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Magic Woods and Brione
Just had a fantastic trip in Magic Wood and Brione. After a trip in Easter was changed, because Magic Wood was covered in ice, we decided to have a summer trip and try and get better conditions. During our quick fly-by 5 day bouldering trip in Magic Wood I managed to climb two font7b+’s, happily only taking an hour of work to do both. We headed over to Brione, a famous but undocumented bouldering area in Ticino Switzerland, for a look around. During the scramble around the boulders we found a brilliant looking line, an overhanging 6 foot long crack into a shelf of slopers, leading into a series of looong moves to the high and scary top out. Without knowing the grade I confidently told everyone “This looks easy, we could warm up on this…” It turned out that despite some quite positive holds, the fierce body positions and unhelpful feet made this boulder incredibly powerful and like a competition boulder problem, good holds, but moving between them was impossible. It turned out it was font7c. With only the evening left before the flight home the next day, despite linking the lower section, I couldn’t get the top crux, a powerful left hand lock on slopers with a huge reach right to a moon shaped flatty. Frustrated but determined, I managed to convinced others to let me have another go in the morning and then face a mad rush to the airport in Milan. With a boulderers alpine start (about 9am) giving surprisingly poor conditions, about 20 degrees Celcuis and the crux slopers in the sun, I managed to get the crux move only once when working it in isolation. Then on probably my final go it all went and I managed to top out ‘The Bach Block’ font7c. 
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Switzerland Bouldering (2 weeks in Cresciano and Chironico)
Magic Woods in Switzerland has got to be one of my all time favourite bouldering destinations. So this Easter, rather than head to the normal bouldering area of Fontainebleau in France, we decided to head for Magic Woods and see what we could do with two weeks and sub zero conditions…
Upon our arrival and fresh from the Skymasters competition, I was really psyched, after a long drive through the Swiss Alps, we arrived in the dark, but I knew the perfect bouldering that was to come. Morning came, the sun was shining, but the rock was covered in about 2 cm’s of ice and about 10 cm’s of snow! It was just too early in the year, our gamble hadn’t paid off! Magic Woods was completely unclimbable and probably would stay that way for at least the two weeks we had! Not to be deterred, we got back on the Swiss motorways and made our way to Belinzona, the main town near Cresciano and Chironico, two world class bouldering areas in the Italian region, Ticino, in Switzerland (recently featuring in the Dosage movies). It was fantastic, absolutely perfect conditions… like the perfect conditions every Peak boulderer dreams about, sun shining, gentle breeze and freezing cold rock… The first thing that struck me about the area (Cresciano and Chironico) is how many holds there are… unlike Font where it is so easy to walk past the harder climbs, due to the fact that you need a certain amount of vision to even see the lines, Cresc. and Chir. have lots of very positive holds, on steep granite. Bliss! Even some of the climbs in the top level of climbing (Font 8b and up) have holds that are relatively hang-able, it’s just the linking them that is the hard bit. And so the climbing for us began. The first day went really well, with a couple of 7a’s sent quickly, and even the odd onsight, and lots of climbing the classic problems, at all grades. I even accidently spent some time trying a perfect 50 degree overhanging arete, with tiny holds and flat slopers, before being informed it’s only had two ascents and goes at 8b+! This summarises the bouldering here perfectly, even the hardest look do-able. Days and days of fantastic bouldering ensued, with rest days looking at Swiss castles and some of Sharma and Graham’s lines! Wow!
Some of the highlights for me included, Street Parade 7a – The ultimate in sloping traverses, such a classic and obvious line, in the shade most of the day. What more can I ask for!? Autopilot 7b+ – A roof problem that involved a dyno from a completely horizontal position, requiring me to release two heel hooks at exactly the right moment, amazing…and scary! Pleased to say it went second go. Hannibal Lecter 7b+/7c – 3 days of working this! A 45 degree roof, with crimps and undercuts, leading to a razor sharp crimp on the lip, all with technical heel and toe work, suited me so well. Finally got it after 3 hard days!!! Doctor Crimp - a 15 degree overhanging wall on brutal crimps, with very technical footwork, my last day and I got it with an hour (7c and a classic line). All in all, a wonderful trip, I would recommend Swiss bouldering to anyone. Thanks to Berghaus and my boyfriend for all the film and photos. Watch this space for the movies…
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