Thirteen days chasing salt to summit: climbing ropeless over the Mediterranean off western Sicily, then via ferratas, protected climbing routes bolted into alpine rock, glacier plunges and one moonlit climb across the Valais and Haute Savoie. Home through Montreal with ten waters, eight routes and six countries behind us.
Full photo gallery ↗San Diego to Munich overnight. The long haul.
Landed in Palermo, picked up the Jeep Avenger and drove to our house in Trapani. First gelato of a four night streak.
A workout at TheBox91100 first, then the funivia cable car up the mountain to Erice and its castle ramparts. Evening swim off the Torre di Ligny point, where I paid the swim tax with one foot. Dinner and gelato to close it.
Deep water soloing with our guide Davide at San Vito Lo Capo, climbing ropeless above the sea: 3 routes, 7 splashdowns, swimming through sea caves, cliff jumps, dinner in town.
Hydrofoil out to the island, bikes to the cliffs. We jumped and swam at Cala Rossa and Cala Bue Marino, then caught the evening boat home.
Palermo to Zurich, then the Škoda wagon across the country to Champoussin and the apartment Claire hooked us up with, our base for the Swiss week. Hiked up the hill to dinner at Chez Gaby.
Flégère gondola above Chamonix, then we hiked up past the Chéserys tarns to Lac Blanc. Glacier plunge at Cascade du Dard on the way out, then up into Farinet's cave above the Bérard falls. Beef and ramen at home.
Two via ferratas in one day: Evolène start to finish including the Grand Mur overhang, easy money, then straight to Tière above Champéry. Swam the waterfall pool on the way down, came down a descent Will won't soon forget, and refueled on fondue at du Nord.
The 11 am meeting first, then car to train to funicular to gondola. Five Lakes Trail under the Matterhorn, a dip in Grünsee, burgers at Republic. Our biggest mileage day of the trip.
Rented gear and drove into France: the Œil de l'Éléphant in the morning, one of the hardest via ferratas in the country, then Cascade d'Ardent and a swim in Lac de Montriond, Serenity Group at 6, dinner at La Rotonde. Back out at 11 pm: fifteen minutes up past a druid's menhir and onto Miolène's Cabri route under a 99% moon, the whole southeast wall lit silver, home over the Pas de Morgins after midnight.
The route we skipped on the 24th, finally settled. Drove to Saillon, walked down through the vineyards to the Caverne des Géants, where a thermal spring steams at the base of the cliff, then climbed three monkey bridges and 3,300 ft of cable back up to the car. Swam the pools by the old mills at Les Vieux Moulins de la Tine on the way home, takeaway pizza from Alta 1874.
Our last full day. Warmed up in the Gorges du Durnand, wooden bridges strung through the canyon past its stacked waterfalls, then drove to Sierre and rafted the Rhône with Valrafting, both of us jumping off the raft to swim the river mid run. Glacier melt to close the list at ten. Capped it with a workout at CrossFit Silver Lion in Monthey, gym two of the trip.
Dropped the car in Geneva, then almost missed both flights home, back to back photo finishes in Geneva and Montreal. Wheels down in San Diego at 8:39 pm anyway. Thirteen days, six countries, ten waters, eight routes, two gyms, two flights barely made. Done.
Claire got handed a timeshare offer and passed it straight to us: seven free nights in Champoussin, the apartment that became base camp for the entire Swiss half of this trip. Every via ferrata, every alpine swim, every late drive home over the pass ended there. She made this whole thing come together. Merci mille fois, Claire.