Croatia

I'm giving you a sneek peek at the piece on Croatia. Mind you it's typed out on my iPhone and it's ruff. Enjoy.


Endless Summer :
Croatia's secret climbing paradise.

By: Ulric Rousseau

Her waterfront apartement sits 2 stories up a 5 layer building. The Adriatic sea is blowing sand and salty humid air through the window and onto my face. Even at 4am the sweet air is warm and i inhale it with a smile. I lay my head back down and return to sleep. The silence is drafting dreams with with pastel colors. I'm waken with a loud boom. It's startles me so that I clench my fists like Rocky Balboa. I sit up straight in bed and look over my shoulder. Last nights catch. She's still sleeping. Her long blondish hair perfectly laid out on the sheets above her head. The lightning storm that persists over the water outside exposes her neck and shoulders with flashes of white light like a photo shoot. I pull the covers over her, gently, and i walk out onto the balcony. It's thundering now, heavily. The roman gods are angry. They are playing war games and i have the best seat in the coliseum. I bend forward, leaning, placing both my forearms against the granite rail and i watch. The sea rises and falls in swells. I see it only with the bursts of light, but I can very well imagine all the drama of the darkened surf before me. I see pieces of pictures like a puzzle and find the fitting, missing edges myself to complete the poster. It's all coming to life, in real time, right before me. I bathe in the scenery.

When I return to bed Jelena is still sound asleep. As best she should be. She has an 8a project to send today, and Ivan and I are working an 8c extension to a monster 40m tufa line he put up last year. My rest beacons. I lay back in the off white egyptian sheets next to my partner and sleep comes quickly, with the craking of swords and armor now slowly distancing itself from us. My eyelids shut slowly, catching a glimpse of the suns luminous effects starting to glow up the dissipating clouds on the horizon. My dreams of tomorrows' sun warm days and steep limestone walls are starting to take shape. I breathe in the spicy air through my nose one last time and fall fast asleep. Good night sweet prince, for this is Split, Croatias best kept climbing secret. Splits' 500+ routes and DWS set against a tropical paradise is now out in the limelight.