Which, As You Ought To Know
Is Slovenian for "Good Day" since I have no way of knowing what time of the diurnal cycle you'll be perusing this Intro at, and Good Day seems undefined enough to fit in.
Why do we have a greeting in Slovenian? Especially since we tend to use Romanian for an exotic European language when the need arises.
O I thought you'd never ask! Because we're going to be breaking down another mountaineering vlog, this time from Andraz Egart. Art!
Andraz seems to have an affinity for the Dolomites, which did initially make me wonder if he was Italian, except 'Andraz' and 'Egart' didn't seem very Latin as a name, which is because he's Slovenian. The country that borders Italy's north-eastern land frontier. He doesn't look very husky, which is because he's not, although he has incredible stamina and is a lot stronger than he looks. Today we'll be looking at his ascent of the Julian Alps and you can pander to your inner acrophobic whilst remaining completely safe. Art!
The valley bottom in Autumn Bivacco Cai Gorizia the destination
Technically it's "Bivacco C.A.I. Gorizia" whatever the initials mean. Time to cattle-prod Art into semi-sentience and have him provide us with a map.
Like potholers, mountaineers need to be well-informed and up-to-date about the weather. There's no definite date given as to when this hike is, only "1 Year" on Youtube, so late autumn/early winter at a guess. At any rate, Andraz narrates that there had been fresh snowfall in the mountains earlier in the week, which means the rivers and streams were swollen with meltwater. Art!
He's still below the tree- and snowline here, this spate is from catchment areas further up the mountainside. He does get across this torrent without getting his feet wet, thanks to being nimble of foot. Then it's up through the forests on trails. Art!
He encounters the first snow below the treeline, and after night has fallen, too, which must make a difficult task even harder, thanks to having to physically trudge through the nasty white stuff and getting cold and wet, in the dark whilst solo. Eventually he makes it to the brace of Bivaccos, a toilsome process that I can appreciate all the more sitting next to the radiator with a pot of tea. Art!
Quite basic yet verrrry welcome, all the more since the wind had picked up outside, meaning a higher risk of hypothermia or frostbite. Ol' Andy has a cautionary disclaimer on his Youtube channel, explaining that he can make light of situations thanks to years of experience, whereas you or I would be found by the Search and Rescue teams a week later, frozen solid. Art!
Not a MacDonald's or pub to be seen at dawn the next day. No rest for either the wicked or the virtuous since Ol' Andy has to be on his way to scale Visola Bela Špica. This is why he spends two days on the hike; getting up at dawn the second morning gives him all day to make the ascent and descent, important when daylight hours are short. Art!
Target for today
Whilst the previous day had been arduous, this is where things get actively dangerous. Getting to that mountain peak involves scaling a sheer cliff at least a hundred feet high, whatever that is in Metric <hack spit>. In deference to those of you who are, like Conrad, utter screaming cowards when it comes to heights, I shall only put up a single picture of his ascent. Art!
Cairn and secured journal in foreground, imminent storm in the background, which is rolling in fast enough to be seen moving on camera. Andraz located the tin a log-book journal had been kept in, and added his own details. Then it was time to beat the storm back down the mountain, which meant he finally got into the First Unpleasantness tunnels. Art!
ACROPHOBICS LOOK AWAY NOW!
Conrad is guessing that these were originally natural fissures in the rock which the Romans enlarged, otherwise they'd not have left a 6' drop here that needs a ladder to ascend or descend. Probably not the original fitments, either, which would be over a century old by now and victims of rot and rust. Art!
This is an embrasure, presumably for an artillery piece, due to the excavated semi-circle that would allow it to be trained over an arc when the piece was moved to cover the Austrians getting up to mischief. There may have been a naturally-occurring cavern here, which the Romans again enlarged with explosives and pneumatic drills. Art!
A not very appealing tunnel carved out of the living rock once more, after Andraz had to climb down another ladder, this one a good 9' tall. It does lead to the outside, so eventually he hits daylight and - the clouds have rolled in ahead of him. At least he's off the mountain peak. Art!
The Bivacco was sufficiently lower down the mountain that he got under the clouds, after going through them, and found that his excess gear not needed for the peak ascent was still there. Phew!
There you go, all the excitement of mountaineering with none of the risks. You're welcome. Check out Ol' Andraz's Youtube channel too, he's too modest to insist you do so himself.
Dober Dan!
In Sympathy With Andraz
We seem to have our traditionally awful British weather oscillating between extremes, one day bright and sunny, if cold, and the next horribly damp and foggy, if dank. Art!
On a clear day you can see Oldham Edge from this vantage. Not on Friday. Conrad would like to point out to the Weather Wizards that Halloween was over a fortnight ago.
Cooking Up A Book
Conrad used to have a cookbook with a rather peculiar outlay, which was meant to be opened and propped up vertically on a worktop, thanks to the spiral wire binding it together. Inevitably the wire got deformed and became a problem, so I pulled all the leaves free. Art!
Conrad checked out the Bara Brith recipe (port above) and we have all the ingredients for making what is a variety of fruited loaf. I'll need to finish off the Apricot Coffee Bread first, which is lasting a long time thanks to verrrry thin slices. Plus, I checked the Spicy Ginger Mug Cake recipe and we have the ingredients for that, too.
"The War Illustrated Edition 197 5th January 1945"
Last photograph from the Far East in this item for Ed. 197. Art!
These pictures are from the capture of Kalemyo, almost exactly 79 years ago today. At top port you see a Chin 'runner' who would carry mail to deliver it by hand, and to starboard a collection of burned-out Japanese bunkers are being inspected by the curious. At bottom is an M5 Stuart tank, nicknamed the 'Honey' by British soldiers thanks to it's reliability and speed. It wasn't fit for frontline combat in Europe and hadn't been for a good 3 years by this point, as it wasn't sufficiently armed or armoured to be able to take on Teuton (or Italian) panzers or carro armato. Over in the FE, mind, it was on par with nearly all the Nipponese tanks. The riders here are Ghurkas, ferocious little fighters who will be off their ride with kukris a-swinging in an instant if it encounters trouble. Art!
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| M5 unencumbered by untidy infantry |
Batting A Hundred Yet Not
'Batting a hundred' is Conrad's knowing slang for 'Doing really well', as if I know anything about cricket. Art!
Valid as of 16 minutes ago. In this instance hitting the 100 mark is not a good thing. Watch out for a Joe Blogs' commentary on this horrid little statistic that Putinpot cannot hide, much as he'd like to. Tee hee!
Finally -
I need to go box up today's Sunday Stew, and taste-test just how spicy it is. I went light on the jalapenos but heavy on the chilli sauce. We shall see. It was also the recipient of a remaindered lamb leg, only 4 days past it's Best Before, which is practically in-date for Conrad. And his stomach.
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