Sono settimane importanti a livello politico, elezioni, decisioni dei Governi potrebbero influenzare la vita e le vacanze delle persone di alcuni Paesi nei prossimi anni
Oggi per questo lascio la parola a Richard, giovane atletico scozzese,che ha passato 10 giorni in un Bnb del Sud di Tenerife. Lui e sua moglie Tiffany hanno potuto gustare tutte le diverse sfaccettature dell’isola, spiagge, Carnaval, cucina ma soprattutto la montagna ed i tanti paesaggi che l’isola offre agli scalatori come questa ardita coppia.
Mi piace presentare la loro testimonianza in un momento di forte tensione tra Scozia (Paese di origine) di Richard ed il Governo del Regno Unito. Rammento che i britannici sono il primo mercato turistico spagnolo ed anche il primo mercato turistico locale qui in Tenerife. I britannici non sono quindi solo interessati al sole alle spiagge ed alla birra a buon mercato, a sorpresa amano anche la montagna.
Buona lettura in inglese e alla fine faro’ un breve riassunto in italiano:
Tenerife – Winter sun 4 hours from Scotland
A week trip to Tenerife with my wee wifey Tiffy. An early start for a 6am flight with snow forecast set in feelings of trepidation before bed time. However the roads to Paisley were dispatched with ease in the little Swift. Fast forward to touch down in Tenerife, collection of the little Panda and friendly greetings from our host Africa in our new abode for the next 10 days aside from the planned night’s stay at 10,500ft at the AltaVista Refugio for our sunriseTeide ascent.
Settled in to our little community within the kind and welcoming home of Africa and Riccardo we were often preparing food to sustain us for our adventures into the hills beyond San Miguel where we explored the local crags for climbing. Arico was our first Tenerife crag. A baranco with crags dotted up the dry river bed, each with its own character and atmosphere although the same rock variable in nature with rounded pocketed walls and steep slabs on small buttresses not dissimilar to the sandstone of Northumberland where nearby steep walls with sharper pockets and less granular areas more akin to limestone. Then there are the cracks and walls more reminiscent of granite. An interesting rock type this and rewarding to climb too if you are feeling solid at your grade.
Perhaps the long layoff rock climbing was partly the reason but the grades did feel pretty solid and observing other climbers did suggest others were struggling too. On first acquaintance the rock is good quality. Our second and third visits Arico got us feeling more confident and the strength was returning. The upper gorge the place to play if you are happy in the 5’s, 6’s and low to mid 7’s. Once into the 7’s then you should progress to the lower gorge. That will be first choice of a return visit with stronger arms and steely focus.
Nevertheless I was very happy to have been tying in and back on the sharp end grappling with the lithosphere and feeling at one with nature again. Good for the soul this game. Put in effort and hard graft and commitment where fear seems natural, stare it in the face and be confident, believe in yourself, dig deep, feel those engrams return and relish in the wave of primeval spirituality.
You have conquered the crag. We’d been climbing on rock carved out of volcanic ashes from Teide. A trip to visit the source of this volcanic wonder was on the cards at the end of the week. A battle with the thin air on a hike through Montana Blanca immersed in this wild and barren landscape of lava flows frozen in time.
Once the effort is made to reach the AltaVista Refugio you can enjoy an evening in the company of others high in the mountains before the early rise and the head torch lit ascent. The experience is one that greets you with a sunrise high above the clouds and the magical pyramid silhouette of Teide projected into the sky beyond.
Smiling happy faces of the fifty-four Refugio mountaineers, exhilarated and thrilled with their achievements of reaching the top but perhaps more thrilled to see the sun rising after the mini epic struggle with altitude robbing the lungs of air through the head torch lit ascent, now warming the soul and frozen fingers. This is Tenerife. Back to ‘terra firma’ for tapas Canarias then ice cream and beach to bring some balance to this trip into middle earth. A friendly goodbye from our host Africa before our early rise the next morning to return out faithful Panda and catch the red eye flight home. The Wee Hurry for a single fish sitting in the sun looking at a snow covered Goatfell on Arran. A welcome return to Scotland. A contrast to Tenerife sun but beautiful. Perhaps the lure of Tenerife will bring us back and Teide. So long, til next time. Richard”
Nella lunga e corposa descrizione di Richard ci sono alcuni interessanti luoghi nel Sud di Tenerife dove fare scalate impegnative, Arico e San Miguel hanno dei barrancos interessantissimi che mettono a dura prova esperienze e fisici allenati di scalatori. L’esperienza sul Teide, una notte al rifugio Altavista pero’ ha segnato la loro permanenza sull’isola. Arrivare a 3700 con -10 gradi, mentre sulla costa ce ne sono 22, e’ un’esperienza fantastica, il tutto in 50 km!! E poi il panorama che si gode con il sole nascente, una pasada!!
Tenerife quindi non e’ veramente solo Playa y Carnaval
Alla prossima
Dott. Riccardo Barbuti
