In the last ten days we have climbed everyday with beautiful and stable weather. Even today the local weather forecast did not indicate any significant changes, though the sky has gotten darker all of a sudden which does not please us at all. We skip the usual rest stop, and while Paolo starts to climb again, Tony and I eat a candy bar and we drink thirstily. As we leave the belay stop, we feel the first few raindrops and in the distance we hear the sound of thunder. We try to move quickly but, though Tony is very capable, he has already given much, and he simply cannot go any faster.

We stop for a moment to put on our rainproof jacket, but the first drops have already been transformed into a continuous rain. We reach Paolo who takes off in a hurry. We are climbing a long series of cracks and water channels, the worst place to be when it is raining. The water finds these deep grooves in the wall, loosening up rocks and small stones; furthermore, climbers know well that these lines are also the principal discharge points for electrical currents when the wall is hit by lightning. We are getting worried! Now the rain is mixed with hail, the wall is getting whiter and lightning is happening more frequently. We are up high, having climbed 2/3 of the wall already, and at this point there is no way back. We do not have that much more to go before the end of the route, and we know that these violent thunderstorms tend to be over quickly, so we hope. Furthermore, a descent in these conditions would be very risky and difficult.

While we are climbing, an electrical shock hits Paolo who is belaying us. It is not a violent discharge, but it is enough to force him to release the ropes. This is the biggest danger: to let go of the hold while you are leading can be fatal. In fact, on the more difficult part of the wall protection pins are more numerous, and a fall results in a flight of a few meters in empty air. Here, on the other hand, we are on a 5^th grade wall and the pins are few and far between. One risks falls of 35 meters on a wall which is very articulated and where a fall would surely result in slamming violently on protruding rocks and ledges. Then it is my turn; I also feel an electrical shock, it is not very strong, not much more than the 220 volts that you feel touching regular household current, but this certainly doesn’t help in making me feel at ease. I would like to climb more quickly but I have to stay close to Tony, who luckily is not showing any fear and is staying very calm. We reach Paolo ensconced in a niche formed by the widening of the crack in which we are climbing. The little cave offers minimal shelter but unfortunately even niches have to be avoided during thunderstorms, thus we leave quickly. Paolo takes off again; he is climbing very skillfully, especially under these conditions. I don’t ask him if he wants to exchange leads anymore.

Exiting from the cave there is a long traverse, but it is raining so hard that we cannot see the route and even though we know it well, Paolo makes a mistake and goes off route. He climbs, he descends, he climbs again, and after a while finds pins on which he belays Tony and I. A sea of water is flooding the wall; I cannot wait to see the end of this climb. I join Paolo on the small terrace and turning back I see Tony having difficulties: “Don’t fall,” I am thinking “Not here on the traverse” but Tony is exhausted, he slips on the holds covered with hail and falls. The “Friend” that Paolo had put into a crack does not hold, and after a long pendulum Tony is below us. Luckily he is not hurt, and somehow he manages to climb up and join us on the small terrace. Now it is hailing fearfully. It is impossible to continue; we have to stop. We are completely soaked down to our underwear and it is getting much colder. The temperature has plummeted and the three of us are shaking uncontrollably. No one is speaking; all of us have retreated into our own thoughts. I look below trying to find the Spaniards and Davide but the overhang underneath us hides them from view. Surely they must be going down. You would have to be crazy to continue climbing under these conditions.