11. We began to make a route

Sunday 17.9. - I went to sleep satisfied, but I heard that right after the arrival of Ivans, ladies from the Camp Catta came on the Lada NIVA and woke up Calvin. They were repeatedly asking where is Ivan Be? Our guide, skilled diplomat, saved Ivankos and said them that he did not know in which tent they sleep and that he is not going to woke up the whole camp. Unsatisfied ladies finally went away and silence spread over our BC, interrupted only by the squeaking lemurs. At the morning, we were just leering one on other. Three cheers for witches! Let’s go finally climbing. Rado with Šaňo decided to try the Out of Africa route graded 7a+ on Tsaranoro Kely and that they are going to carry the material under the wall today. The rest of us will do a first ascent left from Ebola on the Lemur Wall.

About 11:00, Jack lifted us to Camp Catta and after a 1 hour insulting in heat we came under the wall. We were analyzing the possibilities in detail and suggesting, where to start. Finally was made a decision to stat 20 m to the left from Ebola. The right to place the first bolt chose Ivan Kely. To grass ledge, right under the wall, was maybe 5 meters of easy climbing. First 50 meters did not look very attractive. There were laid slabs, overgrown by grass on many places, but it is possible to quibble among them through the rock. It is a friction climbing with the ledges, from which would be possible to drill from climbing position without hanging in hooks. It will be necessary to clean this pitch a little bit.

About 13:00 Ivan Kely attacked the rock. He hanged on himself everything necessary and unnecessary, too. It will take a while till the things will go automatic. Ivan Be was belaying and Rasťo and me went to the Ebola route in order to film it. Journalists, you know. Simko is here as a paid person for his job, he has to work. Meanwhile, Ivankos drilled three bolts. I joined them on the next ledge and let the filmmaker to do his job. Ivan Kely still dauntless in the leading position, Dosky was belaying and I was one who passed the things. Regime is quite complicated, but I will try to explain. The leader has on him just few carabiners, hooks and webbings, one daisy chain in a case a special ladder made from webbings. He climbs to the last anchor in the unknown terrain and tries to find a place, where he should place a next bolt. Everything depends on good decision and morale. He places the bolt either from climb position or he sits into a hook and let it to hold his whole weight. Belayer is on belay station and cares about leaders security and rests. The third in the team is a person who has all the necessary material, in the distance as short to leader as possible, to give him on command everything leader needs. To be cool he stands on the wooden ledge he always got with himself.

The leader is connected with belayer by climbing ropes and with the passer is connected by thin rope – repsnure, with the help of which he pulls up the needed material. It is not so easy so there is something more - fixed rope that the leader binds to the highest bolt. Passer and the belayer climb after the leader up. On the command of the leader, a passer binds a drill, bolts, a hammer a key to reach the bolt, little tube for making the hole clean and other securing devices on the thin rope. The leader starts to pull these things up on the thin rope. The passer’s task is to secure a drill if it falls not to destroy it. The passer is shivering in fear, picks up all the ropes to the leader, because he has to have the smallest weight of the load. In case of need, he pass other needed material or he sends him water and caloric biscuit. The leader pounds the rock with hammer, finds a place where it does not boom, drills a hole, cleans it, puts a bolt into it already clipped to webbings linked with harness and he hammers it to hole. He adjusts a hanger and from now, he is secured in this bolt. He pulls the matrix and he gives back all the material back to passer. If it is needed, he pulls out a fix. Passer goes one bolt up that is always done chaotically, because he got lot of things snapped on him. After a while, a belayer moves too. It goes round and round. If there are only two climbers, the function of passer goes to belayer and that is hard work to manage it all.

It is very important to have everything well bound. Right at the start, under the wall, I put out a drill battery on a shelf, I turned around and it was already rolling down the hill. Just about 7 meters, nothing happened luckily. Another important thing is to have sharp drills that heavily decrease the time of drilling. We got only three, I am not sure if it will be enough for this hard granite. We will see.

Ivan zigzagged in the terrain among grass and he made 7 more bolts. We will make a first belay place on the ledge near the 8th bolt. The wall was rising from it and it would not be possible to drill from climbing position. Kely climbed his part and started to drill. However, the drill was stopped perhaps by crystal and it refused to cooperate with Ivan. He decided not to make a next hole and to put a smaller bolt to this shorter hole. He succeeded after a long cursing because he had to change his hands on holds. Just two more bolts and the work is done. We made 70 meters on the wall today. We were wasted and it last only 5 hours. Rasťo left us an hour sooner and his first Madagascan dream became reality. He found a bunch of lemurs that were showing themselves in front of the camera. It was night when we went down and we went real fast near Camp Catta to safe our Ivans. When we were drilling Šaňo with Rado came to greet us. That bolder one of them called us sport climbers, because we placed bolts too near.

The dinner was ready in a camp: spaghetti with vegetables, it was good and there was much of it. I like this kind of food because I am a vegetarian. The other carnivorous beasts have to be satisfied with occasional buy of zebu carcass. Dosky had a great idea. He made a swing for kids from wooden shelf and fixed ropes that became very popular among them. Not just among them, adult natives liked it too. We drank the last vine, 30 liters in 4 days, what is not such a bad performance.