park

Owl Rock on the right

Climbing Owl Rock

Cold follower

Me on Owl Rock

Martynas on Owl Rock

Approaching Ancient Art

Ancient Art (Corkscrew Summit)

Summit!

Cragging in Wall Street

Desert

Cooking in motels

Approaching Castleton Tower

Me on Kor Ingalls

Hubby is following me

Martynas on Castleton Tower

Me on Castleton Tower

We had less than a week left so started moving back southwest. On the way, we stopped at the Zion National Park where we didn’t climb anything. And then headed back to the Red Rocks hoping to get on some multi-pitch before getting on a plane home. The big plan was to do Epinephrine as it is so widely praised. However, when we approached it there were so many parties waiting already that we thought it wouldn’t be fun waiting. Maybe some other time. We did Unimpeachable Groping (5.10b) instead which was a nice route but not too impressive. It seemed too much like gym climbing and too similar to what we have available in Europe.

Zion National Park

Sleeping in a car

Sport climbing in Red Rocks

On Unimpeachable Groping

We clipped some more bolts the next day and headed further back. We paid a visit to the Death Valley and imagined the people suffering while running Badwater. The last day we had Impossible burgers in some hipster place in LA, walked around in the Venice beach observing the people roller skating, doing tricks in the skatepark and enjoying the sun. With that our trip has come to an end. Martynas stayed for a conference in San Diego and I headed home which we now call Zurich.

Death Valley

Back to LA

Tarantino

Venice Beach in LA

Sending marathon

Sun, 15 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Lazy Sunday afternoon at home, December 2018:

– M: What are you browsing, honey?
– L: I’m registering for mountain trail running races in summer. Shall I register you as well?
– M: Umm, yeah (probably).

On the way to Lavaredo Skyrace

Foggy summer day in mountains near Ticino. My leg is cramped, and my arm started to cramp. 10km left, and from now on only downhill. Runners whom I overtook on the uphill course started to pass me. Stupid me, I should have drunk electrolytes instead of Cola at hydration stations. “Uno chilometro left!” Finally, a finish line. All of a sudden, some glitch in my brain turned “f*ck this shit” into “I want more of this”.

Afterwards, one more trail race and the first city marathon before signing up for something bigger. Laura planted a seed again.

In between, our constantly running friend Audinga said something along these lines: “M you got long and skinny legs, you should take a photo and send to my running coach Jonas. He might consider coaching you guys”. Short conversation, and we were in. Jonas was taking care of our preparation for the Lausanne marathon.

Thanks to him, each of us logged close to 1000km during a couple of months. Constant tiredness and heavy legs made training for climbing nearly impossible. So, for a moment it was put aside.

I’m running in a forest. The sun is setting, and I see it disappearing through branches. Home is still not in a visible distance, and my energy is falling low. I am tired and hungry, and I don’t have a headlamp with me. Suddenly, Patricia Kokett - Mmuo Trance starts playing in my ears, and a blast wave of energy kicks in. What a trip!

It turned out that the whole summer was dedicated to running with a few occasional days on rocks. Actually, it felt rewarding to follow at least some plan in my life.

The marathon run was a totally new experience. The first ~32km felt easy, no signs of tiredness. I even started to question myself whether I should start running faster. But then, suddenly I hit a wall, and all easiness completely vanished. The last 10km were a constant struggle trying to trick brains to not drop from the race.

Although, nowadays grades do not matter, but for the record the finishing times were 3:39:07 (M) and 3:48:33 (L).

Some weeks afterwards were full of emptiness. Luckily, there was a new plan…

Power napping before Scenic Trail

After finishing Scenic Trail K-27 course

Excitement before Lavaredo Skyrace

Laura skyracing

Amazing view during skyrace

Laura post-skyracing

Recovery climb in Dolomites

My skinny legs in idyllic setting

Summer 2019

Very rare days of climbing during Summer 2019

The day has come #1

The day has come #2

Finish! Marathon is done, and I am too

New season is more interesting and less flat

Confusion about priorities

Sun, 01 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The end of the vanlife stage was marked by mishaps. One of them was that while climbing I permanently damaged my middle finger joint cartilage, which put a big question mark over my future climbing.

Instead of falling deep into depression, my best therapist, aka my wife, suggested to explore other sports which previously were shadowed by the king of all sports.

That’s how skiing came to light.

Tracked

In the past we skied a bit, but just a bit. We even did a skitour. The season began with a poor technique and very ungraceful movements. Luckily, some buddies patiently waited for us even on a powder day.

First "skitour" (2015)

All weekends and some weekdays before work of 2018/2019 winter and spring unintentionally got allocated for skiing. Checking snow reports (big up to wepowder.com), deciding where to drive (being based next to Northern Alps has some advantages) became part of a daily routine. Our minds got obsessed with where to get the best powder.

Season is starting!

Mountains getting in condition

Fun is on!

Going up for some untouched snow #1

Going up for some untouched snow #2

Who is first?

Sick fun!

Jonas going deep

So deep! #1

So deep! #2

Searching for a lost ski

Climbing buddy paid a visit

Short detour before going to the office

Skitour buddies

Rokas getting excited

Lunch break

Alone on a skitour - nobody is around. So sick!

