Italy!

[camptonite]

sorry was trying to quote a previous question. damn newbies.
Font was hot in July when we tried to boulder.

[allah]

I spent a month there last winter. Stayed in a little place in Altea. Spent alot of time up at Sella. The penon d'ifach was aweosme too. That little town right there had a ton of cool shops and stuff.

[squeezindlemmon]

You missed the joke, Karla.

[Steve]

Michelle, we oughta get together and compare notes. Jill and I are in full on planning mode right now.
Don't fear tix prices, they will drop as the date of your trip approaches (run some dates a week or three out and see the difference)
Millian is the major airport for Italy, you can fly into Vinece or Florence too. While they might not be direct, it gets you to your destination.
I got a Dolomites select guide, lotta muliti-pitch.
See the Dolomites thread ( http://www.redriverclimbing.com/viewtop ... =dolomites ) for some good links to search the web for Itailan climbing resources.

[jamlawyer]

My husband and I went to Italy to climb in September. We went to Finale Ligure. There are 1500 routes within a couple of miles. Finale Ligure is located on the Italian Riviera about 50 mi. west of Genova. It is a 2 hour drive from France. We flew into Milan and took the train to Finale Ligure. Very easy trip. It was the most spectacular place on earth. Since we were only going to be there 4 days with travel time, we hired a guide so we could find the routes easily. His name is Lorenzo Cavanna and he is with Blu Mountain Guides. We stayed in 4 star hotel....Hotel Punta Est. It sat 12 stories up on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. The bar in the hotel was in a rock cave. It has only 40 rooms and they pamper you there. I bought the guide book for the area as welll and you are welcome to make copies of whatever you want. You cannot buy it online in advance. Only in the Rockstore. I have a ton of links to climbing in the are if you want them.

If someone will tell me how to attach a photo to this ...i'll send one.[/img][/url]

[jamlawyer]

p.s. We flew direct from Atlanta to Milan. Then, 2 hour train trip to Finale. Sept. was great. But, Oct. is rainy season in the "italian riviera".

[Steve]

Here are some decent climbing links (haven't really been able to find any bouldering specific climbing info).

www.planetmountain.com/English/Rock/crags/index.html
http://www.planetmountain.com/English/r ... Stria.html


I also have this book, which seems pretty handy for day trippin' hikes:

http://www.rei.com/online/store/Product ... REI_SEARCH

Check out thess sites for lodging:

www.valgardena.it/eng/page28.html
www.dolomiti.com/localita/valgardena/valgardena.htm#

[Artsay]

Cool! Thanks Steve!

[Alan Evil]

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT ride a bicycle in Italy. Those people do not know how to drive. They also don't know how to properly tune a car. So other than the fact every man will be undressing, licking, and humping like a bull in heat any women you happen to be with they're really pretty charming people. If you stay in a "Camping" be prepared for "Dance Musik All Night." Strange place to camp, Italy.

[jamlawyer]

This is the link to the Outside magazine article about Finale Ligure...

http://outside.away.com/outside/destina ... ale_3.html

This is the link to the hotel in Finale Ligure....

www.puntaest.com

You can reach Lorenzo Cavanna (guide) at lorenzo.cavanna@blumountain.it
It cost 200 euros for two people per day.

This is the link to weather ...

www.wunderground.com

I have some maps of the area as well that show some crags, mountain bike trails...etc. The climbing spot in town is in Finale Borgo at the Rockstore. Their website is www.rockstore.it. There are also several bike shops in the square by Rockstore where you can rent bikes.