Cenerentolo added to Aiguille de la Brenva (Mont Blanc) by Carlo Filippi, Isaie Maquignaz, Francesco Ratti

From 30 to 31 July 30 2025 the Italian mountain guides Carlo Filippi, Isaie Maquignaz, and Francesco Ratti established a new rock climb on the southeast face o Aiguille de la Brenva (3,278 m), on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif. The route was named "Cenerentolo" (460m, 7b max/6c obligatory), with a clear reference to the Disney classic “Cinderella”.

An adventure with friends on an uncrowded face
The new route turned out to be an adventure among friends. "We carved out two days off from our work as guides, which is quite intense during this period," said Ratti "to try opening a new route on a face with the following characteristics: good rock, uncrowded and a bit wild". As a result they chose the southeast face of Aiguille de la Brenva. In truth this face isn't particularly remote; it can be reached with a 2-hour walk from the Pavillon, the intermediate station of the Mont Blanc Skyway cable car. However, in the last 20 years not many climbs have been added there.

"On the section of the face we focused on, you mainly find classic climbs, dating back to the 1940s-1950s”, Ratti pointed out. "The only modern climb, which lies a bit further left of 'Cenerentolo', is Via Mares, put up in 2002 by Alex Busca, Massimo Farina, and Erman Tussidor."

Filippi, Maquignaz, and Ratti set out on the afternoon of 29 Jul to observe the face from below and check the conditions after the snowfalls that had affected the Alps in the previous days."We identified a potential line in the middle of the southeast face that would take advantage of its full height," Ratti recounted, "because the goal was to open a long and adventurous route." The result was a climb nearly 500 meters high, a length that way exceeded their expectations.

The group bivouacked at the base of the face, and on 30 July forged the first 6 pitches, a total of 300 meters, that brought them to the base of the final shield, ie the steepest part of the face. They then rappelled to the bottom, fixing the most difficult pitches, and at dawn on 31 Jul they reclimbe the first 300 meters and got ready to tackle the final pitches. Ratti opened the hardest pitch (7b) in about 2 hours, and was unsure whether they would manage to reach the top by the end of the day. Fortunately, the last 3 pitches  took less time than expected. At around 4 p.m., the trio were on the summit.

"We tried to place as few bolts as possible and to use trad gear; on average, there are fewer than 2 bolts per pitch" detailed Ratti. "It's a climb that requires intuition and a skillful use of trad pro. It was a beautiful adventure; we enjoyed it despite the cold. Now we hope someone will come and repeat it, also because, since we only had 2 days, we couldn't make the first free ascent."

Why "Cenerentolo"?
The route was named "Cenerentolo" a clear reference to the unforgettable Disney classic Cinderella (in Italian, Cenerentola), all because of a lost shoe... a climbing shoe, of course! During the rappels on the first day, Maquignaz lost one of his climbing shoes, which fell onto the Brenva Glacier in a spot where it was impossible to retrieve. Therefore, on the second day he had to climb with one climbing shoe and one mountaineering boot.

- Tatiana Marras, Borgorose