Difficult new mixed climb in Switzerland's Gondoschlucht

Tommaso Lamantia and Luca Moroni have made the first ascent of the mixed climb 'Gli Artigli di Dade' in the Gondoschlucht / Gole di Gondo at Gabi, Switzerland. The report by Lamantia and Moroni.
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The first ascent of 'Artigli di Dade' at Gole di Gondo, Switzerland (Tommaso Lamantia, Luca Moroni 2025)
archivio Tommaso Lamantia

The Gondoschlucht us a mythical place for those who have been ice climbing for a long time. Years ago, when winters were harsher, truly impressive ice structures would form in the Gorges, and it is here that I experienced my first adventures. They were always grand adventures with a capital A, in serious environments and on difficult formations. There were no social media back then, and we didn't know the conditions in advance; you had to go and see for yourself. Every time we set out to climb one of the routes in the Gorge, it always felt like an expedition.

Unfortunately, the milder winters have resulted in many years without great conditions. Whenever we wanted to go for a couple of quick climbs on Fluido Azzurro at the Sempione pass, we'd drive past the Gorges with a hint of sadness, hoping that one day the great winters would return.

In 2017, driven by a desire for adventure and after having noticed a potential line, I convinced Luca to climb a pitch of ice beneath the Cascatone di Gabi, which we later found out had already been climbed before, since we discovered an anchor at the top. This pitch led us to the base of a short drip and beneath an overhang with numerous daggers. We had seen an obvious line through the entire overhang, and we wanted to see if it was climbable. We placed bolts and climbed the second pitch without too much difficulty, reaching the belay for the roof pitch. Over a period of three days we managed to complete the line, but at that point, we had to wait for the last ice pitch to form. The project was prolonged and became epic, more so because of this wait for the right conditions than for the approach. In fact, access to the gorge is exceptionally easy and quick.

This is how Gli Artigli di Dade (Dade’s Claws) was established. It gets it's name from a mythical figure of the Alps. Some stories passed down from one generation to the next tell of this invincible figure, who instead of fingers had a series of claws created for climbing. Of course, in comparison to the big, demanding lines in the gorge, Gli Artigli di Dade is short and easily accessible, but the climb is still quite challenging. I believe it’s one of the most difficult in the entire Gondoschlucht, and for this reason, it was a great adventure.

— Tommaso Lamantia

GLI ARTIGLI DI DADE by Luca Moroni
Bolting the climb turned out to be the easiest part, especially since the line was logical and visible from the road. After completing the bolting stage we had many doubts, particularly about the pitch that later turned out to be more difficult than expected.

The pitch is very demanding, with a first part that is very technical, involving small, slippery holds and long moves, and a second part that completely changes style: a physical crack with always tricky and distant holds and small footholds. It took me two days and five attempts to complete. Two were spent figuring out all the sequences, and three were for the free ascent. In the end, on January 13th, I managed the redpoint. As for the difficulty, I rated the pitch as M10. I would be really happy if someone else went to repeat Gli Artigli di Dade.

I want to thank my climbing partner Tommy for the wonderful days spent together, and especially for the motivation he gave me during the attempts, and Umberto Pavesi for the most difficult moment of the free ascent. I hope to establish more lines together in the future. Stay tuned!




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