Trip Report
Deep Water Soloing at a real cool spot
Tuesday May 26, 2015 4:08am
Prior to coming to Sicily, I found a picture of a formation that needed me to be there. I was hell-bent on obliging yesterday, my first day here, a solo adventure day while wifey is speaking at a conference. Two hours of Palermo traffic, an extra hour of open source GPS map taking me the scenic route out of the suburbs resplendent with dead-ends and miles of paralleling the freeway with no way to get on it only to end in yet more dead ends... and I finally make it to the well-maintained and fast A-29 freeway. I was still psyched and ready for action.

It is mind-blowing how much good looking rock is in just the corner of the island I passed through, not to mention miles and miles (or kilometers and kilometers) of postcard beaches and bucolic countryside and limestone quarries.

So I make it to San Vito Lo Capo, more or less skip the town and drive around Monte Monaco en route to my destination. Doh! the road I saw on the map to take me the last little bit turns out to be a gnarly steep dirt road with a sign out front: "Privata". I drove back and forth a few times to make sure I was in the right spot- at least the views were not objectionable:

top left corner top right corner
San Vito Lo Capo is hidden from this view, on the other side of Monte ...
San Vito Lo Capo is hidden from this view, on the other side of Monte Monaco.
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner


So I backtracked into a rural residential neighborhood, explored a few dead ends on dirt roads, and spied a place to cut through to the cliffs. It was about a mile south of my intended destination:
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Right away it's a fun scramble, but reminds me more of my Pacheco Pass adventure than a proper climb. No poison oak here, but after endless scrambling/trversing on stuff like the following, I was bushwacking through slopes of Pampas grass and little palm trees and some thorny bastards that punctured me through my jeans.
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

The spot I was heading for was the bay below the mountain in the distance here:
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

The fun continues:
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

There is another guy soloing along the cliffs in the pic above, but with supertopo compression it is probably a few pixels. He was the only other dude I saw on the rocks all day, and he was staying at one of the houses on the cliffs, one of the many I passed below.

So just when this story is starting to flag, I round a corner and my destination comes into view:
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

What's that I spy?
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

I have found it! And holy moly does it look rad. That cave opening is about 2-3 meters high, to give you an idea of the scale.
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

I left my bag on the lower rock that sticks out into the sea on the climber's right (Honnolding left) of the cave opening). That is a perfect spot for taking hero photographs from this perspective:
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Alas I had to enjoy this spot all by my lonesome for the entire afternoon. But, as I was getting psyched up and putting on my bathing suit, sinister and nefarius beings appeared:
top left corner top right corner
Medusa!
Medusa!
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

They were about the size of a double-fist, appearing in groups from 3-10 feet apart. And they were on the surface, down below, no obvious pattern or way to avoid them. I had no idea if touching these guys was going to be like a sting or like an Oh Sh!t moment as I win the Darwin Awards, what with the already adventurous exit from the sea if that option needs to be exercised. That takes this DWS business up a notch of intensity. The only thing missing really is sharks with fricken' laser beams. I hung out for a long while pondering the remoteness of my position, the lack of any humans to assist me, whether I could swim between them and successfully avoid them if I happened to not fall on them, and considering just how incapacitated I might become if one nabbed me. I thought some more. And some more. I came real close to bailing.





But I didn't. Because my wallet is the one that says BAMF on it.
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

To be fair, I'm playing up the drama a bit. That's what makes it a story and not just a wikipedia entry on the place. But the jellyfish were real, and did sketch me out. After a while I figured out a pattern that they seemed to hang out near where the fish were schooling, which seemed mostly on the line between direct sun and shade. I did scout out the landing zone as best I could and didn't see any jellyfish in that area. But it would mean a harder escape from the water... in any case, it was all a non-issue. BAMF. Me. I topped out on this mofo three different times by successively more committing routes. What you can't see in these pictures is that the opening traverse coming from right to left is about a 45 degree overhang for a bit, which gets the pump going before you hit the right side of the cave. But, I worked the good rests, and the holds are so positive that it is unbelievable the terrain that a mortal can pull. It was like a juggy gym cave but sharp and somewhat wet/slimy in places.

Here were my routes:
top left corner top right corner
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

As it turns out, I never got to test how deadly the jellyfish are. After topping out my third route, I saw a couple of ladies who asked me about the jellyfish, and they said that it feels like fuoco (fire) if they touch you. Which to me means that it really sucks, but it would not be body-paralyzing death situation.

