Tribute to my dad

 We did a little hiking in Pfitschtal. There were plenty of mushrooms. I thought of my father, of how he would enjoy such a walk and how many mushrooms he would collect. Before the car incident, before his illness, in another life.

It will never happen, it would have never happened. But it was one of my most treasured childhood dreams: to go with him into the forest. 

Now I almost live in a forest, just 10 minutes walk away. And still, I live in a town. It is really wonderful. And for my children, forest is something so regular like almost boring. It isn’t so fascinating for them as it was for me back then. True desires can wait until their time comes.

Meran, kids, ice cream

 Last weekend we were near sunny Meran, but with kids it was messy. It was tough to get up early in the morning and get ready for our trip after the whole week of getting ready for school. It would be really nice if there was someone who did all that work while we could relax in the morning. But parenting has no days off.

Meran was sunny. Boulders were really nice in that part of Algund (Kneodelman). Kids were messy and attention-seeking. And it was like it was: some nice climbing. I liked 5c Rundgand around low boulder. I did the move I thought was to reach for me at another 6a N.N. Kostya worked on 2-moves 7b+/7c. A little bit of walking and ice cream at the end. We could call it a day.

Mountaing rescue in South Tirol: my introduction

 Despite I didn't climb this weekend at all, it was dedicated to climbing, a climbing instructor career, to be exact. I took a 2-day-long First Aid training, which is obligatory for climbing instructors.

On the first day, we were at South Tyrol Alpine Association Mountain Rescue Service in Vilpian. It's a learning center for all rescue workers in South Tirol and it's actually unique for the entire Italy. There are different stations to train firefighters and rescuers in various situations, such as in pictures and many more.

The second day, we spent in Tramin at the small climbing area of Altenburg with an astonishing view, where we trained rescue works at crags, as well as different bandaging techniques.

Some key moments of first aid training:

• They try to go minimalistic and do everything possible with just a bandage and a rescue blanket. The last one is really useful and has a wide range of applications, from actually keeping warm (for an injured person, it's important even when it's hot) to transporting and replacing sunglasses. 
• The number of allergy cases is constantly increasing, and they could be really dangerous and life-threatening without proper medication. In our study case, we met a guy who was sitting on the ground because of dizziness, scratching himself all around. He also said his teeth felt weird. It is a situation to call for rescue, despite it does not seem so dangerous. It's all the symptoms of angioedema or allergic edema. When things are getting really bad, epinephrine autoinjection could be life-saving. Also, only a person themself, a doctor or a nurse are allowed to give a shot.
• Israeli bandage is the most convenient way of applying pressure to a wound. It also goes one-handed.

I am a fighter

 This weekend was homely and cozy. We climbed at our local facilities. First day, it was bouldering in our hard-core long-term-projecting boulder gym in Wiesen. The second day we climbed in Stange for the first time. It's a rather small wall for climbing mostly toprope. And I remembered why I love climbing routes so much. I can often really give it all on a go. It becomes a real fight and I like this state of mind the most.

I'm just a fighter, a f*cking fighter. 

That's all.

And we stocked up on firewood last week.