Post-skiing stoke

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This summarizes all season

A year without a toilet

Sat, 22 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Yet another blog post which was long due. It was written during the trip (but never published), so expect some funny idealistic views inside.

It has been a while since me and Laura gave up cosy life and moved to a campervan. This blog post gives an overview of our setup.

Our beloved ex-van

Before getting into details, it’s worth mentioning that our motivation for the metamorphosis was to rehab from the city life by climbing rocks during a day and poking keyboards offline at night.

Anyway, to make it happen we thought about settling into a van which has:

A bed for two
Insulation and ventilation
Electricity from green sources
Cooking facilities
Stealthy look

These would enable us to simply and comfortably live in nature near rocks and mountains.

Choosing a Van

Obviously, the first thing was to decide what kind of a van we would like to get. We had the following options in mind:

Buy a cargo van and convert it ourselves (requires time and some skills)
Buy a camper van ($)
Buy VW California ($$$)

Due to time constraints we opted for the second option. We were lucky and found a third generation Fiat Ducato X250 from 2008 with a relatively low mileage, some DIY conversions and a high top so that I can almost stand up.

After buying the van we had only one month to do any modifications, as we did not want to skip summer climbing. We decided to skip any major changes to the existing layout, insulation or furniture, and just do minor adjustments and some installations.

Stealth look

Layout and Furniture

The existing layout gives enough space to function for two. In the single space we have a bedroom, a kitchen, a dinning room, a storage room and even an office space.

As we spend at least ~1/3rd of total trip time sleeping, a proper bed is super important to us. At the back of the van we have a king size bed. Unfortunately, it is a bit too short for me, so I have to sleep diagonally.

Under the bed we have a storage space for our climbing gear, skateboard, books and other things. As we overestimated how much stuff we will bring with us (in the end it was a surprisingly small amount), we decided to build a shelf above the bed which now accommodates our socks (thanks to our parents for accommodating the rest of our stuff).

There are more shelves for storing food, dishes, clothes and shoes. See the picture below. Each door of the shelf has neat clips which prevent the doors from opening when driving on shaky roads.

To make the van even more spacious we installed a swivel chair mechanism on the passenger seat. This addition is worth all the money (~€100 on Ebay) as it creates a comfy place for computer activities.

For the sake of privacy and stealthy look, we separated the front cabin of the van from the living part with dark curtains attached to the very silent drape runners.

Living room

King size bed

Climbing gear

Office space

Insulation and Ventilation

The van came insulated by the previous owner. Unfortunately, the insulation is just OK as it does not cover all surface and the used materials are not well suited for the task. So, due to the lack of better thermo resistance it becomes hot when it is hot outside, and it gets quite cold when outside it’s subzero. If we have had more time, we would have remade it.

Fortunately, the van has a heater inside (Webasto AirTop 2000) running on diesel. A very small amount of fuel heats up the whole living space pretty quickly.

For air circulation we have a roof vent. It prevents condensation, supplies some fresh air, and allows us to cook inside without opening the side door. Nice thing about the vent is that when it rains you can leave it open, as it does not let the water pour in.

Kitchen

No more eating out!

The van comes with a 2-burner gas stove which enables us to cook inside. The gas is stored in 12.5l gas bottle containing 5kg of propane butane mix which is enough for ~2.5 months.

Once in France we ran out of gas, and it was difficult to find a bottle which would fit our gas regulator. So, we had to buy an overpriced Campergaz setup. Half of the cost would have been saved if we had bought Gaslow Camping Gas adaptor before which allows you to connect a Campergaz 907 bottle to common gas regulators. However, a good thing about this setup is that in most European countries you can easily refill the Campergaz bottle.

Next to the stove we have a water sink with a tap. Water comes from 25l water tank and waste goes to another water container. Water is supplied by a very common Reich EASY 14 water pump (14l/min) placed in the water tank.

Fun fact: 25l of water is enough for roughly two days.

A modern kitchen has to have a fridge, but we decided not to have one due to high power requirements. We are not heavy meat eaters, so most of our food can stay on the shelves. Also, we are doing grocery shopping every third day.

Water system

Electricity and Lightning

This was the most interesting part. From the very beginning it was clear that a solar panel is a must. The only question was what kind and how big. After doing a lot of research online and some calculations we ended up buying the following:

200W monochrome solar panel with a smart circuit which works in partial shade
EPEVER 20A MPPT solar charge controller
2x Exide EP800 AGM 95 Ah batteries

The biggest pain with the solar was that due to the odd location of the roof vent, only a non-standard size panel could fit on the roof. Luckily, one UK-based company had such panel.

In the case of sun being absent for a few days in a row we installed a split charger.

So far the solar thing has been working very well. Despite decent power usage (mostly laptops and lights) we have never used the split charger as the batteries never discharged below 50%. Probably related to the fact that we are spending winter in Spain.

To charge laptops we got 12V DC/DC chargers which should be more efficient than using DC/AC converters and then regular AC/DC chargers.

Instead of getting way too overpriced 12V LED light panels for campervans, we bought some cheap LED light panels for 220V powered houses, ripped them apart, and put a 12V LED stripes - works well.

LED lightning

Charging

Solar charge controller and friends

Misc

There are more small things which deserve mentioning.

