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During the hot summer months climbing at the Lake Garda region can be exhausting due the high temperatures. Thus shady and fresh crags are more than welcome for the thirsty climbers and Val d'Algone nearby Coltura offers one option for those hot days. Today we had such a day and so we decided head towards Val d'Algone.
Val d'Algone is located about 700 meters above the sea level just next to a small mountain rivulet in a shady forest. Crag is not the best option for beginners but for climbers who climb 6a-7b the crag suites well and it has 55 routes to offer. Access to the crag is easy by a car and the parking is just few minutes away from the wall that can be seen from the parking. Approach is not hard but it takes slippery and wet walk over the rivulet. At this time of the year the water was terribly cold like just melted ice, extremely refreshing!
Once we finally passed over to the rivulet to hthe crag we had a sad surprise waiting for us. Most of the lines were still wet from the previous night's rain so Val d'Algone wasn't the best climbing wall for the day. We still decided to check all the routes.
Our conclusion was that the routes seemed demanding and the rock had better grip on the right end of the wall. The left side of the wall was more rounded and partially polished. Most probably polishing is not the fault of climbers but the dripping water that has been smoothing the wall over centuries. In general the crag looks interesting and is worthwhile to visit, just keep in mind that some lines might be hard due the quality of the rock.
Day wasn't still completely wasted, luckily Coltura is just about 5 minutes away from Val d'Algone so we decided to head there. Coltura's main wall is facing most of the day to the sun and the lines nearby the parking are hot. But we noticed that the upper part of the Strada sector is getting into the shade just at early afternoon. Finally we found a place that was in shade and got some good climbing.
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Val d'Algone, Coltura, 30.6.2014 |
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