Berdorf again...

August was cursed. At least that's what we thought. On the first of September exactly the skies cleared up and rain stopped to fall. After waiting for a dry spell for weeks, Koen, Frans and I didn't waste any time and drove to Berdorf, our moods lightened up by the good weather forecasts and a happy Vienna. When we arrived just after midday however, everything looked suspiciously wet. Although it was sunny now, it turned out that it had rained heavily for four hours straight in the morning. Ironically, it had all fallen from a cloud that was so small that it was barely visible on the precipitation radar. Apparently the August curse didn't limit itself to August as much as we thought it did...

It took us some time to accept the fact that all routes - including the overhangs - were wet and to set our minds to easier climbing. Failing to climb a 6a+ warmup route wasn't exactly the start I had hoped for... Stubbornly I fumbled around a bit in a hard combination on sector Nikita, but got shut down by the hard roof boulder of Ayrton. The crucial pinch was wet and despite attempts to dry it, water kept seeping through the rock as if it were a sponge. Switching to easier climbing made the trip very enjoyable though. I even managed to do the last 7a I had left in Berdorf ('La Sans Nom') in my first attempt on sunday afternoon. Save for a final few 6th grade routes (6 to be precise), there's only really hard stuff left for me in Berdorf now... Time to visit some other climbing areas!

I'll miss the superb campground next to the crag, pizzeria 'Venezia' in Echternacherbrück, the 'Kebab House' in Echternach, the enchanting forest of the Müllerthal and running through all the little canyons and rock formations during my morning walks with Vienna though. Maybe we'll go back soon after all. There are still some very good hard routes waiting to be climbed... Who knows!

I can only hope September and October will be dry. A few more opportunities to add some ascents to this sports climbing season would be great. I'll check in here soon again, either to write about more rock trips, or to share the second part of the nutrition series. So stay tuned!