First of all, our shower is a 20l black plastic bag. If it’s sunny, we place the bag on the front panel of the van, and water inside becomes relatively warm. If it’s cold, we boil a bit of water. Showering happens outside. Anyway, you definitely don’t need to shower every day.

Second, we don’t have a toilet inside, as we live most of the time in nature. Instead, we got a shovel.

Third, we do laundry approximately once per month, and we use public laundry services for that.

Finally - no internet. This deserves a separate blog post. Living without internet was a blast to the mighty ’90s.

Van with friends

So, in the end, was it worth? Oh YES!

Alpine Summer

Sat, 16 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Six months have passed since we left Saint Gervais les Bains where we spent the summer. It served us as a transitional period between the vanlife and the real life. We rented a small apartment there and did short 2-3 day mountain outings while looking for jobs and preparing for the interviews in between. When I think about that period, a lot seems very distant and surreal. I do remember the routes we did but all of them blur into one long “summer in the Alps” experience. What stays in memory though is all the people we met and got to share the rope with.

Alpenglow

Frieder paid a short visit from Zürich attending a conference in Chamonix. We climbed Contamine on Pointes Lachenal in three: Martynas, Frieder and me. Martynas was also privileged to share a rope with Frieder and Klaus one day while climbing Contamine on the South Pillar of Aiguille du Midi. I climbed the same route with John - an English teacher from Canada we met sport climbing somewhere in Southern France. Then our crazy Australian friends Damian and Sam who used to call me man or bro interchangeably. We got to spend a couple of days with Martynas and Damian on the glacier when we attempted to climb Directe des Capucins. And of course RIP Philipp, we will always remember you and all the days we climbed together!

Cragging with Philipp

"Climb more, talk less" described Philipp well

Rainy cragging day

It feels hard now to gather all the summer adventures in one blogpost but hey, we all know it’s more fun to be outdoors than to write about it. That’s the reason it got dragged behind quite a lot. So let me try to put the outings I still remember in a chronological order. So back to the beginning of summer 2018.

Aiguille du Midi

June 14, 2018 - our fist alpine endeavor of the season. A day before: Montenvers train, ladders down to the glacier, a walk through Mer de Glace, ladders up from the glacier and more walking on a path that’s still covered in snow as it’s quite early in the season. Envers hut is still unserviced, almost no people and no tracks to be seen. We choose to climb Le Marchand de Sable on Tour Rouge the next day. The approach through Trélaporte glacier is supposed to be quick and easy but it takes us longer as we feel wobbly on the snow and ice. Changing the mountain boots to rock shoes seems like the crux already but finally we leave the ground and it feels very good to touch the rock. The route is amazing - even more than expected after reading stories about Michel Piola routes. The slabs do deliver and we make a mental note for the future that Piola’s 6a slab is fine while 6a+ will be fun. At the end of the day I feel proud about finishing those +’s clean. We are very happy about our first outing and are keen to come back.

Fuss before the start

Martynas on Marchand de Sable

First pitches Marchand de Sable

The views around

Top of Marchand de Sable

Not long after, we do indeed come back. June 20, the second route of the summer. This time it’s Bienvenue au Georges V on Première Pointe des Nantillons. Everything seems a little bit more familiar this time. There’s less snow on the approach to the hut which is serviced already and we see more people around. This time we approach the route through Envers de Blatiere glacier. It takes us a bit less time and all the prep is a little bit shorter. The route is great again. Route finding is not too hard but use Piola’s guidebook and not Rockfax if you plan to do it as the latter is very misleading. Martynas feels more comfortable and it feels good that we can both enjoy the experience. And yay, I get a birthday surprise which Martynas has been carrying all the way up - champagne and a cake, beat that! I guess he was inspired by the wine-carrying stories of our crazy trail runner friends Audinga & the twins.

Martynas on Bienvenue au Georges V

Bienvenue au Georges V

Myself on Bienvenue au Georges V

June 26, change of direction. This time it’s Grand Capucin! It feels extraordinary to finally go and see the thing that I wanted to climb for so long. I have a picture of it printed since about 6 years ago. It just never happened until now. It does look even better than in pictures. We sleep on the glacier which is the first time at least for me. Daily routine is a bit trickier here but it’s all worth it. We start early in the morning, maybe not as early as we should have but it’s dark and we plan to do Swiss route + O Sole Mio exit to be able to free the whole thing. Approaching involves crossing a bergschrund and climbing firm snow in the colouir until you get on the rock. Then you scramble even higher until you reach the official beginning of the route. All of that you do in those big boots which I am very gladly leaving at the belay. But when I can touch the rock with bare hands and the feet in only rock shoes I am happy. First half of the route is not that impressive but at the end you get some nice pitches in. At the same time it gets more windy and cold as you get on the west? side. The abseil is long and tedious as it’s not that direct. You have to first reach the stuff you’ve left at the start and then traverse-abseil in short pieces. As a prize for all the tedious abseiling, Martynas gets to explore the insides of the bergschrund which is too wide even for his long legs. At the end we are tired as dogs but very content.

Poser on the glacier

Trying to see the line

Majestic

Seconding

Slippery crack

What's next?

Beautiful slab

Yay!

