[LL55]

Hello,

If I should be directing this to www.theaa.com or somewhere else  , apologies, but I'm a lazy sod at times...

I'm hoping to head out to Cresh next month; does anyone have any decent directions for getting to Cresh from Milan airport?

And.... (pushin' it now, but....) Does anyone have a general idea of what weather to expect in April around Cresh and Chironico? ie.. it'll be too hot/cold?

Any help would be appreciated, and rewarded with booze if i see you in pub,

Cheers

[dobbin]

April will be too hot at Cresciano. Chironico might be ok but you would probably be better going up to Magic wood.

There are three airports in Milan - linate, malpensa and bergamo (not really in milan but thats where the cheapo flights go).

Can you read a map? when you get a hire car you will get a map that will enable you to get to where you want to go. For Chironico aim for faido/lavorgo. For Cresciano aim for Cresciano and for Magic wood, aim for ausserferrera. My advice, although it looks tempting to go cross country, its quicker to go on the motorway. You have to pay tolls (about £10 from bergamo to border crossing at Chiasso) and then swiss motorway tax (~£17) on entry. From the border its about an hour/hour and half to magic, 45 mins to an hour to cresc and about an hour and half to chironico.

[LL55]

Cheers Dobbin,

Bugger about being too hot  , have heard mixed reviews of Magic Wood. A couple of people have said it's ace, and a few others have said its complete sparsity dross.

Would have been end of Feb we went, but multiple injuries staved that off.

Cheers for the info though - just had a couple of mates head out for 5 weeks to Cresh and they said to get directions!

Bergamo is where we'd fly to (can't argue without £40 round trip)

[Nibile]

got back from chironico yesterday night. hot in the sun, cool in the shade.
the sun sets behind the mounts quite early in the afternoon, so theres plenty of time to pull, and, more, the place is more edgy than slopey, so the perfect conditions are less needed.
anyway, just to give you an idea, when i was there it was so dry that i used to make sparkles when touching the rock...incredible uh?

[dobbin]

The air there is so dry you can feel your lips chapping in minutes!

Magic wood is fantastic! was the person who described it as sparsity dross a fan of quarries by any chance?

[Nibile]

The air there is so dry you can feel your lips chapping in minutes!

how right you are!!!
after three days my lips are completely burned, cut and painful. i have to eat in small bits...
cant wait to get back.

[dobbin]

just had a couple of mates head out for 5 weeks to Cresh and they said to get directions!

I think your mate means that its not obvious where the rocks are when you get into the village of Cresciano itself. Lets assume you have come off the motorway at Bellinzona Nord and you are proceeding up the main road through claro. After claro you will come to Cresciano. Within Cresciano its - you want the windy road out the back. When I first went I went to the tourist info in bellinzona and bought the guidebook, which explains how to get to the blocs. This is also available from the Restaurante D'ell amici (spelling nibs?) which (if you get to it on the road from bellinzona - you have gone too far) is in Cresciano village.

As we have already discussed, you arent going to Cresciano though, so it doesnt matter!

[LL55]

The air there is so dry you can feel your lips chapping in minutes!

Magic wood is fantastic! was the person who described it as sparsity dross a fan of quarries by any chance?

Strangely, Yes is he! 

What kind of temperatures would it hit in Cresh around April? I just thought it'd be fine until late May?

I'd not be wanting to do anything harder than 7c, so pulling down on nothing slopers in need of perfect nic isn't what I'm looking for.

I'd just be glad to get out and spend a full week (including a rest day... ) out. It's felt like such a long wet winter in North Wales, though my mtb skills are dead sharp now!

[Nibile]

i would go, and will go again as soon as i can, to chironico.
if you go to cresciano, skip the main sectors and go further into the woods, where its more shaded and prolly the holds less polished. play it safe and wait til the afternoon, and maybe have a right selection of the boulders: slopers at cresh can be very slopey, and your skin may pay it too much.

here http://www.crescianoboulder.ch you can find info about where to buy the guide. if i was you id skip the "ristorante degli amici", which is a bunch of very rude and uneducated people who gave me a really bad feeling when ive been there.
have fun.

[Nibile]

oh, and more.

forecasts are for a winter comeback next week. in magic wood there may still be snow, and temps down to -10° at night.

[LL55]

oh, and more.

forecasts are for a winter comeback next week. in magic wood there may still be snow, and temps down to -10° at night.

 

I hope the cooler weather stays until mid April. I had a flick through the Chironico guide last night, and am dead syked for some of the stuff there. Looks amazing, cheers for the advice Nibs and Dobbin

[Nibile]

we may meet, i wanna come back north!