But back to this climbing stuff. Ho man does it feel awesome to have your back horizontal and 20 feet above the water and looking up at a CRAZY!!!! overhanging series of roofs like the bottom side of a staircase with giant steps and thinking "I have to pull that or I'm swimmin' with the jellyfish?". That was certainly a go-pro moment if ever I had one. I did find a nice horizontal OW squeeze where I could stuff half my body in and deal with the sharpie scrapes to save my strength, but my neck was killing me from being so overhanging and not having anything to help me hold my head up after a while! This without a doubt ranks as the most amazing sequence of moves I've ever done on real rock, something that I would be too scared to do on lead because of swinging back into the cliff. And with absolute perfect timing, as I groped about on the top-out of my third climb, I felt the lactic acid bath coming on and reaching that brick wall of total muscle failure. Scheizer get that other hand up quick and find something before I blow it... phew! Just an awesome experience. And truly a pity that I don't get any ego pictures of me pulling the gnarliest gnar of all time. It was the kind of experience that I would like to share with someone else, but if the choice is doing it alone or not doing it, I'll deal with it!

Now, the question is whether I'll talk wifey into coming back to this spot, or doing some multi-pitch stuff to get properly high. And for today, I've got some work to deal with (not a fully proper vacation) which is perfect timing while it rains in Palermo.

Edit: Here's a pic with people (I found this on the 'net) so you can see the scale better:
top left corner top right corner
credit to: http://moredaysoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DSCN0912....
credit to: http://moredaysoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DSCN0912.jpg
Credit: NutAgain!
bottom left corner bottom right corner

  Trip Report Views: 4,540
NutAgain!
About the Author
NutAgain! is a trad climber from South Pasadena, CA.

Comments
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
Author's Reply  May 26, 2015 - 04:54am PT
I left out the perfect ending to the adventure... I spent the evening walking all over San Vito Lo Capo, washed up a bit down on the beach, and didn't see anything I wanted from the Menu Turistico at each of the restaurants, all the same food. To be sure there are good places there, but I had no working phone or maps or guides, and with my indecision everything shut down promptly at 8pm.

It was good timing for me to catch the sunset over the western Sicilian coast, seeing a scene that would have been enjoyed countless times by the ancient Greeks, then the Carthiginians, then the Romans, then the Ostragoths, then the Byzantines, then by the Tunisians and combined Arabian/North-African Muslim forces, then by the Normans, then the Aragons essentially creating an independent Sicilian identity but still fighting with Italian powers... frick it's no wonder with a history like that why a region can become famous for the Mafiosi. It gained a foothold to fill the social need for a stable society in the absence of a proper government function, perhaps not unlike ISIS spreading today. Oddly enough, the USA played a big role in helping the Mafia regain power by freeing them after the invasion of Sicily during WWII, mistakenly thinking of them as prisoners of war when they were actually the result of a federal government crack-down against crime. And today in the wake of destabilized countries that USA at least in part facilitated, we have a new cancer spreading. Butterfly wings and storms a half planet away.... Whatever the affairs of people, the world still turns on a tilted axis and hurtles about the sun and presents us with this:



I remembered the buon profumo from a panoramic vista turn-out I had stopped in the morning, where a sandwich truck was stationed. I hoped it would still be there...

Yes!!!


A big wonderful Salsiccia and a cup of gelatto was the best 5 euros I ever spent.
Mark Sensenbach

climber
CA
  May 26, 2015 - 05:41am PT
Looks really killer. I think just being there swimming and moving around would be cool. I bet those kiddos of yours would really dig it. Thanks Nut!
overwatch

climber
Arizona
  May 26, 2015 - 06:16am PT
Obscure area and a history lesson too...thanks for the post.
JimT

climber
Munich
  May 26, 2015 - 06:45am PT
Unless you know which dirt road in the houses to take its better to go on to Rocca Firriato (the cliff past the DWS) and walk back. The steep road gets washed out easily so spring isnīt the time to tackle it especially in a rental.
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
  May 26, 2015 - 06:55am PT
Sounds good. Looks good. And Sicilian!
Rugged

climber
Berkeley
  May 26, 2015 - 07:15am PT
Way to go! Looks like a grand adventure.
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  May 26, 2015 - 07:17am PT
Exotic locale, feats of derring do, hazardous amorphous creatures from the deep, now That's a trip report! And yes of course, you are One BAMF! - we already knew that, though!

Someday I'm going there, and I'll hit you up for beta!
Thank you for that!
phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  May 26, 2015 - 07:38am PT
This is a super TR! Blue water, deadly creatures and climbing without a rope over blue water and deadly creatures!!!! And let's not forget the food photos, yum.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  May 26, 2015 - 08:34am PT
Looks like a bearable day. ;-)

So is the rock of the giant cliff in yer first pic of the same quality as the water's edge?