Long way down

July, a trip up the Aiguille du Midi lift. A night on the glacier and a day on the rock of Pointes Lachenal with Frieder and Martynas. A marvelous day, beautiful route, amazing views, good company, what else would you want! The route is very popular so it is also very crowded but we do enjoy it nevertheless. We come back down the same day and end the day with beer and burgers contemplating what’s next. Unfortunately, my neck stops turning sideways so I’m out of the game for a while but the summer is long so I don’t lose the psyche.

Evening on the glacier

Night on the glacier

Early start

Martynas on the first pitch

Seconding the first one

Frieder & Martynas

Contamine on Pointes Lachenal

The crew on Contamine

Posers

Myself

July, I’m home while Martynas gets to climb with two stars: Frieder (aspiring Alaskan alpinist) and Klaus (Adam Ondra’s physiotherapist). They are doing a lift-to-lift day on the South Pillar of Aiguille du Midi. They choose to climb Contamine which is known for it’s nice 7a pitch which is apparently easily protected and fun. I am of course jealous sitting at home but the neck feels a bit better so I’m hopeful.

Camera man on lead

Busy on Rebuffat nearby

Fridolin dispatching

Getting even more busy

Klaus cruising the crux pitch

More of the crux

Boys

Happy boys

In order to not do irresponsible decisions with this neck thingy, we decide to leave Chamonix for a couple of days and go to Ceuse. Sport climbing feels harder after every longer break so it’s humbling to get back at it but I still manage to climb some of the classics like Berlin and Macach Walou. It is good to get some fitness back but this summer we are dedicated to alpine granite so we head home after three hikes up and down Ceuse. Wait, maybe it’s not three for some of us. So guess who forgot HIS climbing shoes in the van and noticed it at the base of the rock.

Back in Chamonix, we feel the end of the summer approaching fast but we are still stoked for more. Once I arrange a lift-to-lift day up Contamine route with John, an English teacher from Canada. We finish Contamine quite quickly (although I fall on the 7a pitch I mentioned before) and think what we could do next before the last lift. We decide to scramble up the Cosmiques Ridge instead of going straight back home. That turns out to be more exhausting for me than expected. I feel very awkward climbing with big boots and carrying the extra rope and the gear doesn’t help. It is a long day though and those always feel good at the end of the day.

Teacher in his element

John on Contamine

August 12, 2018. The plan is now more ambitious and we turn our attention to Directe des Capucins as the line looks very nice and straight and more natural than the Swiss - O Sole Mio combination we did before. To be even more honest, the plan is for me to do all the leading while Martynas is being a camera man and Damian is belaying. This does not happen though as I get scared, tired and chicken out on some of the pitches halfway the route. Also, we see that it is very slow to climb in three and also with all the rope mess around needed for our camera man. So we get back down. I am very frustrated as I made two people go with me and didn’t manage to do it but shit happens so I move on. The next day we do just a short route before getting back down to Chamonix.

Camera man in action

Damian posing for his boss

Melting water

Grand Capucin and the surroundings

Clouds rolling in

“We have to squeeze in one more”, we think. And so we do. Back to Envers. This time Pedro Polar on Aiguille de Roc on the radar. The same hike, by now quite well known, except that the ladders up from the glacier are new and moved further away. It rains a bit at night so the first pitches are wet. Before we even start climbing we see an epic fall of a British girl climbing Children of the Moon nearby. Uch. After two pitches of slippery fight, we move onto the dry rock and just enjoy. One of the harder pitches goes free, that blows in some confidence and so I fall on the other one. I rarely fall on my gear but this one feels good, I am even proud of that in a way. We meet some guide with a guy training to become one, they ask where we are from. After answering they are like “Heh, some Lithuanians got famous on Mt Blanc recently by carrying a 3 meter long stump to place a flag on top. They were stopped by the police of course.” And we are like “No way, that sound like a shitshow big time”. Fortunately, they were Latvians we figure after googling a bit later on. Some people finish Pedro after 8 pitches as it’s a big shelf there and this already makes it a good day. But I feel super keen and so I get a green light from Martynas to continue. I’d say the upper part also has some nice pitches and is worth doing if you have time. We happily finish it and rush down to be on time for the hut dinner which we ordered for the first time. The dinner is massive and we love it. We listen to stories of some hardcore Polish climbers and go to sleep.

Still a bit wet

Pedro Polar

On top of Pedro Polar

Summit selfie

Envers hut from above

Worn out hands

Next day is short as we have to catch the train down. We decide to do something short and quick. Le Piège on Tour Verte it is. Today Martynas is keen which is good as I am tired after yesterday. We rush to the top, rush down, eat, pack and hike down. We feel a bit sentimental at this point but at the same time determined to work hard to create a lifestyle that allows us to be in the mountains more.

Le Piège

Even more worn out

And so that is the last climb in the Alps this summer. After that we move out of our apartment in Saint Gervais and leave to Ceuse to get the last taste of the vantrip before heading back home. You might be guessing what is home to us at this point and we don’t know that either. And yet, I meant Lithuania here. In Ceuse I work hard (I think it was hard) on Petit Tom but that doesn’t happen either. Povilas joins us from Stuttgart for a short (as always) holidays and it is fun to climb with him. While in Ceuse we get the sad news about Philipp and at this point it feels right to end the trip.

