Lantana climbing

Crag: Lantana, Castione, Orobie
Routes: Caretera e Manta (f4c:led), Dune Mosse (f5b:sec), Padania (f5:led), Polvere di Stelle (f5c:sec), Fo di Stras (f5c:led), Solitudine/Dune Variant (f5:led), 5 lire Per la Pelle della Volpe (f4c:led), Marta 97 (f4c:sec)
After yesterday's brief sample, we were eager to get back to Lantana for the tried and tested 'active rest day'. Cragging between bouts of mountaineering always works well, but we had to leave early after a good hotel breakfast - the crag faced west and therefore worked perfectly as a morning venue. Time was still limited, however, as we were racing the sun - knowing that it would be too hot to climb when it lit the face at midday. We went straight for Settore B, a 30m high sweep of limestone slabs interspersed with steeper walls. I kicked off with Caretera e Manta, an obvious trade route at a lowly grade up the left-hand section of the main slab. It was easy but excellent - beautiful featured limestone with pockets throughout, the kind of relaxed climbing I have always loved. Not polished, good friction, dry rock, and not too hot in the shade of morning. Steve's lead, Dune Moss, was even better - some delicate moves between widely spaced pockets on a steep upper slab. All these routes were long and absorbing, and the quality ramped up again for my lead up the corner line of Padania. This was only f5, but I started out up Solitudine at 5c, before heading straight up into the corner. This gave superb bridging interspersed with more delightful pocketed climbing. Very varied and utterly absorbing: a really great route. After these three, all close to 30m of sustained (albeit relatively slabby) climbing, we moved further left for some shorter, steeper and harder routes. Steve led Polvere di Stelle at 5c which, as ever in Italy or France, felt like a British E2 rather than the sort of route we generally grade 5+ (because we get the system wrong at these lower grades, in my view). It was sustained up to a very powerful final move on small pockets over a steep bulge, quite polished, to a flat hold and one more hard move to the top. I did it twice via different solutions, and then led Fo di Stras to its left. This was a little more sustained, a line of pockets curving left, then back right: quite technical throughout, but really satisfying. I led another long hybrid pitch on the slab, and then became tired. More to the point, the sun was now lighting most of the face, so it was becoming tough. On the extreme right of the crag, I led an easy 4c up delightful rough limestone in the hot sun, and we finished with the vague right-hand arete. Black truffle trofie pasta was adequate reward.