Gran Sasso
Aug 10th, 2007 by Xtine71
Well Wednesday came again and it was my day off. So on Wednesday morning I was on the metro at 5:30 in the morning off to metro stop Baldo degli Ubaldi. I met Alberto at around 6:30 and then we got on our way. We had both decided the week before that we would go climb at Gran Sasso.
The park is about between 2 and 2 and a half hours drive from Rome. The earlier you manage to leave Rome in the morning the easier it is to get out of the city befor there is too much traffic. So we were finally going back to the park. He hadn’t been there in a year and the last time I was there was about 6 months ago with another friend. It was great and the weather was perfect. We arrived at about 9 because we were stuck behind a couple of very slow cars. After we parked the car we decided to have a quick cappucino in the restaurant that is just opposite the ski lifts.
So we got all our climbing stuff ready all our ropes, harnesses and shoes and then we set off for the ski lifts. The ride from the ski lifts takes around 15 minutes and its much better than walking the whole way. The return ticket for the ski lift only costs 10 euros so its not that bad. If you want to go climbing after you get to the ski lift at the top its about 20 to 30 minutes by foot to the nearest route. So you have to be relatively fit if you want to do anything up here because you will be walking up hill and down dale to get anywhere.
It can also get very cloudy very quickly and the weather can change at the drop of a hat. Its also a bit cooler so its a good idea to take a wind breaker with you just in case. The climb was great and I felt great afterwards. On the way back down I had a look at the other mountains and it was absolutely breathtaking. It is amazing and you can spend your entire life there climbing to your hearts content. So we hopped on the ski lift again for our trip back to the restaurant. After a beer and a sandwhich it was time to say goodbye and be on our way back to Rome.