Back in Lithuania, we spend two months reorganising our lives, signing work contracts, selling the van, etc. Currently, we are based in Zürich, following a life model that works for us very well so far. Working on the stuff that is interesting for us on the weekdays while ski touring, free riding, trail running and climbing on the weekends. It actually feels good to sit down on Monday mornings and we hope that the stoke will not wear off quickly!

Farewell

The guide who spoke the 6th language

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

January 2012, Sottoguda. After a full day of ice climbing, me and Laura are preparing for a cold bivy in an unusual spot - next to our car, as a part of our training program for a harsh winter climbing in Chamonix which in the end never happened. A guy walks by and without any wonder asks us - “what are you training for?” The face looks very familiar. It’s Philipp. We often see him in the local climbing gym, but we are always too shy to talk to him.

Philipp

Later on, we shared a rope on ice, on sport climbs and on longer routes in Dolomites. Sometimes the rope was just between me and Laura, while he was next to us on his own - training for his “little” solitude missions which his mom was not very proud of. “I’m going just for a run” he said, while ice tools were well hidden in a pack on his back.

Each climb had to start with espresso regardless of circumstances - even if it was way too late or a stormy weather was coming. In the beginning, it was difficult for me and Laura to tolerate it, but later we learned to approach climbing with more peace and less rush.

Regardless of being very talented, he was reluctant to take any shortcuts and trained a lot, a lot. He always made fun of his regular climbing partner Bubba who didn’t need to train to climb at a high level, and had a secret plan to make Bubba fat that he would climb worse.

Climbing was definitely driving his life, and such dedication to climbing meant that he had to give up on relations, career, a “normal” life style. We often started conversations with a joke “have you finally found a girlfriend?”. Obviously, packed skis at the back of his tiny car for going down a steep face next morning regardless of whether a partner shows up didn’t help with this.

When I felt disconnected from climbing due to getting lost in the “busy” life, talking to him or seeing his adventures immediately brought back the spark. However, the “seeing” part became more difficult with time due to his humble approach and not willingness to brag about THE climbs - first ascents, hard repeats and free solos.

27th of July, 2018, Chamonix. Philipp is back from his mountain guiding duties which he used to fund his climbing addiction. Three of us meet for an easy cragging day. Good weather, no stress. In between climbs, we talk about his two recent unsuccessful attempts to finish his “little project” - to traverse Aiguille de L’M - Charmoz - … Mt Blanc alone in a day. His traverse has worried both me and Laura. He wants to return to try the traverse again in a few days (but in the end he stays at home as “I [Philipp] got scared!”). We talk about risk and his plans to take it easy with climbing and stop soloing after doing the Walker Spur. By the end of the day, we wave each other and make a maybe plan to meet in Ceuse by the end of the summer.

21th of August, 2018, Ceuse. The message arrived. “Philipp Angelo fell to his death while soloing Walker Spur on Grandes Jorasses”.

And the language. This summer we invented a fake language - a mixture of Japanese, Chinese, etc. which you can often hear in the Midi lift. We used this language while climbing which made us laugh to tear. Although Philipp was older than both of us, due to the way he acted he felt way younger than us. Even the most serious situation could end in laugh.

Godspeed Philipp! We miss you.

Seasons changing in Verdon

Sat, 05 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Martynas: I’m sitting on an ancient juniper tree sticking out of the rock, many meters of void below me. The tree gives a rest to my delicate body from hanging belays while I am eating a sandwich and belaying my wife who is fighting in a chimney. A constant meditative sound of splashing Verdon stream gets interrupted by “salut!” from a BASE jumper nearby whose parachute just deployed. Sun is warming my back, and the life seems to float into the right direction.

Laura: Gorges du Verdon to me personally is a reminder of what’s the point in all this. A reminder of why I am living in a van and spending most of time either climbing or belaying or resting after climbing while still thinking about it. So when the reason for this undertaking starts to blur, it is a good time to go to Verdon. Every time I’m here I say I should stay here forever (But then I go somewhere else and say I should stay there). This time Verdon was also a wake up call. When we first drove into La Palud this year, there was still lots of snow. But we were eager to abseil already. A couple of days passed, the snow melted, and we could smell the spring. Then a week of never ending rain and everything bloomed. It suddenly became almost too hot but the sun was so much missed that we enjoyed every beam of it. And in between the snow and rain and heat we climbed!

Laura searching for a rapel

L: We aimed to direct our ambitions towards the classics, some of which have in their descriptions “run out” or “some camalots might be reassuring” or “take some trad gear”. But as we always do we started slowly. So the first route we did was “Dingomaniaque” from Jardin des Ecureuils. Then we went up on “Demon”. Both of these are fully bolted sport routes and they were a great introduction to the slabby and technical style that can be found here.

M: Verdon is one of a few climbing places which I consider as true: exposed compact limestone is a real test ground for one’s technique and mind, often without a possibility to cheat. Campus board, TRX or moonboard videos on Instagram do not help much to comfortably scale these walls. Just watch Opera Vertical to see what I meant.

