Ice climbing, the season begins

Numerous ice falls in NW Italy are already in condition, in particular in Val Varaita and Ossolo and the latest addition this season is 'Cereberoleso', a new dry tooling route equipped by Riccardo Olivieri and Elio Bonfanti in Valle dell'Orco's famous crag Mutante at Ceresole Reale.

"Something had to be done to celebrate the start of the season" explained Bonfanti adding "so we continued where we'd left off last season at the crag at Ceresole Reale and we added some bolts and completed the line Cereberoleso. The pitch follows slender cracks, then climbs through the overhang behind the route called 'Cerebro' - one might almost say now that it's a shame that this isn't a hanging drip..."

"The climbing is intense with some powerful lock-offs" Bonfanti continued "meaning that although the grade still awaits confirmation, it should be a solid M10 which then leads to WI 5+. Unfortunately it was late in the day so I couldn't carry out the first free ascent, but this will happen in a brace of shakes... For those who want to give it a shot, take a 70m rope, 7 quickdraws and some ice screws."

All that remains is to wish everyone great fun ice climbing this winter... and as always when climbing ice, take great care ;-)