Fly in the wind   Photo by Andrea Gallo   Three years have gone by since I opened "Mission Impossible" and since I last climbed overhangs with ice picks and crampons. A long time due to a lack of enthusiasm for continuing to find new things to do in the fantastic sport that is mixed modern.   Yet again this year winter has been in hiding therefore specific training went on till the end of December.   Maybe the only place in the Alps where conditions were right in early January was the cave in the Landro Valley (Dobbiaco) where in 2002 Kurt Astner opened the "Fly in the Wind" M10.   After several months I was again climbing with Gianmario Meneghin (Ghin). We hadn't seen each other since the summer before when we spent some wonderful days on the north walls of Lavaredo, laughing together, me swearing and him begging me not to be too late as his wife was expecting him home for dinner.   I warmed up on a pitch and then set off immediately for "Fly".   Lots of things have changed in recent years - the wrinkles are deeper, reduced agility, a back ache here and there - but that special "it" when I'm at the base of a new pitch is always there.   Luckily "it" doesn't always happen, but when "it" does, I take off and don't give up until my arms hurt too much or it gets dark.   This time too, with a bit of luck, I got to the belay on the tree in the woods above the cave.   As I was climbing, I completely lost track of time... I always think it goes fast, but for those securing me it's hell. Nobody was looking at their watch, but I'd guess that I was hanging there for almost an hour.   Anyway, the style hasn't changed since previous climbs... only that now it's almost become a rule not to use dragonnes meaning that less time is spent on a route. I don't think its a bad idea to abandon the leash on an ice pick ...I'm a "free the wrist" supporter... mainly because I was the one to propose this innovation for mixed modern routes. In the beginning it was just an experiment, then just fun (but still hard) and now it's just normal! Can you still find dragonnes? Apparently yes.   This all started in January 1999 with my first experience in the sport on an M7 in Slovenia. In March we transferred to the Cogne Valley to climb Steave Haston's masterpiece "X-Files"... even though the season was over and there was very little ice... actually it was really only wet rock and a slender final column, but I so wanted to try it that the bad conditions didn't stop me. I started the one and a half hour climb until I tried to grip the column which was too far from the wall... there was nothing I could do... my aim wasn't good! ...so I had to stop and get my breath and the second time round I managed to hang on but the column broke ...I decided to head back home.   The following season: favourable conditions that permitted me to climb the "Welcome to the Machine" M9 in Savaranche Valley on-sight. After a few days I returned to "X-Files" and nailed it the first time with an incredible time, especially for Massimo Farina who was securing me: 2 hours!   That night I left for France where the next morning I was going to climb the M10 "Quartiere Nord" on-sight.   Adrenaline, which kept me awake, also gave me the idea of getting rid of the dragonnes. I returned to "X-Files" and repeated it on my first try! A fantastic feeling! It felt like I had climbed in my underwear! Haston's comments: "You are a fucking stupid man"... he had seen it all with his binoculars from the woods!   The trip continued with a visit to Vail Colorado where I decided to leave immediately for "Alphibian" M9+ without dragonnes, but at the end of the pitch I made a serious error: I tried to recuperate but I lost concentration and my hands flew open and it was over.   The next day I left for "Reptile" M10, but this time round, to give me a hand at climbing it on-sight, I mounted the dragonnes and after an hour and 20 minutes' battle, I got to the belay.   Winter 2001: Haston opens "The Empire Strikes Back", the hardest route at the time. He told me that it could just be an M11, and for confirmation he dragged me over to give it a go. I was so excited! Steave Haston securing me! That day "it" was back ...I was making my way to the belay really slowly. So slowly in fact that Steave would ask me every now and then if I was "having a rest?" I'd answer "no, climbing"! My English at that stage was still rather bad. Then, I stupidly lost concentration right when I was near the belay - an ice pick slipped out of a hole and I flew. No comment from Haston!   I repeated the climb first with and then without the dragonnes. When I did it without them, Haston couldn't believe it... and so "Mission Impossible" was born.   It was by no means arrogance putting a question mark on the route... I simply didn't know how to classify the route which seemed so different and certainly the most difficult of the three.   I don't know if it makes much sense telling you these things... maybe they can inspire someone and spur them on to doing something new. It did help the Russian Dimitri Bitckov: in my opinion, he managed to do the most important climb in recent years: Mission Impossible on-sight!   In any case, in these 6 years of climbing I haven't invented anything new. I've just taken part in the evolution of mixed climbing which began - I don't know when - probably about the time of the "Man of Similaun" when I had to put one foot on the ice and the other on pebbles.   Bubu
				Game over (Innsbruck)       Bats with ice axes and crampons       Mister Big Ben (Landro, Italy)       Grotta Caterina (Trieste, Italy)       Laghel (Arco, Italy)       Arco 2004 (Italy)       Cineplex (Canada)       Ueshinen (Switzerland)       Musica e magia       La via è bella       Mission impossible
				Photos by Sara Cirilli