L: After this intro we wanted to go more traditional and chose “Luna Bong” for that. This was one of the best routes I’ve done in Verdon. Huge seemingly never-ending cracks protected by a combination of bolts and trad gear - quite a common style in Verdon. On “Luna Bong” I had a memorable moment when I unintentionally skipped a belay thinking that mine is very soon. Apparently, mine was the one I skipped and so I had to combine two long pitches. I ran out of cams, quickdraws and the single biners after splitting quickdraws. Ropedrag was dreadful but yay somehow managed to reach the belay. Felt hard (was 6a)!

M: I’d be a liar if I had told that I feel very comfortable climbing old school routes in Verdon. The beginning is always the most difficult though, but with each committed move or a taken fall it becomes more and more pleasant.

L: And then the Queen of all routes - “La Demande”. Woow, what a ride! The lower part is quite quick, amazing cracks. After about a half, the chimneys start and you get to learn climbing once again. One leg on one side, the other on the other or back on one side, legs on the other. Tried everything, everything worked (it had to cause you don’t wanna fall) but finished exhausted as hell! I can still see many of the moves in those chimneys when I close my eyes.

M: Meanwhile, my parents and sister visited us in Verdon to see what the hell I’m doing with my life. And they were impressed by the nature of Verdon!

L: Another classic that stuck in my mind was “Baiser Sanglant” that’s famous for it’s 2nd pitch finger crack. Classy! And the traverse of the 1st pitch is not worse. Go try it if you have a chance. It is a good option for when there’s just a couple of hours before the rain cause it’s 3 pitches in total.

L: Our time in Verdon was coming to an end but we had one more amazing surprise! Eglytė paid a short visit and we had great time together. After 12 years break (getting old, I know) we climbed a multi-pitch together again! Guess where was the last time (hint: Vytas should know). I hope will became a tradition now!

Dalles Grises - as a tradition, the first rapel

Some climbers on Escales

Finally got to see some snow

Crazy spring - it was raining non-stop for 7 days

Wet tufas and Martynas

Cat paid a visit to our home next day

Slept many nights at this spot

A vulture

Many vultures!

Rest day hike. Ecrins in the distance

Observatory next to Verdon

Evening. The view is never disappointing in Verdon

Searching for "Luna Bong"

Belay spot on "Luna Bong"

Martynas on "Luna Bong"

Laura rapelling

Laura on "Heure Zero"

Laura is stoked!

Martynas on "Heure Zero"

Night

Yet another evening

Low clouds

Meanwhile in La Palud

Laura on "Extraterestes"

Sporty day in Courchon

Martynas is a gentleman!

Pizzas are back in Verdon

Laura is stoked again

Martynas on "La Demande"

In chimneys of "La Demande"

Yey, on top of "La Demande"

TC Pro for "La Demande"

Pumpučiai in action!

"Pichenibule"

Blankness of "Pichenibule"

"Never again, never again"

No blog entry without alcohol picture

Best buddies enjoying the hike

Martynas pretending that he enjoys the hike

Hiking in the rain

Watching the vultures

Scouting for lines for next time

Buoux

Thu, 05 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

We have been to Ceuse (it’s been a while indeed) and Verdon (multiple times and currently I am sitting in a van in La Palud parking) but Buoux was still missing from the French trilogy. In order to complete the trilogy, we simply had to go there. The time has come at the end of March when finally the weather seemed to get a little warmer and allowed us to leave Spain.

Martynas on "No Man's Land"

We stocked up with the Spanish goods such as large quantities of olive oil and just slightly smaller quantities of red wine and headed to the country of baguettes. On the way to Buoux, we checked another crag called Russan but were not too impressed probably because of being spoiled by the Spanish rock.

Russan

DZO lonely in Russan

Buoux on the other hand even exceeded our expectations. Waking up at a new place was a nice birthday present for Martynas (in addition to a chocolate cake of course). The mecca of sport climbing in the 80s, it is still a destination very much worth visiting. Even in the lower grades it has some spectacular stuff, not to mention the harder classics. Before getting to Buoux, I had in my mind that I want to try Reve de Papilon - the first 8a in France, first climbed by Marc Le Menestrel in 1983. After getting there however I changed my mind. Steep, fingery and powerful - I decided to save the fingers for hell knows what.

Forest of cedars

MP photography in action

Hiking in Luberon

Me on "Stranger than Paradise" (damn good movie, better than the route)

Scenic views for dinner

Martynas sending "No Man's Land" (damn good movie, and also the route)

Even without Reve, we got to climb many many beautiful routes, the names of which I knew long before. It was a remarkable experience to get on Rose de Sables - some say the most beautiful 7a in the world, or No Man’s Land - a traverse that looks great in pictures, or lots of other classics such as Pacemaker, TCF, Dresden, the cracks of La Beda and Marabounta and the slopy Enty Prises.

"No Man's Land" sector

Scenic views for brekkie

Povilas on "Enty Prises"

Luberon

Gang in the forest

Birthday boy

Sunny birthday sends

Some part of our time in Buoux we got to share with Aistė and Povilas whose holidays tend to shrink over time. But the time we had, we spent to the fullest. Lots of climbing, hiking and even a visit to the ochre mines of Bruoux. Also, sneaking into their shower multiple times.

