Via Ferrata Monte Albano is open again

Via Ferratas offers a quick and nice way to enjoy great views and heights without too much of a hassle. Instead of a multipitch climbing we decided to take a break from the normal routines and head to the Via Ferrata Monte Albano - Ottorini Marangoni. 

Monte Albano's ferrata has a respectable reputation but it has been closed since 2011. Luckily the
long maintenance project has been finally completed and route has been re-opened recently. We have been actually waiting several years to get there and now finally we got the long waited opportunity in our hands.

Route has been told to be the hardest outside higher Dolomite mountains by offering lots of open air. Route's grade is the hardest even it is only 350 meters long. Highest altitude at the end of the route is around 600 meters and the estimated time to complete the route is 4-5 hours including ascent and exit.

It seems that the route has been improved a lot during the maintenance and some of the old route
descriptions are not valid anymore. At the same time the surroundings have been improved too and there is an excellent boulder park with picnic tables and a public toilet just a few hundred meters before the ferrata.

For me it looked like that the beginning the route has been secured better than before as well are the airy traverses. Overall safety of the route is now in an good level. That may have turn the route slightly easier than before but we are not speaking about a Sunday walk here!

Route has splendid and exposed traverses what it has been known for. Lots and lots of open air around while traversing over the city of Mori makes this legend worthwhile to be experienced. And this route is not for a first timers. Having a good head for exposed rock walls and heights and some stamina is required.

We completed the route in about four hours and it could be completed even faster if you don't spend too much time for taking photos like we did. Recommended definitely!

Ferrata grade: 5/5
Route quality: 5/5
Security: 4/5
Surroundings/views: 5/5
Approach: 5/5
Exit: 5/5


See all photos:

Monte Albano - Ottorini Marangoni, 25.6.2015

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Sisyphos at Valle dei laghi

View from Sisyphos Towards Lago di Toblino and Toblino castle.

Google's route planner does
not draw the route right.
Route goes through Sarche.

If you have been climbing few days nearby Arco and  already seen the well known crags, such as Nago, Beldevere and Massone it is time to head for new routes and views. Get some fresh rock from Sisyphos. Crag is a good option for medium level climbers. Sisyphos is located at Valle dei Laghi (see also: http://www.valledeilaghi.it) nearby Sarche and it is about 17 kilometers from Arco. Final parts of the approach by car goes on a small dirt road between the wine groves and after that the very final part is on foot and takes about 15 to 20 minutes to the wall.

Crag has 44 routes to offer from 5a to 7c and most of the routes are in the range of 6a to 7b. It is best suited for medium level climbers by offering a great playground, wich is not too crowded. Routes are nice varying climbing on grey and brown limestone rock and the average length of the routes is about 22 meters.

Our day was relative short because of the upcoming evning activities. Still this is defnititely a crag where we want return on next year to test routes that we had to pass due the schedules.

Heta's "tree aided, A0" climbing move.

View to Lago di Toblino.

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San Siro, high end climbing

San Siro offers great views and demanding climbing over Valle dei laghi. Location of the crag is perfect and the approach is easy with a walk of 5 minutes from the parking. Routes can be climbed even when other crags are too hot and it offers a good shadow for the belayer. This is definitely a place for higher end climber since there are only 3 routes below 6 and there is total of 84 routes to go. Most of the routes are from 6c to 7c and the length of the routes varies between 15 to 30 meters.

Difficulty of the routes offers great challenges for medium to higher leverl climbers. But what bothers is that majority of the mid level routes are polished. Event the 7 graded routes seemed to have same problems and thus routes can be even more difficult that the actual grade states. If you have been at Massone then you know what to expect. Higher end routes of San Siro are not necessarily that badly polished but the routes  from 5-6 seemed to be slippery.

Massone and San Siro have similiar rock type but Massone's low to mid graded routes offer more opportunities than San Siro. For higher (>7) level climbers San Siro might be a good option with great overhanging walls, but still be prepared for polished rock. Still shape of the overhanging walls is great and the style of the routes is interesting. For higher end climber San Siro has a lot to offer but there are better crags for medium level climbers to climb.

Nice views.

Medium routes are polished.

Comfortable place with easy approach.

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Quick visit to Saló

Weather is always unpredictable and sudden rain gave us a great reason to have a break for a day. Break doesn't mean that we are just watching the roof from the bed, no it is a great opportunity to see new places around the lake. And during the day we also found something surprising from the country of good food and gelato.

In our case rainy day is just a perfect weather to go out sightseeing with our two french bulldogs Topi and Helmi. This is actually already third time for them at the Lago di Garda but the very first time when I'm writing something about these small but energetic dogs (thou the title image shows what they do after the energetic activities).

