Val di Mello

At last! It had been over a year that I had wanted to visit the fabled Val di Mello, the Italian Yosemite so they say. I had great expectations and I wasn't to be disappointed. Some wise old owls say that May is to early in the season for Mello, with unstable weather and snows still remaining. They may well be right as on Saturday many routes were damp that meant we ended up climbing low in the valley, in the sports climbing area.

But I am getting ahead of myself. My first glimpse of the valley was from the car, vast shimmering granite slabs rose from the hidden valley floor. It was difficult to gauge their scale, but they were big, real big! I was here with a pretty rough looking Serge and Claudia. They had climbed together here before and new what it was about. My English nationality somehow automatically gave me guru trad climbing status, to be honest I was doubtful, one adapts easily to climbing on bolts.

The gentle walk along the valley floor (leave your car in the village and take the bus unless you want a parking fine) following the river opened up views of hanging valleys packed full of shiny granite walls. The valley was green and quiet. The names of the buttresses and routes had evocative names: Precipizio degli Asteroidi, Speroni degli gnomi and Oceano Irrazionale to name but three, the place is simply different. After a bit of soul searching Serge reminded us we were here to climb. It wasn't far to the first route on the Placche del giardino which in turn was soon aborted due a streak of water. Now my turn, I was directed to an adjacent route that looked good. Again slabby with an overlap start. The overlap involved a tricky mantle to gain the slab, and then... nothing I made two bolts before grounding to a halt. There were no holds what so ever, it was like a gritstone slab, and I never did get on with those. I made my excuses and retreated gracefully. It turned out the route was 6c.

The next day Serge encouraged us to try again. He had chosen the route of Cochise a direct line up slabs in the middle of the Dimore degli Dei buttress. We had with us Andrea fresh from his success on Luna Nascente the day before. We geared up and were ready to go when Andrea announced he had forgotten his rock boots. It would be slow climbing as a three and it would take too long for Andrea to go get his shoes, so we resigned ourselves to a walk along the valley. As he was packing things into his rucksack he proudly pulled out his shoes that were there hiding inside his sack! That's so Andrea. The route started with a traverse on trad gear. I got stuck close to the belay, to unsure of myself to pad on up the slab and far enough away from protection to be concerned for my fate. Fortunately my English roots proved infallible and good old fashioned technique came to hand as I lassoed a block.

Pitch two across the lip of the overhang was led by Andrea, delicate but well protected by pegs, the situation was impressive and we were still low down. Now the route took a direct line up the slabs above, first by some really delicate moves and then easing but continuous. It was well protected by bolts as there was no natural gear, the pitch was long and enjoyable. The other pair were ahead of us, and looked encouragingly down upon us. Serge was in his element moving surely over the open and featureless slab. The technical crux of the climb was the next short pitch and it was Andrea's turn. He gracefully took up the challenge but we had caught up with the others as Serge was experiencing the exposure of the final pitch, We waited for the belay to clear before it was our turn. The final pitch now loomed and we approached it with a little trepidation as we knew from Serge that it was delicate and a bit run out in places. Another party descending described it as 'duro'. And indeed it was, spacey friction moves padding up the slab, pure faith climbing. I reached the belay longing for a mouthful of water.

We descended for a beer and sat contemplating the higher cliffs, wondering at the surprises and challenges that they behold. The valley was every thing I had expected it to be. However it seems to have a surprising lack of campsites near the centre. Maybe it limits the number people and preserves the natural beauty of the valley. It seems to be a very Italian thing to stay in a hotel or refuge rather than camping. As a camper this can be quite frustrating.