Martynas pretending to be a local or choosing the best apples

Martynas excited about airy "Fakir"

Martynas on "La Beda"

Martynas hiding on "Marabounta" (according to him THE best route)

Buoux was remarkable but we yearn for more adventures and so the next destination for us in Verdon - a heaven of multi pitch climbing and a place that holds a special place in our hearts (and guts).

Luberon beauties

End of Hibernation

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Boy, oh boy! Everyone was pulling from this pocket: Wolfgang Güllich, Catherine Destivelle, Jerry Moffat, Lynn Hill. Everyone. It’s getting a bit run-out. Amm, run-out, a bit higher and now it’s RUN-OUT. Sun is shinning, and I’m contemplating a next move to … amm, a sloper.

As you can guess, we are already back in France. However, this blog post is about spending the last month of the damn cold winter in Spain and Catalunya.

Montsant

February felt less sedentary than ever before, as we changed our home location many times. Mainly in the region of Costa Blanca which I sometimes find ugly due to touristic landscape, excessive agriculture and difficult to find solitude.

First, after escaping El Chorro, we drove to Sella to continue solitude climbing on pretty sandbagged walls. It was too cold for “Hidden Valley” (a sector with tufas, overhangs, power, muscles, bam-bam), so we were forced to climb on verticals and slabs. Such phrases as “it wasn’t healthy for my heart to warm-up on this slab” or “this 6b won’t disappoint you” were exchanged.

Solitude in Sella #1

Laura on some 6b+ slab

Solitude in Sella #2

Evening's chef

Next, we drove to Chulilla to meet with our friends Londoners who came there to celebrate Audinga’s birthday. Fun time and fun celebration(s). In between, I managed to finish unfinished business - “Nibelungalos” (my first 7c, yey), and finally, Laura got a chance on “El Bufa” (8a) which she gonna send next time.

Chulilla

Audinga and the support

Trail running with Audinga

The van and the cosmos

Rehearsing Nibelungalos

Fighting Nibelungalos

After-climbing routine

Myself and the cosmos

XXX or showering

Offline

Our friend

Next, we met with Laura’s sister Vilma and her crew who came to climb in Costa Blanca. It was fun to synchronize climbing dictionaries with the crew: “antoškė” - quickdraw, “minusas” - overhang, “šnipas” - ATC device, and sometimes understanding for climbing safety.

Vilma is psyched on climbing. So psyched, that even we get envy (I miss those days when everything in climbing was new, and “The Center of the Universe” was watched only once). After cragging with her on sport routes, two sisters and me went to climb “Diedro UBSA” on Penon d’Ifach - a first multi-pitch for Vilma. Although it’s just 5+, exposedness, bridging corners and exiting roofs didn’t feel five-ish at all. Not to forget a wind which blew out all chalk from my chalkbag.

Playing multi-pitch with Vilma

Sisters

Vilma on real multi-pitch

Myself getting high

Vilma rappeling

Getting exposed

Obligatory (pre)summit selfie

Another day got belayed by a backpack

After saying goodbye, next destination was Gandia, and then Bernia. Gandia was about sport and oranges, while in Bernia we had a very awesome outing - a Bernia ridge traverse, or a Fitz Roy traverse of Costa Blanca, or just a long scramble.

Finally grilling in Gandia

Two unrelated pictures

Bernia ridge

Trail running in Bernia

Laura on Bernia ridge

Me on Bernia ridge

Pic from irrelevant summit

Usual business

Campfire and Laura

Campfire

Getting cold

Storm in Bernia

Happy, careless, enjoying life (often also irresponsible)

And finally, we were back in Cornudella, the place where our winter suffering began and the place considered by many as the center of the universe for sport climbing.

The parking lots were full of familiar vans and familiar faces. On some occasions we joined Vida and Jacint with their local gang of climbers.

Besides Margalef and Siurana, we finally went to Montsant - a very impressive and very solitude climbing, same as Margalef, but, longer, more remote and less steep, and Arboli which felt like an extension of Siurana due to similar climbing style and rock.

During the last days we both ticked “Mandragora” (7b+), the superb route Laura tried on her first visit to Siurana eight years ago. She did the crux section in her usual style - pulling on imaginary crimps.

Montsant OMG

Approaching...

Laura cruising on "La Terra Promesa" (7a+)

Vida onsighting "Rata Arraconada" (7a)

Laura on "Montsantrrat" (7b+)

Village of Morera de Montsant

Vineyards

Watching Lithuanian Bouldering Championship in Margalef

Wolf in Margalef

Laura fighting the crack of "Pa ella y pa los guiris" (7a+)

Took a break

Next to Arboli in the night

Siurana

Happy Laura

Happy Martynas

Laura approaching El Pati

The mighty El Pati

Myself on "Purgandus populus" (7a)

Laura and Mandragora (7b+)

Post Mandragora fight

Aspiring alpinist

Hashtag hashtag #vanlife hashtag

Projecting next van with the local gang

Xavier: I cook, you eat. The master!

Just about to leave Spain

Spring is here (at least in calendar). Even if we like comfort and stability so much, we find courage to step outside our comfort zone and leave Spain and Catalunya. See you later, crimps on orange walls.

