Via Monologica added to Torre di Mezzaluna in Vallaccia (Dolomites)

Towards the end of summer 2021 Leo Gheza and I spent a few days up in the Dolomites, more precisely in Val di Fassa, visiting its side vally Vallaccia and trying to climb some multipitches together. Leo had told me a lot about this amazing little valley, home to numerous interesting walls and excellent rock.

The idea was to repeat a fairly recent route on the Mezzaluna di Vallaccia face, established by the Geremia brothers; Serendipity. The climb was demanding but rewarding since the portion of rock they climbed was on bullet-proof dolomite. The style of ascent was right up our street, an interesting mix of trad and sport. The day ran by smoothly and we inched our way up to the summit, not without some long falls between the runout sections of demanding climbing. During the descent we could not help but notice a portion of whitish/yellow rock immediately to the left of Serendipity; the corridor was, so to speak, fairly wide and started from the ground and went all the way to the top of Mezzaluna di Vallaccia. Needless to say, we immediately began fantasising about the possibility of establishing a new route there.

After returning back down to the valley we set about finding out as much as possibile about other climbs on the face, and soon realised that we could indeed establish a totally independent line that would follow a series of series of pocketed yellow walls to reach a rather compact and whitish stretch. We couldn't make out much more, except that higher up the rock began to darken before finishing up grey pocketed slabs.

After sharing our plan with our climbing partner Stefano Ragazzo who lives and works as a mountain guide in Val di Fassa, we decided to return the following weekend to start the route together.

I had the honour of kicking things off and I soon realised the quality of the weathered rock; it was just what I had been looking for. When I reached an obvious ledge I placed two bolts for a belay and belayed the others who, armed with brushes and willpower, scraped and brushed what little needed cleaning

Leo took over for the second pitch. Here the face begins to get steeper and offers a series of logical pockets that lead off diagonally and, in following them, he aimed towards a small ledge below obvious grey, vertical streaks. Then it was Stefano's turn and with rigorous ethics he showed us from the outset that in order to push the boat out during a first ascent, you need to dare just that little bit more. After a few falls he completed his lead on a good ledge. The day had been extremely productive and since it was time for dinner we decided to go back to town for a beer and grab something to eat.

Unfortunately Stefano's plans changed suddenly and the following day he wasn't able to join us, instead he travelled to the Mont Blanc massif to accompany some clients.

The next day Leo and I, already rather tired, continued our new routing and managed to add two more pitches, totally different in style but both extremely interesting. I remember that in the early afternoon we realised that the sun wouldn't reach the face and the temperatures were so low that we no longer felt the blood in our hands and feet. We decided to retreat and try to finish the route some other time.

Unfortunately, during the following weekends the weather gradually worsened, so much so that in the end we had to postpone the project to the next season. We hadn't taken into account that work commitments would further ruin our plans.

We were only able to return to Vallaccia on 8 and 9 July. Loaded like mules we walked up to the face, intent on finishing the project we'd started some time ago. Expectations were high and in fact the wall still provided us with exciting times on really fun and top-quality portions of rock.

Everything ran smoothly and in two days, climbing the central pitches on the fixed ropes, we finished the project and the idea born and raised in that superb rock valley. Avoiding getting caught up in other commitments or unpredictable weather events, the following weekend we returned to try to free all pitches together and in continuity. Returning from the experience of the previous weekend, it didn't take too many attempts on the crux pitch of the route, and around four in the afternoon on Saturday we found ourselves at the top with the sun dazzling us and a clear sky framing it. We were undoubtedly happy and satisfied but it was not the time to celebrate, we still had abseils and the cleaning of some key holes which had filled up with sand due to the short but intense storms of recent days.

Several beers were needed to find a suitable name for the route and after raising the right number of glasses Monologica was born! Because on that portion of the face the line we climbed seemed to be the most logical, and because many of the hardest sections were resolved thanks to tiny one-finger pockets. Safe climbing, have fun repeating the route!

by Angelo Contessi

Thanks: La Sportiva, Lappas climbing, Salewa

TOPO: Via Monologica, Torre di Mezzaluna, Vallaccia, Dolomites