Predore climbing

Crag: Predore, Lago d'Iseo, Italy
Routes: Formiche (f3c:sec), Bes (f4:sec), Paola (f5:led), Per Elisa (f5:sec), Il Conte Dimezzato (f4:sec), Teb Master (f4:led), Rossana (f5c:sec)
We were always likely to be battling the heat today. Cragging was the only real option, with our flight home this evening, and another long mountaineering day under our belts yesterday. So after a leisurely breakfast in the now familiar surroundings of the Hotel Rossa in Castione, we drove down in ever-increasing temperatures to the shores of Lago d'Iseo, one of the lesser known Italian Lakes but still very beautiful. Predore is practically roadside, although a few minutes walk along the main lakeside drag is required first - motorbikes screaming past. Above the road, all is peaceful: a nice crag with a distinct 'lakes' atmosphere, cypress trees and liquid light, surprisingly busy today given the time of year. It was always obvious that it would be too hot, and so it proved: south facing and disappointingly polished, this was very hard work from the outset. A few parties were occupying the central routes on the cleanest section of crag, so Steve led the easy crack of Formiche: nice climbing on huge holds. I led Paola, supposedly f5, up a slabby wall on the left of the crag. This had one or two very hard moves on tiny holds, like hard slate climbing, but very polished and very sweaty. All the routes seemed undergraded, partly because of the weather, partly the polish, partly because they just were! We did a few more routes with rope above, in the same mould (Per Elisa also had a hard crux), and then led the two strongest lines up the centre when the other climbers left. Teb Master (named after the Bergamo public transport company, I later discovered) was possibly the line of the crag. It climbed like a polished British VS but had real character: good bridging and face holds up a strong, obvious central crackline. Steep finish, nice and varied throughout, a mini-classic despite the polish. Rossana was absurdly difficult for the grade: ultra polished limestone, like burnished marble, too hot to touch by now, as it was early afternoon. After this, I declared a formal end to the trip, and we went for a swim in Lago d'Iseo before driving to Bergamo - where the trip ended very badly with a car break-in and stolen passport.