Little big Serrada

South face for a hot day rock climbing doesn't sound too attractive but Serrada's crag nearby Rovereto is a worthwhile to visit even during the hot season. At least partially shady crag at the woods on 1250 meters sounds promising.

Serrada is not the closest crag from Arco. Car drive to there takes about an hour but then the access from the parking is only 10 minutes. To the first routes the total approach time is still reasonable.


Serrada has almost 80 routes which makes it huge in number of routes. At the same time routes are packed closely in a pleasant environment makes it enjoyable environment. So it is a perfect setup for families or climbers who don't want to take too long walks before getting to the wall.

Routes have a varying length from 10 meters up to 30 meters so there is good set of different alternatives to choose from. Difficulty of the routes starts from 4 and ends up to 7b but best offering is between 6a to 6c. Stil there is enough for beginners and few 7 graded routes for better climbers.

Rock quality varied from slightly polished to little less polished and well climbable. If you are looking for untouched limestone then Serrada is not your crag. But most of the routes are in good enough condition for climbing. And as usual the style of the climbing route dictates how much that bothers. I would say that I enjoyed most of the time and pre-clipped only one route because of polished holds at the start.

Nice place, not a gem but plenty of different routes with an easy access and a pleasant environment. Worthwhile to check out if all the fresh rock walls are already climbed and you are not afraid of long legged spiders ;)

Crag grade: 4-/5
Rock quality: 3/5
Bolting: 4+/5
Surroundings: 4+/5
Approach: 5/5

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Serrada, Rovereto, 8.7.2015

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Great Pian del Levro at Rovereto

Fresh rock expedition goes on. This time our journey headed towards Rovereto and Pian del Levro which is also suitable for family picnics. It takes about 45 minutes from Arco to the parking so we are not speaking about a very distant location. 

Pian del Levro is at 700 meters above the sea level and the bottom of the crag is nicely in shadow so
it is perfect choice for hot summer days. Approach from the parking takes about 5 minutes and 40 meters uphill on an easy trekking path. Excellent!

Crag is facing south-west and it has total of 31 routes graded from 3 up to 7c. Majority of the routes are in the range of 6 but there is respectable eight routes in the range of 7. More demanding routes are on the yellow limestone and that part of the wall is not completely in shadow so be aware during hot days.

Most of the routes are long, more than 20 meters on a grey and yellow limestone. Longest routes requires 70 meters rope so we are speaking about respectable lengths. Rock quality is almost perfect and overall condition of the routes is good. Bolting is in standard distance and secure. Small detail is that the bolt distance on easy routes may be too far for the small kids or inexperienced climbers.

Route styles varies from slabs, vertical walls to overhangs and dihedrals. Enough of variance for a one day climbing session. During the day we found a definite gem among the routes. Try the route "Pit stop" which is graded 6a+ and is 28 meters long. A nice warm-up for better climbers or a nice challenge for medium level climbers.

Surroundings are good and secure on a partially steep forest. And if you have very young climbers then the nearby water pools might be interesting to visit.

Again we found a crag that is worthwhile to visit and offers great challenges for a one or two day sessions. Recommended if you prefer good quality rock and want to climb during hot summer days.

Crag grade: 5/5
Rock quality: 5/5
Bolting: 4/5
Surroundings: 4/5
Approach: 4/5

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Pian del Levro, Rovereto, 24.6.2015

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Hunt of new walls at Noriglio in Rovereto

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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.

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Rovereto, Noriglio, 6.7.2014

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Visiting at the Balter winery in Rovereto

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After the midday visit at the museum our day at Rovereto continued with a visit to the Balter winery. Winery is located in an old castle dating back to the 16th century. The former castle has been serving as Balter family winery since 1872 for four generations. All the grapes of the Balter wines and spumantes are also grown in the surrounding 10 hectares. Balter is relatively small but quality winery, producing a bit more than 70 000 bottles a year, main product being Trento DOC spumante.


We were lucky with our our visit because we didn't organized the exhibition upfront.  Actually we just found the winery from the recommended Trento wineries and walked in to see if they can give us a tour. We got an excellent welcoming, staff welcomed us friendly and gave us an a great overview of their winery and wines. And of course they let us see the whole process and the undergound winery facilities. Balter winery facilities were underground so that the original castle and surroundings would stay intact.

And as usual they let us taste and experience their high quality Trento DOC Spumante and other wines. We are more than grateful for the Balter winery for letting us visit without a notice. A definitely place to visit if you appreciate professional wine makers and artisan skills. And the the Balter's spumante is definitely excellent quality as the Trento DOC spumantes are. Recommended!

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Rovereto, Balter winery, 25.6.2014

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Castello di Rovereto - Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra

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Weather has been a bit more unpredictable during this summer than usually. Forecasts have been showing rain and thunderstorms and colder for the whole week which is uncommon. Luckily most of the forecasts have been wrong and only small occasional rains haven't  prevented us from outdoor activities. But today was different, the rain started in the early morning and it was clear that we should come up something else to do than outdoor sports.

Luckily we had got Guest Card Trentino from our apartment. The guest card offers free entries to museums, nature parks and castles and free public transportation in the Trento province. It was obvious choice, we decided to see one of the museums and winery nearby and we decided to visit Castello di Rovereto.

The castle is located in Rovereto about 25 kilometers from Riva del Garda. Castello di Rovereto is built in medieval times and upgraded later during renaissance era. At that time it was turned into an alpine fortress by Venetians. Nowadays the castle houses Italian Historical War Museum - Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra. The war museum has been founded just after the great war in 1921 and it focuses on the Great War. On top of the WWI the exhibitions museum has also impressive collection of medieval, renaissance and Napoleonic era's arms and military gear.

Majority of the museum still focus on the World War I and pre-WWI era. Exhibitions gives a great overview of the Austro-Hungarian empire's and Italy's activities over the WWI in the region. The Great War had a strong impact to the region and some of the excellent mountain trails of the region are from that era.  Lot of the trekking and mountain biking itineraries in the province are made just in the pre-WWI or during WWI era by the the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies, like the infamous via Ponale and King Tremalzo's war roads.  And on top of that majority of the via ferratas were initially designed for helping soldiers to move safely at the mountains. The Great War and major fights happened just 100 years ago which is not that long time a go, a good reminder for all of us of the dark days human nature and the value of peace.

Castello di Rovereto was only the first half of the day. Second half was more relaxed in a local Balter winery at Rovereto. More about that in the next article.

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Rovereto, Castello di Rovereto, 25.6.2014

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