So what happend…

Lunedi 4 agosto 2008 at 4.30 am….. time to get up. We (Laurent and me) were planning to climb Kundalini 5c+ and Luna Nascente 6b in one day, 22 pitches, so we had to start early, it would get warrm during the day.
‘…….still dreaming and thinking: Val di Mello makes you soft; it is too scenic, nice sport routes, some bouldering, little bit of swimming, cheap and perfect ice cream, delicious pzza, for short too easy and relaxed after Chamonix’
Because of this we wanted to climb these beatifull lines at one day and try Oceano Irrazionale a few days later, so we would be done with Val di Mello and leave for the Swiss side of Bergell.
Last time Laurent and me had to rappel Kundalini because of a thunderstorm. A lot of parties in front of us made things slow. So this was the second time climbing the route. The fist pitches felt very solid, fast and fun. I was a bit amazed because the first time felt so much harder. The 5c+ pitch was wet, but with placing some magnesium on the foot holds even this pitch was nice.

In the following pitch I fell about 15 meters making a pedulum. Because of this fall I passed out for 10 min, I had a head wound, bruised some ribs, luxated my the AC joints, inversion trauma of the ankle, needing rescue of Laurent, who in turn needed a helicopter to get me of the mountain and I had to stay in hospital for 4 days.

The next pitch was the first of the ones we hadn’t done the year before. At this 4b slabyou have to rappel or down climb a few meters and then make a traverse. Laurent led the pitch, climbed a few meters down, traversed and placed a friend as the only protection. After running out the rope there was a solid belay at a tree.
Now it was my turn to follow. I didn’t down climb a few meters, but started traversing right away. After some steps to the right, I found myself on a delicate slab. While I wasa standing on the tiny footsteps, with noting more than the friction of my boots to hold me to the rocks, I had to make a desicion; climb back to the belay and rappel or climb down or continue to climb and risk a fall onto the Friend (piece of rock protection). For some reason I choose option two, resulting in a fall. I tried to run down, limiting the impact on the Friend. The rope got tight on the Friend and with some bad luck the Friend broke out. The anticipated fall of a couple of meters became much worse, resulting in a large fall of around 15 meters and a trip back to Holland to rehabilitate.

I am now back in Holland doing fine and feeling fine. I look back on this perticular event with earnestly but also just as an event not blowing up the whole experience.
I thank Laurent for being my companion, his rescue and support. It was great to get so mutch support from my friends in Holland, especially Roeland and Jasper. Also the staff of the helicopter and hospital in Sondrio – Italy have my deepest respect.

Written by Quirijn Wijtten

Thanks Quirijn for some of my best moments in the hills. Maybe next season again. Get fit and healthy again quickly and we will hopefully be climbing together again in no time. Laurent