We chose to head our small sightseeing to the city of Saló. Saló in located at the neighbouring region Lombardy from Trentino-Alto Adige.The road to Saló goes nicely nearby the lake level via tunnels and towns, every one of them being a great place to spend good time. One of the towns to recommended among Saló is definitely Limone that is famous for its lemon trees.

Artigiani del Gusto, Via IV Novembre, 10.

But back to Saló. It was founded already by the ancient Roman when it was known by name Pagus Salodium. City has a long history and  during the World War II it was also the capital city of the puppet Italy ruled by Benito Mussolini. Nowadays Saló is a beautiful harbor city with the nice promenades, boats and restaurants covering the coastline.

One thing that we love in Italy is the great ice-cream, gelato. And of course in our trip to Saló we wanted to taste some. To get the best gelato you have to find a real gelateria that makes their own gelato. We found a great place that has also something extraordinary. Yes, Saló has a great gelato to offer, but they have it also for the dogs! That is so funny idea that we had to test it. And guess what, it seems that dogs love it. So from now on your best friend can also enjoy the famous Italian gelato, just head to Saló to let your buddy taste some.

Helmi wonders what would be the right taste for the day.

Topi enjoys!

I got it!

Low calories keep seniors in shape.

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Backyard of Castel Toblino - La Gola

Map to La Gola.

If you just want to see the photos then click here.

Have you visited already all the crags of the neighbourhood or bored with polished limestone and tired of over crowded routes? The great thing is that there is always an option to find a new crag to visit. There are tens of fresh crags to pick from in the nearby valley and most of them offers astonishing views and nice surroundigs.

Our pick for the day La Gola that is located just on the backyard of the beautiful Castel Toblino at Lago di Toblino in the Valle dei Laghi. Surrounding scenery was again a great surprice, small lake in the valley between strong mountains and in the center stoods the Toblino castle at the peak of a peninsula, wow.

View over the Castel Toblino.

The crag offers a good rock and variety of climbing from technical to large holds. There are total of 140
routes on seven sectors. Grades of the routes are between 5b to 8b and majority of the routes are in the range of 6b to 7b. So its actually a recommended place for medium to advanced climbers.

Valle dei Laghi and Lago di Toblino.

Location and views are great and the approach is easy, if you know where to go. The downside was that there were no signs of any kind how to find to the
crag. We started to follow the right path but missed a small upward path leading to the Arcadioland sector. As a result we spent an hour or more on the wrong path leading to a wrong wall wich was not for climbing. Sadly our bad orienteering consumed slightly too much stamina reserved for the day. But still the approach is nice and short when you know where to go. Approach is on a reasonable path in the woods ascending towards the wall.

Heta leading 5c Micla.

The crag itself is just great. We visited one of the latest opened sector Arcadioland. Rock was solid and not polished and during the whole day we saw just one other couple climbing in the same sector with us. Bolting is also well done (at least at the Arcadioland sector) and the average length of the routes is more than 20 meters. Thera are a lot of 30 to 40 meter routes too, even for 8a grade climbers. So definitely a worthwhile crag to visit for an active and challenge seeking climber.



See all photos from our Picasa album:

Sarche, La Gola, 18.6.2013

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Back to the walls

Tufa at Calvario.

Varying rock at Calvario.

Since our arrival on last Friday we have been waking up the hidden mountaineer souls by visiting three crags. As a warmup session we chose to return to our backyard at Arco by heading to Calvario.

I wrote about Calvario already on last year during our first visit at the crag. It is located just behind the city of Arco and it has one of the easiest access, just 10-15 minutes walk on a narrow road. It is not necessarily the best place for beginners because majority of the routest are between 6a to 8a. Anyway during the day we had a good warmup session on the 6a lines. (note: crag is not listed on our favorite climbing service at 27crags.com and Im planning to add at least the names and grades of the routes to the service)

Climbers hand on the Calvario's wall.

One part of the climbing in the Garda region during the summer months is to get used to the warm / hot climate. For the better acclimation to local temperatures we headed on Sunday to our old training crag  Muro dell'asino. Getting there from Arco by foot takes about 45 minutes and half of the approach is uphill trekking in the woods. That part was a good preparation for the more demanding approaches. Muro dell'asino is a good place for a climber that seeks challenges between 5a to 6c and as a bonus most of the routes have a great view over the valley behind. On the other hand few of the interesting 5c - 6a routes are getting slightly polished but not too badly. Anyway a good crag that should be added also to the 27crags.com.

After the warmup sessions it was time to seek for higher walls, greater views and hotter ascends. We kept that in our minds to plan the next excursion to Regina del Lago, nearby Pregasina. But that's another story and will be coming up later with nice photos.

During the warmup sessions we took only few photos which are available in our public album for viewers. But watch out for the upcoming Regina del Lago photo gallery, great views coming up soon!

You can enjoy nice views while trekking to Muro dell'asino.

Arco, Calvario 15.6.2013

Arco - Muro dell'asino 16.6.2013

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