Lithuanian crowd in El Chorro

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

As winter cold is getting unbearable to us - sinusitis-susceptible folks, we are slowly moving south. As nomadic tribesmen traveling to the better climates we are moving to Andalusia. Driving from Costa Blanca to Andalusia is surprisingly interesting to us as we have never been that south in Spain. The usual destinations for us have been Barcelona/Lleida/Valencia and around so far. And so now we are stoked to explore a new place!

The layers of El Chorro

On the way we see Sierra Nevada mountains and are both bewildered by their snowiness. Not something we expected to see that south in Spain.

Sierra Nevada on the way

Somewhat industrial feel

Our base for a couple of weeks is going to be a house in Alora as we have not been prompt enough to book a place in El Chorro as all the others. The house is cool though and we are happy to stay here with Domas who flew in from Vilnius.

Our base in Alora

The Lithuanian crew in El Chorro is quite huge! 11 people not counting us which contributes to a significant percentage of the whole Lithuanian rock climbing community when you think about it. So wow, we are very glad to be able to witness such a phenomenon and be part of this crew. Fun fact - many of those people wear socks while climbing but it’s probably a coincidence.

Gabija and Vytas in chilling mode

Happy Simutės

Electricity for El Chorro

The days in El Chorro are passing by very quickly. We try to see as many different sectors as we can. From technical and crimpy Encantadas and Escalera Arabe to overhanging and juggy Fronteras to a remote and tufa-coated Makinodromo, we are trying it all! Some enjoy the technical aspects more than others, some are more happy to be pulling on jugs, but everyone seems to find something to climb.

Saulė showing some power on "Bueno, bonito y barato", 6c+, Las Encantadas

Martynas on "Bueno, bonito y barato", 6c+, Las Encantadas

Gedas airborne on "Lourdes", 8a, Makinodromo

Expert in multitasking

Wind energy for El Chorro

After the first week, the first people start to leave. Vytas, Gabija and Justas are flying home but party is not over yet. Aras and Gedas B. are eager to use the remaining days to the fullest and take no rest days at all. Which ends up being counterproductive for some but the appetite is still growing. Gedas and Saulė are being even more efficient than ever doing morning/evening sends summing up to more routes in a couple of hours than all other mortal people can manage during the whole day of climbing. That’s what parenthood teaches you they say.

Myself on "Honk down", 7c, Momia

Gedas onsighting "Generaciòn Limite", 7b+, during one of his evening sends' sprint

Gedas on "Swimming Through a Shark Attack", 8a+, Poema de Roca

@alpinearas on "Poema de Roca", 7a, Poema de Roca

Myself on "Viejo traidor", 7b+, Poema de Roca

Then some more people leave and we spend another couple of days with Simučiai getting some quality 1-on-1 time with them. An already familiar sense of loneliness is starting to creep in when we say the last goodbyes. Now when we are left alone we have to do something to stay positive and motivated. So one solution is to take up or finish some unfinished projects.

Approaching Escalera Arabe

Domas on a classic "Blade runner", 6a+, Escalera Arabe

Martynas enjoying the evening sun in Escalera Arabe

Saulė on "Diedro torpedol", 6c, Escalera Arabe

@alpinearas on "Arabesque", 7a, Escalera Arabe

Domas finally enjoying other song than Tufa - Overhang feat. Polished on "Zona cero", 7a+, Escalera Arabe

@alpinearas feeling free

For Martynas it is “Viejo Traidor”, 7b+, that he does quite quickly without any major issues. Riding on a send train he also clips the chain of “Alicia”, 7b+. He makes a conclusion that it is enough of tufa climbing and overhangs for now. We should do more technical stuff from now on!

Approaching Makinodromo

Gedas back on "Lourdes", 8a, Makinodromo. This time in style!

Gedas B. on "Life is sweet", 6c, Makinodromo

Huge Makinodromo

Caminito del Rey

Sunny Caminito

Caminito del Rey and train tracks to Makinodromo

For me it ends up being “Deseo en vida”, 8a. When I tried it first time it seemed totally impossible and I gave up grumpy for the rest of that day. A couple of days later Martynas and Gedas encouraged me to try it again as Martynas climbed a 7a next to it and made a top-rope. It was starting to rain and I was not super psyched but it’s a great opportunity I though. So I gave it a go. And surprisingly I did all the moves. It didn’t feel doable just yet as the hardest part is to link everything up - there are no good rests for about 10 meters of crimpy pleasure.

Saulė during the last day of climbing in Suizo

Gedas crimping hard on "Mama Endika", 8a+, Las Encantadas

Lonely DZO in the woods of El Chorro

But then another day of work and it clicks! As if the possible counterbalances the impossible in my head and I know it’s just a matter of time. From here it’s easy, just a little bit of patience is needed. And so the next day in the morning, first try of the day I send it. It is a symbolic thing for me. Even though it’s yet another grade, yet another ego booster, I take a chance to enjoy it. I have been thinking about this, quite passively though, for quite a while, potentially since I did my first 7c which was … 7 year ago.

Before the final climb of "Deseo en vida", 8a, Las Encantadas

Finishing "Deseo en vida", 8a, Las Encantadas

We are done with El Chorro, done with the celebrations as well. Time to move on! Moving on back to Costa Blanca and turning our radar towards France already. Checking the weather for Buoux and Verdon occasionally and hoping for it to get warmer in March.