Oude Ballen Weekend

Running from 2nd to 4th of October we had another Oude Ballen Weekend!🏐

A special edition, the 5th lustrum of the mythical saunatent in Sy (and also 25 years since we got banned from Sy due to a saunatent). To remember this event, the Lustrum committee pulled some strings and on Saturday morning a massive saunatent and hot tub appeared on the campsite!

Together with the almost 70 Oude Ballen who showed up, we celebrated climbing and ESAC in Hotton. After which we dined on some amazing Harrira, which divided the group into spice lovers and haters. This also proved to be the time to create a lineup off all the boards from young till old. Folks from the 5th to the 50th all showed up. With of course, klimcos being most present. We then enjoyed the luxury on the campsite, a perfect place to tell all your old person stories to the new kids on the block! If they don’t go sending the classic routes of Sy at night, that is.

Thank you everyone for being there! Hope to see you in less than 25 years!

KKW 2026 - New Years Party

If you’d told me a few months ago that New Year’s Eve in Italy would blow a traditional Dutch celebration out of the water (and later into the water, but I’ll get back to that later), I might have been sceptical. It’s not necessarily that the Italians party harder than we do; it’s just that you can’t replicate the glorious, high-energy chaos of 40 ESACers.

The evening began at a slow pace after a long day on the limestone. Each apartment hosted its own dinner, and all prepared their speciality drink. While our place (Appartment 15) served up a killer Limoncello Spritz, other apartments stepped up the game with Mojitos and the classic esma. The vibe shifted from tired climber to party mode real quick, especially once Lucas and Jule took to the stage with a fire fireshow. Interestingly, Italy is much more conservative with fireworks than the Netherlands.

One of the apartments was transformed into a disco. As the small apartment was filled with 40 ESACers, the heavy-duty speakers, disco lights, and a smoke cannon completed the party. DJ Robert took the decks, dropping absolute bangers including the mandatory KKW classic, "Que si, Que no." Around 23:30, the mob moved toward the town square of Finale. We were greeted by a slightly surreal sight: an Italian punk-cover band playing their hearts out to a crowd of "boring" locals standing in polite silence.

Then, ESAC arrived.

We brought the noise, the energy, and—inevitably—the moshpit. The local security guards weren’t exactly thrilled with our enthusiasm and shut the pit down, but we did manage to recruit a few local Italian teenagers who were clearly inspired by the Dutch madness. We danced together for the rest of the night.

While the locals watched from the shore, wrapped in heavy coats and convinced we were insane for we ended the night properly with a New Years dive in the Mediterranean sea.

KKW 2026 - Rebolter in Dancing Dalle

On the second day of KKW, Yara and I decided to join a group of climbers to the sea traverse. Upon arrival, we started questioning whether we wanted to spend such a long time traverse climbing with widely spaced bolts. We were more in the mood for some chill single pitching. After waving the traverse group goodbye as they abseiled down, we headed towards Dancing Dalle, a picturesque single pitching area rising from the sea.

We scanned the names of the routes and compared them with the routes in the topo. Apart from one route, there was no resemblance in route names. While we translated Italian names to English in an attempt to find a solution to the topo puzzle, a guy packed with gear entered the scene. We asked whether he understood what the topo was trying to tell us. Thank god, he did! Apparently the bolts were so old, he had asked the main bolters in Finale Ligure to rebolt it. He had made new routes and replaced all the bolts. Today was the last day he would rebolt on this area, to replace the final anchors on the famous and first 7a in Finale Ligure, Dancing Dalle. 

We were in luck, because apart from rebolting the area, he handed us the new topo, shared his Italian snacks, helped with some rope techniques on the specific anchors and talked us through the routes. When talking with him, it was easy to notice that he built his life around climbing. He quit his job to start a freelance business, so that he could visit climbing areas whenever he wanted. He also found a climbing gym in Milan to socialize with climbers and train for the outdoors himself.

We decided to attempt the historical 7a, Dancing Dalle, which was filled with athletic moves and crimps. Many moves were asking a lot from your fingers and body, but luckily Jian was cheering us on from the top. To capture ours send(attempt)s, he became our personal photographer. He threw himself over the rock, abseiled down to the perfect spot and took pictures that he would later share with us. Can’t all climbing areas have their own Jian?

When another group of ESAC’ers joined later that day, he was delighted to see so many people climbing his newly rebolted routes and took many pictures of the brewing climbing area. He was quick to make friends with all of us and decided to join us for a swim in the cool bay below. 

When climbing outside, there are often moments where you realize: wow I really chose the best community to hang out with. This was certainly one of those! If you want to meet Jian yourself, spend your winters in Finale (without a doubt, you walk into him) or visit his bouldering gym La Parete Rossa in Milan.