Schweiz Plaisir: Episode 1

 Having conquered (?) Chamonix a couple of summers ago, me and Clare were back to conquer the Dolomites, although things didn't quite go to plan (storms and bladder infections and the like) and we ended up exploring some obscure parts of Switzerland......

'You are on holiday? In St Gallen?' 'You are camping?' The incredulous tone suggested that the tourist information in St Gallen was not so used to dealing with tourists, particularly british climbing bums. Logistics were going to be a problem, we didn't have a road map let alone a guidebook and good wild camping spots seemed few and far between. Undeterred (or a bit deterred, but having a lack of other options) we eventually got pointed in the direction of the climbing wall which proved to be a crucial hub of information, guidebooks, showers, wifi and my new favourite drink Ovalmaltine. It was also the most beautiful and massive climbing wall I have ever seen, so perhaps we could just spend our whole holiday here?

Clare uses her reach in St Gallen - drinking water logistics not a problem in Switzerland

Breakfast at the crag!

Armed with our newly purchased guides (turns out there is a fair bit of climbing about, phew!), we headed up to Ascher for the afternoon. For a little known crag, Ascher is pretty Ceuse-like, requiring a fairly hefty walk-in but is a big long crag with lots a sectors and some great views. The remarkable thing about this crag though was the abundance of farm animals. It was like climbing in a petting zoo (no bad thing). A miniture horse, a chalet full of rabbits and a flock of very pristine looking sheep with a handsome and slightly threatening male sheep looking after them.

We unambitiously tried the easiest route on the crag and just about succeeded before thunderstorms descended.