Amandulina CORSICA

Location: Restonica Valley, Corsica, France

Route: Monte Leonardu, Amandulina / TD / 6a oblig 6c max / 200m 

Aspect: North

GPS: 42.257813, 9.071665

Amandulina is a super fun route to do. In my opinion the first pitches with the given grade of 6b+ and 6c, really only consists of one challenging move that is very doable - just don't forget to place your feet well and high and just go for it! For many, the first pitch(6b+) is the hardest one . . . indeed physical, fun bouldery moves :) The first time I climbed this route the 6c grade scared us so we did the first two pitches of Bella Ciao (6a+max) as many do, gaining the ramp and then continuing the upper pitches of Amandulina. Don't be afraid of these two pitches at the beginning. They are really fun and will psyche you up to crush the rest of this fantastic climb :) 

Ready, at your marks, go!

 Woj climbs the 4th or 5th? pitch after the giant ledge/ramp

 Woj - showing the Polish style :)

 Woj navigates through some spectacular Tafoni. Tafoni is a common sight on the granite walls and boulders of Corsica. It literally means "with holes", and you can see why. The granite is very featured with these holes, lobes and different forms that provide for a truly unique experience. 

 Two thumbs up for Amandulina!

 Rappel on the back side! Down climb to a huge tree with fixed sling. Rappel to a ledge and then a short rappel to the couloir that takes you back to the river for a swim :)

 hmmm... hopefully that doesn't get tangled ....

Monte Leonardu in all her glory. After you climb this great route, go have a refreshing beverage at Chez Theo, the bar just across the river from the base of the climb.

Gear: The route is entirely bolted. 12-15 quickdraws will suffice. Maybe a sling or two for the belays. 

Rappel two times on the backside to the descent couloir, bringing you to the river and Chez Theo! Saluta!
This climb is on the northern aspect, therefore it is an ideal outing during the hotter periods of the year. A must do route. The final pitch of 6b+? is particularly enjoyable!

Looking back: This was a great experience, climbing with Woj. I'm not sure how fast we climbed this route but it seemed like we ran up this thing. It was really great to feel such fluidity while climbing, changing belays and so on. 

The first time I climbed this route I had a really, really close call. With my partner, we decided to avoid the first two pitches of Amandulina, thus doing the first two pitches of Bella Ciao. Roped up, I had my hands on the rock, just about to start the first pitch in a dihedral. My partner shouted "Watch out!" I looked up, and through the tree, growing sideways out of the mountain, I see a bunch of shit falling through the sky. Immediately we both made ourselves as small as possible underneath our plastic helmets, against the wall. A split second later, a piece of rock roughly 36 inches long, 12 inches around, crashed down in between my partner and I, right on top of our rope bag! Had either one of us been hit by this stone, well, it would have probably been fatal. After taking some deep breaths I look up and I see a rope tangled in the tree. I therefore realize someone is rappelling and this was the cause of the falling rock. We did not hear "Rope!" or "Rock!", what one would shout in the event of rappelling or falling rock. Finally when the party came down to the base of the climb, it was evident that the team is apart of the Fire Department of Haute Corse, doing a training exercise on the route. As calmly as possible, I tried to suggest that maybe putting a sign at the bottom of the route while conducting training operations would be a great idea. After seeing the hole in the rope bag (cleanly pierced, roughly four fingers wide) the previously defensive rescuer obliged to my counsel. I also informed him it was common practice to yell "rope!" when you rappel, thus signalling to anyone below that there is a party descending and a rope is about to come flying down. What shocked me the most about this experience was the guy's response to my question of why they did not just walk down the gully, the regular descent route. He told me, "well, we didn't think anyone was down there". This lack of awareness was a little disturbing, coming from someone who's job is supposed to be about intervening and avoiding risk. Well, I just hope he realized that climbers will generally be found at the base of sport climbing routes, especially popular ones that are 100 meters from the road and listed in the guidebook :/ It was also a weird experience in the sense that it was a little bit of deja vu. Months before I was at the beach with friends, when I saw something floating in the water. I thought it was a jelly fish but when I saw a jet-ski racing towards it I thought that perhaps the guy was harvesting a squid. He pulled up right next to it and began trying to raise a man out of the water. Together, the pilot of the jet-ski and I, brought the man to shore. I started to try to give him CPR (Hollywood Style as I had no clue what I was doing). What seemed like two or three minutes later, the owner of a restaurant one kilometer away, arrived having sprinted down the beach. He cofidently took over, trying everything he possibly could to resuscitate the man. Unfortunately the man was already long gone, despite our best efforts. When the Phoenix Helicopter and ambulances arrived, the head doctor deployed was the same doctor taking part in the rescue exercise in Restonica Valley on this day. It was one of those times when you are like, wait, where do I know you from? Anyways, we recognized each other and shook hands. He confirmed my fears that had one of us been hit, we would have bled to death, even with a fully outfitted rescue team one rappel away. The rock fell from two pitches up, on the ramp. Any helmet would have been useless. I convinced my partner to not let this shake us up too much, and climb the route. It wasn't easy after such an adrenaline rush. The bottom line was that we were all super lucky that day. We were lucky to be alive and they were lucky to not have caused something irreversible. I always think of this day and the little things that make up how everything played out. The few feet (maybe 5 or 6 at most?) separating Adeline and I, where the rock crashed down. What if she led the first pitch instead of me, would I have stood closer to belay? Had the rescuer yelled "rope!" before rappelling, maybe one of us would have been in the path of the rock. I don't know, it is impossible to tell. What I am certain of, is that the pint of beer I drank at Cyrnea Bar in Corte afterwards was one of the best I've ever had. The rescuer has yet to replace Adeline's rope bag, which he promised to. While this is not so important it is unfortunate he could not make this small gesture to compensate for something that could have been avoided. Oh well. Fortunately, the rope (and our bodies) went unscathed. Easy lesson learned.