Yer dealings with the dead end roads brings up some interesting points. Throughout
Italy it is like that with the freeways and the railways. It certainly saves them lots of
moolah but really is a PITA for the both locals, who at least know where the crossings
are, and the turoids. Not that Italy is in any way close to a wilderness but I wonder what
all those no-cross zones have done to what remains of their wildlife in terms of creating
bio-islands, as it were.

Now you got me jonesing for some salsiccia. Luckily I can mosie (sp?) on down to
Claro's in Arcadia and take care of that. Might have to grab some prosciutto too!

FYI, DON'T be tempted by any of the meat products in the duty-free shop if you have
some euros left over. Despite what they tell you the US Customs retards WILL take it
from you even though it is the EXACT same brand I can buy at Claro's! Effing buttholes.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
  May 26, 2015 - 09:13am PT
Great TR! Me want to go, NOW................
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
  May 26, 2015 - 09:41am PT
Congrats!
briham89

Big Wall climber
santa cruz, ca
  May 26, 2015 - 10:20am PT
Cool!
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
  May 26, 2015 - 01:56pm PT
Awesome man, TFPU!
Roots

Mountain climber
Somewhere Fun
  May 26, 2015 - 03:44pm PT
Great report - thank you! Way to man up with those jelly fish!!

TTR - any relation to the famous Italian motorcycle accessory company: Tomaselli?
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  May 26, 2015 - 04:27pm PT
Really nice, gorgeous country!!
Thank you!
Gorgeous George

Trad climber
Los Angeles, California
  May 26, 2015 - 05:34pm PT
Nut, say it isn't so, not once do you mention el vino tinto de Italia.

What are you saying? Wasn't the trip worth a little celebration? Whoa nelly!
Fat Dad

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
  May 26, 2015 - 06:54pm PT
Wow Nut, your life really sucks. I got to tell my wife to get on the stick and make a trip to Italy happen.
JimT

climber
Munich
  May 27, 2015 - 12:49am PT

So is the rock of the giant cliff in yer first pic of the same quality as the water's edge?

Itīs considerably better, it hasnīt had sea-water splashed all over it:-)
Itīs very hard limestone which has been partly transformed into marble, I put up the route on the face you can see just left of the nose. 650m.
The actual lump (Monte Monaco) is 532m high.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
  May 27, 2015 - 05:01am PT
Woot, WOOT!!
Great for us and you!!

Bad mother effer, on your wallet?
Tacky American, when paying in France
but in Italy they have that sorta' sense of humor.

NutAgain, thank you!

Yes, Italy !!

The highest fun, although it is all fun in that hot, hot sun.

For me any way, back in the day,

Was the grid bolted walls of Finale!

As blasphemy to the purity of the norther Cali. Boys,

There is so much rock of all kinds on that Boot peninsula

That grid bolted .11 & .12's, give way to 7's & 8's, and the fun in between

Is good and clean! All on a beach with a scene . . .

On a beach of the highest quality . . .

the body watching

Can ruin your belay;)

Hey!

yo,

I am so glad that you share with us rabble . . .
and Nut, . . if I owe you an apology?
For Anything ?
Then please I am sorry for my chosen stance
that leaves you and me divided by that gulf of sea.

Thank you again for all that you do,
the balance of wisdom and fun in your words always Rings true.
The family Gnome salutes you!
Peace bro.
Spider Savage

Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
  May 27, 2015 - 08:29am PT
Suh-weet!
eagle

Trad climber
new paltz, ny
  Jun 21, 2015 - 08:40am PT
GREAT STORY AND PHOTOS
NRG IN WV HAS THIS AT SUMMERVILLE LAKE
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
  Jun 21, 2015 - 11:37am PT
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Jun 21, 2015 - 03:11pm PT
Once the door is opened, it can never be shut....

deepnet

Boulder climber
San Diego
  Jun 21, 2015 - 03:26pm PT
Wow! Loved it! Bold solo endeavor FOR SURE!
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
  Jun 22, 2015 - 11:35am PT
very cool
jonnyrig

climber
  Jun 22, 2015 - 11:49am PT
Loved it.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
  Jun 22, 2015 - 11:51am PT
that's ^^^ exactly how peeps got to the new world, more or less
all in jim

climber
  Jun 22, 2015 - 12:11pm PT
Oh man that sounds fun...made me want to go!
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
  Jun 22, 2015 - 12:16pm PT

Cool stuff...
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
  Jun 22, 2015 - 12:27pm PT
Great TR! Me want to go, NOW................

I can't say it better than Guido did, so I won't try.

John
Go