Hunt of new walls at Noriglio in Rovereto

If you just want to see photos then click here

Rovereto offers fresh views and new crags to explore for climbers who are seeking for new walls to conquer. Rovereto is not far away, it takes only 30 minutes by car from Lake Garda. And on top of rock climbing the old city has lot to offer from culture to shopping.

Rovereto has a long history and it is well known from the Peace Bell that has been cast from the bronze of the cannons of the nations that took part of the First World War. Mountain and alpinism has been also part of the heritage which shows also at the nearby Pasubio mountain's fortresses and structures from Word War I. If rock climbing is not enough or unpredictable rain spoils the day there is always something else to do. Day can be easily extended with a city tour, museum visit, winery tour or shopping afternoon.

But our day was dedicated for climbing. Today's target was Noriglio that has about 120 routes in 7 different sectors. Range of the difficulties at the crag vary between 2 to 8 and most of the routes being in the range of 5c to 6c. Approach is easy and short but the wall is hot to climb during summer months.

At Casa al Sole sector majority of the routes are in the range of 6. Rock quality is broken and vertical slab climbing with few overhangs and bulges. Rock is slightly polished on some routes but usually it is not affecting to climbing. Rock has also natural roundness and polished surface because of the dripping water that has smoothed the surface.

In the Casa al Sole sector belayer got nicely into shadows but the wall was facing to the sun for most of  the day. In the late afternoon or early evening the wall turns more into shadow so afternoon climbing is more than recommended during summer. Some of the sectors before the Casa al Sole are completely exposed to the sun and it is a good idea to avoid those during hot days. But for spring and fall climbing Noriglio seems to be perfect.

Routes at the sector are mostly well bolted and few routes were just recently re-bolted. It is still good idea to check the style of bolting because on some older routes the 2nd or 3rd bolt might be too high for completely safe climbing.  Over the day we climbed few 6a and 6a+ routes and one 5c warmup. Overall feeling is that grading is though but mostly fair so prepare for demanding routes.

Noriglio has good routes to offer but it is not the first choise for summer months. Some sectors have shorter routes and you can read more first hand experiences from Sami's & Nora's article.

See all photos:

Rovereto, Noriglio, 6.7.2014

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New crag experiences for Sami and Nora - Le Piazzole, Noriglio and Red Point Wall

Arco is a climbing heaven, there is no doubt about it. There is no need to go to the same cliffs as last year, you can find plenty of new stone to finger. Last year we went to twelve different places and only one place (Coltura) we visited twice. All the crags were good in a way. This year we scouted 23 new sectors or crags to check out. Until now, we have surveyed two of them and a third came from the Garda Trentino Climbing Guide, which have also our recommendation. Of course, on the page of Calvario, where our climbing wedding pics are taken.

New crags:
Le Piazzole is high up, at 550 meters, which means long hiking to reach the place. The place is relatively new and therefore there is a lovely friction, on most of the routes. At the first visit, there was time to test only a couple of the routes on the right side of the crag, before the rain hit us and we were forced to leave. The place made so big impression, that we decided to do the hiking soon again.

'Best of Arco' guide says that the approach will take 25 minutes. At the first time we used 35 min and on the second time 30 min. So, there is some improvement, but still you have to reserve time for approaching, only you get a very intense warm-up. The track is mostly hidden by trees, in shade, but still there is very warm on sunny days. Our experience on second visit was that there is totally different kind of stone, profile and route grading on the left side of the crag, except the routes on the left edge. The routes of queens and kings are overhanging, slippery and very intense with delicate moves. So, the ‘Gardatrentino' and ‘Arco2011’, the 6B routes on slabby wall and with friction, were sent onsight, but Dmitry, Anna and Qixin beated us, even if they are graded 6A/6A +.

'Arco Walls’ guidebook does not have Le Piazzole at all. And in the' Best of Arco' guidebook is not mentioned the lengths of routes on the right sector. That tells how new the place is and how fresh is the friction there. Lengths of the routes on right sector are mentioned in the board on place and in the Gardatrentino Climbing Guide. The left sector offers shade for belayer before noon and the right sector in afternoon. The left sector is also more open and mild wind refreshes climbers. We did not visit at all the central sector, because there are only above seven graded routes. Maybe next year. :)

Noriglio is in Rovereto, which is some distance from Arco (about 30km). The approach instructions to crag are quite reasonable, but there is also huge opportunity to miss the paved road to the left. Before the orange house on the left, turn sharply left to the paved road, even if it looks like to end up to closed port.


Noriglio is an old place and the route grading follows the same style. Either the routes have become more challenging by climbing or route grading has been tighter in past. Sure, we climbed shorter (10m) routes on sector C in 'Best of Arco' guidebook and the upper right side of the D-sector, but the similar grades have been beaten already this year. The place was ok, but not worth of second visit, even if there are longer routes on the other sectors.

Red Point Wall is totally worthy of the name! In spite of, Sami onsighted and Nora flashed one 6a route on the Upper sector of ‘Arco rock’ guidebook. Red Point Wall offers intensive projecting on overhanging wall with hidden holds and athletic moves, and if you have power enough, rewarding sending. We had power enough only for one struggling per route. On the right at Upper-sector, there is some differing in grading with guidebooks. The route was told to be 6A+ or 6B, but it felt at least 6B+ or even harder. Still, the Red Point Wall is worth of experience, at least we made real climbing moves, we crimped, cranked, hooked, dynoed and all the other miracles to get higher. Pretty tight set for a day off...

We warmly recommend Le Piazzole of these new experiences, even though we hardly hike there third time on this trip. Noriglio did not seem to be a pleasant place, too old style and too much climbed and hot, even if the belayers are in shade. Red Point Wall was a something totally different and very interesting place to earn some sent routes, because you’ll really have to push hard to beat them.

/Sami & Nora

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