Posts Tagged ‘Climbing’

Injured In Bled

Friday, November 25th, 2011

Chiropractor near Bled, Slovenia

I wish I could have the blog title “Bled in Bled” but I didn’t bleed… I just slipped a disc in my lower back.  You would think that the chances of me getting injured running with the bulls in Pamplona or climbing mountainsin the Dolomites was much greater than getting injured in Bled.  The ironic thing is that the injury had nothing to do with the whitewater rafting we did the day before.  I injured my back getting out of bed in the morning.  I have no idea what happened but as I was getting out of bed my legs didn’t work and I hit the ground.  The pain in my back was incredible.  I thought I just pulled a muscle or something so I rested for a bit and tried to stretch my back out and while it helped a bit I knew we had a problem.

Luckily I had travel insurance (a must when travelling abroad).  I called them and they found a chiropractor less than 30km away from our hotel.  The real amazing thing is that the chiropractor was from Detroit and was the only western trained Chiropractor in the whole country.  Probably the only one within several thousand kilometers of us.  We had to alter our plans a bit so I could get treatment and stay in bed to recover but in 5 days he had me back on my feet and walking without a problem.  I got very lucky!!

It just goes to show you.  Live it up.  Go bungy jumping.  Go sky diving.  Go rock climbing.  Go white water rafting.  Go scuba diving. Go out and live life because you never know when you could be bedridden with a stupid injury from just getting up in the morning.

Travel Tip: If you ever have back problems anywhere near Slovenia give Chiropractor Donald Hopkins a call at 05/9940-636.

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Posted in Europe, Slovenia | 1 Comment »

Climbing the Via Ferrata in Italy

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Miki climbing the Via Ferrata

The VIA FERRATA!!  This is what brought us to the Dolomites in northern Italy.  I read about this in some travel book (can’t remember anymore which one) that this was one of the top adventures in the world.  After doing it I can say it was a blast and an amazing adventure but one of the top adventures in the world??… maybe a little bit a stretch.  Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat.

Our route on the via ferrata

We hired Marcello via www.dolomitemountains.com to guide us up the mountain.  We started off roped up to Marcello even though the whole point of the via ferrata is that you don’t have to use ropes.  The via ferrata or iron road provides the necessary safety measures for you to get to the top.  All you really need is a helmet, harness, and 2 carabiners attached to you harness.  The 2 carabiners are there so you always have at least one clipped into the cable just in case.

Nathan bringing up the rear on the via ferrata

After a little bit of climbing Marcello decided we were ready to go on our own.  He took the rope off of us.  There would be nobody to blame but ourselves if we fell to our death.  Our lives were in our own hands.  Actually, it wasn’t that scary.  The iron cable is firmly bolted into the mountain and you always have one clip into the cable.  You would have to do something very stupid to get hurt.  Even the local kids do this with their families.  It’s like taking a walk in the park for them.

We did make it to the top and both of us wanted to do it again right away.  It was great fun that was very safe.  I would want to hire Marcello to do it a few more times but then we would be fine going out on our own.  Most of these routes are well documented and well marked.  During the peak seasons you can even get traffic jams on some of them because there are so many people.

Miki standing in front of our via ferrata climb

Travel Tip: If you want help with a complete travel package to the Dolomites contact www.dolomitemountains.com.  They can help with hotels, transportation and hiring a guide.  If all you need is a guide for a few days then contact Marcello directly.  You’ll probably be able to work out a better deal.

Check out this video compilation of our climb up the via ferrata.

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Posted in Europe, Italy, Photography, Travel, Video | No Comments »

Iceland’s Ice

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Vatnajökull Glacier Lagoon

You would be surprised.  Iceland doesn’t have that much ice.  The landscape is green in many places as you can see from the pictures in my previous posts.  However, if you come all the way to Iceland you need to find some ice so off we went to the Vatnajökull Glacier… and look… we found ice :)

Vatnajökull Glacier Lagoon in Jokulsarlon

The Vatnajökull Glacier is the largest glacier by volume in Europe.  The second largest is in Svalbard, Norway which we also visited later during our Europe trip (more on that later).

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

The glacier lagoon in Jökulsárlón is a great photo destination.  Huge pieces of the glacier calve off into this lagoon before they float out to sea and eventually melt.  You can even take a cruise out into the lagoon to get up close and personal with the icebergs.  The bergs weren’t as big as what we saw in Antarctica but still impressive none the less.

Climbing on the Vatnajökull Glacier

Our next stop on the ice tour in Iceland was to do some ice climbing on the Vatnajökull Glacier in Skaftafell National Park with Icelandic Mountain Guides.  We were booked to do ice climbing but the eruption of Grimsvotn volcano in May, 2011 rained ash down all over the glacier.  The ash made the glacier very dirty and would have gunked up the climbing gear possibly ruining it or at worst making it unsafe.  So, we did the Full Day Adventure Tour instead which turned out to be a great tour.

I was initially pretty disappointed that we couldn’t go ice climbing and that the glacier was dirty.  I really like taking photos of the vivid blue colors glaciers have.  However, the dirty glacier had an interesting look and I got some unique pictures.

A Dirty Vatnajökull Glacier

While we didn’t get to go ice climbing we did get to use crampons and ice axes on our glacier hike which at least made us look cool.

All geared up on the Vatnajökull glacier

We also had a brief chance to rappel down into a in moulin.  This may not look dangerous but moulins are holes that go straight down to the bottom of the glacier.  The depth of the glacier around here is over 400 meters.  Good thing the guides at Icelandic Mountain Guides know what they are doing because that is my wife on the end of the rope.

Rappelling into a Moulin

After a hard day of seeking out ice in Iceland a visit to the famous Blue Lagoon was a welcomed treat.  It’s a little pricey to get in but it’s one of things you must do if you visit iceland.  Don’t forget to smear the silica mud on your face.  It’s suppose to have healing powers for various skin ailments… even if you don’t have a skin problem it still feels pretty good and looks even funnier.

Blue Lagoon Iceland

Rule #1 of portrait photography. Don't use a wide angle lens up close to your subject. Sorry Miki :)

Lastly, need to give a shout out to our trusty little Toyota Yaris that got us around in our search for Icelandic ice in style… well… maybe not in style but at least it got us around.

Toyota Yaris in Iceland

 

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Posted in Iceland, Photography, Travel | 4 Comments »