But do you think it’s Mistica or Mystique, like the X-Men character? I like to believe it’s the second one. The X team, made up of me (Professor X), Jacopo (Magneto), Edo (Storm), Daniele (Wolverine) and Paolo (Banshee), tries to squeeze themselves as best as possible into the X-Mobile, and against all odds the mission is accomplished. Edo even finds the setup so comfortable that he sleeps for most of the journey. In just (!!!) 5 hours, Canazei is behind us and we are ready to pitch our tents in the Passo Sella area, naturally just a stone’s throw from a hotel whose name I will not mention. 4 a.m. The alarm goes off. The sleeping bag is warm and outside it’s -10°C. 4:15 a.m. Daniele tries to set the tent on fire to make tea without going outside, but fails. 5:15 a.m. at Passo Sella we notice that two rope teams are already ahead of us, climbing at a steady pace toward the Innerkofler Tower. It takes us fifteen minutes to sort out our packs and convince ourselves to start, and then the chase begins. Storm delights us with the effects of digesting bean soup. We still manage to overtake everyone and, at the base of the “moppo,” Magneto attracts all the iron to himself, leaving the rest of us the ropes. My idea of how to split the pitches turns out to be unusable (queue behind us and a topo that doesn’t match reality), and after two simul-climbing pitches, Magneto, fully “metal,” tackles the four central pitches before we unrope again. Three hours later we are at the summit, waiting for Daniele and Paolo, who are still slow to appear on the horizon… Info for those interested: Excellent conditions on Mystica Clean Gully climbed by two rope teams reporting excellent conditions Hokusai Wave looks beautifully fat